The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

We continued leveling up until we had defeated most of the monsters in the area.

By the time we finished, the sun had already risen to its peak.

When the young girls and slime complained of hunger, we decided to cook outdoors.

While taking cooking utensils out of the item box, I think about the lunch menu. The item box that Roze gave me, which can freely put in and take out contents just by focusing consciousness and magic power, is too convenient.

"Preparation is instant. So, what do you want to eat--"

"'MEAT! (nano!)'"

The pressure was intense.

Well, I kind of expected that.

By the way, I like cooking and I'm good at seasoning, but my repertoire is limited, which is a concern. I'd like to be forgiven since I'm not a professional chef, but... speaking of meat dishes, how about everyone's favorite, hamburger steak?

"Yay! Hamburger steak!"

"Mm! The best."

"Hooray, nano~!"

The kids' tension instantly maxed out. Their enthusiasm was a bit overwhelming.

Well, I understand why they're excited. Even in this other world, hamburger steak is one of the popular dishes.

Actually, in this world, pressure cooking and low-temperature cooking don't exist, but for some reason, dishes like hamburger steak and curry have apparently existed since ancient times.

Curry seems to be a luxury dish because spices are expensive, but I ate it a few times at home. By the way, there are rumors that some regions even eat ramen.

...Come to think of it, it seems like there have been reincarnated people since long ago.

The food culture is so inconsistent across time and place that I can't help but think that.

Anyway, we don't have a machine to grind meat, but we have a young girl who's versatile with magic, so hamburger steak is no problem.

We chop the meat finely with Elenora's wind magic and pound it to make ground meat. Unlike the store-bought products in Japan, it's a bit uneven, but when you make hamburger steak with this, the texture changes with each bite, so you can enjoy a different kind of deliciousness.

We mix the ground meat with chopped and sautéed onions and salt, and knead it well. Since Saaya and Punisuke worked hard, let's be a bit luxurious and use some spices too.

After kneading thoroughly, shape it, pat it to remove air, and put it in a heated frying pan. Cook both sides well, then cover and cook slowly.

Meanwhile, skewer the hard black bread and toast it over the fire. We found something like olive oil in the town of Shaboom, so heat that, mix in a little salt and chili pepper for flavor, and let it soak into the toasted black bread to soften it.

When the meat is cooked, a savory aroma fills the surroundings. The hungry kids seem to be at their limit of patience, so I plate it with the bread and it's done.

"Let's eat!"

"Mm, eat."

"Eat, nano~!"

The piping hot hamburger steak is delicious, full of meat juices.

The bread has also absorbed the oil nicely and has become easy to eat and soft. It's a bit over-soaked, so maybe I'll reduce the amount of oil next time.

"Restaurant food was good too, but Ruruk's cooking is still my favorite."

"Mm, the best."

"Master is amazing, nano~!"

The kids seem satisfied too.

After we finished eating, we cleaned up thoroughly and returned to the main road.

By the way, the results of leveling up were that Saaya reached level 11 and Punisuke reached level 31. There were over 50 goblins in the forest, after all. It was a medium-sized settlement before population explosion, and there were even Black Goblins, so it's good we took care of them now.

If we sell the materials in the town of Restamia, we can make some money, and I'll save that money for Saaya and Punisuke.

"Hey, what kind of country is the Kingdom of Restamia?"

"I don't know since we didn't pass through any inhabited areas on our way here. Elenora, do you know? You're from Restamia, after all."

"Mm, lots of golems."

Oh ho, puppet soldiers, is it?

That was intermediate earth magic, wasn't it? I've heard it's a magic that requires a unique technique to manipulate earth and stone.

"Heh~ Are golems strong?"

"Mm. Weak."

"That's... by whose standards? Mine? Or Punisuke's?"

"Me, nano~?"

"Me."

"Well, of course that's the case."

There probably aren't many magic users on this continent who can blow away even a super giant golem that's been fused with a demon in one hit.

However, from a more general perspective, the reason for using golems is probably more for safety margin than strength.

Even in modern society, machines are becoming more active in wars and such.

"For now, let's transfer and head there. I hope there are golems at the checkpoint too."

"Yeah. Practice, practice!"

Saaya takes the initiative to transfer and move forward.

I also take Elenora and Punisuke, and we move to the checkpoint in no time.

To conclude, there were golems.

However, we ended up seeing them in a completely unexpected form.

"Wawawa..."

Saaya made a strange sound as she looked up at the checkpoint.

I understand how she feels.

Just think about it.

The stone-built checkpoint blocking the road, it's made of golems itself?

A stationary golem without legs opens and closes the door on its chest with its own hands. Of course, it's being controlled by a magic user, but it felt like we had come to some amusement park attraction.

"Is this your first time in the Kingdom of Restamia?"

After checking our adventurer cards, a soldier from the Restamia side spoke to us cheerfully.

"Yes. This is a golem... it's amazing."

