Merchant Escort Quest #6
Merchant Escort Quest #6
The middle-aged merchant's voice boomed with authority.
As a hired hand, I flinched on reflex.
A monster had shown up, so naturally, we adventurers had to fight it.
I'd just cornered the nun — and now I was supposed to let her go?
"Y-you... that hair?"
"It's your hair, you bitch."
A tremor ran through the blonde nun's pupils.
As her innocent face suggested, she wasn't very practiced at hiding her emotions.
I saw her lunge forward, trying to snatch the strand of hair, and that confirmed it. She was the culprit.
"Give that to me!"
"Don't you dare."
Obviously, I had no intention of handing it over quietly.
I executed a flashy backstep to evade the nun's grab.
Exactly what you'd expect from a heal-slut. She couldn't even keep up with a dealer's speed.
Seems she never bothered to train her body at all.
"Catch you later, you heal-slut bitch."
I raised a finger and gave the blonde nun a warning, then withdrew from the spot.
The nun, having been jabbed at, froze up like a frog that'd been smacked with a rock.
For now, I joined up with the adventurers facing off against the monster.
"An Owlbear is blocking the bridge. It seems we must clear it out if we wish to proceed."
Ethan, holding his sword and buckler, briefed me on the situation.
The caravan was currently traveling the final stretch of road toward the trade city.
The land surrounding the trade city was bisected by a wide river, and to cross it, you had to take the bridge.
A great bridge built in an arch over the flowing water.
Unfortunately, an uninvited guest had already claimed the bridge the caravan needed to cross.
'Whoa, that's one huge fucking owl.'
I stared at the enormous owl that had settled itself on the bridge.
Its body was roughly four meters tall. Over twice the height of a person, and its bulk was swollen out like a bear's.
I knew what kind of creature that owl was.
I'd handled its corpse at least once back when I worked part-time processing bodies at the Magic Tower.
"It's an Owlbear. A pretty funny bastard, as monsters go."
"You know of the Owlbear?"
"It's a bird that can't fly. I've heard its wings can't support its body because it's too damn fat."
"Hoh, as expected of a mage, you are knowledgeable. That is correct."
"Still, we can't just ignore it. It's so big that if we slip up and get crushed under it, our bones will be pulverized."
I calmly observed the Owlbear, which stood motionless in the middle of the bridge.
It was gnawing on a fish it had pulled from the river while fixing its huge, owlish eyes on the caravan.
A look that said it had just spotted fresh prey.
Crrrrrrack!
The Owlbear swiveled its head around. It was behavior typical of a giant owl surveying its surroundings, and it was grotesque as hell. Behind me, Rebecca, who had drawn her blade, flinched in alarm.
"Don't be scared, Rebecca. It's a trash mob once you actually fight it."
"Trash mob? It's the size of a mountain!"
"Its body's so sluggish you can see all its attacks coming. Just dodge around and everyone stab it together, and it goes down. Don't worry."
Rebecca regained her courage at my advice.
What a strange newbie. She beats people up just fine but gets scared of monsters.
"Charge—!!"
The moment the middle-aged merchant's voice rang out from the rear, the adventurers let out a battle cry and charged the Owlbear. As I ran along, I told Rebecca the most important fact.
"Owlbear feathers are worth money."
"Money—!"
"A fist-sized bundle sells for three Copper. Don't miss a single one. Just scoop them all up."
"Money! Greaves! Spaulders! Helmet!"
The instant money came up, Rebecca began to burn with fighting spirit.
I positioned Rebecca — the newbie armed with enthusiasm — up front and followed behind her.
I'm still a mage, after all. I can't exactly go toe-to-toe with a monster at the vanguard.
A mage's duty is, by nature, rear-line support.
"Liquid."
I drew up my mana and began manipulating water. Of course, I didn't have a single prepared droplet on hand.
But with the river surging right under the bridge, I could fashion a weapon from water instantly.
Specifically, a Water Whip.
