Chapter 65: Rosarin’s day off.

Today, I unusually had no plans. Dirk is also away on a business trip from work, so making a lunch to eat together with him is also not necessary… is what I thought, but Father and Elder brother wanted me to make them something, so I made lunches for Father, Arc, Elder brother and the two secretaries.

Since I was already at it, I thought I might as well share with Yggdrasil-san and the children.

There was still time until lunch, so while I was reading on the bench in the sunny garden, something has obstructed my line of sight… that’s not it, Jend and Pochi were staring at me.

“Oneechan, are you not working today?”

Jend asked me.

“I have a day off today. That is why Oneechan is reading a book.”

“Book… is it fun?”

His ears and tail lost strength… Jend’s fur improved considerably, didn’t it…

“Eh? Well… it’s fun… I think?”

I didn’t understand the meaning behind his question, so I replied honestly first.

“Oneechan, we want to play with you. Can we?”

Pochi asked with teary eyes while trembling. These children had all gotten attached to me, but they are easily scared. With this puppy bravely displaying his courage, there’s no way I can refuse. Moreover, I wasn’t able to bear the rays from their eyes that wanted to play with me.

“… Sure.”

“”Yaay!””

I intended to take it easy, but oh well.

The children were stuck with the idea of holding a picnic. The leader of the guards (lol) escorting us was Gator-san.

I have completely forgotten. The tragedy of the last time’s picnic.

We left the Capital and had lunch after spreading a blanket on the same small hill from the last time. Everything up until now was going fine.

The children were slightly unsatisfied, so Gator proposed procuring of local goods. Nono, are you planning to hunt monsters? No, I am fine with that, but the children… are… eager, huh.

The result? A big catch. I intend to have Dan cook the remaining portion. I was asked by Gator-san.

“… What are you doing?”

“As expected, eating it raw even while fresh wouldn’t be good, no?”

According to the children, this much is normal. Eh? I am the strange one? Nono, I am normal! I, who was preparing for a whole roast spoke to Gator-san.

“… I will cook it, so you dismantle it for me.”

“Hah?”

Gator stared blankly. The children showed the same reaction.

“Oneechan, you can cook?”

“Today’s lunch was also made by Oneechan. I think it was on a normally edible level though? Recently, the sweets were also made by me.”

“Eh?”

Gator and the children froze in place. What are you so startled about? Unexpectedly, it was Ordo who spoke up.

“I don’t think that noble young ladies are normally able to cook though?”

“I want my husband to eat my homemade food every day, so I spent my days in pursuit of knowledge.”

“… Is that so?”

“When Dirk eats my food deliciously, I feel happy. I also love seeing Ordo, Jend, Pochi, Mary and Nex happily eat the sweets I made.”

“Rosarin, do you have a fetish of feeding?”

“Eh…?”

Ordo wasn’t joking, he was asking seriously. I stiffened by his unexpected vocabulary. I don’t know whether it’s because Ordo was brought up as an assassin, he occasionally says some outrageous things.

“No, I just find happiness in making others happy.”

“Something like that?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“I don’t understand.”

Ordo tilted his head.

“You will understand it little by little. If you plan on staying here.”

“… Got it.”

I patted Ordo’s head… he’s easy to pat as he inclined his head towards me… wait. Why are you lining up, children? In the end, I was made pat all the children and spirits.

After pulling myself together, I opened the cooking kit and prepared the edible plants and mushrooms the children have gathered.

“Oneechan, you are incredible.”

The most obedient one among the children, Pochi, wagged his tail. Kuu…! Even though I would mofu him if I wasn’t holding a kitchen knife in my hand!

The children were helping too. I prepared the meat and vegetables on skewers.

And, Kou grilled them. We went hunting after a picnic and then a barbecue.

“Delish~”

Everyone eats so well~ I did nothing but earnestly cook, cook, and cook…

Everyone, you really ate well. Now then, just when we planned on returning, I felt some turbulent presence, you know?

“… Oneechan.”

Pochi drew near me anxiously. It’s fine, everything is fine. Oneechan is strong.

“Sui cooperate with Arisa to erect a barrier.”

“”Yess~””

“Kou, turn into a dragon and protect everyone. Gator too, go inside the barrier with the children just in case.”

“Yup!”

“W, wait! There’s no meaning being a guard then!”

Ignoring Gator’s words, I changed the Warrior Maiden’s ring into twins swords and switched with Rosalia. Ordo slipped through the barrier, intending to participate.

