After having a hearty breakfast, we once again took off into the skies and continued our journey towards the capital. And although they just ate breakfast, the children who were not used to long travels fell asleep on the pegasuses' backs.

It has been two days since we left Galderia, and today we should be arriving at the capital, that is if nothing goes wrong, but judging from what I have read from isekai novels and mangas, something probably will.

「Grey, I'm detecting a lot of human mana signatures up ahead.」Yuna

「Is there something strange with that? Aren't they just traveling towards the capital for the festival?」Grey

「It doesn't seem like it. I'm also detecting mana signatures from people who just died recently. It might be an ambush from bandits.」Yuna

Ah... I knew it...

「Should we help them?」Yuna

「Yeah, let's do that. It would only haunt us if those people died because we didn't help them.」Grey

「But how about the children?」Yuna

Right... It would be a problem if the children get attacked while we rescue other people, and I couldn't just leave them inside a barrier either.

「Yuna, sorry to ask you this, but could you watch the children while I take care of the bandits?」Grey

「Um, sure. But if this happens again, it will be my turn, alright?」Yuna

「Deal.」Grey

I don't know why, but Yuna really loves fighting, doesn't she? She also said about the same words when I handled the drunk adventurer back at Moterno's adventurer's guild.

But even though she likes fighting, she's also very skilled with taking care of people. The way she consoles Liz and takes care of Elnart and Galvin are proof of that.

After agreeing to leave the children in her care, we quickly landed the pegasuses and I headed to where Yuna said there was a fight happening by jumping from branch to branch.

As for the children, they awoke when I was about to go, so in order for them to not be suspicious of what was happening, Yuna and I told them that I'm going to forage some fruits, which they believed without a single ounce of doubt.

When I arrived there, just as Yuna predicted, there was a fight breaking between bandits and soldiers. It seemed that the bandits were ambushing a noble's carriage.

As for the deaths that Yuna had detected, they were all from the bandit's side. But even though there were no casualties nor major injuries from the soldiers, all of them were already exhausted.

Just by a single glance, the number of the knights was less than a dozen. As for the bandits, there were more than 40. It was easy to see that the reason why the soldiers were having a hard time was because they were outnumbered.

While the fight between bandits and soldiers was happening, there was also another fight just a few hundred meters away. The ones fighting was a knight, which judging by his insignia was a colonel, and a tough looking bandit who I assumed was the leader of the bandits. Both of which are at the higher end of D-rank.

「Don't let the bandits near the carriage, protect the mayー!」Colonel

「Hey, your fight is right here!」Bandit Leader

Seeing the bandits close in the carriage, the colonel tried to issue an order towards the soldiers, but the bandit leader didn't let him do what he wanted to, and just kept on attacking him.

Hm... I should probably help out the soldiers before the situation turns for the worse. Yuna and the children are also waiting for me, so I'll need to finish this up quickly.

Without wasting any more time, I quickly jumped down from the branch and joined in on the fight. And without even equipping my gauntlets, I delivered a single punch to the guts of each of the bandits I met.

Everything happened so quickly that when I finished the landing a blow towards the bandits fighting against the soldiers, all the soldiers saw was a cloud of dust.

「W-What happened?」

「The bandits are...」

「Who did...」

When the dust settled, the bandits were already down to the ground, making the soldiers dumbfounded and relieved at the same time.

「What happeneー」Bandit Leader

The bandit leader noticed that his men were down and confusion was written all over his face, but before he could even ask what happened, I already delivered a punch straight to his face.

That should be all of them.

「Who are you!?」Colonel

When I paused after hitting the bandit leader, the colonel quickly raised his sword and pointed it against me.

「Ah, sorry for shocking you. I mean no harm, I just saw you fighting against bandits so I thought I'd help out. Was I interrupting something?」Grey

「I-I see... I apologize for pointing my sword at you, and thank you for helping us out. You really saved us.」Colonel

Realizing his mistake, the colonel quickly sheathed his sword and bowed his head to apologize.

I'm grateful that he's apologizing to me, but is it really alright to trust me that quickly? I could have just made that up to make him drop his guard and attack while he's still vulnerable. Not that I'm planning to do that or anything.

「It's alright. Anyway, you should probably tie these guys up. It would be bad if they wake up while your guard is still down.」Grey

「We'll do just that, but first, I need to help out the injured ones first.」Colonel

The injured ones, huh. As far as I can see, the soldiers only sustained minor injuries. If it's just that, they should be alright even without using recovery magic.

Looks like my job here is done.

