"Thank you for helping me with this, young master."

I frowned and said, "I keep telling you, Miss Lilia. Just Rudy is fine."

Lilia shook her head. "As much as I appreciate your request, young master, I cannot do that."

My frown deepened and I muttered, "Formalities are stupid. Miss Lilia's just as close to me as Mom is..."

Lilia's eyes widened and then she gave me a warm smile. "Thank you, young master."

I smiled back.

Today was a break day for me. Dad said that I was working too hard and told me to help out Lilia in running some tasks down at the village.

It wasn't complicated. We just needed to grab some more supplies. Sausages, grains, bread, flour, fruits... basic groceries.

I looked over our cart and nodded. "That should be everything, right Miss Lilia?"

Lilia walked around the cart and checked everything against a list. "...It should be. But there is one problem."

"Hm? What problem?"

Lilia sighed. "We don't have a horse to pull the cart back."

...Oh. Right. We only had one horse. His name was Caravaggio and he was Dad's longtime companion... but because of that, he was also with Dad today.

The plan had been to grab a cart and a horse here and bring everything back, but...

"There isn't a spare horse around?"

Lilia shook her head. "It seems that the village protectors have gone to the forest with them to meet with Master Paul and the others."

"Hm. That is a problem..."

Miss Lilia was fine walking over here, but her old injuries would make walking back and carrying this stuff difficult. Not only that, but while she hid it well, I could tell that she was already tired out from the walk too.

Lilia shook her head. "My apologies, young master. If I had anticipated this-"

"It's fine, Miss Lilia. We'll just have to get a bit creative."

"Pardon?"

I stared at the cart to think.

It wasn't a full carriage with a cover and everything, but there were places to sit down on it. We had organized the groceries in the middle and everything was secure so stuff wouldn't go flying if the cart moved. But the source of that movement, the wooden axel thing for the horse to carry was empty. Mainly because we were out of a horse and all, you know?

But that wasn't too big of a deal.

"Miss Lilia, would you sit down on the cart?"

Lilia blinked and said, "Pardon?"

"I think I can get us back. It'll be a bit ad hoc, but it should work."

"...Very well." Lilia nodded and got on the cart. "I will leave it to you, young master."

I smiled. "Don't worry, Miss Lilia! I'll make sure we get back with everything in tact!" With that said, I turned around to check our surroundings.

The cart was already set up on the outskirts of the village.

There were a few people staring at us, but for the most part we were left alone. Well, a few people waved at me. Mostly people who saw me going around and helping with Miss Roxy on her 'pocket money' trips.

I waved back at them. But then I focused.

We were out on the rolling hills. Our house was about... five miles away, give or take.

The path back, thankfully, wasn't very rough. In fact, it was just a straight shot back. But the problem was that we were out of propulsion.

"Hm..." I walked around the cart, thinking.

Two wheels. Top heavy with wooden sticks to attach to the horse to balance.

I thought about just using wind, but that wouldn't work with the way the cart was shaped-

Wait.

"Mmm..."

"Young master?"

"It'll be rough, but it should work." I nodded and held out my hand to focus.

First, I needed some earth mana. To make that, I spun out some of my mana and converted it.

Next, I needed some dirt. I *could* use the dirt nearby, but I didn't want to ruin the scenic terrain, so I summoned a giant glob.

In the corner of my, I saw some people looking at me, but I ignored them.

The proper thing would be to make an engine or something like a golem to drag the cart along, but I wasn't skilled enough to make that. Maybe in the future, but not now.

But something that I *could* make was a giant spinning wheel. And since I could hold everything together with a string of mana...

I waved my hand, causing the clump of dirt to flow towards the cart. Parts of it extended past the two axels before hooking up to a perpendicular axel. And then around that middle part was a treaded wheel.

...Well, a shoddily made treaded wheel. My control was still a bit sloppy so the treads were more like random cuts rather than a uniform pattern. But it should work well enough for grip, and I could always clean it up if it got full.

So with that done...

"Alright." I hopped into the driver's seat at the front of the cart and held out my hands. "Turning's going to be complicated, but this should work out... Yeah. It definitely will."

