TL Note: Rhinos -> Rhino. It says rhinos in the raw so I considered making it rhynos, but in the end, I just decided to turn it into a rhino. Oh, by the way, I changed this because it seemed to be confusing people.

Also, katakana is one of the three j.a.panese character-types, and is often used for foreign words or for emphasis.

Volume 4 Chapter 7: Pick-up

The next day

After I finished my morning preparations, I went outside to the bamboo thickets, and prepared my monster carriage.

A monster carriage is just a carriage pulled by a magical beast, so the structure isn't really that different from a normal carriage. People wanting to buy one also needs to go to a workshop or a store that sells carriages, so there are people who just call them both carriage.

If I had to point out a difference, it would be the position of the coachman's seat. The magical beast's body is different from a horse, so it's necessary to position the seat with that in mind. As a result, there are quite a number of specially ordered goods for monster carriages. Unless of course, the body of the magical beast to be used is similar to a horse.

"I'll be relying on you today." [Ryouma]

"Kyuyon!" [Cannonball Rhino]

I said that as I tied Rai to the carriage. When I did, he responded with an unusually high-pitched voice.

Rai's no longer the same as when I met him 2 years ago. His body is now close to being 3 meters long, which is the average size for an adult cannonball rhino. So with that, I guess you could say he's an adult now. Along with that growth comes power. Nowadays, Rai's strong enough to pull a large carriage by himself easily, so whenever I use one, I usually let him pull it.

Moreover, the monster carriage I tied Rai to was closer to an oxcart in shape rather than a carriage. The frame of the carriage is a long rectangle with sticky slime hardening liquid planks inlayed onto the windows to prevent crimes. Theres also the specially-ordered seat for the coachman thats positioned a little higher than what it should be in order to take into consideration Rais future growth.

Its possibly to put objects atop the frame, but even without doing that, the frame could already fit 8 adults inside excluding me. So theres plenty of s.p.a.ce even when I let the slimes ride on the carriage. Only, due to Rais overbearing strength, the stress placed on the frame and especially the wheels at full speed was too great. So in order to remedy that, I had the big iron slimes transform into wheels.

"Whoops, I guess I better go now."

I shouldnt be late for my appointment with Elia and the others.

I ordered Rai, and he entered into my Dimension Home. I plan on going to Gimuru with my dimension magic, but I wont be able to take Rai and the carriage with me. Fortunately, I can take him along as long as I have him enter the Dimension Home first, and then release him once we get there.

I say Dimension magic sure is convenient. Though I guess saying that might be a tad bit too late now considering everything.

"'Gate'" [Ryouma]

When I used the advanced dimension magic, Gate

Made it in just the nick of time. [Ryouma]

the scenery immediately changed from that of the abandoned mine and the bamboo thickets to that where I was close enough to see the outer walls of Gimuru.

Relatively speaking, its just something recent, but I learned how to use Gate. Its thanks to this magic that Im able to greatly reduce the travel time between towns. Unfortunately though, with the speed comes the loss of enjoyment. Theres no elegance or atmosphere to it, so I only use it when Im in a hurry. Otherwise, Id rather take my time, and enjoy the travel with Rai pulling on the monster carriage.

Just as the name implies, the advanced long distance magic, Gate, is able to teleport one from outside the gate to the next towns gate. It seems to have been named exactly because of that ability. Anyway Dimension Home [Ryouma]

With a cast of my Dimension Home, I took Rai and the monster carriage out. Then I sat myself over the coachmans seat, and took hold of the bridle as I drove the monster carriage. By the way, the bridle is just for show. Rai is my magical beast, so I can just order him to pull it with the bond between us thats formed via magic. Theres no need to actually hold the bridle.

Five minutes later as Rai pulled on the monster carriage, we arrived at the northern gate of Gimuru.

"Good morning." [Ryouma]

"Hey, good morning. Big as always, huh? This guy." [Guard]

"Kwon!" [Rai]

"Oh, good morning to you too, huh?" [Guard]

"I've finished confirming your identification. You can go now. And if it's you, I think you'll be fine, but do take care in handling your magical beast." [Guard]

"Alright. Thanks as always." [Ryouma]

I pa.s.sed through the gates, and then I headed to the girls' lodging.

Riding on the monster carriage, I entered Gimuru. As we pa.s.sed by, people who recognized Rai waved their hands, and the children ran along with us. There were also people who were surprised, but they were all either people who didnt live in Gimuru or people who had only recently moved here.

