"Now this is an issue to be sure.""Perhaps the largest issue we"ve faced so far."
With both Lux and Terra agreeing on something it sure was a problem that could turn out to be a serious issue with long term effects.
"What the h.e.l.l is up with you people? The answer is simple, we just solve the issue."
Looking at Terra and Lux like they were lost to the world, Lilly didn"t really see their current predicament as an issue at all.
"What!?"
"Yeah! How do we solve this!?"
Losing even more faith in the children before her Lilly breathed a deep sigh before answering as if it was a completely normal and ordinary everyday thing, just like it was.
"When a child gets dirty you wash them, easy as that."
Looking at the demihuman child they had with them from the town of monster hunters in the Eglax territory after killing a bunch of mysterious people that for some reason was after them. The child in question had somehow covered himself in mud after paying for only 30 minutes.
"L-Lilly?"
The child in question that had so far not really talked that much in the 2 days they had spent leaving the town of monster hunters behind was now looking at his savior with a tiny hint of fear in his eyes as he watched Lilly slowly close in on him like a predator stalking its prey.
"And of course it"s the grown ups duty to wash the children~"
Having a slightly dangerous look in her eyes as she said that, the child decided to run away for now, but ultimately discovered that it was useless to try and run from an expert in air magic. Having stopped for the day at a nearby river so the fuel breeder AEHWP could "breed" more tritium from pure water to make fuel, Lilly those a nearby spot with shallow water where she quickly stripped the child and started was.h.i.+ng him.
"UUuuuu.."
Having his manly pride hurt the child learned a valuable lesson of picking his fights and not trying to face what he could not beat he had accepted the current situation even if he didn"t like it at all.
"Come on, you"re a man right? A man must act strong at all times to put others to rest."
While was.h.i.+ng the child"s back with gleeful movements Lilly offered words of advice with a slightly s.a.d.i.s.tic smile on her face.
"Act strong?"
A bit surprised that she actually got a response to her question Lilly took a second to answer before putting a large smile on her face.
"Yeah~ Put out your chest, smile and act strong to put others around you at ease. You should only share your issues with those closest to you, that"s the fate of being a man."
Looking strangely focused for a moment before turning serious the child made a serious face as answered Lilly.
"That"s just like what dad told me!"
Seeing the child speaking more than he had ever done Lilly tried pus.h.i.+ng for more information.
"Your dad huh, he seems like an excellent father. Could you tell me more about him, and you too?"
"... My name is Abel."
Suddenly turning suspicious at Lilly the child named Abel only gave his name before falling silent again.
(So his name is Abel huh?.. I can understand why he"s not trusting me but it still hurts a bit..)
Looking at Abel"s bruised body Lilly had no doubt that he had been abused by his former captors, and it would take time to earn his trust.
"Abel~ That"s a nice name! I like it!"
But that itself was nothing new for LIly, she had raised a lot of former slave children in the past, showing a large happy smile she kept slowly chipping away at his isolation and mistrust, one small step at a time.
---
"The kingdom of Detas huh? We"ve finally left the Eglax territory behind."
Having spent 3 weeks traveling due south the convoy had finally left the territory of monsters behind as they had spotted the northern citadel of the Detas kingdom in the distance.
"That we have, I feel like it took forever with all those monster attacks, how are our supplies holding up?"
Looking to her second in command for the current mission, Terra was more focused on how they were holding up in terms of supplies than anything else at the moment. After being attacked countless times by monsters not to talk about what Dax had "borrowed" from them the convoy Terra suspected that they were running low on high caliber ammunition.
"Yeah Dax used a little less than half of the ammunition for the Guardian-G097 high caliber railguns but we still have all 28 Viper cruise missiles and a f.u.c.kton of Rex-0999 belts and a few rounds for the mini railguns, not to talk about our personal weapons so I"m sure we"ll be fine."
Detas marked halfway on the journey point to their objective of the orb that had landed furthest from the rest somewhere in the southern island states, therefore expanding only a fourths of their high caliber ammunition could not exactly be considered optimal, but it was still a very good margin.
"That might be true, but we still have to deal with the water drakes, and the air elementals, not to speak of the hydra that rules the south."
"The what now?"
"Exactly. We"re not out of the woods yet, in fact we"re not slightly even close to being out of the woods so we need to be prepared."
"I-I see.."
Hearing Terra list serval mythological creatures in quick succession like it was a list of groceries Lux realized that they were not past all the treats yet.
-
Making camp in the middle of the day out in a forest Lilly and Terra headed into the nearby citadel wearing light leather armor and monster hunter outfits in an attempt to blend in with local monster hunter population.
"So what exactly is it that we need here?"
"Clothing for Abel, hard alcohol for me."
To make Lilly agree to take a half year trip several compromises had to be made, one of which was that Lilly could keep drinking as long as she was somewhat able to do her job at all times, another was that she could act on her devises after the convoy stopped for the day, as long as she was ready by morning to move out, with the extra condition that she had to have a exort with her at all time tacted on after they were attacked in the town of monster hunters.
"Okay then, just be ready for action at any point."
"Sure, I wasn"t born yesterday you know."
"Yeah yeah you"ve told me that so many times already, and before you ask no we"re not going into a bar or something like that."
"But-"
"Nope, Dax said so."
"But-"
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"If you want to go we"ll just say goodbye right here."
Not budging even a tiny bit Terra stared down Lilly with determination and a tiny hint of desperation in her eyes Lilly decided to back down.
"Fiiiiine, then we need to find a local distillery, but let"s do that last."
"Good then, market first. Lux you up?"
["Reading you loud and clear, keep safe out there."]
Having confirmed radio contact with Lux, Terra and Lilly quickly got past the outer gate into the citadel and then hit the up the local market where they found some clothing in Abel"s size.
"So where do we find alcohol?"
"At a distillery of course, it should be near the central fortress."
"Riiight, and why should there be one in this small town?"
Still questioning Lilly"s ability to find liquor Terra demanded an explanation before spending all evening searching in vain.
"This is mainly a military/monster hunter outpost with a small civilian agriculture based industry, but somehow there"s still a bunch of trade happening. Now why is that?"
Somehow managing to turn the question into a lecture Terra was about to just leave but as she actually didn"t know the answer she reluctantly entertained Lilly.
"N-no I don"t, why is that?"
"Because of supply and demand. Monster cores that are considered valuable goods are in demand all over the world as they are used to make anything from magic tools to mages staffs, even the elven city states trade with outsiders for them. Monster cores move out of this city that"s mainly populated by monster hunters, but in that case what comes back? Taking into account the relative isolation and danger of transporting goods to here in account while remembering that there already is a flouris.h.i.+ng agriculture here what the traders bring back would be either metals for weapon maintenance, spices as they are general luxury goods that are used everywhere people can afford them, or?"
"High proof liquor that being compact and relatively easy to transport that is both a disinfectant and a luxury good?"
"Bingo~ As Dax says."
As they had been walking towards the town center while talking Lilly stopped as she pointed to a single building that was constructed in st.u.r.dy and rare brick with some distance from other buildings, with a sigh over the door simply saying "Northern citadel distillery".