Positive affirmations. Mama Lilia- I mean, Miss Lilia is watching, so you can't mess up here, me.

Lilia gasped. "Young master... that's incredible."

"It's nothing compared to Miss Roxy, but it'll do."

If Miss Roxy was here, I was sure she could do something ridiculous like just send us along on a wave of water. That or make a slab of dirt underneath the cart to fly along.

"...Should I hold on?"

"Yeah, it'll probably be a bit bumpy. Keep an eye on the groceries, would you?"

"Understood."

I waited for Lilia to get ready. And then I nodded and turned back to the front. "Here goes nothing... I mean, let's do this!"

Lilia laughed.

I smiled.

And then the cart started moving.

Slow at first, creaking like an old skeleton. But eventually I got a hang of the proper rotating speed and we were good to go.

...Braking might be hard, but I'd just have to remember to slow down before we got back.

Wind in my hair, sun at my back, and a clear blue sky... Things were a bit wild with me having to improvise, but other than that, today was a good day.

I smiled and leaned back a bit to relax. As I did, Lilia spoke up.

"You've worked hard, young master."

*ba-dump*

'I'm... I'm so proud of you.'

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

It was a casual remark. No, not quite casual. But it was heartfelt. Sincere.

An acknowledgment of what I'd done up to this point.

...It was a bit silly, actually. This wasn't much. I could do so much more.

But. Just that little bit.

"...Thank you, Miss Lilia. That... Th-that me-means a lot to... Dammit! N-No crying!" I sniffed and brushed my eyes.

Stupid kid body. Making me all emotional like this.

"Argh." I forced a smile on and glanced back at Lilia. "Thank you, Miss Lilia. That really means a lot."

Lilia smiled back. But then she frowned, looking away. Conflicted.

I blinked. "Miss Lilia?"

"...It's nothing, young master. I'm just..." She sighed. "Time flies quickly, doesn't it? In the blink of an eye, you've turned from a tiny baby to a young child."

"Um... Miss Lilia doesn't look that old if that's what you're worried about. You're still very pretty."

She blinked and then laughed. "Thank you, young master. It's good to hear. Not what I expected, but I appreciate it."

"O-Oh. Um... I stand by what I said?"

Miss Lilia really was still pretty. I remembered thinking that she was really beautiful already when I was younger, but she hadn't changed a bit since I grew up. If anything, she was more beautiful because she had a more mature look around her.

"Well." She hid her smile behind her sleeve and said, "It looks like your mother's going to have to keep an extra close eye on her son in the future when it comes to women."

"Huh?"

"Nothing." Lilia tucked a strand of her crimson hair behind her ear and stared out at the horizon. "But... this truly is a wonderful life. To think that my life would end so peacefully..."

I frowned. "You're not leaving, are you Miss Lilia?"

That didn't sound good. Weren't those types of words always said by people in movies before they died? Like the old veteran who finally made his way home only to succumb to old injuries-

Wait.

I turned back to look at Lilia.

She looked back at me and shook her head. "Of course not, young master." She smiled and said, "You still need me here, don't you? I have no intention of leaving any time soon."

"...Good."

I gave an absent-minded reply. As I did, I stared at Miss Lilia. Specifically, I stared at her legs... though I made it a point to pretend to look at the groceries instead.

But even then, I could see it.

A bright purple light, twisting around her legs.

Before, I thought it was just her own mana. And since I'd never seen anything like it, I thought it was just a natural color for her. But now that I thought about it...

Miss Lilia said that she quit her previous job because of an old injury. She couldn't walk or put much weight on her legs. Even when carrying me, she was always super careful and patient.

"Keep an eye on the fruits, would you, Miss Lilia? I'm not sure how bumpy this will get when we cross the hills."

"Of course, young master."

Saying that, I looked away. But when I did, I frowned.

Purple mana... an old injury...

...Was it possible?

A poison laced with mana? No, mana that turned into a poison in and of itself?

...It seemed like I'd need to do a lot more serious research on that healing magic of mine...