The Story of a Middle-Aged Knight Who Tried to Live a Relaxed Slow Life in the Countryside, Only for a Duke's Daughter Whose Engagement Was Broken Off to Move in With Him

A Horseback Date and a Mysterious Lake

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Cistilia released one hand from the reins and used it to shield her eyes against the early summer sunlight, squinting slightly as she spoke to me.

「The sun is so bright today.」

「Yeah, it is. Isn't it hot with us sticking so close together like this?」

I asked.

Cistilia and I were riding Aisha together.

She was in front holding the reins, while I clung onto her waist behind her.

「I'm happy because I can feel your warmth even more than usual, Leonardo.」

「...That sounds a bit naughty, you know.」

「W-What? It is not naughty! The only one being naughty here is the person saying things like that!」

We were currently out on a horseback ride together.

Normally, the man would take the reins and either hold the woman in front of him or have her ride behind him. However, Aisha didn't seem to like me taking the reins very much.

So out of necessity, Cistilia sat in front clutching the reins while I clung to her from behind.

Instead of a prince on a white horse, she was practically a princess on a white horse leading the way.

「Oh, look at all those slimes.」

Cistilia pointed diagonally ahead as she spoke.

Still holding onto her waist, I followed where she was pointing.

With early summer approaching in Ascot Village, slimes were periodically released into the crops and fields to eat weeds and agricultural pests.

Even now, out in the flooded rice paddies beside the path, several slimes were squishy-wiggling away. At a glance, they just looked like they were trembling, but apparently they were digesting the weeds and pests they had consumed inside their bodies.

The handler from the slime shed supervising the slimes gave us a slight nod of greeting.

I offered a dignified, stately nod back, carrying all the gravity expected of a feudal lord.

...Even though I was still clinging to Cistilia's waist, mind you.

「I heard pulling weeds and exterminating pests used to be a massive chore before we got these agricultural slimes.」

「Slimes can also be used to ward off monsters, right?」

「Yeah. Some fields aren't completely enclosed by fences, so placing slimes there is said to have a decent deterrent effect.」

Ordinary wild beasts like boars apparently won't even go near a place if a slime is present.

And even monsters tend to avoid them to a certain extent.

Aisha trotted nimbly along the raised footpath, reaching the outer edge of the village.

「Ah! Is that it over there?」

Over in the vegetable field to our left, a fenced enclosure holding slimes came into view. A long, narrow fenced pen ran along the boundary between the village and the outside area, inside of which slimes were idling about.

「Can they still ward off monsters even when they're caged inside like that?」

「Supposedly, the vaporized bodily fluids emitted by slimes keep beasts and monsters at bay.」

It was likely a self-defense mechanism developed by weak monsters to protect themselves.

Because despite being monsters, slimes could easily lose to plain old wild animals if they weren't careful.

「Are they harmful to people or crops?」

「I've been told they were thoroughly tested first.」

Patrick had apparently ordered thorough inspections before bringing the slimes in from other villages. He was a superior who was impeccably meticulous in everything he did.

He was a top-tier swordsman and efficient at his job. He would probably end up as Commander of the Knights Order eventually. As long as the incident with Cistilia didn't negatively impact his prospects, that is.

「Yo! Going out for a ride, my lord?」

The hunter on guard duty called out from the village gate. He was a former irregular knight with a wooden peg leg.

As a fellow former irregular, he spoke to me without any pretense. Even now, after I had been made a baron and officially become the lord of Ascot Village, his attitude toward me hadn't changed one bit.

In fact, that applied to almost all the villagers. From their perspective, whether I was a magistrate or a lord probably didn't make much of a difference. I was just grateful that the warmth of the village remained untouched.

I called back up to the hunter on the watchtower.

「Yeah, just heading out for a short ride!」

「While clinging to your wife's waist, huh? Must be nice to be the lord, sir!」

「Don't say that out loud!」

It wasn't as if I couldn't ride a horse, but there was nothing I could do when Aisha simply refused to obey me. As expected of a horse raised by the ducal House of Eldryuse, she possessed quite a high level of pride.

Cistilia and I passed through the gate atop Aisha.

Instead of entering the forest, we skirted around the outer perimeter of the village.

As we proceeded in the opposite direction of the mountain where the dwarf settlement lay, the groves soon thinned out, opening into a vast grassy plain dotted only with low shrubs.

While not quite as far as the eye could see, it was broad enough that crossing it on foot would definitely prove a bit tiring.

「In a place like this, she can run to her heart's content.」

Cistilia remarked, gazing across the grassland expanding under the blue sky. Her voice held a mix of anticipation and excitement. Sensing her rider's enthusiasm, Aisha gave a cheerful snort.

「Wait a second. What do you mean, 'to her heart's content'—」

「Here we go!」

With that cry, Cistilia snapped Aisha's reins firmly.

