Volume 5, Chapter 20 – Heading to Fu Yie Village

Following the strategy meeting, after discussing things with the defense force, we decided to enchant 1,000 swords and 3,000 arrows with Purification Magic.

I doped myself up on MP Recovery Medicines and continued enchanting from morning until night without a single break.

As a result, I somehow managed to finish the task in four days.

Because I was so busy, my lifestyle shifted a bit toward being a night owl, but since I’ll be forced back into a regular schedule from here on, it should be fine.

“Saint, are you finally finished?”

And that was the first thing out of the General’s mouth.

It’s not like I was slacking off; couldn’t he have phrased that a little better?

No, wait. But I’m already a fourteen-year-old adult.

I don’t remember exactly how old I was in my previous world, but this is a moment where I should show some adult composure and not get worked up over every little thing.

…

…

Wait, isn’t the General way older than me!?

No matter how young he looks, he’s at least in his late twenties, right?

Isn’t he ashamed of making a little girl like me feel like I have to be the “adult” here!?

Ah, no, he’s probably not ashamed. I can tell by that expression.

Yeah, I’ll be the adult here. I made quite a bit of money from this anyway.

And so, with a generous heart, I responded with a beaming, professional business smile.

“Yes. Sorry to keep you waiting, but the preparations are finally complete. Now, please let me grant a Blessing to your weapon as well, General. With this, you will be able to purify those Undying Beasts.”

“I see. Then I shall ask it of you.”

“Ah, um, could you please place it on the ground? I have a feeling it’ll be too heavy for me to hold.”

“…Hmm. I see. So the Saint is weak.”

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“Y-yes. That’s right.”

…I really wish people would stop assuming that if they can do something, everyone else can do it too.

I worried that my irritation might be showing, but with the business-smile skills I’ve cultivated, this should be a piece of cake.

“Fiene-sama, I understand how you feel, but please, calm your anger,” Chris-san whispered, trying to soothe me.

Apparently, my business-smile skills still have room for improvement.

The General placed the spear-axe in front of me as if he hadn’t heard a single thing we said.

“Begin.”

I touched the spear-axe and enchanted it with Purification Magic.

“There. It’s finished. Now, let’s see… yep. As expected, it was too heavy to lift.”

I tried to lift the spear-axe to return it to the General, but it was impossible. If I had actually tried to take it from him, I probably would have dropped it.

“Hmph, seems so. Now, let us move, Saint… wait, is that woman coming too?”

The General looked at Yihua-san standing behind me and made a blatantly disgusted face.

“Yes. Yihua-san is handling the role of my secretary.”

“General, I look forward to working with you.”

When Yihua-san greeted him while casting a passionate gaze his way, the General visibly recoiled.

“A-ah. You as well. Just… don’t get in the way.”

“Yes, sir!”

Despite being glared at, Yihua-san looked as happy as ever, making the General recoil again.

Yes, as you can see, bringing Yihua-san along might actually be my trump card against the General.

While I was working on the enchantments, people kept coming to urge us to deploy, but Yihua-san chased every single one of them away.

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By yesterday, the General had started giving up and going home the moment he saw her.

Thinking about it this way, he might not be such a bad person at heart; he’s just someone who is only interested in fighting.

Well, I still don’t want to spend time with him.

◇ ◇ ◇

After departing from the town of Chi Tien, we headed straight for Fu Yie Village.

But, how should I put this… it’s incredibly boring.

The General marches ahead alone, turning every Undying Beast that attacks him into vapor with a single blow.

He’s even mowing down the surrounding trees in the process.

“Hmph! Hmph! Hmph!”

Every time the General swings his spear-axe, small open resting spaces are carved into the narrow road running through the forest.

“Cutting down the forest trees when it’s not even necessary…”

Lu-chan murmured sadly upon seeing this. I believe Lu-chan’s true nature is that of the “People of Appetite,” but apparently, she is also one of the Forest Folk. Therefore, seeing the trees cut down like this must be painful for her.

“Riche, could you stay with me for a bit to help regenerate the destroyed forest?”

I called out to the cute Riche and made the request. Riche gave me a bright smile and a thumbs-up as usual, then dove inside the hood of my robe.

It seems she intends to take her usual nap. The fact that the inside of my hood is her favorite bed is just too cute for words.

I really think Riche is the cutest thing in the world.

While I was thinking this, the General called out to me—or rather, yelled.

“Hey, Saint! The edge has dulled!”

“Ah, yes, yes. Refill, right?”

He came over to demand a mana refill.

Seriously, am I a gas station now or something?

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It’s too much effort to complain about everything, so I just refilled his mana as told.

“Hmph. As expected of the Saint. You use strange arts despite being weak.”

Leaving behind a comment where I couldn’t tell if he was praising or insulting me, the General returned to the front.

“Sigh, but it really is boring. There’s nothing to do.”

“He really is as formidable as the title “Empire’s Strongest Martial Artist” suggests. However…”

“Yes, I admit he’s strong, but his attitude toward Fiene-sama—no, toward other people in general…”

“Destroying the forest like that is just wrong!”

Yeah, he definitely doesn’t leave a good impression.

Sigh.

◇ ◇ ◇

As we walked, the sun began to set, and we started preparing for camp.

That said, we were treated as complete guests. From pitching the tents to preparing the meals, the members of the Chi Tien defense force handled everything.

“Saint-sama, I hear that from tomorrow onward the path becomes a proper mountain trail. Please, get some rest.”

“Thank you, Yihua-san. But you’re not used to these kinds of trips, so please make sure you rest well too.”

“Thank you, Saint-sama. But I am at peace knowing the General is protecting us.”

“…I suppose so.”

Come to think of it, that General mentioned something about cutting down enemies while asleep.

I wonder if he was actually serious?

Curious, I used the excuse that I’d become a bit of a night owl and stayed up late.

As I spent my time enchanting stones as usual, I heard sounds from outside.

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Swish

Thud

Swish

Thud

Something felt ominous, so I peeked my head out of the tent.

There sat the General, cross-legged with his eyes closed.

He held his usual spear-axe in his hand, and nearby was an Undying Bear attempting to ambush him.

“A-ah, that’s!”

I hurriedly tried to stop the bear with a Barrier, but the moment the bear entered the General’s range, it was sliced clean in half and fell to the ground. Then, perhaps because the enchanted Purification Magic activated, the bear turned to ash and vanished without reviving.

“…He was actually serious.”

“That was… truly formidable, it was.”

“Ah, Shizuku-san. You were awake.”

“I woke up because I sensed an ominous atmosphere, it was…”

“It doesn’t seem like a human feat…”

“Indeed. Though we are not exactly Human ourselves, it is.”

Shizuku-san said this with a slight playful tone. Hearing that, I let out a little giggle.

“Hehe, that’s true. Well then, let’s leave the rest to everyone and go to sleep.”

“Indeed, it is.”

With that, I returned to the tent and fell asleep.

General, you weren’t actually awake the whole time, right?