It was just about noon, and the sun was fully up, warming the First Forest in the heart of spring.

It wasn’t exactly the best place for a picnic, but it was a fine season to walk around outside.

Not that it mattered to me—I’m always wrapped in the wind, after all!

“…Gobs, huh. I’ll pass on those.”

Murmuring to myself as I dangled my legs over the edge of the 【Floating Orb】, I passed over a group of three Goblins wandering below and continued onward.

Today, I’m hunting in the First Forest.

There’s no point in dragging it out, so I decided to keep it short—just a one-hour hunt, which I haven’t done in a while.

But… I haven’t found a decent target at all.

You can’t just smash a core like in a dungeon to handle corpses, and they don’t respawn after a while either.

Plus, I’m not the only one hunting in this forest. I can’t just go around mowing down every monster I see.

Being a solo hunter comes with its restrictions.

I passed on those Goblins earlier, but I already wiped out a larger-than-usual group of about ten Goblins today.

I gave the corpses to some adventurers nearby who were preparing to head back.

The payment they’ll get from selling the bodies more than covers the transport fee.

That’ll probably pay for tonight’s drinks.

And I got a Holy Coin out of that fight myself… That was a win-win.

Still, I’m not out here chasing profit or anything… but since the next battle will probably be the last, I’d like to take down something big.

“Troubling, huh—”

And that wasn’t just me talking to myself, okay?

I was talking to the snakes poking their heads out from my sleeves.

They’ve been scouting too, but haven’t had much luck either.

It’s probably good for the city that no troublesome monsters are near the forest’s edge, but for me… grrr.

And it’s not ideal for the snakes either.

If it’s dungeon monsters, the snakes can grow by destroying their cores themselves—but that doesn’t work for wild monsters.

I’m starting to feel like there’s no point in forcing myself to fight monsters today.

Maybe I’ll just call it a day.

“Nnnn… Nope, nothing…”

Just to be safe, I scouted the area, but found neither monsters nor adventurers in distress nearby.

Even from this height, I can scan several hundred meters around…

“Alright… time to head back!”

Guess today’s just not a hunting day.

It’s almost lunchtime anyway, so let’s head home!

With that, I turned the course of my 【Floating Orb】 westward, toward the domain capital.

From the First Forest, I flew straight to the lord’s mansion atop the southwestern hill of the capital.

The window of Liesel’s office on the second floor of the main building was open, and I saw Teresa inside—so I entered from there.

Even if I was only in the forest for about an hour, I still felt like freshening up before lunch, so I decided to take a shower in Seriana’s room.

It looked like they still had work to finish, so no need to rush.

◇

“Uweeeeh…”

After washing my hair and body, I stepped out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed. No one was waiting in the room today—it was just me.

Hair… I guess I’ll just keep it wrapped in the towel.

“Plop, plop… there we go.”

I tossed my laundry into the basket in the dressing area and finished changing.

“Is this gonna be cold later?”

I was wearing a jinbei, but since I don’t wrap myself in wind inside the mansion, it might get chilly after sunset.

“Maybe I should throw something on over it…”

I have that gown Liesel gave me. That should do the trick.

I’m not going out again today, so it’s fine.

With that decided, I stepped out of the bathroom and headed to my room.

I rummaged through the shelf where I kept my clothes.

I pulled out the blue gown and threw it over myself, then looked in the mirror.

Reflected back at me was a red-haired guy with a white towel around his head, wearing a black jinbei and a blue gown.

The colors weren’t the best combination, black and blue together, but… I’m just lazing around the mansion for the rest of the day, and it actually felt right in a weird way.

This is fine, right?

“…Alright. Let’s go.”

At my signal, the snakes that had been looking into the mirror with me slithered back under my clothes.

◇

“I’m back—”

When I entered the office, just like when I came in earlier from outside, everyone inside was still hard at work.

It was probably because the rainy season had ended, and people were coming and going from outside the city again.

Apparently, there were a lot of matters requiring their approval.

Thankfully, none of them seemed to be crime-related.

“…You.”

As I scattered a little 【Prayer】 around the room, I floated over toward Seriana.

She looked up from the pile of documents on her desk and stared at me like I was something bizarre.

…Actually, she was speechless.

“What?”

“…Never mind. Teresa.”

She looked like she was about to say something, but gave up, put a hand to her forehead, and called for Teresa.

Teresa, who had been working on documents alongside her, paused and walked over to me.

She had a bit of a wry smile on her face.

Elena, sitting across from her, turned to look at me with the same expression…

“Princess, over here. Let’s dry your hair.”

“Yeah. Please.”

Oh well.

I answered Teresa, unwrapped the towel from my head, and followed her to the lounge area.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Sera ・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind’s Garment】・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】【Red Sword】【Monkey’s Arm】・5 cards

Seriana ・【Area Identification】・【】・39 cards

Elena ・【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・4 cards

Alec ・【Power Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・10 cards