Chapter 6
I was in the town of Nepia before I realised it. I saw some houses but didn’t realise this was the town.
I had imagined that there would be something like castle walls where I would be kept waiting at the gate to pay a tax but this town doesn’t have walls at all.
It seems it is only the local lord’s castle that has walls.
Bottles kingdom, c.o.ke territory Nepia. (TN: This weeks show is sponsored by. Seriously though the raw is ボトルズ王国、コーク領 ネピア. Any better names I’m all ears.)
That is where we are now.
The local lord is Marquis Arthur c.o.ke.
He seems to hold considerable power as one of the 4 great marquises of the country.
That reminds me, Patty’s family name is Cherryc.o.ke (TN: I did have Cherrycork but now with the other names I’m guessing its Cherryc.o.ke lol.)
“c.o.ke and Cherryc.o.ke are similar.”
“It’s a branch family.”
A simple answer came back.
Yes. It was like that after all.
“Oh. Aren’t you surprised?”
“Well, your conduct and how elegant you were when eating I sort of guessed you were an Ojou-sama.”
“Is that so. We are a branch family with the rank of Viscount. There are 4 women and 3 men. I’m the second daughter. Don’t worry about it just because I’m a n.o.ble.”
“Got it.”
We are heading towards Patty’s home at the moment. I’m supposed to be stopping there today.
Because I was practising I made various things during the trip. For the time being, I should be able to make a living by selling them but as it stands now I’m broke.
I’ll be stopping at Patty’s home tonight and selling my items off tomorrow.
However, why is a n.o.ble Ojou-sama working as an adventurer?
Perhaps her families poor.
Patty, today I’m in your
care.
I have an obligation to lend a hand if there is anything I can do, however, there is the possibility that her family is a great n.o.ble family and Patty is just a tomboy.
I’d better be mentally prepared. I’ll put out feelers and find out about the Cherryc.o.ke family.
“Patty-sanya.”
“Whats with the strange name?”
“Is it okay for me to just drop into your parents home like this?”
“No problem. We have a room you can stop in.”
They seem to have a lot of rooms. That rules out a 2LDK.
“That………won’t your father get angry?”
“Father? he’s not here.”
Is he away from home?
[What suspicious person are you?!] there does not seem to be that development, however, I can’t afford to be careless yet.
What if it’s an overbearing older sister? [Oh look a commoner is visiting] I don’t know if I could bear that.
My defence is 5 but my mental defence is no higher.
“Hey, I won’t be a bother to your family will I?”
“You were worried about that? All my family lives in the capital. My home is here but everyone else goes with Marquis c.o.ke.”
“Really? Because I thought I was meeting your family I got tense.”
“Idiot. Even though I’m the prodigal daughter how could I suddenly introduce you to my parents? They’d faint.”
That’s true. Especially since I don’t have any status.
I feel a bit lonely but it’s good I can stop worrying about it. I’m tired of being homeless and want to take it easy for a bit.
The town of Nepia is very prosperous.
We are currently heading towards the city centre.
There are a lot of people and carriages moving around with various shops showing a wealth of goods through their windows.
They have gla.s.s windows in this
this world though not all the buildings have them. Gla.s.s seems to be restricted to the homes and offices of wealthy people, government buildings, churches and shops dealing in high-end goods.
I pa.s.sed through a residential area and exited into a public square where street vendors have their goods spread out.
Looking up between the buildings I can see something like an elevated bridge.
“Patty, whats that?”
“Aah that? That’s a magic railway track.”
“Oh, a magic railway track……what!?”
“Eeh, Can’t you hear it?”
I focused ignoring the noise of people and can just about hear the creaking sound of iron in the distance.
Clickety-clack clickety-clack. The sounds of a train running on a track.
Without even waiting a minute the train showed up. A streamlined form shining a brilliant silver.
A freight train with black painted pa.s.senger cars as well.
It has no chimney and no smoke is coming out either.
