Chapter 34: ‘Sightseeing’ And Meeting ‘The Unicorn’

After taking a short break,

“Wow! Fish! Fish!”

The young lady is busy watching the fish that are jumping up to eat.

“That fish is yellow, Mana!”

“That’s right? It’s probably a Yellow-scaled Vistar.”

“Yellow-scaled… what?”

“It’s a species called Vistar. If you look closely, it has a star on its forehead. Seeing that it’s a bit bigger, it might be a Yellow-scaled King Vistar?”

“Wow… Mana is smart!”

What do you mean, did I come here because I was arguing with the author for no reason?

Of course, I studied a lot too. Hmm hmm…

“Then what’s that?”

“That’s a Blue-finned True Swordfish.”

“That one?!”

“Hmm… that’s a Hundred-lined Loach.”

“That one? That one? This one? That one?”

“Pfft… ask me one at a time, Young Lady. Anyway, there are a lot of fish living in this lake. I think fishermen would like it.”

“Fishing?”

“Yes, people who catch fish and make food or sell them. The fish that the young lady eats are usually caught and sold by fishermen.”

“I see…”

Seeing the fish jumping up to the water and snatching food, “Nom!”, they somehow look a little like the young lady.

Staring blankly at the young lady who is staring blankly at the fish for about 30 minutes.

“Shall we go back to land now?”
“Yes!”

The young lady seems a little bored, so we take the boat back to the shore.

The young lady stares blankly at the lake even while the boat is going to land.

“Is it fun to watch the water?”

“Yes! It’s amazing that there’s so much water, and above all, it’s amazing that the sky is contained in the water!”

Ah…

Come to think of it, this is the first time the young lady has seen such a sight.

“And there are a lot of sparkles, so I like it!”

It’s a precious experience for the young lady, so I should have given her a chance to enjoy it more calmly.

I, as a maid, am still very lacking.

“Then when we get back, shall we settle down and look at the lake?”

“Yes! I like it! I want to walk around the lake and look around!”

“That sounds good~”

It’ll take about an hour or two if we walk leisurely.

Let’s enjoy it while walking calmly, okay?

I hold the young lady’s hand tightly and slowly walk around the lake.

“Young Lady, be careful. It’s dangerous if you go too close to the lake, okay?”

“Yes..!”

She’s so busy looking around, including the lake.

I hold one hand tightly and walk around with the young lady.

“Mana! The tree is so tall!”

“It must be because it received a lot of mana than the trees around the house.”

“This flower is so pretty!”

“That’s right. It’s very pretty.”

“Mana! Mana! This stone is so shiny!”

“Oh my, that’s not a stone, it’s a mana stone. It’s a mana stone made in nature.”

“Wow…”

What’s so amazing?

It seems like everything in the world is amazing.

“What kind of fur is this?”

“Hmm… it seems like the fur of a wild animal living around here? White fur. I wonder?”

“It’s pretty! Mana! It’s a butterfly!”

“Young Lady… you shouldn’t catch butterflies, okay?”

“Yes! I know!”

Is it because it’s the first time she’s been out in the daytime and playing around like this?

She sparkles her eyes and explores everything in the world one by one.

“Squirmy!”

“It’s an earthworm~. It’s a friend who usually lives in the soil, but it seems like it came out for a while.”

“There’s a squirrel over there too!”

“That’s right. It’s a very pretty squirrel, isn’t it?”

“Yes! It’s so pretty! It looks soft!”

“Do you want to pet it?”

“Um… shouldn’t I not do that?”

“Wait a moment… Here!”

I quickly run and stuff a few nuts into the mouth of the squirrel on the tree, catching it.

In less than a second, the squirrel, suddenly caught by someone and given a mouthful of food to eat for the winter, is bewildered.

In the meantime, I show a handful of nuts in front of the squirrel’s eyes.

“..!

Then like this~

In an instant, a squirrel that doesn’t care who touches it or not because it’s focused on food is complete!

