Table of Contents
Table of Contents Page
PART 10: Escape from Hataru Village—Part 2
Chapter 489: Reunited with Zinal’s Party
Chapter 490: A Twenty-Year-Old Rumor
Chapter 491: The Bounty Hunters Are Criminals
Chapter 494: Investigating the Rumor
Chapter 495: The Bounty Hunters Seem Pesky
Chapter 497: My Beloved Father
Chapter 498: Leisurely Trash-Collecting
Chapter 500: The Underground Cave of Dreams
Chapter 501: Turns Out, It Was Huge
Chapter 503: A Long-Awaited Reunion
Chapter 504: Contracts Are Not to Be Taken Lightly
Chapter 505: You Reap What You Sow
Chapter 507: Taste-Testing Is Important
Chapter 510: Underground Rumor
Chapter 512: Going Our Separate Ways
BONUS: Amiche and Luffie Are Slowly Making Friends
Newsletter
Color Gallery
Ivy's Journey Thus Far
Characters
Copyrights and Credits
PART 10: Escape from Hataru Village—Part 2
Chapter 487: Wait Right Here?
Chapter 487:
Wait Right Here?
SINCE WE’D AGREED THAT Marya would be my father’s little sister, that made her my aunt. At first, I considered calling her “Auntie,” but that felt strange, so after talking it over with my father, I settled on calling her “Cousin.” But then my father told me adventurers and travelers didn’t speak so politely to each other, so I switched it to “Cuzzie.” It was a wonder that calling her “Mom” had felt so strange, yet calling her “Cuzzie” seemed so natural.
“Cuzzie, that’s sugar!”
“Huh? Oh no! Is this one the salt?”
“That’s right.”
I tilted my head a bit as I watched Marya work. Then I looked at the salt and sugar containers. They were the same shape and size; the only difference was the color of their lids. But they were red and orange, which should have been easy enough to tell apart…
“What’s up?” my father asked as he came back from patrol.
“Nothing. Find anything?” I asked.
“Nope, nothing unusual in our immediate surroundings. Let’s get moving after we eat breakfast.”
“Okay. Ciel hasn’t come back yet, though.”
“You’re right. Well, it’s Ciel, so we don’t have to worry.”
“True.”
Ciel had run off somewhere last night and not yet returned. When would our friend be back? I knew that Ciel was powerful, but I was starting to worry. I wished the adandara would just come back already.
Today’s breakfast was leftover onigiri and soup with greens. I figured the savory flavors from the vegetables ought to make it delicious.
“Here you go, Brother,” Marya said, handing my father a cup of tea. She was acting much more naturally around him now that she was his sister instead of his wife. In fact, she was secretly pleased about the arrangement because she had always wanted a big brother.
“Okay, let’s clean up and—oh no!” My father looked at me with a start.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“We don’t exactly know where we are, do we?”
Huh? Oh…you know, he’s right. Ciel always guides us when we go off trail deep in the forest, so we only have a grasp on the landmarks somewhat nearby. What’s more, now that Marya’s in our party, we’ve really veered off course.
“You’re right, Dad. Looks like we’re lost.”
“We sure are.”
“That just won’t do, will it?”
An uncomfortable look filled my father’s face. “This is my fault.”
“No, Dad, I promise it isn’t.”
It was both our faults, not just his. But what should we do about it? My father took a map from his magic bag and spread it out.
“I’ll clean up while you do that,” I offered.
“Thanks. I’ll see if I can find the landmarks closest to here.”
“Good luck.”
Marya watched our back-and-forth with a perplexed look on her face.
“Hey, Cuzzie, I’m gonna clean up. Can you help me?”
“Oh… Um, sure. What do you need?”
I picked some leaves off a nearby tree and used them to rub a plate clean. “Can you do this to all the dishes?”
I took the plates wiped clean by Marya and washed them with soapy water, then rinsed them in clean water and put them in a basket to drain. I wanted to make sure they were completely dry before we set off.
“We’re finished. Figure out where we are yet?” I asked my father.
“I’ve narrowed it down to two places… Which one do you think it is?”
I looked at the spots he was pointing to. “Huh. I’m not sure.”
The two spots appeared almost identical on the map.
“This map sure is hard to read,” my father remarked. “Both spots have a giant boulder to the right and a river to the right of that… Everything is mostly the same, so it’s hard to tell the places apart.”
The boulders looked slightly different in size, but the size wasn’t given on the map. Then again, that wouldn’t have done much to help us if we couldn’t measure the boulders in real life.
“You know, I just realized I forgot to get the name of the next village,” I said.
“Huh? Oh, it’s Hataha Village. Right here.”
I looked where he was pointing. If the map’s scale was right, it wasn’t a very big village.
“You know, it would sure be a drag if we missed it,” I remarked.
From the two spots my father found on the map, Hataha Village was either to the right or to the left. If we went the wrong way, we would end up even farther away from Hataha. If it had just been the two of us, we could afford to take a little detour and make up the lost time in a day. It would be a strain, but we would make it. But considering Marya’s weakened state, we couldn’t afford to be wrong.
“Is everything okay?” Marya asked, staring at the map worriedly. “This is the first time I’ve seen a map.”
I looked up from the map in surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah… I have no idea what everything means, but it sure is detailed, isn’t it?”
“This is one of the more detailed maps out there,” my father explained. “When I get a minute, I’ll teach you how to read it.”
Marya smiled at the map. “Thanks.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu!”
Flame was yelling louder than usual. We looked up quickly to search for the slime, which promptly landed on top of the map.
“Flame? What’s wrong?”
That’s odd. Flame has never butted into a conversation like this before.
“Pefu?”
“Sol?”
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“You’re here, too, Sora? What’s wrong?”
I looked down at my feet to see Sora and Sol staring up at me. I picked up and held both slimes. “Huh? Where’s the map?” I asked.
“I put it away.”
For some reason, Sora looked pleased by my father’s words. Flame was now off the map and in Marya’s arms—and her weak grip was making me nervous. Flame’s eyes were wide and directing a pleading look at me.
“You’ll be okay, Flame…I think.”
“Ryuuu…”
My cheeks softened at Flame’s pitiful little cry. It was cute, but I felt a bit sorry for the poor thing. I set Sora and Sol down on the table, and Marya gently put Flame down with them.
“Teryuuu.”
Marya made a face.
“Cuzzie?”
“Why… What?”
She still seemed a little uncomfortable with talking.
“You need to hold Flame more tightly,” I explained to her.
She looked down at her hands and squeezed them tight. “Won’t I hurt Flame, though? It’s just…with all the squishiness I’m worried I’ll hurt it if I squeeze too hard.”
“Oh, you can squeeze our slimes as hard as you need to,” my father said.
I nodded in agreement, and Flame nodded vigorously. Was it really that scared by Marya’s grip?
“Okay, I’ll be more careful from now on,” she said.
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu,” Flame cried in relief. Sora and Sol chirped happily in turn.
“By the way, did you guys want something?” my father asked.
The three slimes jiggled on top of the table. Seriously, what did they want?
“This’s a new thing, right?” my father asked me.
“Yeah. They usually run off and play after we’re done talking.”
Do they want us to stop looking at the map? But why?
“Maybe they don’t want us moving around here,” I suggested.
“Oh?!” Marya yelped.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
“Pefu!”
Looks like I was right—but why? Is there some reason why we can’t be here?
“Are you waiting for Ciel?” I asked.
They answered by jiggling intensely.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
“Pefu!”
Look at them nodding while they jiggle. So talented.
“What’s the plan?” my father asked.
“If they say we have to stay here, we should probably do that,” I answered.
“Can’t argue with that.”
Ciel had run off in the past, and it had always been to hunt for food. But the slimes never stopped us those times, so they surely must have had a reason to stop us today.
Chapter 488: Huh?! Why?
Chapter 488:
Huh?! Why?
“WHAT’RE YOU DOING?” Marya asked, pursing her lips at the item I was holding.
“I’m fixing the baskets I use to make traps.”
“Traps?”
“That’s right. If I leave traps where field mice and wild rabbits go by, I can catch them if I’m lucky.”
My father had said there were some wild rabbits nearby. And I had indeed spotted some tiny tracks, but they looked a bit different from other wild rabbit tracks I had seen, so whether or not there actually were wild rabbits remained a mystery.
“Do you think I could make some traps, too?” Marya asked.
“Of course.” I handed her five broken baskets. “If you can tie rope, you can make traps. Just make sure you tie them tightly, okay? If the knots are weak, your prey will break the trap and escape.”
“Okay.”
“Put these five pieces together neatly into the shape of a basket, then tie them tightly with rope for me.”
“Okay.”
Marya sat beside me, stacked the pieces of basket together in different ways, and tilted her head. I understood her confusion. It was tough to figure out how to tie the pieces together neatly at first. When I started out, my traps had been quite warped, but now I could visualize in my head exactly how the pieces should fit together before I joined them.
“Huh? Why isn’t it turning into a basket?”
I gave Marya an occasional helpful hint as she did her best to tie a basket together. Once the basket was formed, it needed to be reinforced with more knots of rope.
“I’m back.” My father announced his return from setting traps.
We both greeted him.
“Find any good spots?” I asked.
“Yeah, I found several. Ooh! Those traps are looking good.” He picked up a finished trap and tugged on it to test its durability. “Feels good, too.”
“Yeah, I think we did a good job,” I said.
We had found sturdier rope at the dump this time, so we’d been able to make stronger traps.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
I looked over at Sora to see its little slime head pop out from one of the finished traps. It looked satisfied to have gotten our attention.
“Sora, we’re going to use those traps for hunting. You shouldn’t play with them.”
“Puuu,” came an upset answer.
“Don’t give me that sass. These are traps, not toys.”
“Pu! Pu.”
Sora wiggled a little out of the trap, then looked at Toron’s basket next to me and let out another upset cry.
“You think Sora’s jealous of Toron?” my father asked. “Toron’s the only one who has a basket.”
I looked down at Toron with a start. He had a point. We’d put the slimes in purchased bags instead of baskets.
“Do you want to use a basket, too, Sora?” I asked.
“It’s probably because Toron has a special carrier, not the basket itself,” my father said.
Aha! Now that makes sense. Yes, Toron is our only creature who uses a basket. We originally started using a basket only because the little tyke was so fragile and just one bad move away from breaking.
I quietly looked down at my feet. Toron was sleeping soundly in the basket. Toron sure had slept a lot that day, and it had grown a little thicker after sucking that tree afflicted with Arbor Magiblight dry. That being said, Toron was still worryingly thin.
“Making Sora a special carrier would be tricky. The others would get jealous and want their own, too,” I said.
“Yeah, I can see that. And it’ll be tough to make everyone their own transport.”
What should we do? Should we make each creature a transport of its own?
“Oh! How about their beds?” I suggested.
“Their beds?”
“Yeah, since we can’t make everyone their own bag, why don’t we weave everyone their own bed?”
I looked at Sora, and I could tell the slime was scrutinizing me.
“What do you think, Sora? I can’t make you your own bag, but I could make you your own bed if you want.”
“Pu! Pu, puuu!” Sora sang happily. I guess the little slime really did want its own bed.
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu?” Flame gave me a curious look in turn, and Sol was right beside it.
“Of course I can make you both your own beds, too.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu!”
“Pefu! Pefu!”
Oh, thank goodness. It looks like we can make everyone’s wishes come true. They do help us out a lot, so I really would like to return the favor.
“When we get to the next village, we’ll get some materials for their beds,” my father said. “For now, let’s think about how we want to make them.”
“Sure.”
Our slimes are all so pretty and neat-looking. I can’t wait to get started building their beds.
“All done.”
Marya had finished her first trap. It was a bit warped in shape, but it was reinforced with tight knots, so it looked like it’d be okay.
“Do you think we can use this?” she asked anxiously.
My father took the trap from her and tugged on it to test it like he’d done with mine. Perhaps because she’d struggled to join the pieces of basket together on the first try, it was tied quite thoroughly with reinforcing knots.
“It should be okay. Good work.”
I looked at Marya to see her arms were shaking. I knew the feeling. It took a lot of upper-body strength to tie the knots tight.
“Okay, let’s go set these traps!” my father said.
We followed behind him, and the slimes danced around us.
“There’s some traces of wild rabbits by these trees here.”
I looked where my father was pointing to see that there were indeed some tracks and scat. Closer observation also revealed lots of footprints and scat in the area around it.
“This’s a great spot,” I said.
“Right? Not many monster tracks, either, so it’s just about perfect.”
“All right. Let’s set the traps here.”
Marya and I gathered the twigs and leaves we needed to hide our traps. When we returned to my father with our arms filled, he had already set all the traps and only needed to hide them.
“This should be more than enough,” I said.
“Yeah. Thanks, you two.”
We set the leaves and twigs on top of the traps. Once they were completely covered, our job was done.
“They’re completely hidden now,” my father said. “Okay, we’re finished.”
“Pu! Pu, puuu,” Sora hopped off to inspect the traps.
“Be careful, Sora.”
Though the slimes loved to get into mischief, I was pretty sure they wouldn’t do anything to hurt the traps. Still, I put out a warning just in case.
“Puuu,” Sora whined back. That was cute enough to earn a head pat, and Sora’s dissatisfied stare back was even cuter.
“Huh?” My eyes darted around as I suddenly sensed something. I spread my scanning range farther to search the area for auras. If the thing I’d picked up on was a monster, we would have to do something right away.
“What’s up?” my father asked.
“I sensed something.”
Aha! It’s an aura. It’s neither a monster nor an animal… It’s a human aura!
“Somebody’s coming this way,” I announced.
“What?!” Marya’s face suddenly turned blue.
“Let’s go back to the tent,” my father said.
“Yeah.”
We cleaned up our trap equipment and hurried back to the tent.
Huh? It’s still pretty far away, but I definitely sense an aura. Why? And something tells me I’ve encountered this one before. But where?
“What’s up?”
“I think I recognize this aura,” I answered my father.
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
I mentally reached out to bring the distant aura closer. Yeah…I know this aura. It’s somebody we met recently. Oh! It feels like their auras…they must be sending their auras out to me so I’ll find them. Otherwise, there’s no way I could read them from so far away.
“Hey, Dad, I think it’s Zinal’s party.”
“What?! Zinal?” my father gasped.
I nodded in reply. I never thought we’d meet Zinal’s party again so soon. Then I suddenly remembered Marya and looked at her with a start.
Uh-oh… If they find out I decided to take on another big problem, they’ll probably yell at me.
Chapter 489: Reunited with Zinal’s Party
Chapter 489:
Reunited with Zinal’s Party
“I KNEW IT WAS Zinal’s party.”
And though the aura was too faint to pick up at first, Ciel was with them. What was it doing with Zinal’s party? Had they all reconnected while Ciel was coming back to us?
“Long time no see. How’ve you been? Uh…who is that?” Zinal asked.
Ha ha ha ha! Oh, how should I explain Marya to them?
Mrrrow.
“Welcome back, Ciel. I hope you came back unscathed?”
Mrrrow.
Ciel’s tail wagged eagerly and purred in reply as I gave its neck some scritches. I quickly scanned the adandara all over and saw all seemed well.
“And what are you gentlemen doing with Ciel?” I asked.
With a cautious glance at Marya, Zinal answered, “Well, an adandara jumped into the road when we were on our way to the royal capital. It was a real close call.”
Why was it a close call?
“Because our old friend jumped right in front of us out of nowhere,” Fische chuckled, giving Ciel’s head some pats.
Huh…I’m not sure why, but Fische looks awfully tired.
“Ha ha! We didn’t know it was Ciel, so we were ready to die then and there,” Zinal laughed. I couldn’t bring myself to laugh with him, though.
“But by all that tail-wagging, we recognized Ciel right away,” Garitt said.
Zinal and Fische nodded merrily in agreement.
“So whereabouts were you?” my father asked.
Zinal thought for a moment. “Hataka Village seemed pretty sketchy to us, so we steered clear of it and walked another day, right?”
“Yeah, that sounds right.”
Hataka was sketchy, eh? I wonder how things are going right now. I hope the guild master and head watchmen are okay.
“Aha. So, Ciel, is that where you ran off to? To bring them to us?” my father asked.
Mrrrow.
Really? But I really want to know how Zinal’s party figured out where we were. That’s just too impressive a feat.
“So?! Who do we have here?” Fische asked my father, his face full of smiles. Zinal was staring hard at my father, too.
“Her name is Marya…and the church in Hataru Village imprisoned her. A boy from the village rescued her, but he went back to the village to throw their pursuers off the scent so she could escape to the forest. We learned all of this when we found her hiding in a cave behind a boulder. After she told us her story, we agreed to let her travel with us.”
After my father’s rushed explanation, the trio’s jaws dropped.
“The church?” said all three of them at once.
Yikes… They said that in perfect unison. And they have such menacing looks in their eyes. Well, they did warn us to stay away from the church, a rule we epically broke…ha ha.
“Ivy. Druid.” Zinal beckoned to us, a threatening look on his face. “Come here.”
When my father and I arrived in front of Zinal, he sighed loudly in our faces.
“Well, she was in trouble, and our monsters found her,” my father explained.
“Your monsters found her?”
“Yeah. She was hiding behind a boulder and using a magic item to mask her aura.”
When we told Zinal that our monsters had found Marya, he calmed down a little. I had told him before that they would never rescue anyone who would do us harm.
“So are you saying Sora said she was safe?” he asked.
“Pretty much, yeah,” my father answered. “I was hesitant at first myself, but Sora has never been wrong about someone before.”
This seemed to convince Zinal for the time being.
“Still, you guys really do pick up some interesting companions wherever you go. Is that the star of destiny you were born under?” Zinal asked.
My father smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. It was a question he and I had talked about before. Everything that happened to us was just too much. Just too abnormal for it not to be fate.
“So, your name is Marya?” Zinal asked her.
Marya nervously nodded yes. Her complexion had gotten a little better.
“We’re Zephyr—Druid and Ivy’s friends. I’m Zinal, the leader. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to…meet you,” Marya stuttered under Zinal’s hard gaze and nodded her head.
“I’m Garitt. Nice to meet you.”
“Oh!”
“And I’m Fische. It’s a pleasure.”
“Er, uh…nice to…meet…you.” Marya nervously nodded to Garitt and Fische.
“Marya, no need to be so nervous. They’re adventurers we can trust,” my father assured her.
Marya nodded, though her face stayed tense. “Understood. Yes.”
“Don’t worry, Cuzzie. Zinal and his men are safe.”
“Cuzzie?” Fische repeated the word in confusion.
“Oh! Um…well, we decided to pretend that Marya is my dad’s little sister, to throw the people chasing her off the scent. That would make her my aunt, but Cuzzie seemed to fit her better, so that’s what I’m going with.”
“Yeah, she really does seem more like a Cuzzie to me. So, do you think it’s likely the church is after her?” Zinal asked my father worriedly.
Not exactly the church, more like the nobility…but how much of the full story should we tell them?
I looked at my father. He looked a bit troubled, and I understood why. Marya’s skills weren’t exactly information we should give out freely.
“Would you rather not say?” Fische asked my father, noticing his body language.
“Sorry, you’ll have to give us a moment. I need to see how Marya feels about it,” my father said.
Zinal’s party nodded.
“Good call—Marya’s feelings are important,” Zinal said. “Druid, we’re always ready to help in any way we can. Never forget that.”
I smiled. “Thank you so much, Mr. Zinal.”
“Well, we owe you guys big-time.”
Aww, you really don’t owe us anything.
My father and Marya were having a talk a few yards away. I didn’t know what decision she’d make, but I did hope she would choose to trust Zinal’s party.
“By the way, did the scouting party that went to Hataka Village have any issues?” I asked.
The trio beamed broadly.
Huh? What’s this mysterious icy chill I feel down my spine?
“Yeah…they had fun. No problems at all.”
They, er…had fun? He said “fun,” didn’t he? What in the world did they do, exactly? Their smiles are so creepy, I’m scared to ask.
“Druid sure has changed, though,” Garitt said, with a glance at the pair who were talking in the distance.
Huh? But I thought Zinal’s party didn’t know about my father’s past. Was that a lie?
“Um, pardon me, but I thought you didn’t know what my father used to be like.”
“Huh?” Garitt looked confused.
“Oh! Well, we have a general sense of what Druid was like in his days as the guild’s secret weapon.”
Whoa, really?
“His name, his accolades, his personality, and his criminal record. The guild master wouldn’t let us meet him in person, but we’ve watched him from a distance.”
“But when we first met you all, Mr. Zinal, you didn’t seem to recognize my father…”
Why was that?
“Ivy, you have to understand something—the Druid you know now and the Druid when he was the guild’s secret weapon are two completely different people.”
“Huh?!”
“Even perceptive men like us didn’t notice he was the same guy.”
No way! I looked at Garitt, who sheepishly shrugged his shoulders.
“And when Zinal did recognize him as the guild’s secret weapon, Fische and I pushed back at first. But, well, since his name was the same and he looked similar—though he didn’t act at all similar—we did eventually realize it was him.”
“Is he really that different, though?” I asked. “Every time I meet someone from his past, they’re all amazed that he’s changed so much.”
I knew my father had been rather feral in the past, so I could at least picture him a little. But had he really changed beyond recognition?
“He’s like a completely different man,” Zinal assured me. “When we discovered it was him in the distance, there was a savage air coming from him, even though he wasn’t on the job. That’s right—people said he was cold-blooded.”
Garitt nodded in agreement. “Cold-blooded.”
That’s how you describe a coldhearted person, right? That’s completely not like him.
“Druid carried the weight of making the call to condemn his comrades to death, and I’ve heard he had to make that decision quickly.” An uncomfortable smile filled Garitt’s face.
“Anyway, his entire atmosphere was different. He was scary—or rather, he put up walls around himself. But now, his daughter is his life.”
Gee, that’s making me blush…
Fische watched my father and Marya talking. “Look at his eyes! The shape is different. They used to be so slanted, like this.” Garitt pulled down his own eyelids.
Did different facial expressions and a change of atmosphere really make a person look that different? When I first met my father, he hadn’t seemed that cold-blooded to me. Maybe by the time I met him, he had settled down a bit.
“I understand. Thank you for explaining that to me.”
The trio stared at me blankly.
“You don’t sound surprised. Did you already know?” Fische asked.
I nodded. “I figured he had let himself go a little feral when I first met him.”
“I see. Well, Druid certainly was lucky to meet you.”
Zinal’s compliment made me beam with pride. I hoped that was how my father saw things, too.
“Aha, looks like they’ve finished their chat!” Zinal said.
I looked over at my father and Marya.
“Sorry we took so long,” he said.
“Nah, it’s all right,” Fische answered.
Marya’s expression softened a little.
“Marya said I could tell you her story, but we’ll ask you to forge a contract with her first.”
“A contract?”
“That’s right.” My father nodded at the grim-faced trio.
“I don’t see why not,” Garitt said, patting my father’s shoulder.
“Ahh, okay then,” my father sighed.
Chapter 490: A Twenty-Year-Old Rumor
Chapter 490:
A Twenty-Year-Old Rumor
AFTER THE CONTRACT was exchanged, my father told Marya’s story to the members of Zephyr. He explained that she had the Light skill and that she almost certainly possessed the Foresight skill as well. As soon as my father revealed that, Zephyr’s men stared at Marya in a thunderous wave.
“Eep!” Marya trembled a little under the intensity of their gaze.
Zinal and his men quickly looked away and apologized.
“No, um, it’s all right,” she said.
“But Foresight, eh? I can’t believe it actually exists.”
Zinal’s tone gave me pause.
“I think it was about twenty years ago when a rumor was going around among the nobility at the royal capital. They said, ‘There’s a child with the Foresight skill.’” Zinal glanced softly at Marya as he spoke.
About twenty years ago? Then that must have been Marya.
“This rumor spread at the royal capital?” my father asked.
“Yeah,” Garitt answered him with a nod. “I heard people were saying that, too. But the rumor itself vanished quickly.”
“But if somebody could see into the future, why didn’t anyone look into it? What about the royal family?”
Zinal’s party smiled cynically at my father’s question.
“At the time, anybody who picked a fight with the royal family, the church, or any powerful nobleman was always eliminated. The royal family didn’t have as much power back then as they do now, you see.”
So they killed the rumors with political force. That’s a scary thought.
“But the present is much more important than any past rumor,” Garitt said. “The aristocrat bastards will come after Marya, you can be sure of that. Especially with the fight over the royal succession going on right now.”
Zinal gave a tired nod in agreement.
The fight over the royal succession… Yes, I can imagine anyone vying for the throne would kill for the information Marya has.
“Yeah, I forgot the royal family was having that problem,” my father said. “They definitely will go after Marya.”
“Yeah…” Zinal answered. “They’ll pay whatever disgusting sum of money it takes to find her, too. Either to make her theirs or to kill her—that part we can’t say for sure.”
Marya shivered when she heard that. Zinal and his party frowned uncomfortably.
“Sorry, Miss. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Zinal apologized.
Marya shook her head. “No, I need to know this for my own good,” she said, clenching her fist tightly.
Zinal smiled softly at the sight of her.
“So, Druid and Ivy, what’s your plan?” Fische asked.
My father sighed. “I wish I had an easy answer… We need more information first. The church might think Marya is dead, for starters.”
“But we can’t be too hopeful as long as they haven’t found a body,” Garitt argued.
“Yeah…fair point.” My father sighed again.
“Miss Marya, is there anyone you can go to for help?” Fische asked.
Marya shook her head quietly. “I don’t know if my parents are even alive…but I think they’re not. So…I don’t have anybody.”
“I’m sorry.” Fische nodded to her, then glanced at Zinal and Garitt. What was he trying to tell them?
“We’re joining your traveling party—that okay with you?”
My father looked a bit startled by Fische’s proposition. “Personally, I’d appreciate it, but weren’t you boys on your way to the royal capital? Didn’t you have some job to do?”
“Job? No, we slipped out of Hataka Village as an act of subterfuge. We’re already done with our job, so we’re free agents now.”
Subterfuge? What for?
“Was it for the scouting party?” my father asked.
“Yeah,” Zinal answered casually.
Subterfuge for the scouting party’s sake? Huh?
“We knew eyes would be on you when you left the village, Druid, so we sent out a bunch of adventurer parties and solo adventurers from the village and—oh, don’t worry, they don’t know about you and Ivy. We waited for the scouting party to arrive in Hataka Village first, took care of some things, then we left. And when we left, we made sure to call attention to ourselves so they wouldn’t notice you folks.”
My father gave Zinal a confused look. “You sent out a bunch of adventurer parties and solo adventurers? I’m surprised you managed that.”
Yeah, I wonder how Zephyr got the adventurers to cooperate?
“Most adventurers don’t have a high opinion of that scout party, since the prince’s dirty mitts are all over them. They hate tyrants, you see.”
Huh?
“The day you and Ivy left Hataka Village, we planted a rumor that the scout party was waiting just outside Hataka Village and that they were probably there on the prince’s orders.”
A rumor?
“The rumor was something like, ‘Some adventurers who happened to swing by Hataka Village spotted a scouting party on standby in the forest.’ Usually people wouldn’t be able to identify a scouting party on sight, so we added a bit more to the rumor: ‘We have a contact inside the prince’s scouting party, and this contact was in the party on standby in the forest.’ It spread like wildfire after that.”
“That’s an abnormally specific rumor…” my father sighed tiredly.
Zinal shrugged his shoulders. “The adventurers I knew hurried out of Hataka Village so they wouldn’t have to deal with the scouting party, and I didn’t blame them for that. Besides, it was the scouting party who got seen. They’re the ones who messed up—it isn’t the village’s fault in the slightest.”
“That’s all very impressive,” my father said.
“Right? I really am so relieved that everyone played their part well.”
Rumors really came into play a lot in Hataru Village, too… They sure are scary things.
“The scouting party is sure to look into us first,” Zinal said. “But even if the prince does have his claws in them, I’ve got some crotchety aristocrat friends who won’t bend to their will—that ought to buy us some time.”
“They’ll do more than buy us time,” Garitt added. “If anybody crosses these nobles—even the prince’s scouting party—they’ll pay dearly.”
So there are people who oppose the princes. That’s a surprise. And Zinal’s men sure seem to think all of this is funny.
“I don’t think they’ll catch up to you, Ivy, Druid, so no need to worry.”
“Thank you very much,” I told Zinal with a bow.
“So on that note, we’ve been basically free ever since we left Hataka Village, which means we’re ready to help you,” Fische said.
Zinal and Garitt nodded.
“Thanks. That’s a big help,” my father said with a respectful nod. Marya nervously followed his example and bowed.
Wow, we just added three reliable men to our party. Is that why Ciel brought them to us?
I glanced at Ciel, who was sleeping nearby. The slimes were happily nuzzling in its fur.
“Thanks, Ciel.” I reached out and softly patted the head of the adandara, who happily squinted its eyes in reply.
“Okay, let’s head on out!” Zinal said.
My father shook his head no.
“Is there a problem?”
“Yeah, we set some traps, so we’re waiting until tomorrow to see what we catch before we leave.”
“Traps?” the trio asked.
Most adventurers didn’t set traps to hunt, so it wasn’t a word they were used to hearing.
“Ohh, you mean hunting traps! Where did you put them?” Garitt asked, looking at our surroundings abuzz with curiosity.
“We set them a bit of a walk away from here—wanna go see them?”
“Yeah, I’d love to,” Garitt replied, just a little too excitedly.
My father smiled and took him off to see the traps right away.
“Miss Marya?”
“Yes?”
After Zinal watched my father and Garitt walk away, he addressed Marya. She looked back at him, her face filled with tension.
“It’s all right; don’t be nervous. We’re going to be travel companions now. I’m not sure how long we’ll be together, but I look forward to getting to know you.”
With a friendly smile, Zinal stuck out his right hand. Marya looked at it, then at me.
“Zinal’s a good man,” I assured her. “He’s helped me out several times, too.”
“Not as many times as you and Druid have helped us, I’ll bet,” he replied.
We looked at each other and laughed. And Marya, her worries quelled, reached out and shook Zinal’s hand.
Chapter 491: The Bounty Hunters Are Criminals
Chapter 491:
The Bounty Hunters Are Criminals
WHEN THE MORNING SUN ROSE and the trees had grown a little brighter, I woke to the sound of scampering footsteps on dried leaves. I looked at my surroundings and noticed that Zinal’s party had already woken up and were looking at something. I sat up and followed their gazes to see that Ciel was jumping around for some reason.
“Um, Druid… Are those the things you hunted with those traps?” Garitt asked.
My father smiled sheepishly.
Huh? Traps?
I squinted my eyes for a closer look at Ciel and found that the adandara had intimidated the wild rabbits into entering their traps. Even charitably put, one could not say that we had hunted the rabbits with traps.
“Good morning, Ivy. Looks like we forgot to tell Ciel to lay off the traps.”
I nodded back at my father. “Yeah. Completely slipped my mind.”
Still, Ciel sure looks happy chasing those wild rabbits. Maybe I feel a little sorry for them? Wait, it’s silly to feel that way; we’re going to kill and eat them later.
“Ciel, that’s more than enough,” my father said.
Ciel ran back over to us, its tail swishing back and forth.
“Thanks, Ciel. I’ll bet every single trap is filled with wild rabbits.”
Mrrrow.
Ciel’s satisfied demeanor made everyone burst out in laughter, which seemed to confuse the adandara.
“Okay, let’s butcher those rabbits.”
Zinal stood up and stretched his arms. Garitt got up and stretched his stiff muscles, too. I looked over at Marya and saw that she had slept through the excitement.
“She’s a deep sleeper,” Fische said, staring at her peaceful face in awe. He was right to be impressed. Sleeping this deep in a forest was usually a death sentence.
“Her sleeping environment has gotten a bit of an upgrade,” my father explained.
Zinal’s party gave him curious looks.
“Once the church bastards found out Marya’s powers were gone, they started coming into her room at night to beat her. She said that made her scared to go to bed at night.”
Because Marya had a valuable skill, she was treated humanely—albeit barely. But when she lost her skill, she lost the protection that came with it. Ever since her secret got out, she’d been punched and kicked every night. I remember thinking when we found her unconscious in her little cave that it looked like she had been run down to the point of collapse.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that.” Garitt’s face twisted with sorrow.
“Yeah… That’s why the ability to sleep soundly is a good thing for Marya, even though we’re in the middle of a forest.”
“It might be best for Marya to live quietly in a little town or village somewhere,” Fische said.
My father nodded in agreement, and I also got the feeling that a life on the road wasn’t best for Marya. I’d rather have her live a peaceful life away from danger.
“Well, that’s for her to decide, of course,” Zinal said. “And the most vital step in making that happen would be finding her a safe place to stay.”
Garitt fell into thought. “With all the turmoil connected to the royal succession, isn’t she in more danger the closer to the capital she goes?”
He has a point. Hmmm… Should we start backtracking from the capital, then?
“When the nobility sends bounty hunters after you, you’re in danger no matter where you are,” Zinal said. “I doubt getting closer to the royal capital will put her in any more danger than she’s already in.”
Garitt seemed to accept Zinal’s argument. It sounded like these bounty hunters the nobility had hired were quite crafty.
“What kinds of people are hired as bounty hunters?” I asked.
Zinal explained, “They have the Spy skill and the Assassin skill, and they’re usually former adventurers, banished for committing crimes.”
I tilted my head. “They’re criminals?”
If they’re criminals, why aren’t they arrested?
“They’re sure to be sentenced to slavery, but the nobles pull some strings or bribe guards to let them escape before that happens.”
Again with the nobility. They sure do love to wreak havoc, don’t they?
“The current king has dialed up scrutiny on the nobility, though, so there’s a lot less of it now,” Fische said, pulling some sort of box out of his magic bag. Garitt took it from him and examined what was inside.
“Most of the bounty hunters hired by the nobility are wanted by the police. And even though they know about it, they can’t do anything without solid proof.”
Zinal bitterly tousled his hair. It was already standing on end from the way he slept, but now it was quite the display. When Fische saw the crow’s nest on his friend’s head, he tiredly handed him a brush.
