Category: Chronicles of a Creative Different World Reincarnation

《29　The Labyrinth of Spirit Hollow》

The next morning I woke up to find Eleanor and Maria in my bed for some reason.
Originally, my bed was a double so that I could sleep with Eleanor. But I also made the single first.
I couldn’t bear the thought of letting Maria be the only one sleeping alone last night, so I thought I’d have them each sleep separately in a single bed. …… How did this happen?
I’m not even going to think about it……
Next time, I’ll get a custom-made large bed, or make one myself! I decide to do that, and I wake them both up.
I’m planning to skip my morning workout today and go to the dungeon right after breakfast.
Maria’s natural strength was okay, but I just started strengthening her yesterday, and thus, she was inevitably weaker than Eleanor and I. So I’ll let her assist Eleanor in the shallower levels of the dungeon, and then I’ll supervise her further.
With that idea in mind, we enter the dungeon.
Once inside, I looked around and saw that the inside was like a limestone cave. Furthermore, it was kind of gloomy and uncomfortable to be honest. There were still things I didn’t like, and the ground was wet in places.
Hmmm, this is going to get my shoes wet and dirty. It’s not my favourite dungeon so I’ll have to endure ……. the consequences of that can be solved with〈Life Magic〉later. But then again, I only have experience with one dungeon, don’t I?
I pushed down my frustration as I made my way through the dungeon, but as I expected, the shallow levels were filled with only weak monsters.
After clearing the Labyrinth of Time’s Lament, I hardly encountered any strong monsters, so I only gained one level too.
When the two of them get more powerful, I want to go to a place where there are strong enemies.

After a while, we came across ten alligators. They looked exactly like crocodiles, maybe two meters in size.
The alligators were moving in a random order, each of the ten of them without regard for their formation. One of them tried to bite Eleanor.
Eleanor dodged it to the side with room to spare, and also dodged another one that came to bite her. I walked behind the alligator that had first attacked her with 〈bite〉 and sliced off its tail with my mithril dagger.
Eleanor hadn’t stopped moving yet. While avoiding〈bite〉, she got behind the other alligator and sliced off its tail.
In conjunction with that, Maria had already shot an arrow.
The arrows that were released shot through the eyeball of the alligator, whose tail Eleanor had cut off, in rapid succession.
The alligator that was hit by the arrow in the eye went wild, causing the alligators to bump into each other.
Then Eleanor and Maria attacked the confused alligators with more attacks to finish them off.
Watching the two of them work together so effortlessly, I wondered if they were a good match. I think so.
After defeating all the monsters, I put the materials into the【Item Box】. Their skins are often used for the outer lining of mass-produced magic pouches, and they are not that expensive.

We went further down the levels, but there were no particularly strong monsters.
This is a captured dungeon, and it looks like it has a total of 40 floors.
It seems that Aspidochelon appears from the 25th to the 39th floor. The 30th floor is a boss room, though, so no Aspidochelon.
I quickly made my way down to the lower levels in an attempt to catch as many as I could, and finally made it to the 25th floor.
By the time we got here, we noticed that there were not many parties going down, but on the contrary, there were a lot of parties going up.
I look at Eleanor and Maria and tell them what I’m going to do from here.

「Okay, we’re finally on the 25th floor. Eleanor and I will be the main fighters from here on out. Maria, you can follow up and see how we fight. Maria is slowly strengthening, and I think she’ll have to fight more when she does.」
Okay. I understand.」
「Well, Eleanor, let’s keep moving.」

　◇　◇　◇

After defeating the Aspidocerons on the way and collecting their carapaces, I had now reached the door in front of the boss room on the 30th floor.
We camped once before we arrived here. On average, we advance a little more than 15 floors a day.
There were fewer target monsters than I expected, and I had only gathered eight carapaces so far.
The Aspidochelon looked exactly like a turtle, as the guild receptionist had said. It was a size that you would never see on Earth, and it was about three meters long.

Aspidochelon
Level: 28
　ＨＰ：４６６０／４６６０　ＭＰ：１３１５／１３１５
Strength:310 Resistance:932 Agility:56 Dexterity:65 Magic:233 Spirit:263
Skills
Bite Lv3・Robust lv4・Gravity Magic Lv3

Its features just looked hard, and for me, they were too weak to be a match.
On the other hand, with Eleanor, she could beat them, but it took her a long time to do so.
Also, they tried to slow us down with〈Gravity Magic〉, so it might be hard for parties where that works and parties without attack power.

The boss on the 30th floor looked like a crab, about five meters long, with a similar looking guy attached to his back. Two for one, huh?
I did an 〈Appraisal〉 and its name was Twin Club.
From the looks of the status, it was specialized in defense, just like Aspidokeron, and the only magic it could use was〈Water Magic〉.
Since its overall strength is higher than Aspidokeron’s, I’ll fight it alone.
It was the first time in a long time that I used 〈Lightning Magic〉 to fight, and I was able to defeat it in no time.
I could hear Maria and Eleanor, who were watching, yell out, 「「Eeeeehhh?!」」
You’re no match for〈Lightning Magic〉, Twin Club-san…….
However, it smells like grilled crab, perhaps because it was cooked with〈Lightning Magic〉.
　I almost drooled, but unlike Eleanor, I’m a man with self control! I quickly started to 〈Dismantle〉 it.
And when I tried some of the dissected meat – it tasted better than the crabs on Earth. I’ve never eaten fine crab meat on Earth, but ……
That’s when I started snacking – I don’t know how long I’ve been here, but there was a glutton beside me, drooling profusely and eyes sparkling.
If she’s this honest about her appetite, her drooling looks so cute……. there is no way that that’s the case. Wipe that drool off your face! I inwardly tsked as I put the meat in Eleanor’s mouth.
Then, with her usual delirious expression on her face, she yelled in my ear,「I want more!」
Naturally, my ears ring when someone shouts in my ear. Holding back the ringing in my ears, I gave more meat to Eleanor and fed it to Maria.
The two of them just gobbled up the meat with gusto. When I saw them, I thought.
We’ ve been through this dungeon so far …… and the one who did the most damage to me was Eleanor?! And.
A little while later, the ringing in my ears subsided, and I managed to regain my composure. I thought for a moment that I would be tempted to come here regularly, but I quickly denied it.
This dungeon is uncomfortable, the enemies are weak, and there’s little profit in terms of money or experience, so I doubt I’ll be coming back here in the future.

That’s how I successfully defeated the boss, so we continued on our way.
Then, when we proceeded to the 32nd floor, we heard several shouts from the front, and then more ……

「Hey!　Let’s hurry back!」
「Hurry up!」
「Wait! I sprained my leg!」

The people who were shouting were getting closer and closer. I looked closer and saw that it was the same party we had shared the carriage with.
Behind them, a large number of Aspidocerons were closing in on them.
At a rough count, there seemed to be sixty of them.
I absentmindedly thought, “What kind of bonus is this?” popped into my brain for a moment, but then I thought of all the contingencies.
What I mean by “just in case” is that this might be their own plan to lure them in and then take them down.
So I have to ask the guys who are being chased if I can take these down or not.
I decided to check with the adventurer coming from the front.