Aisha burst into a full gallop all at once.

「Woaaaaah?!」

Instinctively, I grabbed onto Cistilia's waist for dear life.

Cistilia leaned forward, lifting her hips off the saddle. In my position, my chest was pressed right against her backside.

「Hyah!」

Cistilia snapped the reins once more.

The scenery of the grassy plain blurred past us at a terrifying speed.

「T-That's fast!」

「Since there are two of us, this is actually slower than usual!」

Cistilia and I shouted back and forth, being careful not to bite our tongues.

Within a few minutes, Aisha had rocketed from one end of the grassland to the other.

Aisha let out a huff through her nostrils that seemed half-satisfied and half-disappointed, as if asking, 'Is that it already?'

We then entered an old highway path running through the trees.

Slowing her pace compared to before, Aisha trotted briskly over the uneven old road, her hooves clicking in a rhythmic cadence.

After traveling down the old highway for a short while, we reached a deserted, abandoned village.

I had heard that people from Ascot Village had once settled here, but due to numerous inconveniences, it was ultimately abandoned. To prevent bandits or monsters from turning it into a lair, all the buildings had been demolished.

The structural foundations, old wells, and flagstones overgrown with weeds sprouting through the cracks imparted a mournful atmosphere.

「That hill with the windmill must be the one Granny mentioned.」

Still riding Aisha, Cistilia and I headed up the gentle incline. Carrying two people up a hill was no small feat, showing off Aisha's impressive strength.

At the top of the gentle slope winding around the hill stood a windmill with motionless sails.

From the elevated vantage point of the windmill, a crescent-shaped lake came into view a short distance away.

Deep beyond the thick foliage lay crystal-clear waters so transparent you could almost see down to the lake bed.

The surface of the lake glittered under the early summer sun, sending sparkles across the crests of the ripples.

「Wow...」

Cistilia let out a soft exclamation of awe.

「Huh... That really is a stunning view.」

The crescent lake visible deep within the forest was long and slender. Originally a flowing river, the course had shifted over time, leaving behind a segment of the river as an isolated lake. It was rather mysterious that the lake had never dried up despite being cut off.

「If there is a lake here, why was this village abandoned?」

「Apparently it's infested with aquatic monsters. Once it got separated from the river and the current stopped flowing, it became a breeding ground for them.」

「What a shame when it's so beautiful.」

「I heard it's only this clear because the monsters devoured almost all the fish. Fewer fish means the water doesn't get murky. Without decaying fish, aquatic weeds can't grow much either. As a result, the water turns crystal clear. Seeing things like that makes you realize monsters really are cursed creatures.」

「So being too clean is actually unnatural.」

As Cistilia spoke with a complex expression, a pleasant breeze blew over from the direction of the lake.

A strange scent I had never smelled before caught my nose.

「...It smells like the tide.」

Cistilia muttered softly.

「Salt?」

「No, the tide. The scent of the sea, you could say.」

「Ah, I've heard about that. They say the ocean is salty and has a unique smell.」

「Have you never seen the ocean, Leonardo?」

「The Noziek Kingdom is a landlocked nation, after all. Regular knights might get opportunities to travel abroad, but an irregular knight like me rarely had the chance to accompany a diplomatic envoy. Have you seen the ocean, Cistilia?」

「Yes. When I was small, I traveled south to the sea twice during the winter.」

「Ah, wintering in the south.」

Winters in the Noziek Kingdom weren't overwhelmingly harsh.

However, it was still cold, so some nobles who disliked the chill would travel south to Rutamia. Rutamia was supposedly a warm, scenic land facing an archipelago in the southern seas.

「A world completely out of my reach. But you're saying that scent of the tide is coming from that lake?」

「Yes. I didn't stay down south for very long, so I cannot be entirely certain, but I can definitely catch a subtle scent of the sea.」

「I wonder why that is...」

Ascot Village was far inland. The closest sea was the Frozen Sea far to the north. Beyond this lake to the north lay a region of marshes and lakes; past that was a vast grassland, and even further north was the Frozen Sea. Rutamia, where Cistilia had gone to spend the winters as a child, should have been even further away in distance than the Frozen Sea.

「They said little investigation was done because of the monsters. Maybe I should hire some wandering adventurers to look into it sometime.」

I had heard that aquatic monsters in oceans and lakes differed greatly in species. Much like fish, the types of monsters inhabiting salt water versus fresh water were completely different.

「Well, I don't think there's any immediate danger, though.」

It was virtually impossible for aquatic monsters to come up on land. While amphibious monsters existed, even they rarely strayed far from the water's edge.

