"Ready to go!"
Yep, after contacting our business partners and delivering a large amount of goods, storing the things we didn't want stolen in item boxes and taking anti-theft measures, laying the groundwork with the lord, explaining things to Mine and Aral, and then about Hang and Bad, we went to bed early last night and are all full of energy this morning. I finished my meal with some pre-made food that I had in my item box...
"Okay, let's go!" (Kaoru)
"Oh!" (x3)
Of course, we took Mine and Aral with us. We couldn't leave Mine and Aral here by themselves, and the three people we were after were acquainted with Mine. So, in order for them to trust us, Mine's presence was essential. There was no way anybody would be so foolish as to suddenly have a strange underage kid appear and say, "I'll take care of you, so leave your current life behind and follow me." Especially after having lived a life crawling around the bottom and having already been cruelly deceived once... So the quickest way to go about it was to have Mine explain it to them. The adoptive parents — in reality, they probably hadn't gone through any formal adoption procedures and just had an apprenticeship contract with several decades' worth of wages paid in advance — would likely become our complete enemy, so we needed the kids to completely trust us and be on our side. Well, even without that, leaving them behind was never an option from the start.
The dried fish and jerky that I promised to the lord had already been delivered. Of course, I just entered through the back door and handed it over to a servant. No supplier would go to the trouble of calling the lord just to deliver something like this, and there probably wouldn't be a servant to handle something like that in the first place. As a service, we gave them pickles (pickled radish, pickled turnip, and lightly pickled cucumber), candy, and a few bottles of brandy. The dried fish and pickles were homemade, but the candy and brandy were cheats. Oh, I prepared some for the people who helped me with my research. I had to be sure to show my gratitude to those people. This kind of thoughtfulness would come back to me someday... Also, a small bottle of soy sauce for the dried fish. There were also notes attached with instructions on how to use it, including tips on how to grill dried fish.
Well, I was sure the chefs here knew that much, but I wanted to be on the safe side. They might overcook it, thinking that they couldn't trust something made by an amateur kid. Therefore, I wrote about that in the properly sealed letter I sent to the lord.
…Yeah, if he becomes the "Meguro Pacific Saury", I feel so sorry for the lord. He probably won’t have much to look forward to.
However, even though I had thought about making connections with nobles and wealthy merchants, I never imagined that I would end up coming into direct contact with the lord through something like this...
Well, whatever. Things don't always go according to plan in this world. There are unexpected accidents, and unexpected good fortunes. This is more of a "good fortune" event.
After locking the door, we were standing in front of the house—me, Reiko, Mine, Aral, Hang, and Bad.
Okay, let's go!
"Come on, magic carriage!" (Kaoru)
Here it goes!
"Whaaaaaaaaaat?!" (Mine + Aral)
Suddenly, an intimidating carriage (Panzer) appeared in front of me. Yes, out of the three carriages, this one was the one designed to be used for driving on the highway as a bug-repellent, with a sturdy exterior to prevent entanglements. It was the one with a dummy doll (Oscar) on the driver's seat.
On Earth, it's common knowledge that pumpkins can be transformed into carriages through magic. And in this world (here), it's common knowledge that a carriage can suddenly appear using magic. ...Maybe.
Of course, the voices that Mine and Aral raised were not screams but cheers. It was the first time they had ever seen magic. Of course, they were bound to let out a cheer.
"Hang, Bad, I'm counting on you!" (Kaoru)
"Leave it to us (buhihihi)!!" (Hang + Bad)
Mine and Aral froze as they watched Hang and Bad moved to the positions where they would put on their harnesses.
Somehow, I feel they were more surprised than when I took the carriage out. ...I wonder why?
"Why are you so surprised? I explained it clearly, didn't I? These two horses were the beloved horses of a person who was once called a goddess or Angel-sama, and are the descendants of sacred horses. So, they can understand to a certain extent what the owner said..." (Kaoru)
Even when I said that, Aral looked like he couldn't accept it. Then, Mine stared intently at my face...