「Well then, I'll be going now.」Grey

「Ah, waitー」Colonel

Before the colonel could even finish his words, I already disappeared out of his sight and had started to return to where Yuna and the children were. I also foraged a few fruits on the way there.

When I returned, the children were chatting with Yuna peacefully, and by the looks of it, it seems like they still haven't figured out what just happened.

「I'm back.」Grey

「How was it, Grey-niisan? Did you get a lot of fruits?」Galvin

「Welcome back, Grey-niisan.」Elnart

Noticing my return, Galvin quickly ran towards me and asked about the results of my forage. As for Elnart, he just stayed where Yuna was and greeted me calmly.

「Whoa～. There's so many fruits!」Galvin

「There's even an orange...」Elnart

In order to distract the children, I retrieved a basket of fruits from my 『Storage』. And in that basket, only a small amount of the fruits were something I actually foraged, most of them were something I already had.

「So, how was it?」Yuna

「It was just like what you said, but I was able to do something about it before the situation turned for the worse.」Grey

「Do you know who they were ambushing?」Yuna

「It was probably some noble, but I don't know what family they are from.」Grey

There was a crest on the carriage but since I only know of the royal families' crests, I was not able to identify them. But I'm sure they were influential, judging by the fact that a colonel was escorting them.

「Well, all that matters is that you were able to save them.」Yuna

「You're right... Well, there's nothing we can do even if we think too much about it. We should probably continue traveling towards the capital.」Grey

「Then I'll call the kids, please prepare the pegasuses.」Yuna

「Alright.」Grey

After that short discussion, we continued our journey towards the capital, and with another day of flying, the capital's walls were finally in view.

Compared to the Galderia, the walls of the capital were much higher, it was easily able to dwarf the trees nearby. And not just the walls, the capital itself was massive. It was about 4 times the size of Galderia.

In order to not cause any ruckus, we landed the pegasuses in a nearby forest and cancelled the summoning there. From there, Yuna and I walked towards the gates with Galvin and Elnart riding on my shoulders.

And although it wasn't the busy hours, the line in the capital was long. Because of that, just like what we did to exit Galderia, Yuna and I used our noble privileges in order to get inside the capital easily.

I really felt guilty using that privilege.

Upon entering the capital, what greeted us were lots of high-rise large buildings and a large number of people. If Galderia was already populous, the capital was at least 5 times more than that!

「Yay! The capital!」Galvin

「Whoa～ There's a lot of people...」Yuna

「There sure are, I'm sure it will be hard to get to the Aldridge mansionー」Grey

Wait, now that I think about it, I haven't asked Cedric where their mansion in the capital was. And since we were supposed to take the carriage, Cedric had also forgotten to tell us.

「Something wrong, Grey?」Yuna

「Nothing, it's just that I don't know the way towards the Aldridge mansion. I forgot to ask Cedric about it.」Grey

When Yuna heard what I said, I could practically see her doing a face palm at the back of her mind.

「Haah... you're hopeless. Let's just ask the kids where it is. They should know since they've been there for a couple of times.」Yuna

「Y... Yeah...」Grey

We went along with Yuna's suggestion, and luckily, Elnart knows just how to get there. Although we have to pass a gate to the noble's district, with the use of our guild cards and Elnart's guidance, we were able to arrive there safely.

Just like in Galderia, the Aldridge mansion in the capital was also massive. It just shows how much wealth a noble family has, being able to afford two grand mansions.

「Hm? Aren't you...」

While I was still admiring the Aldridge mansion, a guard came out from the gates and noticed Elnart and Galvin on my shoulders.

「Oh, Elnart-sama, Galvin-sama, you're here. Where's Cedric-sama, and... who might these people be?」

Seeing that Cedric wasn't around, the guard asked a peculiar question. Thankfully, Elnart was there to answer his questions.

「Otou-sama is still at Galderia. He asked Grey-niisan and Yuna-neechan to escort us here.」 Elnart

「Um! We rode on winged horses!」Galvin

「I... I see... Well, if that's the case then I'll escort you to Veronica-sama. She would be delighted to see you.」

Even though the guard said he'll escort us, there was a tinge of doubt in his eyes. Thankfully, his trust in Elnart's words was stronger.

Without saying anything, the guard escorted us to a large room, similar to the one in the Aldridge mansion in Galderia. When we arrived, he told us to wait which we gladly did.

Moments later...

「El-kun, Vin-kun, You're here!」Veronica

... a beautiful noble lady went inside the room and rushed towards Elnart and Galvin to give them a tight hug.

