From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won't Leave Me Alone Volume 7 (eBook)

Shigeru Sagazaki (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
250 Seiten
J-Novel Club (Verlag)
978-1-7183-2482-4 (ISBN)

Infos

After their encounter with the Verdapis Mercenary Company on the way back from Flumvelk, Beryl and the knights of the Liberion Order must prepare for another expedition: escorting Princess Salacia to her wedding in Sphenedyardvania's capital. Beryl has never traveled outside Liberis, and though the road is long, he relishes the opportunity to experience the culture of another country. However, on the day of the wedding, dark shadows of rebellion come to light, threatening to destroy the burgeoning alliance between the two nations. Knights from both countries, veteran mercenaries and adventurers, monsters beyond human comprehension, and an unexpected ally-all assemble in the capital, bristling for battle. This will be the greatest test of swordsmanship Beryl has ever known. Will he be able to defend his allies against the onslaught?

Textauszug

Chapter 1: An Old Country Bumpkin Feels the Onset of Winter

“Okay, good work, everyone.”

“Good work!”

By now, I was completely accustomed to teaching at the order’s office. After bringing the usual drills to an end, I exchanged farewells with the knights. Currently, it was just a little after noon. I always came to the office in the morning, loosened up my muscles a bit, then brought things to an end around this time. There were knights who trained continuously from the morning onward and others who only showed up when the sun was high in the sky. Regardless, ever since Allucia had brought me here and had made me a special instructor, I’d stuck to this routine.

Training for too long actually made things less efficient. Frankly, I didn’t have the stamina for that to begin with. I’d kept this daily schedule ever since my childhood in Beaden, so I had no intention of changing it now. Allucia, Henblitz, and the other knights respected this—I was grateful I could do things the way I wanted to.

“Whoa, so cold...”

After I put away my wooden sword and stepped outside, a serious chill brushed against my skin. The oppressive heat of summertime had faded, and just when I’d gotten used to thinking it was now autumn (with autumn’s confusing temperatures), winter’s breath was already rapidly closing in. It didn’t bother me at all when I was sweating it out with everyone, but once I stopped moving and went outside, I was forced to notice the changing of seasons—whether I wanted to or not.

Summer and winter were perfectly normal in both Beaden and Baltrain. Things could be different farther to the north or south in Liberis, though. Anyway, this was my first winter in Baltrain, but from what I’d heard from those around me, it was pretty rare for snow to pile up or for a severe cold snap to sweep through the area. That said, the winters weren’t mild enough to casually ignore, so I had to prepare a bit to protect myself from the chill.

I’d brought my favorite coat with me from Beaden—the knights of the order were apparently supplied with coats. Even indoors, it got pretty chilly during winter, so people went through firewood at a tremendous rate.

If I’d still been living on my own, I could’ve just toughed it out, but I had Mewi with me now, so that wouldn’t work. I actually had quite the stockpile of firewood back home. The days were generally fine, but nights could get quite harsh without a fire going.

“Maybe I should go shopping for winter clothing for Mewi,” I muttered, my breath visible in front of me.

The box from Ibroy had contained many types of clothing, but it hadn’t included anything that would be perfect for winter. That made sense—I’d gotten that gift during the summer. I felt like it was wrong to be fully dependent on him, anyway. I wanted to buy all the clothes she needed to withstand the upcoming winter. The magic institute technically provided a coat to wear over her uniform, but it was inconvenient not to have anything else. I have to complete these preparations before it genuinely starts getting cold.

After passing through the courtyard, I exchanged greetings with the soldiers of the royal garrison who stood guard at the gate.

“Good work today.”

“Hello, Mr. Beryl. Thank you for all your hard work. It’s awfully chilly today, isn’t it?”

“It really is. Be careful not to catch a cold.”

I was completely familiar with them now. The soldiers on duty usually only wore thin mantles, but that would be pretty harsh in this weather, so they were dressed in thick coats. In contrast, the townscape didn’t paint a particularly wintry scene. Things could change with some snow, but the same street stalls were still open all over. It didn’t seem like the town’s energy changed at all, regardless of whether it was spring, summer, fall, or winter. Only the clothing people wore on the streets changed with the seasons.

In Beaden, the slightest hint of winter had everybody shutting themselves indoors. It was different in the big city. There were simply more people and more stores, and there was also plenty of entertainment available, like taverns and houses of ill repute, making things lively all year round. Not that I’ve ever been to any of those seedy places...

