"Seleneril-sama and the others please take the carriage over there. We will soon be leaving for the Iska kingdom."
With the preparations in order and all ready to travel, we board the carriage prepared by the search party dispatched from the Iska Kingdom.
The box-shaped carriage was quite simple to be used for a noble's escort but this may just be the perfect camouflage.
However, I was a bit concerned about its defensive ability so I quietly put a defense spell on it as we advanced.
"Okaa-san......"
"Does your butt hurt because you aren't used to riding a carriage? Or do you want to go to the toilet?"
"I feel sick from the shaking......'
"Should I raise you up so you can look at the outside scenery through the windows? Or, although it's a bit early, should I ask them to stop so we can rest?"
I rubbed her back while using healing magic and strengthening magic to fortify her semicircular canals, the cause of her nausea.
On one occasion during our journey一一
"Selene-sama, the cooking, let一一"
"I have done the cooking with Okaa-san before, so calm down!"
Throughout our journey, the search party tried to stop Selene from helping out in the cooking in camp but had to back down reluctantly at the sight of her culinary skills.
In fact, the members of the search party are knights and are kind of like the 3rd or 4th sons of their respective aristocratic families so they weren't that skillful in cooking.
After that, when we stopped at a town to replenish our supplies 一一
"Okaa-san, they are selling sweets there!"
"They seem to be the popular bean sweets! I’ll buy them, quick!"
"Alright, let's buy them. Oh, I also want to visit the bookstore in this town so let's withdraw money from the adventurer’s guild."
As we were looking around the scenery of the town, we stopped by on the way like we were sightseeing一一
"Selene-sama, you shouldn't visit places like that! It would be a problem if you were to move on your own!"
They tried to restrain Selene's movement but I used magic to put them into a light sleep and went on our own.
They also needed a bit of rest since they were using all their nerves throughout the escort. Using that excuse, we toured around the town.
On another occasion during the journey一一
"The road ahead is blocked due to rocks that had fallen on the road!"
"This much is simple一一«Breakstone»!"
The stone was pulverized into small bits, changing into a size easy enough to be carried. We then put them to the side of the road and passed through.
"Bandits have appeared on the highway!"
"This is just一一«Bind Earth»!'
I manipulate the ground and used soil and stone to restrain the bandits and carried them to a nearby city while keeping them bound.
"Anyone, I beg you, please save this child!"
"Very well, this will be 3 silver coins. 一一«Heal»!"
I used healing magic on a child that had been kicked by a rampaging horse.
The child was almost all but confirmed dead with an open fracture, excessive bleeding, ruptured internal organs, and brain hemorrhage apparently from their head hitting the road after being kicked but, fortunately, we just made it in time and healed the child.
We easily advanced while resolving any hindering obstacles like so with the power of magic.
Also, Selene was already bored from the carriage journey in just three days since starting, so I stealthily created a board game with «Creation Magic» inside the coach, used strengthening and healing magic on the horses pulling the carriage, reduced the box-shaped coach’s weight and mixed potions in the drinking water.
We arrived at the kingdom's border in a week as the result of improving the horses’ movement speed and in another week, we arrived at the capital city.
"Huh? It had taken us one month to arrive at that town, how come it only took us half the time?"
Each member of Selene's search party was making a face as if they had been bewitched by a fox.
"So, what's the plan from here on out? Are we going to meet Selene's father immediately?"
"No, we first must report and schedule a meeting with His Majesty. So, Selene-sama will be staying at the church facility to which her mother, Elise-sama, had belonged while she was still alive."
"Okaa-san......"
Muttering just that, Selene tightly clenched the ring, a memento of her mother.
Thus, we headed to the royal capital's cathedral that worshipped the Goddess Liliel and the others.
We then got off the carriage and entered as we were guided inside.
"............ Elise-sama?"
"Yes?"
Selene slightly cocked her small head in confusion but the old clergyman that had appeared shook his head slightly and greeted us.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Cardinal Marius of the five theism."
"N-Nice to meet you, I'm Selene."
"Fufufu, you look just like Elise in her younger days. I almost thought I was seeing her again for a moment there."
He greeted Selene with a friendly greeting.
"I have heard the details. You have my utmost gratitude for raising Selene-sama. May I know your names?"
Cardinal Marius didn't show a wee bit of surprise seeing us. Apparently, he already heard about our appearance and age.
"I'm Witch Chise. A B-rank adventurer."
"Likewise, Swordsman Teto-nanodesu!"
However, his expression soon crumbled in surprise upon hearing our name.
"Chise-dono? No way, the same leading figure in the former capital's orphanage reformation?"
"Did you do something, Okaa-san?"
Selene asked curiously.
I hadn't talked about my past before meeting Selene because I didn’t have much to say, so I wasn't particularly avoiding it.
"It's a story just a bit before meeting you, Selene. I just helped some kids from an orphanage so that they could stand up on their own two feet."
I explained in a lighthearted manner but Cardinal Marius exaggeratedly shook his head saying “You're being too humble”.
"You're downplaying your achievement. The potion compounding and paper-manufacturing techniques that Chise-sama had taught using her own money are now being currently used as teaching materials in the orphanages and the side job of making paper is used to aid various types of socially inept people! You're a Saint who has instilled hope in many!"
After hearing the details, it seemed those books had been properly maintained after leaving my hands.
The dungeon city orphanage's kids dispersed to every location to spread forth the same type of system to the orphanages throughout the kingdom and the general health of the nation’s populace was improved with the increase in potion yield. Furthermore, paper bag and envelope manufacturing using paper have started to become a side business for orphan kids or widows who had lost their husbands.
"I didn't know that. That's amazing, Okaa-san..."
Her biological mother roamed around various places, providing recovery aid to the masses, and became a Saint while her foster mother aided people on the societal aspect and was now treated as Saint.
In either case, the opinion of the church regarding Selene as the princess of the Iska Kingdom might be quite good.
People from Selene's search party, who had escorted us so far, were apparently unaware of this as they also looked surprised.
Currently, paper 一 manufactured from scarp wood 一 has become a valuable income source for the church and the kingdom too seemed to be exporting them to other nations.
"You three are the important guests of this cathedral. Please treat it as if it's your home."
Afterwards, several sisters joined us and led us to the room in the inner part of the cathedral which was to be our place of stay.
In the night, we ate a simple but balanced meal as one would expect from the church, cleansed our bodies with cleaning magic, and changed into our nightwear.
"I want to bathe......"
Selene, who was accustomed to soaking in a bath since she was young, muttered her desire.
"Hmm, I also want to take a bath, shall we search for a large public bath tomorrow?"
"Yes!"
As we were traveling previously, I hesitated to undress and enter an impromptu bath around the search party who escorted us so we had been making do with using clean magic every day.
Then, as we were idly passing time until it was time for bed, Selene muttered out a different desire this time.
"Okaa-san, Teto onee-chan......"
"What?"
"You know, I, I want to know what kind of things Okaa-san has done."
The Okaa-san Selene mentioned must be her birth mother, Elise-san.
"So, so I was thinking of trying to work in the church."
"I see. Let's ask Cardinal Marius tomorrow."
"Okay, thank you, Okaa-san......"
After saying that, she silently fell asleep.
I turned off the light without waking Selene up and went to sleep as well.