「Hey! You guys over there! Are you planning to deliberately lure the large number of Aspidocerons that are closing in and defeat them? If not, can I take them down myself?」
「What? You’re kidding, right? You think you can beat that many? No, if you can take them down for real, it’s no problem at all! I mean, I wouldn’t intentionally lure that many in!」
「Well, then I’ll accept it gratefully.」

I used multiple deployments of 〈Lightning Magic〉, which I controlled to avoid hitting the adventurers in front of me, to kill more and more Aspidocerons.
It takes about three minutes to kill them all. The party of five adventurers from earlier were rolling around on the ground, exhausted, with surprised expressions on their faces.

「That’s awesome!」
「I’m saved!」
「Thank you for your help! Thank you so much!」

But I was more curious as to why there were so many Aspidochelons, so I asked them the question.

「When we got to the thirty-sixth floor, that group was there, and we couldn’t match their numbers, so we tried to run away, but they found us. And then they chased us. All the parties that went that far probably turned back, right? Didn’t you guys notice that there were a lot of parties going back to the surface?」
「 Ah, it was definitely a lot. Was that why?」

After a short conversation, they seemed to be tired and returned to thesurface.
They said that it was rare for someone to be able to defeat it so quickly, because only a high skill level of 〈Lightning Magic〉 could penetrate the shell.
He also said that other than〈Lightning Magic〉, it would require a good quality weapon with a very sharp edge.
Anyway, after defeating a large number of Aspidochelons, we decided to make camp here for the night.

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《28　Aiming for C Rank》

Looking at the request board, I found a request that looked pretty good.

【Request Form】
Request Title: Collecting Aspidochelon Carapace 【Permanent】.
Request Rank: C
Reward: Five silver coins
Rank points earned: 1 point
Number of people who can receive request: No limit
Description: Collecting the carapace of one Aspidoceron from the labyrinth of Spirit Hollow, a captured dungeon near Midoria.
Note: Collecting one carapace is one achievement. Life blood is also being purchased separately from the carapace.

I don’t know how many there are, but if one of them is enough to fulfill one request, it looks pretty good.
I decided to take care of this request.
Since it’s a standing request, I don’t have to bring the request form to the reception counter, but just to be sure, I go there to check if it’s okay if there are too many. In addition, I should ask about the characteristics of this monster.

「This is a request to retrieve an Aspidochelon carapace, does it matter how many carapaces we retrieve?」

When the receptionist saw my face, for some reason her cheeks flushed for a moment, then she quickly regained her composure and opened her mouth.

「Yes. Right now, clients are asking for an unlimited number of them. However, not many people take this request. D-rank and C-rank adventurers have a strong tendency to seek immediate money. Although the rewards are set a little low, from the guild’s point of view, it’s a pretty good request to increase your rank…….」

When I looked at the face of the receptionist who said that, she had a melancholic expression on her face.
It’s not for the guild or anything, but it’s a good request for me. I’m going to make a lot of money.

「What kind of monster is Aspidochelon?」
「It’s a monster that looks like a big turtle. It has a large carapace on its back, which is very hard.」
「I got it. Thank you. Also, where’s that labyrinth?」
「It is located southwest of the west gate of Midoria. Our guild is selling a map of this area for a single gold coin, would you like to purchase it?」
「Yes, I’ll buy it.」

I take out a gold coin and hand it to the receptionist.
I looked at the map I had bought and found that it was not as elaborate as the maps from Earth, but it was still a fully usable map.
When I returned to Eleanor, she was completely at ease with Maria.

「Welcome back, master! Did you get a good request?」
「Welcome back, Louie Louie. If you accept a request, I’d like to go with you. I’ve just registered, so I’m only G-ranked, but I think I’m pretty good.」

Maria said this with a certain amount of pride.
With my [Intuition] skill, I know that this girl is not hostile to me and genuinely likes me, so I think I can take her with me.
For what it’s worth, I’m probably missing Airi and Lisa after we parted ways. It simply makes me happy to have more girls who adore me in this way.

「I’m not sure what happens if a G rank takes a C rank request in a party, but from what I’ve heard before, it doesn’t seem to be a problem if it’s a party, but I’ll go check with the receptionist.」
「You don’t have to do that. I’ll can tell you.」

When I heard such a voice, I turned my gaze toward the owner of the voice.
Then I saw that it was the adventurer who had tangled with Maria earlier and was made a mockery of.

「There’s no problem with G-ranks in the party. When a party completes a C rank request, adventurers with less than a C rank receive two rank points. If you’re below a C grade, D, E, F, and G are all treated the same. That request is not very lucrative, but you guys are going. Good luck!」

What can I say? They’re hard to hate. I guess he’ s not a bad person, I thought.
Well, even though I feel that way, I’m not particularly interested in them, so I don’t ask their names.

「All right, then, let’s get going. Before that, I should go over the contents of food and supplies with Maria, and if there are any missing items, I should go buy them. Also, I need to talk to Maria for a minute after I’m done shopping.」
「Yes!」
「Yeeeeess! Was that a confession of love?!」

Maria was saying something stupid, so I pretended not to hear her.
After that, I bought a few more potions and vegetables because I was running low, and bought a bed for the camp just in case. I made my own single and double beds for me and Eleanor, but I don’t have time to make Maria’s bed.
I hope this purchase won’t go to waste ―― maybe it will be okay.
After we finished shopping, the three of us moved to a secluded area.
And I’m going to question Maria.

「I’m going to 〈Appraise〉…… Maria, you’re Maria von Faure, second princess of the Kingdom of Faure, right?」

This is what I found when I appraised Maria.

Name: Maria Von Faure
Gender: Female Race: Elf Age: 16
Level: 20 Title: Runaway Princess, Second Princess of the Faure Kingdom
　ＨＰ：６２５／６２５　ＭＰ：２２３５／２２３５
　Strength：１２０　Resistance：１２５　Agility：１６５　Dexterity：１５３　Magic：４４８　Spirit：４４７
Skills

【Weapons・Physical Skills】
Spear Art Lv4 ・ Archery Lv7

【Magic Skills】
Wind Magic Lv6 ・Light Magic Lv5 ・Accelerated MP Recovery Lv3 ・Magic Manipulation Lv4・ Chantless Lv3

【Others】
Crisis Detection Lv4・Intuition Lv4・Dismantling Lv1・Life Magic

「I see… I see…, Yes! I’m the second princess of the Faure Kingdom, Maria von Faure, that’s who!　But I’m currently a runaway, and I haven’t had any pursuers, and if they do come, I’ll get rid of them.　I’m not a fan of the Faure Kingdom’s elven supremacy, so I ran away.」

When I pointed it out, Maria said, “What does it matter?”.

「I don’t care about my identity, and I hope you’ll treat me as just Maria, rather than Maria von Faure. I don’t even plan on going back to the royal castle at the moment…」

This should be fine.
I decided to give Maria permission to accompany us.

「Okay, so from now on, you won’t tell people that you’re royalty, and you’ll just follow me as Maria? If so, I’ll allow you to accompany me. I think the journey will be free and easy, and will take us around the world. And eventually, I’d like to find somewhere comfortable to live and settle down.」
「Un! That’s fine! I’ll follow you for the rest of my life, okay?」

I find Maria’s smile soothing. It’s a carefree smile.