“So this means we’re dealing with very dangerous people,” I said.
Zinal’s men nodded. “If you ever sense you’re in danger, Ivy, run. That’s the golden rule.”
“I understand, sir.”
When you’ve got no powers, running away really is your only option. But sensing I’m in danger is one thing… I’m just worried I can’t do that.
“Zinal, won’t you help us dress the rabbits?” Garitt asked.
“My hair’s a mess, so I’m gonna fix it first, then I’ll help.”
“Roger that.” Garitt took the box over to the spot where the traps were set.
“I’ll go help, too,” I said.
“It’s still early; why don’t you go back to sleep?” my father asked me worriedly.
He had a point. Though Ciel’s scrambling paws had woken me up, it was still quite early. The light between the trees was getting brighter by the minute, but it was still early enough that I could go back to sleep if I wanted to.
“I’m okay. Besides, I’m wide awake now,” I said.
Ciel’s ears drooped.
“It’s not your fault, Ciel. Didn’t you chase those rabbits into the traps to help us?”
Mrrrowwwww.
That didn’t sound too happy.
I gave Ciel’s head a few consoling pats until I saw its tail wag slowly.
“Oh! If you’re gonna stay up, Ivy, I have a request for you.” Zinal ran his brush through his hair one last time, then stood up and walked over to me.
“What is it, sir?”
“You can say no, of course, but I’d like a slightly lavish breakfast if possible.”
Fische laughed at the sound of that.
A slightly lavish breakfast? I tilted my head at Zinal, not quite understanding what he meant.
Zinal looked down shyly and said, “Cooking is a hassle, so the meals we eat when it’s just the three of us are pretty ridiculous—right down to the ingredients.”
The ingredients are ridiculous?
“What exactly do you eat?” I asked.
“Stuff we buy at food carts. We just put it straight into our magic bags,” Fische answered.
My jaw dropped. All they ate was takeout?
“It’s meat just about every day,” Zinal added.
Did that mean they ate meat dishes from food carts every day? Food cart food might have been delicious, but it was lacking in vegetables. If they kept up that diet for too long, it wouldn’t be good for their health.
“Don’t you ever eat things like soup on the side?” I asked.
Some food carts sold soup. Maybe they at least bought that, too?
“We make soup ourselves, but it leaves something to be desired. The veggies are too tough and don’t taste good, either,” Fische said with a sour face.
I wondered if nobody in their party knew how to cook.
“Then I’ll make us a nice soup loaded with vegetables.”
“Thanks. I’ll go butcher those rabbits now. Won’t take long.”
With a goofy grin on his face, Zinal trotted after Garitt.
“I’ll help you,” my father said, moving with me to the cooking area. “You okay with a big pot?”
“Yeah, our biggest one, please.”
My father took out the biggest pot from our stash for soup. “This good enough?”
“Yeah. Even if I cook too much, we can always put the leftovers in a magic bag for later.”
I filled the pot with water and put it over a flame, then cut some meat into bite-sized pieces and massaged some herbs into them. This was an important step, since it took the gaminess out of the meat. Once the water came to a boil, I added the meat and boiled it.
“Hey, Dad, can you skim the scum off?”
“Sure.”
While my father skimmed the scummy foam off the top, I chopped the vegetables. Once most of the scum was gone, I added the vegetables to the soup. When all the vegetables were tender, I would adjust the seasoning, and our soup would be done. I added a little soy sauce (called ponzu in this world) as a secret ingredient. By the time our breakfast was ready, Garitt and Zinal had come back.
“Smells good. Oh jeez, now my stomach’s growling.”
Those words brought a smile to my face. I hoped he would like it.
Chapter 492: A Great Return?
Chapter 492:
A Great Return?
“DRUID?”
“What is it?”
I heard Zinal’s low voice behind me as we walked. It had a different tone than usual, so I turned around in concern…and for some reason, Zinal was sighing.
“Where are we?”
“Deep in the forest…in the cave, I think,” my father replied. “I doubt the map will help us.”
“Aha…the cave.”
“Yeah…the cave.”
As my father said, we were in a cave. It had started to rain outside, so the discovery was a lucky one. Our immediate surroundings didn’t look too dangerous, at least.
“Druid, is that thing deep in the right-hand side what I think it is?”
I looked where Zinal was pointing and saw a monster often found in caves. Today there were one, two, three…about sixty-four of them.
“They’re pesky little cave dwellers called gache,” Druid explained. “They’re dexterous critters, even in narrow spaces, so it’s hard to hit them with any attack, and they’re powerful attackers themselves. It’s recommended to run away if you see a few of them together. Well…anyway, gache caves can only be found deep in the forest, so most people never even encounter them.”
Huh? Don’t you usually find them whenever you go in caves? In my experience, it’s more unusual not to encounter them in caves. And why do we have to run away? I’ve never once run away from gache. They’re friendly monsters.
“Yes, I know their name and what they’re like—that’s not what I was asking you about,” Zinal said.
“Oh…well, yeah, they are pretty infamous,” my father conceded.
So they’re infamous? That’s not quite what I’ve heard…
“Okay, so…why are they on their bellies like that?” Zinal asked.
“It’s their way of saying they won’t attack us,” my father answered.
“…Ah.”
For some reason, Garitt and Fische seemed nervous as they walked behind Ciel and looked at the gache. I cast a sideways glance at them, and they were indeed on their bellies waiting for us to pass, just like they always were.
“By the way, Druid, we didn’t plan on going into any caves when we packed. We do have some supplies in our magic bags, but not enough…”
Do people usually take special equipment into caves? We go into caves all the time while traveling, but I’ve never seen my father make any special preparations. Maybe I should look out for it from now on.
“I doubt there would be any point in taking out any equipment now,” my father said. “All Ivy’s got is a dagger, and I’m not even armed right now.”
“…Okay.” Zinal’s tone got stiffer for some reason. Why was he so nervous?
I looked around the cave as we walked and saw the usual variety of sparkling magic stones embedded in the cave walls, with the occasional magic stone with an unusual color or abnormal size. They sure looked pretty in the light of my lantern.
“On second thought, it’s not okay. This is crazy, Druid!” Zinal’s voice boomed through the cave.
“Oooh, neat!” Marya exclaimed, amused by the sound of the echoes. It looked like it was her first time in a cave. Ever since we’d entered it, her eyes had been constantly dancing.
“Marya, watch your feet or you’ll fall down again,” Garitt warned her.
Marya took more care in her footing…but only for a little while. Her eyes darted right back up to look around the cave. Garitt and Fische shrugged their shoulders. They had gotten permission from Marya to drop any honorifics when they talked to her on our travels. I loved to hear it, because it felt like we were all closer together.
“Keep it down, Zinal. We’re in a cave.”
“Yeah, I know, but I don’t care who you are—we aren’t prepared to be in one.”
“Zinal?”
“What?” Zinal sighed again and looked at my father.
“We’ve got a powerful monster on our side. That’s more than enough preparedness.”
“Huh?! Oh! You mean Ciel?”
Ciel? Oh, now I get it! Dad’s trying to tell us that without Ciel, this cave would not be safe.
“Hey, I get it. My first time, I shivered in terror,” my father told them.
He shivered in terror?
I glanced over my shoulder and met his gaze.
“But I’m used to it now, so there’s no need to worry.”
I nodded in understanding.
When did he ever shiver in terror? I never noticed. I guess the first time he seemed off to me was when we went in a cave for the first time a few days into our travels together. I seem to remember his voice was a little on edge that day. But it didn’t shake at all…it definitely didn’t…at least I hope it didn’t. You know, I was probably so excited about being in a new cave that I didn’t pay much attention to him.
“But would you look at the magic stones in this cave? Incredible.”
“They sure are. This is kind of mid-tier among all the caves Ciel has led us through, though.”
Zinal’s party spun around to look at us in surprise. “This is mid-tier?”
“Yeah, mid-tier,” my father replied casually.
“Gee, you’ve sure been desensitized,” Zinal muttered.
This time, my father was the one who sighed. “I sure have. My senses have gotten weaker and weaker… Desensitization is a scary thing.”
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
“Pefu! Pefu!”
Suddenly, our slimes merrily called out at a discovery they’d made. Then part of the wall crumbled away, revealing a hole which they quickly jumped through.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
As I chased after the slimes, I saw Ciel jump through the hole as well. Marya and Zinal’s party followed it.
“Agh!” Garitt yelped in surprise.
“Ah!” Marya shrieked, her voice shivering slightly in fear.
Huh. Was that not safe after all?
I quickly followed them through the hole and found a giant monster inside. But our lantern light didn’t reach too far into the recesses, so I couldn’t quite make out what it was.
“What’s wrong? What is that thing?”
I looked at the giant monster.
Wait a minute.
“We need light.”
Fische lit a new lantern and approached the monster. And as I saw the light slowly illuminate its form, it looked strangely familiar to me. When the monster started slithering out of its recess, my suspicions were confirmed.
“It’s moving.”
Zinal’s party drew their swords. My father stared intently at the monster as it moved, but he didn’t draw his sword. (He was gripping the hilt firmly, though.)
“Snakey? Is that you?”
“Huh?!” said everyone at once.
As it slithered closer, I could clearly see it. It was definitely a giant serpent with white patterns on its black body. My slimes happily jumped onto Snakey’s body, and Ciel waved a merry tail.
“I knew it was you, Snakey! But are you the Snakey I first met?”
Snakey shook its head no, so it wasn’t the same Snakey. Still, it seemed awfully friendly.
“Do you know about me?” I asked.
Snakey nodded and leaned its head in close, so I slowly caressed the tip of its nose. When I rubbed a little harder, Snakey seemed to like it.
“So you have heard of me. Do you and your friends chat with each other?”
That seems unlikely.
But Snakey looked up at me and nodded.
Wait, they do communicate?
“Wow, that’s amazing. Did you know that, Dad?”
“No, I didn’t. Well, since you’re not the same as the last one, nice to meet you.” My father approached Snakey and petted the tip of its nose. Snakey smiled cozily in reply.
“Zinal. You can put those away,” my father said, pointing at the swords they were gripping.
“Ah…yeah, guess we can. So, Snakey is a monster, I take it?”
“Yes, obviously. Are you okay?”
“…No, I’m not okay. I’m exhausted,” Garitt said.
I looked at him, and he did indeed look exhausted, even though all he’d done was step into a cave.
“You do look kind of tired… Well, you get over the gache and the giant serpents after a while.”
Zinal’s party smiled cynically back at my father. What did he mean by “get over”?
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
I looked over at the sound of Sora’s merry voice to see the slime sliding down Snakey’s body. Flame and Sol followed behind; then, after a delay, Ciel joined in. When had Ciel shapeshifted into slime form?
“Sorry about my slimes,” I apologized to Snakey.
Snakey glanced behind itself, but it didn’t seem to mind and brought its head closer to me.
Do you want pats?
I reached out and rubbed its face all over. Snakey closed its eyes and licked its lips.
…What a cute little tongue you’ve got.
Chapter 493: Garitt’s Skill
Chapter 493:
Garitt’s Skill
“IT’S STILL COMING DOWN out there,” Fische said.
Zinal looked annoyed. He didn’t seem to do well in the humid air. It was our second day in the cave, and we were at a standstill because the rain wouldn’t stop.
“Think it’ll let up tomorrow?” Garitt mumbled as he looked at his map.
My father shrugged his shoulders.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
My creatures were playing merrily with Snakey. They’d been having a blast ever since they met.
“Well, this is probably just the thing for our creatures’ boredom and Marya’s health. She was awfully tired.”
I followed my father’s gaze to see Marya fast asleep. Since she had been walking every day to her breaking point, the past two days had served as a good break for her.
“So what are we gonna do about them?”
I looked where Zinal was pointing to see about fifty magic stones in a pile. They were all presents from Snakey.
“Going off how transparent they are, I’d say these are either Level 4 or 3.” Zinal picked up a magic stone and examined it in the light of his torch.
“If we tried to sell this many magic stones at once, we’d cause quite a panic,” Fische remarked with a playful smile. And he was right. If we tried to sell over fifty high-level magic stones in one go, we would certainly start a major uproar.
“That’s for sure,” Zinal grumbled. “We’d get summoned to the guild master’s office and they’d demand to know where we got them, and when we told them it was a cave, they’d demand to know exactly which cave and how far away from the village it was, until they’d finally force us to take them there. All the way to this cave.”
It did sound awfully annoying. What’s more, we wouldn’t even be able to take anyone to this cave without Ciel’s guidance.
“It would probably go exactly like that, Zinal,” Fische agreed. “By the way, Garitt, whereabouts are we?”
Fische’s question confused me. Why would Garitt know?
“Ivy, Garitt has the Direction Sensitivity skill,” Zinal explained, trying to clear up the confusion that was written all over my face. But I didn’t understand what the Direction Sensitivity skill was.
“Never heard of it?” Zinal asked. I told him I hadn’t. “Ah. Well, the Direction Sensitivity skill lets you know exactly where you are on a map as long as your feet have walked there.”
That sounds great. If I had that skill, I’d never get lost.
I looked at Garitt, and he smiled guiltily back.
“What’s wrong?” Fische asked.
Garitt shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, but I don’t know where we are. I’ve been thinking back on where we walked and looking at the map, but I’m clueless. This is a first for me.”
Garitt’s response startled Zinal and Fische.
“Since you were looking at your map, I assumed you’d tell us where we were…” Zinal said.
Garitt shook his head. “I can clearly remember the way we walked here. I know where we took a turn and how many times we turned—even in the thick trees, my sense of direction was on point. And yet…I can’t pinpoint where we are right now, even when I’m staring at a map.”
Garitt heaved a sigh. Adventurers felt uneasy when they didn’t have their bearings. My father had been the same way at first. I looked at Garitt to see him still having a staring contest with the map. He probably felt scared.
“Um, would you like me to ask Ciel where we are?”
The trio gave me a bewildered look, and my father chuckled softly at the sight.
“Druid?” Zinal gave him a look as he chortled.
“Sorry, you guys just all had the exact same reaction.”
He was right. The trio had had that “blank stare” look in perfect unison. It was kind of cute.
Zinal sighed and looked at me and my father. “Well, whatever. So, what exactly do you mean by asking Ciel?”
“Ciel can read maps,” my father explained. “If we ask, it can tell us generally where we are.”
As my father and I walked around consulting our map earlier, Ciel had come to stare at it with us until the creature eventually learned how to read it. Ciel really was smart.
“Your adandara can read maps?” Garitt was still in disbelief.
My father and I nodded yes. Zinal’s party glanced at Ciel, who was curled up beside Snakey. They had stopped playing at some point and had all fallen asleep.
“What should we do? Should we still ask?” I asked the men.
“Er…! Well, uh, sure…we’ll take you up on that. That monster can read maps?!”
Garitt was muttering something under his breath as he nodded in agreement. He was too quiet to pick up, so I didn’t know what he was saying. I hoped he was doing okay.
“Ivy, don’t worry about him. He’s just surprised,” Zinal said.
I looked at Garitt. “Are you sure surprise is all it is?”
He was kind of scaring me.
“The Directional Sensitivity skill is highly treasured among adventurers. With it, you can have a cave of your very own.”
A cave of your very own?
“Adventurers know about most of the caves near towns and villages—or near village roads. But the caves deep in the forest aren’t all that well known. And that’s because the deeper you go into the forest, the more your sense of direction goes haywire.”
Oh, is that how it works?
I looked at my father in surprise. He seemed startled by my reaction.
“Didn’t you know that?”
“No. Is it common knowledge among adventurers?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I just assumed you knew.”
I shook my head no. Zinal’s party also looked surprised, but I gestured for them to continue.
“Um, so…since your sense of direction goes haywire, anybody who goes too deep into the forest usually gets lost. That’s why we mark the path with string—so we can always find our way back, even if our sense of direction gets thrown off. But what do you think adventurers do if there’s somebody in their party whose sense of direction is always right?”
I did know about tying strings to trees so you wouldn’t lose your way. I had been saved many times myself by that strategy.
“They don’t get lost?” I asked.
“Correct. If they can safely travel deep into the forest, they can pay a return visit to any cave they might happen upon. And what do you think happens if there’s something quite valuable in that cave?”
I assumed that would be a pretty incredible discovery. People say you can never find a cave again if you happen upon it deep in the forest. No matter how many markings you leave, no matter how many landmarks you make note of, it’s impossible for some reason. That was why if you ever found treasure in a cave, you always took as much of it as possible with you then and there—that was the way.
“That’s why people with this skill always hide it. They often get targeted for it.”
They hide it?
“Was it okay for you to tell me about it?” I asked.
“Yeah, you’re safe, and Garitt didn’t stop me, either.”
Was it really okay, though?
“Anyway, the monsters you’ve tamed never cease to amaze me, Ivy.” Zinal looked over at the creatures cuddling with Snakey.
“Gyah!”
I felt a tug on my elbow and looked down to see Toron pulling on my shirt. Its trunk had gotten a bit fatter, and there was one more little branch without leaves. Toron’s roots had stretched out somewhat, making it easier to walk, and there were three leaves on top of its little head. The original two leaves had grown and turned from a yellow-green to a darker green. And just below the center of its trunk, there was a little branch tugging on my sleeve.
“What’s up?”
“Gyah!”
The branch released my sleeve and patted the trunk’s midsection.
“Are you hungry? It feels like it’s a bit too early for dinner… Well, it’s all right. Sit tight and I’ll get your meal ready.”
I rummaged around the bottom of the magic bag where we kept potions and pulled out a purple potion along with Toron’s feeding cup. I poured some purple potion inside and returned to Toron to find that Fische had wandered over to its basket and was staring intently at the little tree.
“What’s wrong, sir? Here you go, Toron. Eat up.”
“Gyah!”
I set the cup in front of Toron, who jumped right in and sucked up the potion through its roots. I petted its tree leaves gently so as not to break them, and the leaves jiggled softly in reply.
“Wow… That’s incredible.” Fische glanced back and forth between Toron and me. Then he looked perplexed. “There’s a tree monster near people…and it’s not attacking?”
I understood his confusion. Tree monsters were some of the most dangerous creatures of the forest. Once, I’d almost died at the hand of one. And when you thought about it that way, Toron and the tree monster who gave it to me sure were wondrous beings.
Chapter 494: Investigating the Rumor
Chapter 494:
Investigating the Rumor
THE RAIN STOPPED on the third day, so we left the cave.
“Just when Ciel finally told us where we were, we leave…”
Garitt sounded a little disappointed. I didn’t blame him—after all, we were riding on Snakey’s back now. Just when the rain stopped and we decided to depart for Hataha Village, Snakey introduced us to two more Snakeys of about the same size, and they all gave us a ride. When that happened, Zinal’s party produced the most hilarious expressions yet. But Marya, who had spent the past couple of days becoming good friends with Snakey, was overjoyed by the proposition.
“Hey, Dad, wouldn’t it be funny if we started another rumor because of this?” I laughingly asked my father, who sat behind me.
He smiled cynically and said, “It could definitely happen. What do you think they’ll say about us this time?”
Last time, the rumor was that there was a new breed of monster. But there weren’t as many Snakeys in our party as there had been last time, so maybe the story wouldn’t get so blown out of proportion.
“What’re you talking about?” Fische asked us curiously from his spot behind Garitt on a Snakey to our right. Maybe they’d heard the first rumor.
“This happened a while ago, but we’ve crossed the forest on a Snakey’s back before,” I explained. “So this rumor about a great serpent migration started going around…”
For some reason, Zinal’s party fell silent as I talked. I looked left and right, wondering why. A Snakey carrying Fische and Garitt was on my right, and one carrying Zinal and Marya was on my left.
“Excuse me?”
“Pfft! Ah ha ha ha! Oh, that rumor! Ah ha ha!”
Garitt’s sudden burst of laughter made me shiver. He was so loud that the little animals of the forest ran away in terror.
“Mr. Garitt?”
He stifled a chuckle. “We got tasked with investigating that rumor, you know.”
“What?!” my father and I gasped in unison. We remembered hearing that a team was assigned to look into the rumor…
So it was Zinal’s party?
“So it was you guys?” Zinal sighed tiredly, pointing at me and my father.
“Don’t point. It’s rude,” Marya chided Zinal, reaching forward and gently lowering his pointing hand. Zinal looked a bit perplexed by her action.
“Sorry. Ha ha! Wow, so was that rumor really about you, Druid?”
“Yeah…I guess it was,” my father replied sheepishly.
Zinal’s party all sighed in exasperation. I started to feel really bad about all the trouble we’d caused them.
“Nobody had ever heard of serpents migrating in a pack like that, so it was a pretty big story even in the royal capital. People thought it might be some sort of omen, so we were sent to investigate. Now, our investigation didn’t uncover a reason behind the migration, but we did find traces of a herd of serpents moving together. But to think…it was just…” Zinal glared at me and my father with a resentful look.
“Yeah…they were just helping us travel,” my father replied awkwardly. “I remember they went back to their home after they sent us on our way.”
“Yeah, exactly. We thought there might be some significance behind that, so we spent quite a long time looking into it but came up empty-handed. The investigation is technically still ongoing.”
Yikes… They weren’t allowed to quit?
“Oh! Wouldn’t it be funny if an adventurer spotted us now, but since there’s only three Snakeys this time, they’d call for another investigation to see if the events were connected?”
The faces of Zinal’s party tensed at my remark.
Oops! That might actually happen. I’ve been searching for auras as we go, and I haven’t sensed any human presences at least…I hope. But I was careful last time and we still got spotted, so I can’t be too sure.
“Well, if there’s another investigation, it’ll just end with no answers… Wait a minute.”
Fische dazedly eyed me and the bag hanging off my shoulder. Then he looked at Ciel, who was merrily running alongside my Snakey.
What is it?
I looked at Fische, feeling a little anxious about his behavior.
“There’s another rumor… One that people in the royal capital are treating with caution.” Fische looked at my father, who craned his neck in confusion. “The rumor says there’s a giant monster headed toward the royal capital. We didn’t look into it, but the veteran adventurers who did said that there was definitely a migration headed toward the capital from deep in the forest, in a location they couldn’t investigate.”
Ummm, lemme see… So whenever we traveled through the forest, we had Ciel as our guide, and most of the time, we were deep in the forest. And Ciel always sent out magic energy like a beacon to keep other monsters from attacking us.
My father cupped a hand to his mouth, his shoulders shaking. “Yeah, that must have been us. Sorry—pfft ha ha ha!”
“I’ll have you know, the adventurers who looked into that rumor are our trainees,” Zinal said.
This only made my father’s shoulders shake harder. Even I laughed a little. I felt so bad.
Then the Snakeys suddenly began to move strangely—all three of them at once. Zinal’s party cautiously checked our surroundings, but they found nothing.
“What was that?” Garitt asked, patting his Snakey’s head.
“Maybe they were laughing,” I suggested.
The Snakeys moved strangely again.
Huh? Were they really laughing?
“Sounds like the Snakeys thought your story was funny, too,” my father said.
The Snakey we were riding turned its head to look at us. This didn’t slow it down at all, which was just as unsettling as it had been when it happened the last time we traveled by Snakey-back. Our Snakey looked right and left at Zinal’s party members and moved its mouth sharply.
“The serpent laughed at us.”
There was an indescribable look on Garitt’s face. The three serpents started swaying again, probably in laughter.
“Looks like serpents are much more intelligent than we thought,” Zinal said, looking at the trio in awe.
Indeed, the serpents did seem to understand human speech far more fluently than any of the research implied. They even answered us.
“They sure are cute, aren’t they?” I said.
Zinal’s party frowned in reply. Why didn’t anybody agree with that thought of mine? Come on, they’re so cute!
“Yeah. I was scared of them at first, but they really are cute.”
“I know, right?!”
Thank you, Marya! Now Dad’s sure to understand that my opinion isn’t unique.
“I still don’t get it.” My father shook his head.
What’s there not to get?
“Is that a shortcut?” he asked.
The serpents slowed down a little in response, and Zinal stared intently in the direction my father was pointing.
“Looks like it. Think we can go a little slower?”
The Snakeys quickly reduced their speed in reply.
“Thanks. Where do you think we are right now?” I asked.
Garitt shook his head. “We were moving so fast my skill was of no use whatsoever.”
When Garitt let out a cynical chuckle, Ciel softly approached him. The creature seemed to be worried about him.
“Huh? Oh, I’m okay now. I just learned that there’s always a bigger fish. I’ll have to train myself harder.”
So Garitt was a hard worker.
“I think that rocky mountain means…we’ll be in Hataha Village soon.” Fische pointed at a large cluster of rocky boulders in the distance. They were colored blue.
“Wow, I’ve never seen boulders that color before.”
Our Snakeys approached the rocky cluster for us. Even up close, the color was very mystical.
“Apparently, this is the only area where boulders are this color,” my father explained from behind.
“Oh, wow. They’re blue just like Sora, aren’t they?”
“I think Sora’s blue is a lot prettier, though.”
My father’s words brought a smile to my lips. He was right. Sora was very pretty.
Chapter 495: The Bounty Hunters Seem Pesky
Chapter 495:
The Bounty Hunters Seem Pesky
“WOW, I STILL CAN’T get over how fast we’ve made it to Hataha Village,” Garitt said in awe as he beheld the blue boulders. He had predicted we would need eight days to reach Hataha from the cave, yet it had only taken us about eight hours.
“Probably because we cut through the cave,” Fische said, climbing down from Snakey and giving its head a pat. Snakey nuzzled its face against him in turn. The men of Zephyr had looked incredibly nervous riding the serpents at first, but now they seemed just fine.
“Marya, can I take your hand?”
I looked over at Zinal to see him helping Marya off their Snakey.
“Thank you very much.” Marya wobbled a bit as she stood on her feet, but she looked much healthier than before. Those two days’ rest had probably done her a lot of good, and her complexion had improved, too.
My father got off our serpent and whisked me off its back. Silly Dad, I could have climbed down by myself.
“Thanks.”
“Sorry…you could have gotten off yourself, huh?”
“Hee hee! It’s okay; it’s fun being carried.”
It was also fun sliding off Snakey’s back, though. But I had gotten my fill of Snakey-slides back in the cave, so I was satisfied.
I slowly petted Snakey’s nose. The way it closed its eyes dreamily in reply was so cute.
“I hope we see you again. Next time we pass through here, we’ll come look for you,” I promised.
We would need to rely on Ciel a lot, but I would ask anyway. We watched as the serpents slowly slithered back into the forest, and we waved goodbye when they turned back to look at us. They were just so adorable.
“Wow… That was quite the experience,” Zinal said.
Fische nodded. “Yeah, that was a much more comfortable ride than I could have ever imagined.”
Indeed, the ride was very smooth without any shaking. It felt like you were floating, and it was quite exciting.
“Aha! I know where we are now.”
Garitt spread out his map and showed us the blue rocky mountains on it. According to the map, Hataha Village was only a short walk away.
“We probably shouldn’t all walk into the village as a group. What do you want to do?” Zinal asked.
I was confused. “Why shouldn’t we all go in together?”
I had thought we were going to Hataha Village to gather information and buy Marya some things she needed.
“The bounty hunters might be lurking there in wait,” Fische said.
I was confused again. The bounty hunters?
“Marya, you ran away without preparing for a journey, didn’t you?” Zinal asked.
Marya nodded.
“The corrupt noblemen probably heard about that, so your bounty hunters will probably come to Hataha Village first to look for you—for your dead body, that is.”
Marya stumbled a little when Zinal said “dead body,” but he had a point. Marya had been imprisoned her entire life and knew nothing about the forest. It was only natural that they’d assume she was dead by now.
“But when they don’t find your body or any traces that you’ve died, they’ll probably assume you had some help,” Fische said.
I nodded in understanding. Bith had helped her escape the church in the first place, so it was only natural for the bounty hunters to conclude that she had other helpers and decide to lie in wait outside of the forest.
“The bounty hunters will check the records to see if anyone left the village right before or after Marya escaped,” Fische added.
To see who her accomplices are, I assume. Wait, does that mean they’ll look into me or my father?
“But Marya had no accomplices. Even if they find potential suspects, an investigation should reveal no connection. So the next possibility the bounty hunters would consider is that some adventurers happened upon her and took her into their care,” Zinal explained.
Marya looked at me and my father. This time, the bounty hunters would be right. It was sobering to realize they would eventually come to that conclusion. We would need to be very careful from now on.
“Now, when you put yourself in the shoes of her guardians, Marya is a liability. She isn’t equipped to cross a forest,” Zinal said.
Marya looked down at herself in confusion.
“The simple act of walking slowly through the forest will signal to monsters that you’re easy prey,” my father explained.
Marya looked terrified. Zinal’s party nodded.
“One reason you can’t walk very far right now, Marya, is because you’re tired,” Zinal said. “But you also don’t have the right shoes for it. Are those the shoes you had on when you ran away?”
Marya nodded. The soles of her shoes were dreadfully thin. They did little to protect her feet from the bumps in the forest, which made them get sore and tire easily.
“Obviously, her guardians would at least want to buy her some shoes to make their journey safer. The bounty hunters would have thought of this and come to the next village over from Hataru. Mark my words, there are bounty hunters lurking in both Hataha and Hataka Village.”
Does that mean we shouldn’t buy Marya travel gear in Hataha Village after all? Zinal’s right. I really wish we could at least get her some better hiking shoes, but the bounty hunters will definitely be staking out the shoe stores.
“What were you planning on doing, Druid?” Zinal asked.
“I was going to go to the village by myself if I needed to. I was thinking I’d look for potential bounty hunters first, then take it from there.”
So he had considered the risks.
“But there’s a problem with that plan—there’s no way I can bring Marya into town with me, but I can’t leave her alone in the forest, either.”
Well yeah, if we left Marya alone in the forest, we might as well invite all the monsters to come attack her. Bith had given her a large supply of monster repellent when he helped her escape Hataru, but she’d used most of it up by the time we found her. On top of that, there was a monster in Hataru village that wasn’t affected by the monster repellent.
“We’ll stay in the forest so Marya won’t have to be alone,” Zinal said. “Unlike you, we won’t draw attention to ourselves. The bounty hunters absolutely know your names and descriptions, Druid.”
That made sense. We had left the village right after Marya escaped.
“That’s a good idea. Are you sure you can do that for us?” my father asked.
Zinal’s men nodded. “Of course.”
Oh dear, now we’ve put a huge problem on their plate.
Zinal said, “Now, here’s the plan for the moment: We’ll go into the village to hear rumors and get any intel from adventurers that we can. If we tavern-hop, we can probably pick up some rumors about the royal capital while we’re at it. This will all depend on how lucky we are, of course.”
Fische looked a bit happy to hear this, probably because it meant he would get some drinks. Garitt seemed annoyed, though.
“We’ll pop back into the forest tomorrow to check in. We should probably set up somewhere to meet. Garitt, know any good spots?” Zinal asked.
Garitt spread out the map and pointed to a spot. “This cave isn’t at all popular because it only contains low-level magic stones. How about here?”
I looked at the map and saw a cave not too far from the village. If people rarely went there, it would be nicely discreet.
“Sounds fine to me,” my father said. I agreed.
“Then it’s decided. Let’s go to Hataha right now,” Zinal said.
Garitt quickly stopped him. “If we don’t know where Druid and his people are, we can’t save them if something happens. Where do you think you’ll all be today?”
My father looked at the map and frowned. “Sorry, but it’s hard to tell just from this map.”
You and me both. We should ask Sora.
“Hey, Dad, want me to ask Sora to find a place?”
Sora could take us to a perfect place that would meet our current needs.
“Good idea. Let’s check with Sora.”
Chapter 496: I Didn’t Notice
Chapter 496:
I Didn’t Notice
“WHAT’S ALL THIS ABOUT?” Zinal interrupted our conversation in confusion.
I opened the bag hanging off my shoulder and met Sora’s gaze. Apparently, the slime had been listening in on our conversation.
“Sora is good at finding caves and little nooks to hide in. This little slime can pick out someplace where nobody will spot us.” My father watched Sora jump out of the bag. “Sora, sorry to ask, but can you help us?”
“Pu! Pu, puuu,” Sora chirped happily in reply. From its good mood, I could tell it had a great place in mind.
“Can you find me, Dad, and Cuzzie a good place to hide?”
I knew the slime had been listening to our conversation the whole time, but I still wanted to look it in the eye and ask properly.
“Pu! Pu, puuu,” Sora answered happily again, looking at our surroundings. Then it quickly started moving.
“Let’s go. You all coming, too, Zinal?” my father asked.
For some reason, Zinal sighed. “Sora…uh, never mind. Ivy did tame you, after all. Yeah. So of course you can do something like that.”
Zinal looked at Sora, then at me. What was he talking about? Should I take it as a compliment?
“Yeah, Sora definitely isn’t your average slime,” Garitt said.
My father and I exchanged sheepish grins. We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.
“Pu! Puuu.”
We turned to look at Sora to find it was bouncing around on a spot. Had Sora already found us a place? That was quick.
“Sora, did you find a place?”
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
It was a giant boulder covered in a tangle of vines. A closer look showed the boulder was hollow, but the vines were covering it completely, so there was no way inside.
“Guess we’ll have to cut the vines.” My father took out a knife and started slicing. As the vines fell to the ground in pieces, a spacious interior was revealed.
“Wow, that’s really something. I’m gonna have a look inside.”
Zinal excitedly crawled into the cave. After a while, he emerged and announced there was nothing wrong with it.
“Garitt, could you find this place again?” Zinal asked.
Garitt nodded. “Not a problem. I grasped it just fine.”
“Okay. Well then, we’re gonna go have some fun in Hataha now.”
Have some fun? Does he mean drinking? I’m still worried about the looks on their faces. It’s like…they’re scheming something… They are only going there to listen for rumors, aren’t they?
“We’ll be back!” Zinal sang, waving to us.
I caught myself waving back.
“What’s up?” my father asked, looking curiously at my expression.
Was I really showing my emotions that obviously?
“The looks on their faces just worried me a little…”
My father nodded in agreement. So we were on the same page.
