LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 72 - Chapter 72: A Night Without Jest
Chapter 72: A Night Without Jest
“Let’s start with introductions. I’m Justin de Vandière, the commander of the Third Knight Order of the Kingdom of Rafios, and I’m addressing you, the chief of the dwarves, on behalf of Jest’s mother. Ah… Jest is the name I gave to the dragon’s child.”
“Hmm, so you’ve formed a pact with the son of Azure.”
The dwarf chief spoke, looking between me and Jest alternately.
“Why do you…?”
“Hmph, you’ll understand when you’re my age…”
“Don’t lie. To find the boy, we,ve been enabled to use some of the dragon’s abilities. Otherwise, wouldn’t we be unable to converse even if we found the boy?”
With a stern gaze directed at the chief, he quickly looked away. Could it be that the dwarf chief is a bit of a joker?
“I see… so that’s why you could understand Jest’s words that only I could understand. We’ve come to see Jest’s mother from the Great Temple over here. Could we have some time? The commander of the Holy Knight Order and the saint are with us.”
“Very well. Shall we rent a room in the chief’s house? Is that acceptable?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Obviously, not everyone here can come in. Those who don’t come to the house should prepare to camp in the square over there.”
Saying that, the chief gestured for us to follow him.
“Everyone, start preparing for camping in the square! The commander, the saint, and I will talk with Jest’s mother and the others! …Marius, take care of Eleanor, the beloved horse. You’ve done well to get us this far, so rest well.”
From the rear, the saint knights couldn’t see Jest’s mother, but they seemed to be fidgeting strangely, so Axel gave instructions to the Holy Knights and they went reluctantly towards the square.
Since Axel also entrusted his horse to his subordinates, we walked alongside the chief.
The saint seemed to be glancing at us as if she wanted to be praised, but I praised Eleanor, the horse, instead. Let the respective knight commanders praise their own.
Inside the stone-built house, there were surprisingly quaint decorations, making the interior very relaxing. I had thought there would be simple and robust decorations, with weapons and such. When we were ushered into a room like a reception room, the chief said he would bring tea and left the room.
“Mom, teach me transformation magic!”
“Ah, then I’ll teach you after dinner. Will you return to the nest tonight?”
“Umm, well…”
Jest seemed to be worried about me, looking at me and then his mother alternately.
“It’s been a while since we met. It would be nice if you could relax and depend on me tonight.”
“Yeah, I got it! But, you know, I’m not a baby anymore, so I won’t rely on you too much.”
“I see, Jest is already ten years old.”
Although I thought he was admitting to being a bit dependent in his heart, I pretended not to notice and nodded. After that, when the chief returned, we discussed the resurrection of the evil god with them and, at Jest’s request, they promised to cooperate.
It seems that the presence of the saint was recognized as a sign of the evil god’s resurrection, and she was easily believed. After the discussion, Jest and his mother were separated, and we reported to each other about our respective situations. It seemed that Jest’s mother had been coming to this dwarf settlement for a while, exchanging her scales for various necessities.
It turned out that Bosco had been staying in this settlement as well. Since he had evaluated my sword as decent, when I mentioned Bosco, the chief remembered him. We also exchanged information casually, and we ended up heading to the square campsite.
“Well then, until tomorrow morning. There are sweets inside this bag, so don’t eat them all at once, okay?”
“Yeah! Thanks, Justin! I’ll give some to Mom! If she eats them, maybe she’ll come with us to the capital, hehehe.”
“In that case, we’ll welcome her.”
Jest smiled satisfactorily and flew off to his mother with the bag of sweets. …He’ll definitely come back in the morning, right?
When we arrived at the square, the camping preparations were already complete. Even though the saint wasn’t there, it seemed that the preparations for the Holy Knights’ meals were also done.
“Welcome back, Commander! Earlier, the dwarves came and checked our weapons, helped with the cooking, and then… except for Elliot of the Elliot squad, everyone else’s swords were taken away. Did all the Holy Knights have their swords taken? They said they were going to be maintained.”
Gaspard explained with a shrug. Probably, compared to Bosco’s skills, they looked like shoddy workmanship at the level of ordinary human craftsmen. I hope they don’t come back better than ours.
“Well, it should be safe within this settlement. Once we finish eating, let’s rest early tonight. Jest is with his mother, so it’s going to be a quiet night after a long time.”
“Huh!? Jest is with his mom!? Commander~, are you going to be lonely and unable to sleep tonight~? Shall I keep you company~?”
Simon, who had been listening to the conversation, suddenly turned to us with a sly grin on his face, wiggling his body playfully.
“If you’re not afraid for your life, you can come to my tent tonight.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
I answered him with a serious expression, and Simon bowed his head ninety degrees in apology. It wasn’t like I was getting upset just because I felt a little lonely.