After that, the conversation with Alec and the others ended quickly.

We only got a general idea about the war, but the finer details could wait until we were back in the territory.

Wouldn’t make much sense for me to hear it all alone anyway.

With that in mind, I returned to the mansion and headed to Minea-san’s room.

I’d spent about an hour in Alec’s room, I think?

There was still plenty of time before sunset.

Still, even though it only takes a few hours to reach Riana’s capital, it wouldn’t be great to arrive too late.

Looks like it’s time to head back.

Anyway, by the time I arrived at Minea-san’s room, she had already finished writing her letters to Seriana.

There were two letters, both addressed to Seriana.

Once I took them into my care, I prepared to leave the mansion.

I thought about greeting her father just in case, but when I got to his room, he already had a guest.

By the way, the guest was another territory’s lord.

He had brought his knights to fight in the current war and was now staying in this city.

And it wasn’t just him—other lords and high-ranking officials from different regions were still here too, so these meetings would probably continue until they all departed.

I hesitated for a moment, but I’d already greeted him earlier, so… well, this should be enough.

My stay had been a bit rushed, but I was now ready to leave the mansion.

I did have some interest in the church district of this city, which came up in my earlier talk with her father, but there wasn’t time to check it out today. Maybe next time?

Even if I rushed through it now, I only knew the church district during the late night, so…

I might not even notice the difference.

Once I reached the front gate of the estate, I stretched my body and rolled my shoulders as I floated on the 【Floating Orb】, starting a bit of a warm-up routine.

I’ve got a few hundred kilometers of long-distance travel ahead of me.

Time to get pumped!

“Alright… let’s get going, then—”

My body had warmed up nicely. Time to head out.

◇

There are a few routes that connect Riana to Zelkis, not just the main road I used on the way here.

Generally, there’s only one main highway between territories, but Riana was originally part of Zelkis territory.

Because of that, there are narrower paths that lead directly to towns and villages within the domain, even though they’re smaller in scale than the main road.

These paths are tough for nobles with escorts or trade caravans to use, but for small groups, they’re still often preferred.

Compared to the main road, you’re less likely to run into patrolling knights, and in fact, many people deliberately choose these routes for that reason.

Even if you’re not up to anything shady, running into armed soldiers can be a bit much for civilians.

The surroundings aren’t well-maintained, and compared to the main road, there’s a much higher chance of encountering monsters or wild animals, so in terms of safety, it’s a bit concerning. But if you’re not traveling in a large group, hiring one or two adventurers as guards is more than enough.

Well, having unmonitored routes isn’t ideal from a security standpoint, so maybe someday they’ll do something about it—but for now, they’ll likely stay as they are.

So I decided to use one of those alternate routes on the way back.

When I usually return to Riana, I either fly straight over the road or ignore the paths altogether and go in a straight line.

That route is mostly something I use when I’m returning from the royal capital or Zelkis.

Usually, there’s a reason I’m in a rush—limited time or wanting to return quickly—so I haven’t had the luxury of taking detours.

Also, Teresa was often with me, so that played a role too.

But!

Today I had some time to spare—and I was alone.

So this time, I decided to detour a bit south of the main road on my way back.

There’s a similar side path to the north too, but that area’s covered in forest and not really ideal for a casual detour. I’ll save that one for another time.

The south side is a grassland area, with tall grass growing right next to the path, but since I’m flying, it doesn’t really matter to me.

◇

“Hmm… Compared to the road I took coming here, I’m seeing a lot more monsters. Maybe it’s because the sun’s starting to set too…”

I was drifting along the southern side, and I definitely noticed more signs of small monsters like goblins and wolves than on the way here.

It’s open land, so if there were larger monsters around, they’d be easier to spot—but this side has way more thickets where smaller monsters can hide, so for humans, this route might be hard to let their guard down on.

“…Hnn, is it eating something?”

Its presence was weak—probably because of its low stamina or magic—but besides monsters, there were naturally small animals in the thickets too.

Maybe rabbits or weasels?

A single goblin had caught something and was eating it.

Raw, huh…

That’s pretty wild.

Well, putting aside how it eats, maybe this grassland has a somewhat balanced ecosystem.

Maybe they don’t actively attack people?

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Sera ・Blessing・【Hideout】 +1 【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind’s Garment】

Blessed Item・【Floating Orb】 +1 【Shadow Sword】 +1 【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】・8 cards

Seriana・【Area Identification】・【】・0 cards

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

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