「I don’t know about the rest of your life, but don’t betray me, okay? Because I hate betrayal and unreasonable things.」

I’ll still have to remind her, though.
I don’t know if it’s a weakness of love or something, but this girl is basically very understanding. I don’t know when her venomous tongue will come out, but I’d better pay attention to it when I think it’s not appropriate.
We talked a bit after that, and I also told Maria that I was going to strengthen her.
Then we decided to use a carriage to ride to the dungeon and set off.
There were five other adventurers in the carriage with us. The five of them seemed to be in the same party.
There is no particular conversation between the other side and here, Maria and Eleanor are talking amongst themselves.
As for me, I was thinking about the results of Maria’s appraisal and how I could strengthen her.

　◇　◇　◇

There were no particular events along the way, and by the time night fell, we reached the Labyrinth of Spirit Hollow.
We found a suitable place for camping a short distance away from the dungeon entrance, and we began to prepare our camp there.
The other party in the carriage, I don’t know if they were being tough or something, but they went right into the dungeon.
We’ll get a good vantage point, set up a ward, and get ready for bath and dinner.
As we prepared for the encampment, Maria was surprised, just as Eleanor had been surprised before.
Come to think of it, I’m starting to feel like I’m the only one who prepares dinner. I’ve got two girls…….
Maria was a princess, so she doesn’t have any 〈Service〉 skills, and my 〈Service〉 skills are higher than Eleanor’s.
I wonder if I should just be patient at first and let Eleanor do a lot of things from now on, so she can get better at cooking.

「Eleanor, you can prepare today’s meal, I’ll leave the ingredients here. I’ve already bought the vegetables, and I’ll bring out my secret weapon, the dressing. When you eat them with this ―― the vegetables will be delicious.」
「I’m more of a meat person!」
「You have to eat your vegetables too, or I won’t give you …… barbecue sauce.」

I became a demon in order to get my meat-loving girl to eat vegetables as well.

「Aww …… I made a mistake! I like vegetables too!」

All right, here we go. And I nodded in satisfaction.
So today I had Eleanor cook and we enjoyed the food, and Maria loved the dressing.
My big-eating dog-girl also ate some vegetables, so that’s good for now.
After dinner, I decided to take a bath, but since Maria was still there, even if it was just my girlfriend Eleanor and I, we decided to split the bath into male and female.
But this Maria insisted on coming with me.
I don’t have a relationship with this runaway princess yet, or whatever you call her, so I asked her to give up.
After getting out of the bath and drying off with〈Life Magic〉, the three of us started chatting.
I especially enjoyed Maria’s story of failure at the royal castle.
I heard that the elven supremacy is quite prevalent in the Faure Kingdom.
It will be troublesome if I do go there.
However, I would like to see the world tree in the Faure Kingdom. Basically, it seems that the area near the World Tree is off-limits, even to royalty.
The Empire of Stania and the Episcopal State of Elen Garde are human supremisists…… The only kingdoms that I can visit freely about are Midogal, Ustenia, Fur Milan, and Getmey. I’m not sure about the Kingdom of Iblis. There’s too little information.
We talked about many things, and when it was getting late, we made something like a storehouse with〈Earth Magic〉.
I took the beds out of the 【Item Box】, placed them inside, and the three of us went to bed.

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《27 Maria von Faure》

My name is Maria von Faure. I’m the second princess of the Faure Kingdom, and I’m sixteen years old!
Why do I call myself “boku” when I’m a girl?
That’s because I’m a freedom-loving person!
I know that’s not a reason at all!
I’m a bit of a tomboy, but I’m popular with everyone. I’m loved by my father, mother, brother, and sister, I’m good-looking, I’m good at 〈Wind Magic〉 and 〈Archery〉, and I love freedom.
　Depending on how people perceive me, I might say something that annoys them once in a while. But I think my speech is a little venomous. I’m aware of it, though!
　Some people call me an oddball, but I don’t think that’s true.
I just say wahy I think what I think……. I can’t help it, can I? I’m an honest person.
The Kingdom of the Faure is ruled by Elven royalty, but the majority of the people are exclusive to other races, you know?
I have no complaints at all about the fact that everyone loves me, but you know what? I just don’t like the air of elven supremacy anymore.
And when I was 15, I finally decided to run away from home!
I’m sorry, father, mother, brother, sister.
But I can’t give up on this one!
Ever since I made up my mind, I’ve been busy preparing to run away from home, day in and day out.
I’m third in line to the throne, but with my brother here, I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’m sure, right?
After I decided to run away from home, I researched the world situation more than ever before.
As a result, I found out that the neighboring countries of the Faure Kingdom are the Stania Empire and the Holy See of Erengarde. …… If I go to the Stania Empire, I’m sure I will be hunted by slavers, enslaved, and will not be able to live a free life.
As a freedom-loving person, this is a matter of life and death for me.
Well, I don’t want to be a slave before that, indeed, do I?
It seems that the Episcopal State of Elen Garde is so much of a human supremacist that I can’t even enter the country as an elf, which makes me wonder. I can’t believe we don’t even have freedom of entry.
So, after thinking about other countries, I decided to go to the nearest country, Midogal Kingdom.
The kingdom of Iblis is also about the same distance from Midogal, but there isn’t much information about that place, and the demon race seems to have a lot of strong people, so I was a little scared……. That’s a secret, you know?
When I run away from home, I left a letter saying, 『Please don’t look for me!　I’m going to live freely!　I’ll give up my right to the throne! 』
The real letter is much longer, though!
　I don’t think pursuers are coming. …… It’s okay, right?
My journey to Midogal was a series of ups and downs. It’s like a mountain,then a valley, then a mountain, then a valley, you know?
But with my specialty, 〈Wind Magic〉, I killed a few monsters!
It’s a secret, though, that I basically ran away from anyone who looked stronger than me!
Then I reached Midoria, the royal capital of Midogal Kingdom, and decided to go to the Adventurer’s Guild to live as an adventurer.
I’d like to give myself a pat on the back for that!
I went to the adventurer’s guild, talked to the receptionist, and made an adventurer’s card, but I got mixed up with a guy, probably because I’m too cute.
Ah, at this point, I’m not ready to give myself a pat on the back!

「Hey girl, wanna party with us?」
「We’re famous around here, okay?」
「We’re pretty strong, so rest assured, right?」
「Well, what is it with you people? You’re speaking, but are you human? You’re not monsters that can speak, are you? Aren’t you ashamed of your unrefined faces? Are you happy to be alive? What did you come from? Are you monsters’ eggs or something?」

For some reason, the men who approached me were all shaking. Do they need to pee?
I can’t help it, I’ll be nice and tell you.

「Aren’t you old enough to know where to pee? Where is the bathroom? If you ask the receptionist, I’m sure she’ll tell you. I’m really niceー.」

After I said that much, for some reason, the men started to hit me.
But then the guild’s entrance door opened and a handsome man walked in, and I reflexively ran towards him.
Then the men who had been hitting me fell down because they had no one to hit.
Idiot, there are idiots!
He told me to leave those assholes alone.
Yes! It seems that in this adventurer’s guild, I have met my destiny ……
I’ve met my destiny!
I have to say it twice because it’s so important!
Is this what you call love at first sight?　I’m too easygoing for my own good.
I can’t help it, though. Because my eyes have turned into hearts!
Now that I’m done talking about myself, I have to make the confession of a lifetime!