“Hmmm...”

I considered going straight home, but since I was already outside, I decided to drop by the western district. If I was going to bring Mewi out to buy winter clothes, I had to at least scope things out first. I did most of my shopping in the western district, but that was generally for food. Neither Mewi nor I tended to fuss over more than the bare necessities, so we pretty much never went out to buy anything else.

I didn’t know what kinds of shops sold cold-weather clothes. And what kind of gear would a shop like that sell anyway? It would’ve been fine to drag Mewi around randomly during autumn, but bringing her with me in the cold without a coat sounded wrong. So, my plan was to go alone and take a look around the western district for places that sold winter clothing. I’d also grab a small bite to sate my appetite.

With that, I made my way to the western district. Upon arriving, I heard an energetic merchant’s voice.

“Come take a look! You can’t beat my prices!”

The hustle and bustle here was different from that of the central district. Things were lively over there, but there was a certain boisterousness to this area. The western district was a place to buy and sell goods, so the noise was a good sign. It was probably bad for the ears if you were here around the clock, though.

As I perused some of the foodstuffs lined up in front of the buildings, an old man with a hearty build called out to me. Attracted by his voice, I turned to look.

“How about it, buddy? I’ve got fish for sale.”

“Hm?”

Just as advertised, I was met by a line of fish. This was honestly a rare sight.

“Fish, huh? How unusual.”

“Hm? Your first time in Baltrain?” the man asked. “You’re gonna see a lot more fish soon. It’s getting colder and all.”

“Aah, I see what you mean now.”

From what Lucy had told me before, fresh seafood was very rarely available on the market due to problems of preservation and transportation. Even when it was for sale, it was extremely expensive. Wizards made its transportation and preservation possible at all. Freshness was a huge bottleneck when it came to transporting seafood, but things were different during the winter.

Fish was impossible to obtain in Beaden even during the peak of winter, so this definitely had me interested. There was a river close to the village, but fish were pretty much nonexistent in those waters. Even if there were any, the animals and monsters upstream in the Aflatta Mountain Range would probably snatch them all up. The only things we could catch were tiny fish you could eat in one bite.

“I guess it’s gotta be more expensive than meat, huh?” I commented.

“Obviously. It’s a lotta work to transport this stuff from the sea.”

The fish was around two or three times the price of a similarly sized chunk of meat—that was how much of a luxury good it was. However, looking at it from another perspective, I could get some fish for only three times the price of meat. I didn’t think wealth could solve all of life’s problems, but a certain amount of money did solve some of them.

“How do you cook fish?” I asked.

“Grilling and boiling both work. If you’re gonna boil it, the meat crumbles real easylike, so be careful. Also, just like other types of meat, make sure you remove the guts. Oh, and one more thing: I’m sure you can guess, but you can’t preserve the stuff. You’ll wanna eat it within the day.”

“Hmmm.”

His explanation was nice and thorough. If he failed to sell these, he would probably either have to eat them himself or throw them away, so he had to be desperate. I could understand how he felt. Fish was a rare curiosity, but you couldn’t buy that many at once when you had to eat them the same day. It probably wasn’t impossible to dry or smoke a fish to preserve it somewhat, but I could imagine the futility of an amateur trying that.

“All right, I’ll take these two,” I decided.

“Thanks for the business!”

I would usually hesitate to spend that much on meat, but my personal income was so detestably high that I could spend this on impulse. Well, maybe “detestably” was an exaggeration—I was grateful for what I received.

So, I ended up purchasing two of the fish that looked a little bigger than the others. I was planning for Mewi and me to each have one. Fish was too pricey to have on a regular basis, so my plan was to use the meal as a fun topic of conversation.

Mewi had definitely never had the chance to taste fish. I was really looking forward to her reaction. The problem was how to cook it—I figured it was best to be safe and just grill it with salt. I was curious about what kind of broth I could make with it, but with only two fish of this size, I wasn’t sure how much taste I could get out of them. Also, the meat apparently fell apart when boiled, so grilling sounded easier.

“I really bought them...”

My original plan had been to look for stores that...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 2.7.2025
• Reihe/Serie: From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won't Leave Me Alone
• Illustrationen: Shigeru Sagazaki
• Übersetzer: Shigeru Sagazaki
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy
• Schlagworte: Harem • Light Novel • LitRPG • monsters • older protagonist • overpowered main character • political intrigue fantasy novels
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-2482-0 / 1718324820
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-2482-4 / 9781718324824