Chapter 10 - Episode 10: Golem Manipulation, Shopping, and Other Things
"Good morning, Yuri. Good morning, everyone. Was there any danger last night? Did you sleep well?"
"...There was no danger, but it took a little while before I could fall asleep."
"I see. As I thought, it's hard to sleep without a tent, isn't it?"
"No, we're former mercenaries, so we're used to sleeping under the open sky."
"Oh. Then why?"
"Because you and that woman were too noisy!"
Noein deliberately chose not to point out exactly what kind of noises they were. He hesitated to explicitly mention what his lord and his pet slave had been doing alone in a tent at night.
"Even if you say that... it was the night when a man and woman in love reunited after overcoming a life-threatening attack by bandits, so I hope you'll forgive us. Besides, you guys were the cause of it in the first place."
To Noein, who spouted such things with a silly grin,
"Kuh... damn. Fine."
Yuri had no choice but to respond.
"You don't have to make such a bitter face. From tonight onward, we can just keep more distance, and since you'll be sleeping in a tent too, it'll be fine."
After discussing a matter that was, in a sense, urgent for their mutual comfort in living, they finished breakfast and departed for the shopping trip to Retovik, which was today's plan.
At first, Noein proposed that the men go shopping while leaving Matilda and Mai at the settlement, but Matilda showed extreme reluctance with a terrifying expression at the idea of her master acting with men who had been bandits until yesterday. Consequently, they asked Yuri and Mai to stay behind, and the remaining five headed for Retovik.
From Noein's perspective, he was leaving the settlement in the care of people he had only met yesterday, but since he decided to take all the valuables, such as currency and magic tools, with him, it wasn't a major problem.
They left the forest through a route that Noein and the others had passed through many times, which had become somewhat like a road because the ground had been trodden down by the golems.
"Noein-sama, hey, how do you move golems so skillfully?"
The one who brought up the topic on the way to Retovik was the slender, sharp-eyed Pence.
"Ah, I was wondering about that too. These golems move so smoothly it's almost creepy, isn't it?"
The young, refined-looking Bart joined the conversation.
"So, from your perspective as well, the movement of my golems is impressive?"
"It's unbelievable. We've seen golems used for things like hauling luggage, but those were all just sluggish movers."
"...I've seen someone move a golem as well as Noein-sama only once. He was an old puppet mage attached to the Royal Army. Even he only moved one unit. I can't believe you can move several at once like Noein-sama."
Radley added his thoughts, following Pence's lead.
"Usually, once it's discovered that someone can use puppet magic, they start working jobs like luggage transport after only a bit of practice. There are rarely people like me who are utterly bored until they reach adulthood and can spend a vast amount of time solely on mastering golem manipulation. That's surely the reason my manipulation technique is high."
Noein thought that mastering golem manipulation was similar to a baby practicing how to move their own body.
By repeating repetitive practice over and over, growing the technique as if linking nerves one by one, as if gradually synchronizing the brain and body.
Having advanced relentlessly along that long path of training, Noein had become able to use two humanoid golems as freely as his own body. As for the horse-type golems, he could move them with a side-thought, without any real practice.
While simultaneous operation beyond this would likely be difficult, Noein thought that he was probably a quite high-ranking puppet mage in this kingdom, and perhaps even in this world.
...
Upon arriving in Retovik, the first place they headed was Eliza's usual grocery store.
"Oh, if it isn't the Baronet of the Forest. You were here yesterday, so what brings you back?"
Eliza welcomed Noein with a voice full of surprise.
"Hello, Eliza-san. Actually, I'm finally welcoming residents to my territory. I've come to buy food for them."
Noein returned her greeting with a smile and pointed to the three people who had entered the shop with him.
This is where Bart's refined appearance proved useful.
"We drifted into this city as refugees, but the Baronet-sama took pity on us and picked us up. We intend to serve him devotedly from now on to repay this kindness."
Combined with his soulful tone and handsome features, Bart exuded an atmosphere that tickled a woman's desire to protect. Eliza showed sympathy, saying, "Is that so? I'm glad you were picked up." She likely wouldn't dream that he had been a bandit until yesterday.
Noein, watching this while impressed by Bart's acting skills, happened to look to the side and was slightly startled.
First, Pence. With his sharp eyes combined with his slender build, he usually gave the impression of a lizard, but now he had made his eyes droopy, fully embodying a "gaunt, pitiful man."
Furthermore, Radley. To be honest, he was an ugly man, but by adding a sorrowful expression, he drifted an indescribable sense of melancholy. It was the kind of atmosphere that would make one instinctively throw a few coins if he were begging on the roadside.
Both of them had become appearances that could be believed as "pitiful refugees" without any strain, no less than Bart.
They had surely used these faces until now to lower the guard of those around them and survive moving between cities and villages.
While suppressing the urge to ask where the rough-and-tumble versions of them from a moment ago had gone, Noein purchased additional food from Eliza.
Once the food shopping was finished, next they went to buy daily necessities and bedding for them.
"You're even buying us a change of clothes?"
"Of course. You can't keep wearing those clothes forever, can you?"
It couldn't be helped since they had been wandering the kingdom as bandits, but they smelled because they hadn't properly washed their bodies or clothes.
That said, if they didn't even have a proper change of clothes, they wouldn't be able to do laundry in peace.
Noein thought that a situation where residents cannot even wash their clothes was something that should be improved immediately.
He bought appropriate changes of clothes even for Yuri and Mai, who were staying at the settlement, and added cloths and tubs for the five of them to wash their bodies, as well as consumables like soap.
Pence and the others were intimidated that a luxury item like soap was being provided for them, but
"Good work comes from a good life. If you feel it's too much, you can just pay me back with your work,"
Noein told them.
The last thing to buy was the tents.
"I think it'll be difficult to cram all five of you into one tent, so how should we divide it? Separate by gender?"
"No, Mai is the boss's woman. It'd be a help if you could divide it between those two and us."
"Ah, I see."
He felt he understood why Yuri had said he and Mai would stay behind at the settlement.
While telling me that the night noises are too loud, he intends to enjoy himself alone with a woman at the settlement where there are no interruptions, doesn't he? he grumbled in his heart.
While grumbling, he properly bought the tents and returned to the settlement with the horse-drawn carriage fully loaded with luggage.