It’s one of the maid’s special moves that I developed for 2 months out of boredom.

“Now, you can touch it. But carefully, okay?”

“Wow… it’s so… soft…”

The young lady carefully touches the squirrel’s tail…

This guy looks just like a Korean squirrel, it’s cute.

Hmm hmm.. 0.1 of the young lady’s cuteness.

“Hehe.. be good… ah…!”

Ah… it ran away after eating all the food…

“Shall I catch it again?”

“No! Hehe… it was so soft! Like Mana!”

“….The expression is strange, but anyway, it was soft, right?”

“Yes! Thank you, Mana~”

Oh my, our young lady is getting more and more affectionate these days.

I pat the head of the young lady who hugs my waist tightly.

When I first saw her, she grabbed my thigh, not my waist. She’s grown a bit in just 6 months.

“Now, shall we continue walking?”

“Yes! Oh! There’s something strange over there!”

“Young Lady, slowly~”

So, the lake walk, which I expected to take about 1~2 hours, took a whopping 4 hours.

“Rowboat!”

“We’ve gone all the way around~”

“It was so fun! I want to do it again tomorrow!”

“Okay. Shall we go around in the morning tomorrow? We might be able to see a different scenery in the morning, you know?”

“Yes!”

It’s almost 5 PM.

It’s time for her to get hungry, so I should give her a snack, even if it’s a little late.

“Now, now, Young Lady~ Come here!”

“Huh? When did you spread the mat?”

When did I? I just spread it now.

“…Mana is so amazing, how are you so fast?”

“An elite maid should be able to do this much. Now, today’s snack is drumroll~ sweet desserts made with chestnuts~”

“Wow!!”

A special autumn bread made with chestnut cream and sweet chestnuts boiled in sugar!

“This is chestnut castella. This is chestnut pie, this is chestnut chocolate, this is chestnut ice cream…”

…Chestnut ice cream.

Hmm, why does it taste the same as the one I ate in my previous life, even though I made it?

“What do you want to eat first?”

“The one Mana gives me!”

Ah~~~ The young lady opens her mouth like a baby bird I saw in the nest earlier.

Soo, I put a piece of fluffy, warm chestnut bread that I baked in the morning and immediately put in my maid bag into the young lady’s mouth.

Ah, I should give her milk too.

Munch munch… the young lady chews well.

“Chew it well, okay? That way, it’s healthy and tastes better.”
“It’s delicious…”

Our young lady.. how can she eat so gracefully and deliciously.

Haa… I’m so happy just looking at her…

“Hehe… thank you, Mana. Today is the best!”

“I’m always the best when I’m with you, Young Lady.”

“Then will you stay with me forever?”

“Yes~”

“Kyaaaaa!! Mana is the best!”

The young lady hugs me and rubs her face all over.

Hmm..!

I definitely want to have a daughter like this later!

…Not that I’ll give birth, but as an adopted daughter.

No.. I’m raising the young lady like a daughter now, so is that it..?

I have the position of a nanny too…

“Young Lady, would you like to try this too? It’s chestnut tiramisu. Ah, you have to hold your breath when you eat this, okay?”

“Nom…”

Oh, you’re so cute..!

I want to squeeze those cheeks, but… I have to refrain because it’s against etiquette…

Hmm hmm..!

“Hehe…it’s delicious!”

“If the young lady eats it quickly, that’s good~ It makes me, the maker, feel proud!”

“Me too~ Thank you~ I love you, Mana~~”

Hmm… I definitely want to spend my daily life like this if I have a daughter.

I will become someone who raises the young lady as if she were my daughter!

I’ll even become a doting father!

“I want to eat that too!”

“Now, ah~”

“Aah~ Nom!”

…Cute.

100 times cuter than a squirrel…

Hmm?

Suddenly, a living creature enters the maid’s sensory radar.

Hmm, someone is watching us from behind?

I don’t think it’s a human…

Hmm… I don’t think they have bad intentions.

