The Strongest Onmyoji and the Shikigami With AI are Unparalleled in Another World ~ A Second Life Properly Enjoyed Using Artificial Intelligence ~ - Chapter 148

The next day, when I wake up, I see the ladies already lounging around in the kotatsu, each spending their time as they please.

“Oh, you woke up.”

“Indeed. Good morning!”

Natalia and Lily greet me with smiles.

“…You’re still such a sleepyhead as always.”

“Seriously.”

I’d rather not hear that from two talking heads…

“It’s so cold…”

AI-chan, who had been lying under the covers in her half-fox form, crawls out and burrows into the kotatsu.

((“Master, there’s a spectacular view under here!”))

“Little fox, stop wagging your tail inside the kotatsu. It tickles.”

Annie sure shows a lot of skin—bare legs and all…

Ignoring the two, I slip into the kotatsu, take a sip of the tea Natalia brewed for me.

“Where’s Leanne?”

“She’s not here yet. Didn’t she say she had a report for the king this morning?”

Oh, that’s right.

“I see, I see.”

“Want breakfast?”

“Yeah… AI-chan, want to eat?”

I lift the kotatsu cover and ask the curled-up little fox inside.

“Let’s eaat~!”

“I told you to stop moving…”

I can see AI-chan’s tail brushing against Annie’s thigh. That must really tickle.

“She says she wants to eat.”

“Alright, I’ll bring it.”

With that, Natalia goes off, and I wait.

After a little while, Natalia returns with breakfast for me and AI-chan.

“Here’s your food, little fox.”

When I call her, AI-chan pops out of the kotatsu, and we start eating together.

“I wonder what everyone else is up to?”

“Who knows?”

“Mr. Clive was working on his cooking research.”

“That guy is so serious.”

“He was drinking, though.”

I take back what I said.

“Drinking in the morning? What a mess he is.”

“He probably thinks the same about you, Master.”

Why, though?

“I actually do my work properly.”

“That’s… not quite what I meant.”

After AI-chan and I finish breakfast, we get ready. By noon, we’ve all had lunch, and then Leanne arrives.

“Thank you for waiting. Shall we go?”

When AI-chan and I touch Leanne, we teleport from my room to the inn. I pay the innkeeper and, following Leanne’s lead, we head toward the count’s mansion.

“There it is.”

As we walk, Leanne points to a large mansion up ahead.

“Have you been here before?”

“No, but it’s unmistakably a noble’s mansion.”

I mean, it’s huge, has an iron gate, and guards—definitely noble territory.

As we approach, a guard holding a spear lowers his weapon. It looks like they recognize us—probably because Leanne is easy to identify.

“I am Leanne, Guild Master of the royal capital. Is Count Faol here?”

“Yes, he’s expecting you. I’ll go fetch him right away, so please wait here a moment.”

The guard says this and then hurries toward the mansion.

“Fetch him?”

“Isn’t he coming himself?”

Do nobles come out themselves to greet people of the royal family?

While I wonder, a middle-aged man with a beard arrives with the guard.

“Oh! Leanne-sama! It’s been a long time!”

“Indeed, it has. We last met at the party in the royal capital.”

“That’s right! And this here is?”

The count looks over at me.

“This is Yuuma-sama, a B-rank adventurer.”

“Oh, oh… the one?”

The one what?

“Yes, that one. Be respectful.”

“A pleasure to meet you. I am Faol, the one governing this region.”

The count offers his hand, so I shake it.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Yuuma, from the Wings of Wind. It’s an honor. This is AI-chan.”

“Hello,” AI-chan says, bowing her head slightly.

“Ah… yes. I was surprised by your sudden visit, but it’s cold out. Please, come into my home, and let’s discuss matters inside. This way.”

We follow the count into the mansion and are led to a sitting room.

Once seated on the sofa, a butler enters and serves us tea. After the butler leaves, the count takes a sip, and so do we.

