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Luke blinked in confusion for a moment, but he then put one hand on the sword at his waist and shook his head with an embarrassed…yet, somehow, proud expression on his face.

“No, I have already reached a conclusion. I lost. I can never win against you, Jill.”
“Huh…?”

I don’t think we’ll know that for sure, but Luke already raised his hand in the air, as if to say ‘I give.’

“By the way, you will be moving to the city of Consul next week, won’t you?”
“Yes. Since we will be using the teleporter, I think we will reach there in a couple of days.”
“I see. I wish I could spend more time…I mean, I wish you would be here much longer, but I guess that’s not so far away.”
“You’re right. Please do visit when you have time. I have friends I’d like you to meet.”

People in the western pioneer village, Eren, Bruno, Bartholomew…can be skipped, I suppose, but their faces came to my mind.

“I see. I’m looking forward to it.”

Luke gave me his trademarked innocent smile. Speaking of his Princely Smile, come to think of it, both Eren and Bruno reacted awkwardly when I told them about Luke…well, they’re all good kids, so I don’t think it will go badly.

After that, as we chatted lightly, we returned to the Imperial Capital, cashed in some medicinal herbs at the Commerce Guild, and bought a few changes of clothes for Lana at a thrift shop.

“—Are we not directly going to go home, Jill?”

I purposefully ignored his question as I made my way to the Craftsmen Guild on my way home. Unlike the other guilds, the Craftsmen Guild was more like a workshop, in the sense that everyone was busily bouncing around in the spacious studio.

One of them was a young dwarf who seemed to be the storekeeper. I had met him the other day, and today I approached him again.

“Hello. I came to pick up the shortsword I requested the other day, is it ready yet?”

He looked at my face and pondered for a moment, but after he glanced at what I’m wearing, he let out a small “oh,” then withdrew to the back of the room without replying to my question.

When he returned shortly after, he had two swords in his hand, each about 30 and 25 centimertes long, including the hilt.

“Here ya go. They weren’t much to work with, so just consider the sheathes and the labor paid with the last fang you gave us.”

I withdrew the surprisingly light short sword from its leather scabbard and examined it.

The blade was not made of metal but of a substance of ivory-like color and texture. When I lightly swung it, it made the vibration of slicing the air, telling me that this wasn’t merely an ornament, but a practical item.

“Thank you. You’ve made a work of art.”
“Just doing my job.”

I thanked the curt dwarf and left the guild.

“You commissioned them to make shortswords? That’s quite the unusual sword.”
“I had them made from the fangs of a wind dragon that Regina and I defeated during our journey.”

“Oh, a Dragonfang Short Sword!”

Luke was positively surprised, and I handed him the longer of the two swords.

“Take this. This is the payback for the ring you gave me. It should house a strong wind spirit since it’s made from the fang of a wing dragon. I’m sure it will be a good use for a dragon knight. I’m only using the materials I had in hand, however, so it didn’t cost me anything, so please don’t hesitate to use it.”

Luke was caught off-guard, then accepted the Dragonfang Short Sword with both hands, smiling bitterly. “I’m beat. How can I not accept it if you say so? — Thank you very much. I will treasure it for the rest of my life.”

“It is just a tool, you can throw it away once it’s broken or if it gets in your way.”

Luke somehow thanked me meaningfully, but I just shrugged away.

“That sounds like you, Jill.” Luke smiled and slipped the short sword into his waistband. “I promise you, I will be a dragon knight worthy of this sword. I will keep my promise to you.”

That became the last words Luke and I exchanged in the capital. The rest of our days passed in a flurry, and the day of our departure came in the blink of an eye.

♢♦♢♦♢

The carriages prepared for this trip consisted of one box carriage for the nobility, in which I, Ms. Christy, and Royce the steward, would ride, and seven covered wagons filled with servants and their luggage.

The reason there were quite a few wagonloads of people was that the guild staff and such were being transferred in conjunction with the expansion and increase of the Consul Branch of the Adventurers’ Guild, piggybacking off of our group. When I looked at the members who had come to greet us, I saw that Caldina, the earnest-looking, petite female staff member who had worked as a receptionist when I first mistakenly went to the Adventurers’ Guild, was also with us.

“Why do I get demoted from the capital…”

She looked quite depressed, but I don’t suppose it was because of her involvement with me…right? Yeah, no way. For some reason, both Ms. Christy and Royce casually looked away from me, but I am sure it was just a coincidence. Yup.

Well, as a matter of fact, the city of Consul is located near the Tenebrae Nemus and the potential demand for guilds has always been great…such was, apparently, the irony that made the decision of her ‘demotion’.

We have quite a few adventurers accompanying us as escorts this time, and I hear that some of these groups are seriously planning to make Consul their base of operations.

By the way, Jesse and the other two saw us off, but they also said; “Tenebrae Nemus is the demon’s gateway, so we try to stay away from there.” I was a little dejected to hear that.

“Seems like we are ready to depart.”

As if on cue from Ms. Christy’s call, the carriages began to move in single file through the morning haze.

Vier was following alongside our carriage, which was running in the middle of the road, with a light, fast gait. On her back, straddling her was Lana, who was now wearing an apron dress and looking completely energized and happy.

I’m glad to see they became good friends

After about two hours of traveling, the carriage approached a small hill. I got off the carriage, which had stopped at the top of the hill to adjust the distance to the following carriages, and with Vier and Lana sitting next to me, I took in the scene below — the vast plains, the magnificent great river, and the entire cityscape of the huge imperial city.

“Wow, we were there not long ago.”

As I was lost in emotions after all the time I spent in the Imperial capital, Lana pointed to the sky above it. “Big bird…?”

I squinted my eyes, and several wyverns flying over the Imperial Capital came into my view. Are they having military training?

One of them — a distinctively pure white wyvern — was approaching us rapidly. “Wha— Fubuki?! Is it Mr. Eilmer?”

The wyvern circled a couple of times above our cheering carriage party.

The dragon knight holding the reins lightly waved his hand, and a small figure in the saddle behind him spotted me, waved a dagger in his hand, and said something in farewell.

Soon after, the wyvern returned to its companions, and our carriage party, which had stopped to watch, gathered in groups of three, with the excitement still lingering.

Thus, we left the imperial capital and set out on a journey to the remote town of Consul — a homecoming for me.