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Chapter 237 – Bandit subjugation – Part three
“Master, I’m going too!”
So basically, I’m at the gate, ready to get on the wagon with the knights, but Hikari is now insisting that she wants to come along.
The knights look perplexed, and I’m taken aback too, because it came out of nowhere.
I’m sure the knights heard that I’m supposed to be the only one going after the bandits with them.
“Hikari, we talked about this yesterday, right? You’re staying here.”
“No. I want to go too.”
I try again and again to talk her down, but all she does is grab on to my arm tightly.
“Ah
 What’s going on?”
Asks one of the knights, who can’t bear to stay back and watch any more. But what am I supposed to say? It’s exactly what it looks like.
“Hikari, Sora can’t leave unless you let go of him.”
“Yes, you’re coming with us, right? You’re bothering Sora.”
Say Mia and Chris, but it doesn’t look like it’s working.
Rurika and Sera crouch to also try to convince her, but then they look at each other and say something to the knight.
The knight looks at me, then at Hikari, and talks to me with an awkward smile while scratching his head.
“Young lady, do you understand that we’re going to a dangerous place?”
He says after going down to one knee to look Hikari in the eye.
“Yes
”
Hikari nods.
“And you still want to come along?”
She says yes again.
“And when we think there’s danger, will you do what we say?”
“Yes, I promise.”
“All right. Young man
 Sora. We’ll make sure we protect her.”
He says while tapping my shoulder. Kind of strongly, actually.
It looks like he’s on board with Hikari coming along, but what did Rurika and Sera say to him? Weren’t they talking about convincing Hikari?
“I’m going too, master.”
Her anxious expression has been replaced with a smile. I feel like I should be scolding her, but I guess this has been settled.
Rurika just says ‘we’re leaving her with you then’.
And so, we get on the wagon, and start heading to our destination.
There are two wagons, and fifteen people, including me and Hikari. They’re big for the amount of people they’re carrying, but that’s to make it look like they’re carrying merchandise.
The knights are wearing light equipment to make them look like adventurers, not their usual armor. Their weapons on the other hand stand out a little, because they match, but I guess that’s because they want to at least use the weapons they usually use.
“Are you really sure about this?”
I ask the middle-aged knight that said it was all right for Hikari to come along.
His name is Richard, and he’s acting as the leader of this group.
“Well, what can we do? I’d feel sorry if we had to pry her away.”
The other knights here that look about the same age as him nod.
Are you really sure? But then the youngest knight here, Sete, whispers something to me.
“Richard has a daughter
 And apparently around that age when she really wanted to be pampered, he was swamped with work and couldn’t be with her.”
I think about what to say, but can’t find the right response. Is that why he’s being so soft?
“And her movements feel different too. I’m sure he realized she can fight at least to some extent.”
“I can’t deny that. We’ve been traveling together for a while.”
By using Appraisal, I can see Richard is the only one whose level is higher than Hikari’s.
“Well, Richard and the others really will protect her if things get dangerous. And depending on the scale, make sure she gets away.”
That goes against the tough, straight-laced image I have of knights. The ones I met in the dungeon were like that too, so is this all right? Maybe the ones that I met in the dungeon are actually the ones that go against the norm.
“Master, isn’t it about time to have lunch?”
She’s right, we would normally have lunch right about now, but what are the plans for lunch here?
Eating inside a shaking wagon is pretty rough, but I get the feeling that experienced knights would prioritize saving time.
When I ask, they’re surprised that it’s lunch time already, and stop the wagon.
I jump down from the wagon and stretch. It’s kind of rough, because I’m not used to this.
The only wagons I’ve used lately have been nice ones that belonged to nobles, and they didn’t shake this much.
“What do you do for lunch when you’re traveling, Sora?”
“Master is a great cook.”
Hikari answers Sete’s question while puffing her chest out.
Sete looks interested, and so do Richard and the other knights.
“Yes
 I do cook while we travel.”
Why do they look so surprised? Ah, yes. I do remember hearing from Rurika and Chris about guys cooking, when we first accepted a quest.
I thought that was just about adventurers, but is it the same for knights? I see men cooking in stalls and dining halls, so it’s not like men in this world can’t cook at all.
“Hm. Well, we do have a lot of preserved food, but
”
Hikari looks incredibly sad when she hears this.
“Sora, can we ask you to cook?”
Asks Richard, and that puts a bright smile back on Hikari’s face.
I guess I really would rather cook than eat those preserved foods.
All the preparations are done anyway, so that saves time. And Sadd did give me some money for travel expenses.
I make a simple cooking area, start cooking like usual, and serve everyone.