“Here I go…”

The enemy was a wolf-type monster, Berserk Wolf. It’s just, there were too many. These monsters certainly live in packs, but I have never heard anything about thirty wolves attacking someone in this forest.

Rosalia cut the monsters one after another, but because their numbers were too large and there was practically no progress, I confirmed the position of Ordo and instructed Haru to use a wide scope annihilation magic.

“Wrath of the Wind, cut everything to pieces! Blade Windstorm!!”

The monsters in the surroundings were instantly cut to pieces. Uah, they simply splattered. Would have burning them be better, I wonder?

“Hmm?”

We knocked out one instead of killing it just in case, but… it has a mushroom growing out of its head. These monsters don’t usually have mushrooms attached to them.

Thinking that things were fine, Sui left the barrier to Arisa and came to my side.

“This is probably a curse using the mushroom as an intermediary. The one where you plant a spore on the head and manipulate it.”

“… So, when you have a spore planted on your head…”

“… Will be fine if discovered early.”

Wouldn’t this mushroom eventually reach the brain if left for too long? Scary! What kind of horror is this!?

“… Eh?”

This time, they were humans who walked unsteadily like some kind of apparitions… moreover, they were wearing the uniforms of Knights Order. There were at least fifty of them!

No way!? Did the Knights Order get attacked again!?

“Sui, erect a barrier with Haru!”

“Arisa, could you try dispelling that thing? Ordo, standby on alert in the air. Do not attack!”

“Yees. It will be probably fine. It’s a plant-type curse, so it shouldn’t be difficult to dispell.”

Arisa started concentrating her magical power. A huge, green magic circle appeared.

“”Dispell the evil curse and erase it. Purification of Greenery!””

My and Arisa’s magical power… got rid of the mushrooms. Uah, looking carefully, their eyes were blank like in some horror! Scary! Gross!

The members of the Knights Order collapsed. Sui said that everyone seemed to be all right and that they will wake up soon. N? There’s a familiar face.

“Son of Marquis Roswayde?”

“N… why are you here?”

“We came to have a picnic.”

“……”

“……”

“… Should I say that we are lucky or that you are unlucky?”

Seriously. Even though it was my day off today. Even though I planned to take it easy with the children.

“… Dirk is?”

“Probably still fighting. He cannot bring himself to harm his colleagues, so I feel he has a hard time.”

“Ordo, be cautious of the surroundings! Report to me if you see people returning to the town!”

“I want to fight.”

“Not this time! Fighting monsters is fine, but I have to secure the Knights with as uninjured as possible. I will leave the collapsed people to you, Son of Marquis Roswayde!”

“Got it. Sorry about this.”

Still feeling dizzy, his face was pale, but he acknowledged.

“Arisa, I will have you try your best, are you all right with that?”

“Leave it to me, Mama!”

“Wait, Oneechan, I will go too! I won’t burden you! Searching is my specialty! I can follow the scent too!”

Certainly, Jend’s Super Intuition is suited for the case and his nose is good too.

“Don’t overdo it. If it’s dangerous, leave me and run away. I won’t bring you if you cannot promise me that.”

“I promise!”

“Then come! Jend, Arisa, we are going!!”

We have begun running towards the forest.

“Jend, which way!?”

“Probably that way! I feel something unpleasant over there!”

I ran through the gloomy forest earnestly. Although Kou is not with us, there were no monsters attacking us on the way. The forest was silent, which is strange.

Having an idea, I activated the communication magic tool.

“Forced start. Target: Dirk, Curtis. Maximum volume, ringtone activate!”

A piercing bell noise resounded through the forest. There are no doubts about the direction now. Moreover, it doesn’t seem to be too far.

“Ringtone stop. Forced call.”

“W, what!? Is it broken?”

I heard a panicking Curtis and the sounds made by swords.

“It’s not broken.”

“Curtis, I might not be able to hold on anymore. I heard an angel’s voice. I wanted to see Rosarin for one last time…”

“Nono, I am the real deal, alright? Rather, what? What angel? Is my voice supposed to be the angel?”

“The help is arriving so do your best! Show Rosarin your cool side!”

“Rosarin?”

“I will save you right away, so hold on tightly, Darling!”

“… Yeah!”

When we joined up with Dirk and others, it was quite the melee. Dirk and Curtis were standing back to back, completely surrounded. This looks certainly like something that would prompt you to try escaping from reality.

I activated the magic I prepared in advance.

“”Purification of Greenery!””

The Knights flappingly fell to the ground. Dirk and Curtis too, had wounds all over their bodies.

“Dirk!”

