An arrow flew.
The board held by the droplet girl was hit and bounced away.
"Wow! This is the best bow I've ever used!"
Termia chattered excitedly.
"To be honest, there haven't been that many bows I've used, but this is really, really the first bow with such a good feel, an appropriate weight, and a size and bowstring elasticity that fit me perfectly! Is this what custom-made means?!"
The excited girl examined the bow this way and that.
"And these leaves that grew like decorations! Every time I aim with the bowstring, they move on their own, balance the center of gravity, and adjust the aiming point! This is my first time in my life seeing automatic aiming like this!"
Waaah? It can do that? Automatic aiming is my first time too.
Termia hopped and fired the bow roughly. For an instant, the leaves twisted and moved the bow to adjust the angle. The arrow flew and struck the target.
"See!"
The watching droplet girl clap, clap, clapped.
"In the broad sense, I still have to shoot well, but the fact that even if I only get it roughly right, the fine details are adjusted is huge! It means I can always shoot accurately in chaotic situations or when I'm tired! Zero shooting mistakes! And probably this too!"
Termia shot an arrow into the sky. Then she quickly aimed at the sky again. The bowstring was released, and the fired arrow struck the falling arrow.
"Wow! That really worked!"
Waaah? What kind of trick shot are you doing? Maybe the issue isn't the bow, and you're just good at shooting.
"Even if it isn't perfect, it calculates the wind and corrects it! When shooting into the sky, the problem is that the wind blowing on the ground and the wind blowing in the sky are different, so it's hard to estimate the trajectory, but just now I hit it easily!"
Rapid words poured out in a rush. For now, I quietly listened and waited for Termia to calm down.
It took longer than expected for her to calm down. That was because she kept chattering like a girl who had obtained a new product perfectly to her taste.
I'm happy that she likes it, but Termia pouring out emotions without controlling her energy feels a little overwhelming.
She became serious after experiencing her parents' deaths twice, but I think this side may have been her original personality. Since I know her story, it's hard to cut her off.
Termia half calmed down.
"I need to try this in real combat. Droplet! Let's go hunting together!"
The blond girl and the droplet set off hunting in high spirits.
"A rabbit."
They found prey quickly. That was because one rabbit was nearby, sniffing a freshly sprouted shoot.
Its appearance was peaceful, as if lost in memories, so it was perfect to aim at with a bow.
Waaah?
Wait. I feel like you shouldn't touch that rabbit.
Before I could speak, an arrow was shot. The rabbit tilted its body to the side. The arrow grazed the rabbit's fur and stuck into the ground.
"Huh? It dodged......?"
The rabbit licked the sprout and looked back.
It was putting strength into its hind legs as if about to leap, but it saw something and froze.
The droplet girl sitting on Termia's shoulder was watching the rabbit intently. The rabbit's ears trembled.
The rabbit thought while frozen like that, then suddenly stuck out its tongue and played dead. Its white body flopped over.
"Huh?"
Termia's eyes rounded.
"It definitely didn't get hit. Did it faint from shock?"
The droplet girl giggled. She pointed at the rabbit as if telling Termia to hurry and pick it up.
Termia picked up the rabbit.
"Is it sick?"
She examined the rabbit this way and that. The rabbit didn't move at all, as if dead.
The droplet girl watched with her, then approached the rabbit's hind foot. Her small hand tickled the rabbit's hind foot.
The rabbit's ears twitched and trembled. The droplet pointed as if saying look at this and giggled.
"Is it really sick......?"
Termia felt uneasy.
The rabbit was quietly placed on the ground.
"Let's throw this one away. They said it's better not to eat meat from a sick animal."
The droplet readily agreed.
The girl and the droplet left.
The rabbit left alone lay there for a while, soul drained, as if feeling a sense of shame.
How unfortunate.
In any case, Termia successfully hunted every prey she encountered.
The girl was very happy, saying the bow was too good.
I'm happy that she likes it. Woohoo.
***
My roots grew.