“They’re probably going to pull some shenanigans to get intel on the royal capital.”
He said they would get that kind of intel if they were lucky, didn’t he?
“Ivy, haven’t you noticed it, too?”
“You mean that Zinal’s party aren’t your average adventurers?”
My father nodded silently in reply. That meant they were more than mere investigators. I stared at my father, and he shrugged his shoulders. I assumed that meant I shouldn’t think too much about it.
“Okay, let’s get camp ready for the night.”
We entered the little cave with Marya, who had been giving us confused looks. The cave was spacious enough for Ciel to sleep with us in adandara form.
“Let’s make our beds first,” my father said.
I took everything we’d need out of our magic bags. Even though Marya had needed help at the start of our journey, she was making her own bed this time. She still lacked strength, but she had gotten accustomed to life on the road with us.
“There! Now let’s make dinner.”
I started a fire for cooking and looked for kindling around the boulder, but there wasn’t much to work with.
“Marya, you stay there with Ciel. We’re going to get some kindling,” my father said.
Marya nodded at her post by the fire. “Okay. I’ll make sure the fire doesn’t go out.”
“We’ll pick up the fuel as quickly as we can,” I promised. “Ciel, take good care of her. Sora, what do the rest of you want to do?”
Mrrrow.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Te! Ryuuu.”
“Pefu!”
That’s a yes from Ciel. And as for Sora and Flame…they want to come with us? Oh, and Sol will take care of the fire. Funny, I didn’t think it was that cold today.
“We’ll be back soon, Marya,” my father said. “We won’t go far, so yell for us if anything happens. Well…Ciel should be able to take care of you anyway.”
Mrrrow.
Ciel’s tail happily wagged in reply. I gave its head a pat and got back a melody of purrs.
“Bye for now.” I waved to Marya and Ciel and went to look for kindling.
“The sticks around here look quite dry, so they should work,” my father said.
I nodded and started putting the sticks away in a magic bag. We didn’t know how long we would call that little cave home, but we would be there for at least another day, so we needed to pick up enough firewood for that.
“Ivy…Zinal and his party told you about me, didn’t they?”
Told me what about him?
“Yes, they told me what you used to be like.”
“…Ah.”
Huh? Why does my father sound nervous?
I glanced at him and saw his face was a mixture of emotions.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“What did you think?”
Does he mean…what did I think about the old him?
“I didn’t really think anything.”
“What?! I mean, didn’t you think I was evil or something…?”
Evil? That’s right, I remember them saying something about him being called coldhearted since he made the call to sentence his comrades to death without thinking twice.
“No, I didn’t think that. I know adventurers sometimes have to make ruthless decisions as part of their job. And I trust that any decisions you made back then were for the greater good.”
He might have sentenced his friends to their deaths, but I believed it was a decision made to save as many lives as he could. Either that or there were other circumstances at play. I mean, just think about the mentor he had watching over him. Master Monz would never have let my father do anything wrong.
“But that might not be true… If I’d thought about it harder, I could have found a better way.”
My father’s face was filled with regret. If he said there was a better option, there probably was. But whether it would have succeeded, nobody would ever know.
“That may be true…but if you’d gone with a different plan, that could’ve failed, for all you know.”
“Well…yeah, I guess that is possible…”
There, so you didn’t make the wrong call after all!
“And I doubt your master would have stayed quiet if you’d sent someone to their death for no reason.”
Gotos, too, for that matter.
“You’re right… Whenever I was about to do something stupid, my master was always around for some reason. Then he’d complain to me and tease me mercilessly—which royally pissed me off—then I’d take it out on him…”
That sounded like him. He probably acted as a lightning rod for my father’s anger on purpose, so he’d have somewhere to channel it. And I have a feeling that after Gotos became guild master, he made my father do all the jobs where it was okay for him to let out his anger.
“That reminds me, I heard adventurers you trained talking about how your decisions saved a lot of lives. I think they all understand.”
When I first met my father, there were three young adventurers who worried about him with all their hearts. They said they met him when they were just starting out and he beat the basics into them. I remembered how happy they were when they talked about how my father’s lessons had saved their lives time and time again. From the way they talked, I knew my father was an incredible adventurer. I knew that so many people were still alive because of him.
“Those adventurers… They just indulged me in my stupid attempt at redemption.”
Redemption? I looked at my father.
“They reminded me of the ones I couldn’t save. My relationship with them was self-serving.”
I never met the ones my father couldn’t save, but it was clear looking at him now just how many tears he shed over them.
“Maybe it started out that way…but you didn’t want them to die. Isn’t that why you beat the basics into them?”
“Guess so… Those kids were a chaotic mess, so I thoroughly pounded the basics my master taught me into them.”
“It may have started as a self-serving redemption for you, Dad, but you ended up saving their lives.”
There was a mysterious look of relief on my father’s face when I said that. What had he been so worried about all this time?
“Did you not want me to know about your past?”
No matter what stories I heard about him, I would always see him as a kindhearted person. That would never change.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to test you…”
I sort of got that impression along the way… I hadn’t noticed before, but maybe he’d been holding in a lot of fear all this time.
“To me, Dad, you’ll always be a kindhearted hero.”
“I’m a hero, eh? I dunno; I think you’ve seen me in some pretty pathetic situations.”
“Oh, no, you’re always heroic. And you’re inept beyond words, too!”
My father looked at me in surprise. That man really needed to stop keeping everything inside.
Chapter 497: My Beloved Father
Chapter 497:
My Beloved Father
HEARING A SIGH from my father, I glanced up from the firewood I was collecting to see him looking glum. The sight made me chuckle a little.
“Why are you so obsessed over it?”
It had happened so long ago.
“Well…probably because I’ve got someone special in my life now.”
I gave my father a questioning look. He was gazing back at me.
“It makes me think that everyone I sent to their deaths was special to someone else… I always knew that, but I didn’t understand it. And when I started thinking that way, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was any way I could have saved them… I used to send people to their deaths without hesitation…and I was terrified what you’d think if you found out.”
Had he thought I would hate him if I learned about his past? But he didn’t have to worry about that at all. For a start, if sending people to their deaths had really been that easy for him, he wouldn’t have agonized over it so much. He’d carried that guilt with him in the recesses of his heart all these years. Meeting me was merely the catalyst that helped draw all those feelings to the surface.
“Besides, I knew the closer we got to the capital, the more likely it was you’d hear about my past. I’ve definitely got a lot of enemies out there. Some of them might say horrible things about you, too, Ivy.”
“Oh… But I don’t care. I’m sure you did what you knew you had to do.”
My father’s master and Gotos said that he was too kind. That was why he voluntarily played the bad guy. I hadn’t asked them for more details, but I vaguely understood what they meant, and that was more than enough for me.
“You really are inept, Dad.”
“Am I?”
He chose to play the bad guy, then beat himself up over it—I call that inept.
“Yup. Inept beyond words.”
I looked at my father and saw he was sulking, which made me laugh. Sora and Flame bounced over to me when they saw how much fun I was having.
“Inept, huh… Well, I really was worried.”
Though he had his regrets, he was probably scared that people who held a grudge against him would say bad things to me.
“You’re my hero, Dad… And, yeah, you can also be pathetic sometimes. You’re really kind, but you can be cold, too… You’re skilled, but also inept at times. I guess that’s how I generally see you. But you know what? You’re still my beloved father, flaws and all.”
My father looked at me in surprise. My first impression of him was that he was a hero. Even after losing an arm, he still had a strong will to live. I admired his strength. Yet I was startled to see how uneasy he acted when it came to his parents or brothers, and whenever I saw him fail, I realized there was more than strength in his pitiful gaze. It was adorable how he desperately tried to hide that weak side of himself…though I would never tell him so. He was such a hero, being able to skillfully carry out any task, even with one arm. But he sometimes worried too much and got inept over the simplest things, like he was doing now. Still, he was my father and I loved him, flaws and all.
“You’re really strong, Ivy.”
“Oh, I’m not strong. But I’d like to live up to the word.”
I trusted in the people I cared for and the people who cared for me. I vowed that I would.
“I see. Thanks.”
I looked at my father, who was smiling gently at me. Yup, he’s definitely my hero.
“Oh! We got kind of sidetracked there. Do you think Marya’s doing okay?” my father asked.
I followed his gaze to where Marya was. We hadn’t stopped picking up firewood while we talked, so we had quite the haul. Considering how much space we had in our magic bags, we ought to have plenty for the day.
“I think we’ve got enough to last through tomorrow.”
“Agreed. From the way Zinal was talking, it sounds like we’ll be here for a few days.”
“Yeah. I can’t wait to see what news they’ll have for us.”
They’d seemed like they had some mischief in mind, but I hoped they wouldn’t go too crazy. I assumed Zinal would keep them in check, though.
We hurried back to Marya to find that the fire had risen quite high.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re back. How did the fire get so big?!” Marya almost burst into tears at the sight of us.
“You put too much oil on it,” I explained. “The wood you’re holding now is oil-infused, and you’re only supposed to add a little.”
“Huh—you mean this?”
I looked at the wood around her. It was supposed to be sorted into two different types, but it was all mixed together.
“Huh? I thought I had that sorted out,” my father said.
“Oh no!” Marya’s face turned red. “I tripped over it and…”
“Are you hurt?” my father asked.
Marya blushed and shook her head. Good thing she’s okay.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t do a very good job, did I?”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
While my father fixed the fire, I took the firewood we’d gathered out of our magic bags. Once everything was out, I flipped the magic bags inside out to clean them.
“What’s next?” my father asked.
“I wanna make dinner—what do we all want? Any requests?”
We still had lots of ingredients, so I could make just about anything. I looked at Marya and noticed that she was a little stressed.
“Um, I’d like that slightly spicy soup…with some ryce, please.”
“Okay. Dad likes that soup, too, so I’ll make it.”
I’ll grill some meat separately for him.
I took out my magic bags containing all the necessary ingredients and equipment. After retrieving a pot, a knife, and whatnot, I started cooking near the fire.
“Would you like some help?” Marya offered.
“Could you rinse the pot and fill it about halfway with water?”
“Okay.”
I had my father grill the seasoned meat, since he was tending to the fire. Meanwhile, I made the spicy soup beside him and steamed some rice. Then I added the rice to the soup and boiled it for a little while, and then it was done.
“The meat’s done, too,” my father said.
“Thanks.”
Marya was taking the slime potions out of the magic bag, but her hand froze in midair. I checked on her and saw that she had come across one of the highly degraded potions of ambiguous color. I was about to ask if she needed some help, but then she put the potion in a row, having apparently figured out its color. When I checked later, all the correct colors were grouped together. I guess she’s gotten better at telling her colors apart?
“What’s up?” my father asked.
“Do you think Marya’s eyes can tell the difference between colors now?”
“Ohh, right. They’ve been getting better little by little, and I’m relieved to see it. I was worried what we’d do if it was an aftereffect of her slave emblem. She’s already carrying enough trauma as it is. I didn’t want her burden to be even worse.”
Aha! So my father did keep quiet for her sake!
“Did you not say anything because you thought it might fix itself?”
“That’s right. I put my faith in that possibility. If her colorblindness was an aftereffect, it probably would have made her blind in the end. But poor Marya had already been through so much, I didn’t have the heart to tell her.”
Blind?! Whoever put that slave emblem on her really was the lowest human being imaginable.
“But now she can see colors better… Do you think she’s in the clear?”
“I asked Zinal, and he said we wouldn’t know for sure without a little more observation.”
“Oh… But I’m sure she’ll be okay.”
At least I hoped she would be. I didn’t want to see her suffer anymore.
Marya finished lining up the potions and came over to us.
“Thanks,” I told her. “Dinner’s ready, so let’s eat.”
“Okay. It smells great.”
I put the rice-filled soup into one bowl for Marya and another for my father.
Come to think of it, what is this soup called? It’s from my past life memories…I think it’s some sort of cuisine…but I can’t remember it.
“Here you go.”
We dug into the spicy soup. It was perfect for cold nights, since it warmed the body.
“Hey, Ivy?”
“Yes?”
“Wanna go to the dump tomorrow?”
We still had plenty of potions thanks to the serpents, but since we couldn’t be sure what lay ahead for us in the immediate future, we did need to be prepared to drop everything and travel at a moment’s notice.
“Sure. I guess we should get some extra potions and other necessities.”
“Yeah. I don’t think Zinal and his party will fail us, but you never know.”
“Got it.”
So, we’re going to the dump tomorrow, then we’re meeting Zinal’s party in the cave after lunch… Ugh, I could really go for a bath right now.
Chapter 498: Leisurely Trash-Collecting
Chapter 498:
Leisurely Trash-Collecting
“IVY, MARYA, can you look for potions? I’ll see if I can find any magic items.”
“Okay,” I said.
Marya took a little breath in and out before nodding.
The dump was on the other side of the village from the small cave where we were staying. We walked there slowly after breakfast, but Marya found it to be quite a workout.
“I still have so far to go. When do you think I’ll be as strong as you, Ivy?” she asked with another sigh. She seemed self-conscious about her lack of strength, but that wasn’t something stress and worry could cure.
“Don’t compare yourself to me. I’ve been playing around in forests since I was five. It’s okay, just take it slow and let yourself get stronger naturally.”
Except I hadn’t been “playing around” in forests…more like crawling on my hands and knees to survive.
“Okay.”
“Besides, you’re definitely stronger than you were a week ago.”
Considering her walking speed and the length of time she needed between breaks, she was clearly much stronger than when we first found her.
“You mean it?”
Was it really that hard for her to see?
“Yeah, I mean it. So don’t worry.”
As Marya smiled with joy, we looked for potions together. This village dump was well maintained, so it was easy to find things (for a dump, at least).
“Blue, red, and purple…”
We looked for other items we needed among the discarded potions and empty bottles. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Flame and Sora bouncing up a storm. A closer look revealed they were having a potion-eating contest. Judging by the rate they were going, they wouldn’t need dinner later. A visit to the dump really was like an all-you-can-eat buffet to those little guys.
Wait, huh?
“Hey! Flame! No magic stone—”
Pong!
A moment too late… And I thought Flame would be happy just eating potions.
“Flame…”
Don’t look at me with such big, hopeful eyes. Now I can’t tell you to stop.
“Um…only three magic stones, okay? And I’d love it if they were lower-level ones.”
Ooh, it’s leaning to the side and making the cutest face…! Oh dear. Whenever Flame looks at me like this, I get tempted to allow more.
“Teryu?”
“Okay, five stones.”
Ack, I said it!
I heard my father burst out laughing behind me.
Well, when Flame looks at me with those sweet eyes, I just have to give in…but I resisted for a good minute there, okay? But when it said “Teryu?” all teary-eyed like “Can I please?” I just…
“Ivy, you’re really weak when it comes to Flame and Sora’s cuteness.”
“So are you, Dad.”
My father laughed and nodded. We were both familiar with their charms, but we couldn’t resist them. The way they leaned to the side like…plonk…was just lethal.
“No more potions, okay? We’re already up to our ears in them,” my father said.
Sora pouted a little, but it bounced back quickly.
Maybe we should have shown Sora and Flame the stash of potions in our magic box. We should also let them see how many magic stones we have. Maybe then they won’t be so eager to make more.
“Okay, wanna gather some rope, too?” my father suggested.
“Sure. It’s no fun just sitting here anyway. Should we make and set some traps while we’re at it?”
“Okay. I’ll get some rope and baskets…”
“Hey, Dad, what can we hunt around here?”
“Fows, just like in Hataru Village. There’s also a monster here called garga. And if we’re using traps, our easiest catch will be lappos.”
Gargas and lappos… I’ve read about gargas in books. If I recall correctly, they’re about two meters long, with two legs as well as wings that they use to fly. They attack you with horns on their heads. I seem to remember their temperament being described as chaotic, too.
“We should be careful around gargas, right?” I asked.
My father looked up from a magic item he had just collected and nodded. “The main thing about them is that they’re fast. And while you do need to be careful of the horns on their heads, don’t get too distracted or they’ll whack you with their tails. They’re kind of annoying.”
I hadn’t realized such dangerous monsters were in this forest. I searched the area for auras, but I didn’t sense any belonging to monsters. Maybe they didn’t come around this dump.
Lappos have horns on their heads and are about twice the size of wild rabbits, if I remember right. We need big, sturdy baskets to trap them.
“I guess we’ll need to gather extra baskets if we expect to have enough,” I said.
“Right. Well, I think we can make plenty of traps. A lot of baskets were thrown away here.”
I looked where my father was pointing and saw that there was indeed a large pile of tossed-out broken baskets. Those would make fine traps.
“Breh-fu!”
I curiously looked toward the noise to see that Sol had gotten bigger. The little slime had done nothing but eat magic items ever since we got to the dump. I was a little worried about the amount Sol was eating, but it didn’t seem to be too much.
“Sol, are you okay? I hope you’re not too full.”
“Pefu!” Sol said indignantly.
Then it bounced toward me…and didn’t get very far. It floated a little in the air, then immediately crashed. Did you really eat so much that you can’t even jump anymore?
“…Pefu!”
Perhaps startled by the fact that it couldn’t jump, Sol froze up and glanced at me.
“You’ll be okay after you sleep it off. Just relax here until we’re done with our work, okay?”
Sol jiggled in reply. I’d never thought the little slime would get so stuffed it couldn’t move.
We packed our magic bags full of potions, magic items, rope, and baskets. Every single magic bag we owned was now full.
“Should we head for the cave to meet Zephyr?” my father suggested.
“Sure. Can we have lunch after we get there?”
“All right.”
My father and I split up the magic bags between us, and Marya thanked us quietly. She seemed bothered that she wasn’t carrying anything.
“Here!” my father tossed the smallest bag at her.
“Oh! Thanks.”
As she happily took the bag, I smiled at her. I looked at Sol to see the after-lunch nap had done the slime good and it was now bouncing around as usual. We all left the dump together and went to the spot where Ciel was babysitting Toron.
Mrrrow.
Toron was still asleep. As I lifted its basket over my shoulder and set out for the cave, I wondered if our friends had gathered any good information.
Just when Marya was running out of breath, we arrived at the cave. It really must have been scarcely used, since I didn’t sense a single human presence within a large radius of it.
“Let’s wait for them while we eat.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
I took a mat out of a magic bag along with some onigiri and sandwiches, as well as the rest of the soup I’d made that morning.
Just as we sat down to eat—
“Gyah!”
“Oh, Toron, you’re awake!”
Toron was peeking out from the basket. When our eyes met, its little leaves shook.
“Would you like some lunch, too, Toron?”
“Gyah! Gyah!”
I took a freshly gathered purple potion out of the magic bag and poured it into Toron’s cup. Meanwhile, my father took Toron out of the basket, so I set the cup in front of me. Toron ambled into it, sank into the potion, and happily closed its eyes.
“Always a funny sight,” my father said.
Marya laughed. I had to admit it was funny—a little tree monster smiling cozily in a cup.
A while after we started eating lunch, I felt some faint presences approaching us. When I searched for the auras, they picked up on mine. Stealthily searching for Zephyr’s auras sure was challenging.
“Zinal’s party is back,” I announced.
“Good.”
We quickly finished our lunch and put the dishes away. Then I stirred up the fire and boiled enough water to make tea for everyone. By the time the water was boiling, Zinal’s party had returned. Aside from Fische, who looked exhausted, everything seemed normal.
Chapter 499: Too Many!
Chapter 499:
Too Many!
“HELLO, MR. FISCHE. How did everything go?” I asked.
Fische smiled sheepishly in reply. Had something happened in the village?
“What happened?” my father asked Zinal.
“The nobility sent out more bounty hunters than we expected. Yesterday alone, we managed to confirm eighteen.”
Eighteen?! That many? From the shocked look on his face, I could tell my father also thought it was an extreme number.
“There were three other suspicious guys besides the eighteen—we’ll need to look into them more,” Zinal said.
“You managed to learn that much in just one day? I’m impressed,” my father said.
It was clear more than ever now that Zinal’s party was anything but ordinary. Thank goodness they weren’t the bounty hunters who were after us.
“Now, about the nobles from the capital…” Zinal began.
“Ah, did you learn something?” my father asked.
Zinal lowered his tone a little. “We know a guy on the inside, so we asked him to help.”
Why did he lower his voice just now?
“Asked him to help, eh? More like threatened,” Garitt said.
I looked at Zinal in surprise, but he was calmly sipping tea.
So which was it, a request or a threat? Either way…
“Please, don’t get too carried away,” I said.
I would feel terrible if Zinal and his party had their reputation ruined because of us.
“Nah, it’s fine. This is all normal for us,” Garitt laughed.
Er…threats are normal for them? I’m not sure how I feel about that.
“Hey, man, don’t put it that way. You make me sound like I’m always threatening people,” Zinal grumbled to Garitt.
“I’m not wrong, am I?”
“I’m just having him help us, that’s all.”
Garitt side-eyed him. “And if he doesn’t help us, there’s no telling what might happen to him—y’know, that kind of implication?”
“I didn’t threaten him. I just…talked a little about his potential future, that’s all.”
Um, isn’t that absolutely a threat?
“I mean, it’s his fault for choosing to get his hands dirty in the first place,” Zinal said condescendingly.
“Well, I won’t argue with that. We did warn him.”
Oh, they warned him? Well, that was nice of them.
“Yeah, and he could’ve backed out then and there, but he didn’t—so now he’s helping us.”
Hmmm…maybe because he had no choice but to help? Wait a minute, are these guys a bad influence?
“Well, thanks to him, our job’s sure a lot easier,” Zinal said, and Garitt nodded.
Well…if it’s making their job easier, then I guess I don’t care. But should I have even been listening to this conversation?
“Now you’ve thrown us off topic, Garitt,” Zinal complained. “What were we talking about again—oh, right, the nobles in the capital. Anyway, it’ll take a couple days. We’ll have to wait on the outskirts of Hataha Village until then.”
My father nodded.
“So what’s the plan right now?” Zinal looked at Marya.
“Marya can’t go in the village,” my father said. “And it’s probably too dangerous for her to keep traveling as well.”
I looked at him in confusion. I could understand not entering the village, but why was traveling dangerous?
“Yeah, there’s just no way you can hide her from that many bounty hunters,” Garitt said.
Zinal sighed deeply. Eighteen plus three. It would indeed be quite tough to hide her from that many people.
“The more time goes by, the more intel the bounty hunters will share with each other—then they’ll be even peskier,” Fische grumbled. Zinal and Garitt frowned and nodded. “Maybe you should make it look like she’s on the run while she takes on a fake identity in some other village.”
“A fake identity?” I asked.
Fische nodded. “That’s right. A total nobody.”
Since I had Captain Oght as my guarantor, it was easy for me to hide, but would it be that simple for Marya?
“But that’s not easy for an adult to pull off,” my father argued. “With kids, it’s easy enough to finagle them a fake ID through a guarantor.”
I was tempted to speak out in agreement. After all, that’s what happened with me.
“Ivy? What is it?”
“Nothing. So is it really that hard for adults?”
“Yeah.” My father nodded.
Is that so… Too bad; that would’ve been a good solution for Marya’s immediate future.
“Don’t worry, I’ve called in a favor,” Zinal said.
I looked at him in wonder. It was crazy just how many useful people this guy knew.
“That’s some network you’ve got there,” my father remarked. “Still, whatever we do, I’d like to get Marya’s input if possible.”
Zinal’s party nodded in agreement. I was relieved to hear they would listen to what Marya’s opinions on the matter.
“Marya, you heard all of that, right?”
“Yes, I’m sorry. I’m causing you all so much trouble…” Marya nervously bowed her head to the men.
Garitt rested a gentle hand on the top of her head. “Don’t worry about it, kid. This kind of thing is just another Tuesday for us.”
I wasn’t sure how to feel about that…
“He’s right,” Fische said, giving Marya’s shoulder a gentle pat. “And since it’s you we’re helping, Marya, it doesn’t bother us one bit.”
“…Thank you.”
They all spoke so gently to Marya. The things they said were a little unsettling, but at least they could be trusted.
Zinal looked at Marya. “You don’t have to decide now, but when you leave this village, I want it to be your choice whether you keep traveling or settle down somewhere under a fake identity. I guess I can see why you’d be reluctant to become a different person, but it’s your best chance at a peaceful life. I want you to think about your future. Ohh, and taking on a fake identity and living on the road is another possibility!”
Marya answered with a bewildered nod. I agreed that assuming a fake identity was a good idea, since her name had to be well known among the nobility by this point.
“Now then, let’s explore this cave a little,” Zinal suggested.
Garitt got a sour look on his face. “What for? I hope you don’t mean to collect magic stones?”
“If we return empty-handed, we’ll draw attention to ourselves,” Zinal shrugged his shoulders.
“Uh, I think us looking for magic stones in this cave would get the most attention. People’ll wonder why we went in such a low-level cave.”
He had a point. That would raise a few eyebrows.
“You know, you’re right,” Zinal said. “Why don’t we flash some of the magic stones we got from the serpents?”
“Then we’d really stand out!” Fische sighed.
“No, that might actually work,” Garitt said, flashing a mischievous grin. I knew he was on our side, but by no stretch of the imagination did he look like a good guy.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
Sora suddenly cried out, a bit louder than usual. We turned toward the voice and saw the slimes bouncing around in the distance.
“They’re calling for us,” my father said.
With a nod, we went over to them. Zinal’s party followed behind curiously.
“What’s up?” I asked.
Sora, Flame, and Sol bounced around in reply.
Uh…sorry, but I don’t understand. Try as I might, I couldn’t decipher it.
“Puuu.”
After we stared blankly for a few seconds, the slimes began to move.
“Did that mean follow us?”
“Probably.”
We ambled behind them with Sora in the lead. The slimes turned to check on us along the way, as if they were making sure we were still there.
“Is this the place?”
We stopped after a short walk. I looked around but saw nothing except trees and a big boulder, the sort of scenery common on the outskirts of Hataha Village. Why had they brought us here?
“Huh? Look, it’s Ciel,” my father said.
I looked over to see Ciel on top of the boulder. When we got closer, Sora quickly bounced in front of us.
“What’s wrong?”
“Puuu!”
For some reason, Sora was angry. I shifted my gaze away to see what it was, and…huh?
I looked at the ground-facing side of the boulder behind the slimes. Something about it was off. There were vines around it similar to the ones around the boulder we’d turned into our campsite.
“Hey, Dad, under that boulder…”
Is that an opening? What could it be?
My father and Zinal’s party began to check out the space beneath the boulder.
“You kids are amazing,” Zinal told the slimes in awe, about two minutes after they’d finished their investigation.
“What did you find?” I asked.
“There’s an underground cave beneath this boulder.”
An underground cave?
Chapter 500: The Underground Cave of Dreams
Chapter 500:
The Underground Cave of Dreams
“AN UNDERGROUND CAVE? Wow, Sora, great work,” my father said.
Sora happily jiggled in reply, and Garitt and Fische praised and petted the slime in turn.
“Pu! Puuu!”
I approached the boulder and peered inside. I looked down but couldn’t see a bottom, so I assumed it was quite deep.
“Watch out! Don’t fall in,” Zinal cried, gently yanking my arm. I had been leaning dangerously close.
“Thank you, sir.”
Yeah, good call. I might have fallen right in.
“It does look quite deep, doesn’t it?” I remarked.
“It is deep. I ran a quick estimate, and it has to be at least eight meters down. Underground caves are really fun places.”
They’re fun? I craned my neck at Zinal’s choice of words. “Scary” was the only word that seemed right to me.
“Aren’t there any monsters inside?” I asked.
“Oh, there are. Underground caves have their own unique monsters. They’re sure to gift us some unusual magic items.”
I guess he means they’ll “gift” the items to us if we defeat them, right? Please don’t tell me he meant that monsters will bring us magic items in boxes with bows…
“Zinal, don’t fill her head with lies. Ivy, monsters never gift items willingly, got that?” my father said.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Huh? Wait—Ivy, did you take what I said literally?” Zinal asked in surprise.
“Sorry, Ivy and I say that monsters drop items, not gift them.”
It must have been a manner of speech unique to adventurers.
“Zinal, are we going down there?”
“Of course,” Zinal answered Garitt merrily. He really did appear so excited that he was almost dancing.
Fische looked at him and smiled sheepishly. “You really love caves, don’t you, Zinal?”
Zinal smiled and nodded. “Okay then, let’s go back to the village.”
What?
“Underground caves aren’t quite like the others. You need special equipment if you want to stay alive.”
Now that makes sense.
Zinal and his men got ready to leave.
“Why don’t we scatter some breadcrumbs as we go?” Zinal asked, a smile of a different flavor on his face.
“Breadcrumbs?” Marya looked a bit taken aback by Zinal’s smile, and I didn’t blame her. He was clearly up to something.
“The eighteen bounty hunters plus the three uncertain ones are all registered in the village as adventurers. Now, just based off our investigations yesterday, they are all quite formidable.”
How did they know how they were registered in the village? That’s not information just anyone can get, is it?
“Whether they’re after Marya or here for some other task, they’ll definitely be interested in news about an underground cave if they’re adventurers.”
Oh, so they’re planning to lure the bounty hunters with the cave.
“Now, how do you think our friends will respond to the bait?”
As Zinal hummed to himself, Marya shrank back a little.
Yeah, I don’t blame you, girl. He’s creeping me out, too.
“What’ll you guys do, Druid?” Fische asked.
Then I realized that the adventurers would be coming here soon. Things were developing so quickly that we were caught flatfooted.
“That’s a good question…” my father mused.
Mrrrow. Ciel nuzzled against him.
“I guess we’ll leave this area and explore the forest a little.” My father patted Ciel’s head and pointed at a thicket of trees. With Ciel by our side, we could go as deep into the forest as we needed and still be safe.
“Oh, about that cave we’ve been sleeping in…do you think it’s still safe?” he asked.
“It should be okay. The trail that goes there is pretty far from this underground cave,” Garitt answered, checking his map. My father leaned in and nodded in understanding as Garitt showed him the places.
“Besides, once the rumors put everyone’s eyes on this underground cave, I doubt anybody will find you. Then again, that depends on how deep this cave goes.”
Will this underground cave really attract that many adventurers? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.
“We’ll meet up again tomorrow… Where would be a good place?” Fische asked.
“Let’s meet at the dump,” my father said.
Fische nodded in agreement. Since it was on the opposite end from the village, it was the ideal place for a meetup.
“Be extra mindful when the sun starts to set.”
I assume they’ll have spread rumors about the underground cave by then.
“Will do. See you tomorrow.”
“Yes, until tomorrow.”
We watched as Zinal’s party headed back to the village.
“Well, since we’ve already had lunch, let’s get moving.”
“Okay.”
We quickly packed up our things and followed Ciel away from the underground cave and into the forest, keeping an eye on Marya’s condition as we went. We had already seen on the map that we were headed into a rocky area.
“Hey, Dad?”
“What’s up?”
The slimes were merrily bouncing around, just as chipper today as the day before.
“Do you really think that many adventurers will come to the underground cave?”
I knew that adventurers tended to show up when a new cave was discovered, but the way Zinal talked about it gave me pause. It sounded like he was implying every single adventurer would be dripping with curious enthusiasm for the underground cave.
“The monsters in underground caves only gift rare magic items,” my father explained. “But on the flipside, a lot of those monsters have pesky characteristics. Still, adventurers will come from far and wide for a chance at those rare magic items.”
Rare magic items, eh?
“Some adventurers have made fortunes from magic items they found in underground caves.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. That’s why they’re so popular. Underground caves let you dream big—bigger than any other kind of cave.”
Fortunes, eh? Yeah, I can see why that would be so appealing.
“That does sound pretty amazing.”
I wonder what kind of magic items monsters gift you? I wasn’t interested before, but now I am.
Mrrrow.
I looked over to see Ciel sitting beneath a large tree while the slimes were lounging nearby. I wonder why they all settled down?
“Yaaay! Break time…”
I heard Marya’s voice behind me and looked to find her nearly falling apart from fatigue.
Oh, drat. I think we made her walk farther than she’s used to.
“You okay?” my father asked.
“Ohh, I’m fine…” She stumbled to the giant tree and flopped to the ground.
“Sorry, we were walking too fast.”
“No, I need to get used to it. Keep going that fast.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
I made some tea and handed Marya a cup, then sipped my own cup of tea as I checked out our surroundings.
“Sorry to get you caught up in my mess…”
As we quietly sipped our tea, a soft apology broke the silence. I looked to my side to see Marya, who had looked fine only a minute ago, sadly sipping from her cup. Was she dwelling on the bounty hunters?
“Don’t worry about it,” my father said.
“But I…” Marya shook her head.
“Marya—when you come to a decision about your future, make the choice for yourself, not us, okay?”
My father’s stern command filled Marya’s face with anguish.
“You still have time, so relax and let the answers come to you. Zinal and his men will probably have some fun with that underground cave for a while, and that’ll buy you some time.”
Have some fun? Yes, they did look excited about it, so they probably will take their time.
Chapter 501: Turns Out, It Was Huge
Chapter 501: Turns Out, It Was Huge
“HEY, DAD, these are medicinal nuts!”
During our break, I looked around the nearby trees and found some green nuts. They weren’t the same medicinal nuts I’d picked up before, but I had seen them in books.
“Ah, so they are. You’ve found quite a rarity there.”
“Medicinal nuts?” Marya asked, taking a green nut and tilting her head in confusion.
“Nuts that can be used for medicine.”
My father gave the most basic explanation possible…but there really wasn’t much else to say about them. Marya nodded in understanding.
“Why don’t we forage some? We can sell them, at least.”
“Sure. Wanna help, Cuzzie?”
“Of course. I’m your girl!”
I think I remember these nuts only work if they’re ripe.
We carefully picked only the ripe nuts as we went. Keeping the underground cave in mind, we widened our search area a little. I could tell the monsters of the forest were watching us from a safe distance, so I knew we ought to stay on guard, too, since they might come closer.
“Good work, everyone,” my father said.
Between the three of us, we gathered a total of forty-six nuts. There were way more growing on the trees, but not too many of them were ripe.
