The Christmas of the Shield Hero, Part 1[]
"Achoo!"
On that day, I had just finished my job and was in the middle of returning to the village.
It's also fine to return through the portal, but the moment I reached the village, I had work to do.
It seems that I can only rest when riding the carriage.
It's been about half a year since the end of the last of the waves.
I look to the sky and see it covered in thick clouds.
The temperature is dropping by the day, and it seems that even colder days are coming.
My breath has also turned white
So Melromark also has four seasons.
It seems the climate had been in disarray during the wave.
"Ah... " (Naofumi)
"What's wrong?" (Raphtalia)
Raphtalia asks me from outside the carriage.
I hold up my hand, and look to the sky in silence.
"Ah..." (Raphtalia)
Raphtalia follows my lead and stares at the sky.
"It's snowing." (Raphtalia)
"So it falls in Melromark too." (Naofumi)
"The summer is hot, and the winter gets this cold." (Naofumi)
It's not like we're in the tropics, but the summer was still pretty hot.
But the winter gets cold enough for it to snow.
"Naofumi-sama, do you hate the cold?" (Raphtalia)
"I don't hate it, I just thought it would be a pain to put spikes on the carriage's wheels." (Naofumi)
".... Should the hero who became an archduke and saved the world be saying such things?" (Raphtalia)
Raphtalia's words are correct.
But when I think of the money and labor wasted, it still seems like a pain.
"It seems that you are still trying to increase our wealth, but what do you plan to use it for?" (Raphtalia)
"Nothing in particular. If I were to use it, it would go towards decreasing the aftereffects of the wave." (Naofumi)
And it never hurts to have extra.
My experiences till now have made saving money a habit deeply rooted in my psych.
Well, this habit had helped us out quite a bit.
But as an Archduke, I was granted a large sum of wealth and an estate.
"And having money is better than not having it." (Naofumi)
"As expected of Naofumi-sama." (Atlas)
Atlas left the shield and floated in the winter sky.
What do you mean by 'as expected'?
Well then, half a year has passed since the wave, but even now, its effects are still clear.
Melromark's castle town still has the mountain of the Spirit Turtle occupying much of the town, and the casualties of the countries that had the dragon's hourglasses were very high.
Though we may have achieved peace, the everyday lives of the civilians is still harsh.
There's no way that reconstruction could have finished in a mere half-year.