·Influence Radius
39,450cm → 45,850cm (Max)
·Production
118,350/d → 137,550/d
During that time, Termia passed the village guard test splendidly and was busy training. Her bowmanship isn't a problem, but apparently it's a problem that she doesn't know how to use a sword.
If an opponent approaches, she can't only shoot arrows.
I hope the village chief teaches her well. They said he was a famous mercenary, so I think he'll teach practical swordsmanship well.
However, as the village's military strength grows, the atmosphere of the outside world doesn't seem very good either.
Some self-proclaimed merchant came to the village chief's house with escort personnel.
"As I informed you in advance, His Majesty has collapsed, and now the territory's troops have marched to the capital, making the mood nearby unsettled. I cannot leave this region because of business, so I will be in your care for a while to avoid the commotion. Prepare accordingly."
The reason I call him a self-proclaimed merchant is that he had some family seals inside his clothes. The escort personnel were even knights with proper identity tags.
With the way he treated others as subordinates too, he was simply a young human male noble.
It seems the lord finally rebelled. Is he a noble who came to take refuge? It also feels like he might not be, but I don't know more than that.
It'd be nice if I could understand specifically which family's seals were in his pocket.
I remember there was a book in the village chief's study that organized noble families. Should I check it later?
"We have prepared an empty house, so you may use it. I have also told people not to approach you."
"Mm! You understand quickly."
The male noble was assigned the house beside the village chief's house.
After looking around inside, the noble relaxed comfortably onto the sofa.
"Phew! Now that I am actually here, my heart is at ease. Father is not here, and Mother is not here either."
The guard knight who locked the door approached.
"Prince, this is no time to be pleased. Her Majesty the queen eventually went with our lord too, and you being left alone is......"
"Ahem, Prince?"
The noble frowned.
"Only if Father wins and sits on the throne will I become a prince, so what prince am I already? Do not presume as you please."
Waaah? He's a prince?
The noble rubbed his chin in thought, then smiled brightly.
"But it sounds good, so perhaps you should continue calling me that. Not prince, but Your Highness the crown prince. I permit it."
Waaah? Does he have prince syndrome?
The guard knight sighed.
"Yes, Your Highness the crown prince. More importantly, this is no time to be pleased. You have not trained in swordsmanship, skipped your kingship lessons, and gone around only meeting women all this time. How disappointed must our lord be?"
The crown prince turned his head and picked his ear. When earwax came out, he blew it away.
"You should have stopped when the engagement fell through. Just because you have no brothers or sisters, if you live this laxly-"
"Tsk! That is enough. I consider you a friend, but those around us do not look kindly on such presumptuous statements. Right now it is only the two of us, but what will you do if it becomes a habit and you make a slip of the tongue?"
"Haah, I apologize. My words went too far."
"No. How would I not know your concern?"
The crown prince stood, then put an arm around the guard knight's shoulders. Then he took him to the window and looked outside the house together.
"Now look! This is the elf village that is said to have so many beauties, is it not? We came all the way here, so should you say only such serious things? Oh! That elf is truly my type. What kind of woman is she?"
"She is a seamstress. More importantly, this is not the time for this."
"......You are ruining the mood."
The crown prince looked displeased.
The guard knight paid no attention and made a serious expression.
"At least meet fewer women. Swordsmanship? If you start now, it will be fine. Scholarship? The same. The kingdom's finest scholars will help you with all sincerity. So please."
His earnest gaze arrived.
"Do not meet several women. Whoever it is, settle with one woman."
"One woman? When there are so many women in the world?"
"Please don't be like that. Is there no woman who remains intensely in your memory? Even if it is not love, someone you think of again and again. You can settle with her."
The crown prince traced his memory.
"The young lady from the count's family last time was decent in bed, wasn't she? Though apart from that, she was not much."
"Your Highness! I am not saying this as a joke!"
The guard knight spoke passionately.
"If you at least start a family, your sense of responsibility will grow, and only then will our lord be able to feel relieved. Instead of leaving Your Highness alone on the frontier like this and going to the capital."
"Responsibility? I cleaned up all my women on my own so Father could focus on the great cause. Is that not enough?"
