Escaping the Royal Capital: Why He Was Heading to Buena Village, and the Wronged Party Comes Knocking?

"That's delicious!"

The bright red pork, streaked with muscle fibers, had been neatly cut into nearly equal palm-sized square slices. Folded in half and skewered onto branches thoroughly soaked in water, it moved back and forth through the flames.

Amid the sizzling sounds, the Maillard reaction dyed the meat an appetizing reddish brown as bubbling fat continuously seeped out and burst.

Water droplets still clung to the strands of hair on Allen's forehead as he focused intently on grilling the meat.

The praise had come from Lokkishi.

Watching Allen repeatedly sprinkle strange powder over the meat, she propped up her cheek with one hand. Her mouth was stuffed full of grilled meat, puffed out like a squirrel's, and her face was full of satisfaction.

"I've never had this seasoning before."

"Batil Flower seeds ground into powder. They're extremely mildly toxic, so they make your tongue hurt a little, but the seeds themselves are sweet. It's a natural sweet-and-spicy seasoning. They say the Migurd Race likes sweet things, and it seems that really is true."

Lokkishi nodded repeatedly.

Allen finished grilling all the meat, then placed it on the freshly washed fallen leaves before Lokkishi. He stretched and stood up.

His Swordsman's Outfit was still tattered, but he had taken it off earlier and asked Lokkishi to wash and dry it. Though it looked wrinkled now, it was still far better than being covered in blood.

Fortunately, the lining didn't get stained with blood. I still had clothes to wear while we traded laundry duties.

Still, Lokkishi had kept a straight face and faced away from Allen throughout the whole process. Even when washing his hair, she had waited until Allen was dressed again.

She really was shy.

She was completely different from that tutor in the anime who would secretly watch Paul and Zenith having sex in the middle of the night and end up drenched in sweat.

Mushoku Tensei major event participation score increased.

Current stage: Childhood. Cumulative participation score: 25 points.

Immediate task to be completed: Gain Rudeus's favor.

Rudeus: Countdown: 87:02:37

Allen looked at the words floating before his eyes. Suddenly bright light came in from the side, shining through the gaps between the letters and falling onto Lokkishi's face. Her eyelashes trembled slightly as she looked up at him.

Dawn had come.

Morning light leaped over the edge of the horizon, casting hazy halos through the trees and enveloping the two of them.

Lokkishi's smile bloomed in the light.

Because he had been in the forest, Allen had not realized that a road lay less than two kilometers south of where he was.

By the time Lokkishi led him out of the forest, he was almost dazed.

Under the sunlight, rotting fences occasionally stood along both sides of the road. Beyond them stretched endless uncultivated wasteland covered in wild grass, with a few trees scattered here and there.

Allen instinctively took out his map and opened it to confirm their location.

"We're currently—"

A pale little hand reached out from beside Allen's shoulder and pointed to the southwest of the Fittoa Region on the map. Buena Village, marked with a red circle, was less than a fingernail's width away.

Allen turned his head, only to have a raised lock of ahoge poke him in the face.

Lokkishi looked up at him.

The poor lighting last night had made their height difference less obvious. Now, under the sun, the fifteen-centimeter gap between Allen and Lokkishi was unmistakable.

This was a Yordle god who did not need to look up at anyone.

The god spoke.

"With your physical condition, if you hurry, you should... you should be able to reach the village tonight. S-sorry for delaying your journey."

Allen helplessly twisted his slightly sore wrist.

Lokkishi was covered in parcels of grilled meat wrapped in leaves of various sizes. She was also holding the jar of Batil Flower seed powder Allen had given her.

A Terminator Boar's leg, tenderloin, and the tastier portions of its ribs were all hanging from Lokkishi.

They had all been grilled, of course. It had taken Allen a full hour.

"By the way, can you really eat that much? Won't it taste worse once it gets cold? You could just kill one and eat it fresh."

Lokkishi shook her head and muttered while staring at the sheath at Allen's waist.

"My knife skills aren't good enough. I can't cut thin slices like you can. This way, if I get hungry, I can reheat it with fire magic. Thank you for grilling the meat for me and giving me the seasoning."

"That's true."

An odd silence fell between them.

After a moment, Allen looked up at the sky.

"Then I'll be going. I need to keep heading for the village—"

But unexpectedly, Lokkishi raised her head and interrupted him.

"Perhaps you could travel with me. Since you're going to the countryside to hide anyway, wouldn't leaving the Asura Kingdom entirely conceal your whereabouts even better? And with your skills, you could easily become an adventurer capable of standing on your own. After a year, once you've made a name for yourself, you could naturally return to the Asura Kingdom in glory."

Allen froze and looked at Lokkishi.

Lokkishi's face had turned a little red, but she was clearly making the suggestion seriously.

Logically speaking, her judgment was not wrong. In the Jobless World, there were quite a few oddballs who left home at the age of ten or so to train on their own.

The nearest example was the formidable person standing before him. At fourteen, she had secretly left home to become an adventurer and never returned. Her elderly parents did not even know whether she was alive or dead.

A slightly more distant example was that guy Paul Zhixiang. He completed his coming-of-age ceremony at ten and soon unlocked the noble group-action achievement at noble school. But then the wronged party complained to his family. After a huge fight with his father, he left without saying goodbye, and then...

Wait, could this development be... Is Lokkishi suspecting the same thing about me? We're both nobles of the Asura Kingdom, and we even share the same surname.

Gah... It probably hasn't come to that, right? I'm a decent person, after all.

"And by then, that girl will probably have given up on you. By the time you return from your travels, she may have already found someone else. Her family should let you go too."

"???"

Decent Allen stared wide-eyed at the eloquently speaking Lokkishi.

He instinctively retorted.

"No, you just want to abduct a free chef, don't you? And a free child laborer at that."

"! No!"

Lokkishi puffed up her cheeks.

"You may not look very old, but you should be at least ten, right? How can you call yourself child labor?"

Allen blinked.

"I'm nine this year."

Lokkishi froze and stared at Allen with wide eyes.

"Nine..."

Seeing Lokkishi's stunned expression, Allen frowned and fell into thought.

This Butterfly Effect came way too quickly. I'd only just met the first important character, and after only one night, I'd received such a tempting OFFER from a god. Forget whether it would affect the future plot—at this rate, my score is in danger.

Just as he was considering how to politely refuse Lokkishi, she spoke first.

"If you're nine, then you're still too young. I think after lying low for a while, you should first study swordsmanship for two years at the Water God Style dojo in the Asura Royal Capital before going out to train. Uh... you're a noble. At that age, should you be gradually inheriting the family business? If that's the case..."

Lokkishi lowered her eyes.

"Maybe after this brief meeting, we'll never see each other again. Rudy too, and you as well..."

"We'll meet again."

Lokkishi raised her head.

Under the sunlight, Allen smiled brightly.

"We'll meet again. Not just me—Rudy too."

Lokkishi nodded blankly.

"Mm. It's getting late. I should be going too, or I might not make it to the village before nightfall."

"...All right."

Allen turned around. He had only taken a few steps when he suddenly looked back at Lokkishi.

"...There's always another meeting somewhere in life. As long as you walk the right path, we'll meet again someday."

He turned away from Lokkishi and waved as though it did not matter.

Then he took off down the road and vanished in a flash.

Perhaps it was only her imagination, but Lokkishi felt that his retreating figure looked rather like someone fleeing in panic.

She watched Allen's silhouette gradually shrink in the distance, then turned and headed in the opposite direction.

"...There's always another meeting somewhere in life, huh."

Lokkishi smiled and walked into the distance.