Chapter 34
Roil lifted the pickaxe with his fairly strong arms and began tapping the ground bit by bit. Having learned swordsmanship, he had also mastered controlling his strength, so he dug carefully around the buried object without scratching it.
Ellen cheered beside him.
“Good job! Fiiightiiing!”
The same encouragement that Rette had once heard and lost heart over echoed through the cave.
Once the hard earth was broken enough, Ellen took a small gardening shovel from her pocket.
“You really came prepared, huh? Are you Doraemon?”
Roil handed the pickaxe back to Ellen and took the small shovel from her.
“I don’t want to ruin my hands. Cosmetics aren’t well-developed here, so it’s hard to take care of them.”
“Of course it is.”
Roil crouched down and gently dug with the small shovel and his hands. Eventually, the buried object revealed itself.
“A chest?”
The chest, larger than the size of two hands together, showed signs of age but wasn’t rusted.
Ellen tilted her head as Roil put the small shovel back in his pocket.
“Let’s open it.”
When she reached for the lid fearlessly, Roil quickly grabbed her wrist.
“You’re grabbing my wrist a lot today.”
“And you’re moving recklessly again today?”
Without backing down, Roil examined the chest first.
“Hmm… doesn’t look like it’s locked. Ellie, give me the pickaxe again.”
“Why? You want me to smash it?”
Despite her words, Ellen dutifully took out the pickaxe and handed it to him.
Roil stepped back with Ellen and hooked the pickaxe onto the chest lid. After a few failed attempts, he finally managed to open it.
Standing back, he craned his neck to look inside.
“It’s a pouch?”
“What? Another pouch?”
Ellen had secretly hoped for mystical smoke or a rare treasure, but instead sat down in slight disappointment in front of the chest.
“Is this some kind of ‘pouch day’ recently?”
Grumbling about why there always seemed to be pouches, Ellen watched as Roil pulled two pouches out of the chest.
“Two of them.”
He showed one in each hand. Sighing, Ellen picked one up and examined it.
“It’s about the same size as mine.”
She looked inside the pouch indifferently, then dropped a small stone she found on the ground into it.
“Maybe you put something like money in it… huh?”
Wait, where did it go?
Though she had put the stone in, nothing could be felt inside the pouch. Surprised, Ellen turned it over, but it was empty.
Roil was equally astonished. Having seen her drop the stone in, he couldn’t help but gasp.
They glanced at each other, then both turned quickly to the chest.
“There it is!”
Roil exclaimed. Inside the open chest, the stone Ellen had placed lay neatly.
“…….”
“…….”
Ellen stared at the stone in the chest, then silently untied the purple ribbon in her hair. She shoved the ribbon into the pouch, and in less than two seconds, the purple ribbon appeared inside the chest.
“Did your ancestors get scammed by a dragon or something?”
Roil muttered while staring blankly at the chest. Ellen, without taking her eyes off the chest, muttered as well.
“I was thinking the same thing. Maybe pouches like this are really common in this world.”
They exchanged glances again, looking between the pouches and the chest.
“Why would a magical pouch just roll around on the dirt floor like this?”
Ellen pulled the ribbon out of the chest and roughly gathered her hair.
“Hey, help me with this. It’s a ribbon, not an elastic band, so it’s hard to do alone.”
She turned her back to Roil.
“W-what am I supposed to do with this?”
Flustered, Roil grabbed her hair with one hand and held the ribbon in the other.
“What am I supposed to do with this…”
Not wanting to hurt her scalp, he clumsily held her hair and wrapped the ribbon around.
“I can’t make a proper ribbon. Can I just tie it roughly?”
“Do it like that.”
Ellen, fiddling with the pouch and humming, answered.
After struggling a bit, Roil finally tied the ribbon and gently let go of her hair. It looked messy but didn’t come undone.
He glanced at the chest and pouches.
“Should we take these back to your house for now? Your mom’s there, right?”
“Hmm, but we already have a set of pouches at home. You carried the pickaxe too. Can I even take this?”
Ellen hesitated briefly.
“Still, these came from your estate. You found them. Let’s go to your house and grab some food too. I’m hungry.”
Ellen smiled lightly at Roil’s words.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Since the horse Roil brought couldn’t pass through the small hole, they decided to ride it back together.
Sitting behind Ellen, Roil nudged the horse lightly and spoke.