「Onii-san! My name is Maria! I’m asking you for the rest of my life! I want you to marry me! Please take me! I don’t care if it’s as a mistress, please!」

　◆　◆　◆

「Master, we must go.」
「Yeah.」

Eleanor told me so, and I left the inn and headed for the guild.
Even though I’ve calmed down a lot since I said goodbye to Airi and Lisa yesterday, I still don’t feel great.
Even though Eleanor had comforted me a lot. Well, I shouldn’t be thinking about this.
As I discussed with her last night, we’re going to raise our adventurer rank here in Midoria.
The reason for this is that Eleanor is a beastman, and she doesn’t want to be made light of by others.
That’s because it’s hard for non-humans to live and travel in the neighboring countries of Elen Garde and the Empire of Stania.
I have a feeling that some of the lower ranks might get involved, and that might cause more trouble and put Eleanor in danger.
While I’m raising my rank here, I’m going to have Eleanor get stronger, and when she’s done, I’m going to take her around the world in various ways.
However, the Kingdom of Ustenia, another neighboring country, is not on my list of destinations because I don’t like the idea of going back after leaving that country.
With that in mind, I walk into the guild and a girl I don’t know comes running towards me.
At the same time, the men behind her were mocking her. What are these guys doing?
The girl has a level of beauty that everyone can admire. She is about 160 centimeters tall. Her hair is blonde, straight, and shoulder-length. She has long ears like an elf. Her eyelashes are long and her eyes are big and round. Her body is slender and her breasts are of a decent size. Maybe as beautiful as Eleanor?
As I was making a brief evaluation, the girl looked at me with a serious expression.
Then she opened her soft lips energetically.

「Onii-san! My name is Maria! I’m asking you for the rest of my life! I want you to marry me! Please take me! I don’t care if it’s as a mistress, please!」

At that moment, time stopped for everyone in the Adventurer’s Guild – or so I thought.
And then time started moving again – I think.

「「「「Eeeeeeeeehhh!!!!」」」」

I don’t know what to say.
I walked into the guild, and she proposed to me.
Yeah, I don’t know what I’m talking about.
Yeah, I’m sane, right? All right! Let’s go get the request.

「Eleanor, let’s go see what they have to offer.」
「Yes!」

There’s no change in this girl, and I’m sure I’m just imagining things.

「Hey, Onii-san, isn’t ignoring me too much?　I like you so much, I love you so much, and I proposed for the first time in my life. By the way, do you mind if I ask Onii-san’s name?」

Once again, as my time was about to stop, the men who had just mocked her yelled at the girl.

「It doesn’t matter if you propose or not!」
「You mocked us so much just now, and now you’re proposing to him with the same mouth!!」

Not at all intimidated by the men’s arguments, the girl named Maria opened her mouth.

「Huh? Who are you guys? I try to avoid talking to people I don’t know as much as possible. So don’t talk to me, okay? I’m talking to him about something very important. I don’t care about these people, Onii-san!　What’s your name?」
「Oh, um, my name’s Louis…….」

For some reason, I my pace was destroyed and answered ……

「Louis …… is a beautiful name! Thank you to your parents for giving you such a beautiful name!!」

Maria’s smile as she said that…
I understood that it was just a genuine smile, without any kind of calculation or malice.
I have to admit, I’m smitten with Maria.

「Louis Louis, did Maria’s smile get to you? If so, I’m glad. Oh, I’ll call you Louis, OK?」

As she hit the bullseye, I slumped.

「No …… well …… yeah. It’s not cool to deny her here. I won’t deny I was fascinated. Also, I don’t care what she call me…….」

Here, to get me back on track, I’m going to change the subject.

「By the way, are the guys behind you okay?」
「Uuuuuun, I wonder?」

With that, Maria turned back to the men behind her.
The moment she turned around, three men came at me, one after the other.

「We’re fine now……. Somehow, I lost track of what that kid was planning, and I lost my composure. I don’t even care what she said about us…….」
「I feel like I’ve lost when I got dragged into her pace… Originally, we didn’t hesitate to call out to her, but I feel like it’s the cause, and that was bad.」
「Also, your name is Louis? You look like you’re a strong guy, and we’ll probably still get our ass kicked if we try to fight back here. Adventurers are in a profession that requires us to avoid danger. We’ve only just risen to rank D, and we can’t afford to overdo it.」

I don’t understand. Did I resolve it?

「Ah, ah, oh. …… If you can avoid the hassle, that would be great. Maria, you said that these men were mocked by you. If you really mocked them, why don’t you apologize?」
「Eeeeeh?? I didn’t mean to make fun of themー.」

This girl said that without a hint of remorse.
However, looking at the current atmosphere in the guild and the attitudes of the men and Maria, it was indeed too obvious and it would be seen as a lie.

「If you don’t apologize…… I’m going to hate Maria for sure.」
「Eeeeehh, eeeehhhh,, no way, I’m sorry!!」

With that, Maria bowed to the men.
This girl is too easy……
But well, I guess that’s settled for now.
So, when I moved to go look at the requests, Maria naturally followed behind me.
I had no choice but to let Eleanor introduce herself first, and then I decided to look around for a request.

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　◆　◆　◆

I, Cross, my sister Asha, and I had come to the Midogal Kingdom six months ago on a request from Toran-sama.
We’ve already accomplished what we were asked for, to some extent.
I secured four beastman women and two dwarf women, put on the slavery collars, and handed them over to Tran-sama’s messenger.
After that, we set out to find the elves and demons we hadn’t caught yet.
However, it was hard to find demons around here, and I gave up on them.
And we were only able to find a few elves…….
There were only those who were already slaves of the nobles of the Midogal Kingdom, or weaklings who were just elves and had no other distinguishing characteristics.
As expected, I can’t mess with a nobleman’s slave, and I don’t want a weakling, no matter how many elves there are.
Asha and I talked about what to do, but we couldn’t come up with any good ideas.
Since we hadn’t been to the bar for a while, Asha and I decided to head there for a change of pace.
In the tavern, there was Lisa, an elf with both beauty and strength.
To me and Asha’s eyes, it looked like prey that had finally been caught.
We have 〈acting〉 skills that make it easier to build trust. To gain even more credibility, I also have the easily recognizable status of an S rank adventurer.
Therefore, for Asha and I, it was far too easy to get at Lisa and her friend Airi.
However, my prey, Lisa, is an A-rank adventurer and is famous in this city.
And it seemed that she was only accepting requests that were close by and could be done in a day.
As expected, attacking such a woman out of the blue in the vicinity of Midoria would risk catching the attention of others.
Asha and I devised a plan to see if we could somehow make Lisa a slave.
My thought was to pretend we had a party member first, and then ask for help to rescue the elf from the bandits. The idea was to make it look like we were traveling to our destination and enslave the two of them along the way.
Airi, who was not the target, would also be a trump card in putting the slavery collar on Lisa. And when I’m done with her, I’ll go to …… and sell her to a slave trader somewhere.
We took less than a month to gain their trust. And then, just as we were about to launch the operation, ……
There was a guy in the guild sniffing around for Lisa and Airi, so I wondered if our operation had been discovered somehow?
So, I’m going to have to raise my voice.
―― and then Lisa and Airi arrived at an inopportune moment.
I had never let these two see me yell at anyone before, so I wasn’t sure what to do, but Airi spoke up.

