Chapter 296: Tomorrow is a Holiday

―――― The 55th day of training.

A whole day has passed since we boarded the airship. On the way, we could see some small islands, but the view from the window was basically the sea. For the first hour, I was able to look out and enjoy the majestic scenery, but as time went by, it became less and less of a way to pass the time. Since we are not allowed to do anything dangerous on the ship, Haru must have a lot of time on her hands.

「The sea~, so~ big~」

「Gobbu~, gobubu~」

「S-So big~」

「What kind of song is that…」

I thought such a thing, but Haru never got tired of looking at the window of the ship. Zeta and Gobuo are next to her, singing that mysterious song too.

「Ah, Shishō. This is the song of the sea that my mother taught me~. It’s a song with lyrics that can be changed depending on the mood!」

「I-I see, good for you….」

Katsuragi mom is probably a natural airhead. Such an impression has been established in my mind.

「Zeta-san, you don’t have to force yourself to go along with it, you know? Haru’s song is incomprehensible, right?」

「That’s awful!」

「No, it’s so easy to understand that I want to recommend it for young children.」

「Zeta-san, you’re so kind!」

「Is that a compliment…?」

I’m sure Zeta has no ill will, but depending on the other party, it could hurt them.

「By the way, it’s unusual for Chinatsu to go off on her own.」

「Yes! She said that she wants to organize the document while she has time!」

「She’s bringing the work of the knight order here, huh….」

If it’s a bag with a storage function like Haru’s pouch and my bag, you can bring your work as much as you can. But, the boss Nell is drinking tea with Lily (in the Great Eight Demons mode), you know? Are you sure doing your work here?

「No, it just means that Chinatsu is so competent that Nell can take it easy, I guess…?」

Something like, Nell is in charge of the fieldwork and Chinatsu is in charge of the office work.

「Hm?」

「No, just talking to myself. Don’t mind it.」

「Okay!」

She understands quickly. I’m impressed.

「I know that Chinatsu-chan is busy, but I can’t find Touko-chan. I’ve been searching around since yesterday to introduce her to Zeta-san, but I can’t find her at all….」

「Touko? She’s working as a waitress at Nell and Lily’s place. I heard it’s a training to keep good manners and respond without rudeness in a private room filled with the feeling of oppression.」

「E-Err… is that a maid’s training?」

It’s a training be considerate, I guess? Maybe it’s to measure how much she can serve Nell and Lily in a closed room with a heavy atmosphere where Nell and Lily are glaring at each other. Anyway, Touko is training her mentality. The art of serving customers was drilled into Touko by the Great Eight Demons Lilyvia, so Touko is a better maid than the good-for-nothing maid Lily. What a contradiction.

「Well, I’m sure you will have a chance to say hello before we reach Damaya. Zeta-san’s destination is Al Nova, where Zex is based, right? It’s not far from Damaya and the ship will have to stop there first. In the meantime, how about you go sightseeing together with Haru and the others? You’ve become good friends, right?」

「Shishō, nice idea!」

「Are you sure?」

「Yeah, please take good care of them. Damaya is a merchant city, so it’s full of products from all over the world. Since Alezel became the president of the World Commerce Union, they’ve started to develop leisure facilities, so there’s no shortage of places to see. Ah, that’s right. I’m sure there are some facilities that Zex is directly involved with.」

「I want to go! I will go! Please let me go!」

As soon as Zeta heard the name of Zex, she suddenly got into the topic while breathing roughly. I had a vague feeling of it, but she really has a screw loose somewhere in her head. Hey, you’re crushing the iron railing you’re holding with your artificial hand.

「Huh? But, do we have the time for sightseeing? The original purpose is to train with Alezel-san, right?」

「Well, if it’s just training, we could have done it at Snowtail. Observing the world to gain knowledge is also a splendid training, you know?」

It’s even better if you could stock up on cooking ingredients while you’re at it. Fish are cheap here, and you can train your housework skills and discount negotiation skills, Haru.

…… The training with Alezel later will be exhausting mentally after all. Including Touko and Chinatsu, I want you to refresh yourself while you can now.

「I’m looking forward to it, Zeta-san!」

「Yes! I want to burn it into my eyes and memory, and if possible, into my body as well!」

「Gobugobu!」

Whether or not they know about my parental love, they seem to be genuinely motivated to enjoy sightseeing in Damaya. If so, it seems that even the stressed Chinatsu and Touko can vent it in a leisure mood.

…… No, wait a minute. I felt like I heard some strange words just now. What, into your body!? Girls, do it in moderation, okay!?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, the airship carrying us arrived in the merchant city of Damaya. Unlike the snowstorm frontier of Snowtail, there are lights everywhere even at night, so it’s bright enough for the ship to land. The whole city surprised me, even though I have visited this city a few years ago.

「Wow, it’s amazing!」

「I feel that the level of civilization here is clearly strange….」

「Look, there are a lot of other ships flying around. Eh, all of them are Quitet’s ships? Seriously?」

「This is Zex-sama’s light…! I want to be equipped with it…!」

The Japanese disciples seem to be surprised and amazed at the sight that’s close to the modern landscape. And the girl who’s normally serious has an ecstatic face here, but I’ll pretend I didn’t see it like a gentleman.

「Damaya is the only city in the world that incorporates Zex-han’s technology with a limited amount~. It’s no wonder if Haru-chan and Chinatsu-chan are surprised~」

「But hey, it’s a lot different than when I came before, you know? How much money did you spend on this?」

「They say, 『The power of money is the power of justice』. Money will come to the place where money is, y’know?」

「Uwaah, you’re making an evil face….」

Alezel said such things with a wicked merchant’s smile. That line normally would sound sarcastic, but it has persuasiveness when it comes from the one who remodeled her hometown into an elf resort. Elven chief that I met only once in the past, your daughter is alive and strong.

「Alright, you disciples, attention please! We are going straight to the inn since it’s late today, but tomorrow you can have free time all day long. You should enjoy your break. This is a joint instruction from me, Nell, and Lily, okay?」

「「… Eh? Ehh…?」」

Chinatsu and Touko raised their voices at the same time. It’s probably too unexpected for them since they hadn’t heard about this yet. Now, stop looking at me suspiciously. It’s not Lily’s trap nor Nell’s trial. It’s seriously a holiday.

「Deris, you’re not trusted, huh….」

「That’s not good. As a merchant who places trust first, I can’t imitate that~」

「Well, I’m sure something good will happen later. Would you like me to visit you tonight and comfort you?」

「There’s a limit to being distrusted…. Also, they are not suspicious of me, you know?」

「「?」」

After this, Nell and Lily gave the same explanation, and the two seemed to be convinced even though they seemed to be quite skeptical.