"Isn't it? It's no exaggeration to say that this 'Fortress Golem' is the pride of our Restamia. We have them stationed at all borders except the Bargia side. The soldiers from the Kingdom of Mataisa often complain that they have no defense work to do and are bored."

"I can imagine. Bandits and monsters must avoid this route."

After all, it's big enough to crush a person just by swinging its fist down.

It's not as big as the one controlled by the red-eyed demon, but it's still a mass of threats.

"By the way, are you adventurers heading to the royal capital?"

"No, we plan to pass through to Bargia. Are there even bigger golems in the royal capital?"

"No, no. Of course, there are no fortress golems in the royal capital as that would be dangerous. However, there are many golems made from magic stones."

"Magic stones? Are there golems made of mithril and such?"

Magic stones (or magic ore) is a general term for minerals that generate magic power by themselves.

Mithril and orichalcum are among them, and each reportedly responds differently to external magic power. I've only seen mithril so I can't say much, but I hear orichalcum can be freely processed in its magic response.

By the way, Hihiirokane is just a hard mineral that reflects magic power, so it's not treated as a magic stone. Rather, it has an opposite nature.

The soldier shook his head with a wry smile.

"We can't use valuable natural magic stones. To be precise, it's artificial magic stones. We create high-performance autonomous golems using artificial magic stones generated by magic. They don't need a caster to control them and they're simply strong, so they're used a lot for things like guarding the royal castle. They have a unique appearance, so please take a look if you ever visit the royal capital. And be careful not to attack them by mistake."

"I understand. I'll remember that."

Magic stone golems, huh. I'd like to see them sometime.

This time we're just passing through, so we don't intend to stop at the royal capital. Maybe next time we have a chance.

We passed through the checkpoint without any problems and headed northwest on the road that forked into three directions.

According to the soldier earlier, there's a town if we go straight down this road. It's about three days by carriage, so if we transfer, we should arrive by evening.

It looks like we won't have to camp out tonight.

We need to pass through three towns to get to Bargia. The road goes around the forest, so it's a natural distance.

"I wonder if we'll see normal golems in between."

"Mm. In town."

"That sounds interesting... wait, Elenora, have you been to town before?"

"Mm. Long ago."

Come to think of it, when we met, she said she was almost kidnapped somewhere before.

It seems there's discrimination against beast people in Restamia too, so I need to keep an eye on Elenora. Bargia apparently doesn't have racial discrimination, so until then, I'll have her wear the perception interference robe.

"That's right. Punisuke, stay with Elenora for a while. If Elenora is about to be kidnapped, help her."

"Understood, nano! Big sis, nice to meet you, nano!"

"Mm... hehehe."

Elenora was thoroughly adoring Punisuke who had jumped into her arms.

I think it'll be fine with the perception interference robe and sheep doll, but even if they come off and she's found out, it'll be harder to make a move with a familiar around. We must ensure the safety of our members.

"I thought this when it was me too, but Ruruk, you're overprotective, aren't you?"

"Really? I think it's normal."

This is another world where anything can happen to begin with.

Now that we can't rely on Roze anymore, I have no intention of neglecting caution and preparation. Our company is Ruruk Sock, providing 24/7 peace of mind and safety support.

"Oh right, Ruruk, do you think I could use golems too?"

"Well, you have the aptitude for it, so I think you could if you had the knowledge. Do you want to use them?"

She was looking at them quite intently, so I guess she was interested after all.

Maybe she's afraid to fight herself, so she wants to have golems fight for her. That's probably the intended purpose for creating golem magic, so it's a reasonable goal.

While I was thinking this, Saaya grinned.

"Yeah. If I make it stand behind me, it'll look cool like a St*nd, right?"

"That's what this is about?"

I let out a sigh and relaxed my shoulders, but Saaya got angry, saying, "What do you mean 'that'! It'd be a waste not to use magic and stuff when we can!"

Well, to be honest, I want to try it too.

But you know, Saaya sometimes makes such romantic statements. She seems to know quite a bit about manga and game references.

When she was in high school, she was the type to be at the center of the class, so she never showed this kind of attitude. People are full of surprises. Or maybe she was just hiding her otaku tendencies...

Anyway.

"Alright, I get it. Let's look for a book in some town and have Elenora research the technique."

"Yay! Elenora, please help me out!"

"Mm. Easy."

I hope it's not some secret technique that's not supposed to leave the country.

No, surely normal golems wouldn't be like that. Come to think of it, I sometimes saw adventurers using them in Stoania's dungeon too.

"So, we'll stop by a bookstore in the next town."

"Thanks. Oh, but Ruruk. Don't camp out in the entertainment book section like you did when we left Shaboom. The store clerk was glaring at you with such a face."

"...I'll do my best."

Bookstores are holy ground.

I can't promise absolutely. If I don't declare it, it's safe.

Talking about such things, we headed towards the next town.