The water, writhing like a snake, crawled up onto land, took the form of a whip, and settled into my hand. I felt a bit tense — this was my first time using the Water Whip in actual combat.
I let out a shout and lashed the whip toward the Owlbear.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The whip snapped with a brisk, ringing sound!
Every time the whip struck, the Owlbear thrashed in agony.
The whip's destructive force pulverized the Owlbear's thick layers of fat.
Blood spurted with each lash, and clumps of feathers scattered in all directions.
"I-incredible. The Owlbear is completely disoriented."
"A whip, huh. Using a weapon that suits you perfectly, you Incubus bastard!"
Essentially, I was placing a mez on the Owlbear through pain right now.
The adventurers attacked the pinned Owlbear mercilessly. Thrusting with spears, slashing with swords, smashing with hammers.
Among them was Rebecca, swinging her curved blade with deft precision.
"Hehe, this is all money!"
Rebecca slid along the ground, scooping up feathers as they fell.
All of them were feathers that had been knocked loose by my Water Whip.
We're a fixed party anyway.
If she's picking up the feathers, it just saves me the trouble.
......
Then, I suddenly felt eyes on me and looked back.
It was none other than the blonde nun staring at me.
As expected, the nun was a long way from the ongoing battle.
She wasn't even pretending to hold a weapon — just out for a stroll.
That freeloader bitch.
"Eek...!"
The moment our eyes met, the blonde nun trembled.
I greeted her by sending a wink her way.
Not a greeting filled with warm goodwill, of course. It was the Gold-Tanned Incubus style of greeting, which meant I was coming to deal with her once this was over.
"The Owlbear is readying its final strike!!"
"Everyone get clear!!"
The Owlbear, which had done nothing but get the shit kicked out of it, prepared a counterattack.
It spread its wings wide and stretched both legs out, advertising to everyone that it was about to launch a big attack.
"Dodge the stomp!!!! Get to the sides!!!!!"
The moment someone's sharp voice rang out,
The Owlbear beat its wings clumsily and leaped into the air.
Had its survival instinct as a bird kicked in at the very last moment?
The Owlbear spread its wings, trying to achieve the first flight of its life.
But the bastard was so dazed it seemed to have forgotten that its body was grotesquely obese.
A giant owl weighing over a ton couldn't possibly fly with those flimsy little wings.
Hoooooot!
The Owlbear let out a howl as it plummeted back to the ground.
It was a spectacular death, scattering body feathers everywhere.
It was so heavy that the bridge actually shook for a moment. The adventurers who had been watching all braced themselves to withstand the impact.
However, someone who had been strolling in the back wasn't so prepared.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
It was the same blonde nun who'd been glaring only at me instead of the Owlbear.
The moment of impact, the blonde nun's body wobbled dangerously, lost its balance, and she tumbled over the side of the bridge. Splash—! A spray of water shot up as the nun's body plunged into the river.
"The Sister has fallen into the water!!"
A middle-aged merchant who had been near the nun yelled.
At his voice, the adventurers stopped and looked toward the river.
"The Sister fell in."
"Shouldn't we rescue her?"
"The current here is pretty fierce."
The adventurers couldn't readily jump to the nun's rescue. The river under the bridge was racing with a violent current. If they went in recklessly, they could be swept away and hurt themselves. For adventurers, who prioritize individual survival above all, that was reason enough to hesitate. If you get hurt today, it immediately jeopardizes your ability to take the next quest.
Even if the person in trouble was a nun.
"Pfft-hahah! Serves her right. That blonde bitch."
"Rebecca?"
Rebecca cackled as she watched the nun fall into the water.
It seemed she, surprisingly, also harbored bad feelings toward the nun.
"Everyone's been fighting while she's just been playing by herself this whole time. Where the hell did she learn to fight like that? She tried to freeload so obviously, it's only natural she got punished for it."
"An excellent point."
Unusually, Rebecca and I were on the exact same page.
I watched Rebecca expressing her anger at the heal-slut with deep satisfaction.