「Cross-san, is there something wrong for you to shout so loudly?」
「No, because this guy was asking around about Lisa and Airi. You’re both beautiful, so I thought it would be too late if something happened to you. That’s why I yelled at him.」

I hurriedly answered with a random excuse.
Well, it’s true that they are both beautiful. And that’s why I’m going to enslave them.
I tried to frame this snooping guy as the suspicious one, but I couldn’t come up with a good idea.
As I was wondering what to do, the three of them started talking without knowing what I was thinking.
We’ll have to find out who this guy is first.
That’s what I thought, and I focused all my attention on listening to the conversation between the three of them.
And as it turns out, …… this is the guy Lisa and Airi had told me about before, the guy they separated from in Dallas.
A little calmer, I look at the man again.
And in that moment, a chill ran down my spine――.
Asha and I are both S-ranked and strong in our own way, but I instinctively felt that …… this man was even better than that.
My instincts sound the alarm.
This guy’s is trouble.
I guess I was in such a hurry that I didn’t notice it until now…….
I knew I couldn’t let this guy get too far into it, so I signaled Asha with my eyes.
Then I turned my mind to full speed and formulated a plan in an instant.

「Lisa, Airi, the plan was to leave tomorrow. But we’ll leave as soon as Airi’s exams are over. If we wait any longer, Lara will be …… and we’ll be ready to go sooner than we thought. That’s why we’ve been waiting for you two here.」

Well, actually, I’m not done preparing yet.
As soon as they partied with us, I tried not to be suspicious by making a good impression on the receptionist by completing requests and interacting with other adventurers so that the others would not be suspicious of their absence.
And it’s a long trip, so it takes time to prepare for it.
I had no choice but to cancel the request and try to make up for the accelerated schedule on the way.

　◆　◆　◆

「Louis, we should get going.」

Lisa told me and tried to turn her back to me. My 〈Intuition〉tells me that’s a bad idea.
It would be a bad idea to let the two of them go with Cross and his sister.
Deciding that I was running out of time, I decided to speak straightforwardly.

「Airi, Lisa, It seems that we are short of time, I don’t think it’s possible for us to slowly discuss this. So I’ll just be blunt. You shouldn’t be thinking about going anywhere with them. They can’t be trusted. It’s obviously too suspicious.」

I spoke more impatiently.

「This advice is for both of your safety’s sake. The only reason I’m telling you this is because I’m warning you that my 〈Intuition〉 skill is flagging that he is dangerous and that he has an 〈Acting〉 skill.

They were just stunned, as if it was too sudden and they didn’t know what was said for a moment.
But I guess they soon understood the content of what I was saying.
Their expressions turned bitter – they seemed to be claiming that they didn’t understand or agree with what I was saying at all.

「What?! Louis, why do you say that? Cross and Asha are both good people. They’ve been a great help to both Airi and I. And now we’re in a party. The only reason I’m going out is because I’ve been asked to do a few things, and I’m going to the Stania Empire, but I’ll be back within a month. You can’t doubt every person who has 〈Acting〉 skills, people with those skills can’t do anything about it. I mean, can we really rely on Louis’ 〈Intuition〉 skills?
「I didn’t think Louis-sama …… would have been that rude to someone he just met. However, I remember Louis-sama when he was still very young. …… Skills are just skills, they do not represent the person. I want to believe in Louis’s 〈Intuition〉 skills, but I still believe in Cross and the others. I can’t believe that the two people who have been so kind to me are lying to me.」
「I’m saying this for both of your sakes. Can’t you just hear what I have to say?」

Cross and the others don’t have〈Dark Magic〉, and Airi and Lisa’s statuses indicate that they are not brainwashed. So I tried to talk them out of it for a while.

「I’ve misjudged. Or have you grown strong and arrogant?　Louis ……, I’m disappointed in you.」
「Cross-san and Asha-san are s ranked……I’m still a little slow on the uptake, but he’s been training me without a hint of displeasure. In comparison, Louis-sama criticizes …… such a person at the first meeting? I think that is the worst thing a person can do. I’m disappointed too…….」

Airi and Lisa uttered such terrible words.
And their words became a blade that pierced my heart. I was rejected by both of them, I was so sad …… and I was quite shocked …….
I realize that these feelings seem to have shown on my face for a moment.
A moment later, the faces of the classmates I had helped but betrayed me in my previous life and the bullies who had been so good at getting under my skin came to mind.
But I shook my head and quickly relegated the memory to a corner of my mind.
However…… even though I was taken care of in the past……
When I’ve been told so much, too, slowly, gradually, I feel my emotions overtake my sadness and shock.
I come to fulfil a promise―― a reunion after a year and seven months―― and this is what I get……
Do they trust Cross instead of me? Airi and Lisa met Cross and the others after they came to Midoria, right?　Was that the extent of their bond with me?
Especially after Airi and I spent our childhoods together.
Neither of them even listened to a word I said.
But I can’ t stop Airi and Lisa by force, and I can’t beat up those guys, Cross and Asha.
I also told them about my 〈Intuition〉 skills and their 〈Acting〉 skills.
What more should I do? For these two people now…
I guess there’s some jealousy in my feelings right now.
After all, you’d rather have your bond with them than mine?
Am I a fool for coming all this way to see you?
The moment I thought that…
Lisa and Airi’s value to me has gone from being my parents’ friend and maid to being something I don’t need to be a part of in the future.
I feel like I’ve become indifferent to them both.
Then a low, emotionless voice came out, surprising even me.

「Disappointed,huh …… You’re disappointed, oh I see?…… Oh, yeah…… I understand. Yeah, I’m done……. I’m done when you say that much. You guys can go ahead and do whatever you want. However, …… I don’t want to see you guys again. And if it goes the way I predicted, …… we’ll never see each other again. You and I are strangers from this day forward. What I’m about to tell you isn’t sarcastic or anything, okay?」

As a last act of kindness, I decided to teach them both a lesson.

「I’ll give you guys who knew me this one piece of advice. In the near future, both of your lives will be shrouded in darkness. At the very least, try not to despair and live life with a strong spirit. …… Let’s go!　Eleanor!」

Airi and Lisa had no more words to speak.
Now I’ll have to say a few words to Cross, just in case.

「And one final thing. You’re Cross, aren’t you? I don’t care about those two anymore, but if you mess with me or this Eleanor in the future, I’m going to eliminate you, okay?」

I glared at Cross, then said with a deadly tone.
After giving the four of them a quick glance, I walked out of the guild with Eleanor and returned to the inn.
However, I was still having a hard time mentally. When I got back to the inn, I didn’t feel better at all.
Eleanor doesn’t ask me any questions. Just a gentle smile on her face.
And she gently hugs me when I’m not feeling so energetic.
I was touched by Eleanor’s warmth, and little by little, I felt myself calming down.

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《26 Reunion, Disappointment, and Farewell》

As I, Louis, was trying to get information about Lisa and Airi at the guild, someone suddenly yelled at me, and I turned around. A man who looked like an adventurer was standing there.
This guy mentioned Airi and Lisa’s names. Don’t tell me you guys know each other?
As I was about to continue my thoughts, the door to the guild’s entrance opened, and I moved my gaze for a moment.
The next thing I knew, I was looking at two familiar figures.
I was surprised at the sudden reunion, but Airi and Lisa didn’t seem to notice me.

