An Old Man from the Countryside Becomes a Swords Saint: I Was Just a Rural Sword Teacher, But My Successful Students Won’t Leave Me Alone! - Chapter 140

“… Alright, I wonder if this is good enough,” I said.

“Mm, it’s okay… I think,” Miu said.

It’s been a few days since the discussion with Sir Henblitz.

Right now, I was proceeding with the final luggage check before leaving for Bidden Village with Miu.

If it was just me, it would have been a very comfortable trip back home, but with Miu there, the story changes.

As long as I have a sword and travel money, I’ll be fine, but in her case, she needs a change of clothes depending on the number of days, and the Magician’s Academy textbooks for self-study. It’s not that I feel bitter about this, but it’s a fresh feeling that I couldn’t experience as a man living by himself.

I’m sure that those with wives and children all over the world go through such hardships when they leave town, and I’m indulged in a feeling that I don’t really understand.

Luckily, the box I received from Ibroix had plenty of good points going for it, and Miu herself wasn’t the type to dress up that much, so I was saved.

I’d like to buy her a nice outfit or two, but the important thing is that she doesn’t have the taste for them. She looks rather grim when she has to wear clothes that are too flashy or too cute, but that doesn’t mean she won’t wear them.

The best-tailored clothes at my house would be the Magician’s Academy uniform, so I think that the budget of the Academy is amazing in that respect as well.

“Did you forget anything?” I asked.

“Mn,” Miu grunted in the negative.

With the strong sunlight pouring down from the morning as usual, after finishing the final check, we left the home I’ve now become completely familiar with.

This was probably Miu’s first time traveling long distances by carriage. I should pay attention to her physical condition on the way, and depending on the situation, it might be good to give her more breaks.

Of course, I carry most of the luggage. I can’t let Miu carry heavy luggage on her back.

By the way, when it comes to arranging the carriage since I consulted with Henblitz about how to go about it, he said he’d take care of it himself. So, I am quite grateful for the help.

Of course, it’s not an invitation like when I was brought here by Alexia, so I’ll definitely pay the fare. And at that part of the process, I also learned for the first time that arranging for a carriage is unexpectedly expensive.

If this is a horse-drawn bus traveling within Baltrain, or if it’s a regular route to another city, it’s not that expensive. The price is affordable enough for most people to ride without hesitation. Because it emphasizes the convenience of the user, it’s justified to offer lots of seats and rides at low prices.

On the other hand, when it comes to a remote country like Bidden Village at your specified time, the situation changes a little.

As long as the timing is not specified, I can get a cheap ride on a merchant’s convoy, but in this case, the arrival date is certain to some extent. If we wait for a merchant convoy that happened to be heading to Bidden Village, we don’t know when we will be able to depart. In the first place, there’s no guarantee there’ll even be merchants going there, and we don’t know when they’ll be around.

Naturally, it becomes like a chartered private carriage, so the price goes up accordingly.

Well, this time there’s Miu too, so it’s convenient to rent it out, but in return, a lot of money was blown away at once. It’s not a problem if it’s a few times, but I’m a little hesitant to pay on a daily basis.

I am quite thankful for the income I have now that I can pay for everything around here. Lucy also told me a while ago that I would have needed the reward money, and she ended up being right.

I don’t think money is everything in the world, but it’s a good thing that having money gives you more options.

Since I myself hadn’t been aware of this until recently, it was only now that I realized how important it was to have enough money so that I wouldn’t find myself in need of more of it.

“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “As I mentioned, Sir Henblitz will be at the meeting place.”

“… He’s from the Knight Order?” Miu asked.

“Yeah, he’s Vice-Captain,” I said.

On the way there, I tell her about Sir Henblitz, as he’d be accompanying us to the village.

I trust him a lot. Miu is a girl at a somewhat complicated age and life circumstances, but she will surely get along well with him. At the very least, she shouldn’t treat him unkindly, and even if they don’t get along, at least she should refrain from saying or doing things that would make him hate her.

“… What kind of guy is he?” Miu asked.

“Right,” I said, “he’s an honest and good person. I personally trust him too.”