“We actually got a big haul,” he assured us.
“Really?” I asked.
“Yeah. You usually can’t pick large amounts of medicinal nuts in one area.”
Really? I thought back to all the other times I’d foraged medicinal nuts, and I seemed to remember that I’d only picked from one or two trees.
“You know, you’re right. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many medicinal nut trees together at once.”
“That’s right. Maybe the soil around here is perfect for these trees. We should have Zinal sell these nuts in the village for us.”
I know we kind of have no choice since we can’t go into the village, but I feel bad making Zinal’s party do all this work for us. I should cook them a nice feast sometime soon. Oh, the monsters that were watching us seem to be wandering away! Guess they aren’t going to come here after all. Thank goodness.
“Okay, want to head a little deeper in? Ciel, think you all can help us?”
Mrrrow.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
“Pefu!”
“Gyah!”
“Oh, Toron, you’re awake.”
Toron had wanted to walk with us, but since we would lose sight of the little tree among the bigger ones, we had it ride on Ciel’s head instead. Toron looked upset at first, but it had fallen asleep after a while.
“Ciel, how’s the top of your head feeling?” I asked.
Toron was grabbing on to Ciel’s fur with its little roots. I hoped it didn’t hurt.
Mrrrow.
From Ciel’s normal reaction, I assumed it was all right.
“Wait, what’s this hole…?” My father peered into a hole he’d discovered by some tree roots.
I wonder what he found?
“What’s going on?” Marya asked, eyeing the hole worriedly.
“I think it connects to that underground cave. The breeze coming up from this hole has a unique magic energy to it.”
What? It connects to the underground cave? But the other entrance we found was really far away from here. And what did he mean by unique magic energy? Was he talking about that slightly humid magic energy I just felt?
“Does this magic energy feel humid?” I asked.
My father shook his head. “All underground caves have humid magic energy. No, this magic energy has a faint difference to it. Sorry I forgot to explain that earlier.”
I approached the hole and felt the breeze coming from it. Since he said it was a faint difference, it must have been really difficult to detect. I closed my eyes and focused on the magic energy. Huh? I think I’m catching something…
“Ahh, I don’t think I can feel it. I was sure I felt something before, too.”
Just when I thought I was getting a handle on it, I lost my focus.
“It’s a very weak magic energy, so it’s hard to detect,” my father explained.
“But since it’s the same energy you felt from the other cave entrance, you know they’re connected?”
“Yes. That much I’m sure of.”
I thought back to the map. We weren’t sure of the exact distance between the two points, but this underground cave was clearly quite large.
“They might put together a proper scout party to survey this cave,” my father said.
I nodded. I hope Zinal’s party will be okay…
When we arrived at the dump, Zinal’s party was already there waiting for us.
“Good morning. It’s a little hot today, huh?”
We were just about into the thick of summer, the time of year when every day would just get hotter and hotter. It sure was a hassle, getting wet with sweat from all that walking around.
“Good morning. How’d it go?” my father asked.
Garitt showed him one magic stone in reply, a clear one with three red lines in it. It was completely different from any magic stone I’d seen before.
“That’s a rare magic stone. What does it do?” my father asked.
“We’ve no bloody clue. We had somebody take a look at it, and all they said is it’s an Anthrodupe.”
Anthrodupe…oh, as in anthropomorph dupe? A human copy? Wait a minute…is that a word from my past life? And just what is a “human copy”?
“What the heck is that?” my father asked.
The trio shook their heads.
“So that underground cave has magic stones? What about magic items?”
That’s right, they said underground caves had rare magic items. So why’d they find a magic stone?
“Oh, there’s a bunch of magic items, too,” Garitt said. “Including everything I got, we have three magic stones total.”
“There’s the stones…but we also learned something pretty huge,” Zinal said.
My father nodded solemnly, and Zinal gave him a curious look. “You knew?”
“We found a hole under one of the trees deep in the forest yesterday,” he explained. “The magic energy wafting up from it was the same magic in the cave you all went into.”
Marya and I both nodded.
“Deep in the forest? Could you point it out on a map?” Garitt rolled out his map and asked my father to show him. Since we had made a note of the bigger landmarks the day before, my father could indicate where it was on the map. Zinal’s men nodded in approval.
“That cave is pretty big, then,” Fische said excitedly. “It just might be the biggest underground cave there is!”
Garitt sighed. “It’ll be annoying if they send a large-scale scouting party to survey it.”
Fische shrugged his shoulders playfully back at Garitt. I wondered what would be annoying about it. Was Garitt afraid Zephyr would join the scouting party? I guess that would be annoying.
“Even if they make a scouting party, that’ll take so long it won’t mess with our timetable,” Zinal said. “Besides, once the scouting party is announced, a bunch of adventurers will move their asses sooner, trying to get the magic items before they’re gone. And if this cave is as big as we think it is, there are plenty of places to hide. They’ve lapped up enough of the breadcrumbs we’ve left them that they’re sure to go on the move sometime today. Looks like our real work starts now.”
I had no idea what they were talking about. I wasn’t sure if it was something I should know about anyway… But at least one thing was clear: They weren’t too worried about being included in the scouting party.
My father sidled over to me and whispered, “Ivy, do you know what this magic stone does?”
“It’s a human copier.”
Does that really qualify as me “knowing” what the stone does? Copying…as in duplicating something?
“Human copying?” When he heard our conversation, Zinal tilted his head. I realized we probably should include them, since they might know something.
“We’re talking about your magic stone.”
Zinal’s party looked surprised to hear that. Garitt nervously took the stone out of his bag.
“So you know what powers this thing has?”
I shook my head no. I sort of knew, yet I also sort of didn’t.
“Anthro comes from anthropomorph—or humanlike—and dupe means to make a false copy of something.”
The words had gotten a bit jumbled in my head, but I wasn’t wrong… We were okay.
“So, um…if you say so, Ivy, then I have to believe you.”
Whoa, he’s not asking for clarification! Why not?
Zinal smiled sheepishly at the surprise on my face. “If I ask you to tell me more, I’ll probably regret it, so I won’t.”
My father snickered.
Why would he regret it…?
“Anyway, what’s human copying? Copying a human?”
A deep crease formed between Zinal’s brows.
Maybe we’re almost at the answer? Copy…duplicate… Hm! This cup… Now I’m seeing double… What’s going on?
Chapter 502: Two Garitts
Chapter 502:
Two Garitts
“UHHH, SO IN OTHER WORDS, this magic stone might be able to make another one of me—do I have that right?” Zinal asked for clarification.
Everyone else nodded. After discussing what “copying a human” could possibly mean, we’d arrived at what we thought was a possible answer. We knew that a contract could be copied over onto another piece of paper, so we figured this was the same sort of magic…but the word “human” was what confused us all. Which human did it mean? And would this human’s likeness be printed onto a sheet of paper? We’d gotten so lost in possibilities that our brains had turned to mush, but we’d somehow managed to wring a single answer out of it.
“Two Zinals… Just the thought of it gives me chills,” Garitt said. Fische nodded.
Two Zinals?
“I don’t know, I don’t think it would be that bad,” I said.
Garitt and Fische shot horrified looks at me.
“Oh, Ivy. Zinal’s corrupted you. You poor thing.” Garitt pretended to cry. Marya gave an amused giggle, but Zinal had quite the insane look on his face. It was impressive that Garitt and Fische could stare back at it without breaking.
“Will you guys just knock it off already?”
“Ha ha! Anyway, I think we know how this magic stone works now. But how exactly do we go about making a copy?” Fische asked.
Garitt and Zinal looked at each other. You generally used magic stones by imbuing them with your own magic energy, but maybe not this one?
“Maybe it copies whoever imbues it with magic energy? Let’s just trust it’s not dangerous and give it a try.”
Zinal sent his magic energy into the stone and waited a while, but nothing happened.
“Guess we were wrong,” Fische said sadly.
“Uhhh, maybe you, like, pray to it?” my father suggested.
The men made faces.
“You know, will it to make another one of you.”
“Ahhh… Well, let’s give it a try.”
Zinal closed his eyes and muttered a skeptical prayer into the magic stone…and nothing happened.
“Argh, what’re we supposed to do?”
Zinal and my father looked in confusion at the magic stone.
“Maybe you have to visualize someone other than yourself?” Fische suggested.
Zinal sighed. “Someone other than me… Guess I’ll try it.”
He held the stone in both hands and thought hard about something while he sent his magic energy into it.
“What?!”
“Oh my God!”
The magic stone glowed, and Zinal turned into Garitt before our very eyes.
“So that’s what it does?! Wait…that’s me!”
“Wow. I can’t tell the difference.” Looking back and forth between the two Garitts got me a little excited. In our discussions, we’d concluded the magic stone allowed you to create a replica of a person out of nothing, but it turned out the correct answer was it allowed you to become somebody else. I remembered we’d debated between these two possibilities for a while. But still, it was shocking what a perfect replica of Garitt that Zinal was.
“Yeah, even I can’t tell them apart,” Fische said.
The real Garitt nodded, a conflicted look in his eye. “You know, looking at myself like this… It’s really creepy.”
“Zinal, can you say something?” Fische asked.
Zinal nodded. “I can. I don’t really feel that different. I mean, have I actually turned into Garitt?”
Since Zinal couldn’t see himself, he looked confused. My father took a mirror out of his magic bag, and Zinal made a sick face at his own reflection.
“Yeah, the resemblance is uncanny… Sickeningly uncanny.”
Garitt made his own sick face at Zinal’s. They really did look exactly alike.
“But that means this magic stone is dangerous,” Fische said.
Garitt nodded in agreement. “Sure is. Looking this much like someone else, you could go on a crime spree.”
Oh, that’s right! Somebody could use this magic stone to frame somebody else for their own crimes.
“Looks like we’ve got a pesky magic stone on our hands,” Zinal said, scratching his head.
Wait—Zinal?
“Mr. Zinal, you’ve gone back to normal.”
“What?!” everyone gasped.
“She’s right, Zinal, you’re back.” Garitt tilted his head in confusion.
My father looked at the magic stone in Zinal’s hand. “Anything different about the stone?”
Zinal showed the magic stone to everyone. “There used to be three red lines in it…now there’s only two.”
Indeed, there had been three red lines on the stone before, but now there were two. Was there a limit to the number of times it could be used? Did this mean we only had two uses left?
“The replication wears off pretty quickly. I guess you couldn’t do much mischief with this after all… I don’t even know what you’d use it for.”
Fische took the magic stone from Zinal and stared at it. He had a point—what could anyone accomplish in such little time? Even if you pulled it off, the transformation would wear off while you were running away.
“I guess you could shock and distract somebody with it?” Fische suggested.
“Yeah, that’s about it. Well, bad guys would find a way to use it.”
Cunning always does find a way. Well, at least we found out what that magic stone does. And Zinal’s party is going to look into how the other magic stones they found in that cave work.
“We’re going to go in the underground cave after lunch, and you all are safe to go to the village while we’re in there,” Garitt said.
I was confused. Was it really safe for us to go? I thought it was dangerous.
“Yeah, all the bounty hunters in the village are in the underground cave today, so you should be fine going to the village.”
Oh, okay.
I looked at my father, who nodded back at me.
“We’ll go to the village and buy what we need. Shoes and clothes for sure.”
Marya smiled at us a bit uncomfortably.
Ahh… So she still feels guilty.
“Oh, I know! Why don’t we go to the merchant guild, sell the magic stones Cuzzie found, and buy her clothes with the money we get?”
“The magic stones I found?” she asked.
“That’s right. You helped us get them from the cave, remember?”
We’d all picked up several stones in the cave where we found the Snakeys. They were of a much lower level than the ones Snakey gave us, but they would still bring in some money. I showed my father the magic stones and he said they were about Level 7, which was a safe level of stone to sell.
“But you picked up most of those stones, Ivy,” Marya said.
I shook my head. “No, we picked them up together. I’m going to sell mine, too. I want some summer clothes.”
Last year’s summer clothes were too small for me—I must have gone through a growth spurt—so I had to buy summer clothes, even though I wished I didn’t.
“Um, okay then,” Marya agreed.
There. Now we can buy Marya some clothes and shoes.
“Want some new shoes, too, Ivy?”
My father looked excited, but my answer was no! My current ones still had plenty of life in them.
Chapter 503: A Long-Awaited Reunion
Chapter 503:
A Long-Awaited Reunion
IT HAD BEEN QUITE some time since I’d been nervous passing through a village gate. I knew acting suspicious would be a bad thing, but I couldn’t help it.
“Come on, you two, don’t let your nerves get to you,” my father said.
“I’m trying not to…” I looked at Marya, whose face was green.
We can’t both act weird. We’ll stick out like sore thumbs! Okay, I’m gonna force myself to calm down!
I took a deep breath in and out and walked over to the gatekeeper.
“Good afternoon.” My father greeted the gatekeeper with a nod.
“Oh dear, are we feeling under the weather?” the gatekeeper asked as Marya passed by.
Marya trembled.
“A little before we arrived here, we got attacked by a monster, sir,” my father explained. “This is Marya’s first time traveling, so she’s still scared. I keep telling her she’s safe now.”
Flustered, the gatekeeper quickly took two steps back and bowed his head to Marya. I felt bad, realizing he probably thought he had scared her.
“I’m so sorry. This village is perfectly safe, so have yourself a nice rest and recovery.”
This gatekeeper seemed nice. We were quickly waved into the village.
“You poor things. First a monster attack, then your bag was stolen—sit tight, okay? Um, here you go. This is a list of all the affordable shops with high-quality merchandise. Rebuilding your wardrobe from scratch does sound kind of daunting. Hope this helps.”
That was the explanation we came up with for why she didn’t have any belongings, but it made me cringe a little. This gatekeeper was way too gullible.
“Thank you so much, sir,” Marya said with a little smile. The corners of the gatekeeper’s eyes crinkled into a smile. Thank goodness this gatekeeper was on duty when we happened through.
Now that we were safely in the village, our first order of business was selling our magic stones at the merchant guild. We didn’t bother making Marya a card, since we still didn’t know what was next for her.
“It sure is lively in here,” I remarked.
There weren’t many adventurers, but the place was bustling with happy villagers at work.
“They’re all about to make a killing. Of course they’re smiling.”
My father’s words gave me pause. They’re about to make a killing?
“Because the underground cave was found?”
“Exactly. Adventurers from all over the nation will be coming here, so business is going to boom.”
Well, that makes sense. That’s why they’re all so happy. Now that I think of it, there seem to be more merchants renovating their shops here than in other places. Strange, since the cave was only discovered two days ago.
“I’ll go to the merchant guild by myself,” my father told us.
“Huh?”
Um, but I think it should be okay if we come with you.
“One of the employees might be bought and paid for—we never can tell.”
“You think there’s corruption in there?”
“I can’t say for sure that there isn’t. So you and Marya…”
He stopped in a spot where we could see the merchant guild and looked around. Since the adventurer guild was also close by, there were some adventurers around, but not many. Had they all gone off to check out the underground cave?
“Let’s get something to eat before we buy clothes and shoes. Can you wander around and just buy us whatever looks good?” he asked.
“Sure. Got any requests?”
Since it was just a little after noon, some of the food stalls had long lines.
“Meat, I guess.”
Always meat with this guy.
“Sure. Eat your veggies, too, okay?”
My father smiled sheepishly back at me. After we sent him on his way to the merchant guild, Marya and I looked at what the food stalls had to offer. There were a lot of daryu places, but the next most popular item was garga skewers. They came in a variety of flavors, and all of them looked great.
“I’m going to buy us all some garga skewers. Cuzzie, how many do you think you can eat?”
Marya sized up the garga skewers. The pieces of meat were grilled to tantalizing perfection.
“I think just one will fill me up.”
The pieces of meat were indeed on the larger side. I figured one skewer would mostly be enough for me as well.
“Hey, Cuzzie, how about we share one garga skewer, then get something else on the side?”
“Yes, that sounds great.”
We checked out the different garga carts.
“Let’s avoid the places that brag about big portions.”
Marya nodded in agreement. One skewer from one of those places would fill both of us up. We found a stall that sold skewers with smaller pieces and got two skewers—one for my father and one for us to share. The stall next door happened to sell veggie-loaded soup, so I bought some of that, too.
“That looks so good.” Marya smiled at the garga skewers. I was glad to see the fear she’d shown at the village gate had faded away.
We returned to the street with the merchant guild right when my father emerged.
“Huh? He’s with somebody…”
There were two adventurers walking with him. I wasn’t sure if it was okay to walk up to them, so I watched my father for clues from a distance.
“Do you know them?” Marya asked me.
I shook my head. I’d never seen them before. I realized that I didn’t know many of my father’s acquaintances, since he never talked much about his past.
“They look friendly,” Marya observed.
“Yeah.”
My father suddenly turned and looked at us. While I stood there, wondering how I should react, he turned and walked toward us with the two men in tow. If my father thought they were safe, then he was probably right.
“Ivy, did we keep you waiting long? Sorry, it was crowded in there.”
“It’s okay. So, um…”
Should I introduce myself to them? I anxiously glanced at my father.
“Lange, this is my daughter Ivy I was telling you about. Isn’t she cute? And these are my old friends Lange and Egar.”
Um, Dad. Your introduction of me was one sentence too long.
I could feel my cheeks burning, but I turned to Lange and Egar and bowed. “Nice to meet you, gentlemen.”
Upon closer look, I could tell they were older than my father. Lange and Egar both looked to be in their late fifties, I thought.
“And this is Marya, somebody we met during our travels,” my father added.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Ah, a pleasure.”
Marya’s meek greeting was met by a smile from Lange. He had a relaxing aura about him.
“Egar. A pleasure to meet you.”
And this guy seems nice but a bit feisty.
“I ran into them in the merchant guild. It’s been years,” my father explained.
Egar and Lange nodded.
“It sure has. We were so happy to see Druid after all these years that we called out to him…and he gave us the most horrible death glare in return.” A sad frown filled Lange’s face.
“Well, sorry. I didn’t recognize you for a moment there.”
They seemed to be on very good terms with my father. I could tell from the open way he acted around them.
“Still, I can’t believe that Druid of all people got a daughter. Ivy, is Druid nice to you?”
“Oh yes, sir. He’s very nice,” I answered Lange with a smile. He looked incredibly happy at my response. He must have been worried.
“Good. Well, Monz would be happy to hear that. Oh, do you know Monz already?”
Monz? That name sounds familiar…or maybe not?
“Ivy, Monz is my master’s name.”
Oh, right!
“Yes, Master has been very good to me, too. I’m so grateful,” I replied.
Egar looked taken aback for a moment, but he quickly crumpled into a smile.
“Oh, so you know Monz, too.”
“Yes, sir.”
This is the first time I’ve heard anybody use Master’s real name so familiarly.
“Are you about to have lunch?” Lange asked, looking at the things Marya and I were holding.
“Yeah, do you know of any quiet places we can eat?” my father asked.
Egar told us about a nice park that was a short walk away. Lange and Egar still had business with the merchant guild, so they wouldn’t be joining us.
“I’d love to catch up later if you’re free,” Lange said.
My father nodded in reply. His demeanor now was similar to the way he’d acted with his master. And since Egar and Lange seemed to know his master, too, they probably had a comfortable relationship.
Chapter 504: Contracts Are Not to Be Taken Lightly
Chapter 504:
Contracts Are Not to Be Taken Lightly
WE ARRIVED AT THE PARK to find parents with children and married couples happily enjoying their lunches. A special feature of this park was that it had tables and chairs, so we found an empty spot and sat down. As we spread out the items we’d bought at the food stalls, a smile spread over my father’s face.
“Ooh, garga skewers!”
Was that one of his favorites?
“We give thanks for the bountiful meal,” we all said in unison.
I split one of the garga skewers to share with Marya.
“These taste just as good as I remember them,” my father said. “You found a good place. The bad food stalls sell tough meat.”
Marya and I exchanged glances and smiled.
“Looks like picking the stall with a long line of locals was the right call,” Marya said.
“Yeah. And good thing the meat happened to be cut small there, too.”
The vegetable soup was nourishing and delicious. As much as I loved cooking, I also loved enjoying a relaxing meal prepared by somebody else, and I was happy to see my father so pleased.
Oh, that’s right! There was something I had on my mind…
I glanced at my father. “So, Dad, were those two guys safe?”
He’d slightly lowered his usually vigilant guard around the pair, which hadn’t sat right with me. He looked surprised by my question for a moment, then an uncomfortable expression quickly filled his face. As I stared curiously at him, his eyes began to shift.
“Agh—well, those two are safe because they can’t betray me.”
Huh? Not they won’t betray him, but they “can’t” betray him?
I tilted my head and gave my father a scrutinizing look…but he wouldn’t meet my gaze. So I kept staring, and he stole glances at me.
“We were young…so we didn’t know how much liquor we could hold.”
Completely in the dark, Marya and I both were now staring hard at my father. After thinking for a few long moments, he breathed deeply in and out, then looked at us both.
“We did a job together long ago. So, we were drinking and had a few too many…and they did something pretty bad to someone I knew… Anyway, I cleared their names by doing a job for free. And I think that’s when it happened, but we made a contract. You know, as a drunken spur-of-the-moment sort of thing.”
My father seemed to be struggling to find the right words to say, as if he were somehow constrained.
“Did you make a contract that they couldn’t betray you?” I asked him.
He nodded. “Once I sobered up and could think straight, I realized that was just too extreme, so I suggested we try to find a way to nullify the contract, but they said they didn’t mind. They knew I wouldn’t make any unreasonable demands on them, so it wouldn’t be a problem…”
I’m not sure what to say. Yeah, I never would have imagined they’d be entangled by a contract…but I didn’t catch that vibe from them when they were here earlier. They just seemed really nice and friendly.
“Until you brought it up, Ivy, I’d completely forgotten about the contract.”
“Whoa! Really?”
“Yeah, I was sure those two were safe…so I completely forgot about it. But when you asked me why I trusted them just now, I thought about why I did…and I remembered.”
My father sighed and hid his face in his hands. A contract not to betray him… Yeah, that was quite the entanglement.
“So, what did they do?”
It had to have been something extreme for them to sign a contract over it.
“I can’t say because of the contract. And please don’t ask them. All I can say is all three of us learned that day just how dangerous alcohol can be.”
Now I really, really want to know…but he can’t say, so oh well.
“Didn’t your master get mad about it?”
He’d surely object to a contract like that.
“Do you know him? When he heard about the contract, he laughed his ass off. Well, given what the contract said, I couldn’t exactly tell him, but you know.”
Ah, right. This is Monz we’re talking about.
“Contracts sure are incredibly restrictive, aren’t they?” Marya marveled.
My father nodded. “Never enter into a contract lightly. You’ll just regret it later. Some contracts can even control you for the rest of your life.”
I know what he’s saying is super important…but considering the stupid thing he did, he isn’t exactly all that convincing.
“Don’t make the same stupid mistake I did.”
Okay, now that’s more convincing.
Marya probably felt the same way, because she giggled.
“Ha ha! Well, when we finish eating, let’s get those clothes and shoes,” my father suggested.
“Good idea.” I looked on the tabletop. There were four garga skewers left, so I put them in the magic bag.
“Wow, I ate six whole skewers,” my father remarked.
I knew he liked meat, but wasn’t that just too much? Will he be okay…?
“I feel sluggish, as you’d expect,” he admitted. “But it’s been so long, I just couldn’t stop myself.”
My father must really love garga skewers. Maybe we should buy some for the road before we leave Hataha Village.
“Okay, should we see what shoes and clothes Hataha has to offer?”
“Sure. Come on, Cuzzie.”
We cleaned up after our lunch and left the park. Egar had recommended a shop to my father, so we went there first. It wasn’t too long a walk from the park.
“This is the place,” he remarked. “It’s apparently the perfect spot for shoes, clothes, and other little items adventurers need.”
The shop exterior was so plain that you’d have no idea what they were selling unless you looked inside. But once we stepped in, we saw the walls were lined with shoes of all types, as well as bags, hats, and other accessories.
“Let’s start with shoes,” my father said. “We should have somebody get your size.” He summoned a salesclerk.
A man in his late thirties greeted us with a little bow. “Welcome, travelers. I’m Rubet, the shop owner here.”
“Nice to meet you. Could you please take her shoe size? We’d like some good traveling shoes.”
“All right. Will it be a long journey?” Rubet asked my father.
He thought for a moment, then nodded. “Things are still a little up in the air, but we’d like a nice sturdy pair of shoes just in case.”
“I understand.”
“What about you, Ivy? Are you sure your shoes aren’t getting too tight?”
I took a few steps, paying extra close attention to my feet. And I did get the sense that my pinkie toes were smashing against the shoe edges a little. I retied my shoes and took some more steps, and my pinkies were still smashed.
“We should probably buy you a new pair,” my father advised after he saw the look on my face.
Before I could get a word in, my father asked Rubet to get my size, too. I thought my shoes still had some life left in them…
“It’s hard to travel on sore feet, so it’s always best to replace your shoes sooner than later.”
My father had a point, so I had to nod in agreement. When I traveled alone, I once pushed it too far and broke a toenail. And even though I healed it with a degraded potion, wearing shoes only made it get worse again, so it became quite a struggle. That was why shoes were the one thing I let myself splurge on a little, though I still tried to save money where I could.
“These are our five best pairs,” Rubet said, producing the shoes. Three were for Marya, and two were for me. All of them were sturdily made with thick soles.
“Why don’t you try them on, Cuzzie?”
“It’s important for them to be comfortable, too,” my father added.
Marya tried on the shoes and took a few test steps in them. A look of surprise filled her face. “They’re so comfortable…and lightweight!”
She started to skip around the store in the shoes; she must have been very pleased with them. Rubet grinned at the sight of her.
Then it was my turn to try on the shoes he’d recommended for me. I held them first and inspected them, then looked inside.
“Yeah, they definitely are lightweight, Dad.”
I handed them to my father, whose eyes opened wide. They were indeed much lighter than we were used to.
“Why don’t you replace your shoes, too, Dad? Lighter shoes would probably tire you out less.”
“Good point. They’d be a good investment.”
But why were these shoes so much lighter than any we’d worn before? I looked at their soles and noticed they were kind of stretchy.
“I’ve never seen this type of sole before,” I said.
Rubet brought out the material he used to make the soles. “It’s a material gifted by the monsters they found in that new cave. It’s a bit tricky to work with, but all the craftsmen in this village have made great use of it.”
“Yes, they’re so much stretchier than anything else,” I agreed.
“Yes, exactly! It’s the perfect material for long walks—you’ll never get tired in them.”
From the way Rubet was raising his voice, he was clearly very confident in this new material, though his vigor seemed to startle Marya a little.
“Sorry, I got carried away there,” he said sheepishly.
My father and I chuckled and said we didn’t mind.
When I checked the price on one of the pairs, I froze up a little. It was about five times more expensive than the shoes we normally bought…
“Okay, let’s buy everyone a pair to make sure we have a safe journey!” my father said. “Got any recommendations for me?”
I gave my father a mortified look, and he sheepishly smiled back at me. I guess there’s no point in arguing with him.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Yes, thank you,” Marya added.
“Ha ha. Come on, you’d better pick out your clothes before I do.”
My father’s warning scared me into action, and I quickly scurried off with Marya to find us some clothes. If I left it up to my father, he’d choose a huge pile of clothes with cutesy prints on them. I somehow managed to convince him to wait where he was while Mayra and I picked our own clothes. Once we were finished, Rubet rang them up for us.
Oh, I forgot to ask how much money Dad got for the magic stones. What with the expensive shoes, we might go over budget.
“Can we cover all this just from the magic stones?” I whispered.
“Yeah. I sold one more extra stone.”
One more…extra stone? Uh-oh, does he mean one of those super-high-level magic stones? Wait a minute, I see two dresses on the pile that Marya and I didn’t pick out…
“Um, this dress—”
“Isn’t it cute?”
Yes, it is cute. But completely inappropriate for life on the road.
I glanced at my father and found he was smiling smugly. It looked like there was no arguing with him.
SIDE: Servant of an Earl
SIDE:
Servant of an Earl
THE SERVANT’S PERSPECTIVE
I SHOWED MY MASTER the emergency faax, and when he read it, all the cups and plates fell from the table and crashed onto the floor. Just who does he think is cleaning that up? Sigh… I do wish my master understood the concept of restraint.
“Call Belfa and the others at once! Do it now!”
“Right away, my lord.”
And he’s a halfwit, to boot. Just fancy, summoning assassins the guild has their eye on toyourhouse—all it takes is a little thinking to realize just how dangerous that is. Well, when you think anyone who isn’t a noble doesn’t deserve to live, I suppose you would be blind to such a reality. Does he have any idea how many eyes this house has? Maids, and servants such as myself. Surely he doesn’t believe we all actually revere him?
“…Surely he isn’t that far gone?”
As I walked down the spacious hallway, I heaved a heavy sigh. I preferred my former master. That earl actually set foot on his own lands and maintained them well. He didn’t ask for much, but the lands flourished under his watch.
But everything had changed ever since the current halfwit—er, the current earl—assassinated the former earl and made it look like an accident. Everything had changed for the worse, that is. Though I suppose it’s inevitable when you’ve got an incompetent man at the top.
I glanced at the big street in the royal capital as I walked alongside it to my destination. It contained a tavern called Guru that was frequented by all sorts of people and rumored to have patrons with dark secrets. And because of those rumors, the adventurer guild had sent in quite a few surprise scouting parties. But the tavern keeper was a shrewd fellow—nobody was ever arrested. That’s right, miraculously, not a single arrest had ever been made. I brazenly marched into the front entrance of Guru. Then I looked around.
“As expected.”
I gave a silent thank-you to the maid who’d tipped me off that Belfa’s party would be here this time of day.
“Excuse me, but my master has a job request for you,” I murmured quietly to Belfa’s party. Since we had requested work from them many times, they already knew me, and they showed no signs of caution at the sight of me, either.
“Ahaaa, another request from His Lordship then?” Belfa, their leader, gave a teasing smile. They would probably insist on another hefty reward. But the earl’s funds were running out, and when you took this next job’s payment into account… Well, it’s no concern of mine. The earl will work something out, probably. (I hope.) Ack! I have the servants’ and maids’ salaries to consider. Working for free for that halfwit—er, that earl—is out of the question.
“Do you accept?”
Are you taking the job or aren’t you? Just answer. I haven’t got all day.
“Eh, all right. We have other work right now, but the earl’s always been very good to us.”
I figured. They always prioritized their highest-paying clients. Though this may be their last job with him…and whether or not they actually get their payment is yet to be seen.
“Thank you very much,” I told them. “Well, I’ll just leave the back gate open for you.”
I stood and left without hearing their answer. As I headed for the exit, I checked out the tavern. There sure were a lot of men wanted by the guild there. When I got outside, I heaved a little sigh. That place really did fray the nerves. It still baffled me how they could drink so boldly when they were wanted men…though I supposed the barkeeper would come to their aid if things went down. (At least for the moment.)
As I walked down the street, I thought back on the contents of the faax. If only the earl paid his servants a little more, then they wouldn’t peek at his classified documents. Well…his negligence had worked out in my favor, at least. He had probably asked Belfa’s gang to assassinate the woman on the run from the church. Just fancy, hiring pro assassins simply to kill a lone woman. What’s more, according to the maids, the earl wasn’t the only one after her. Who in the world was this woman anyway?
“Well, if anything can be done about it, I sure as hell can’t be the one to do it.”
I hated this part of my job. The faax said the woman had escaped into the forest. She might have been rescued by some adventurers who could put up a fight against Belfa’s party, so I hoped she wouldn’t give up and would keep running till the bitter end.
“Oh heck…” I sighed.
Guess I’ll go home and tend to His Lordship.
I came to his room as summoned—to find Belfa’s gang there. That came as no surprise, since the maids had told me they were here. Still, just fancy, boldly speaking about how you’re going to murder a woman. I held in my sighs of disgust as I set out the liquor for them.
“Help yourself.”
I set several cups of liquor on the table. Beside them was a single sheet of paper. I glanced at it and saw it was a contract. I set the bottle of liquor beside it, so they could drink as much as they liked. I gave the tabletop a cursory glance and nodded. Everything looked good—we still had plenty of snacks.
“Ha ha ha! With your gang after her, Belfa, that woman’s fate is as good as sealed,” the earl laughed.
“Should we bring her head back to you, my lord?”
Belfa’s gang was merrily drinking liquor.
“Ooh, I like that idea. Ha ha ha ha!”
I’m going to be sick.
“Well, if you’ll excuse me.”
Completely masking my true feelings, I put on my best butler’s smile and made my departure. Once I was out in the hallway, I sprinted away from the room. Judging by the current time, they’d probably drink through the night. And once it was morning, Belfa’s party would set out for Hataha Village.
“Commiserations, my friend.”
I glanced over and saw a maid there. “Seriously. I deserve a medal.”
“Where is Belfa’s gang headed this time?”
“Hataha Village, apparently.”
“Ah…”
The maid’s expression was different than usual. Had something happened that I didn’t know about? Was it me? No…there were no inadequacies I was aware of. But if I mishandled this situation, my true master would be quite angry with me. The Esteemed One was terrifying.
“Is there a problem?” I asked.
“No, I just feel like I’ve heard the name Hataha Village somewhere… Maybe it’s just my imagination?”
That wasn’t like this maid. She was perfection personified.
After the night had passed, I looked outside and noticed a procession leaving the castle. What a horrid sight to see first thing in the morning.
“Hey! Where’s the message from Belfa’s gang?!”
“They haven’t sent a word for three days, my lord.”
“Damn it!”
Seriously, what had happened to them? They usually sent one faax per day, otherwise, the earl would get cranky. (Of course, these faaxes were not traceable to Belfa.)
But their communications had stopped three days ago. Still, it was only three days. Perhaps they needed to distance themselves from the village due to some unforeseen circumstances. We might get a faax any minute.
