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Three days passed in a similar manner.

Letina and I safely finished our holiday homework and the day to depart to the camp had arrived.

The pregnant Maria could not follow us, so she ended up staying with Cortina. The reason she didn’t stay in the village of the United Nations was that it was a remote region and didn’t have a good doctor around.

Maria, who was the healer there, having to give birth required the presence of another healer just in case anything happened. However, due to Maria’s presence, no other able medics showed up there.

As such, she wouldn’t be able to deal with it if the unlikely event happened, thus she decided to give birth in Raum which was full of talented people.

She was worried about the village, but Maxwell sent Lyell over every day to check the situation and there seemed to be no problems… So far.

Michelle and I took the occasion and visited the village too. Michelle was quite homesick, so it was a good opportunity for her.

When the villages saw us after so long, they surrounded us from a distance and observed us without looking away. I was a little bewildered at their attitude of looking at us like outsiders. According to Michelle, that was “definitely” not the case, but she didn’t tell me what I was getting wrong.

At any rate, as the next day arrived, there was someone bawling his eyes out seeing me going away when he finally got the chance to live with me.

“Nicooooole, are you leaving your daddy agaaain!”
“It’s just a training camp, I’ll be back in a few days, you know?”
“How cruel of you to leave your pregnant mother who’s about to give birth behind like that!”
“You’re here for her, aren’t you! Cortina is here too, and Gadius is at the mansion as well.”
“This lump of beard is useless during childbirth.”
“That’s quite cruel towards me, don’t you think?”
“Well, I guess he is useless… But I’m not much different even if I stay behind.”
“You can be there to heal my heart!”
“Nicole, you were quite cruel to me as well.”
“Anyway, you’ll have one more child soon, so just endure it until then.”

I stood in a daunting pose and coldly dismissed Lyell who was saying pathetic things. Gadius behind him grumbled in protest, but I decided to ignore him.

At any rate, when my sister would be born, Lyell would have no time to pay attention to me. Besides, rather than heal Lyell’s heart, preparing a gift for my sister was much, much more important.

“That aside, the sea is dangerous so be very careful. The currents there are on another level compared to the river pool.”

As I was dealing with Lyell, Maria addressed me with a piece of practical advice while rubbing her belly that was in its final month. Behind her stood Cortina with a worried expression.

“My apologies, Lady Maria. To be leaving the house during such a crucial moment.”
“Don’t worry, Finia. It’s nothing much if you think of it as a replacement for your vacation.”
“No, well, it is a training camp.”
“Girls using swords to train… I guess you have weird hobbies like Nicole, eh?”
“No, it is not exactly my hobby.”

Finia was feeling apologetic for leaving the house at such an important time due to Maxwell’s insistence. However, we really needed Finia with us this time. Maxwell’s “wisdom of age” was completely useless when it came to cooking.

The other three didn’t seem reliable, so Finia’s life skills were essential for us.

“Well, we are in need of a person who can cook.”
“Maxwell, don’t make her overwork herself, you hear? And properly heal her injuries before bed.”
“I understand.”
“Due to that, my hands are still soft…”
“Isn’t that great? Maxwell, you get it, right? If you leave a single injury on Nicole or Finia, I’m not forgiving you.”
“You are too persistent, Cortina.”

Maxwell was feeling unusually fed up against the joint nagging of Maria and Cortina. As expected, the women of our party were overwhelmingly strong. Perhaps that was the reason why we had such a great balance.

“It seems that I would be useless here, so I can come along if you want?”
“Gadius, you stay here. Lyell seems unreliable when it matters the most.”
“It is already the second childbirth of his wife yet he remains unreliable.”
“As Nicole came first, it is natural for him to worry whether the second child would be as frail as her.”
“I feel bad for causing you to worry.”

The stray arrows from Maxwell and Gadius’ conversation were hitting me. Still, it was true that I worried my parents a lot, so I had no words to say.

“Well then, time to get going. Is everyone ready? Well, even if you are not, we can always come back.”
“As expected of Lord Maxwell.”
“That doesn’t sound like a training camp to me…”
“So amazing!”

Letina and Michelle were looking at him in awe. Cloud on the other hand instead had an exasperated expression. And sorry to say, I agreed with Cloud on this.

“It wouldn’t be a training camp if we can come back so easily. Let’s just make a rule that if we return back even once, it would mean we failed.”
“Are you no too hard on yourself, Nicole?”
“As a Dwarf, I agree to her judgment.”
“I’d rather you just give up on going there in the first place.”
“And you need to learn to give it a rest already.”

The goal this time was the western port city Citri. More precisely, Maxwell’s personal uninhabited islet that was offshore there. It had a cottage to serve as an accommodation facility, but it didn’t have fancy stores you’d find downtown.

It would probably be a half-survival situation there. If we returned to Raum due to some inconveniences, that wouldn’t amount to any training.

It was a good place for us, who were used to having handy magic at our disposal, to focus our minds. I could also get the materials for my present, so it was like killing two birds with one stone.

And thus, we departed on our trip to the port city Citri with Maxwell’s magic.