Magic Warrior Chapter 66 (Patreon)

Birthday

I went to the town once around the beginning of February, but the months passed without any particular change.

Finally, it was my birthday.

But I was on my way back to the village with my mother and father from the town of Gardia.

Clare and Rilfana said they would stay at home.

Except for my father's stop at the guild, we seemed to have no particular purpose in the town, and we only visited stores here and there.

I found a hand-turned mincer for sale at a hardware store, so I bought it even though it was a little expensive. I don't know if I will ever use it again, but I thought it would be a nice present for my mother.

It was fun because I never thought I would be able to shop in town with my mom.

My father was surprised at how much I changed when I coordinated my mother's clothes.

I wondered if my mother and father wanted to make a memory of me before I came of age. 

"It was my first time in town with Mina and it was fun. Maybe I should have gone with Clare a long time ago."

"The people in the village don't go to town very often. I'm sure many of the houses have money to go out and have a bit of fun now that they can sell vegetables, but I doubt that will change easily."

"If the houses only have fields, they'll be fine, but if they have livestock to take care of, it might be difficult."

Since we left town after lunch, it would be sunset before we reached the village.

While we were taking a break, about to arrive in the village, Mom asked me with a mysterious look on her face. Dad looked like he wanted to say something, but remained silent.

"It is good that you are leaving home to become an adventurer, but do you have any goals?"

I don't have any goals. I'm just bored in the village.

I think with all my gray brain cells.

"Dare I say that I want to see the world? I'm not sure."

"Well, it's not like you're sick of living at home, is it?"

"What? What's that?"

I was stunned. What was Mom up to all of a sudden? 

"It was when I was little, so Mina may not remember, but when Mina asked me to teach her swordsmanship, you said, 'I want to protect you this time' and I've always wondered what on earth she meant by that."

"Well... maybe it was just a dream..."

I told him that I had a memory of being hugged in the woods when I was very small, perhaps a baby, by a woman with the same hair color as mine, who apologized to me.

"Well, then you had at least a dim sense that your father and mother were not your real parents."

I knew that memory wasn't just a dream.

"Yeah. But I want to leave home just to become an adventurer, it has nothing to do with that, right?"

"Mom and Dad were a little worried that Mina was going to go looking for her real parents."

That was the first time I heard about my birth mother.

It appears that the mother who gave birth to me was an aristocrat who knew my father.

It seems that after I was born in a town south of Feld Village, she was attacked by someone on the way back to the royal capital. My father happened to find my mother, who had escaped, in the southern forest, and I was the only one who survived.

At the time, I had no idea why my mother was targeted, so she was left with me for my safety.

When I opened the door, it turned out to be quite a big deal, and everything was cleared up when I turned six years old.

It appears that my birth mother was the third wife of my real father. Since there was no need for an heir and I was not a boy but a girl, I was brought up as a child of Feld Village. I was brought up as a child of Feld Village because I was a woman and not a man.

It was like that. I was wondering if it was better not to listen to this story.

"So, I'm of noble blood?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you. I wonder if it's a good thing that you didn't ask me that."

"Eh?"

A noble boy met me in a village while he was doing his job as an adventurer. At first, I thought it was just a joke by the nobleman, but he gave up not only his adventurer status but also his noble status to come here for me.

"It's not because of anything. It's because I wanted you more."

"My."

Mom turned red with her hands on her cheeks at Dad's surprise.

Could you two please keep your lovey-dovey banter to yourselves? 

Dad's connections to the nobility are not only because he's a former adventurer, but also because of his birth.

"Here's a letter I got from the guild, written by Mina's real father. He said he would leave it up to Mina to read it or not."

My father handed me the letter.

It was a very ornate and solid envelope. The engraving looks familiar, but...

"Ignition."

I burned it without even breaking the seal. Powdered ashes flew in the air.

"Are you sure?"

"My father and mother are the two people in front of me right now, and I'm going back to Feld Village after my adventure."

--I was sure that the real Mina would say the same.

◇

Apparently, they decided to go all the way to town with the three of us because they thought it might be difficult to speak with Clare and Rilfana in their presence. Of course, it sounds like they wanted to shop together.

