Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Roaarrr
Melime was continuing her adventurer registration with a shameless expression.
Aira asked,
“What is your class?”
“Guardian.”
“Oh! That’s quite a high-level combat class. We’ll just do a simple verification and get you registered.”
At Aira’s signal, another employee brought over the class-measuring device.
At that moment, Yuna, who had used the tool before, leaned close and whispered into my ear.
“What happens if it reveals she’s a monster?”
I had to think carefully before answering.
It wasn’t a difficult question.
The problem was figuring out how to make “Everyone here will be torn to pieces by tentacles and die” sound less shocking.
I whispered back,
“It’ll be the end.”
Yuna didn’t look shaken.
Well… she probably hadn’t asked because she didn’t know.
The two of us watched Aira’s reaction, tense with nerves.
Thankfully, there was no noticeable change in her expression.
“Yes! Guardian Melime, your registration is confirmed.”
Whew.
Beside me, Yuna also let out a sigh of relief.
Melime pointed at us and continued,
“I will be joining their party. Handle the paperwork.”
“Of course! A Guardian and a Necromancer together… what an exciting combination.”
Something feels missing here...
What happened to the warrior party leader?
Melime walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder.
I flinched and straightened up immediately.
“I wish to look around this place, so I’ll leave the trivial matters to you.”
“Yes…!”
“Don’t be so stiff. Aren’t we comrades now?”
I nodded.
Then Melime took Yuna and left.
Yuna looked like she wanted to stay here, but... well, have a safe trip.
We had already collected the quest reward before Melime registered.
Thirty silver coins for reporting the results of sending skeletons into the cave.
And there had been an unexpected bonus.
We got another thirty silver coins for reporting on the cave’s internal structure.
Naturally, Melime knew the structure of the cave.
We reported that the cave contained a hole leading to a massive underground chamber, and that several adventurers had fallen to their deaths there.
We also reported that there were no dangerous monsters inside.
Of course, there had been an absurdly dangerous monster there.
But now she was walking around Baron Oton’s territory, so technically she wasn’t in the cave anymore.
As for the other monsters...
According to Melime, she had eaten every single one.
Anyway, we ended up receiving sixty silver coins.
That gave us some breathing room for a while, but...
What’s the point of resting?
I asked the receptionist,
“Are there any more quests we can take?”
“There is one, though it might be a bit burdensome. It’s an urgent request.”
I nodded.
It didn’t really matter what kind of quest it was.
If Yuna couldn’t handle it, then no one in this village could.
And now we’d even recruited an even stronger and more dangerous party member.
“The Baron is looking for adventurers to escort a gift to Count Kite.”
“Uh...? A direct request from the Baron himself?”
Aira nodded.
“Yes. It’s an important request, so failure is absolutely not an option.”
Important or not... if it’s just delivering a gift, isn’t that basically an errand?
Still, hearing it was a noble’s request made my heart race.
I felt like a first-rate adventurer.
“Yes! Leave it to us!”
Hearing my confident reply, Aira wrote something down.
Then she casually added,
“Oh, Luka? This is unrelated, but...”
“Yes?”
“Have you considered relocating your base to the Count’s territory?”
What the hell?
Am I being kicked out?
Is it because those skeleton idiots have been wiping out all the hunting grounds?
“Uh... did I cause some kind of trouble?”
The receptionist shook her head.
“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s just... your party’s strength is a little excessive. It feels wasteful for strong adventurers to stay in a place like this.”
Hmm. She had a point.
Of course, when she said “strong adventurers,” she definitely wasn’t talking about me.
Most adventurers move on to bigger cities after becoming stronger.
That’s where the harder, better-paying quests gather.
Or maybe it’s the opposite.
Maybe difficult quests gather there because strong adventurers gather there.
Not sure which comes first.
Usually, moving your base like this was called graduating.
Graduating from this village had been the goal of me and my former party members.
But our old party had disbanded before we could achieve it.
I wonder what they’re doing now...
As I sank into old memories, the receptionist continued.
“As it happens, this quest’s destination is the Count’s territory. It’s perfect timing. What do you think?”
“Yes! Then we’ll do that!”
Hearing my spirited answer, Aira smiled awkwardly.
“Um... if you happen to lose your party members, Luka, you should come back here. Understood?”
“Oh, you mean if Yuna or Melime die?”
As if that would happen.
Maybe Yuna, but Melime dying? Impossible.
The receptionist scratched her cheek and answered,
“No, I mean... if they transfer to another party or something...”
I suddenly snapped and shouted,
“I can do just fine on my own!”
My confidence had already been crushed by Yuna’s overwhelming abilities.
Hearing that just now made the words burst out before I could stop them.
...I took it out on her for no reason.
I’m trash.
Hearing my outburst, Aira gave a bitter smile.
“Luka.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know when a receptionist has the hardest time?”
What kind of random question is that?
“Uh... when an adventurer fails an important quest? Or breaks the rules?”
Aira shook her head.