“Ah~ I am fine. They are not fatal wounds. Just some grazes.”

Although he said that, I exercised healing magic. His wounds certainly are trivial, but his fatigue is terrible.

“Rosarin, me too~”

I also cast healing magic on the dead tired Curtis. Curtis was in a similar condition too. For the trained two to be this exhausted…

“Curtis, did your intuition not tell you anything?”

“… I felt something, but I felt it should be alright~ It might be because you were unexpectedly close by. If not, we would be in serious trouble.”

“By the way, how long were you fighting for?”

“About five… hours?”

Seriously? Dirk’s stomach rumbled loudly. First of all, I handed the two my share of baked sweets and then I spoke to Jend.

“Jend, do you still have the unpleasant feeling?”

“Yea. That way.”

Dirk and others were apparently notified of a monster plague and they went to deal with it early in the morning. A large number of monsters with mushrooms attached to them appeared, and when they were about to defeat them all, their comrades got infected with the mushrooms too…

“Their blank gazes were scary and although they had troubles walking in a straight line, they were bizarrely strong…”

“Moreover, there were so many yet it’s not like we could cut them down…”

Apparently, just when they thought all the doors were closed, I came.

“Oneechan, something is coming!”

Jend showed me the way and I ran.

Uge, Rudolf-san is there too. Monsters in large numbers as well.

“Jend, defeat the monsters! Stop them from approaching Dirk, Curtis, and the Knights!”

We cannot keep dealing with the small fries. I searched for the source of magical power.

“A, agaaaah!?”

The monsters and Knights that had mushrooms attached to them all begun to suffer at the same time.

“Ah~ test, test. Rosarin, can you hear me?”

“Sui?”

He was probably borrowing the wavelength of my magical power.

“Yeah. Glad you could recognize me. I was too bored at the other side, so I tried intervening the mushrooms, and I succeeded.”

What a cheat. He apparently snatched the hegemony from the curse.

“The curse’s source should be nearby. These seem to be the last ones who got cursed. Do your best.”

“Roger. Thanks. I will make as many of your favorite sweets as you like tomorrow.”

“Yay. I am looking forward to it.”

Now then, I have to find the source. I promptly got rid of the mushrooms in the surroundings with the purification and searched for the presence in the surroundings.

“Oneechan, over there.”

“Rosarin, there.”

The monster the super-intuition two pointed at was a fully mushroom monster.

“N?”

I could see something around the mushroom. Chains? A type of a curse, perhaps?

“Arisa, can you undo those?”

“Probably can!”

With Arisa’s light, the chains vanished. Then, the mushroom crumbled and turned into a mole. No, that’s huge! It’s a bear-sized mole! A mole monster… don’t exist, so a Beastman?

“I am saveeeeed! You are my lifesaver~!”

The Mole-san which had round and cute eyes burst into tears. N? What is this about?

According to Mole-san, Mole-san is an Earth Spirit, who got cursed while taking a nap. His magical power was sucked, and he was left only with the curse spreading through his body. He couldn’t even let a voice out. Even while crying for help, the magical power from his tears wasn’t spared and he was turned into a mushroom. S, so pitiable… what a horrible curse…

“Dirk…”

“N~ let’s have this mushroom examined by the Magic Institute. Mole-san, I am sorry but we will have to bring you along as a witness. Don’t worry, we won’t treat you poorly.”

Dirk smiled at me. He wrapped a mushroom in the sealing cloth. I also collected one just in case. I should bring it to Jiisama to examine.

Mole-kun bowed his head to Dirk.

“Yesss, I have to apologize to everyone for causing trouble.”

Unfortunately, Mole-kun didn’t remember anything about the culprit who cursed him.

When we returned to the hill, the monsters were cleanly dismantled. Ordo and Sui apparently judged that there was no more danger.

We had a barbecue once again. We decided to treat the Knights who were working since early in the morning as well. I earnestly made the preparations, the children helped me, and Kou was grilling.

I, who got tired from cooking or whatever fell asleep like a log on Dirk’s lap and before I noticed, I was back at home.

I spoke to Elder brother who didn’t know anything after he returned from the school.

“Niisama, I went for a picnic with the children today.”

“Did you have fun?”

“Yes. It was a picnic until halfway. Halfway in, it changed into hunting and barbecue, then we were attacked by mushroom monsters, and then we saved people from the Knights order.”

“Is that really a smiling matter!?”

Truly. My heart fell at ease from Elder brother’s interjection.

It was supposed to be my day off, but I got exhausted more than usual for some reason.