And, when I wondered why they were talking about it on the roadside on the way home, I was told that my father couldn't quite mention it. He told me that he had actually planned to talk about it at the inn. It appears that my mother became numb and started the conversation when she realized that we were going to arrive in the village if we didn't.

"By the way, I thought Clare would want to follow me to town, but before I could explain why, she said she wanted to stay in the village because she wanted to do something on her own."

"Yeah, that's an unusual reaction when most of the time you're attached to Mina, big sister, big sister."

Is that so? Clare also does a lot of this and that on her own.

Recently, she seems to want to become an adventurer and follow me, so we often go out together, but I think she plays with her friends in the village more than I do. I remember that he also gave out souvenirs from the town.

I don't hear anything about him, but if there was such a story, he wouldn't have followed me.

Well, it appears to be different from my father and mother's point of view.

◇

I arrive home and open the door.

"Happy Birthday, Sis!"

"Happy birthday, Mina-sama!"

Clare and Rilfana greeted me. I wondered if they had been waiting for me for a long time, not knowing when I would return.

The house was decorated with paper ornaments everywhere.

As Minagi Kainagi is well past her twentieth birthday, it was a little embarrassing to have a birthday party thrown for her.

"So this is what you were talking about when you asked Mina to open the door after the evening when you were leaving."

"Yes, Rilfana-chan and I prepared it!"

"I didn't make it as well as Mina-sama, but I prepared the food and the cake!"

On the table was a round cake. The cream was a bit runny, as if she had made a mistake.

There were slices of fruit on it, but I've never seen anything like it.

I had written down the recipe when I put the cream on the pancake before, but I didn't think I'd actually make it. It's a lot of work to stir it up.

I was made to sit at the birthday table, saying that the star of the show should be in the middle.

And the dish that came out was tempura...! 

Onion, eggplant, Luche Potato, and sweet potato tempura were all lined up.

It appears that they also fried potato potatoes, perhaps to increase the variety.

The tempura sauce seemed to be homemade from soy sauce, and it was accompanied by grated white radish.

We don't deep-fry food at home, so it had been a long time since we had eaten it. We can't throw the oil into the river or the fields, so it's a hassle to dispose of it. In the village, I guess it is common to absorb the oil onto scraps of unwanted cloth or scribbled paper and burn them little by little.

"Rilfana-chan told me that her sister would probably be pleased."

"Rilfana knows many dishes too. They are delicious, but they use a lot of oil."

Mom is mumbling to herself as she eats the tempura. Dad brought out some sake and ate the tempura as a snack.

It seems he never had the concept of frying it in the first place.

I may have caused another boom in the village.

The dessert after the meal was a cake on the table.

The shape of the cake is a bit distorted, but the combination of sweetness and sourness of the fruit on it is just right.

Clare and Rilfana have been watching and helping me cook, and I think their cooking skills have improved a little. 

"Thanks Clare and Rilfana!"

Clare and Rilfana seemed pleased with the success of the surprise birthday party.

We are happy to have a good family here in Virtuari.

◇

"Mina-sama, everything is delicious!"

I couldn't give Rilfana a present on the 28th because I had to go out of town. So on March 2, her birthday, I made her a meaty menu of hamburgers, steaks, and fried chicken, which I had originally planned as a birthday present.

In four days, Clare, Rilfana, and I would be leaving together as adventurers.

Clare and Dad's promises remained much the same as before this.

First, we would be based in the town of Gardia, and we would let them know where we would be staying. We will be in town, or not, depending on the timing of our visit, but my father will show up when he comes to town.

Second, we should return one day a week at the end of the month, and if there is a possibility that we will be late due to a request, etc., we should send a letter in advance. There is no problem with bringing it forward a little due to timing or other reasons.

Third, do not leave the country, including for escort requests.

Finally, do not break up a party of three. If the person is trustworthy, there is no problem to adding him or her to the party or to take joint orders with another party.

As for lodging, I plan to stay at the inn I stayed at when I first went to the town for a while, and I think the only thing I need to be careful of is the second one.

For now, I will use the town of Gardia as my base and look around the country.