Ah, could it be the people that the fairies said wanted to meet us?

As expected, are elves coming to this lake to drink water..?

Whatever it is, it’s a good experience for the young lady…

– Neigh…

A horse?

I turn my head at the sound of a horse’s neigh, and there are two…

“My goodness…”

“Wow! Mana! It’s a horse!”

“…It’s not just a horse.”

It’s a horse with pure white, glossy fur.

And it has a horn..!

“It’s a unicorn, you know?”

“Unicorn?”

I never thought I’d see a unicorn in my life.

I heard they were almost extinct.

The two unicorns seem to be interested in us, watching us from afar and carefully taking one step at a time.

“Wow… they must want to eat chestnut bread too!”

“I wonder..?”

Hmm.. shall I try giving it to them?

I give a piece of chestnut bread to the unicorns, who are now very close, and they sit down and munch munch…

…They must have really wanted to eat it.

“Wow… can I touch it, Mana?”

“Hmm… I think you can.”

They say unicorns like virgins.

They wouldn’t have approached us if we weren’t virgins in the first place…

Seeing them deliciously eating the chestnut macaron in my hand, I think it’s okay.

“Hello! Unicorn!”

The unicorn sits still and enjoys the young lady’s touch, even closing its eyes.

Pat pat… the young lady pets the unicorn as if petting a dog.

– Neigh

…The other one seems jealous when it sees that.

“Mana! The fur is so soft!”

“Still, touch it carefully, okay?”

“Yes!”

Hmm… shall I touch it too?

I stroke the snout of the one that finished off a chestnut pie.

Oh… it’s definitely a different level of softness from the horses raised in the earldom.

Spirit beasts are amazing.

By the way, not only fairies but also unicorns live in this lake…

It’s a good thing that no one cares about this land, which is close to the outskirts of the bishopric, but if word gets out, there will be a fuss to occupy this place.

For now, it’s a secret place that only the young lady and I know.

“Kyaa!! Mana! Look at this!”

“Ah, Young Lady?!”

“I’m a princess riding a white horse!”

Now the young lady is even riding the unicorn…

…Even though we’re virgins, they must like us a lot. To allow even that.

“Mana, you try it too!”

“Um… is that okay?”

“Yes! It’s okay!”

The unicorn also seems to be wanting me to ride it, lying flat on the ground.

Th, then…

I carefully get on, and the unicorns slowly stand up.

The unicorns slowly circle the lake.

“Giddyup! Giddyup!”

“Young Lady~ like a lady~”

“Ahem..!”

…Like a knight?

Anyway.. the unicorns carried us and slowly circled the lake.

It was slow from the unicorn’s perspective, but it didn’t take an hour to go around the lake..

“Haa.. it’s so fun!”

“That’s right. It’s an amazing experience.”

…Riding a unicorn is an experience that’s so rare that one in a million people experience it even in a fantasy world.

When I carefully get off its back, the unicorns circle around us as if they’re sad.

“Why are they doing this?”

“Hmm… I wonder? Now, go?”

– Neigh

The unicorns shake their heads.

Hmm…

Ah!

“Young Lady, will you kiss the unicorn’s forehead?”

“Kiss?”

“Yes, I forgot. It’s a rule to kiss the unicorn when you get off its back or say goodbye.”

“On the forehead, next to the horn?”

“Yes, on top of the horn.”

Smooch!

Only after receiving the young lady’s and my kisses, the unicorns neigh, “Neigh~~” and return to where they came from.

Two shiny small horns remain in the place where the unicorns left.

“What’s this?”

“They must like us. It’s a horn, if you blow it, the unicorns might come? Or they might not.”

“Wow…”

…This is very expensive.

This one alone could buy… at least an earldom’s castle.

Well, this is all a memory, so shall we keep it?

“Now, let’s eat dinner, Young Lady?”

“Yes! Let’s eat quickly!”

The sun is setting.

Now it’s time to eat dinner and watch the stars with the young lady!