“… Fuhn,” Miu huffed.

In this way, it is also a good trend that she’s showing interest in others.

Until now, I felt like she didn’t really care about anyone other than herself and her sister. The world she lived in was so small that it was enough for her, mentally.

However, after living with me and attending the Magician’s Academy, the world she could see expanded, whether she liked it or not. So far, the change in her environment seems to be producing good changes for her, above all else.

“……What is it?” Miu asked.

“No, nothing,” I said. “It’s nothing.”

“Fuhn,” Miu huffed.

As I watched her change with joy, Miu seemed to notice and asked me that bluntly.

Even though the thorns are gone, I can still feel the edges in her words with this kind of frank exchange.

Will this aspect of her change as time passes and she becomes an adult? It’s certainly a welcome growth, but at the same time, it feels a little lonely and sad.

“… We there yet?” Miu asked.

“A little more,” I said. “It’s on the main street in the Central District.”

Our meeting place is the Central District’s carriage stop.

Our house is located on the edge of the Central District, so it’s a short walk to the carriage stop facing the main street.

It’s not near my house, but it’s not too far away either. It was a good exercise for this distance, so it’s within the range.

Since we will be leaving Baltrain early in the morning, we are likely to arrive at Bidden Village around sunset, taking into account the rest stops on the way, and no matter how late we estimate, we will arrive by the end of the day as long as no trouble occurs.

I’m a little uneasy that I couldn’t ask for an escort on the way, but as long as Henblitz and I are here, there shouldn’t be any problems.

If anything, I have to think about how to avoid attacks from my parents after we return to their house.

The 1st day is still good. Miu is also there, so that should be the topic at first.

However, it is quite unreasonable to only talk about Miu while staying there. Naturally, I was going to get stared at once they mention the search for a wife, the trigger that led me to leave Bidden Village.

Of course, that they asked me back this time was probably because of the saber boas and also because of Miu. However, in the end, I think they’re going to strongly prefer asking about my potential wife.

There’s no way I would bother to write something like that in a letter. My parents, especially the Old Man, should know about that.

Just before the said that I shouldn’t come back for a while, it would be quite difficult for the Old Man to say that I should just come home all of a sudden.

So, conveniently, the news about Miu and the Saber Boa Breeding Season overlapped. Using this as an opportunity to call me back once and ask me for a progress report was something that the Old Man would have thought of.

This is just an assumption that I made on my own, so there’s a good chance that it’s not actually the case.

It’s something I realized for the first time after living with Miu, but when you become a guardian, you can’t help but worry about your ward. When I think about it, I don’t think I can get rid of the thought that the Old Man and Mom are worried about me.

Well, unlike Miu, I’m a good old man, so even though I’m a parent, I’m wondering if I should be that worried about her.

“Oh, I see it,” I said. “It’s that over there.”

“Mm,” Miu said.

As I was walking while thinking about such things, the destination, the carriage stop, was approaching.

It was early in the morning, and it wasn’t even a place where the Baltrain’s bus carriages stopped, so the crowds gathered there were quite sparse.

It should be said that it is natural for people living in Baltrain, but most of them complete the scope of their jobs and life within the city.

There are many jobs compared to the population, and there are not many people who go out of their way to live in the city and go to the countryside to work. Even if there were, there are no more people who commute to rural villages every day. Why would you be living in the capital then?

Basically, people live and work in the same place. Even I can’t live in Bidden Village and be told to commute to Baltrain every day, and vice versa.

“Oh, we’re here, we’re here,” I said.

As we got closer to the meeting place, we began to distinguish the sparsely gathered figures.

All you have to do is find a handsome guy with moderately tall blond hair. Finding Sir Henblitz was relatively easy.

“Oh, Sir Beryl! Good morning,” Henblitz said, apparently noticing me at the same time and raising his voice slightly.

“Yeah, good morning,” I said.

“Master! Good morninggg!” another voice said.

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“Morn… hmm?” I asked.

Next to Sir Henblitz, a lively woman with brown hair who looked like she was also ready for this trip greeted me in a loud voice.

“…… What the?” I asked.

Why is Kuruni here?