“You don’t like Erika and Sila, right?”
It was sudden. Ellen glanced back.
“Right. Erika openly said she dislikes Sila.”
“Yeah. And you don’t say it, but you dislike her too.”
Ellen nodded calmly.
“Yes. I dislike her. She’s weird. I ran to her at the Paulette picnic too, but she treated you like a hero and me like nothing. You know how she treats me?”
“I know.”
“You know?”
Ellen remembered Roil staring blankly at her while eating meat on the hunting day.
“…You really know? Know what?”
“She doesn’t even show you the minimum courtesy.”
Ah, he does know.
“But you didn’t scold her?”
Ellen pouted. Sitting behind her, he couldn’t see her expression.
“I wanted to, but… I was hesitant…”
“Hesitant?”
Why would the son of a house owner hesitate before a maid? Ellen asked, puzzled.
“No, listen. I think Sila upset my mother somehow.”
Hmm. Understandable. Serving guests poorly. Ellen thought quietly.
“I think my mother wanted to assign Sila as my aide, but it seems she changed her mind. I left her alone because she’d soon leave anyway.”
“Your mother said that?”
Ellen brightened.
“She never says it directly, just hints. Both when she first placed Sila next to me and now.”
“Ah, I see.”
Soon she wouldn’t be visible. Might as well ignore her.
Being a confidant to the future count is a coveted position for commoners. Lucky for her. People are always consistent, huh.
Ellen changed the topic, satisfied.
“This horse is strong. Even with the two of us, it looks effortless.”
“Our Mars is sturdy. When fully grown, it’ll carry two adults easily.”
Roil said proudly.
“The horse’s name is Mars?”
“You didn’t know?”
“Hmm.”
Having known it for years, she confidently claimed ignorance. Roil stared at her silently and closed his mouth.
✿ ✿ ✿
Hearing that the two were coming, butler Albert bowed in front of the mansion.
“You’ve returned, Miss, and Sir Roilet.”
Roil dismounted first, followed by Ellen. She asked quickly,
“Albert, where’s Mom?”
“…She’s in her office.”
Albert instinctively lowered his hand as he reached to help her off the horse.
Ellen’s dismounting resembled her mother’s so much that Albert thought it amusing as he opened the mansion door.
Ellen and Roil headed straight to Gloria’s office, whispering as they walked.
“Doesn’t this scene look familiar?”
“Feels like the day we first brought Neshu here.”
“Right? Only the thing in our hands is different.”
They remembered their first encounter with the winged cat. It had become a good bond, so maybe this would too.
Arriving at Gloria’s office, they knocked lightly.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
“Mom.”
Ellen opened the door. Gloria lifted her head from paperwork.
“Ellen, Roil.”
“Hello, Ma’am.”
Roil bowed politely. Ellen immediately placed the chest on Gloria’s desk.
“What’s this?”
Gloria’s hands opened the chest as she asked. Seeing the pouches inside, her eyebrows twitched.
Without answering, Ellen took a pouch and inserted a paper knife from the desk into it. Twice the length of the pouch, it disappeared without a trace.
Gloria hesitated, then opened the lid. The paper knife lay neatly inside.
“Where did you find this?”
She looked at both Ellen and Roil.
“At the lake,” Roil replied.
“Did you meet a dragon?” Gloria asked skeptically.
“No. We just found it while playing.”
Gloria nodded, as if to say, ‘I see.’
“These can be used for passing letters. Of course, Neshu exists, but when Roil wants to contact Ellen first, it’s inconvenient.”
Roil’s face brightened at Gloria’s words.
“Really?”
Roil looked at Ellen, slightly envious of her pouch, and smiled.
Ellen smiled at his reaction, thinking he did want it after all.
Following Gloria’s words, Ellen and Roil each took one pouch.
“This reduces Neshu’s workload, huh?”
Roil patted Neshu’s head.
“Our Neshu flies all over the empire for friends. A little rest won’t hurt.”
Neshu nodded at Ellen’s words.
“Haha! Look at him nod. Does he understand? Poor Neshu.”
Seeing Neshu nod, Roil laughed too.
“We didn’t realize Neshu was tired. We’ll give more treats from now on.”
Roil kissed Neshu’s forehead. Neshu, who stayed still as he was petted, retaliated the kiss with a soft punch.
“Still not okay with kisses, huh?”
Roil rubbed his lips after being hit.