I walked out of my master’s room and into the hallway. I’d safely secured the salaries of the maids and servants. (Though I’d had to borrow just a little of the master’s secret stash to insure that.) I hadn’t realized he had so much hidden away. What a lucky miscalculation. I was able to leave half of it untouched, and the other half ought to cover Belfa’s payment, just barely.
“Commiserations, my friend.”
I glanced over and saw the maid. She was holding a vase, so she was probably changing out its water.
“Need any help?”
“Yes, could you take that other vase?”
“All right.”
Wait a minute! This vase is easily four times as big as the one she’s holding…
“This one?”
“That’s right. Careful, don’t spill the water.”
Heh heh…is this punishment, then? Come on, woman, I spared your salary…
“Something on your mind?” she asked.
“Er, no. Hup!”
It’s even heavier than I thought.
“Pheeew… Let’s go.”
I walked by her side down the hallway. My arms were already shaking. How far do we have to carry these things?
“So I hear they discovered a new underground cave in Hataha Village,” she said.
“Wooo.”
That’s amazing news. Adventurers will probably swarm to Hataha now.
“And I hear several adventurers went missing in it.”
Huh?!
“Several adventurers, you say?”
The earl had registered Belfa’s party as adventurers when they entered Hataha Village. I didn’t know how they tricked the magic item at the gate, but they had sent a faax saying they’d made it in. Were those adventurers Belfa’s gang? No, couldn’t be. They’d never slip into an underground cave while they were on a job… No, wait, maybe they would slip down just once, to throw the other adventurers off the scent. But even so, Belfa’s gang was tough, so they couldn’t have been the ones who went missing.
“What exactly happened?” I asked.
“It’s a mystery. People assume either some monster in the cave killed them, or something else…”
“An underground cave monster… Yes, I remember unique monsters live in those places…”
I had only heard about it in rumors, but some monsters in underground caves possessed unique powers.
“Oh, right… They found the belongings of the ones who went missing, and it caused quite a big panic. Apparently, all of them were carrying fake adventurer cards. Scary, huh?”
Huh? They were all carrying fake adventurer cards?
“Did you just say…”
Did that mean they disappeared not because of a unique underground cave monster but for some other underlying reason? Our communications with Belfa’s party had cut off suddenly. In other words, Belfa’s party was…
“Isn’t it about time for them to pull out? I mean, now that their fraudulent adventurer cards have been discovered…right?”
In other words, we can conclude Belfa’s party is very likely no longer around.
“How many people went missing?” I asked.
“Sixteen.”
Sixteen?! Based on the fraudulent adventurer cards, probably all of them were bounty hunters after the woman. But how could sixteen skilled assassins disappear all at once? What happened? You know, maybe it’s time for me to leave this mansion before I get caught up in whatever it was.
“Got everything we need?”
“Everything’s packed.”
“Understood.”
It has to be today… Oh, I guess I don’t need the secret stash of cash anymore now that Belfa’s gang split! A little bonus pay, I suppose…yeah, I deserve that. After all, I’ve done so much to help out.
“It’ll happen tonight,” the maid said.
“Yeah…”
“Mark my words, that woman got rescued by some really good people. Sometimes you don’t have to force a miracle to happen—a miracle will happen to you.”
I stole a sideways glance at the maid. Aha. So that’s why she’s in such a good mood.
“Be careful when you dump out that water.”
And with that, the maid quietly walked beside me, not saying another word. I looked ahead and saw the other maids were at work… Be careful? I looked inside the pot to see something sparkling at the bottom of it.
“Is this…?”
“A little gift to the victims, from me.”
The maid’s voice was barely audible. If this money was for the earl’s victims, surely The Esteemed One would permit it. Now then, how do we go about distributing it… Eh, I’ll figure something out. I’ll add the secret cash stash to this. I’ve already given myself a little bonus, after all.
Chapter 505: You Reap What You Sow
Chapter 505:
You Reap What You Sow
“AH, THERE YOU ARE!”
I looked in the direction of Zinal’s voice to see him waving and running toward us. I wonder what’s up? I thought they would still be in the underground cave about now.
“You’re here early,” I remarked.
“Yeah, well, there was a little problem, and all the adventurers retreated from the underground cave.”
They retreated?
“What happened?” Marya asked, leaning close to Zinal worriedly.
Zinal looked a bit startled by her behavior. “We’re okay. But several adventurers went missing.”
That sounds like more than a “little” problem to me. Unless things like that happen often in underground caves? Well, sometimes people never come back out of ordinary caves, so I guess it’s the same thing.
“Can we have tea somewhere? I’m exhausted from all that running.”
“There’s a café nearby, that okay?” my father asked.
Zinal looked where my father was pointing. That place apparently sold dumplings.
“Sure. I just wanna sit somewhere and relax,” Zinal said.
I followed my father and Zinal into the dumpling shop. It wasn’t that crowded, so we got a table right away. A while after we ordered, our tea and dumplings arrived.
“Ooh, these are warm dumplings.” Marya happily brought one to her mouth.
Zinal also seemed to love the dumplings, because he quickly ordered seconds.
Dang. When did he even pack those away?
“Phew… I’m stuffed.”
I tried not to laugh as I watched Zinal contentedly sip his tea. He’d had ten dumplings. Of course he was stuffed.
“So, what happened in the underground cave?” my father asked.
Zinal shrugged his shoulders. “I already told you most of what I know. Several adventurers who went into the cave are missing, and people think there’s a powerful monster down there.”
That’s right, monsters with unique abilities live in underground caves. I guess that means everyone is wary of that possible monster…
“Mr. Zinal, where’s the rest of your party?”
Where are Garitt and Fische? I hope they aren’t hurt.
“Oh, they went out for a drink. Don’t worry, they’re okay.”
Well, that’s good news. But too bad about the missing adventurers…that’s scary.
“I hope they find the missing adventurers soon,” I said.
“…Yeah.”
Huh? I feel like that was an unnaturally long pause… Oh no, were there bloodstains left behind? That would mean they’re already…
“Oh! By the way, Druid, this won’t matter for you and Ivy since you aren’t adventurers, but they’re gonna run an audit on adventurer cards soon. That means the village is gonna get crazy.”
An audit of adventurer cards? I’ve never heard of that.
“Why?” my father asked.
“Miraculously, someone found the belongings of all the missing adventurers, and they all had fake adventurer cards.”
Fake adventurer cards? Were they good enough to fool the magic item at the gate?
“Rumors about it will probably spread through the village by tonight. Speaking of rumors, some fake adventurer cards were apparently discovered here in the village, too. So that’s why they’re going to audit every adventurer here.”
It sounds like this is a really big deal… We won’t get caught up in it, will we? But those fake adventurer cards they found in the cave—did they belong to the bounty hunters? You know, why would they have gone to the underground cave while they were on the job anyway? Are underground caves really that alluring? Alluring enough to welch on a job from a nobleman…
“Oh, right, about the fake adventurer cards they found—the shady characters we picked out earlier were among them.”
What?! So that means the missing people were likely bounty hunters? That’s…probably a good thing they weren’t found.
“Um, Mr. Zinal, I have a question…”
I just couldn’t hold back.
“What’s up?”
“Why did they even go to the underground cave? Why’d they ditch their jobs?”
Thanks to them, we’d been able to buy Marya the things she needed, but we’d still been a little worried all this time, since it might have been a trap.
“Probably to remain inconspicuous,” my father answered, eyeing Zinal.
What’s this? Is that a tired look of frustration I see in my father’s eye?
“Yeah, probably,” Zinal agreed. “Somebody probably made it so they’d stand out too much if they didn’t go.”
Somebody “made it so” they’d stand out?
“Underground caves are the stuff adventurers’ dreams are made of,” Zinal explained. “Many people earned their riches that way. So if you acted like you weren’t interested, you’d be suspicious. Now, of course there are a lot of adventurers here in Hataha for work, so it’s only natural that not everybody could go to the cave at the drop of a hat. But when there’s more than a dozen such adventurers, they definitely would have stood out, especially since it would’ve looked to outsiders like they were doing nothing for the past few days except biding their time. Adventurers tend to have keen senses, so you don’t want anyone to set their sights on you. If you want to stay discreet, your only choice is to pretend you’re interested in the underground cave just like the other adventurers.”
Now that makes sense. Since there were so many bounty hunters, their plans backfired. But how is “making it so they stand out” even possible?
“And you know, there was that strange rumor that started last night…”
“Yes, that rumor.” My father smiled wryly.
“Right, the rumor that there were fake adventurers in the group.”
Fake adventurers… So that’s why the bounty hunters had to pretend they were interested in the underground cave. Wow, they went to the cave to stay in hiding, then a monster attacked them… That’s kinda…exactly what they deserved. They were going to kill Marya, so I can’t even shed a tear for them. But the real question is, did Zinal’s party set them up?
“Right, rumor-savvy people have probably already figured out that the investigators are on the way. I’ll bet the sketchy guys are packing up to skip town as we speak. Well, there’s a special task force of the village watch waiting for them at the gate, so they’ll probably go straight to jail.”
“The village watch? That was quick,” my father muttered.
“Somebody must’ve tipped them off. Who it was, however, remains a mystery…”
It was Zinal’s party. Without a doubt. They tipped off the village watch, and they made it so the bounty hunters went missing in the cave. Well, you reap what you sow. Yeah. But my, what a big smile Zinal has on his face right now. Come to think of it, he was particularly excited when we found that underground cave, too. Was that when he got the idea for this scheme? I’m impressed.
“So does this mean this village is now safe for Ivy and Marya to be in?” my father asked.
Zinal shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t ask me. I can’t be too certain, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be okay.”
I stole a glance at Zinal…and he grinned back at me. Could I translate that as Everyone is already in jail?
“Then I guess we should find an inn,” my father said.
I nodded in agreement. If the village was safe, we should rest up in it for a while.
“Then why don’t you stay where we’re staying?” Zinal suggested. “It’s cheap and it’s got a bath—it’s a great place.”
A bath! That word made me eagerly nod in agreement.
“Where is it?” my father asked.
Zinal explained that it was two blocks down off Main Street at the end of the road.
“Are you okay with staying at Zinal’s inn?” my father asked.
“Sure. You fine with it, Cuzzie?”
“Of course.”
“That settles it.” Zinal stood up.
“But are there any open rooms?” my father asked.
“I checked this morning, and there were, so you should be okay.”
Did that mean he’d planned it so we could get ourselves an inn by today? I caught my father laughing into his hand.
“Are you okay with two double rooms?” Zinal asked.
Oh, that’s right! This will be our first time staying at an inn with Marya.
“Good question. I guess that’s one room for me and Ivy and the other for Marya?”
Huh?
“Druid—I think you meant one room for Marya and Ivy, and the other for you.”
“Oh…right.”
Wait, does Dad look disappointed?
“Aren’t there any rooms for three?” I asked.
“Well, yeah, but…” Zinal stole a glance at Marya, who gave him a curious look in response.
“Yeah, fair point. I guess that would be the safest solution.”
“Yes. I’d feel safest with everyone together,” Marya said.
Zinal nodded and patted her head. “Got it. You okay with that, Druid and Ivy?”
My father and I nodded. Then we set off for the inn.
“By the way, have you finished all your shopping?” Zinal asked.
We’d bought clothes and shoes, so we shouldn’t need anything else.
“We’re finished, right?” I asked.
“Yeah… No, wait, Marya needs a magic bag.”
Oh, right, a magic bag for Marya! We only had one spare, so we’re still short. And our spare magic bag doesn’t hold much, either.
“A magic bag, eh? There’s an items shop on the way to the inn. Wanna swing by?” Zinal asked.
And so it was decided. We would stop by the items shop before the inn.
Chapter 506: A Brief Rest
Chapter 506:
A Brief Rest
A SMILE FILLED MY FACE when I saw how thrilled Marya was to hold her new magic bag.
“Cuzzie, do you really love it that much?”
She sure smiled a lot when we bought those new shoes and clothes, too.
“I’m just so happy to finally have things of my very own.”
“That’s great.”
If she’s happy, then I’m happy. That reminds me, what are her plans now? Is she still not sure?
“I got a room.” My father came up to us, key in hand.
“It’s on the top floor.”
The top floor? Isn’t that where they reserve the nicest rooms?
I gave his sleeve a little tug. “Is it in our budget?”
“Don’t worry. It comes with breakfast but not dinner. Since the cost of dinner isn’t included, the price is lower.”
Oh, okay. Yeah, this might be the first inn I’ve stayed at that doesn’t come with dinners included.
“They also want us to wash our own sheets,” he said.
“They what?”
Wash our own sheets?
“The innkeeper and his wife had an argument, so she’s gone to stay with her parents.”
My jaw dropped. Well, it sounds like the innkeeper is going through a lot. They’re arguing… She’s staying with her parents… Should he even be running an inn in his condition?
“Oh, that’s too bad… I hope they patch things up soon.” I wasn’t sure what else I could say besides that.
The room was spacious with a table and sofa, definitely large enough for my creatures to play. I opened the bag on my shoulder containing them, and they eagerly jumped out.
“Hey, guys, we’re staying in this room for the night, so be good.”
I looked at my father, who nodded and said, “I’ve turned on the magic item that stops our voices from carrying outside, so you can make as much noise as you want—as long as you don’t yell too loudly.”
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Teryu.”
“Gyah!”
Mrrrow.
“Pefu!”
When you heard them answer quietly one at a time, Ciel sounded quite normal in comparison. (Setting aside the slime form, that is.)
“Ivy, wanna take a bath?” Marya looked at me with stars in her eyes.
“I sure do. Let’s find out what time the bath is open,” I said.
“It’s on a schedule?” Marya asked.
“It depends on the inn,” I explained.
“Oh…” Marya sounded a bit disappointed.
Did the church let her take baths? It’s…probably best not to ask.
“Hey, Dad, did you ask when bath time is?”
Without the missus here, everything was probably hard to run.
“The men’s and women’s bath hours are both from three to ten in the evening.”
It’s after three, so we can go now.
“Okay, Cuzzie, we can take a bath now if we want.”
Marya immediately started gathering her things for the bath. I got mine ready, too, then called out to Dad that we were leaving. When we went down to the first floor, we spotted some adventurers who were staying at the inn, which made me a little tense. Zinal had said it was safe for us to be here, but I knew there was no guarantee. There was still a slight possibility of a bounty hunter being among them.
“Oh, hello there!” one of the adventurers called out at the sight of us.
Marya stiffened up and nodded her head politely.
“Hello,” I greeted him back.
“I didn’t see you here yesterday.”
What do I say? I don’t know if this person is a friend or a foe, so I have to be careful not to let slip anything I shouldn’t.
“We started staying here today,” I explained.
“Oh, that’s interest—”
Whack!
The adventurer turned around with his head in his hands.
Eek! That’s gotta hurt.
“What’re you scaring those poor girls for? Sorry about that. Come on, let’s go.”
Are they friends or something? We ignored the fuming adventurer with a whacked head and went on our way.
“What was that all about?” Marya asked.
“Not sure,” I replied.
Should we avoid that adventurer? I guess I’ll at least tell Dad about it later.
After our bath, we returned to our room to find Zinal and Toron having a staring contest—well, not exactly. A gazing contest?
“I see you’ve become good friends.”
“On what planet? I’m feeling pretty hated right now.”
Huh? Toron hates Zinal?
I looked back and forth between the two, who were staring intently into each other’s eyes and… Yeah, I guess the air between them was kind of awkward.
“Huh, why do you think that is?” I asked.
“Mr. Zinal, did you do something to Toron?” Marya asked.
Zinal shook his head no.
“It’s hilarious,” my father said.
This made Marya confused. We both wondered what was so funny as we stared at Zinal and Toron.
“Just watch,” Zinal said, softly reaching out to the tree monster.
Then Toron’s little root-legs slapped his hand away—with incredible speed.
Slap!
“Ouch!”
“No way!”
It was Toron’s first attack—unless drying up the karyo field was the first attack? No, that had been a snack. Yes, this was Toron’s first attack.
“So Toron attacks by kicking,” I said, feeling a bit giddy.
Zinal gave me an unconvinced eye roll in reply.
Huh, why?
“Ivy…you’re happy that I got attacked.”
Oops! Um…I guess I should ask if he’s okay—nope, that ship has sailed.
“Toron’s attacks are so cute,” I remarked.
My father burst out laughing, and Zinal fell into a daze. Well, a little tree monster was attacking a hardened adventurer with all its might. Too cute for words.
“Well, I guess you could call it cute? But come on, that was a pretty powerful attack. Just look!”
Zinal showed us the two slap marks on his hand, which were red and swollen.
Yeah, that does look pretty painful. But why did Toron attack Zinal in the first place?
“Toron, do you hate Mr. Zinal?”
Toron tilted its head at me.
Huh? That seems like a no.
I gently reached out, and as expected, Toron got on the palm of my hand without attacking me. I carefully lifted the little tree monster to my eye level. How much longer will I be able to lift Toron in my hand like this? I hope the little tyke takes a nice long time to grow up.
“I don’t think Toron dislikes you, Mr. Zinal.”
“Yeah…apparently not.” Zinal looked at Toron in confused wonder. Why would the monster attack him if not out of dislike?
“Maybe you did something that offended it?” I suggested.
Toron nodded eagerly in reply. I guess I was right.
“Huh…what did I even say to Toron?” Zinal asked my father, who fell into thought.
“Oh!” My dad suddenly looked at Zinal. “When you came into the room, you muttered, ‘C’mon, everybody knows all tree monsters can do is attack people.’”
After my father said that, Toron glared at Zinal.
Aha. So that’s where the anger came from.
“Well, that was your fault then, Mr. Zinal.”
“Aww, come on, I was just… Well, everything I’d read about tree monsters said that.” Zinal scratched his head in discomfort.
Well, that’s the impression ordinary tree monsters give. Before I met Toron, that’s all I thought there was to them, too. Then again, I got my impression because a tree monster actually attacked me.
“Toron is a valuable member of our party,” I informed Zinal. “Toron killed a field of karyo blooms in no time flat, and it also withered a tree with magiblight in the blink of an eye.”
Okay, all Toron’s done so far is kill things, but it’s been very helpful!
Zinal was stunned by my words. “Whoa, are you talking about that big field of karyo blooms they found in Hataru Village?”
“Probably, yeah,” my father said.
I nodded in agreement. If there were more karyo fields just scattered randomly around, that would’ve surprised me.
“And magiblight, you say… Wow. I’m so sorry, Toron. I didn’t know. But that’s still no excuse.”
“Gyah! Gyah!” Toron squawked happily. It looked like Zinal was forgiven, but I gave his hand a concerned look.
“Mr. Zinal, your hand—”
Chomp.
Shoo-waaah.
“Ah!” we all shouted at once.
Sora swallowed Zinal’s hand and spat it back out, and the swelling was gone.
Aren’t we all just a little too free-spirited here?
Chapter 507: Taste-Testing Is Important
Chapter 507:
Taste-Testing Is Important
ZINAL HAD BORROWED the kitchen from the innkeeper to cook. Apparently, seeing me cook had inspired him to dust the cobwebs off his arms and flex a bit. But as Marya and I watched him cook from behind, a seed of worry planted itself in my mind. Maybe this was because it had been so long since Zinal last cooked, but his technique was a bit suspect.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Marya asked me.
“…I hope so.”
Zinal’s head tilted quizzically to the side as he tasted the contents of the pot, but I wanted to believe everything would be okay.
“Oh, that you, Ivy?”
I had been feeling Garitt’s presence for a while by then, and I turned around to meet his eye as he stepped into the dining hall.
“Hello, Mr. Garitt.”
“Hey. So what’re we up to?” Garitt swooped in from the side to see what we were watching. He looked a bit startled to see Zinal in the kitchen.
“Mr. Zinal is cooking dinner tonight,” Marya told him.
Garitt whispered to us, “Sometimes his cooking is way off.”
Way off? I looked at Garitt, who shrugged his shoulders.
“His flavors are usually okay. But for some reason, he has a one-in-ten failure rate. And of those failures, one in five are vile.”
One-in-ten? Isn’t that rate a bit too high? And what exactly does “vile” food taste like? Is it even edible?
“I wonder what it’ll be today?” Marya asked, staring at Zinal’s back worriedly.
“Sight and smell alone aren’t enough to tell. You won’t know until you eat it,” Garitt said.
…Now I’m very worried. Maybe it’s not too late to step in and help him?
“It’s almost done, guys!” Zinal announced.
Too late. Let’s just hope today isn’t one of his failures!
“Oh, that you, Garitt? You want some, too?”
Garitt shook his head. “Er, no thanks. I just ate.”
“Oh, come on, stay and eat! I did a good job this time.”
That was comforting to hear. Zinal smiled when he saw the relief in my eyes.
“What, did Garitt tell you?” he asked.
“Yes, so I was just a little worried,” I admitted.
Marya nodded in solidarity. Garitt chuckled at the sight and slapped Zinal’s shoulder. “So the food’s okay tonight?”
“Yeah. Since I knew Ivy’s party would eat it, I made sure to taste-test it.”
Huh? What exactly does he mean by that…?
“Wait… Do you mean to say whenever you cooked for us, you didn’t taste-test it first?” Garitt demanded.
Zinal innocently nodded yes. Garitt responded with a heavy sigh.
Just then, my father arrived in the dining hall after his bath. When he saw us all, he tilted his head and asked what was going on.
“Ah! Perfect timing. I was just finishing up.”
Zinal proudly carried a platter of food into the dining hall. It looked like it might be some kind of vegetable sauté.
“That looks good,” my father remarked before whispering to me, “Hey, Ivy, what’s wrong with Garitt?”
Garitt’s head was resting in the palm of his hand. I explained Zinal’s history with cooking to my father as we made our way to our seats, and Dad gave Garitt’s shoulder a sympathetic slap.
“This fool would sometimes cook us something saying he got an idea for some new dish. Little did we know he never taste-tested his food,” Garitt grumbled.
“Oh, come on, it wasn’t that bad, was it?” Zinal asked.
Garitt glared at him. “I dunno. Sometimes it was literally inedible!”
Zinal shrugged. He didn’t seem at all remorseful, so I imagined he would continue to not taste-test his cooking.
We all dished out the food. The vegetable sauté was served between pieces of white bread, so there was a huge pile of bread on the table. It showed how much money Zephyr had made that he could buy so much white bread.
“This is very good,” Marya said.
Zinal smiled proudly as he spread some vegetable sauté between two pieces of bread and took a bite. I took one, too…and it was indeed delicious. The vegetables were seasoned strongly, so they went well with white bread.
“Oh! Mr. Zinal…”
I looked over to the dining hall entrance to see the man who had dragged away the one who tried to talk to us before our bath standing there. He must have known Zinal.
“Ah!”
For some reason, he stopped in his tracks and looked shifty-eyed at the sight of us. I wondered why.
“Something wrong?” Zinal asked.
The man gave a nervous little bow. “Er, well…I wanted to ask you about the underground cave. Can you come see me when you have time?”
“Sure, I don’t mind. We probably won’t be able to go back in there for a while, but it’ll be best to get as much information as we can beforehand.”
“Yes, sir. Just let me know when you’re free.” With a polite nod, the man left the dining hall.
Something about the whole exchange felt a bit off to me. The conversation had sounded a little contrived. I glanced at Zinal, who was merrily eating dinner. Maybe I had just imagined it?
“Druid, how soon will you be ready to hit the road again?” Garitt asked my father solemnly.
“We’ve already got everything we need,” my father answered. “We could leave as early as tomorrow…but we’d like some time to cook first.”
We did still have some leftovers in our magic bags, but we would run out before we got to the next village.
“Okay. Would two days be enough time?” Garitt asked.
“Sure. Why do you ask?”
My father and Zinal both stared at Garitt.
“I heard a rumor that worried me,” he explained. “So you should be ready to leave town at a moment’s notice.”
A rumor?
“What kind of rumor?” Zinal asked.
A deep crease formed between Garitt’s eyebrows. “There might be a church-trained assassin in this village.”
Marya froze at the sound of this.
“Marya, you’ll be okay. It’s probably just a rumor,” Zinal said, giving her shoulder a pat.
“Are you sure?” she asked, gazing at Garitt worriedly.
“Yeah, the church is powerful enough to operate completely in the shadows, so it’s odd that there would even be a rumor in the first place.” Zinal gave Garitt a dubious glance.
“I would agree with you, except the rumor suddenly blew up in the village this afternoon.”
“Wouldn’t that mean it was planted?” my father asked.
Garitt nodded. “That’s why we should all be careful. Why would anybody let such a stupid rumor fly? If we’re not careful, we might draw the church’s attention.”
Things have started to get out of hand, haven’t they? Well, one thing’s for sure: We shouldn’t stay in this village much longer. That isn’t exactly a problem, since we were planning on leaving soon anyway.
“Hey, Dad, why don’t we pack everything up tomorrow and leave the day after that?”
“I like that plan.”
We looked at Zinal and Garitt for approval.
“Hold that thought—we’re going to look into that rumor tomorrow.”
“Okay. We appreciate that,” my father said.
Zinal smiled in reply, which made my father raise an eyebrow. “I feel bad to do this to Marya, but we’re enjoying ourselves, so don’t worry about us.”
My father’s eyes widened a little at that, but he quickly melted into a smile of his own. “Ah, so that’s why.”
“Yeah.”
After finishing dinner, we headed back to our rooms. Garitt went off to find the drunken Fische and bring him home. Zinal announced he was turning in early so he could hit the ground running the next morning.
“Zinal’s party will come back here by tomorrow evening,” my father said when he returned to our room. He had stayed longer to discuss a few things with Zinal.
“Got it. I’ll have something ready for them to eat when they come back.”
“Good idea,” he said.
What Zinal told us earlier had probably been meant to ease our worries. I glanced at Marya, and I could tell she was a little more relaxed. That was understandable, since she felt guilty about getting us all involved in her problems.
But wow, an assassin trained by the church? I don’t know if that rumor is true or not, but it sure is scary.
Chapter 508: Birthplace
Chapter 508:
Birthplace
SINCE WE HAD BOOKED the kitchen for the day, Marya and I thought over what to cook. My father went out in the morning to buy us some ingredients.
“Hey, Ivy, um…I’m thinking of changing my name and settling down,” she said suddenly.
“Huh?!”
Does that mean she can’t travel with us anymore?
“I was just thinking I’m in no shape to travel,” she said.
“Yeah, but…”
The longer you travel, the stronger you get, but that didn’t happen overnight. I agreed that life on the road would be tough for Marya.
“If that’s the decision you’ve reached, Cuzzie, I’ll support it. But if you made that decision only because you don’t want to inconvenience us, then I’m against it.”
“Thank you. It’s a decision I came to after thinking about what I can and can’t do.”
“Okay. So, is there any place in particular you want to settle down?” I asked.
“I want to go to the town of Oll.”
Whoa! The town of Oll?
“Why Oll?”
A soft smile filled Marya’s face. “Some of my memories with my mother and father came back to me. I thought I’d forgotten, but I still hadn’t. And then I remembered Oll is where I was born.”
“You know…Oll is also where my father was born, and his parents and brothers are living there right now.”
“Whoa, you’re kidding! Really?”
“Yes, really.”
Marya and I stared at each other in a silent daze for a while. What an incredible coincidence. To think that Marya came from the town where my father was born.
How surreal… Oh, and since my father’s family and his master are both there, we could explain Marya’s situation to the guild master and she could have the guild’s protection! That just might be her safest bet.
“I’m back,” my father announced, walking into the kitchen. He stopped and gave us a curious look. “What’s wrong?”
“Cuzzie says she wants to change her name and settle down in Oll,” I said.
“What?!” My father looked back and forth between us in surprise. When I explained everything to him, he shifted his startled gaze to Marya.
“Wow… We have the same birthplace…”
Now that we’d heard Marya’s wishes, the next question was what to do about them. Should we backtrack to Oll and drop her off? We would have to, since we couldn’t trust anybody else to take her.
“Do you remember your parents’ names?” my father asked.
Marya shook her head no. “I just called them Mom and Dad.”
“Right. But that’s still a huge coincidence,” he said.
“I know,” I agreed.
I took the groceries out of my father’s magic bag. It looked like he had been able to buy almost everything I’d asked for.
“It won’t be the same without you,” my father said.
He was right. I had just assumed she would travel with us until the end of the road.
“I’m flattered to hear that,” Marya said.
We cut up the meat and vegetables for all the dishes. With my father and Marya pitching in, the work went by quickly.
“Hey, Ivy, can you write down some of my favorite recipes for me?” Marya asked.
“Of course I can.”
“Thanks.”
I had Marya tell me her favorite dishes, and I wrote their names down on paper to start with. I could write the ingredient lists and basic instructions later.
“Druid?” Lange and Egar popped their heads into the kitchen.
“Oh, hi. What brings you here?” my father asked.
“We saw you going into this inn, so we followed you. We’re gonna leave the village in a few days, so we just came to say goodbye.”
Lange eyed the rows of prepared vegetables quizzically. “Helping out at the inn?”
“Nope, we’re making food for our journey,” my father answered.
“Oh, so you’re gonna cook it in advance. We tried doing that before, but it got to be too much of a hassle, so we stopped.”
Lange looked at the cooked food in fascination. Everything on his face said that he wanted to try some. After I stared at him for a while, his face crumpled with guilt.
“I wasn’t gonna steal a bite, I swear.”
“Huh?! Uh, I didn’t think you were…”
How did he jump from zero to stealing?
“Be careful around this guy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard him make excuses for stealing food.” With a tired sigh in his voice, Egar dragged Lange away from the finished dishes.
Aha, so he has a history.
“I can cook you something simple, if you’d like,” I offered.
It was almost lunchtime, so he was probably hungry. I could easily whip up a few extra servings of something like gyuudon, and another batch of rice was almost done. It was supposed to be for onigiri, but we had plenty of rice to spare, so I could always cook more.
“Are you sure?” Lange asked.
Whack.
Egar gave Lange’s head a spirited punch. “You just ate, you idiot! Just ignore him, Ivy.”
Marya shrank back awkwardly.
“You haven’t changed a bit,” my father said, smiling at the pair.
Egar gave Lange a frustrated look and said, “No matter how much time goes by, he’s as much a glutton as he ever was.”
“Well, eating delicious food makes me happy!”
“I can’t argue with that.”
Oops! I just went and agreed with him.
Lange gave me an ecstatic look, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I know, right? There, you see?! Ivy’s my ally.”
Uh, I wouldn’t exactly call myself an ally…
“Sorry about him,” Egar sighed. “If you run out of groceries, we can buy you more, and we’ll also pay you for your trouble.”
I shook my head. “It’s no trouble at all. My father bought extra.” I looked at my father, and he nodded back.
“That’s our Druid! I only need a little, I promise. Just one serving…”
One serving?
“Extra-large—”
“Jackass!” Egar snapped.
Lange shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, a normal portion is fine.”
A chuckle escaped me again. “I understand, sir.”
I got the meat, vegetables, and a pot ready and decided to throw together a batch of gyuudon while the rice finished cooking.
“Hey, Druid, is Monz still in Oll?” Egar asked.
My father tilted his head. “He is. Why?”
“We’re going to Otolwa for a bodyguarding gig that a merchant asked us to handle. When we finish that job, we thought we’d go to Oll and pay our respects to Monz. Seeing you after all those years made us suddenly want to see him.”
“A merchant, huh…to Oll…” My father fell into thought, surely about Marya. But would she really be safe with these men?
“What is it?” Egar asked.
“If you’re guarding a merchant, that means you’ll be in a horse-drawn carriage, right? Do you think there will be any extra space in it?”
A horse-drawn carriage… That did indeed sound appealing. It was quite far to Oll, after all.
Egar regarded my father’s question with a curious look. “We’ve got plenty of room. But our cargo is a person already.”
A person?
“What do you mean, your cargo is a person…?”
“His bride. We’re transporting the merchant’s fiancée from Hataha Village to Otolwa. Her husband was training in the royal capital and happened to meet her when he came to this village to buy something. It was love at first sight, apparently. It took three years for him to convince his parents, and they’re having a wedding this fall. Anyway, she’s leaving for Otolwa in two days to be with her future husband.”
So she’s a bride-to-be.
My father looked at Egar in surprise. “Why isn’t the husband coming here to get her himself?”
“He was going to do that, but he fell down some stairs at work and broke his leg.”
What an unlucky person.
“He still wanted to try to come get her anyway, but his bride said she wanted him to wait for her in Otolwa because she was afraid he’d make his injury worse.” With a sheepish grin, Lange continued, “The groom insisted he would be fine, but his bride and parents gave him a stern talking out of it.”
After three years of begging and finally getting his parents’ approval, he broke his leg. Yeah, he would be kind of bitter about that.
“Why did you guys get the gig, Lange?” my father asked. “I know you sometimes take gigs from merchants, but it’s usually to protect merchandise, not people.”
“Yeah, but we know the groom’s parents. They said they couldn’t entrust their son’s bride to people they didn’t know, so we made an exception this time and said yes.”
Egar made a sour face, and I gave him a curious look.
“We turned down the job at first, but his parents were just so damn persistent.”
If he’d spent three years getting his marriage approved, I guess it made sense that his parents were also that determined.
Chapter 509: Tense and Spicy
Chapter 509:
Tense and Spicy
“HEY, DAD, are you sure it’ll be okay?”
Marya ought to be safe once she got to Oll, but there were so many noblemen after her. If somebody found her, my father’s family might become a target. And if that happened…
“Don’t worry. My family won’t get caught up in it.”
“Are you sure?”
That would be the best-case scenario. But how did he know?
“I’m going to put Marya in the care of my master.”
“Your master?”
That actually feels reassuring.
“He’s already protecting a lot of people—people like Marya. I don’t think adding one more to his list would make much of a difference.”
There are others like Marya?
“Are the others also being targeted by the nobility?”
“Yeah…lots of people fall off the straight and narrow when they get money and power.”
The frustration in my father’s face made it hard for me to answer. The only nobleman I knew was Lord Foronda.