“It’s when you hear that an adventurer you were talking with that very morning died during a quest.”
“Ah...”
I couldn’t answer.
She gave a faint smile and continued.
“So don’t make my job harder. And don’t make the receptionist in the Count’s territory suffer either. Understood?”
“...Thank you. If it ever comes to that, I’ll come back.”
Aira nodded.
…
That evening,
Yuna, Melime, and I headed for the Baron’s castle.
Melime muttered unhappily,
“To think that the first thing I do as an adventurer is deliver a gift... what menial work.”
“But it’s a quest directly entrusted by a noble.”
I tried to soothe her, carefully reading her mood.
Melime shot me an irritated look.
Don’t look at me like that.
You scare me.
“…It’s a quest directly from a noble, remember?”
When I dropped the formal speech, Melime finally nodded.
This monster named Melime insisted that we speak casually and treat her comfortably.
Treat her comfortably?
There’s nothing comfortable about this.
Melime asked Yuna,
“Yuna. What do you think?”
“Not sure... I don’t know how important a baron is. Is it like... a district mayor?”
“I don’t know what that is, but I agree that a baron isn’t that impressive. At best, a low-ranking noble.”
Yuna seemed to have gotten comfortable with Melime already and spoke to her naturally.
She’s got guts.
Then again, it probably helped that Melime looked like nothing more than a pretty girl.
Though Yuna was the same.
Sometimes her normal-looking face made me lower my guard too.
I warned them both.
“We’re almost at the Baron’s castle, so don’t say things like that.”
“I know.”
Soon, we were allowed into the Baron’s castle.
The soldiers must have been informed beforehand, because they opened the gates without issue.
At the entrance, an old man greeted us.
“Welcome, adventurers.”
“Ah, yes. Hello...”
“Hm. Will you guide us to your master?”
The old man, who looked like a butler, didn’t seem bothered by Melime’s rudeness.
“The Baron is occupied, so I will explain the details of the request.”
Hearing that, Melime clicked her tongue.
“How rude... very well. Speak. What is it you seek?”
“Heh heh... You only need to deliver the gift to the Count. This way, please.”
Insulting a noble’s representative was the same as insulting the noble themselves.
Speaking casually to them or calling them rude wasn’t exactly wise.
Being caught between a legendary monster and a noble’s representative made me feel like I could barely breathe.
But I couldn’t say anything.
If I had to choose, the legendary monster was scarier.
Yuna, however, seemed to think differently.
“Melime. You shouldn’t talk like that to an elder.”
“Hm? Is that so? But...”
“Don’t do it again.”
A small bomb was provoking a bigger bomb.
Please stop.
Thankfully, Melime seemed willing to listen to Yuna.
The Baron’s butler pretended not to hear their conversation and led us onward.
Before long, I saw something shocking.
“Graaargh!”
Hm.
A bear?
The roar sounded a little forced, but it was definitely a bear.
I asked the butler,
“Is this the Baron’s pet?”
He shook his head.
“No. This bear is the gift for the Count.”
Why would you gift a bear?
I’d heard of assassinations using poisoned food disguised as gifts.
But a bear felt way too straightforward for an assassination plot.
“Does the Count like wild beasts?”
The butler shook his head.
“The daughter of the Kite Count family recently changed class to Beast Tamer. A patrol happened to find this bear asleep and captured it.”
So that’s why it was called an escort mission.
Makes sense.
If it were an ordinary gift, they wouldn’t have hired adventurers.
“So our mission is to transport this bear safely to the Count’s territory.”
“Yes. You must not let it escape, and it must not be injured. If it seems too difficult, you may refuse now. It’s an important matter.”
This quest was much harder than I’d expected.
If the bear escaped, we’d have to subdue it without harming it.
That was impossible for me.
Forget subduing it unharmed—I’d be the one ending up as a bloodied corpse.
It might be difficult for Yuna too.
Her skeletons were stronger than expected, but I wasn’t sure they could restrain a bear.
Killing it would be easy, sure.
But subduing it without injury? That was another story.
Still, with Melime here, we’d manage somehow.
Worst case, she could tie it up with her tentacles and stuff it back in.
I leaned over and whispered to Melime.
“If the bear escapes, can you capture it without hurting it?”
“What a foolish question. Of course.”
Then it should be fine.
I asked the butler,
“When do we leave?”
“The sooner, the better.”
Melime nodded.
“Then there’s no point wasting time. Let us depart at once. Make preparations... no, prepare it for us.”
Maybe because Melime’s tone was more polite than before, the butler smiled and answered.
“Thank you.”
He immediately ordered the soldiers to load the bear onto a wagon and then said to me,
“I’ll assign a few soldiers to pull the wagon.”
“No need. We have our own method.”
I answered with a confident smile and a shake of my head.
But that was a lie.
We had no such method.
I just didn’t want Melime’s abilities to be exposed during the escort.
So... who’s pulling this thing?
I looked over my party members.
Hmm...
Hmmm...
...Is it me?