Chapter 519: The Reason Why She was Interested in Khanna

After we left Khanna and the others, I asked Fran a question that had been bothering me.

『Hey, Fran』

「Nn?」

『Why did you interested in Khanna so much?』

I wouldn’t say she was a bad person, but she was a strong-willed and tricky person. She would use Fran to her advantage to get into the country. Was there any reason for her to favor her that much?

Now that I think about it, I wonder if there was a reason why she didn’t strongly restrain Dianne’s rude words.

Well, if Khanna and the others had any incidents in the future, there would be little chance that Fran would be bothered. They were just coming along for the ride and being protected from any monsters after all. I didn’t dare tell her that, though.

They also didn’t use bribes or lie to enter the country. Moreover, they had also presented their identity, and the immigration officer had also officially admitted them into the country. If something goes wrong, the responsibility has already been handed over to the country.

Moreover, in Fran’s case, since her immigration records were well documented, they would know that she was alone when she left the Kranzel Kingdom. In other words, it was supported by the fact that they happened to be together on the pass. It would be unlikely that she would be considered one of Khanna’s companions.

But even so, Fran had to bear the burden of being with Khanna.

『You know that she has obviously taken advantage of Fran, right?』

「Nn, I wasn’t fooled」

『Well, you’re right, but…』

「Khanna, the same age as me」

『Now that you’ve mentioned it…』

But, is that all?

「And she didn’t despise the Black Cat kin」

『Aah, I see』

「Nn. Dianne too, she made a fool of the adventurers but didn’t make a fool of the Black Cat kin」

In fact, even the people we had met and befriended in our travels so far had been very surprised to see a girl from the Black Cat kin. There were two patterns of their surprise though.

The most common one was the surprise that a girl from the weakest race, the Black Cat kin, could be an adventurer.

The other one was the surprise at the fact that even though she was a member of the Black Cat kin, she carried the air of a powerful person.

Either way, there was contempt for the Black Cat kin. No, they don’t have any contempt or malice towards the Black Cat kin. It was just that they consider it was common knowledge that the Black Cat kin is weak and unfit for battle.

It was frustrating for Fran. It must have been sad too.

But not once did Khanna, Dianne, or Shella say anything about the Black Cats being weak. There were some insults about her being a little girl or an adventurer, but that was it.

Especially Khanna. Come to think of it, she didn’t seem to care about race, age, and status at all. Now I also felt respect for her.

「Khanna is interesting. I wish she was an adventurer though」

『Hee?』

In fact, this was quite the compliment in Fran’s eyes.

「But Khanna is weak」

『Well, she’s not much of a magician, is she?』

「But she’s not afraid of me, so I knew that she’s not to be underestimated」

Strong adventurers sometimes tested each other’s strength during their first encounter. They fought against each other with a light exchange of feints to assess each other’s strength.

But it seems the public eye often thought that they’re trying to kill each other, but if they were a really strong adventurer, no harm would come to them. And when they recognize each other’s strength, they will go out as equals.

Although it was different from that for an adventurer, Fran seemed to recognize Khanna as an equal. I wonder what she had to have that tugged at Fran’s heartstrings besides her fighting ability?

She’s the same age as her, doesn’t look down on her for being an adventurer or a member of the Black Cat kin, and even tried to use her without fearing her overwhelming power. When I think about it, she’s quite capable huh?

「Khanna is interesting」

『Well, it’s fine then if Fran says so』

「Nn!」

After all, she was kind of interested in her. I guess that’s what it’s all about.

『They said it normally should take about 5 days to reach the Academy of Magic from here』

「It would be even shorter with Urushi」

「Woof!」

『But since this is the first time we’ve come to this country, I’d like to see some of the towns too』

「Delicious specialties too!」

「Woof woof!」

『That too, huh?』

I also want to show up at the adventurer’s guild to listen to the domestic situation. In particular, I want to know what’s currently going on with the Kranzel Kingdom and the Raidos Kingdom. I don’t want to get involved in a war after all.

「Is there anything else?」

「Woof?」

『…There might be more to see if you’re an adult』

「Ooh-, I see」

It would be best if Urushi didn’t make his body size too huge too. We’ll never know what kind of rumors might start after all.

In the end, we decided to have Urushi change to the size of a pony and head for the nearest village from here. After that, we would head to a larger town.

However, we were not able to achieve anything special in that village. It was the closest village to the border, so I thought it would be developed like a lodging town, but it was completely rural.

There was only one old man, a former E ranked, in the Adventurer’s Guild branch. There was also a lake about an hour further on, and apparently, there was a large town on its shores.

Most travelers usually just pass through the village and go to that town.

『A lakeside town huh?』

「Looking forward to it」

『Come to think of it, have you ever seen a lake that big?』

「Nn」

「Woof」

A lake itself was not new to us, but the place we were going to visit was on a different scale. We can’t see the other side of the lake after all. It’s probably about the same size as Lake Biwa. But it might even be bigger than that.

(Note: Lake Biwa: 63Km in length, 23Km in width)

「Urushi, hurry!」

「Woof woof!」

『Oioi, the lake won’t run away you know?』

「There’s fish」

「Woof」

Aah, come to think of it, he said that big freshwater fish was a specialty. Was it something like a carp?

「Fish Curry―」

Does freshwater fish go well with curry? Was there such a thing as carp curry or eel curry? I guess it was not out of the question as a local souvenir, but…

『Fran, let me tell you one thing, some ingredients don’t go well with curry you know?』

「It will be fine. Curry is the best, no matter what you put in it」

Oh crap, I definitely need to make delicious freshwater fish curry, huh?!