Oh, right! And there was also Count Faltoria, though he’s a slave now. I guess he counts as a nobleman ruined by money and power. Which means half of the noblemen I know are corrupt… Yeah, I guess that counts as a lot. Then again, I only know two, so that’s not much of a sample size. Half of them… Surely not as many as half of them are corrupt?
“So, since you asked if there’s room in our carriage, I guess that means you want us to transport something for you?” Lange asked, popping a meat skewer into his mouth.
Aha!
“Hey! Lange! No!”
“Huh…?! Oops! Sorry.”
Lange stared guiltily at the skewer in his hand. Maybe he really was doing it unconsciously.
“Go ahead,” I said.
“Sorry… They’re so good,” Lange said sheepishly. He truly did seem to like them. His guilty expression changed on a dime, and he happily stuffed his face with the rest of the skewer.
“Your fingers are just too slippery,” Egar sighed, shifting his position as if he were guarding Lange.
I tried not to laugh and focused on getting lunch done as quickly as possible. I noticed my father had set something on the countertop. It was the magic item that kept people from overhearing your conversation. He pressed the button to activate it, and Egar and Lange’s faces tensed.
“We want you to transport a woman to Oll with you. She’s going to my master.”
Lange and Egar nodded quietly at my father. “Anything for you, Druid. Of course we’ll take her. But if you’ve turned on that magic item, I assume she’s got a sketchy past. Well, we won’t ask. If we get caught and tortured later, it’s best for us not to know anything. So we take her to Monz, then?”
“Yes, to Monz, thank you.”
Egar looked thoughtful. “I don’t exactly mind taking on dirty work…but when people are involved, you can’t transport them without anyone knowing. How do we hide her…?” Egar slapped Lange’s hand while he mused. Apparently, he had reached for his second skewer. You couldn’t leave him out of sight for a second, could you?
“Yeah…can you manage?” my father asked.
After a thoughtful pause, Egar exclaimed, “That’s it! The bride-to-be was going to hire an attendant—this woman we’re transporting can take on that role.”
Lange nodded. “Great idea. Is your woman registered with the adventurer or merchant guilds?”
“No.”
Lange sighed in relief. “Good. If she was registered, the magic item at the gate would go off. No matter how badly a person wants to travel without being spotted, that pesky device will always give your location away. But if she’s not registered with those guilds, there’s one less thing to worry about. This job request came from the merchant guild, and if we add one more person to the transport, they shouldn’t complain.”
Egar nodded in agreement. So it looked like they could transport Marya to Oll without any problems, and they would be paid for it, too. That way, Marya could have a relaxing journey in a horse-drawn carriage without worrying about imposing. I wasn’t sure Egar and Lange could be entirely trusted, but Sora hadn’t reacted negatively to them. I peeked into my bag and saw that the slime was wide awake, so I figured Marya was safe with them.
“Aha! There you are, Dru… Who’s that?”
I looked over toward Fische’s voice and found him looking suspiciously at Egar and Lange. My father turned off the magic item on the countertop.
“Good morning, Mr. Fische,” I said.
Fische glanced at me and quietly raised his hand, but his wariness of Egar and Lange had not worn off in the slightest. Why was that?
“Druid, who are these men?”
“A couple of guys I know. They’re safe.”
“…Okay.”
Ah, I know that look. Fische doesn’t trust them. Maybe he’s being extra cautious because of Marya?
“So what are they doing here? And for that matter…” Fische eyed the magic item on the kitchen counter. He had a point. It was odd to activate a noise-canceling magic item just to chat with friends. My father glanced at Egar and Lange, who nodded back at him, and he activated the magic item again.
“Marya has decided to settle down in a town, so I just arranged for them to protect her until she got there. I’ve known them for many years and they’re trustworthy, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
Fische did not seem at all convinced by my father’s explanation. “I see… But are you really sure you can trust them?” he said, glaring at Egar and Lange.
“You say we’re not trustworthy?” Egar asked.
“That’s right,” Fische said curtly. He was out for blood from the start. There was a different aura about him, and it was scaring me a little.
“Aha! There you are. I sensed auras in here, but didn’t hear anything so I… Who’s that?”
I looked toward the sound of the voice and saw Zinal and Garitt at the kitchen entrance. As soon as they saw Egar and Lange, they looked on edge.
Yikes…the same reaction as Fische.
My father let out a quiet sigh and switched the magic item off. Zinal and Garitt looked a little surly at the sight of this.
“How about some lunch?” I suggested before Zinal could say anything.
Well…I was hungry. And Marya must have been hungry, too, because she was eyeing the finished gyuudon. The rice had finished steaming a few minutes ago as well. It would be better for us to have the conversation after a good lunch…or at least so I hoped.
“Lunch?”
Lange was the first to react, and my father sighed tiredly in reply. Egar and Zinal’s party all looked a bit surprised.
“You can’t have a good conversation on an empty stomach,” I said.
And with that, my father and Marya got some dishes ready.
“Mr. Zinal, would you and your party like to join us?”
My coaxing seemed to perplex them, but when I asked again, they said they’d join us. I dumped the rice onto a deep plate. Then I cracked open some hexa fruits, blended them with the meat mixture, and dumped it over the rice. I had cooked extra because we were planning to take it with us on the road, but now it was all gone. That was okay, though, since gyuudon was easy to make.
We dished the food out to everyone and started eating before it could get cold. Zinal’s and Egar’s parties joined in after a few moments.
“Huh, this is good,” Egar said.
I smiled. Hearing someone say they loved my cooking really was a joy.
I stole a glance at Zinal, who still looked rather on edge. And Egar and Lange seemed a little nervous. Did they have a history? And was it a bad one?
I looked at my father, but he just shrugged his shoulders at me. Did he know the reason behind all this tension?
Chapter 510: Underground Rumor
Chapter 510:
Underground Rumor
“HERE’S YOUR TEA.”
Zinal’s and Egar’s parties sat across from each other. The air was so tense between them that it was hard to breathe. Why was that?
“Zinal, I assure you, they’re safe.”
“But Druid, these men aren’t… Er, never mind.”
It looks like Zinal does know Egar and Lange. And he’s wary of them—which means that maybe something happened? But Egar and Lange don’t seem to know Zinal’s party… Hmmm, it makes no sense.
“Egar and Lange forged a contract with me,” my father explained. “And the terms of that contract mean they can’t possibly betray me.”
“What?!” the whole party exclaimed.
The jaws of Zinal’s party dropped as they stared back and forth between my father and the pair. Egar and Lange shrugged their shoulders in turn.
“They can’t betray you? What kind of contract is that? I mean, these guys are—”
“Here it is,” Egar said, taking two sheets of paper out of his magic bag.
“Egar, you carry it around with you?” my father asked.
“I just happened to have it,” he answered sheepishly.
Zinal’s party took the two-sheeted contract…and froze when they read it. What sort of contract was it?
“Ivy, the water’s boiling over.”
Ack, I’ve still got stuff on the stove!
I was cooking more food for the journey while my father took care of the adventurers, and, now that Marya’s next destination was set, I was making her some food, too. Whether or not any food would be finished right away was another matter entirely.
“Contract…arranged…time…since…”
I heard snippets of the conversation now and then. Stealing a glance at the men, I saw that the tension had faded considerably.
What a relief. I don’t know what kind of contract it is, but Zephyr’s guard seems to have gone down.
“That was kinda scary, wasn’t it?” Marya whispered to me while she minced some meat. She was probably talking about the way Zephyr was acting earlier.
“Veteran adventurers can be terribly intimidating,” I told her.
The intimidating auras they had acquired during their extensive travels were frightening to us, but they only looked menacing because they were worried about us.
“Yeah, I know that.”
It was a relief to hear that Marya knew. It was beyond rude of us to be scared of them when they had done so much for us. And, well…I couldn’t deny that they had scared us, but it made me happy that their menacing auras were out of worry for our safety.
“Need any help?”
I turned around at the sound of my father’s voice.
“Don’t you need to be in that conversation?”
Egar’s and Zinal’s parties were still talking in the area where my father had just come from, and at some point, they had activated the magic item that didn’t let us hear them.
“Well, I think we’ve steered clear of any problems. Garitt is going to come with them as your bodyguard, Marya.”
“Really? But doesn’t Mr. Zinal’s party have their own job to do?” I asked.
They had said they would go to Oll after they finished their job, but what if a new one came in? I’d heard that top adventurers like them received many job offers.
“It should be fine,” my father said. “They can turn down offers if they want to.”
Oh, I didn’t know that. I guess it’s okay, then?
“What else are we cooking today?” my father asked.
“Oh, um, I’m just making some meat marinades right now.”
“How many flavors?”
“Twelve in total. I’ll also make the one you like.”
“Oh, good. If you need someone to mix anything, I’m your guy.”
“Thanks.”
I made the twelve marinates and added the meat Marya had cut up to each of them. After they soaked for a bit, I removed the meat from the marinades, wrapped them in bana leaves, and tucked them into magic bags. I added enough for Marya into her own magic bag.
“Do you think I’ll really need this much?” Marya asked, staring quizzically at her bag.
“There’s Egar and Lange to think of, as well as the bride,” I replied.
“Right, I guess we might eat meals together.”
“Uh-huh. So hey, do you really trust Egar and Lange?” I whispered to Marya after my father walked away. I thought it would be hard traveling with people you couldn’t trust.
Marya stopped packing and thought for a moment. After a while, she looked at me and nodded. “I do have my concerns…but I believe in them much more strongly. Strange that I feel that way, really.”
“Okay, then I don’t mind. Garitt is going with you, too.”
“True. I think I rode in a horse-drawn carriage with my parents when I was little. I have a faint memory about it. So I’m actually looking forward to this trip.”
Seeing the smile on Marya’s face made me smile, too. I was so happy that things had worked out for her.
“How’s it going?” my father asked.
“Do you think there’s enough meat?” I asked.
“Uhhh, right, Egar and Lange eat a lot.”
Oh no, there’s not enough? But I stuffed the bag more than halfway full of marinated meat.
“Think I should add a little more?”
“I do,” my father replied. “That’d probably be best. I’ll go buy some more.”
As my father turned to head to the butcher, Lange and the others made their way over to us. I assumed that meant their meeting was over.
“Going somewhere?” Lange asked my dad.
“Yeah, I’m going to buy some more meat to marinate. You and Egar have big appetites, right? I’m just worried the amount we have won’t be enough.”
“Then I’ll go buy it. I’ll pay for it, too. It’s not your fault you’ve got more mouths to feed.”
When he heard this, Egar agreed to go with Lange. I gave him a quizzical look, and he explained, “If I let Lange go by himself, he’ll buy way too much. He needs a chaperone.”
Sounds like a misbehaving child.
Lange pouted in disappointment.
Er, just how much were you going to buy? Terrifying.
As Egar and Lange left the kitchen, Zinal heaved a long sigh.
“Druid, do you know those two are really—”
“Yeah, I have a general idea of what they are, but I’m not going to ask. Anyway, isn’t that contract crazy?”
A crazy contract… What kind of contract is it, I wonder?
“Guess so. But if those two are okay with it, I guess there’s no problem.”
Now I really wanna know.
I glanced at my father, but he shook his head back at me.
Guess that means I shouldn’t ask. Oh well, I give up.
“So, when are you going to head out of Hataha Village?” my father asked.
“Yeah, about that, we decided to leave sooner,” Garitt answered. His voice sounded a bit stiff.
“The bounty hunters in this town may have been eliminated, but more are coming. I don’t think Marya’s cover’s been blown yet, but there’s an underground rumor that Marya is being taken care of by a father and child.”
“What?!” my father yelped.
How did they know?
“We’ve been careful, but I guess somebody might’ve seen us,” my father said. “You can’t fool everyone.”
“Yeah, that’s why we’re hurrying things along. But this rumor might actually be just what we needed.”
When I gave him a strange look, Zinal chuckled. “Our assassin friends are gonna start looking for a father and daughter with a young woman. But now that young woman—Marya—will be in a different party.”
Aha.
“So we can fool the bounty hunters, then?” I asked.
Zinal nodded.
Oh, thank goodness. Now she should make it safely to Oll.
“A father and child…” my father murmured.
Oh! I see why he’s worried. If there’s a rumor about a father and child, that must mean he and I are standing out. Wait a minute… Zinal said an “underground” rumor earlier. What does he mean by “underground”?
“So that’s why Fische and I are thinking of taking a job from the merchant guild in this village. It’s a simple bodyguarding gig: Transport someone safely to either Okanji Village or Okanke Village next door. Wanna come with us?”
“Huh?”
“They’re looking for a father and child, remember? So we’ll just make you stop fitting that description.”
It does sound like a good idea, but is it really okay to get them that involved in our trouble?
“Are you sure? You’d get completely caught up in our mess.”
My father seemed to share my worry.
“Don’t sweat it. I don’t think it’s a burden at all.”
“Yeah, but…” My father’s eyes darkened.
“We didn’t get caught up in your mess—we willingly threw ourselves into it,” Fische said, leisurely sipping his tea.
“Well… When you put it that way,” my father nodded.
They do have a point.
“So don’t worry about it,” Zinal said.
Is it really okay?
I looked at my father, who had a cynical smile on his face. Apparently, he was going to carry out some sort of mission with Zephyr. They said it was a simple bodyguarding gig, but what exactly did that involve? We had only gone to the merchant guild to sell magic stones and such, never to take a job. The whole thing sounded a little inappropriate, but I was kind of looking forward to it.
Chapter 511: The Actual Gig
Chapter 511:
The Actual Gig
THE GIG ZINAL’S PARTY received was a simple one: transport a magic item to Okanke Village. Since it was a valuable magic item, they were explicitly instructed to be careful not to let it get stolen, which made Zinal laugh.
“What the hell kind of mission is that?” my father demanded.
“I know, right?” Fische responded, his face equally sour.
When I gave them a curious look, they handed me the paper with the mission description.
“Cargo: Magic item. Value Level: High. Delivery Point: Okanke Village Merchant Guild. Deadline: Within the year.”
I had seen mission requests posted on the wall of the adventurer guild before, and I didn’t see anything odd about this one.
What’s so funny? Well, I guess the time frame is vaguely long…
“Hey, Zinal, did you say yes?”
“Yeah. Doesn’t it sound like there’s a catch?” Zinal replied.
Fische sighed.
A catch?
I looked at Zinal for an explanation.
“Notice how the deadline is way too long?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah, that never happens. And the pay is really high for a simple cargo shipment, yet nobody else was eager to take the job.”
So I was right. The time frame is way too long. It is a whole year, after all. But why didn’t people take the job if the pay is so good?
“Is there…something wrong with the person who posted the job?” I asked.
“There’d have to be, yeah,” my father answered, glaring at Zinal, who shrugged.
“Come on, don’t be mad.”
“Why wouldn’t I be mad? This is absolutely the kind of mission where there’s a second request waiting for you when you deliver the goods!”
I nodded in realization. That’s probably why nobody else took the job. Oh dear… Looks like we have another crazy errand on our hands. Unless there’s some deeper meaning behind it all?
“Zinal…what’s the actual gig?” Fische asked.
I craned my neck. The “actual gig”? So it’s not cargo transport?
“It’s from the merchant guild. They want us to transport evidence to stop this one requester from ever requesting gigs again.”
Wooo, that’s intense. That reminds me of…what? It was on the tip of my brain… A sting operation! Wait…huh? What’s a sting operation? Come on, Past Me, do your thing! I can’t understand what you’re saying from words alone! Sting operation… You catch someone before they commit a crime? I think that’s what it is.
“Ivy…? You okay, kiddo?”
Oops! I was thinking about that way too long.
I looked at Zinal and nodded. “Yes, sir, I’m okay. Um, so…what’s this piece of evidence?”
I almost asked him how the sting was gonna go down. Bullet dodged.
“Right, so the merchant guild will appraise the magic item before it’s transported. Then, if the gig requester picks a fight with us for ruining the magic item when we arrive, it’ll be appraised again after transport to verify that it’s in the same condition as before. In other words, the magic item itself is the evidence. We’ll bait the gig requester as much as we can. I guess our main job here is to draw attention while we get everyone nearby involved—to get witnesses, you see. The merchant guild will take care of everything else.”
So their task was to bait someone into committing a crime. I wasn’t sure whether that sounded easy or hard.
“So that’s why it has to be us, eh?” Fische finally nodded in understanding after he heard Zinal’s explanation.
“Yeah, with high-level adventurers like us, there’s no way the cargo could get damaged.”
Now I finally understood their angle. If low-level adventurers helped the criminal transport the cargo, a potential claim that the cargo was damaged during transport would be difficult to refute. If they were mid-level adventurers, there would be plausible deniability, but it wouldn’t be watertight. But with high-level adventurers, the cargo getting damaged during transport was simply out of the question. With their rich experience in the field, cargo transport was a piece of cake for them.
“They asked high-level adventurers in the merchant guild, but they got turned down. Even though the reward is high, it’s still not enough for top adventurers. I mean, it’s just cargo transport, after all.”
“Fair point. Well, since you’ve taken the gig, we’d better make sure it’s successful.”
Sounds like my father’s on board. I guess we’re in, then…
“I promise I won’t touch the cargo,” I said. “I don’t want anybody to pick a fight with me for breaking it.”
I can imagine the sketchy gig requester attacking me, screaming something like “My precious cargo got broken because some snot-nosed kid couldn’t keep her grubby hands off it!” That sounds like a big hassle, so I definitely won’t touch it!
“No need to worry, Ivy. The magic item is already broken.”
Oh, so that’s why the gig requester will complain that they broke it during transport. Impressive. That must take nerves of steel. Wait, didn’t they say this guy was a nobleman? It’s probably not an issue, but there’s still Marya to consider.
“Hey, Mr. Zinal, are you sure trying to catch this nobleman red-handed won’t be a problem?”
“It won’t. He may be a nobleman, but everybody hates him. He’s fallen so low that he doesn’t even have much power to wield over us adventurers anymore. But he is still technically a nobleman, and we can’t turn down requests from noblemen without any proof that the request is bogus. It’s only recently that he’s really been causing all these problems. In a way, it’s probably his last-gasp effort. Too bad; if he’d just given up, there would’ve been plenty of other avenues open to him. And now he’s gonna be sentenced to slavery. What a genuine dumbass.”
So not all the nobility have pull. Still, this whole thing seems silly. If he just thought it over a little, he could see his plan would fail…though I guess if he knew that, he wouldn’t have sent this gig request in the first place. Maybe Zinal’s right and his deck really is just short a few cards.
“Well, only the master and his wife will be sentenced to slavery. Their children have already cut ties with them and removed themselves from the peerage. Unlike their parents, they’re capable people, and rather smart as well.”
He sure knows a lot.
“Huh? Wonder how I know so much?” Zinal asked.
He read my mind.
“Yes, sir. Didn’t you just accept the gig this morning?”
Marya and Garitt had left earlier to meet with the bride-to-be, so we had decided to get ready to leave, too. Fische, my father, and I had bought everything we would need for the road, and Zinal had gone to the merchant guild to look at the notice board for gigs—that all happened this morning. Now, we were discussing our plans for the rest of the day over lunch, so it seemed like he knew a little too much for somebody who’d only had a few hours to do some digging.
“I accepted the gig this morning, then I thought I’d do a little light investigating on the way back, and I wound up unearthing all sorts of juicy tidbits,” Zinal explained. “See, the problematic gig-requester in question was already a topic of gossip. When I tried to ask for a little information, they felt so sorry for me that they wound up telling me all sorts of things I didn’t even ask for. So what I planned as only a light investigation gave me quite a lot of intel by the time I got back. This guy must really be hated around here.”
“Well…now I’m even more impressed,” I said.
He learned all of that just on the way back here? But there’s just Main Street between the merchant guild and this inn… It’s not even that far.
“The adventurers who got duped probably spread the rumors, trying to keep someone else from falling victim,” Fische said.
That made a lot of sense to me.
“So, are we going to leave around the same time as Egar’s party? I hear they’re heading out tomorrow.”
That’s why they had to hurry out this morning to meet their client, after all. Come to think of it, they’re late coming back. Did they get held up talking to her?
“Sounds like a plan,” my father replied. “We’ll send them off, then leave here an hour later.”
We’re already packed, so that won’t be a problem. So, I only have one more day with Marya. I can always see her the next time I’m in Oll, but I’m going to miss her.
“Okay! Let’s go out to eat at a nice restaurant tonight,” Zinal suggested.
“Ooh, nice,” Fische chimed in. “I heard there’s a great meat skewer place around here, can we go there? What do you think, Ivy? It’s on us—eat as much as you’d like!”
So they’re treating us…
I glanced at my father. He nodded, so I knew it was okay.
“We gladly accept, sir. We love meat skewers.”
Zinal patted my head in reply. And so it was decided that as soon as Marya and Garitt returned, we would all go out to dinner together.
Chapter 512: Going Our Separate Ways
Chapter 512:
Going Our Separate Ways
I CHECKED THE INSIDE of the carriage Marya would be riding in—I’d heard it was a sight to behold, and I was curious. There wasn’t a single piece of lavish decoration on the exterior, since it would make them an easy target. In contrast, the interior was quite remarkable. Ornately adorned down to every last detail, it was a breathtaking sight.
“Isn’t it gorgeous?” Marya asked.
“Yeah.”
She was quite calm today, since she had already seen the carriage when she met with the client. As soon as she came back from the meeting, she gushed to us in a fervor over its splendor. The groom’s parents had hired this carriage for the bride-to-be; Egar said they felt bad about not letting their son come to escort her home personally.
“The groom’s parents were against it at first, but now they’re really looking forward to it,” Garitt said as he packed the carriage with luggage.
“To meeting the bride, you mean?” I asked.
“Yes. In the last stage of their talks, the groom and his parents came all the way out to Hataha Village. When they talked, they really took a liking to her. So much so, in fact, that when their son got injured, they felt worse about him not being able to escort her home than his actual injury.”
Well, I…kind of feel sorry for the groom now.
“Good morning, everyone. I look forward to a fine journey with you all,” the bride-to-be said as she stepped out of the house with her parents.
“Good morning, Miss. It’ll be a pleasure to ride with you,” Marya replied.
“Ooh, Marya, I’m so excited!” she giggled.
“Me, too!”
It was a relief to see the fun atmosphere between the two women. Their good rapport ought to make for a pleasurable journey.
Huh, are the bride’s parents not going?
“What’s up?” Garitt whispered.
“Won’t the bride’s parents be joining her?” I whispered back.
“They have work, but they’ll be there for the wedding.”
Ah.
“We should get going,” Egar said, coaxing the bride into the carriage.
“Marya, my master is waiting for you in Oll. He’ll take good care of you, so you’ll have nothing to worry about anymore.”
“Thanks, Druid and Ivy. I truly can never repay you for all your help.” Marya bowed deeply to us.
“Safe travels,” I said.
“Thanks. I hope we’ll see each other again?”
I nodded firmly. “Of course. I promise I’ll come visit. Oh, and the Master is a very amusing man, so don’t worry about him.”
“Hee hee, got it.”
Marya got into the carriage, and Egar and Garitt sat in the driver’s seat. Lange would be riding on horseback beside them.
“Well, Druid, until next time.”
“Sure thing, Egar, Lange. Take good care of Marya.”
Egar and Lange raised their hands and waved. When the carriage took off, Lange immediately followed behind it.
“Well, they’re gone,” I remarked.
“Sure are.” My father gave my head a gentle pat. As we watched the carriage disappear through the village gate into the distance, he murmured quietly, “You okay?”
“Yeah… I’ll get to see her again someday.”
There’s no reason to feel lonely. I’ll see her again. Okay, Ivy, back to the road! Wait a minute…I never caught the bride’s name. Maybe I’ll ask Marya the next time I see her… That should be okay, right?
“Hey, Dad, Marya will make it safely to your master, won’t she?”
“Zinal, any word on the bounty hunters?” my father asked.
“About ten of them will be here three days from now, but a two-person scout party is coming tomorrow.”
Since there aren’t any bounty hunters here right now, they won’t know that we all left, will they? But it still baffles me how Zinal can know so much. Where does he get all his intel? It’s a mystery.
“Okay, we should get ready to hit the road ourselves,” Fische said.
“Right you are,” Zinal said, hoisting his luggage from the ground over his shoulder. My father and I hoisted our bags over our shoulders, and we were ready as well.
“Let’s go.”
We had originally planned on staggering our departure from the others more, but that was no longer necessary since there weren’t any bounty hunters here, so we were leaving right away.
“By the way, what happened with the underground cave?” I asked.
“Oh, they’ve finished the search for the missing adventurers,” Zinal said with a shrug of his shoulders.
If they finished the search, does that mean they came up empty-handed?
“Were the adventurers okay?”
“Nope. They called off the search early when they didn’t find a trace of them. They’ve all been declared dead.”
Dead.
“So I guess their remains couldn’t be returned to their families?” I said.
“Well, they used fake IDs, so we don’t even know who they really were anyway. We couldn’t get in touch with their families even if they had them. Besides, if they were using fake IDs, they were surely criminals, so they probably didn’t have families that’d claim them.”
Criminals, huh?
“Leaving Hataha Village?” the gatekeeper greeted us.
“Yes. We had a great time here,” Zinal kindly answered him.
My father and I gave back our Hataha permits and walked through the gate. After a while, Fische and Zinal came out, laughing.
“Sorry we took so long.”
Once we met up with Zinal and Fische, we got on the village road headed for Hatahaf, the neighboring village. After walking for a while, I scanned the area for human auras and found none nearby.
“Think it’s safe?” I asked.
Zinal and Fische stopped in their tracks. Zinal also scanned for auras and said the coast was clear. I opened my bag to let my creatures out. Even when we stayed at the inn, human auras had constantly been on the move, which felt a bit odd to me; it had been a nervous few days for us. Two of the slimes bounded out vigorously.
“Pu! Pu, puuu!”
Mrrrow.
Huh? Where are the others?
Boing, boing.
“Pefu!”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu!”
“We’re in the forest, guys. No need to hold back anymore.”
Fische gave me a strange look. “What do you mean, hold back?”
“When we stayed at that inn, human auras were always coming and going, so they couldn’t play their hearts out even behind our closed door,” I explained.
“Oh!” Fische looked a bit uncomfortable at my words. When I gave him a coaxing look, he said, “Sorry about that inn…”
Zinal and Fische were the ones who’d told us about the inn—why did they feel bad about it? They’d had a big bath and we’d gotten to cook as we pleased, so I thought it was a good place. We knew it would’ve been unreasonable to restrict the movement of the other guests there anyway.
“I thought it was a very good inn, sir,” I assured him.
“Ha ha! Did you now?”
Something didn’t seem right. I stared hard at Fische, who smiled cynically in reply. Did something happen that I don’t know about? Well, what’s done is done; no use worrying over it.
Ciel returned to adandara form and looked at me.
“We’re going to Hatahaf Village,” I said. “That means you can go any way you please. We don’t really have any specific plans.”
Mrrrow.
With a happy meow, Ciel bounded off into the thick trees.
“Oh, I forgot to ask you guys something,” Zinal told us with a shrug as Ciel took the lead.
“What about?” my father asked.
“There’s a road that lets you bypass Hatahaf Village to get to Okanji Village—what do you think?”
A path that would let us bypass Hatahaf… We weren’t in any hurry, so it wouldn’t be a bad thing if we had to stop at another village, but how did my father feel about this?
“We’re not in a rush. I think we wouldn’t mind stopping at Hatahaf,” he replied.
“Okay, we’ll do that, then. Hatahaf does have a good dumpling shop,” Fische said with a merry grin. Those dumplings must be really good.
“Grass cakes, right? I remember you liked those, Fische.”
Grass cakes? Grass…as in the green stuff on the ground? That doesn’t sound too appetizing…
“Well, yeah, it’s got a unique pungent flavor,” Fische said.
“Are you sure?” Zinal replied warily.
“Hey, Dad, have you heard of them?”
“Yeah, they mix medicinal grass into the cakes. I actually like them.”
So they’re medicinal. Interesting. Yeah, medicinal grasses and herbs do tend to have strong tastes. Now I’m curious to try them.
SIDE: Assassins
SIDE:
Assassins
ZINAL’S PERSPECTIVE
I STARED AT THE TWO-SHEETED contract before me in silence. I could tell that Garitt was at a loss for words, too.
“Wow… This really is something.”
I glanced at Egar and Lange, who stared back at me with their gazes locked.
“Thought you’d say that,” Lange chuckled in amusement.
I sighed tiredly back. It was a relief to see they definitely weren’t Druid’s enemies, but I still had my reservations…
“We’ve met you once before, haven’t we?” Garitt said.
I recall the time our party met them at church about fifteen years ago, I thought to myself. They looked a bit different back then, especially their hair color. Their locks are both a muted orange, but they used to be a dark brown. That was why I felt something was off about them. I remembered seeing them speaking cordially with church people, so red flags went up in my mind when I saw them with Druid. I never dreamed they would be bound together by a contract like this.
“Sorry, but I don’t remember you boys,” Egar said, and Lange concurred.
Well, we did only spot them for a moment. And that one moment stuck out in our memories because we had meticulously investigated every single church member there that day.
“Where did your party see us, Zinal?” Egar asked us interestedly.
“When we were investigating some church people. We saw you cozying up to them,” Garitt said.
Fische and I nodded firmly.
“Ah, I guess there’s a limit to how careful we can be,” Lange said with a shrug. Egar chuckled and echoed, “It happens.”
“Can I ask you a question? Just what relationship do you guys have with the church?”
One unwanted answer popped into my mind. The dark side of the church. The church’s greatest sins that we had been investigating our entire career. Could it be that these two men were…?
“We’re assassins, contractually bound to the church,” Lange answered.
My heart beat against my chest in an ominous clang.
I figured as much. When we saw them at the church that day, they looked like corpses. They’d been empty, unambitious shells of men, so it was a shock to see how they had changed. They were just so starkly different from before. But assassins always design their appearances to blend in with their targets, and that’s what I thought they had done. But from what the contract says, this might be their true form.
“Huh? You don’t look surprised. Did you already figure it out?” Egar sounded a bit disappointed, and Garitt smiled sheepishly.
“Does Druid know?” I asked.
No way does he not know.
“Well, I’m not sure,” Lange answered. “He didn’t ask us any questions, so we haven’t told him anything. But I’m sure he senses something. When we were making that contract and he read the contents, just for a split second…his face twisted a little.”
Druid was way too soft on them. How could he have burdened himself with these two crazy characters? Ivy probably hasn’t picked up on who they are. I mean, Druid would never let her know.
“Are there other assassins besides you two?” I asked. “Ack, sorry, you don’t have to answer that. I’ll bet some contract is preventing you from telling me.”
“Oh no, I can tell you. There’s fourteen assassins in total—well, there would’ve been fourteen if they were all still alive. There’s only six of us left.”
What?! How can he possibly tell us all of this? An assassin we captured before lost his voice immediately after he mentioned “the church,” which meant we couldn’t question him. We thought about using writing, but he couldn’t even do that—probably because of some contract. And while we were fumbling around trying to figure out what to do, he vanished. Another assassin had probably sneaked in and taken him away. And if that’s the case, those two assassins are probably long dead by now.
“How can you tell us this? Do they really trust you two that much?” I asked.
The pair laughed at the suggestion.
Lange said, “Those church bastards don’t trust anybody; not even their own.”
Egar nodded vehemently in agreement.
“Then how can you talk?”
“Because of the contract we made with Druid,” Egar answered. “So…do you know how our breed are created?”
“Not really. Rumor has it that the most promising children are brought to them and they pick their favorites.”
“That’s not quite right,” Egar said. “The kids with the necessary skills for an assassin are kidnapped and trafficked to the church, then forced to sign slavery contracts on the spot. And the very next day, when they still have no idea what’s happened to them, their training begins. They’re disciplined to the limit, knowing they very well might be killed if they dare oppose the church. Nobody likes to feel pain, so they train hard to become skilled in killing like their lives depend on it. Then, once they’ve learned the techniques, these kids are forced to fight each other to the death. That’s when their souls break and they lose the ability to feel anything. If they survive that, they become perfect assassins who will never defy the church—they’ve also got a binding contract, too.”
“…Okay, wow.”
As I listened to Egar’s cavalier description of his history, a bitter taste swelled in my mouth.
“We killed people just as we were ordered to…and by the time we met Druid, Lange and I both had probably reached our breaking point. We were ordered to kill innocent children…and we did…so we took on a gig from the adventurer guild to clear our heads, and that’s when Druid showed up. We’d completed the gig and still had a lot of pent-up frustrations left behind, so we drowned our sorrows in booze. Next thing we knew, we got caught up with a nobleman. That was when I had an epiphany: We weren’t allowed to kill ourselves, but we could have somebody else kill us. But Druid had to go and save us instead.”
“We resented him for that. Demanded to know why he saved us.” Lange smiled bitterly.
“You know what he said? ‘You know you really want to live. Don’t pretend that you want to die.’ For a minute, Egar and I both froze. We didn’t understand what he said. But our hands had unconsciously gripped our weapons. I’m sure we would’ve killed Druid the moment the nobleman told us to. But we didn’t want to die—that’s what was truly in our hearts. That’s why we clawed our way out of that hell we were in. Then again, that hell hasn’t left us, and it never will.”
A dark shadow fell over Egar’s face for an instant, but his smile quickly displaced it.
“We assumed that if the church found out we’d caused problems with a nobleman, they’d order us to kill both the nobleman and Druid. We didn’t give a shit about the nobleman, but the thought of killing Druid genuinely enraged us. That’s why we forged a contract with him. Druid says the alcohol was what made us all do it, but for me and Lange, it was a desperate wager for our lives.”
Egar held one of the pages of the contract in his hand and smiled fondly at it. It was a contract that had all but disappeared from use—a Life Contract. It signified that the contract holder’s life belonged to the signer. If Druid ever decided that he did not need Egar and Lange anymore, he could rip up the contract and the two men would die. It was a contract that permitted unilateral action from Druid, and its terms were even more heinous. If Egar or Lange harmed Druid even slightly, they would both die.