「Cross-san, why are you shouting so loud?」

Airi says as if she was concerned about the man. Maybe the relationship between these two is pretty close.
I looked again at the man called Cross, and beside him – there was also a woman who looked somewhat like him.
Cross opened his mouth, his face contorted, when Airi asked him.

「No, because this guy was asking around about Lisa and Airi. You’re both beautiful, so I thought it would be too late if something happened to you. That’s why I yelled at him.」

Airi and Lisa’s cheeks seemed to flush a little when Cross told them they were beautiful.
However, they both immediately straighten their faces and open their mouths at me.

「Have you ever met us before? I feel like there’s something familiar and …… strange about you…….」
「You too, Lisa? I got that impression too.」

I was still surprised at the sudden reunion, but I regained my composure and observed the two people in front of me again.
Lisa was still in splendid shape. However, the most notable thing about her is her well-groomed face and soft, shiny blonde hair. The way she looks is a perfect embodiment of an admirable beauty.
Maybe it was because of me getting older, but I thought she was more attractive than I had seen her in the past.
I move my gaze a little and then observe Airi.
I have the impression that her blue hair has darkened slightly.
Her hair had grown longer than before, and her hairstyle was now in a ponytail. She also seems to have gotten a little taller, maybe as tall as my shoulders now?　She’s always been pretty, but she’s gotten more polished.
After taking in the appearance of the two people I hadn’t seen in a while, I now brought Cross and the woman beside him into view.
And after a few seconds of watching, my〈Intuition〉skill kicks in. My 〈Intuition〉 told me that these two guys were a couple of crooks.
I hastily 〈Appraise〉 Cross.
Then, it showed that this man had an 〈Acting〉 skill level of 7. These guys seem dangerous. That’s how I described Cross and the woman beside him.
I returned my gaze to Airi and Lisa again, but they still hadn’t realized who I was.
Realizing that I was going nowhere, I opened my mouth to tell them that I was Louis.

「It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you both. …… I’m Louis, son of Dan and Sarah. I’m sixteen years old now. I’ve successfully finished what Kronos asked me to do, so I came to see you two as I promised back then.」

When they heard my words, they froze in surprise.
And soon her expression changed to one of tears. They both seemed to be that happy to see me again.

「I’m glad you’re okay, Louis-sama. Not a day went by when I didn’t think about Louis-sama. You’ve grown up to be so cool.」
「Louis, you …… have grown up and …… really tough and strong to be able to finish that difficult task. You’re looking great, too.」

I can feel that these two are really happy with my growth.
I thanked Lisa and Airi for their compliments.

「Th, Thanks. You two aren’t that different.」

I wanted to talk about the past with the two people I had finally met, but Airi said that she had originally come to take the rank B exam.
That’s why she had to go to the testing center already.
However, as soon as I told Airi and Lisa that we would talk later, Cross interrupted our conversation.

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《25 Airi and Lisa》

――Six months before Louis and the others reached Midoria.
In a room in a building in the Stania Empire, three men and a woman were having a discussion.
Only one of them stood silently, not sitting on a chair. The man was positioned behind a man adorned with numerous accessories and seemed to be on alert.
The man wearing many accessories is quite obese, his neck is filled with fat, and he alone occupies two chairs.
The obese man opens his mouth with a disgusted smile on his face.

「I hear the Emperor will soon be moving his finger in the direction of the Kingdom of Midogal.」

A woman who looked like an adventurer spoke back to the man.

「Oh, really?」

A man who looked somewhat like this woman also opened his mouth.

「The current emperor is very ambitious.」
「That’s why I’ve come to you with a request. It won’t be soon, but maybe Midogal will be hit by the war. For my part, I’d like to secure a good quality female demi-human slave before that happens. I want to add slaves to my collection that are beautiful, have some special skill, are strong, or have some other feature. I’ve had a few deaths lately from too much abuse and bullying, so my numbers are down.」
「As usual, Toran-sama has good taste.」
「It’s true, isn’t it?」

All three of them are smiling vulgarly.

「The better the slave you bring me, the more I’ll pay you. The deadline is a maximum of one year, and the more slaves, the better. Of course I trust you, but …… please keep it confidential, okay? I don’t have a problem with enslaving demi-humans, but getting them illegally is indeed a bad idea if we get caught. As I’m sure you know, His Majesty the Emperor is a supreme ruler of the human race, but on the surface he’s forbidden to hunt for slaves because of the bad optics. I’ll give you ten platinum coins in advance. Then I’ll assess and pay you for each slave you bring.」
「This is the first time I’ve been asked to hunt for slaves. Toran-sama’s requests are always quite well paid, but this one seemed to be an unbeatable and worthwhile job. Well, it’s risky, but me and him, we’ll be fine.」

With a thin smile on his face, the adventurer-looking man turned his gaze to the woman sitting next to him.

「It’s more of a hobby for me. It’s hard to describe the look of despair on their faces when they realize they’ve been entrapped. I can only imagine the desperation of the other person when a slave collar is put on them……. Of course I like money, maybe when I’m done with this job I’ll buy that magic tool I’ve been wanting……」

The woman, who seemed to have madness in her eyes, distorted her lips.

「I can count on you, can’t I?」
「Of course.」
「Sure.」

They both give Toran a dismissive look and agree.

「Then I will give you the slave collars, that should be enough.」

With that, Toran handed the two of them the slave collars.

　◆　◆　◆

I – Airi – am not working as an adventurer today, so I’m relaxing at home with a cup of tea.
It’s already been a year and six months since I left Louis-sama.
He said that in the space-time that Kronos created, the body grows ten times faster. If he is still in that time and space, would Master Louis be 20 years old?
While I was thinking about this, Lisa, who had gone out to the bar, came home.
I think she brought someone with her. No one has ever been allowed in this house before, but that’s …… unusual.

「Airi, I’m home. We have a guests today.」

I moved my eyes toward the door and saw one man and one woman behind Lisa.
The man has a muscular body. Is he an adventurer?
His hair is cropped short and flaxen in color, his face is neutral, and he is probably a relatively good-looking guy. I’m not really interested in that.
The woman is beautiful, and her figure is slender.
Unfortunately, however, there is not much where it comes from. Her hair is long, waist-length, and flaxen, just like men’s, and she looks vaguely like a man.

「Good evening. My name is Cross. Nice to meet you.」

A man greeted me with a friendly smile.

「Good evening. I’m Asha. Cross and I are brother and sister, it’s nice to meet you.」

The woman also greeted me with a smile like a sunflower.

「Hi, my name is Airi. I’m living here with Lisa and we’re adventure together.」
「I was having a drink with Lisa a while ago, so that’s when I heard about it. You’ve been a registered adventurer for a year and you’ve reached rank C?　I heard you’re close to B rank, you look promising.」
「No, no, it’s mostly thanks to you, Lisa-san.」

I was praised by Cross-san, but it was actually thanks to Lisa-san’s ability.

「What are you talking about, aren’t you S-ranked?」

When Lisa told me that these two were S-ranked, I was surprised.
There aren’t many S rank adventurers in Midoria. …… I’m sure they’ re quite strong.
By the way, Lisa hasn’t been partying with others for my sake lately. So, our friendships are very limited. I can’t speak for others either, but ……
I’m worried about her current situation.
If these two became Lisa’s friends, would that change the current situation? I imagined.
After that, I went to bed a little later, but the three of them went back to drinking at home and made a lot of noise until late.
I could hear their happy voices from my bedroom.

