Apparently, the so-called ghost doesn’t bring good fortune like a house spirit.
It just exists.
Since it doesn’t curse anyone, I asked why they give it sweets and milk, and Zaza-san replied, “…Because it eats them?”
Don’t ask me.

It’s so natural to them that they don’t even question it.

Even so, for us, things that fall under the categories of “ghosts” or “yokai” aren’t exactly easy to get used to.

Very naturally, I think I managed to steer things into a flow where I stay overnight in Rei-kun’s room.
I did turn down Ayame-san’s invitation, though.

Maybe Ayame-san was scared too, but—

“I-I’m not scared at all!”

—she went with the classic line, so she probably wasn’t.
Surely.
Probably.

From the outside, it might have looked like I was the one holding tightly onto Rei-kun’s hand, but in reality, Rei-kun was gripping mine firmly.
In that case, Ayame-san would just have to put up with it.

The carriage ride was less bumpy than I expected.

“Good suspension…” Yukihiro-san muttered, which must be why.
I don’t know what that means.

It wasn’t as fancy as a pumpkin carriage, but two elegantly curved, two-horse carriages traveled together, guarded front and back by several large covered wagons, supply carts, and a small mounted unit forming a convoy along the road.

About two hours after passing through the capital’s gate.
To the east, gentle hills stretched to the horizon.
From the south to the west spread a dense forest.
Turning north, you could see the royal castle nestled against sheer cliffs.
From the mountainside where the castle stood down to the foothills, rooftops spread like a mosaic of colorful blocks, encircled by high walls.

I’ve seen this in anime.
I’ve definitely seen this.
I might be feeling the strongest sense of fantasy yet.
Even the sky feels different, somehow.
Even though it’s the same blue, it looks like it has glitter mixed in.

“Tracksuits are nice.”

“They are, aren’t they.”

Standing side by side on the rear deck of the carriage, Rei-kun tugged lightly at my maroon tracksuit, looking genuinely envious.
The fabrics in this world aren’t bad, but when it comes to moving around, tracksuits really are unbeatable.

On the first day, the out-of-place feeling was unbearable, though.

“We’ll set up camp near the forest a bit further ahead.
Look, the advance team has already started pitching tents.”

Zaza-san rode his mount closer and pointed ahead.
The animals here were much larger than the horses I knew, with drooping ears like donkeys, curled horns like sheep, and long, soft-looking fur that seemed warm.

Shota-kun and Yukihiro-san were riding mounts as well.
In the carriage were me, Rei-kun, and Ayame-san.

“There’s a slime!”

“Seriously!?”

When Rei-kun pointed into the grass beyond Zaza-san, Ayame-san, who’d been lounging lazily inside the carriage, leaned forward eagerly.
She pretends to be cool, but she clearly doesn’t dislike this sort of thing.

“Ayame-san, do you like slimes?”

“I-I was just thinking it’s real that they exist!”

She flushed slightly and sat back after snapping out of it from Rei-kun’s innocent question.

“Huh.
Oh, there’s a different color one too.”

“Seriously!?
Is it faster!?”

…She really does seem to like them.
Why does a different color automatically mean it’s faster.

We were here for a monster extermination that doubled as field training.

Apparently, Yukihiro-san is twenty-two, Ayame-san is nineteen, and Shota-kun is sixteen, matching their appearances.
It’s all self-reported, but their behavior seems age-appropriate, so the plan was to proceed as originally intended.

“What’s the difference between monsters and normal animals?”

I asked Zaza-san after hearing that all living things possess magical power to some degree.

“Whether they attack people.”

Simple.

“Then what’s the difference between magical beasts and monsters?”

“Magical beasts are mostly servants of the demon race and under their command, though some stray.
So they’re rarely found within the kingdom.
They’re also more intelligent and stronger than monsters, and they work together.”

A few days ago, I was allowed to attend a meeting where the King of Kazarna, Zaza-san, High Priest Ernes, and several ministers and officials discussed everything concerning the heroes.

“So the upcoming target is a monster, not a magical beast.
That means the danger level is lower, right?”

“When monsters increase near villages or towns, the knight order under my command handles it.
This extermination is within that normal scope, handled by a single platoon, with almost no casualties.
Given the heroes’ current abilities, there’s no problem at all.”