"No, no, what I said just now wasn't that the horse understood what its master was saying, but that Kaoru-sama spoke the language of the horse, right?" (Mine)
"Huh?" (Kaoru)
What?
Huh?
Huuuuh?
When I looked at Reiko's face, her mouth was half open and she had a blank look on her face.
"Damn it!!" (Kaoru)
In that setting, I should have to speak in human language and Hang would have to be able to understand it. If I spoke horse language, it was obvious that any horse could understand. Neither I nor Reiko noticed it at all. It was a complete misconfiguration...
"C-Could it be...?"
"Kaoru-sama..."
Oh no, this is bad! They'll find out the truth! How insanely clever these two are!
"Kaoru-sama is the descendant of the divine horse!!" (Mine + Aral)
"Whyyyyyy!!" (Kaoru)
"Who the hell is a descendant of a horse?" (Kaoru)
"I'm so sorry..." (Mine + Aral)
No, well, that's okay though...
They had already put harnesses on Hang and Bad and had begun moving. The dummy (Oscar) was placed on the driver's seat only after leaving the town and going a little way away. Otherwise, the townspeople would wonder, "Who is that person sitting on the driver's seat?" Right now, Reiko was sitting in the driver's seat and I was explaining to Mine and Aral in the passenger compartment.
"If I spoke to a horse in human language, people would think I was a 'poor person,' and if they thought that Hang and Bad were horses that could understand human language, they might have bad intentions, so I do that to make people think that I'm just making horse-like sounds to bond with the horses. As descendants of a sacred horse, they were able to understand what their owner is saying, not because they understand human language, but because they have the power to sense their owner's thoughts, so the words that come out of his mouth are irrelevant." (Kaoru)
Okay, easy!
"Well, I'm going back to the driver's seat, so you two can have a nice rest. However, you're not allowed to sleep! You won't be able to sleep at night." (Kaoru)
This is fine. Reiko gets angry if I let her sit alone on the driver's seat for too long, so I have to talk to her... If we get far enough away from the city, we can sit the dummy (Oscar) and have fun together in the guest room. In the former orphanage (Little Silver), a wall is inevitably created between employer and servant, but if we sit facing each other in a narrow carriage, we can have a casual conversation. Mine and Aral are a bit too stiff.
No, that's normal for them, but Mine is particularly strict with us, and Aral, who looks up to Mine, naturally imitates her. I wish she'd act a little more naturally. …Yes, just like everyone in "Eyes of the Goddess"…
"...Kaoru-sama said that, but what are you going to do, Mine-neechan..." (Aral)
"Of course, since that's what Kaoru-sama and Reiko-sama are being told, we should do so. I don't know why they would say that to us, but if that's what they want to leave it at, then all we can do is just leave it at that, right? That's why, they both are wizards, not Angel-sama!" (Mine)
"Yeah, I got it!" (Aral)
As she gave these instructions to Aral, Mine tilted her head.
Goddess wisdom.
Mercy for orphans.
Numerous miracles.
The goddess's carriage, pulled by a sacred horse.
Communicate with animals.
These stories appear in the chapter "The Mercy of the Angel-sama" in the scriptures, and there was no scripture, whether for children or adults, that did not include this chapter.
In every country, there was an orphanage where the scriptures were not read aloud, and children in ordinary families were also taught the scriptures many times during temple services and by their parents at home.
...In other words, everything they had seen and heard up until then, and the explanation just now, was tantamount to a clear declaration that "We are Angel."
There was no way that the intelligent Mine wouldn't know this, and of course Kaoru and Reiko would know the same thing.
(But why is it that, even though they tell us the truth, they hide it on the surface? I don't know, but maybe he has some deep thoughts about it...) (Mine)
Mine, was too perceptive. ...And she was reading too much into it.
But there was no choice. They never thought that the Angel-sama would make such a mistake than horses...