　◆　◆　◆

I – Lisa – have been training her as an adventurer since Airi asked me to join her party.
I have not partied with anyone else during that time, as I completed the request with a considerable margin of safety.
There were so many invitations to have me in their party.
However, I am an elf who is said to have excellent beauty. Speaking for myself, I didn’t want someone who was attracted to my looks to ask me out. Also, apart from that, there are people who invite only me, an A rank, even though I’m in a party with Airi.
So, as far as party invitations go, I was frankly fed up.
While I was having a drink in a bar to relieve myself of this feeling, two people, a man and a woman, started talking to me.
That’s Cross and Asha, a brother and sister pair.
After hitting it off with them at the bar and inviting them to my house, we became friends at a rapid pace.
Then, 20 days later.
Right now, I’m in a party with Airi, Cross, and Asha, and we’ve come to a captured dungeon near Midoria to improve our coordination and to train Airi.
I’ve partied with them a few times now, and have gotten to see Cross and Asha’s personalities for myself.
As a result, I feel that these two are fine to party with.

「Airi, get the Ogre under control first.」
「Airi, be aware of traps while you keep it under control, okay?」

They give accurate advice. These two are indeed S-ranked and very dependable.
Still, …… reminds me of the days when I was working with Sarah, Dan and Galwin. The thought made me smile naturally.

「Hey, Lisa, stop smirking and help me!」
「Oh, I’m sorry for spacing out. I’ll help you right away.」

This is how I finished my request today.
Then, on my way home, a serious-looking Cross comes into my field of vision.
When I moved my gaze a little, I saw Airi and Asha having a conversation.

「Hey, Lisa, can I ask you a favour?」
What? What’s wrong?」

For the past 20 days, Cross has been taking care of both Airi and me.
I’d listen to him if it wasn’t too much to ask, but what kind of request would that be?

「Actually, …… we used to work as a party of four…….」

Cross and his friends were a party of four, and I was surprised to hear this information for the first time.

「Our previous party members were an elf and a human. This time, they came here to broaden our horizons a bit. And those guys wanted to get stronger, so they separated from us to go to a dungeon that had a certain level of difficulty…….」

The fact that they had worked with elves before brought a slight surprise to me.
When I looked at Cross’s face, he looked somewhat apologetic and then bristled.

「You’ve taken separate directions. What happened?」

Feeling a little tense, I prompted Cross to continue.

「So, it looks like they got hurt in that dungeon. Moreover, it seems that on the way back from the dungeon, they were attacked by bandits. The human’s name is Orin, he managed to escape, but the elf Lara was captured by …… bandits.」

I have a bad feeling …… that even my elven brethren …… are captured by bandits.

「So, it seems that Lara has become the plaything of bandits! That’s what Orin found out after he managed to gather some information. And Orin came to us the day before yesterday with that information. We want to help her!　But there are a lot of bandits in the area. …… I’m sorry about that, but I need Lisa and Airi’s help. We don’t want to overwhelm Airi, and logistical support should be enough.」
「Where are the bandits?」

Without knowing the location, I can’t say for sure either. I want to help him, and I want to do him a favour.

「The bandits are on the Staonian side of the border with the Kingdom of Midogal. I was really hoping to get the imperial guards to move, but they won’t move for the elves…….」

Certainly, from what I’ve heard about the Stania Empire, it doesn’t look like they’re going to rescue elves.
I think about what Cross said.
Currently, one innocent woman is said to be the amusement of bandits. How am I supposed to just disregard this?
But as long as we’re involving Airi, we need to consult with her at least. ……

「I just need a day. I’ll talk it over with Airi when I get home today. I’d like to go if I could.」

I’ll discuss it with Airi when I get home.
As a result, we decided to follow those two, because although Louis was a cause for concern, we still couldn’t bear to abandon the elven woman.

The next day, I told Cross and Asha about it.
He asked us to prepare for the trip as well, as it would take about 10 days to prepare. So until the day before my departure, I decided to work with Airi on requests in the vicinity.
And now, the day before our departure, I’m on my way to the guild with Airi to escort her to her B rank exam.
That’s because, thanks to Cross and Asha, she was able to complete a lot of requests and quickly accumulated enough rank points to take the exam. I have the two of them to thank for that.

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　◇　◇　◇

Eleanor and I were put in the same carriage as Harvey.
It has already been three days since I received the request for an escort.
It’s safe to say that there have been almost no raids so far. The only thing that happened were weaker monsters that I one shotted.
The carriage was quite nice, as it was a duke’s carriage, and I think it has a smoother ride.
Maybe this gentle swaying felt good to Eleanor. Because now she is leaning on my shoulder, snoozing.
I gently stroke Eleanor’s head. Harvey, who had broken into a smile, gave us a friendly glance.
It was in this atmosphere that he started talking to me.

「The other day’s attack was probably related to the Stania Empire. I’ve heard rumours that the Stania Empire has been getting more and more suspicious lately, and it may be getting serious.」

Hmm. The Stania Empire, huh? I’m not interested in a war between countries.

「It’s the largest country on Earth, and they have always favored the human race in the past. They have enslaved many beastmen, elves, dwarves, and demons. I hear there are illegal slave hunts, and of course there are human slaves too.」

At the mention of slaves, Harvey’s face twisted.
However, the story seems to continue.

「Since the current emperor ascended to the throne ten years ago, the trend in the Stania Empire has been gradually becoming more and more extreme. …… Now he is trying to spread even more human supremacy throughout the world. The ultimate goal of that country seems to be the unification of Earth. In order to do that, the empire wanted to lower the national strength of the Midogal Kingdom first, which is why they carried out the attack like the other day.」

I’m not interested in wars and conflicts between countries, but if they bother me, that’s a different story. When that happens, I’ll crush …….

「Well, I don’t know if war is really going to happen anytime soon. I told you this because you had a beastman girl with you. You said you were traveling, so you might go to the Stania Empire. I’m sure some of them will try to get involved then, so be careful.」
「I appreciate the information, but why are you telling me this now? It’s been quite a while since the attack, hasn’t it?」
「That’s because what I just said was still uncertain. I’ve been using a covert operative to look into it, and that’s how I found out about it a while ago.」

The fact that he told us as soon as he found out the current information was a sincere gesture to those of us who were his escort.
Besides, I only had a cursory knowledge of Stania, so I’ll take that as advice and be grateful.
I suppose I should thank him for his advice.

「There were things I didn’t know, so it was informative. Thank you.」

Hearing my words, Harvey smiled and nodded.
Eleanor has already become an integral part of me.
I promised myself again that I would have to get stronger and stronger to resist such unreasonable things in order to absolutely protect her who was sleeping beside me.

「The reason I’m telling you this is because I was once in love with a beastman’s daughter. …… I’m still a duke, so we didn’t get together because of our different statuses, but looking at you …… reminded me of that time. It’s just the ramblings of an old man who wants to protect that smile. Gahahaha.」

Afterwards, Harvey took the liberty of talking about his old love story. I don’t want to hear about an old man’s love life…….
I couldn’t tell him to stop talking, so I pretended to be listening to him.
But the Stania Empire.
Lisa is also an elf, so if I see her, I’ll just tell her the information I just heard about the empire.

