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After that, Triela and Arle also start scolding him strictly. They explained to him why they didn’t talk about me in the orphanage and why I didn’t enter the town before.

As for me? I glanced at him with disgusted eyes, said a word of sarcasm, then ignored him, keeping him out of my sight.

“I see. I didn’t expect you to ‌sell me to buy the management rights.”

When I said that, Cain finally understood the consequences of what he was trying to do. He turned pale and tried to follow me, but Maricle yelled at him, causing him to sit upright on the ground. He was scolded until it’s time to sleep.

Ah, I used barrier and wind magic to insulate the sound so the surrounding people wouldn’t come near or eavesdrop on us. I have improved!

My [Barrier Magic] became LV5 after defeating the giant.

“Oh, Ren… Um, I…”

The next morning, Cain tried to talk to me, but I completely ignored him. Don’t approach me.

After that, Cain was alone at breakfast. Maricle ignored him, Boman was preoccupied with various things, and Ryuu was looking at Cain with cold eyes like how I looked at him last night.

After we finished breakfast and cleaned up the camp, the carriage started moving at high-speeds today. If we went at this pace, we should be able to reach the royal capital in the evening.

While the carriage was moving, the boys in the coachman’s seat discussed, organized, and shared information about what was good and what was bad. Listening to that, Cain’s shoulders were getting narrower. He’s stupid, so it can’t be helped.

Some trouble occurred when I parked the carriage at noon to prepare a light meal. A monster appeared.

It was a stray, hungry orc. I didn’t use monster repellent when traveling with the carriage.

I didn’t encounter many monsters during winter. And even if I did, they often come in small numbers. On the off chance there were many, I could still handle it, and they were mostly weak because of hunger. Sometimes they turned ferocious too, but it wouldn’t matter as long as I was careful.

Bell had become strong recently, so this was the perfect chance for Bell to gain experience. I had Norn to defend me, and I set a barrier. There’s nothing wrong with my plan.

But I didn’t intend to interfere here. Triela and the others would have to do their best.

They were well equipped and received guidance from the older adventurers at the orphanage. And since they all gained combat experience in the defense battle, I wanted to see how far they could go on their own.

Hmm, well… Anyway, I watched them. Norn also waited with me. I would help them in case of emergency, but they should do their best.

The orc began to act hostile and rushed to them vigorously. But Maricle got in its way. Maricle used his shield well, blocking it completely. That’s amazing, considering the notable difference in their body size.

While Maricle was holding down the orc, Ryuu and Boman deployed from left and right. Maricle added the damage by bashing the orc with his shield, making it stagger. They aimed to take away its arms and legs, taking away its attack power and mobility.

Boman’s weapon was a large club. He really took my joke seriously and made it himself. However, he didn’t need to learn complicated techniques like a sword. As long as he could hit the opponent, he could do a lot of damage, so he liked it a lot.

Maybe he could use a mace or an axe‌? It would be more tactical to have a striking weapon than have everyone equipping a sword.

Cain took a step back and gave instructions to the three boys, occasionally approaching and striking the orc. His timing and aim were accurate, which annoyed me.

Triela was one step further than Cain. Her weapon was a short spear, so she aimed at the joints of the orc’s arm or the throat, stabbing it then moving away. Good, do it more.

Arle used a sling to shoot stones when the orc raised its arms to attack, distracting it from attacking. Her hit rate was quite high, probably because she was practicing. Her timing of shooting was also accurate.

Rico was in charge of the final blow. She planned to stop it from moving completely, then destroyed its head with a magic arrow.

And Kuro. She lowered her posture and ran around the orc’s feet at a ridiculous speed, slashing its legs and shaving its mobility. Her evasion power was also tremendous, avoiding friendly fire easily. None of the orc’s attacks hit her. To be honest, Kuro alone was enough, right?

Kuro mostly took the orc’s mobility away all by herself. And when it couldn’t use its arms anymore, Rico fired a magic arrow, blowing the upper half of the orc’s head off and ending the battle. The result was they defeated it with no danger.

It delighted everyone that they could defend themselves when they were attacked while collecting herbs. They seemed to be confident in the result. However, they were still worried about the actual battle, so they would make time to practice every day.

Cain was the most pleased with this result, followed by Maricle.

Both of them would be thirteen years old next year, so they could take subjugation requests from the beginning of the year. The rules of the Adventurer’s Guild were pretty vague here.

They could earn more income by taking subjugation requests, so everyone’s expressions were bright.

But safety was the most important, so Maricle said they would do their best while making sure not to get injured. I hope he could properly suppress those idiots.

I didn’t care if Cain got injured or died, but Triela would be burdened if he increased the expenses. If he didn’t take care of himself, he would trouble everyone, so I’ll warn him a bit.

A tsundere? No, I’m not. Stop that, for real.

When I warned him, everyone had a complicated face. It seemed like I looked like I was seriously unwilling to speak to him.

After collecting the orc and having lunch, we continued moving. We entered the royal capital in the evening as scheduled. Naturally, the carriage stopped at a hidden place and we entered the town on foot. During winter, the number of pedestrians decreased, so we could enter faster than usual.

I was staying at Triela’s house today. It took a lot of time to move around this large royal capital. And the gate of the inner wall would be closed after the evening, restricting my movement.

Triela’s house was in the third district, and Arnold’s workshop, which was actually a luxury store, was in the second district. The guards would let me in once I explained the situation, but it would be troublesome. So I took Triela’s offer this time.

On the way, we took the key from the landlord’s house and finally returned home after a few weeks.

The house was slightly dusty, and everyone was disheartened to clean up first.

But that was too troublesome for me. ‘Cleaning’ was a one-shot solution. I cleaned the boy’s room as well, just this time.

They also took care of my dinner, and we took a bath in order after the meal and went to bed quickly. Everyone was tired.

It’s a little early, but good night.

Ahh, I would be back in the blacksmith and finally continue my training… Zzz.