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Cotina invited me to the dining room and treated me to a quick meal. That said, it wasn’t handmade, but rather a small dish bought at the stall. She was living alone now and was also working in the academy. It was natural for her to not have time to make dinner by hand.

“Sorry about offering ready-made food. It’s been like this lately.”
“Finia would have worked some magic on it if she was here. But I had her stay on guard duty.”
“Guard? You mean guarding a trader?”
“Yeah. Temuru is heading to the Holy Tree Kingdom of Forneus.”
“Forneus! That’s pretty far.”

It took us two weeks to get here from Stollar, and would take about two more to reach the capital city Berith. The highway was being maintained lately, but in the past it used to take a month to get to Berith. Thanks to the highway, it has decreased to two weeks now.

It led straight to Berith, and it offered a clear view around – both an advantage and disadvantage. Highways with good views were good feeding grounds both for bandits and monsters.

The safety was maintained near the urban areas, but there was a point where it ended. Otherwise, there would be no need to hire guards. Vultures that could attack from above, Stalk Dogs that were proficient in hiding, and Strike Boars that had high offensive power, increased in number as you went.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the true adventure would start from here on.

“I see… Hmm…”
“What’s wrong?”

Hearing about my destination, Cortina started pondering with a finger to her chin. This was her characteristic pose when thinking about something. But what was to ponder in the current topic, I had no idea.

“I mean, I have accumulated quite a lot of rest days. I was thinking of taking a long vacation in one go here.”
“Huh, you mean…”
“Yeah, I was thinking of coming along too.”
‘Hwah!?”

I was shocked at her sudden idea.

“I have one month free until Reid visits again, so I think I can slack off for that long.”
“That’s not something a teacher should be saying!”
“But I’m worried. You haven’t had two-week trips that often, right?”

As Cortina said, we weren’t really used to going on long trips. This was our third time going on a two-week trip. Actually, one of them was where we were just passengers being protected, so it’s more accurately our second time.

That said, I personally had a lot of experience with it, so I didn’t worry that much. Problem was Finia, Cloud and Michelle who didn’t have such experience. In that sense, I was worried about them like Cortina.

“Well, I guess you coming along would be good?”
“Right? Right?”
“But are you really sure?”
“I am, I am. I’ve already finished off my debt to Maxwell, so it wouldn’t be a bad thing to take a long vacation here.”
“Really?”

It seems that Cortina had become quite overprotective while I was away. From the start, her job was something to rehabilitate her heart, so it was a good time for her to start acting for herself.

It was a separate issue whether I should be deciding that for her, but it certainly would be a great help if she came along. Thus I honestly conveyed my feelings about the matter. Being honest like this was also something I learned after reincarnating.

“Well, I’ll be grateful if you came along.”
“Then it’s settled! I’ll go tell Maxwell quickly.”

Saying that, she stuffed her cheeks with the food and munched on it like a squirrel. She didn’t look like someone in their forties at all, but more like a child. She stayed youthful without an end. Or was it my bias that made me think so, I wonder?

“Thanks for the meal. Okay, I’m off.”
“Take care. But calm down first, okay?”
“Ah, Nicole, don’t sneak out anywhere, okay? Stay and wait until I’m back.”
“Being the host and going away already disqualifies you from saying that, you know?”
“Ignore it, ignore it.”

She dashed to the entrance while laughing. I felt relief to see her acting as unsettled as ever, but also couldn’t help but smile wryly.

The next day, I headed to the square before the city gate to meet up with Temuru who had finished refilling the water. Since we were here, I wanted to meet with Letina too, but she was both a noble and lived in a dormitory. She couldn’t come outside, so I gave up on the reunion for the time being. There were many others I wanted to catch up to, but I gave up for now and headed to the meetup place.

Next to me was Cotina who finished her travel preparations overnight, and…

“Why are you here?”
“Isn’t it fine? One more or one less doesn’t make much difference.”
“I told her she’d just get in the way with her stamina. But she kept insisting.”

Cortina made excuses while holding her head. It was rare for her to be this perplexed. But that was only natural, because Dr. Tricia was following her by the side.

“I’m thankful that you cured my illness… But are you sure this is okay?”

Back when we climbed Mount Nord, she got tired to the point she almost collapsed. She was a self-acknowledged indoor type, so I didn’t think she could keep up with this trip. But ignoring the two of our fears, Tricia casually waved her hand and denied it.

“It’ll be fine. And we have carriages this time around, right? I’ll just ride one all the way.”
“Tricia… You’re totally in a pleasure jaunt mode, aren’t you?”
“I haven’t taken a vacation in a long time just like you. It should be fine to use it up for this opportunity.”
“You let Maxwell know, right?”
“I barged in early in the morning and made him approve it.”

Seizing the initiative against THAT Maxwell made this woman pretty tough, huh? I shrugged while squinting my eyes, agreeing with her coming along. Fortunately, we had more than enough food and water. There wouldn’t be any problems even if passengers increased by one or two.

At the square, Temuru and Finia had already finished their preparations for departure. Michelle, Cloud and Mark’s group had done the same and were standing by. It seems that we were the last to arrive.

“I’m sorry for being Late, Sir Temuru.”
“Not at all. That aside, the person next could you, could it be…?”
“Yes, Cortina decided to join us too. Would it be alright?”
“So it really was Lady Cortina! I am delighted to see you in good health as always. It would be a pleasure beyond my expectations to travel with you.”

Cortina and Temuru were acquaintances. I’m glad he accepted it quickly. That said, there was probably no merchant in this city who’d be able to turn her down. Like this, with two more people on board, we departed from Raum.