Now that's more like a member of my party.
She's got a dealer's principles.
Might our party be fated to go all-dealer forever?
That would be a fine thing indeed.
"Hold onto my armor for a sec."
"What? Why are you taking your armor off? You're not giving it to me, are you?"
"Are you crazy? I'm just asking you to hold it."
I passed my leather armor to Rebecca. Obviously, I wasn't planning some sudden, touching gift in the middle of all this. I just needed her to look after it momentarily.
"I'm going to rescue that nun."
"Why would you do something so pointless?"
"There's something I need to collect from that woman."
The other adventurers were hesitating, but I had a reason to save the blonde nun.
It wasn't because I wanted to play the hero.
I figured this was my chance to drag that iron fortress of a woman out. If she was swept away by the swift current, she'd be separated from the group without a doubt.
The moment I pulled that blonde nun out of the water, I'd be left alone with her for some time.
For me, there was no better environment.
An isolated place — what you could call the Gold-Tanned Incubus's home turf.
In a place like that, I'd clearly have the upper hand over the blonde nun.
"Dead meat, bitch."
"Luke!"
I stripped off my top as well and then jumped into the river.
Then I began swimming toward the blonde nun, who was drifting far downstream.
"The Incubus entered the water!"
"Looks like that fellow intends to rescue the Sister. His character seems better than it first appeared. I never expected an Incubus to be the first to step up in a situation like this."
Ignoring the voices chattering behind me, I swam with all my might. I kicked the water furiously, driven solely by a determination to dispense justice to the nun.
"S-save me! Please save me...!!"
The blonde nun couldn't swim at all.
She just thrashed around, having no idea how to actually swim. She was simply being carried away, her body at the mercy of the raging river. Swimming hard, I picked up speed and slowly closed the distance to the nun. Finally, I managed to wrap my arms around her waist.
"Incubus!!"
Only when I grabbed her waist did the nun finally open her eyes. The blonde nun looked at me as if she were seeing a demon crawling up from hell.
"Yeah, I'm that lecherous Incubus! If you don't want to die, stay still!"
"Let me go!"
"If I actually let you go, you're straight off to the afterlife!"
The blonde nun thrashed wildly in the water.
Thanks to that, it became damn difficult to right myself and get onto land. But for a mage like me, solving a problem of this degree was easy.
"Liquid."
The moment I formed a hand seal while still embracing the nun,
A whip of water shot out from the river.
I seized the end of the whip and lashed it toward the shore.
Wriggling like a snake, the whip flew up, coiled around a tree growing on the riverbank, and held fast. Gripping the whip now firmly wrapped around the base of the tree, I fought against the pressure of the current.
"Is that a tentacle?!"
"It's a whip, you dumbass, not a tentacle."
"No matter how I look at it, that's a tentacle!"
Holding onto the flailing nun, I barely managed to climb onto land. The Gold-Tanned Incubus's muscles possessed more power than I'd thought. For some reason, right now, when I was about to corner a woman, my muscles felt especially pumped. Could it be that my kind can even get a muscle boner?
"Cough. Cough, hack."
The nun collapsed on the ground and spent a long while coughing up water.
Her clothes were completely soaked, and her ass, with the black nun's habit clinging tightly to it, was oddly provocative. I noted that she had the kind of hips made for easy childbirth.
A moment later.
Once the nun had finished coughing up water and lifted her head,
I immediately fired a question at the blonde nun.
"Now let's talk honestly. You're the culprit, aren't you? The one who damaged the caravan's artifact."
At first, I thought it'd play out like a detective novel, requiring a long process of deduction.
Using the strand of hair I'd found as evidence,
along with the testimonies gathered from various adventurers,
I'd planned to combine them to stop the nun from denying it.
But something happened that I hadn't expected.
"Yes, that's right. I'm the culprit."
"What?"
"It was me who damaged the caravan's artifact in the middle of the night."
The blonde nun had coolly admitted her crime.
"And my name isn't heal-slut. It's Kate."