“It uses demon stones to move. Is this your first time seeing it Ippei?”
Patty pridefully explained to me as I nodded
This is the Tozai line connecting the royal capital Erumia with the eastern city of Kurinesku and the western city of Nepia (TN: Tozai means east and west. Also a subway line in Tokyo)
It’s strange that the fantasy has suddenly become a subway when I heard Tozai line.
It’s amazing that this world has railroads.
“The magic trains powered by demon stones?”
“That’s right. The main reason Nepia is so developed here is because this place has the best labyrinth in the country.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t know Ippei? When you defeat a demon on rare occasions a demon stone comes out. Very rarely. The chance of one appearing in the field is about 2%. But in the case of the labyrinth, the chance rises to
rises to 10%. Also, the number of demons in the labyrinth is overwhelmingly high.”
“In other words, if you want to collect demon stones the most effective way is in the labyrinth?”
“That’s right. The country manages the labyrinth. Know why? So they have a steady supply of stones.”
“So I a.s.sume you can’t just bring a demon stone out?”
“There are ranks to the demon stones. They have 10 levels/ranks. Ranks S, A, B, C, D, E, F are prohibited from being taken out by individuals. They are used as a power source for the railways, airships, various facilities and weapons so inspections and purchases are done at the entrance of the labyrinth.”
“Can’t they be secretly taken out?”
“Impossible. There is a demon stone detector so sneaking some out is impossible. If found you will be detained. If you just want to power a magic tool then ranks G, H and I are enough.”
I’m in trouble. I wanted to experiment with making demon stones into raw materials.
Oh well. If the time comes I’ll just do my refining in the labyrinth.
Since it will take quite some time to get to the place where high-rank demon stones can be found I’ll just proceed with my preparations for now.
I’m speechless. This thing.
“You should stay at my house tonight” Patty had said
It’s only a modest house.
What is this? This mansion?
I was tricked by the [Occupation] Warrior.
The gate has an actual guards room in it. When the guard saw Patty’s face he opened it in a great hurry.
A maid was already waiting in the entrance hall when we entered.
“Welcome home Ojou-sama.”
“I’m home Ell.” (TN: Shes called エル so could be Eru or Ell. Any preferences?)
Patty greets her easily and sets off into theoff into the depths of the house.
I ran after her in a hurry so I wasn’t left behind.
The maid called Ell followed behind us.
“This is Ippei. Prepare a room as he’s staying tonight.”
“Certainly. Welcome, Ippei-sama.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll have dinner around 7:00. I’m hungry so please do larger portions and he will be eating with me as well so please prepare.”
“Yes.”
For the main, I’d like Shigi please.” (TN: Shigi appears to be any bird from the Scolopacidae family. Google is your friend.)
Patty turns to me and explains
“It’s a bird that you can get from around here. It’s very delicious.”
Her words come out rapidly one after the other.
“Apart from the main, I’ll leave the rest to you, however, that desert we had last time the [Macedonia’s Autumn] was delicious. Then please prepare a bath. Ippei do you want one too? There’s also a bath in your room.”
“I’ll prepare it immediately.”
“While I’m waiting I’ll have tea in the drawing room. Any tea is okay. Actually, I’ll have Haba tea please. Milk tea is nice, I’ll have Ganen seed milk. What do you want to drink Ippei?”
“I’m fine with the same………”
“Certainly.”
“A change of clothes would be nice, something plain. No dresses. Prepare clothes for Ippei in the guestroom.”
“Yes.”
“Has anything strange happened during my absence?” Patty asks Ell as she opens the drawing room doors.
“The master has returned home from the capital.”
The words of Ell do not reach Patty. Her eyes were glued on the person in the drawing room.
“Welcome back Patty. Where have you been?” a gentleman who seems kind calls out to Patty.
“I’m home father…………”
Patty looks back at Ell and murmurs quietly
“Please disregard all my previous orders.”
“Certainly Ojou-sama” Ell says as she steps back.