The kingdom has several knight orders.
Zaza-san’s order is the largest, responsible for domestic monster extermination and defense of the northern border.
That’s why it was assigned to the heroes.

“Then I’ll accompany you after all.
Rei-kun will act as my escort.”

A murmur of hesitation mixed with faint criticism rippled through the room.

“Kazuha-dono, didn’t you express reluctance toward combat?”

The King raised a hand to quiet the murmurs, though his expression remained dubious.

“I only judged that I lack the aptitude and ability.
—I don’t like it, but since I have no experience, it’s not strong enough to call aversion.”

“Hoh.
You said your world has neither hunting nor war.
And yet you would have a ten-year-old hunt?
Would you not call that reckless?”

Oof.
The King is sharp.

But this is simply an adult’s natural sense regarding children.
This gentle-looking country lives with death close at hand, to the point that combat training begins young.
And yet they strictly forbid hunting before the age of thirteen.
There’s no way a so-called peace-addled Japanese sensibility could reject that.
If anything, I want the age of adulthood raised.
The idea of making a ten-year-old fight is madness, here as well.

“If Rei-kun had a body that matched his real age, I would never allow it.”

“A child is still a child.
A body maturing suddenly doesn’t mean the mind does.
In reality, Rei-san is a child, isn’t he?”

Zaza-san and the others were firmly against Rei-kun participating.
Only High Priest Ernes showed no emotion either way.

“I said I’d have him act as my escort.
Whether he actually participates in hunting will be decided step by step, based on his reactions.
He insists on joining, and his abilities are sufficient.
That’s the compromise for now.
—He can’t be judged by the same standards as other children.”

“Why is that?”

High Priest Ernes spoke for the first time since the meeting began.

“You said you can’t return us to our world, correct?
And that these bodies are the result of the summoning.”

I stood and gestured to my small body before High Priest Ernes.

“Then these bodies won’t revert to match our real ages, will they?
I will grow up as I am, and—Rei-kun will age.”

High Priest Ernes’s eyes widened slightly, and he nodded with a small sigh, understanding my point.

“Your Majesty, forgive me, but how old are you?”

“…Fifty-six.”

“And the average lifespan in this world?”

The King frowned slightly and answered, “Sixty to seventy,” after confirming with a senior official seated near the back.

“Zaza-san, you’re forty-two, right?
Even with training, you must feel decline compared to when you were thirty.”

“Well, yes.”

“And yet you’re active.
Your Majesty is active as well.
Even as the body ages, the years spent compensating for that decline accumulate.
But Rei-kun will reach the average lifespan with the mind of a forty-year-old.
Zaza-san, what if your body suddenly became over sixty right now?
Your Majesty, what if you suddenly had the body of someone over seventy while your mind stayed the same?”

Most of those present were senior officials, the younger ones around their mid-thirties.
The oldest was likely a minister.

Everyone gradually accepts physical aging.
Time advances impartially.
Rei-kun will also feel aging gradually—starting in his early teens.

“He’ll realize it soon.
He’s a smart child.
—He has to grow up faster than others.
And to endure that…”

A flock of vividly colored birds scattered into the sky.

From deep within the forest came faint vibrations along with sharp cracks and impacts.

Rei-kun and I, together with several knights, were setting up a simple stove and preparing firewood in front of the tents.

“They should be back soon.”

A knight a little younger than Zaza-san told us as he added another armful of logs to the stack.

The target, the Green Boar, is a monster closely resembling a plump wild boar.
I’ve seen it brought behind the kitchen as an ingredient before.
Despite being nearly three meters long, it leaps through trees like a monkey.
During breeding season, it leaves the forest and attacks in packs.
It even uses wind-blade-like magic attacks.
Isn’t that unfair for something that size?

I’m here as part of the cooking team.
As planned, Rei-kun is my escort.
Since we’re “close,” it looks completely natural.
I thought Rei-kun might object, but he accepted it surprisingly easily.
We’re close, after all.

“Hey, Kazuha-chan, what are you making?”

“Something like boar hotpot, roast pork, and a whole roast.”