There was a time when the people were scared due to the idiots over at the tamer guild, but after earning the trust of the people, I now often come here with Rai. Besides, the people like to touch him, and the kids like him too.

Hes big, hes strong, hes gentle and the fur over his body is pretty too. Hes actually great to look at.

Even though I thought he was brownish when we first met [Ryouma]

Kwon! [Rai]

I didnt notice it back when we were at the Great Forest of Shurus, but his fur is actually colored gray, close to white. I only found out after he became my magical beast, and I had the cleaner slimes give him a shower. I was really shocked when the color of his fur vanished in the blink of an eye right in front of me

I investigated the matter a bit later, and apparently, the base color for a cannonball rhino is gray. It does change a little depending on each cannonball rhino. Unfortunately, I wasnt able to get any information on what other colors there were. I do want to research the matter a bit more, but even if I tried to clean the other rhinos with my cleaner slimes, theyd just run away But then again, Rai has grown up Should I find him a mate? Once I do, I could use that as an opportunity to research.

In any case, Ill deal with that later

As I approached the lodging, I noticed that Elia and the others were already outside, waiting.

Oh? Was I late?

Good morning. Sorry for making you all wait. [Ryouma]

Good morning, Ryouma-san. Youre actually earlier than the appointed time. [Elia]

Yesterday, I heard you were going to prepare a monster carriage. I was so excited wondering what magical beast you would take with you. [Mich.e.l.le]

This kids so big What kind of magical beast is this? [Kanan]

His name is Rai. Hes a cannonball rhino. A B Rank magical beast. Not only is he a huge help with that carriage, but hes also a great deterrent to other magical beasts attacking, making travel a breeze. [Ryouma]

Because of that though, hes unfit for subjugating bandits. Since theyd just run away as soon as they saw him. For example, the bandits that arent a part of the dark guild that havent heard of the rumors about me who, in other words, are unlicensed bandits would just generally run upon seeing Rai.

Thats that, but isnt it hot waiting outside? [Ryouma]

Not at all. Its still early morning, so the weathers still fresh. The morning wind also feels good, so therere waiting outsides no problem. [Riera]

So she says, but deep inside, shes actually just dying ta have her match with you. [Miyabi]

So thats why they were waiting outside.

M-Miyabi [Riera]

Aint it fine? I dont think theres anything ta be embarra.s.sed about considering its Ryouma were talking about. [Miyabi]

Hes on a different league compared to our cla.s.smates at the academy. [Kanan]

Well thats true [Riera]

Her face is a bit red I wonder if shes nervous or embarra.s.sed because she got found out. In any case, I should help her relax. I planned for the match to be held in the afternoon from the start anyway, so

Well just keep talking and standing outside here at this rate, so everyone, please enter inside. [Ryouma]

As I stepped down the coachmans seat, I opened the door of the carriage attached at the side of the carriages frame. But before letting them enter, I placed a wooden foothold to make it easier for the girls to enter. Elia and the others thanked me as they each entered the carriage.

After everyone had gotten inside, I sat myself back up over the coachmans seat. Theres a door just big enough for one person to reach the coachmans seat. Opening that door, I called out to Elia and the others.

If theres nothing else, well be departing. Are you all ready? [Ryouma]

When I asked that, they answered back that they were ready. Since everything was good to go, I gave Rai the order, and the carriage began to move. The people of this town are alright, but therere a lot of outsiders in the lodging, so itll be best for us to leave quickly. Rai is a strange sight after all, so therere a lot of people who cant help but want to take a look at him. Theres also no point in staying, so leaving quickly is best.

Please feel free to speak out if the temperatures too hot or cold! I can adjust it for you! [Ryouma]

I said in a voice just loud enough for them to hear as I continued facing the roads direction. But the response that came back from the girls was not an answer, but a question.

Change? [Kanan]

Ah Ive been using the monster carriage like a car from my previous life, so Ive forgotten. But now that she mentions it, yeah ACs arent normal here in this world, huh?

Therere three slimes in the carriage, right? [Ryouma]

Yeah. [Kanan]

Those three slimes are cooler slime, heater slime, and aircon slime. Those slimes can each use wind and ice, wind and fire, and then wind, fire, and ice, magic respectively. If you want me to, I can order those slimes to blow cold air or hot air inside the carriage to control the temperature. Please feel free to say it if you need the temperature changed. [Ryouma]

The girls werent surprised at all when I gave that explanation, rather they just calmly accepted it.