“I understand you wanted to discuss something. But before that, I heard that one of the bridges in my domain collapsed yesterday… My apologies for the inconvenience, and thank you for informing us. We’ve already begun repairs this morning.”

“Well, these things happen. We crossed using magic, so it wasn’t an issue for us.”

It was only Crow-chan who had a tough time with it.

“I see… though it’s odd. That bridge was rebuilt just last year. Could it have been a construction flaw?”

“Ah, no, I don’t think so. That looked like an external cause.”

“An external cause? Bandits?”

That would be the usual suspicion.

After all, destroying a bridge is a common way to delay people, forcing merchants to detour or making them easy targets.

“No, it’s not exactly like that. Faol, I actually have something I’d like to ask you, if that’s alright.”

“Of course, I don’t mind. Did something happen within my domain?”

“I’m not here to interrogate you. I just wanted to know if there have been any reports of a large bird seen flying overhead around here.”

“A bird… well, this is good timing. Just yesterday, some of the elves from the nearby forest reported seeing something like that.”

Elves, huh… Could it be that beautiful woman from yesterday?

“I’d like to hear more about it.”

“Well, according to them, they’d never seen a bird like it before, so they reported it as a precaution. They have excellent eyesight, so they could see it, but even then, it was flying very high up, so they couldn’t make out the details. I thought about investigating further, but tracking a bird in the sky is no easy task, and with the bridge collapse… That bridge connects to the main highway leading to the royal capital, so we need to restore it as quickly as possible.”

At least it doesn’t seem like a dragon is causing any issues.

“Do you know which direction the bird was flying?”

“To the west. As you may know, if you go west from this town, there’s a mountain range. They reported seeing it flying in that direction. The information should be reliable, coming from the elves who live in the forest at the base of that range.”

The mountains, huh…

“I see… Actually, we’re tracking that bird, so I thought we might head over there.”

“You’re going to the mountains? It doesn’t snow here, but it’s still quite cold up there.”

Well, it is a mountain.

“That’s not an issue.”

“Well… the forest where the elves live is incredibly easy to get lost in, and although the elves are usually peaceful, it could be dangerous for humans to go there…”

“There’s no problem. Yuuma-sama’s companion is an elf from that forest.”

“Oh… that clumsy… I mean, uh, my apologies.”

Clumsy!?

“Excuse me… did Lily do something?” Leanne asks the count.

“The elf who left the forest because she wanted to be an adventurer, right? She came to town, ate and drank at a restaurant, but didn’t have enough money to pay.”

What is she doing…?

“My apologies, Count. She’s a bit naïve about the ways of the world.”

I’d better apologize.

“Yes, she gave me that impression. Apparently, she quickly took on some work to pay off the debt, but it must have been embarrassing for her, because she left for another town right after.”

So that’s why she went all the way to the distant town of Celia…

“Master, now we know why Lily never joined the conversation when we talked about this area.”

A dragon heading westward to Ibru… and she didn’t say a word about her hometown, even though she loves to talk. If Annie hadn’t mentioned where Lily was from, I might not have known she was a local here.

“Let’s pretend we didn’t hear about this. Leanne, you keep quiet too. She’d be in tears in no time.”

“Understood.”

“Mum’s the word!”

Still, she really is clumsy…

“I feel a bit bad…”

“Oh, no, it’s on us…”

The Count seems resigned to it.

“Faol, as I mentioned, we’ll be heading to the elf forest.”

“Understood. It sounds like it’s best if I don’t ask too many questions… I could send a letter to the forest elves, but since you have an elf companion, it may not be necessary.”

Lily’s just going home, after all.

“Indeed. Thank you for your time, despite your busy schedule.”

“No trouble at all. I was glad to see you again, and thank you for letting me know about the bridge.”

“Mm. Now, we’ll take our leave.”

“Of course!”

After leaving the mansion, we rented a room at the inn once more and teleported back.