「Okaa-sama! I can't breath!」Galvin

「Okaa-sama, it's embarrassing...」Elnart

「Eh? you're embarrassed that your mother is hugging you?」Veronica

「Uuu...」Elnart

Not being able to win against his mother, Elnart just stayed still silently as his mother hugged them tightly. It was so heartwarming seeing such a scene.

「Oh, we have guests.」Veronica

When Veronica-sama finally noticed us, she slowly let go of Elnart and Galvin and stood up in order to give us a greeting.

「It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Veronica Aldridge, Cedric's wife. I heard that you accompanied my children towards the capital, I'm thankful for that. 」Veronica

「I'm Yuna, it's pleasure to meet you.」Yuna

「And I'm Grey, the pleasure is ours... Oh, by the way, Cedric told us to give you this letter. He said it contains a letter of introduction for us and a document to prove the completion of the quest.」Grey

When I handed the red letter container to Veronica-sama, she quickly opened it and read the letter silently.

「This really is Cedric's handwriting... But still, to think that two young children such as yourselves are B-rankers. On top of that, you're going to receive a medal of honor just a two weeks from now.」Veronica

「We were just lucky, Veronica-sama.」Grey

「No need to be so formal. After all, you're just calling Cedric just as is.」Veronica

「Ah, sorry. Then would "Veronica-san" be alright?」Grey

「I suppose so... Oh right, I still need to sign the confirmation letter. Is there anyone outside?」Veronica

「You called, Veronica-sama?」???

When Veronica-san called out to the servants, one of the maids entered and bowed gracefully to Veronica-san.

「Lilia, please get me a pen from my office. Oh, and while you're at it, please tell the another maid to prepare tea for the guests.」Veronica

「Yes, Veronica-sama.」Lilia

Carrying out Veronica-san's orders, the maid, Lilia-san, exited the room. After she left, Elanrt and Galvin chatted with their mother with smiles on their faces that they weren't able to suppress.

Just by the bright smiles on their faces, one could easily tell how much they have longed to be with their mother again. It was such a moving scene.

When the maid arrived, Veronica-san quickly signed the confirmation papers for the quest and handed it to us.

「Here you go.」Veronica

「Ah, thank you. Well then, we'll be going now.」Grey

「Bye～.」Yuna

We were about to exit the mansion, but when Galvin noticed us going to leave...

「Eh?! Grey-niisan and Yuna-neechan are going to leave? But I still want to play with them!」Galvin

「Hey, Galvin, don't be so unreasonable.」Elnart

「No, no, no, I want to play more with them!」Galvin

... just like a child, Galvin acted spoiled and started causing a commotion. Elnart tried to reason out with him but it was useless.

「Sorry, Galvin-kun, but we really need to go. But don't worry, when we have time, we'll come play with you, okay?」Yuna

「Really...?」Galvin

「Really. So don't go causing trouble for your mother and brother, okay?」Yuna

「O-Okay!」Galvin

Thankfully, Yuna's skill in handling children became handy and managed to convince Galvin to stop being difficult. But just as we thought everything was fine, Veronica-san asked a peculiar question.

「Come to think of it, Grey-kun, Yuna-chan, have you reserved for an inn already?」Veronica

「No, we haven't. But don't worry about us. After we process this quest, we'll check in at one immediately.」Grey

「I'm afraid that it will be difficult to do so. With the founding festival on the way, most of the inns should be fully reserved by now. It would be hard finding a vacancy even if you search the whole capital.」Veronica

Ah... I haven't thought of that...

With the founding festival just two weeks away, the number of the people in the capital should have increased by a large margin. And if worse comes to worst, we might not get an inn to stay at for the whole duration until the festival ends.

「Grey, what should we do...」Yuna

「I don't know as well.」Grey

Even if you ask me that, there's no way I can think up a solution in such a short span of time.

Such a thought was on my mind, when suddenly, Veronica-san faked a cough to get our attention.

「Then why don't you stay here? Other than staying here for free, Vin-kun and El-kun will be able to play with you for much longer. What do you say?」Veronica

「Eh? Grey-niisan and Yuna-neechan will be staying here?」Galvin

After Veronica-san said her suggestion, Galvin then looked at us with eyes full of expectations. It was something that Yuna and I had always been weak against.

At the end of the day, we agreed to stay in the Aldridge mansion and as thanks, Yuna and I decided to cook lunch for them. Needless to say, it was Galvin who enjoyed it the most.

CHAPTER 54 END