WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator: Abood
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Saviour Embarks on a Nameless Journey
Chapter 29: Smoked Eggs
“Grandfather…”
Alina looked up at me, eyes brimming with tears.
“......”
Io, without a word, placed a hand on Alina’s shoulder and fixed me and Marius with a steady gaze.
“…Uh.”
I could feel the cold sweat starting to bead on my skin.
When we got back, Alina and Io were already awake, and now they were silently accusing us for leaving them behind. Not with words, but with those near-teary faces.
Both of them knew perfectly well what kind of book we’d found yesterday. Even at their age, as hero candidates, they were sensitive to the presence of monsters. And Io, being Elaine’s disciple, would have recognized that the sealing magic was her master’s work.
“Alina aims to become a hero. I know I’m not very reliable yet, but please don’t leave me behind.”
Those near-tears came from frustration.
And my granddaughter making that face… that cut deep.
“We regard this journey as training on the path to becoming heroes. We may not match you or Uncle Aster in strength, but we have the means to protect ourselves and know when it is time to flee. Please do not take away our chance to learn.”
Io lowered herself into a crouch and bowed her head.
Marius, as if nothing had happened, clearly thought there would be plenty more chances to encounter monsters. Pyaa, on the other hand, had slipped lower than usual, hiding completely inside my cloak.
“You’re far too soft on your granddaughter.”
“Shut it!”
After making peace with Alina in the form of a hug, we moved on to breakfast at the inn.
The menu was toast topped with fried eggs, bacon, and baked beans, a huge sausage, grilled mushrooms, and mashed potatoes. Fresh milk and fruit were available for an extra charge.
“So it really does all come on one plate.”
Io said, looking at the serving with interest.
Living out on the frontier, I’d always done as I pleased, but meals among the nobility were often less about working or health and more about showing off one’s status.
A special room for breakfast, expensive plates, rare ingredients, servants in attendance, each dish served in small portions, it was all rather ceremonial.
“I like it. It’s nice and hot.”
Alina said with a smile, lifting a bite of toast topped with fried egg to her mouth.
“The mashed potatoes here are quite good.”
Marius remarked with a pleasant smile. Though in truth, the man was simply leaving the hotter items for later because of his sensitive tongue.
Io hadn’t touched hers yet either, so she was probably the same. Must be in the blood.
“Oi, who eats ten of those? People are staring at me, you know!”
“Pyaa.”
Pya, having finished off all the boiled eggs, looked thoroughly satisfied.
…Well, fine. His boiled-egg binge would only last while we were in town.
“Here you go! Thirty smoked boiled eggs from yesterday’s order!”
“Wh-what!?”
The inn’s proprietress called out cheerfully, setting a rather sizable package down on the table.
“Don’t eat more than three days in a row or you’ll upset your stomach! …Well, I suppose the bigger danger is overeating.”
She handed the bundle to Marius, then looked my way as she spoke.
“Thank you. Here’s the agreed half-payment.”
Marius accepted it with a smile.
Apparently, he’d thoughtfully arranged for the smoked eggs in advance. Thirty of them, no less.
“You’re spoiling Pya far too much! And now everyone’s going to think I’m the one eating them!”
I waited until the proprietress, wearing a faint, knowing smile, had stepped away before voicing my complaint.
“It’s only natural to present offerings to a sacred beast.”
Marius sipped his tea with a perfectly composed expression.
“Why you…!”
From behind me came the distinct feeling of smug contentment. If Pya was that happy, he should’ve been clinging to Marius’s back.
We stopped by the stables before leaving town.
“Boss!”
At the sound of a familiar voice, I turned to see the mercenary who’d helped me take down a monster in the village running toward us.
“Made it in time! This is for you!”
We’d already passed through the gate, and I was on horseback when he tossed something my way.
“Oh? You went out of your way to bring it to me?”
Catching it, I grinned at him. It was a pouch of coins. My share of the reward, it seemed.
“See you somewhere down the road!”
“Somewhere down the road.”
I waved back at his smiling face, then turned forward again.
“Grandfather, who was that?”
“A mercenary I worked with not long ago to take down a monster in a village a bit away from here.”
“A mercenary?”
“Aye, a mercenary.”
Even the way my granddaughter tilted her head was adorable.
“This man can remember faces, but he’s hopeless with names.”
Marius cut in. Annoying.
“In the past few days, two monsters… no, even when we first met Lord Shinju, there were a few. Could it be that the number of monsters is increasing?”
Io’s well-shaped brows drew together ever so slightly.
“Yes. It may be about the time when monsters that had been hiding begin to creep closer, having forgotten the pain of human retaliation. But aside from that, this man somehow keeps heading toward where the monsters are.”
Marius looked at me and let out an exaggerated, quiet sigh.
“Call it sensitivity to monster presence and keen observation skills!”
What is he trying to say in front of my granddaughter?
“There was also that time you had no idea and asked for a night’s lodging in a monster’s den disguised as humans, wasn’t there?”
“Everyone agreed to that one!”
“I honestly thought you and Elaine had noticed and were deliberately choosing it for the sake of extermination…”
Marius’s gaze went distant.
“Shato, always ready to do something if there’s trouble or news of monsters. And you, always grumbling at Shato, yet whenever there’s a choice between left and right, if one side has monsters, you always pick that side. I truly wondered what to do with you on the road—”
“Uncle…”
Io cast Marius a look of sympathy.
“It was a coincidence!”
“Pya—.”
Good, even Pya says it was a coincidence!
Footnotes:
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