202: A Village Request

"This tea was brewed from leaves gathered right here in the mountains. Please, help yourself."

It had been about a day since we departed the Royal Capital.

We were traveling in a massive carriage, but the mountain roads were so bumpy that I hadn't managed to get a single wink of sleep. Tura, however, was snoring away—true to her word about having "trained her buttocks" for this. Even now, she was the only one in our group who seemed to have any actual energy.

"Thank you very much!" she chirped.

The village was larger than I’d imagined, with dozens of children running about. The chief explained that they lived a modest life supported by farming and hunting. Apparently, the area was usually free of monsters, but about a week ago, a Dragon had decided to make its nest near the local waterfall. Now, no one could get anywhere near it.

There is a proverb in Noblesse: "A dragon’s wrath leaves a village in ash." Taking that wisdom to heart, the villagers had been careful not to do anything to provoke it.

Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve had tea, I thought, taking a sip. As the pleasant warmth traveled from my mouth down my throat and settled into my stomach, my body gradually began to heat up from the inside out.

...This is actually delicious.

Perhaps because visitors were such a rarity, a group of children hovered near the door, staring at us. Lilith gave them a beaming smile and waved.

"Hello there," she said.

"Ehehe, hello!"

"Ah! No fair, you got a head start!"

"Helloooo!"

The village chief eventually told them to go play elsewhere, and they scurried off.

Personally, I found getting involved with people to be a huge pain. If it were up to me, I wouldn't want to know a single thing about them. Once you learn about someone else’s life, you start feeling the weight of responsibility for it. Since I barely had enough room in my head to deal with my own life, I wanted to remain a bystander for as long as possible.

At least, that was the plan.

"But truly, we cannot thank you enough," the chief said. "Lord Biado, we are in your hands."

"Ah, no. My apologies, but while I will be assisting, I am primarily here as a guide," Biado replied. "The ones who will actually be driving away the Dragon are—"

The village chief—an elderly man named Janson—had hair streaked with gray, though he was younger than I’d expected. He bowed his head deeply. Biado scratched his own head sheepishly before gesturing toward us with refined, polite movements.

Biado had been a perfect gentleman inside the carriage. He’d provided portable rations and drinks, and he was constantly checking on our well-being during the rough mountain transit. And this was despite the fact that he was much older than us. Apparently, he had a great deal of admiration for Nobless Academy, which meant he treated even us younger students with genuine respect.

While I felt a wave of gratitude toward our Academy predecessors for building such a reputation, Olynn, Tura, and Lilith chatted away cheerfully with the locals.

To my surprise, the chief actually knew who I was. Apparently, he’d been in the spectator stands during the Adventurer Tournament. Ah, the memories of beating Allen to a pulp. Thinking about that always puts me in a good mood.

The chief’s eyes widened in surprise—no, it looked more like a hint of anxiety. Sensing the shift in mood, Biado immediately narrowed his eyes and offered a reassuring smile.

"Please, don't worry. They are Intermediate-year Students from Nobless Academy. Previously, they even saved Princess Sophia during the Large-scale Invasion. Their abilities are the real deal. In fact, they are much stronger than I am."

"O-oh! Forgive my rudeness!"

"Don't sweat it!" Tura said with a bright grin. "But he's right, we're plenty strong! Especially Weiss—he's incredible!"

"He really is!" Lilith added, puffing her chest out with pride.

Whatever, just please stop raising the bar for me.

I glanced to the side, wondering where Olynn had disappeared to, only to find him showing Pippin to the children. He must have a soft spot for kids; I vaguely remembered the Original Story mentioning something to that effect.

"This squirrel is so cute, Big Sister!" one of the kids cheered.

"Huh? M-me?" Olynn stammered.

Well, that was the standard reaction to him, after all.