「Just to be safe, I should warn the villagers not to go near the lake.」

「Indeed. I'm sorry for bringing up such a dull topic when this was supposed to be a special picnic.」

「Not at all. If this really is the scent of the sea, we're lucky to catch a whiff of it here. If we ever get the chance, I'd love to visit the ocean with you, Cistilia.」

If I worked diligently as a lord, I should be able to save up enough funds for a trip to Rutamia.

If she had married Patrick, she certainly would have had a honeymoon at least. I wanted to treat her to a luxury like that, even if only a little bit.

Though that would probably be way off in the future.

「Fufu. That sounds wonderful. But please don't overexert yourself, okay? I love our life in the village. I have no desire to pursue luxuries at the expense of our quiet life here.」

It seemed Cistilia had seen right through my minor bit of male pride.

「I really landed myself a great wife.」

Cistilia and I sat down on a tree stump near the windmill to enjoy the early summer scenery.

「Let's eat the sweets I brought along.」

Saying so, Cistilia retrieved a basket from the saddlebag secured behind Aisha's saddle.

Inside were roughly a dozen cookies, along with tart slices and pies. There were two slices each of the tarts and pies.

The flask she pulled out alongside them contained black tea, a rare treat in these parts.

「Here you go.」

「Thanks, I'll start with this one.」

I picked up a tart. It had a biscuit-like crust holding a filling of yellow paste, giving off a subtle citrus aroma.

「It's a lemon and cheese tart. I received the cheese from Granny.」

「Oh right, the village started making cheese recently, didn't it?」

The village had a small number of dairy cows.

Cistilia had asked her family's house to research cheese-making techniques, and together with Granny, she had begun experimenting with making cheese. Since the introduction of slimes freed up hands among the farmers, talks were underway in the village to seriously venture into dairy farming.

The residents of Ascot Village seemed easygoing on the surface, but they were surprisingly receptive to new ideas. According to Granny, it was precisely because life was so slow that they craved novelty. Even the woodcutters, who frequently ran into dwarves in the mountains, had recently started exchanging greetings with them naturally.

I brought the lemon cheese tart to my mouth.

The moist paste paired delightfully with the crisp crust.

The rich savory flavor of cheese was accented by a refreshing hint of lemon.

Cheese was delicious, but eating it on its own could easily get heavy.

With the addition of lemon, the tart was crafted into a flavor you could eat endless amounts of without growing tired.

「This is delicious!」

「Fufu. Thank you very much.」

Cistilia beamed.

「Everything you bake is so good, Cistilia.」

「I'm glad you asked my father for help, Leonardo. Truthfully, I thought about sticking strictly to what was available in this village...」

「There's no need to forcibly reject the world you came from. After all, your past experiences are an undeniable part of who you are.」

「That's true. Fitting into village life is important, but cherishing the path I've walked so far is just as vital. And I have this girl with me, too.」

Cistilia said softly, looking over at Aisha with gentle eyes.

「We have all the time in the world. Let's take things slow and easy together.」

The conversation lulled, leaving only the gentle rustle of the breeze that sounded like soft ocean waves echoing across the hilltop.

Though we sat in silence, there wasn't a trace of awkwardness between us. Even without exchanging words, simply sharing the same moment filled my heart with a quiet, soothing warmth.

Sitting beside me, Cistilia leaned her body gently against mine.

「...What's wrong?」

「Fufu. I was just thinking about how happy I am.」

「That doesn't really answer my question, you know.」

「Does an answer really matter? From here on, we'll be together forever and ever. Living our lives nice and easy, enjoying everyday moments and facing daily worries side by side. Spending such a peaceful, leisurely life with the one I love... How could I be anything but immensely happy?」

「Those are my lines.」

I wrapped my arm around Cistilia's shoulders, pulling her close.

「Even if you tell me later that you've changed your mind, I'm never letting you go.」

「Yes. And I won't ever leave your side either.」

Cistilia smiled radiantly with pure bliss.

She was right.

From here on out, this kind of life would continue forever.

Dramatic events like my duel with Patrick wouldn't happen again anytime soon.

...Right?

I certainly hoped not.

Honestly, from the moment Cistilia tumbled into my life up until that duel, I felt like I had experienced a lifetime's worth of drama. It felt as though a life that had been utterly flat for decades had suddenly snapped to attention and flooded over me all at once.

Any more drama than this would be far too heavy a burden for a simple former irregular knight like me.

All I wanted was to walk through daily life alongside the person I loved.

A peaceful life so uneventful it could never make much of a story.

Yet that was precisely what was most precious and irreplaceable.

「Hey... do you want to... here?」

「Geez, that's all you ever think about. You don't have a romantic bone in your body.」

Even as she pouted, Cistilia offered no resistance.

I gently pulled Cistilia closer, leaning in to press my lips against her lush, soft ones.

—It was at that exact moment.

Carried upon the wind, a distant scream echoed through the air.

...It seemed that securing a quiet, slow life was still going to be a long way off.

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