Slime Reincarnation

Chapter 104: Let’s Catch Fileontina

"Haa..."

By my body’s sense of it, about two hours had passed. I wondered if Cassina had gotten much sleep either.

"...Not good, not good."

The fact that I’d already started calling her just Cassina in my head, without the title of princess, was a problem in itself. I’d had twenty eight years of not being popular at all, after all. Having Irina and Luciana chan care about me the way they did now already felt like a dream. I couldn’t help thinking, if only I wasn’t in this kind of body... Well, Rina counted as a little sister anyway.

"Fumyu..."

Rina was sleeping soundly, clinging tightly to my waist. She was a slave I’d bought from the slave trader De Gado, but that didn’t matter to me. I had to make sure Rina became happy. About her parents and everything else, I’d ask gently, whenever she was ready to talk about it. If she had a hometown, I could take her back there. Though if it was full of nothing but painful memories, there was no need to force a homecoming. All that mattered was finding a way for Rina, as she was now, to be happy.

I gently slipped my arm free of Rina’s grip and headed out for an early morning walk through the royal capital.

"Fuu..."

The slightly chilly early morning air cleared away my drowsiness and woke me up properly. But the unease in my heart didn’t clear so easily. The feelings Cassina had cried out to me as we parted still tugged painfully at my chest.

"Well, she’ll be able to move forward. I know she will."

I muttered it to myself, as if trying to convince myself of it.

As I strolled leisurely along the main street, a two horse carriage came clattering toward me from ahead, the horses moving at a fairly brisk pace.

"Awfully in a hurry this early in the morning."

Just as the carriage was about to pass by,

"Lord Yabe!"

"Eh?"

I looked over and saw a woman leap from the driver’s seat, sailing through the air straight toward me.

"Whaaat!?"

With a thump, I caught her firmly so she wouldn’t hit the ground. To kill the momentum, I caught her against my chest and spun once. When I set her gently down on her feet, I saw it was Fileontina.

"Fileontina!?"

"Yes! Lord Yabe, sorry to keep you waiting."

Well, I hadn’t been waiting for anything. Since when had I apparently become someone waiting for her?

"F, Fileontina sama, that’s dangerous!"

Looking over, I saw a woman in the driver’s seat frantically pulling back on the reins.

"Oh my, sorry about that, Patti."

"Honestly! You’re not the least bit sorry, are you? Wait, could that be Lord Yabe!?"

"Hm?"

It seemed the girl at the reins knew me too. She hurriedly stopped the carriage and climbed down from the driver’s seat.

"Um, I’m Patti. Back near the town of Tarbal, you saved me when I was being attacked by a swarm of killer ants..."

"Ah! That was you!"

I remembered now. On the road near the town of Tarbal, I’d helped some adventurers who’d been attacked by a swarm of killer ants.

"At the time I couldn’t even speak, and I never got to properly thank you... thank you so much for saving my life back then!"

Patti, the girl who looked like a hunter, bowed her head. She was indeed the one I’d rescued from that swarm of killer ants.

"Oho! Sir Yabe, I really did manage to run into you so easily in this huge capital city."

A man emerged from further back in the carriage.

"Rigen! From the Five Stars."

"Oh, you remembered me! Nice to know a hero remembers my name."

"A hero?"

"You’ve been making a big name for yourself in every town along the road to the capital. It’s honestly incredible."

"Come on now, that’s just rumors getting exaggerated."

I gave a wry laugh.

"What are you talking about. The orc extermination in the commercial city of Barrietta was already legendary level stuff. By the way, who’s this Red Kabuto, the knight of love and justice, everyone’s talking about?"

"Sounds like some amazing spearman. I’d love to cross spears with him sometime."

A man carrying a spear joined the conversation.

"I’m Carden, the front line fighter of the Five Stars. You really saved us back then. Let me thank you properly, thank you."

He bowed his head as he said it.

"No, no, really, Patti chan, Carden, don’t worry about it at all. I just happened to pass by."

"Happened to pass by and save lives. Sounds like a passerby who saves people’s lives."

A gentle looking man in priest’s robes stepped forward.

"Wow, we really did find you so easily here in the capital. The person we wanted to meet."

A woman stepped out too.

"I’m Allen. Thank you for saving us back then."

"I’m Paula. Seriously, thanks a ton!"

There was one more person, a mage sulking a bit in the back, but I decided not to poke at that.

"Really, seriously, don’t worry about it at all."

I said, waving my hand.

"Even so, Fileontina sama really does love you, doesn’t she, Sir Yabe."

Come to think of it, the whole time I’d been talking with the Five Stars members, Fileontina had been hugging me from behind. In heels, Fileontina was actually taller than me, so I felt somewhat wrapped up and embraced from slightly above.

"Of course! Lord Yabe is my future husband, after all!"

"That’s, uh, a bit heavy, don’t you think?"

"Now, now, Lord Yabe. Calling a woman heavy is strictly forbidden, you know."

Fileontina glared at me with a smile.

"Anyway, did you really travel all the way here by carriage this early in the morning?"

I asked, curious. At this hour, the outer gates of the capital of Barlon had only just opened. So I’d assumed they must have stayed overnight somewhere in Barlon and set out early.

"We traveled through the night by carriage yesterday, so this was an all nighter. We entered the capital first thing this morning."

"Whaaat!?"

Traveling all night without sleep? What were they thinking?

"If I didn’t catch up with Lord Yabe here, I thought I’d truly lose my chance to stand by his side. I simply couldn’t let this opportunity slip away."

"I mean, I don’t quite follow the logic, but... aren’t you tired? Are you okay?"

"Oh my, are you worried about me? I’m perfectly fine! Now that I’ve met Lord Yabe, I’m full of energy."

"Well, if you’re doing fine, that’s good..."

Fileontina kept talking the whole time, still hugging me from behind.

"Lord Yabe, has the number increased since then?"

"Eh, what number?"

"Oh my, playing dumb? The number of wives, of course. Am I still holding my position as third wife?"

Patti gasped at Fileontina’s remark.

"Whaaat!? Fileontina sama is the third wife!?"

"Sir Yabe, are you trying to build some kind of outrageous harem?"

Even Rigen jumped in with that jab.

Had the number increased... yeah, it hadn’t increased. Not right now, anyway.

"...Lord Yabe, it seems something has increased in your heart, at least."

Fileontina reached around from behind and pinched both my cheeks.

"Fiweontina, whaf awe yuh doin."

"This calls for a proper, unhurried conversation. Let’s go find somewhere to have breakfast, and you can tell me all about it there."

She then locked my right arm firmly between her left hand and her considerable chest.

"Now then, let’s go."

Fileontina pulled me along, marching forward with purpose. I’ll keep it to myself that the thought of having an older, take charge kind of wife didn’t sound so bad either.