5-3 Part 1
Building a Remote Fortress with Just a
Shovel
- Katyusha of Corin Village -
Translator : PolterGlast
Well, anyway. While Lucky-san was struggling with
where to put the yam he was suddenly handed, a new visitor appeared in this reception
room. It was a girl with a strong-willed face. With a short sword at her waist
and a short bow and quiver on her back, she looked like an Archer of the
vigilante corps, except for the fact that she was awfully young.
“Is this the helper from the Imperial Capital?”
“Kachua, I believe I told you not to come...”
The black-haired girl stared at me with a certain intensity.
At first, I thought she came to size me up, but judging from her demeanor, that
didn't seem to be the case. It felt closer to curiosity than suspicion.
“Don't order me around, Uncle! Hey, I'm Katyusha. Kachua
for short. Nice to meet ya!”
“Uncle...? Ah, I heard someone was throwing a tantrum
earlier, but I didn't expect the kid to be this big.”
“That was my little sister!”
“It's much the same thing... Sorry, Shinza-dono, I'll
send her home at once.”
Wanting to keep young relatives away from battle is a
natural emotion. But Kachua is at a sensitive age. She wouldn't listen
to her uncle's orders. Refusing to go home, she kept her eyes only on me.
“Or rather, Uncle, why are you holding a potato...?”
“Just go home! This is just... a souvenir from Shinza-dono...”
“No way! I've never heard of an Adventurer digging up
potatoes!”
“He dug it up for us, so it can't be helped! Shinza-dono
is a slightly eccentric person!”
To think it would get this complicated over a few yams; it's
an unexpected scene. Even Adventurers dig yams. Delicious things were
lying there, so I just collected them while traveling.
“So, what is your business?”
“Ah, that's right! Hey Shinza, tell me about the Imperial
Capital!”
“Don't interrupt... Shinza-dono came here for work. You're
being a nuisance.”
Ignoring Uncle Lucky, Kachua flew in front of
me. Finally, it made sense. She is a country girl yearning for the Imperial
Capital, starving for stories of the outside world.
At the same time, unless I'm mistaken, Lucky-san
seemed to want to prevent contact between Kachua and me.
“Well, I don't mind. In exchange, I'll have you accept my
conditions.”
“Huh... D-don't
tell me, to make up for the lack of Crowns—you're gonna make me do lewd
things?! Don't you dare say something like that,
you hear!?”
“Kachua! That's rude!”
The doubt cleared immediately. Uncle Lucky feared
that I would take a liking to Kachua and demand her as payment. If I
demanded something else to make up for the insufficient reward, they couldn't
refuse. That's why he wanted to send her home immediately...
“There's no way I'd lay a hand on a child. Tell me about Corin
Village, and in exchange, I'll tell you about the Imperial Capital.”
“Y-You're just a youngster yourself! I'm already fifteen;
I'm plenty adult! Look, I even have proper breasts!”
“Then you're two years younger. More importantly, don't you
want to hear about the Imperial Capital?”
“Of course I do!”
“Sorry, Shinza-dono... I'll scold her later...”
Lucky-san was
relieved from the bottom of his heart that I had no such intentions, and then
tried to pull back Kachua, who was leaning forward, looking apologetic.
It seemed to annoy her, though, as Kachua roughly brushed him off...
Since Kachua is tall and Lucky-san is still
young for an uncle, they started to look like siblings.
“If we're talking about the biggest attraction, it has to be
the Red Avenue. It is a gigantic road that cuts the Imperial Capital
into a cross, and shops are packed along almost all of it. There are sweet
confectionery shops and delicious pasta shops too. If you go to the Imperial
Capital, you can get your hands on anything. Assuming it isn't prohibited goods, that is.”
“Woooow... When you said lots of shops, it's that much?! I
can't even imagine it, it's too amazing... Does such a world really exist
outside...”
The majority of the populace will likely go to their graves
without ever once witnessing the prosperity of the Imperial Capital. No
matter how much they yearn for the capital, rural people don't know any other
way of life. The time they aim for the Imperial Capital is often when
they have run out of money and lost their way of living.
“It exists. There is also the palace where the Emperor
resides. It doubles as a government building, so not only military personnel
but also many politicians and nobles gather there. The sights to see would be
the massive Hanging Gardens and the Underground Cathedral. And
the statue of the First Emperor in the plaza.”
“I want to go! Besides, the Imperial Capital is where
the Adventurer's Guild Headquarters is, right!”
But Kachua is a little different. She strongly
yearned for life in the Imperial Capital. She was so engrossed in my story
that she was breathing excitedly right in my face.
“Do you want to become an Adventurer?”
“No! It is far too dangerous. If you do that kind of work,
you'll die immediately, Kachua!”
“Oh really, dangerous, he says. But is it okay to say that
in front of Shinza?”
Being an Adventurer is an extremely
dangerous line of work. While eyes are drawn to stars like Sigrun, the
ones eaten to death by Abyss Hounds in the Great Forest of Ilmia
also come to mind.
I understood the feeling of not wanting to let Kachua
do it. Indirectly, I understood Jii's feelings just a little bit too.
But I can't change my way of life now.
“Guh, th-that is... Sorry Shinza-dono, I didn't mean
it in a bad way.”
“I don't mind. After all, for certain reasons, my life is
lighter than a poppy seed. So well, that's why I started this side job.”
“Side job? Then what is Shinza's main job?”
“A NEET—no, I am an Excavator.”
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