Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Assemble
Sigh...
The new party member was walking beside the cart with a cheerful expression.
Was this really the same person who had almost had her limbs torn off just moments ago?
Of course, Yuna and I hadn’t welcomed her willingly.
Who knew when she might suddenly shout, “Ah! I want to kill someone!” and stab us?
But Melaim had given us an unbelievable demonstration that eased our worries.
She told Tanya that if she absolutely couldn’t hold back, she could stab her instead.
The moment she finished saying, “Would you like to test it?”—
A hole appeared in Melaim’s body.
The attack had been far faster than when Tanya attacked me.
So fast that even Melaim hadn’t reacted.
Still, Melaim bled like an ordinary person for a moment before her body squirmed and returned to normal.
I want to squirm back to normal too...
Why can’t I do that?
Anyway, the murderer looked thrilled.
Like someone who had discovered a magic pot that produced endless food.
The murderer started talking to us while we lay on the cart.
“My name is Tanya. What are your names?”
“Seo Yuna.”
“Luca.”
“They’re all great names. Is there anyone bothering you? If there is, tell me anytime.”
And what exactly would you do about it?
“By the way, the bear is pushing the cart? That’s amazing.”
“...Krrr.”
The bear must’ve been terrified after seeing me get stabbed, because it was pretending to be an ordinary bear now.
What a shameless bear.
After watching the bear for a while, Tanya quickly lost interest.
Then she turned her attention to the undead pulling the cart in front.
Her lips pouted.
“I hate undead.”
“Because they’re already dead?”
“How did you know?”
My head was starting to hurt.
A crazy necromancer, a legendary monster, and a murderer.
Rather than a party meant to conquer dungeons, this felt like the kind of group placed inside one to ambush adventurers.
Speaking of dungeons, there was one advantage to having four people now.
You needed at least four party members to enter a dungeon.
Honestly, I’d already given up on dungeon exploration.
Our combat strength was enough...
But I didn’t think we’d ever be able to recruit another member.
We couldn’t reveal Melaim’s true identity.
...Huh?
Come to think of it, maybe that was why Melaim wanted Tanya in the party.
Melaim definitely knew about dungeon party requirements.
Looking back, there was no reason for her to threaten Tanya by talking about tearing her limbs off or holding her up in the air like that.
I raised my head and looked at Melaim.
“What are you staring at?”
“Oh, nothing.”
...
After that, we safely arrived at Count Kite’s territory.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t let the skeletons keep pulling the cart anymore.
And obviously, we couldn’t ask the bear either.
So now the four of us were pulling it ourselves.
With the bear still riding inside.
It was ridiculously heavy.
At some point during the trip, Tanya found out the bear could talk.
But she accepted it surprisingly calmly.
Why was everyone okay with this?
Was I the weird one?
Anyway, we pushed the bear-filled cart toward the Count’s castle.
People around us watched the bear with curious expressions.
Everyone, there are much stranger things here.
Like a human necromancer, a murderer, and a doppelganger.
Honestly, maybe the strangest thing was me—adventuring with those three.
When we reached the Count’s castle, the two guards at the gate pointed their spears at us.
“Halt!”
“What is this...?”
The soldiers looked confused as they stared at the bear.
Reasonable reaction.
I pulled out the sealed letter from my chest and handed it to the nearest guard.
“This is a gift from Baron Oton to Count Kite.”
“...This?”
The guard looked at the envelope.
Right.
Normally, you’d assume the gift was inside the envelope, not the bear.
I shook my head.
“The gift is the bear. I heard Count Kite’s daughter recently became a beast tamer.”
“Well... that’s true, but...”
The guards hesitated for a moment.
Then they spoke.
“We’ll inform the Count. Come inside and wait.”
“Thank you.”
...
The Count’s castle was much larger than I expected.
I thought it wouldn’t be that different from the Baron’s castle, but it was at least twice the size.
Melaim didn’t seem impressed.
Maybe because she was a monster.
As for Tanya...
Well.
She looked like she was surveying the area.
But the way she kept glancing at the tall trees and nearby windows made me uneasy.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Just checking escape routes. You never know.”
What kind of routes?!
A little later, two people approached us with guards.
Probably the Count and his daughter.
But...
She was younger than I expected.
The Count’s “daughter” looked about seven years old.