I tossed heaps of vegetables into three large pots filled with stock.
There were wild plants that resembled kelp, so it’s kelp stock.
There was no bonito flakes, but I won’t fuss over details.
The Green Boar will release plenty of umami.

“Botan…?”

Rei-kun crouched beside me, hugging his knees and tilting his head.
I explained that the boar meat arranged in the pot looks like peony petals.
His eyes lit up just as I hoped.

Before long, the extermination team emerged from the forest, led by the heroes.
Ayame-san and Shota-kun looked fine, but Yukihiro-san was splattered with blood.
Probably due to his fighting style.
He said beforehand he’d act as bait and hold enemies back.
I pretended not to notice the faint gasp beside me and hurried over to greet them.

“Welcome back.”

For some reason, Yukihiro-san averted his eyes and stepped back.

“…Is something wrong?
You’re not injured, right?”

“Oh, no, it’s just… I’m filthy.”

“Ah, looks like you got hit pretty hard.
We’ve prepared hot water behind the tents so you can clean up.”

“…Kazuha-chan, aren’t you bad with stuff like this?”

“Huh?”

I’ve been thinking this for a while now, but it seems my refusal to fight was interpreted as pacifism or aversion to bloodshed.

“Um, I can kill chickens, you know?”

“—What?”

Not just Yukihiro-san, but Ayame-san and Shota-kun widened their eyes.
Yeah, that’s fair.

“My great-grandfather ran a small dairy farm in the countryside.
It’s gone now, but I stayed there for a while.”

“Was that, like, educational policy…?”

“Who knows.
He was the type who said his own chicken tasted best, so he’d go, ‘Alright, let’s do it together!
I’ll make you something good!’”

I must have been around ten.
My researcher father went abroad for long-term fieldwork, and my mother, who was his assistant, went with him.
So I was left with my great-grandfather for about a year.

Later on, there was that whole debate about ‘life education,’ but that wasn’t the intention at all.
He was just that kind of person.
That’s it.

It was an unintended early experience, but that’s exactly why I found those reports silly when I saw them later.

“So blood and organs don’t bother me at all.
Rather than fear, I just feel gratitude toward those who did what had to be done.”

“…I see.”

“Yes.
Good work, everyone.
Thank you all.”

“…Yeah.
Thanks.”

“You’re the ones who worked, Yukihiro-san.
Save your thanks for after you eat.
The rest is my job.”

When I smiled, Yukihiro-san’s face crumpled into an odd grin.

“So where’s the meat?”

“Straight to ingredients!?
They’re draining the blood on-site, so it’ll be here later!”

“I’ve only watched big-game butchery before, so I’m kind of excited.”

“…You’re pretty carnivorous, Kazuha-chan…”

Together with several knights, we butchered two Green Boars hung from nearby trees.
The remaining six would be delivered to a nearby village.
The knights were clearly experienced, and while they asked, “Are you really doing this too, Kazuha-sama?” they taught me the steps as I helped.
It was almost the same as boar butchery I’d seen long ago.
Just much bigger.

Yukihiro-san helped too, saying he might as well since he was already dirty.
For someone who seems flashy, he has surprising sides.

Rei-kun watched quietly from behind me, his expression a little tense.

Two rows of firewood were stacked.
Two vertical poles stood with discs at their tips, each disc pierced with four wheel-like holes.
Metal rods skewering the Green Boars from shoulders to waist passed through those holes, allowing them to be rotated evenly as they roasted.

Seeing that, I asked to light the fire.

Just as High Priest Ernes taught me, I focused my magic.

—A roaring pillar of flame shot up.
Like a bonfire.
As if it might scorch the sky itself.

Not just the Green Boars, but the heavens.

The knights and heroes all staggered back.
About two meters.

My bangs smelled slightly burnt.

“Alright.
Ayame-san, please adjust the heat.
Like this, so the flames don’t touch the Green Boars.”

“Wait!
Why did you light it this much!?”

The real reason I usually just peel potatoes is this.
I once sent flames shooting up from a stove and got banned.

I thought this size would be fine.

“Hey!
Being composed doesn’t make it okay!
This is a failure!
The heat’s way too high!”

“…The hero truly is impressive…”

This is one of those situations where being embarrassed means you lose.

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