The guard knight's face stiffened.
"Do you truly think so?"
The crown prince couldn't say anything.
Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the house. The escort personnel were confirming a guest.
"What is the commotion?"
"......It is the seamstress. It should not happen, but if there is an emergency, you will be safer if you change into residents' clothing and flee, so I called her in advance."
"Well done."
The crown prince waved his hand.
"Let us end this conversation here. It is no fun for either of us."
"Haah."
The seamstress entered.
"My name is Velesa."
The timing of her visit is bad. Will she be all right?
Contrary to my worry, nothing happened.
Perhaps trying to be faithful to his merchant disguise, the crown prince acted well as a rich man with unusual speech rather than an overbearing attitude.
"It is done. It will be completed within this week."
"Is it truly all finished?"
"Yes, it is. Do you have any other requests?"
"I do have one......"
The crown prince smiled brightly.
"I wish to have a private conversation with you."
Velesa slowly blinked.
Taking advantage of that gap, the crown prince leaned his upper body over the table. His hand reached out and held the elf's chin. His gaze examined Velesa's face.
"Your face is to my taste. Is your income insufficient? I do not spare support for my people."
Waaah?
Velesa opened her mouth, then closed it. Her hand slowly removed the crown prince's hand.
A voice came through her red lips as if chewed and spat out.
"Let me ask one thing. May I strike you?"
The crown prince looked puzzled.
"I strike you?"
"No, me."
The crown prince snorted.
"Go ahead and try."
In an instant, a palm swung. His face was struck violently. The crown prince half flew away and crashed into the sofa.
Waaah, she's strong.
Is this the muscular strength of a seamstress who shoots bows and hunts as a hobby?
Velesa shook out her hand.
"It seems there are no further requests, so I will be leaving."
Then she opened the door and left proudly.
Silence flowed.
The crown prince, blank-faced, held his cheek and watched her back.
Then, as if he belatedly realized the situation, he hurriedly pointed at her.
"That! That! Is that crazy bitch not mad?"
Woohoo, I think it's your own fault. She did ask once before hitting you.
But perhaps not from the position of the person who had been hit, because the crown prince sprang up and ran down the corridor. Velesa's arm was grabbed.
The crown prince glared with an angry face.
"You are the first woman in my life to hit me. You are prepared, aren't you?"
Velesa exhaled an irritated sigh.
"Haah."
She glared back at him and spoke clearly.
"May I strike you again?"
The crown prince flinched. The cheek marked red twitched.
Velesa, who had waited for an answer, snorted. She freed her grabbed arm and left as she was.
The crown prince blankly watched her back.
"What kind of crazy bitch is that......"
The guard knight quietly approached.
"Shall I teach her manners?"
"Ha! Enough. I did not even reveal my status, so what manners? Do not make me look narrow-minded. Let us say I was hit by some crazy bitch. To think there is truly a crazy bitch in the world who hits you when you tell her to try."
The crown prince trudged back to the room.
Then he sat on the sofa and stared blankly at the ceiling for a while.
His face gradually turned red and blue.
"Thinking about it again makes me angry. Her face was very much to my taste, so out of goodwill, I asked whether I should invest a little in expanding her business, and she dared to strike me?"
Waaah? It seems it was purer goodwill than I thought.
His palm swept over his face. Then when it touched the handprint, he flinched.
"What a crazy bitch. This will not do!"
The crown prince sprang up.
"I will personally press down that bitch's proud nose!"
The guard knight quietly approached.
"Shall I teach her manners?"
"Do not make me look narrow-minded, and stay out of it."
"I only asked out of courtesy."
"Yes, yes."
The crown prince circled the room as he thought.
When he discovered a mirror, his complexion brightened as if he had realized something.
"That's right, yes. With a face like mine."
"What do you intend to do?"
The crown prince smiled wickedly.
"I will seduce that bitch with my face, then reveal my status when I return and dump her."
"......What?"
"Hahaha! Just imagining it feels satisfying!"
"......What?"
Waaah?
Did that slap hit the wrong place?