Lange showed me the other sheet of the contract. It was also a Life Contract, but it was a bit different from Egar’s. It contained a clause that stated, If anyone commands me to kill Druid, I will kill the one who commanded me. It wasn’t clear why only Lange’s contract contained that clause, but it was quite the ridiculous stipulation.
“My skill comes in handy for this clause, you see,” Lange told me when he saw the confusion in my eyes. “My skill enables me to absolutely succeed in an action in exchange for my life. If I use it, I can kill anybody without fail.”
I thought back on all the various skills I knew of. Each was rarer than the last, and all of them required extreme caution when used. After all, these were skills that cursed another person at the cost of the user’s life.
“Contracts are biased in favor of whichever has the harsher punishment. So ever since we forged this Life Contract, our Slavery Contract’s hold on us has loosened a little. It still restrains us to some extent—like, we still can’t kill ourselves. But we have gained the ability to disobey orders from the church now.”
Lange’s words stunned me. I had no idea that contracts could work that way. But that was inevitable, since as far as anybody knew, nobody had ever forged a Life Contract while under a Slavery Contract.
“So I assume the church isn’t on to you?” I asked.
“Nope, they don’t suspect us one bit,” Lange replied. “They think there’s no way we can oppose them since we’ve signed Slavery Contracts, and we’ve been sure to behave in a way that reinforces that belief.”
Egar smiled cynically. “Guess all those assassin techniques they beat into us were useful after all.”
“True,” Lange chuckled.
I wasn’t sure how to react to such surreal levity. Not even my mind could form any words to say.
SIDE: The Assassins’ Wish
SIDE:
The Assassins’ Wish
EGAR’S PERSPECTIVE
“I CAN’T SPEAK TO WHAT they did in the past, but the church never uses Life Contracts now,” I explained. “It used to be easy for them to kidnap kids to train replacement assassins, but now that they’re more heavily scrutinized, they can’t collect as many kids. Because of that, they want to keep the assassins they already have as long as possible. That explains the very strictly binding Slavery Contracts. If you even hint at mentioning the church, you lose your voice, and the worst part is your memory slowly disappears until the only thought left in your brain is going back to the church.”
“Oh my God…”
Garitt’s voice caught in his throat. Zinal had a complex expression on his thoughtful face.
“When you go back to the church, they brainwash you and turn you into a new person while significantly decreasing your skills as an assassin. You’re like a puppet who can only do what the church commands at that point. But they don’t like doing this to their assassins, since it basically makes them useless.”
I didn’t have much to say about the other surviving members of my cohort, but of course I still cared about them. That’s why I wanted to do something to help when I heard one of them had been caught. Of course, they wouldn’t let me. When I saw him again, free when he was supposed to be locked up, I was dumbstruck by just how much he had changed. After I did some digging, I learned his memory had been erased. It was a sober awakening to the fact that the same thing could happen to us.
When I reunited with him after all those years, he had changed so completely that no traces of his former self remained. He had become a puppet who could only do something if he was commanded to do it. Lange and I both vowed in our hearts that we would never let that happen to us. We would choose death at any cost rather than become puppets. That was why we didn’t hesitate when Druid provided us with the opportunity to give him our lives under contract. In fact, it was a welcome relief to us. Not like we could exactly tell Druid that, though…
“You wanted to know why we could talk about the church? It’s because of this Life Contract. I also think part of what’s helping is the clause Druid wrote in at the end.”
I set the contract down on the table, and Zinal and Garitt eagerly read it. Wait, had they not read the whole thing? Didn’t they just see the contract earlier?
After a pause, Garitt gasped, “What?! Obey no orders from anyone other than the maker of this Life Contract. Be free. Ha ha ha! Now I get it.”
Lange and I followed Garitt in laughter. Druid must have sensed something in us. Then again, most adventurers wouldn’t forge a Life Contract with anyone to begin with. I remembered how his face twisted with an idea and he jotted down the clause onto the second piece of paper. When we saw what he’d written, Lange and I looked at each other in shock. He hadn’t asked us any questions—how had he known what our greatest wish was? But at the time, we really had no idea that was what would happen. There had never been a previous incident of someone forging a Life Contract after a Slavery Contract.
“Didn’t you think the two contracts might get you killed?” Zinal asked.
“I wasn’t even in the headspace to consider it then,” I answered.
Lange nodded. “Neither was I. Back then…I was really at my breaking point. I wanted to end it all, yet I wanted to live. I knew I could never be forgiven for what I’d done, but I longed for somebody’s forgiveness… I was in constant anguish.”
He was right. Every time we carried out an order to kill, it was agony. That was why we escaped through alcohol. Only when we were drunk could we begin to forget what we had done. If things had stayed on their course, we probably would have committed some major mistake and died. Or more likely, we would have been turned into puppets.
“We’re who we are today because of Druid’s kindness. He sensed something was wrong with us, but he still forged a contract. And his contract set us free.”
After we forged our Life Contract with Druid, the church gave us another assassination order. And we were so nervous because we didn’t know how the Life Contract would affect it. Depending on how the Life Contract worked, the church might’ve found out that we’d forged it with Druid. In that moment, Lange and I regretted signing his contract and possibly putting him in danger. We realized just how reckless and selfish we had been, so we decided to find Druid and nullify our contract.
But first, we had to carry out our assassination order from the church. But when we were getting ready for our hit job like we usually did…Lange and I both felt something was wrong.
Whenever we received orders to kill, we’d always been tightly bound by a mantra pounding through our heads that said ‘You must kill.’ And yet, the mantra never came.
Feeling confused, Lange and I traveled to our target’s village and watched over him without making the kill. Ordinarily, the mantra to kill would take a stronger and stronger hold in our minds until we followed through. But even after twenty days had passed, it still never came. That was when we realized the Life Contract might be working its magic. And if that were true, maybe we were finally free. But we couldn’t be too optimistic. There was no telling when our Slavery Contract’s binding forces might imprison us again. We really had no idea just how strongly it was being suppressed.
So we decided to test it. If we willingly let our target escape, our hearts were supposed to burn with searing pain under our Slavery Contract. We were going to see if that happened. Our target that time was somebody who had witnessed a nobleman committing a crime. We told him that we had been sent to kill him and begged him to flee. And when we watched his retreating figure grow smaller and smaller into the distance that night, our hearts did not feel even the slightest twinge of pain. It was surreal. He took on a new identity and lived happily under Monz’s care for the next several years.
After we watched him run away, nothing showed any signs of happening for the next several days. We had suddenly attained freedom. We considered escaping the church, and we almost did. But though a binding contract had forced us to, we had killed far too many people. We could never atone for that, and we had selfishly endangered Druid as well. So we decided to tell Druid everything and let him decide what we would do. If he said he wanted to break our contract, we were prepared to tear it up ourselves. If we ripped up the contract before he nullified it, we would die. We could end it all without him finding out. For two people who didn’t want to die, we sure weren’t hesitant to do it.
But when we met Druid, we couldn’t speak for some reason. As we stood there awkwardly, Druid said he wanted us to meet someone and brought in his master Monz. And we were stunned when Druid handed the contract to his master and said, “Look at the stupid contract I forged.” That wasn’t the sort of contract you were supposed to show anyone else.
But Monz looked at the contract, then he looked at us…and he laughed. Since his reaction was the opposite of what we were expecting, we froze in shock at the sight of Monz laughing his head off. Then, the next thing we knew, Druid said he had a job to do and disappeared somewhere, leaving us alone with Monz and two of his friends. Since he was Druid’s master, we assumed he would condemn or punish us, but he did neither. He patiently listened to our story, and when we finished, he said, “Well, I think the contract’s good as is?” We were shocked. He was basically saying we had his blessing to put Druid in danger.
When Lange pointed that out to him, he said, “Druid introduced you boys to me. That’s his way of saying ‘Please endanger yourself with me.’” He spoke with such carefree ease, even though he knew we were assassins from the church. Then, Monz and his crew showed us how we could go on living.
“Why are you still assassins for the church?”
Zinal’s question brought a cynical smile to my face.
“When we were stuck and bewildered by our newfound freedom, Druid introduced us to someone. Someone who showed us a way to go on living. And as we learned, we thought long and hard about what our next chapter in life should be. During this time, the church sent us another assassination order. This time, it was a nobleman who’d been deemed no longer useful for them. He was arrogant and had stained his hands with all sorts of crimes. And when we received that news, we decided to go back to the church.”
“Why?”
“The church wouldn’t stop killing even if we left, so we decided we’d pretend to obey their orders while making our own selections on whom to kill and whom to help escape. And we decided to wait. To wait until somebody who could destroy the church appeared. We’d heard rumors about some people who distrusted the church.”
“Ah, I think I know what you’re talking about…” Garitt said.
A smile spread over my lips. We didn’t know if the rumor was true or a total lie, but we bet our lives on it. We decided to believe that an organization that could destroy the church would come into being someday. And when that day came, we would offer ourselves to them, along with all the incriminating evidence against the church we could provide.
“Zinal…your party is trying to destroy the church, right?” I asked.
After a pause, Zinal replied. “Yes, we are.”
I was elated that he had admitted it. That meant he trusted us in spite of everything we’d done, and it made our next move clear. We would give them all the evidence against the church that we had gathered so far.
“How many comrades do you have in the church, Egar?” Zinal asked.
He was a sharp bastard. Yes, once I found out the layered contracts had set me free, I’d made allies among the other assassins. Since I had to be extremely careful, there were only six of them, but it was still something.
“I have six.”
“Ah, the six whom you told me were definitely still alive.”
“That’s right.”
Maybe we should have turned down this bodyguard job? Now that he knows we’re church assassins…
“I want to include Garitt in your bodyguarding gig. That okay?” Zinal asked.
I guess that’s his way of saying it’s all right for us to take the job. I agree we do need to be watched, though.
“Sure,” I answered.
“Marya has a big secret, you see,” Zinal said. “Once you’ve reached your destination, I want you to introduce Garitt to the one who helped you—only if it’s possible. Once you’ve done that, I want all six of your friends plus you and Lange to meet us at a nearby inn called Asuro.”
Asuro? But that’s the name of the inn we’re at right now… Oh yeah, I just remembered there’s an Asuro in another village. Wait a minute—
“Inns that go by this name were built to lodge and protect people with dangerous secrets,” Zinal explained.
So that explains it. Guess my worries were in vain.
“Distance yourself from the church,” he commanded.
Distance ourselves? But are we really allowed to?
“Egar, Lange, you’ve already gathered more than enough evidence, so you’re free to leave the church now.”
Oh…so we never have to go back there ever again.
“You two have my word,” Zinal said. “We will destroy the church.”
Oh…I’m so grateful. Our wish has finally come true.
EXTRA: The Two Assassins
EXTRA:
The Two Assassins
DRUID’S PERSPECTIVE
A JOB REQUEST CAME IN from the adventurer guild. It wasn’t assigned to me by the requester, but the nature of the job led the guild itself to assign it to me. In other words, it was a pesky and complicated gig.
I went to the adventurer guild to find two adventurers waiting there for me. Apparently, the job was to be done by a task force of three, including me.
Not only was the job pesky and complicated, but there were also too many for comfort. In cases like this, the degree of risk a job entailed went up or down depending on how many adventurers were assigned to it. Then again, I didn’t particularly care how dangerous it was. It was no problem if I died, and if any of my companions messed up, I could just cast them aside.
My adventurer companions, Egar and Lange, were probably in their late forties.
“Nice to meet you both,” I said.
And they greeted me kindly in turn, but one look at their eyes told me they had a dark secret. They were smiling, but there was a murkiness deep in their eyes. They were looking toward me, but not at me. And also, an intense stench of blood permeated from them. Without a doubt, they had killed somebody within the past few days.
“I want to talk about the job—do you have a minute?”
I was a little hesitant to accept the assignment. This pair would be nothing but trouble, and I didn’t want to deal with them. I was even thinking about telling the adventurer guild that there were murderers among us.
“Sure, go ahead.”
But I gave up on the idea. Whoever they had killed was of no concern to me. If I felt like I was getting in too deep, I could always run away. I would handle this just like I always did.
Later that night, we brought a crime organization to ruin. It wasn’t all that large in scale, but it still was not an adversary meant for a team of three including myself.
We rounded up all the evidence we could from their hideout. We’d been ordered to collect everything, so that made our job easier. Had they instructed us to only take evidence that pertained to certain crimes, it would have taken time to sort and figure out which was which. That really would have been a hassle.
“Okay, I’ve got everything on my end.”
I looked over to see Egar holding up a magic bag, and I raised an assenting hand. “Same here.”
We looked at our third man, Lange, to find that he had also finished and was nodding at us.
“Okay, all that’s left is…the survivors,” Lange said.
We stole a quiet glance out the hideout window.
“Five men. All armed.”
We confirmed that there were five individuals trying to enter the hideout. Egar moved right away and swiftly disposed of all five. Next, we went through the belongings of the deceased. Aside from their weapons, they were carrying nothing—then I grunted in surprise.
“What’s this?”
Several sheets of paper came out of the magic bag of the final man we checked. A quick look at them revealed signatures from a certain duke.
“They were buying monster children,” I said.
“Yeah, some of the nobility in the royal capital raise monster children as pets—it’s a recent trend.”
Egar’s words made my face twist in disgust. It was all well and good when they were still children, but those monsters would eventually grow up. It was doubtful whether the adult monsters could be controlled…unless there was some secret way?
“Think a tamer is collaborating?”
That would have made it possible.
“Nope, no tamers in this scheme. They beat the monsters into submission. They pound obedience into them from a very young age so they won’t cause problems when they grow up. That’s the theory, at least.”
Egar’s explanation made my face twist in disgust again.
“They control them with violence…”
Revolted by my words, Lange’s face contorted, and Egar’s did as well. Apparently, “violence” and “control” were trigger words for them.
I suddenly thought of the assassins controlled by the church. It was intelligence I had picked up while I was doing a secret job for a nobleman and—nope, stop it. Not my concern.
“Well, this sure is incriminating,” Egar said, adding the documents to his magic bag.
We stayed at the hideout for a while longer, waiting for more members of the organization to show up. There might be more late arrivals like the five we had just disposed of.
“Guess we should wrap it up?” I suggested.
While we were waiting, another group came to the hideout. This time, there were four of them, and they were also easily disposed of. We confiscated several documents from them as well, and then we decided our job was done.
“No complaints here.”
Since I had Lange and Egar’s approval, we started cleaning up the hideout. First, we put the remains of the guards hired to protect the hideout into our magic bags. Then we messed up the areas where we’d found documents and stacked the bodies in a row. This would make it look like the organization had a traitor among them.
We didn’t need anybody to accept our subterfuge as truth; it was just a little trick we pulled to buy us some time to investigate the documents we would take home with us. It was a messy tactic, but it worked. All we needed was for the scene to look relatively convincing.
“The job went all according to plan, didn’t it? Let’s go.”
I left the hideout with Egar and Lange. We hurried away from the scene, keeping an eye on our surroundings as we went.
I’m surprised at how quiet Lange and Egar both are. I can’t hear them running or even breathing.
The way they were moving brought that word back into my mind that I tried not to fixate on: assassins. They both almost certainly had the Spy skill. And the stench of blood was so thick on them, too, meaning it was quite likely they were active assassins.
Which made them all the more mysterious. Why had they accepted this job from the adventurer guild? A secret mission to confiscate evidence from a crime organization and buy time for an investigation paid much less than an assassin hit job.
Did they take this job to fill time in between their assassin gigs? Do they have a personal vendetta against this organization? No, judging by the way they acted when they checked over the job specs, they clearly have nothing to do with the organization.
“Guess it’s a different reason,” I muttered to myself.
Egar glanced at me, but I ignored him. I didn’t want to tell them what was on my mind, nor did I want to stick my neck out for them any further than I already had. Ignoring them was my best move.
We returned to the adventurer guild to tell them the job was done and hand over our magic bags full of evidence. The guild employee checked the magic bags and nodded.
“No problems here. Your job is complete, and you’ll receive payment within two days. Thank you for your work, gentlemen.”
“Thank you,” we all replied.
The three of us walked out of the adventurer guild together. We would part ways there, and then I’d find something to do.
Well, that job finished sooner than I expected. I guess I’ll go for a drink. It’s been a while. I’ll head to a nice tavern with a quiet atmosphere…
“Do you know of any low-key taverns around here?” Lange asked.
That brought three places to mind, all of which were perfect for winding down after a job. The first, however, was not suitable for adventurers, as noblemen frequented it. The second was a haven for adventurers, but the barkeeper there hated noise, so everybody drank in silence. The third place was known for its tasty snacks. And since it was near the adventurer guild, adventurers would behave themselves there.
“I know a couple places—any specific requests?”
“Somewhere with good food,” Egar said.
Okay, that meant we would go to the third place.
I glanced at Egar and Lange. They’d both looked irritated ever since we’d finished our job.
Is it really a good idea to knowingly take them to that tavern in their condition? That’s kinda risky. What if they cause a problem…? You know, I’d better take them to the second place. The barkeep there is an information broker in this town. Even if something shady goes down, he’ll help you clean up the mess for the right price—or so I hope.
“I was gonna go drinking anyway—wanna come with me?” I suggested.
I could have just told them the tavern’s name and been done with them, but I was worried. I didn’t want them to trash the tavern I’d recommended.
“Yes, please. Thanks,” Lange said. Egar nodded in turn.
Yeah, these guys definitely look unstable. Is it really okay for them to drink like this?
“Are you guys okay?” I asked.
Egar’s eyes widened slightly—but a smile quickly filled his face.
A smile? Not quite. That’s the way a face twitches when its owner is filled with disgust. Well, it looks like a smile to an untrained eye, but not to me. That smile looks familiar, though. Where have I seen it before?
“We’re all right,” Egar answered.
“Okay then…”
They knew they were angry, but they couldn’t do anything about it. Killing people for money did make someone carry a lot of darkness in their heart.
Aha! Now I know why they reminded me of church assassins. They remind me of her. That lady assassin from the church…
I gave the two a critical looking-over. They were highly aware of their surroundings, yet there was a faint look of fear on their faces and a bleak air hung about them. Could it be that they, too, were church assassins?
I’d had a run-in with a church assassin about three months ago. I had just completed a classified job and was on my way home when I heard somebody crying. When I went to see what was wrong, I found a woman weeping. She was wringing a baby’s neck and sobbing that she didn’t want to kill it. I immediately rescued the baby from her—but it was already dead.
When she saw me, she smiled. Yes, that was where I’d seen that smile before. Those fake smiles on Egar’s and Lange’s faces were just like that woman’s smile that night. A twisted smile shrouded in darkness. A smile that had given up on everything.
After she smiled, the woman tried to kill me. From the way she was moving, I could tell she was no ordinary human being.
I killed her—or, more accurately, I helped her kill herself. She lunged at me with a weapon raised high but showed no signs of swinging it. When I realized that, I lowered my guard…and because of that, her death wasn’t instantaneous.
Her final breaths were filled with terror. She trembled and sobbed, “I don’t want to go back to the church…I’m scared of them…I don’t want to kill” while she died. I was dumbstruck to find out that she was an assassin for the church, since I thought dealing with them was nothing but a nuisance.
So I hesitated for a moment after she died. If I left her there, the adventurer guild would investigate her and return her remains to her associates—in other words, the church. And for some reason, I found the idea revolting.
Hoping to grant the final wish of the poor woman who had drawn her last breath with tears in her eyes, I decided to conceal her death. But if I buried her in the forest, monsters would probably dig her up. So I took her body deep into the forest and burned it, thinking that would keep her safe from the church.
Soon after, the church sent in an investigation request to the adventurer guild to find a woman who had stolen money from them and ran away. When I read over the woman’s stats, I knew it was her. And when I saw the phrase “dead or alive,” I chuckled softly. I’d helped her escape them.
“Oops, there’s the place.”
I had gotten so lost in my thoughts that we almost walked right past it. That wouldn’t do. I was in dangerous company.
I looked at Egar and Lange, who didn’t seem to have any opinions to give.
“Welcome, gentlemen! I have a table for three in the back.”
I was going to sit in a different spot, but the tavern was busier than I expected. I’d thought they would be emptier this time of day, but I guess I was wrong.
The waiter took us to our table, and we ordered our drinks and snacks. We didn’t have much to talk about, so we all drank in solemn silence.
I’m not even getting a buzz. Well, alcohol no longer seems to affect me anyway, but today would have been a nice day to get drunk.
I looked at the pair. They were also drinking in grim silence, not offering much in the way of conversation. The only thing worth mentioning was their drinking speed, which concerned me a little. But they were assassins, so they ought to know their limits.
Then again, that’s only if they’ve got a shred of sanity left. That look I saw in Egar’s eyes earlier worries me. Those eyes that reminded me of that lady assassin. That look… Does he have a death wish? I only hope he doesn’t do something reckless.
And why am I so worried about them in the first place? I barely know them. We only did a little job together.
“Welcome, my lord! I’m so sorry, but we’re full right now.”
“Then empty a table.”
I turned my eyes toward the gruff voice and saw an irate man by the door. I could tell from his face that he was a pesky nobleman, and an audible sigh escaped me.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t do that,” the barkeeper apologized.
Then the nobleman kicked a chair. Ugh, he’s the worst.
“Hey, dumbass.”
Huh? That voice… Lange?! What the hell are you doing? If you mess with this guy, you’ll be in big trouble.
“Adventurer scum—do you know who the hell I am? Eh?”
Even in this village, he wants to cause trouble—that little prick. I heard his grandfather was quite the tyrant as well, but the family’s reputation got worse and worse with each passing generation. They had one business failure after another, too. That must be why he came to this tavern; it has lower prices than the one the aristocrats usually go to. Most aristocrats wouldn’t sweat the price, but this guy probably can’t even afford the surcharge.
“Hah! You’re just a puffed-up hack, aren’t ya?”
Now Egar’s provoking him, too. The guy’s got good eyes, though. He’s not wrong.
“What did you call me, scumbag?! Nobody picks a fight with a nobleman and walks away from it. Get him!”
His bodyguards…they’re common thugs, especially the guy on the right. There’s no telling what he might do. Luckily, Egar and Lange are strong enough to hold their own…
I looked at them and sensed a disturbing air around them.
What is it? Ah…they look quite eager for this. Wait—are they trying to get themselves killed?!
“Hold it.”
I grabbed the bodyguard’s raised arm to stop him from attacking. Then I looked at Egar and Lange, closely examining their stances. I was right.
“What’s your problem? You don’t need to stop him from—”
“You know you really want to live. Don’t pretend you want to die.”
The pair gasped in unison. They didn’t even notice what their hands were gripping at that moment.
“Your hands.”
“Huh? Oh!”
Egar and Lange both looked dumbstruck when they noticed their hands on their weapons. They truly had no self-awareness. But these guys weren’t like that woman—Egar and Lange both wanted to live.
“Hey…ya bastard! Stay outta my way!”
Is this guy really a nobleman? He sounds just like a crass adventurer to me.
The nobleman grabbed me by the collar and raised his fist.
“Hold it right there, sir.”
Then the barkeeper grabbed the aristocrat’s fist, leaned in close to him, and smirked.
“A child of the nobility was attacked yesterday just outside this village. The bodyguards quickly intervened, but somebody did indeed attack a child.”
Yeah, I remember hearing that rumor when I was at the adventurer guild. Huh. Now all the color just drained out of this nobleman’s face. Interesting.
“The child’s parents are looking for the attacker, you know,” the barkeeper informed the nobleman. “And there was a witness.”
“Huh?! But there wasn’t anybody around for miles—damn it!”
“Heh. What makes you think there was nobody around? Is it because you were there?”
I looked at the barkeeper. His poker face was convincing nobody—the guy was laughing, and I didn’t blame him. All it had taken to get this noble idiot to sing was a little shaking.
C-clunk.
Uh-oh. The man who just stood up is looking at us for sure. No, wait, he’s looking at the nobleman next to me.
“I’d run away if I were you,” the barkeeper said.
The nobleman shook his arm free and scrambled out of the tavern.
“I’m leaving my payment here, barkeep,” the man said.
“Thanks for your patronage.”
The man glanced at us, gave a little bow, then turned and left.
Ah, now I get it. The attacked child’s parent came to buy intel from this barkeeper. He’s got keen ears, after all. Sometimes he gets intel I couldn’t imagine him possibly finding out. Is he a former adventurer? He’d have to have been quite a famous one, too.
But anyway…
“Terrifying.”
While warding off one nobleman, he’d just earned a debt of gratitude from another.
“Nonsense. I’m just a friendly neighborhood barkeep.”
Um, no, you just ended that nobleman’s life. But he deserved it, so I can’t complain. Besides, that isn’t the sort of catchphrase a barkeep should say with a secretive twinkle in his eye.
“Never mind me—are those two okay?” the barkeep asked.
I looked at Egar and Lange. Judging by their expressions, they had experienced quite a shock. Was the idea that they’d want to live really such a bad thing?
I looked at the barkeeper.
“I didn’t see a thing,” he said.
“Thanks.”
This guy’s good. He knows when to quit.
“C’mon, we’re going,” I told the pair.
“What?!” they gasped.
I paid for the three of us, grabbed the assassins’ arms, and headed out of the tavern. Egar had a grim look on his face, while Lange seemed anguished.
“This way,” I said, releasing their arms and taking the lead. I let them make the choice whether to follow me or not. I glanced behind me and saw they were following.
I took them back to the inn where I was staying.
“Here you go.”
I handed them both some tea and slowly sipped on my own.
…Too weak.
Tea leaves were expensive, so I always brewed the same leaves over and over, but seven times had probably been too much. I wasn’t exactly strapped for cash, but I still found myself reusing my old tea leaves anyway.
“We’re so sorry…”
I looked over to see Egar bowing his head.
“We put your life in danger, Druid…”
“Oh, is that all? Don’t worry about it. I could’ve run away.”
They both shook their heads. And I agreed that running from the church was difficult, but it wasn’t impossible. I could always get some help from my master.
“No, you couldn’t. Once the church has you as a target… I’m so ashamed of what we’ve done.”
Lange let out a wail.
So they are church assassins. Well, I was pretty sure of that anyway.
After my encounter with the lady assassin, I’d dug around and learned what I could about church assassins while I did my classified work. Everything I learned was too heinous to speak out loud. Had they gone through those hellish trials? Was that what had brought them to this moment in time?
“We’re so sorry, Druid…” Egar croaked, his face strained with anguish.
I gave his shoulder a pat. “Don’t worry. I’m a pretty tough guy, and I know guys even tougher than me.”
“No, you don’t understand. The church bastards, they’ll force us to kill you…”
Ah. So Egar and Lange will come kill me someday. Well, that wouldn’t be so bad… No, don’t go there. I can’t let myself be killed by two people who are already so close to breaking. I have a feeling that really would destroy them.
“Aha! A contract! Let us sign a contract!” Lange exclaimed.
A contract? As in, the same thing the church used to put you in bondage? What would be the point of that?
“Let’s forge a contract right now.”
When I saw the paper Lange produced, I caught my breath. A Life Contract—the sort of contract most went their lives without ever seeing—was the last thing I’d expected. Unlike conventional contracts, it was written on magic paper. That alone made it similar to a magic contract, but if you breached a Life Contract, only one fate awaited you: death. Since it was a contract where you gave your life to someone else, unilateral action by the owner of the life was permissible.
Um…are these two guys okay? Since they’re already contractually bound to the church, forging a Life Contract with me might be problematic.
I looked at Egar and Lange. And when I saw their solemn faces, I nodded quietly.
“Okay, let’s do it.”
I chuckled when I saw the fiery resolve in their eyes.
So assassin eyes can be filled with life after all. These men aren’t like that woman. They want to live.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked.
Hesitation flashed in Egar’s eyes. I wasn’t any more sure about what would happen than he was.
“What? Got cold feet?” I asked.
“Of course not! It’s just we, um…already have…signed contracts.”
Yeah, the Slavery Contracts the church forced you to sign. A contract on top of a contract. Nobody knows what’ll happen.
“I think it’s interesting. We should test it out,” I said.
Egar and Lange both gasped, though it really shouldn’t have been that shocking a proposal.
“What should I write in it?” I asked.
Egar hesitated a moment, then took a pen and wrote something into the contract. Seeing what he’d written, Lange took the pen next and wrote something else.
“This should do it.”
I took the Life Contract from Egar. When I saw what he’d written, I gritted my teeth. What a crazy contract clause it was.
“And here’s mine.”
I took Lange’s addition and had a look at it. It said the same thing as Egar’s. They were choosing to prioritize the life of me, a stranger they had only met today, over their own. That showed just how desperate they both were.
What can I do for them…?
I thought back to the lady assassin taking her final breaths. The look of peace on her face as she came closer to death. I thought I heard her say “I’m free” at the very end.
I know what they really want…
I took the pen from Egar and punched a final clause into the contract.
“This should do it.”
Egar and Lange read the words I’d written. I could see the distortion in their emotions, but I also perceived a faint glimmer of a smile in both of them.
A contract on top of a contract. To be honest, nobody knew what would happen. Unforeseen consequences might indeed befall each of us, but it would all still be worth it.
“Guess this’s a little drunken wager made by a few boys after a job,” I said.
Egar and Lange looked surprised to hear that. Their expressions had certainly shifted quite a bit over the course of the evening. I couldn’t help but chuckle over it.
“So, are you in?”
I signed my name on both papers. Their names were already written on them. All that remained was—
“Yeah.” A grim look on his face, Egar moved his fist toward the contract.
“Sure thing.” Lange took a deep breath and moved his fist as well.
All that remained was for them to send their magic energy into the contract, an action unique to making a Life Contract binding. With that, their lives belonged to me.
What a heavy burden.
As the two contract sheets absorbed their magic energy, they glowed briefly. Then the light vanished.
We all met each other’s gazes. A little relieved that nothing had happened, I looked down at the contract to see a summoning circle etched on it.
“Guess that’s how you do it.”
I took the contract I’d forged with Egar.
“Wait, there’s one more piece of paper.”
Even though there had certainly been only one sheet of paper before, there were now two. I checked the second sheet and saw Egar’s and my names on it, signifying it was a copy.
“Here you go.” I handed Egar one of the two sheets.
“And here you go,” Lange said, handing me the copy of the contract with my name and his.
“Nothing happened, huh?”
Egar gave the contract a conflicted look.
“Yeah, nothing happened—that’s preferable, but it feels kind of anticlimactic,” I agreed.
Not that we wanted anything bad to happen. We’d just figured that with a contract on top of another contract—and with a Life Contract, no less—that something bad would happen. We never would have guessed the ritual would end without incident. Even though that was a good thing, we couldn’t quite accept it calmly. We had mixed feelings about it.
“Well…if something bad had happened, we would’ve regretted it later,” Lange said, and Egar smiled cynically in agreement. I saw his point.
“Well, guess our problem is solved, then,” I said.
“Oh! What about the nobleman?”
The nobleman? I gave Egar a confused look.
“The one who was making trouble in the tavern,” Lange said.
I thought of the aristocrat who’d run away earlier. He was…probably no longer among the living. And even if he was, his days were numbered.
“You don’t need to worry about him,” I assured them. “He’s caused enough problems that he’s bound to have a target on his back.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
I guess they didn’t hear what the barkeeper said. Well, they were probably too awestruck by what they’d done at that moment.
“Anyway, want a drink?” I stashed the contracts in my magic bag and set a bottle of liquor on the table.
“Sounds good.”
Okay, Lange’s in the mood to drink. What about Egar? He looks deep in thought.
“Sure…I’ll have a drink.”
Good!
I got out three cups and poured. I looked at Egar and Lange, my secret sharers, and nodded. I gulped down my drink and fire shot down my throat, making me give the bottle a confused look.
“Oops! I took out the strong stuff.”
I’d pulled out a bottle of liquor without really caring what it was, but it turned out to be much harder than I’d imagined. But it tasted good, so I didn’t really mind.
“This is good stuff.”
Egar likes it. What about Lange—agh! That’s one heck of a forehead wrinkle. Guess he didn’t like it.
“How about we drink this one instead?” I pulled out a different bottle.
“No, I’m okay with this.”
Lange downed his entire cup in one gulp.
Uh, easy there, buddy. That look on your face is unreal!
“Yeah, no…I don’t think I can.”
“Pfft—ha ha ha ha!”
As Egar guffawed, a bitter look filled Lange’s face, and I sipped on my own drink as I watched them. Before long, it was daybreak, and we parted ways in front of the inn.
As I watched them walk away, I chuckled quietly to myself. I could barely get a handle on my own actions—what the hell was I doing trying to help them? But they were reaching out, desperately searching for a way to live, and I wanted to lend them some aid. If I hadn’t grabbed their outstretched hands…there would be nothing.
“I had my master to take care of me.”
When the villagers found out I could take away stars, they all kept me at a distance. So did my family—rather, my brothers cursed me because I’d taken away their stars, and I didn’t blame them. They believed a person’s worth was determined by their number of stars.
In my village, I was all alone. Everyone stayed away out of fear. The adults all wanted me to leave town. And when I was desperately reaching out for salvation, my master was the one who grabbed my hand. I didn’t think I could ever become someone like him, but I still hoped I’d be given the opportunity to someday. And now…
“If I save somebody else…then can I forgive myself?”
Because of me, my family had fallen apart. Things had become more stable since then, but my parents still got harassed. They suffered so much because of me.
I cursed the people of my village. I insisted my family and I were not connected. Truthfully, I should have left Oll, but I was too weak. I couldn’t bear to leave my family behind.
“Ugh, this’s bad. My brain is starting to go strange places.”
I’m drinking way too much. Didn’t master always tell you, Druid? When your brain can only go bad places, don’t let it think.
“Maybe I should just go back to Oll.”
I was done with all my gigs, both official and under the table.
So yeah…it’s time to go home.
I’d figured I would see Egar and Lange again, but I never dreamed that it would happen within the month or that they would have such anguished looks on their faces.
Or that it would happen in Oll.
I hadn’t told them Oll was my hometown. I was a little surprised that they knew where to find me, but it made sense when I remembered their profession—they were good at their job.
