yemalu

Chapter 458 A Noble Heir Should Not Be Doing This

We set up camp when night fell, just a short distance away from where the Orc stronghold was reported to be.

Lisa and Katsuki were tasked to scout out the Orc stronghold while the rest of us were working on setting up the camp.

I was delegated as the firestarter since I was the only one who knew Pyromancy magic as Lisa and Katsuki weren\'t here now.

If you were wondering why they were given that scouting mission, it\'s because both of them have Umbramancy magic to conceal themselves.

Well… So does Emilia but she asked to be paid extra for it and Lisa just shot her down by volunteering for it instead.

Why do I feel like Lisa\'s been trying to get in Emilia\'s way this entire time? Is it because she shot down her idea of guarding the mansion? It can\'t be, can it?

Actually… Knowing Lisa… She might actually just be holding a grudge against Emilia for just that reason…

Oh well, I\'m sure that after she \'sneaks\' into my bedroll tonight, Lisa will forget all about the grudge she\'s holding when morning comes.

Anyway… As the delegated fire starter… I waited patiently for Odeta to return with firewood. Which kind of meant I don\'t really have anything much to do now.

I offered my help to set up the tents to Emilia and Tiara but they both rejected it for some reason. They even let Delmare help them too but not me…

Why am I not allowed to help? What the heck? Do they not trust me to set up a tent or something?

Hmph… Whatever! I\'ll just focus on digging out the firepit with my Geomancy here while you girls set up those little tents…

"Aster is amazing…"

"I can\'t believe there\'s a noble like her…"

I looked up at Chamie and Harge who were looking at me with eyes of awe while seated opposite me.

As expected of children of a Noble House, they don\'t know how to do any of this so we just made them sit at the side.

Eh? What\'s so amazing about this?

My confused look must have been on my face since Chamie spoke up after seeing my look, "Umm… Does Aster do this kind of outings often?"

I shrugged, "I\'m a D rank Dungeoneer so I\'m no stranger to camping out."

"Eh? Aster is the first child of your Family right?" Harge asked.

"Err… Yes?"

"And… Forgive me, but I don\'t believe we\'ve ever asked what rank is your Family?"

… Good question… What am I supposed to say? I know that Mother\'s actual family is close enough with the Royal Family so I think her rank might be a Duchess… But then there\'s my guess that she might have been one of the former rulers who retired and gave the position away to the current Royal Family…

Actually, that doesn\'t matter since I should be acting as Aster, the young lady of a noble family whose home is located on the outskirts of the city.

Err… What was our cover again? I don\'t think I was told what it was…

Katsuki? Oh right, she\'s not here…

I poked my fingers together, "Forgive me but… I am not supposed to give that away…"

"Eh? Why not?"

"Umm… Mother said it\'s so that I won\'t abuse the House name and become arrogant…" I lied.

Hey, I was put on the spot ok? I\'m already impressed by how I managed to come up with an excuse like that in such a short time!

Chamie looked a little conflicted at my answer, "I see… But… This is a little troubling for us, Aster… We\'re not sure if we\'re addressing you too familiarly… We don\'t want to appear too rude you see…"

There was a soft giggle coming from Emilia which she masked with a cough. Obviously she knew that if these two were to find out my real family, they would realise that their rudeness would be the last thing on their minds.

I waved my hand at them, "It\'s fine! The two of you are my seniors in school after all! And don\'t they say that in school, the rank doesn\'t matter and we are all students?"

The two of them still had that complicated look on their faces before Harge shook her head, "I think we\'ll just call you Miss Aster from now on… We are merely just spares for our Family while you are the heir of yours and we are planning on abandoning our Family name anyway…"

"Even though I\'m younger than you?"

"Miss Aster… Is younger than us?"

"Err… Yeah… I may look like this but I\'m a Meslatar you know? I just have my features hidden. I matured quite fast according to Mother."

"I… I see… But… Please allow us to call you by that name," Harge insisted.

"Erm… Err… I guess… Anything that makes you comfortable then?" I shrugged before going back to digging my hole.

Chamie pointed to the hole, "About that… May I ask why is Miss Aster even doing things like this? I… Don\'t think that I have seen any heirs of Noble Houses voluntarily do this on their own?"

I raised an eyebrow at them, "Eh? I guess you don\'t get out much? There\'s plenty of nobles out there who are working or training like this, aren\'t there?"

"Umm… That\'s not it, Miss Aster. We know that there are nobles who do it, but they either come from martial Houses or are spares like us. Your Family is not a martial House is it not?"

Oh yeah… I suppose it would be weird for the future head of a House to go around putting themselves in danger like I am… Like which Family would even approve that their eldest and only child go out and fight an entire stronghold of Orcs for fun?

If it was any other Family aside from mine, I doubt they would even approve of it. But the case is different if it\'s a martial Family of course.

A martial House is a Noble Family that prides themselves on valour and martial skills. They\'re usually families who received their noble titles during the wars the Kingdom had fought in the past and seek to uphold their founders\' legacies.

In other words, they\'re muscleheads.

If I remember correctly, the Teloi Family that Julia came from was one such example. I wonder if she\'ll invite me to her tea party again? Or maybe I should be the one inviting her? Hehe… Sweets…

Ahem… Anyway… I can\'t say my Family is one since most people know what my fake home looks like. We\'re pretty much closer to an agricultural Family instead of a martial one.

But now these two are clearly confused why a Noble Family\'s heir like myself was allowed to go around playing Mercenary when there\'s not really a reason to.

"It… It is not a Martial House," I admitted.

"Then why does Miss Aster do this? Is this like a trial of some sort by your Family?"

"Err… It\'s… It\'s… It\'s complicated…"

The two of them stared at me, their inquisitive eyes pretty much burning a hole through me.

I got reminded that they were still kids and just really curious about my situation, there was no malice in them.

I decided then that maybe there wasn\'t any harm in telling them a little bit since they were planning to leave this Kingdom in the future anyway.

"You see… I want to travel and explore the World after I graduate from school. I\'ve already made arrangements with my Family to account for this and I have my Family\'s blessing to do so."

The two girls were completely shocked by this revelation.

"Eh?! Your Family allowed for this? How?" Chamie gasped.

I was about to come up with some bullshit answer like I was going around to learn more about the World and bring back what I learnt to improve the Family when a pile of wood was dropped near the hole I made with a loud crash.

Odeta grinned at the two of them, "Wahahaha! Because it\'s Sister Aster of course! Is there any other reason?!"

Er… That doesn\'t explain anything, Odeta…

As though reading my mind, Harge made a face at the Amrap, "That… Doesn\'t explain anything…"

Wooo, you have a talent as a straight man! Or woman in your case.

Odeta simply laughed again before flexing her arm, "Don\'t worry! You\'ll understand tomorrow! Oh! I got this for you, Sister Aster!"

She pulled out a bright yellow flower from her waist, presenting it to me with her usual smile on her face.

"I found it while looking for firewood and it reminded me of your smile! So I took it back for you!" She explained.

Oh my god, since when did Odeta learn to spout such cheesy lines so casually?

"Odeta… Come here," I demanded.

She seemed a little confused but obeyed, moving until she was standing right beside me.

I went ahead to dive my face into her abdomen and started cuddling her abs.

Hmmmmph!! You think you can embarrass me like that?! Take this! And this!! And… And…

Ehehehe~ Squish squish~ Her abs feels so nice to squish~

What was I doing again?