Was she really the beast tamer?
Nobles really did get rare classes easily.
They shared all kinds of methods for gaining job aptitudes among themselves.
The Count’s daughter tightly held his hand, clutching a teddy bear in her other arm.
I bowed to the Count, but my party members showed no intention of doing so.
In the end, I awkwardly raised my head again.
I was nervous, but the Count didn’t seem particularly interested in us.
He walked over and looked at the bear inside the cage with an exasperated expression.
Then he stated the obvious.
“...It really is a bear.”
What, were you expecting a fake bear?
The Count’s daughter looked at the bear too.
Then she dropped her teddy bear.
“Bear...”
Her eyes began to water.
Oh no...
The Count shut his eyes and swallowed a sigh.
“Oton Baron...”
Apparently, he didn’t like the gift.
Well, obviously.
Beast tamer or not, someone had just sent his daughter a carnivorous animal.
Why hadn’t the Baron’s retainers stopped him?
The Count examined the bear coldly, then turned to me.
“But it hasn’t made a sound... It’s not sick, is it?”
The bear gave an awkward roar.
“Krrrroaaar!”
“...It doesn’t seem to be.”
Hearing the bear’s cry, the Count’s daughter stopped tearing up.
And then, a moment later—
She started crying even harder.
“It’s alright, Prelia.”
The girl named Prelia buried herself in the Count’s arms and sobbed.
The teddy bear lying abandoned on the ground looked pitiful.
Inside the cage, the bear was staring at it too.
Well, anyway.
Quest complete...
I think?
...
We arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild in Count Kite’s territory.
The quest was done, so naturally, we came for the reward.
By the way...
The receptionist here was incredibly beautiful.
That pink hair shouldn’t have worked with just any face, but she pulled it off.
When we submitted the documents for registering this as our new base, the receptionist looked at us uncertainly.
“So... you two are a Warrior and a Guardian.”
Melaim and I nodded.
“And these two are an Assassin... and... a Necromancer. Correct?”
Tanya nodded confidently.
Yuna also looked away and gave a small nod.
“Do any of you have criminal records...?”
I looked at my party members.
Hmm...
Even I couldn’t be sure.
I turned to Tanya.
“You don’t, right?”
“Of course not!”
There’s no way that’s true.
I didn’t know the exact conditions for becoming an Assassin, but murder had to be involved.
Still, it seemed she hadn’t been caught.
I turned back to the receptionist.
“She says no.”
The receptionist seemed to think the same thing I did, but she didn’t press further.
Digging into someone’s past based on their job or aptitude was a serious crime.
With an uneasy expression, the receptionist turned to Yuna.
“You’ve come a long way. Are you thirsty? Would you like some water?”
“I’m fine.”
“I don’t need any.”
I’m thirsty though.
“If there’s water, could I have some?”
The receptionist ignored me.
She only kept staring at Yuna.
What was with this person?
Yuna endured the gaze for a moment before lowering her head slightly.
“Then... I’ll have a glass.”
The moment Yuna answered, the receptionist dramatically pulled out a bottle from beside her.
She opened it and handed it over.
It looked like water...
But why was it in that kind of bottle?
Ah.
I know what that is.
“Drink it all. One shot!”
One shot, my ass...
Yuna drank the contents just like the receptionist told her to.
Then immediately spat it out.
“Ah! Salty!”
So holy water tastes salty.
The receptionist calmly wrote something down despite Yuna’s complaint.
“So... not undead.”
Then she handed over three silver coins.
This scene felt strangely familiar.
But what happened next was slightly different from before.
At some point, Tanya had moved behind the receptionist and whispered into her ear.
“Are you bullying Yuna right now?”
The receptionist jumped in terror and fell backward onto the floor.
She sat there trembling like a rabbit in front of a predator.
Honestly, that was probably exactly how she felt.
After all, the person whispering behind her was an Assassin.
The receptionist stammered.
“N-no... I was just... checking...”
“Tanya! Stop! She’s just doing her job!”
At my shout, the receptionist nodded frantically.
“Oh. Really? I almost misunderstood.”
At that moment, adventurers sitting all around the guild hall rose to their feet.
They glared at us and marched over.
“Hey! What did you do to Miss Lily?!”
Lily?
I looked at the receptionist trembling on the floor.
Was that her name?