Turning a curious glance at their current state, I wondered why they looked like they were on the verge of death. I wanted to ask them what had happened, but I wasn’t sure how to raise the subject.
At some point in my life, I’d found that I had lost all my connections. My childhood friends still seemed to care about me, but I was in no place emotionally to accept their friendship. Until my master came along, I truly lived my life not speaking to another soul all day. That was why I had a hard time knowing how to talk about things like this. To be honest, I was at a total loss. I had no idea what to do.
I gave the pair a good looking over. The hideously dark circles under their eyes implied they hadn’t slept at all. It was obvious just how desperate they were—there was a sort of steely resignation in their eyes. But I knew what they had resigned themselves to was wrong.
I didn’t know what it was that had made them so desperate. Maybe the church had found out about me. Maybe they had received another order to kill. The Life Contract might also have taken effect in a bad way.
Seriously, what do I even do?
I sat there in silence and sighed quietly.
“So, um, we were thinking…”
Egar’s voice drew me out of my thoughts. When I saw the look in his eyes, I made my decision.
I had no concrete proof, but I somehow knew. I knew that they were standing at a crossroads, so I decided to introduce them to somebody who would point them in the right direction. It was presumptuous of me, but I knew my master wouldn’t mind my getting him involved.
He’ll give me an earful…but I can take it. Gotos has been really giving me a hard time lately, too. I’ll take a job and leave these two men in their care.
“Yeah, that’s for the best,” I said.
“Huh?” Lange shot me a confused look.
“Never mind. Come with me.”
The two stared at me hesitantly, but I ignored them and headed for my master’s place. I trusted that they’d follow me.
“Wait, Druid, where are you going? We needed to talk to you,” Egar protested.
“I know,” I said with a nod.
I could just tell them I’m going to introduce them to my master, but they’d probably run if I did. Hmm…yeah. I’ll just take them there without saying anything.
“This way.”
“Hey, are you listening?! We need to talk.”
Lange sounded a bit peeved. I beckoned with a chuckle, and they both stared uncomfortably back at me.
“We’re here.”
When we arrived at the house where my master was staying, I opened the door without knocking.
“Helloooo.”
If I didn’t at least announce my presence, there was no telling what his buddy Marual would do to me. Once I was inside the house, I turned around and looked at Egar and Lange. They were stuck at the front door, nervously looking around. They were probably trying to figure out what sort of house this was.
“Egar, Lange, over here.”
They both frowned dubiously. It was funny how they often behaved in the same way.
“Is this your house, Druid? Wait, no, you wouldn’t call out hello if it was. So whose house is it?” Egar pressed me quickly.
“Easy, easy, just follow me.”
Egar realized from my tone that I wasn’t going to answer him, and his brows formed a stern crease. For an assassin, he sure was overly expressive. He probably didn’t realize it, though.
“I’ve come to visit, and I’ve brought guests.”
I stepped inside the room where my master was and found that Tombas was also there. He waved casually when he saw me.
“What’s up?” my master asked.
“I had a little request to run by you, Master. This is Egar and Lange. So, don’t freak out, but I forged a controversial contract with them…”
I pulled the contract out of my magic bag and handed it to my master. When he read its contents, his eyes widened ever so slightly. Then he looked at me, and I tensed for a second, worried he was going to yell at me.
“Pfft! Ahh ha ha ha ha! Kee hee hee! Ah ha ha ha ha!”
Arrrgh… That’s my master for you. Yeah, only he would laugh like a madman at the sight of this contract…
“Druid…what a funny thing you’ve picked up on the road.”
“I assure you I didn’t just pick it up. Uhh, anyway, I’ve got a job to do…”
Through the window, I caught a glimpse of Gotos coming toward the house. I had to find an escape route.
“You take care of the rest, okay?”
With a quick glance at Egar and Lange, I left the room. They looked dumbstruck, but I trusted my master to take good care of them.
I slipped out of the house before Gotos could see me, then headed straight for the adventurer guild, since I really did have a job. (It just had a very flexible deadline.)
Then I gasped quietly—I saw my mother in the distance.
She’s with someone… I think that’s her best friend. I wonder what happened? They both look so grim.
“No, Druid, you should stay away,” I muttered.
I ducked onto a side street before my mother saw me. It would take me longer to reach the adventurer guild this way, but I didn’t mind.
I arrived at the adventurer guild and reported that I was about to start my job. I was on a subjugation task force to take down some monsters that were rampaging deep in the forest. The size of the task force always depended on the number of monsters; this time there were only two, which meant I could do it alone.
“Good luck out there,” the clerk said.
“Thank you,” I replied as I left for the forest.
The sun’s still high, so I can take down the monsters tomorrow if I’m lucky. If not, I’ll have to camp for a few days in the forest.
When I reached the spot where the monsters were seen, I checked the ground and trees nearby. We were dealing with gashlass this time. They were fast monsters who body-slammed their prey, so I had to keep my senses honed for sudden attacks.
I listened to the sounds of the forest and noted the direction of the wind as I slowly made my way through the trees, looking for gashlass tracks. I heard the faint trickle of water, so I headed in that direction. I found a small river and checked for monster tracks on the banks.
“Affirmative.”
I found gashlass tracks there and started a more thorough search of the area. “How strange. Based on these tracks, it looks like there’s more than two of them.”
That wasn’t what the witness had said. An investigation was always carried out before a subjugation force was sent out—maybe they had overlooked it?
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
A monster was coming. I glanced around, spotted the tallest tree, and shimmied up it.
I looked at the monster who’d come to have a drink, and it was not the gashlass monster I’d been tasked to take down.
“This one seems very anxious… Something’s off.”
As the monster drank, it kept looking up, scanning its surroundings.
Rustle, rustle.
The monster looked up from its drink again at the sound of the rustling trees. Then, a moment later, a gashlass appeared from the brush behind it.
“Huh?”
I hid myself behind the tree when I saw how the gashlass was moving.
This is bad. That gashlass isn’t normal.
“It can’t be!”
I grabbed the tree’s branches to move along it, quickly scanning the area with my eyes. Then, when I saw something between the trees, I sighed.
“I knew it.”
Keeping a mindful eye on the gashlass, I slid down the tree, ran toward the object, and came upon a pile of trash hidden between the trees.
“An illegal dump.”
And it’s way too full. Have adventurers been dumping their trash here for a long time? Or have a lot of adventurers been using it?
“But what’s a dump doing in a place like this?”
I pulled my map out of my magic bag and checked where I was.
“Yeah, this is the place…and there’s nothing else here.”
According to the map, there was nothing in this area that ought to attract adventurers. I looked at the pile of trash, which had a disproportionally high concentration of magic items as well as tools for splitting rocks. It contained everything you needed for a cave expedition.
“Did somebody discover a cave nearby?”
If it was a cave with monsters that dropped great gifts for adventurers, they would try to keep it to themselves without reporting it, which wasn’t a particularly bad thing. Even the adventurer guild didn’t put their foot down against that. But dumping trash in the forest was illegal, since it harmed the monsters.
“You know, I did hear a rumor that some adventurers trashed an area on purpose to make the monsters in it berserk so they could hide a secret cave they’ve found. Their plan failed miserably, though…so is that what’s happening here? Please tell me I’m wrong…”
Rustle, rustle.
When I heard the trees rustling nearby, I climbed the big one next to me.
Graowww.
Two gashlasses appeared, roaring and gnashing their teeth as they stomped the ground with their front legs. Gashlasses were strong but not particularly violent by nature. I had never seen them pound the earth like that.
These ones were abnormal. They had unmistakably been turned berserk by that pile of trash.
Okay, now what do I do about it? The job request said nothing about the gashlasses going berserk. This job clearly lacked oversight. I could cut the subjugation job short and leave now without a problem. It was the adventurer guild’s responsibility to find out that the gashlasses were berserk.
“I guess I could still kill them if I wanted to, though. The only issue is, am I sure there’s only two of them? What if there’s another monster nearby who’s been affected even more strongly by the trash?”
If more berserk monsters showed up, then I really would be in danger. Plus, gashlasses moved differently when they were berserk, so they were unpredictable.
Graaaga. Graaaga.
Ack, they found me!
Thunk.
“Agh!”
This can’t be happening.
The gashlasses were slamming against the tree I’d climbed. If they kept it up, I was sure to fall.
“Guess I have to kill them now.”
I looked down at the rampaging gashlasses. I’d have to attack them right when they hit the tree.
Thunk.
I waited for the moment the gashlass’s body struck the tree and thrust my sword at its neck.
Gra, gra.
Damn it, I couldn’t kill it in one blow! Well, I’ll get it next time.
Garrrr.
“Good!”
Graga, graga.
Oh shoot, there’s another one! Now I can’t run away…
Barely dodging the gashlass that was barreling toward me, I thrust at its belly with my sword.
Graga!
As a primal scream echoed through the forest, I heard scampering footsteps. The animals that were hiding nearby had just run away.
“Okay, that’s the last one!”
I removed my sword from the gashlass’s slashed belly, kicked the wobbling creature from the side, and stuck my sword into its neck as it lost its balance.
Gragaaaa…
“…Is it finally over?”
I listened to the wind and rustling trees flowing through the forest. I heard nothing unusual, so I knew there were no more berserk gashlasses in the area.
“Guess the job’s done. I should probably take the gashlass bodies back. They’ll help with the berserking investigation.”
I took out my magic bag and added the two gashlass corpses.
“Okay…it’s dark already. Looks like I’m camping here tonight.”
I’ll go back to town first thing tomorrow morning and…I’ll have some annoying things to deal with when I get back. I know, right after I report my job is done and hand over the gashlass corpses, I’ll get a new job. And if there aren’t any, I’ll just go to the next village over.
I didn’t care if my master knew, but I was certain the news had reached Gotos by now. He’d have an earful for me—which would be a hassle.
“Sleeping in a tree seems like my safest bet since aren’t any tree-dwelling monsters in these parts.”
Then again, I won’t really be sleeping, just resting a little, so I don’t have to worry about finding the perfect spot anyway.
I sat on a branch of a large tree and rested my body against its trunk. That would be more than enough.
“I wonder how they’re doing right now…”
I thought back to the looks on Egar’s and Lange’s faces when I pushed them on my master, and I laughed.
“They sure were shocked, weren’t they?”
They probably weren’t expecting me to tell my master about the Life Contract, rightfully so. You know, they both acted quite differently than they did when I first met them. They were so much more emotive than before.
“The Life Contract… It has to be. When we forged the contract, I threw caution to the wind and didn’t really think about it, but it seems like it’s having a good effect on them.”
And on me, too.
“I can do more than just take from people. Could I have…”
Could I have given something, too?
The only thing I could do for that lady assassin was kill her. But why? I’d been able to give Egar and Lange a new chance at life.
“Huh?!”
I suddenly looked around, and it seemed a bit brighter.
“Agggh. I thought I was just going to have a little rest, and I wound up dozing off.”
Well, so much for my plans. I guess I’ll be fine, though. I’ll go back to Oll and finish the job.
I picked up my bag of gashlass corpses and headed to Oll.
“Welcome back, and good work.”
I returned to the adventurer guild in Oll and announced that the job was finished. I stole a glance at the entrance, then let out a sigh.
I should’ve known. Gotos has known me a long time. Of course he would’ve predicted how I’d behave.
Still, I hadn’t expected Gotos to be waiting for me at the adventurer guild bright and early.
No way am I escaping him now. Argh…Gotos always gets so long-winded when he lectures…
“Druid.”
“Hey. What’s up?”
“Delivered your report?”
“Not yet.”
I didn’t want to be finished, but I would be once I handed over the gashlass corpses.
“Not yet, you say?”
“Yeah, I have to report an illegal dump and deliver some berserk gashlass corpses.”
“An illegal dump? But there isn’t anything around here that would draw a lot of adventurers.”
The adventurer guild employees nodded in agreement.
“I don’t know for sure, but I think they discovered a cave. All the magic items in the dump were the sort for cave exploration. Get out a map, and I’ll mark the spot for you.”
“Coming right up, sir…”
A guild employee brought me a map, which I marked to indicate the illegal dump.
“But this area is…”
“Something wrong?”
The guild employee nodded. “One of our adventurers goes here often and talks a lot about a fruit that can be foraged nearby. He likes it, apparently.”
Sounds like the adventurer who made this illegal dump will get caught faster than I thought.
“Huh, okay.”
“Oh, please don’t tell anyone else about this! We need to conduct an internal investigation.”
“I know. Also, what should I do about the berserk gashlasses?”
The guild employee turned around and raised a hand. Another employee approached us and escorted me to the dissection room in the back.
“Why’re you coming, Gotos? You can always wait out back.”
“Master told me to bring you back.”
Argh… Well, it was worth a try.
“Got it. I’ll go see Master.”
Guess I have no choice but to give in.
I handed over the gashlass corpses and headed back to my master’s house with Gotos.
Argh… I’m not looking forward to this. He only laughed last time, but he’ll definitely give me a piece of his mind now.
“Just give in.”
Gotos’s words made me raise an eyebrow.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, did you?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t.”
“You got mixed up with some shady characters from a bad group—your one mistake was not telling Master about it.”
Yeah, that would be the biggest issue. Master always insisted I talk to him if I was ever caught up in a major hassle or got in way over my head with some organization.
When I hid the woman from the church, I wasn’t sure whether I should tell him. I knew I ought to let him know, since getting on the church’s bad side always put your family in danger, but I thought I could clean up my own mess, so I didn’t say anything. Even now, I believe I made the right call. After all, here I was, standing on my own two feet.
“We’re back, Master…”
Gotos entered the building where he and his friends were. I followed him and heard voices from the back of the house. We entered Master’s room and found him sitting with a glass of booze in hand, beckoning to us.
“Hey there, troopers. Just to let you know, I haven’t had any trouble with that pair you brought me.”
I was a little surprised to hear a sigh of relief escape me at the news—I hadn’t realized I was that worried about Egar and Lange. Since the church had trained them to kill, I’d figured they could handle whatever came their way. But my master’s words made me realize something: I’d been worried about them.
Ah… That must be why Master sent Gotos after me.
“Is that so? Well, thank you very much, Master.”
I’ve still got a lot of growing up to do…
Gotos stared at me in surprise as I lowered my head to my master.
Well, I don’t blame him for being surprised. I’ve never humbly bowed to anyone in thanks before.
“How’d your job go?” my master asked.
I told him about the illegal dump and the berserk gashlasses. Once I was finished, he sighed.
“They just don’t care about the consequences, do they? They know monsters go berserk off the magic energy left in trash.”
I nodded in agreement. The adventurer guild knew better, but they chose the easy way out, even though they were aware it might bite them in the ass later.
“Well, whatever happens next is the adventurer guild’s problem, not yours. So, Druid, why’d you forge a Life Contract with those two?”
That came out of nowhere. Actually, no, it didn’t. That’s what I came back here to talk about.
“I just…had a feeling it would be okay.”
“Huh, okay. Boy, did I laugh when I saw that contract. Never thought I’d see the day when the self-proclaimed hassle-hater would choose to take on a hassle.”
So that’s why he laughed so hard.
“Well, I was drunk.”
“Drunk, eh? Well, you’re making your own way in the world now, Druid, so I’ll spare you my lecture.”
Gotos’s expression twisted a little when he heard my answer. They both must have caught on to my lie. But maybe it was because my master wasn’t saying anything that Gotos held his tongue as well. It made me feel a little guilty. I knew I had worried him.
“Don’t do anything too reckless, okay?”
I nodded back at my master. Which category does a Life Contract fall under? Reckless, surely.
“I won’t. I’m sorry I worried you. And you, too, Gotos, I’m sorry.”
I did kind of run away without giving you an explanation.
“Well, you should be sorry. When I heard what happened, I almost marched into the forest to beat you up.”
I’m glad he didn’t do that.
I smiled sheepishly at Gotos, then looked at my master again. “Ha ha! So, how are those two doing right now?”
He had said there were no problems with them, but where were they now?
“Egar and Lange are with Marual, learning how to see through a person.”
How to see through a person? Since they’re assassins, wouldn’t that be unnecessary?
“They haven’t learned the most essential parts about being human. They know how to kill people and how to search for and mask auras. They know how to sneak into mansions and hide. They know how to deceive people, betray people—all those lessons have been perfectly pounded into them. But they don’t know how to communicate and socialize with people—they just copy what everyone else does.”
Is that really what they do? I…don’t know. When I first met them, it was on a job, and they both seemed very unstable back then.
The next time I saw them was a few days earlier, and they’d been tormented with worry. Both times, they’d been at the end of their rope. That was why I’d stipulated in their contract that they should “be free.”
“Druid?”
“Huh?” Startled, I looked at Gotos.
“You okay? You’ve got a really grim look on your face.”
Grim?
I felt my face. I hadn’t meant to look that way.
“Well, Druid’s a compassionate guy, after all.”
Me? Compassionate? The guy who stole so much from my own family?
“And I like him that way.”
My master looked at me and patted my shoulder. And for some reason, I stopped wondering whether he was right.
“Master?”
“Druid, what did you wish from them?”
What?! I wished something from Egar and Lange?
“You forged a Life Contract with them. You’ve got their lives in the palm of your hand. You could give them any order you wanted, couldn’t you?”
Well…he’s not wrong. But there’s nothing I want from them.
“I just wish…for them to live their lives as they want.”
“Oh. I see.”
It sounded like my master understood what I’d meant.
“Huh? Oh, Druid, it’s you.”
My master’s friend Marual entered the room. I peeked behind him, but I didn’t see Egar and Lange.
“How’re they?” my master asked.
Marual shook his head, which made me a little anxious.
“When I tried to teach them how to interact with others, how to trust, how to make friends—they hid their feelings well, but I could tell they were resisting it.”
I felt my brows knit together.
“Those church scumbags force their assassins to kill their own, over and over, from a very early age until they break. It’s so they won’t feel any guilt or remorse when they kill, so they’ll carry out their mission no matter what happens. I believe Egar and Lange are scared to get close to anybody because they might have to kill them later.”
I remembered something I heard them murmur before we forged the Life Contract: “We don’t want to have to kill you, Druid.”
“But it seems like their Slavery Contracts are completely restrained now, which means they might be able to harm themselves.”
Marual’s words brought a sudden dreadful thought to my mind. They wouldn’t…
“Don’t worry. They’re okay. For now, at least…”
Marual was trying to say that he couldn’t guarantee their safety moving forward.
“Well, there’s no use worrying about that now. Druid, wanna see them?” Marual asked.
I froze for a moment. See Egar and Lange? I did, but…
“They’re doing well, aren’t they?” I asked as I looked at Marual, who nodded without hesitation.
“Yeah, though they are worrying over what their next move should be.”
If they were worried about their next move…then I shouldn’t meet them. My master was right: I did have their lives in the palm of my hand. If I went to see them now, they might want to surrender their free will to me. I hoped I was wrong, but since I had my worries, it would be best that I not see them.
“I won’t see them,” I replied.
“Okay. Well, yeah, it’s probably best for you not to see them right now,” my master said.
I nodded back, and Marual nodded at me in agreement.
“Marual, no matter what those two decide to do, don’t argue,” my master said.
“Of course I won’t,” he said with another nod. “This is their choice to make. I will always put their independence first, no matter what conclusions they reach.”
I looked out the window to see Lange and Egar in the garden, sitting beneath a tree and talking to each other.
“Oh!” I gasped when I saw Egar smile.
Well, it was the first time I’d seen Egar smile—though it still looked a bit awkward. But he was definitely smiling, and Lange laughed in turn. As I watched Lange laugh, more cheerfully than Egar, a smile crept over my lips.
“Well, look who learned how to smile,” I said.
“Huh? But doesn’t everybody smile?”
I was a little taken aback by the look of confusion on Marual’s face. From his reaction, I could tell he hadn’t seen the uncanny smiles the two men had made before.
“When they used to smile, it was a bit off…” I explained.
That was because there had been a lot of scheming behind their smiles.
“Oh, really? Well, from the way they were acting yesterday, I had no idea.”
I looked at Egar and Lange. They were probably changing, little by little.
“Master?”
“What?”
“I’m going to stay away from Oll for a while.”
Until those two figured out how to live their lives moving forward, I needed to keep my distance so I wouldn’t get in their way.
My master nodded. “Okay. I understand.”
“Hey, Dad!”
“Agh!”
I looked toward Ivy with a start to see her peering anxiously into my face.
“Are you okay?”
I gave her head a pat. “I’m fine. I was just reliving the past a little.”
I’d left the town of Oll immediately after that. And during the crushingly busy days that followed, I got word from my master: “They went back to the church.”
At first, I was very sad to hear it. I was confused why they would go back to the church. I even felt slightly betrayed by it.
But when my master told me more about them, I realized they had returned to the church for some secret reason. So I took them at their word when they left the message “We promise we will come back,” and I patiently waited.
I thought back to the pair as I’d just seen them at the merchant guild. The air about them had been so kind and gentle that I hadn’t even recognized them when they called my name.
“It’s amazing how starkly a person can change.”
“You mean those men we met today—Egar and Lange?” Ivy asked.
I smiled and nodded. It was more than the air about them that had changed. The smiles they ended up leaving me with were the best I’d ever seen them looking. As I thought about them, I couldn’t help but smile. I had finally reconnected with them.
“Dad, you look really happy about something.”
“Huh?” I looked at Ivy, who seemed thoroughly amused. “Do I?”
“Yup.”
I look happy, huh? Well, I am happy. I’m happy I got to see them again and I’m happy I saw them smiling so effortlessly.
“So what are Egar and Lange like?” Ivy asked.
…How do I even start to explain? Ivy is mature enough that I can tell her most of the truth, but I’m still not sure…
“A basic summary is fine,” she urged. “Where did you meet them? Oh—unless that’s classified?”
Is she worried I met them on a top-secret job?
“I met them when I was doing a job from the adventurer guild. They were dealing with a little problem, so I shoved them on my master.”
“Um, Dad, that doesn’t sound very nice…”
My eyes shot open. Ivy had a judgmental stare on her face. But it couldn’t be helped; uniquely pesky problems were always best passed off to my master.
“This problem they had…did it get solved?” Ivy asked.
“No, not quite yet. That’s why I hadn’t seen them since then.”
I’ve been waiting patiently. Waitingfor them to leave the church for good.
“Oh, okay,” Ivy replied.
“And that’s why I was really happy to finally see them after all this time.”
A part of me had worried I would never see them again.
“Oh, well, I’m happy for you, then.”
“Thanks.”
Ivy’s joyful giggle brought a smile to my own face. That was when I remembered how surprised Egar and Lange had been at my behavior around Ivy.
“I guess I’ve changed, too.”
I recalled the looks of surprise on their faces.
They’re bound to tease me about it the next time I see them. Well, when that happens…I guess I’ll take them out for another drink.
BONUS: Amiche and Luffie Are Slowly Making Friends
BONUS:
Amiche and Luffie Are Slowly Making Friends
LUFFIE’S PERSPECTIVE
I PULLED BACK THE CURTAINS and was greeted by another sunny day. Opening the window with a yawn, I stretched my arms high to the ceiling.
“Ooooh…feels good.”
I loved the feeling of stretching my back.
“Peh!”
I turned to look at Ponyu, who was doing the same yawn-and-stretch movements from the basket it slept in.
“Good morning, Ponyu.”
“…Peh!”
I wandered over to Ponyu and gave its head a gentle pat. “We’ve got work today, so let’s both make it a good one, okay?”
“Peh!”
Today marked the three-month anniversary of me working on my relationship with Ponyu. Progress was slow, but things were moving in a good direction. I’d been so lost and bewildered at first, but now those early days were fond memories.
“Okay, let’s eat breakfast and get ready for work.”
“Peh!” Ponyu followed me to the kitchen. “Peh! Peh!”
“Okay, okay, hold your horses.”
I shot a sheepish grin at the overly excited slime and filled a pot a bit larger than Ponyu with hot water. Once the water was the right temperature, I picked up Ponyu and put it in the bath.
“Pehhhh.”
I chuckled softly at Ponyu’s contented cries. Its favorite thing lately was baths in the pot.
About half a month ago, Ponyu had gotten all muddy from the rain. I was going to wet a cloth and wipe it clean as usual, but Ponyu was just so filthy that I filled a pot with hot water and put the slime in instead. And Ponyu seemed to love it, because the next day, it hopped into the pot and looked up at me expectantly.
“Does that feel good?”
“Pehhhh.”
After a simple breakfast, I wiped Ponyu dry and we left the house. I checked out the town as we made our way to the dump. It looked like another ordinary, peaceful day.
“Good morning.”
Amiche and her tamed slime Lulu weren’t there today. She had to take the day off to help her family.
“Hi, Luffie.”
“Good morning, Ashra.”
Ashra, a tamer ten years my senior, glanced to my side inquisitively. “Where’s your girl?”
My girl? Oh, he must mean Amiche.
“She’s taking the day off to be with her family.”
“Oh, okay. You’re not usually by yourself, so I was surprised.”
Am I really with Amiche that much? Yeah…I guess I am. We’re always together at the dump.
“So, um…how’s it going?” Ashra asked.
“Huh?”
I tilted my head, confused about what Ashra meant. He leaned over and gave the slime next to me an awkward look. Was he asking me how my relationship with Ponyu was going since I changed the way we interacted?
“Ponyu didn’t respond well to me at first, but now we’ve become great friends.”
“Huh, interesting.”
Ashra looked at Alulu, the slime by his feet. Maybe he wanted to change his relationship with it, but twenty years was a long time to walk on a path. It didn’t seem like taking a step away would be easy.
“You can start with little things, like a gentle pat on the head,” I said.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.”
Ashra moved his hand cautiously toward Alulu, who stared intently at it.
When Ashra’s fingers were almost touching the slime, his hand froze in midair.
“My seniors told me first impressions were really important,” Ashra explained. “So I did as they said and disciplined my slime from the first day…”
I’d heard the same advice the day I received my taming skill. Hitting your tamed monsters from the very first day was the best way to get them to obey you. That method had never seemed right to me, but I knew no other way, so I treated Ponyu terribly.
“Ponyu is incredibly compassionate,” I insisted.
“What?” Ashra gave me a shocked look.
“So Ponyu forgave me for all the stupid things I did before—well, maybe forgive isn’t the right word. I think I’m still on probation? I don’t really know, but Ponyu is openhearted enough to be with me in spite of it all, so I’m sure that Alulu is also a very kind, forgiving slime.”
We’d heard about a tamed slime that suddenly disappeared from a village somewhere. Conventional wisdom said that tamed monsters never ran away, but that wasn’t true. They only stayed with us because they were kind, nothing more. So surely, they could abandon us anytime if they chose to.
“Huh…maybe you’re right. If Alulu is sticking it out with me, it must be very forgiving.”
“That’s right. So the best we can do is to apologize for the way we’ve behaved and thank our monsters for staying with us.”
“S… I’m sorry, Alulu.”
Alulu looked up silently at Ashra as he apologized. There wasn’t a bit of emotion on the slime’s face, so it was unclear what effect Ashra’s apology had. All Alulu did was stare intently up at him.
“Ah…”
Ashra stood there and stammered, not sure what to do. Alulu just stared back.
“Alulu…can I touch you?” I asked.
Alulu looked at me. No reaction.
Hmm…I’m not sure if that’s a yes or a no.
“Um, if you don’t want to be touched, can you wiggle a little? Okay, here we go.”
I slowly reached out to Alulu. Then I gave its motionless head a soft pat.
“Thank you for letting me touch you,” I said.
Alulu was still staring intently at me. Ashra looked back and forth between us, an anxious expression filling his face.
“Alulu didn’t respond to me, but it didn’t object to my touch, either. I think we can assume that’s a good thing.”
Since Alulu hadn’t jiggled in protest, I knew that it was okay.
“Pehhh!”
I felt a shock in my head when I heard Ponyu’s voice.
“Agh! Huh? Ponyu, what’s wrong?”
Ponyu, who’d jiggled over to Alulu’s side, looked angry.
“Pehhh! Peh!”
Yeah, definitely angry. Um…what do I say?
I felt a slight jiggle under my hand on Alulu’s head. I looked down to see the slime was jiggling.
“I’m sorry. Did you not like that?”
“Pehhh.”
Huh?
Ponyu’s gaze moved from Alulu to my hand.
Wait a minute… Is this what I think it is?
“Ponyu, are you upset that I was petting Alulu?”
Ponyu’s gaze darted away from me in a huff.
I was right!
“Oh, Ponyu, you’re so cute.”
I picked up Ponyu and held it tight, but something felt strange. Amiche’s slime Lulu never acted like this.
“Aha!”
Then I looked at Alulu and noticed the slime’s expression had changed a little. A closer look revealed a little smile. It looked…satisfied?
“Peh?”
I looked down at Ponyu in my arms. “I can tell your Alulu is a very sweet slime,” I said.
Ashra gave me a bewildered look.
“Ponyu got mad at me because I was petting Alulu’s head, so Alulu picked up on that and signaled for me to take my hand away.”
That was why Alulu had jiggled after the touch. Though the slime had spoken without any emotion in its voice, I could tell Alulu was a compassionate one.
“You think so?” Ashra asked. “Huh… So Alulu is kind…”
Alulu’s gaze shifted a little when Ashra said that. What emotion was that? It had been so subtle I couldn’t tell.
“Thanks, Luffie.”
I looked at Ashra in shock. With a stern crease in his brow and a solemn look in his eye, he gently petted Alulu. It was a very strange sight to behold.
“I’ll put in the work to make our relationship like the one you and Ponyu have…no matter how long it takes.”
To make their relationship like ours?
“What does our relationship look like to you?” I asked him.
“How should I put it…?” Then he suddenly cut himself off in a quiet chuckle.
Huh?! What’s so funny?
“I think you’re Ponyu’s plaything, Luffie.”
I was dumbstruck.
“Peh!”
I looked down at Ponyu in my arms. It stole a coy glance at me and looked away, then it jiggled.
“Ponyu.”
Ponyu seemed to understand Ashra’s words perfectly.
“Are you laughing at me?”
I’m not entirely sure, but it looks like laughter to me… Oh, and now it’s stopped.
“Do slimes even laugh?” Ashra asked.
“I’m not sure, but that looked like laughter to me.”
“Yeah, I saw it, too.”
Ponyu looked at Ashra and me, then bounced out of my arms and onto the ground, looked at us, and jiggled.
“Are you laughing again?” Ashra asked.
I nodded faithfully. “Yes, I just think it looks like laughter, don’t you? But that means Ponyu is laughing at us, doesn’t it?”
We silently stared at the slime. I was happy to get to know a new side of Ponyu, but I had mixed feelings about being laughed at.
“Pfft!”
I looked at Ashra… Now he was laughing.
“Nobody’s ever given a serious thought to the inner workings of a slime. And here we are, pondering over whether or not slimes laugh.”
“Pfft! Ha ha ha!”
I had to admit it was a ridiculous thing to ponder.
“Hey there. Today makes three months, right? How’s it going with Ponyu?”
I looked up in surprise at the question to see Chase, my senior tamer, with a solemn look in his eye. He was holding his tamed slime, Izu.
“We’re getting along very well,” I told him.
Chase nodded faithfully in reply.
I looked at Ponyu and smiled. Little by little, more and more tamers were changing the way they interacted with their monsters, and it made me incredibly happy.
“Peh!”
I looked over at Ponyu just in time to see it jump into my arms. I fumbled to catch my creature, and Chase and Ashra looked at the two of us in awe.
“I’m jealous. Hey, Izu, you should… No, it’s me. I’ll change for you.”
Both Ashra and Chase would change starting now. I would have some good news to give Amiche on the way home from work today.
Afterword
Afterword
HELLO, EVERYONE. Long time no write. Honobonoru500 here. Thanks for picking up a copy of The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash, Volume 11. Thanks to you all, this series has sold a total of over 1.1 million copies! I seriously cannot thank you enough. Also, by the time Volume 11 goes on sale, the anime version of The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash should be airing. I hope lots of people are enjoying it. So…are they? Are they enjoying traveling with Ivy? I’d love it if you could find time to give Ivy and Sora some love as they struggle their way along.
In Volume 11, I wrote more about Marya’s condition after she escaped the church. I struggled a little with what state she should be in. Should I really have all her problems be solved, even though she’d spent most of her life in confinement? Or should I have the demons from her past continue to haunt her? Personally, I would have felt fine having all her problems be over once she escaped, but I needed to further explore what sort of group the church was. And since this was a great opportunity to do that, I wound up making Marya’s mental and physical state much worse than I ever thought I would, which I feel really bad about. However, Marya’s damaged state allowed me to show what kind of group the church is.
I also got to write about the church in more detail in the side story “Assassins.” I’ve been wanting to stick this assassin duo into this story for a while, partly to show just how evil the church is. At first, I didn’t plan on having them interact with Druid. But when I realized they had to interact with somebody, Druid made the most sense. Then, once I imagined how their paths might cross, I wound up with a rather interesting story. You can enjoy their story to the fullest in the original short that I wrote for this book called “The Two Assassins.” It chronicles their past and present along with Druid’s, and I hope I brought out how they all changed.
Thank you to everyone at TO Books for your help with Volume 11. My editor K-sama, thank you for always putting up with me. We managed to get Volume 11 published, thanks to you all.
Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who read this book with all my heart. I hope you’ll give Volume 12 a read, too. The manga version of The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash is also selling well. May we meet again in this “Isekai’ed into a world…where proper waste disposal rules!” light novel and manga series.
—Honobonoru500
February, 2024
About the Creators
About the Creators
HONOBONORU500
This is the eleventh volume of Honobonoru500’s second story, Weakest Tamer!
Druid and Ivy sneak quickly through the forest with the woman they rescued from the church. It’s then that Ciel brings them some reliable companions for help. Even the serpents make an appearance, and, before they know it, what should have been a frightful escape turns into a leisurely journey.
NAMA
Blood type A, born April 2nd. I’ve been watching nothing but foreign dramas lately.
TWITTER: @nama3v3
http://nama3v3.jugem.jp/