By the way, Ryouma-han. Where are we going right now? Yesterday, you did mention that we would be going several places today. [Miyabi]

First off is the lodging for the training and the trainees. Its close to the residential district, northeast of Gimuru. That place used to be the slums three years ago, but all that changed thanks to the increase in jobs. [Ryouma]

Most of the town personnel were split between the two towns, so I was put in charge of dealing with the demolished slum. The training facility is one of the things I constructed there. There are also a lot of trainee that lived in the slums before.

As I laughed while saying that, the others said they were interested. Especially, Mich.e.l.le-san who was staring quite strongly Well, as long as theyre enjoying themselves, then thats all that really matters.

By the way, why did you start that training facility of yours? [Mich.e.l.le]

Hmm Well if there was to be a reason, then I guess it would be because I was uncomfortable. [Ryouma]

Mich.e.l.le-san could only tilt her head in puzzlement when she heard my words. Cant be helped its only natural after all that she wouldnt understand much with just that explanation..

I started the training facility about 2 years ago. Until then I was always away from Gimuru. But during that time, the construction of the second town began, and the adventurers and slave demon magic users coming from outside also increased. Even if I were to say it myself, the reason behind what happened then was probably because I was strong [Ryouma]

Were you envied by adventurers your age? [Riera]

Exactly. [Ryouma]

That time sure was rough I was really sensitive to petty envy due to the demon kings fragment. It was such that I could feel even the tiny envy from adventurers I was close with whenever we talked.

Then why did you start the training facility because of that? [Kanan]

At first, I did consider just cooping myself up inside the mine. But then, it hit me. While I may have been bothered by the ill will people held against me, at the same time, although vague, I was able to understand what it was that was causing that ill will.

When I realized that, I thought to try something.

So I thought I could solve the issues as long as I made the reason behind their malice go away. And since people were envious of me because of my strength, I figured I should just train them until they were strong enough they didnt need to be envious. As for those who were envious of my money, then I decided I should just introduce them to a good job, so they could earn money. [Ryouma]

I wasnt sensitive to subtle things like that back in my previous life. Thanks to the demon kings fragment though, I was able to sense it. It might only be limited to negative emotions, but its no doubt that its thanks to it that I was able to understand the emotions those people held.

My actions were done on a whim, but the result was mostly a success. I trained people whenever I went out to buy food ingredients, and over time, the eyes that the troubling people looked at me with changed for the better.

Of course, there were also times when they needlessly refused. But at that point, theres nothing else to do, but to just ignore those types of people. Thats a compromise I decided on since before, so I wasnt really bothered much.

There were failures too. Some of the people who were envious became scared instead. I did hold back though. I wonder if they were beginners. People thought I was bullying people, so the guild master, Wogan, paid a visit. I explained everything to him except for the demon kings fragment, and he decided to help out as well.

I think it was around that time that aspiring newcomers would sign up on their own. It was due to that that the scale of the facility also grew bigger

After continuing that for some time, I eventually learned the Coach skill. Moreover, even though the fragment of the demon kings almost been finished being treated, Im a lot more sensitive to peoples feelings now Or at least I think so anyway. At the very least, my acquaintances have increased. I know way more people now than I ever did back in my previous life. Im really happy about that. I also have a bit of influence in Gimuru nowadays too. No ones coming to sabotage my stores like that time when I first opened my store either. Everythings going real well.

Now going back to the main topic

I explained the story to Elia and the others as the carriage swayed. Of course, I made sure to leave out the demon kings fragment. As I finished explaining, a white wall about 2 meters tall and a gate surrounding a two-story building entered my vision.

You cant see the whole thing from here, but the buildings are arranged like the katakanas (ko) and (ro) from the entrance of the building. Overall, the place looks like a mansion save for some parts. The whole place is shaped like a rectangle with the dimension 50m x 100m, and an area of 5000 square meters.

You can see it now. [Ryouma]

When I said that, Elia and the others took a peek from the door behind me.

So thats Ryouma-kuns training facility? [Kanan]

Its well made. [Mich.e.l.le]

To think it would be this big. [Riera]

I talked with the duke before making this, so I got a lot of help. [Ryouma]

Ryouma-samas efforts have greatly improved the public order of Gimuru. The household of the duke also managed to gain some hidden gems amongst the accomplished people trained by the facility. The master also plans to continue providing a.s.sistance depending on the success from here on. Moreover, the Jamil Household is also investigating whether to make similar buildings like this one in the different town. Its not so strange at all that the duke would support Ryouma-samas idea. [Sebasu]

Come to think of it, werent there people leaving to work for the duke recently? I cant remember their names, but they should be doing well right? Its great that they were able to find a good place to work at.