「Teacher, what is that? It looks so cool!」
When I rolled it out from the shed, Marg noticed and ran over.
Of course he did. It looks cool. I was struggling not to grin at how cool it is.
「This one is for humans, so I can’t let you ride it. But your reward for this time is in that house over there. Go take a look.」
「Reward? Mine?」
「Yes. You worked hard, so you will be given a reward that matches your work. Make sure you accept it.」
If I treated him like an adult, then I should give him an adult’s reward. Well, there is no point giving money to a six-year-old, so I decided to give him a child-sized cross bike.
「I’ll go look!」
He ran off and came back a while later with Ladarion.
「Teacher, what is this!?」
「It is called a cross bike. Sit on the black part there. Ladarion, hold it for him.」
If I got too close, I might get crushed, so Ladarion held the handlebars.
I thought it might be difficult to teach him something he had no concept of, but Muggle-kun* turned out to have good reflexes. He learned to ride it in less than an hour.
TN: Don’t worry, it will correct itself after.
…Meanwhile, I remember needing a whole day to learn…
Well, as long as he can ride it, that is what matters. Practice there for today.
I had to learn how to handle the Pioneer myself.
I had a driver’s license and used to commute by car, but the Pioneer is left-hand drive. It is a foreign model.
I had never driven a left-hand-drive vehicle before. My beloved Subaru XV, which I bought used, was right-hand drive. I needed practice to handle this one properly.
After driving around the area for about thirty minutes, Kainzel-san returned with an axe on his shoulder.
「What is that?」
「A vehicle that runs on magical fire. I bought it for traveling.」
Since this world has magic, saying it runs on magic should be enough.
「It is incredibly well made. Far more intricate than any carriage.」
「Well, it cost the equivalent of a thousand goblins, after all. It is not something you can buy easily.」
Ah, I forgot I also needed to buy a trailer for carrying cargo. Well, that can wait until next time.
「We will head to the town of Misrim soon, but we are only visiting the Adventurers Guild branch. You can stay behind if you want. Even if there are goblins, I will not be doing any extermination.」
He seemed busy fixing up his house anyway.
「No, I am coming. We never know what might happen.」
Since unpredictable things kept happening, the three of us decided to go together.
The rear of the Pioneer was a cargo bed, but the seats were folded up.
I unfolded only one seat and placed a memory-foam cushion there to protect his rear. A vehicle that runs over rough ground shakes a lot.
Since we were going into town, I switched to a submachine gun, but because there was cargo space, I also brought the SCAR, the VHS-2, and the MINIMI just in case.
I lowered the tailgate and set up the handrail, then loaded the backpack and the cooler box filled with ice.
I sat in the driver’s seat. Ladarion sat beside me. Kainzel-san took the rear seat. Marg, sitting astride his cross bike, saw us off as we departed for the town of Misrim.
The main road was packed down well, so the shaking was minimal. Still, for someone used to paved roads, driving on something like a farm road was nerve-racking. There were no guardrails on either side.
We drove at around thirty kilometers per hour. The bridge over the Arut River was only about three kilometers away, so we reached it in a few minutes.
「As expected of something worth a thousand goblins. I want to try it too.」
Kainzel-san, who surprisingly had a childlike side, was itching to drive the Pioneer.
「Then do you want to try driving it on the way back? It is not that difficult.」
It was automatic, not manual. As long as you did not go too fast, even a child could operate it.
「Yes! I want to! Let me try!」
We might not be far from the day I buy a UTV just for Kainzel-san…
I stopped the Pioneer just before the bridge.
A few hundred meters ahead, on the embankment, several giants were moving. That was where we had done exterminations before.
「Ladarion. Take the cooler box and go back for now.」
「Understood.」
「Kainzel-san, please stay here. It will not be stolen, but it would be troublesome if someone tampered with it.」
There were people coming and going, and many stared at the Pioneer with curiosity. Someone needed to stay behind to keep an eye on it.
「Can I sit here?」
「Yes, of course. Call me if anything happens.」
I turned off the engine and removed the key.
When Ladarion returned, we walked up the embankment. The giants we had seen in the village were using shovels to gather goblin corpses and bury them in a pit.
…No humans around…?
Well, it would be dangerous for humans to stand beneath giants while they worked. I would be scared to get close too.
As I wondered what to do, Gorg happened to notice us and came over.
「Takato, Ladarion, you two already came back!?」
Huh? Did the wives’ group tell him? No, probably not. They only come after finishing their work at home.
「Yeah. We got back last night. Sorry for leaving all this cleanup to you. You must have your own work to do.」
「It is fine. This is how we earn our place among the humans. It is good for everyone to see we are useful.」
Giants had their own hardships.
「I will bring drinks once you are done. For now, take these. Eat them during your break.」
Ladarion opened the cooler box, revealing the ice cream. I showed them how to eat it.
「Ice treats in summer. That is luxury.」
Interesting. So, they had frozen treats here too. Maybe magic made that possible.
「If you run out, Gorg can buy more. I will be helping with goblin extermination soon.」
「Oh, that helps. Lately I have been obsessed with brandy. I drank too much every day and ran through my stock. I want to refill it before Romy finds out.」
Brandy, huh. The price range for that could get ridiculous.
「Yeah. When autumn comes, we will head deep into the mountains and gather goblins. If it is deep enough, we will not need to worry about cleaning up the bodies.」
With Gorg there, we could fortify the place. Even if a thousand or two thousand came, we would not have trouble.
「Autumn, huh. It is harvest season, but I can slip away if it is for goblin hunting.」
「Then I will start planning.」
After saying that, we returned to the bridge.
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