　◇　◇　◇

The morning of the sixth day the carriage arrived.
Harvey said we would arrive today. This was the last breakfast I would have with the old man.
After an uneventful breakfast, the carriage with us in it started running again.
After three hours of riding in a carriage, we arrived at Midoria, the royal capital of Midogal Kingdom.
The gates of the city are quite large, 20 meters high. And the outer wall surrounds the entire city of Midoria, making it a good defensive structure to look at.
There were small rooms in various parts of the large outer wall, where there were magical tools that could amplify the power of magic. The small room is said to be filled with magical knights belonging to the Midogal Kingdom.
On rare occasions, they launch a number of less powerful magic during exercises, which has become a specialty of the city, and of course, at those times, the city is partially closed to traffic because of the danger.
While I was listening to these stories from Harvey, the carriage passed through the gate for nobles.
After a short drive through the city, we decided to get off and pulled over.
The duke wanted to invite us to his mansion, but he said he had to go to the king to report the attack, so we’ll talk about it another time.
I accepted the reward for my escort, said my goodbyes, and got out of the carriage.
I got off the carriage, stretched, and looked around the city.
It was quite crowded. There were many people on the streets, as you would expect in the royal capital.

「Let’s see, let’s decide on an inn first and then go to the adventurer’s guild. I hope I can get some information about Airi and Lisa there.」
「I understand! The innkeeper should be somewhere with good food!」

Recently, Eleanor has become less reserved when it comes to food and other things. As for me, I don’t like to have to put up with that part of my life, so this is a welcome change.
After that, we decided on an inn and started having a nice lunch there.
After the innkeeper showed us the location of the adventurer’s guild, we headed for our destination, feeling full.

We arrived at the adventurer’s guild without getting lost.
After looking around the noisy guild, I got in line at the reception counter.
After waiting for a while, our turn came around, and I asked the receptionist for information about Airi and Lisa.
However, the results were not encouraging, and all I knew was that they were adventurers in this city.
I talk to the other adventurers in the guild to get more information.
I immediately greeted a nearby male adventurer and asked him about Airi and Lisa, but the information I got was still not very good.
After that, I ask around to a few people about those two.
Then I heard a man yelling from behind me.

「What do you want with Lisa and Airi?!!」

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《24 Duke Campbell》

When I reached the carriage, an old man with blond hair and a balding crown got out of the carriage.
The man seemed to have a certain dignity about him. Maybe it was the clean-cut blonde hair and goatee.
Meyer opened his mouth, kneeling down to the old man as he got out of the carriage.

「Your Excellency, we have been assisted by someone here. Although there was some damage, it was not catastrophic and we were able to destroy all the monsters.」
「Well, I’m saved. Let me say my gratitudes. But first, Meyer, let’s hurry up and treat the wounded. Unfortunately, we must bring back the bodies of those who have been killed by monsters. Instruct them to stow the bodies in their magic bags.」
「Ha, I respectfully obey. Your Excellency, I know I am being unreasonable, but I promised him a reward for his help to our side, and I ask for your kind consideration. Then, I will go instruct my subordinates.」

The old man whom he called ” Your Excellency ” nodded like a hawk at Meyer’s reply. Seeing this, Meyer also ran toward the knights under his command.

「Well, my name is Harvey von Campbell. I’m a duke in the kingdom of Midogal.」

So this old man is the Duke. I’ll say my name too.

「I’m Louis, and the girl behind me is Eleanor. I’m sorry, but I have to say this first. I’m not rooted in any country, much less a citizen of the Kingdom of Midogal. Also, since I’m an adventurer, I don’t have any reason to be humble to the nobility, so I’ll just talk to you normally. If you don’t like it, tell me right away, and I’ll just take my reward and walk away.」
「That’s no problem, because I’m not going to be arrogant to the people who helped me. I am not such a small man. Ohohohoho」

Hmm. The current exchange has raised the stock of Harvey von Campbell in my mind.
Well, it’s not like I’m going to do anything just because it went up. I don’t want to be used by the nobility.
However, some of the knights are staring at me. I don’t care, though.

「What would you like in terms of rewards, …… money, armour, or magical items?」

We don’t need weapons, etc., because we will eventually make our own good ones.

「I think I’ll settle for money.」

Hearing my words, old man Harvey took out a small bag from the magic bag at hand. There seemed to be some money in it, and he handed it to me.

「Here’s your reward. There are five platinum coins inside. Can you confirm that for me?」

I took a peek inside the sachet I received from Harvey, and then stored it in the【Item Box】.
I’m not sure what the market rate is for a reward, but I could probably stay at a high-class inn for eighty days with just this.
In addition, I thought for a moment that I could treat the injured knights and get a reward for it, but it seems that the Duke household had recovery personnel. They’re not fully recovered, but they seem to be recovering from their injuries without any problems.
　I was a little disappointed, but I took what I could get, just as I was about to leave, Harvey called out to me.

「Where are you guys headed?」

He suddenly asks me where I’m going, and I give him a suspicious look.
He had been doing so for a while, but he didn’t seem to be doing anything particularly devious.
Well, I can at least tell him where I’m going.

「We’re on our way to Midoria to visit acquaintances. I haven’t decided how long I’m going to stay there, but I’m sure I’ll be back on the road at some point.」

Hearing those words, Harvey seemed to be thinking about something as he played with his beard with his fingertips.
After a few moments of waiting, the old man in front of me opened his mouth with a look of inspiration on his face.

「Hmm, I see. I’m on my way back to Midoria, coming back from my official duties. There have been some casualties in my Order, and my guards have been reduced. So, why don’t we ask you two to escort us? How about three platinum coins for the escort? You can make yourselves at home in the carriage, except in case of emergency. We’ll be arriving in Midoria in roughly six days.」

I thought about it for a while and thought, “Isn’t this a pretty lucrative request?” So I decided to take it.

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《23 To the Kingdom of Midogal》

Ten days have passed since the first request was fulfilled.
In the meantime, I was still accomplishing my daily requests at a pretty good pace. Because of this, I was able to raise my adventurer rank to D rank, even though I was only accepting requests from nearby areas.

「Now that Eleanor has been strengthened a bit, it’s time for us to head to Midoria, the royal capital of Midogal. I was hoping to move up a few more ranks, but I guess that will have to wait until I get over there.」
「We’re going to Midoria! I’m sure we’ll be safely reunited with Airi and Lisa!」
「Un, I hope I can see them safely, but I don’t have much information about Airi and Lisa, all I know is that they’re probably in Midoria, so they won’t know what I look like now over there either. Besides, they wouldn’t even know that we are coming. Well, I’ll introduce them to Eleanor when we get there safely.」

Looking at her abilities including my homemade weapons and armour, I’d say she’s about the lower B rank. Her skill level is still low, but it will increase with the〈Accelerated Skill Growth〉.
I was able to transfer the〈Status Enhancement〉to her, so she should be getting stronger at an accelerated rate. I can make even better weapons, armour, and accessories as my〈Craft Master〉skill level increases.
I had just paid for my lodging in advance, so I decided to leave Sumeria without accepting any more requests.
After buying some supplies that we were running low on, and some meat skewers for a quick bite on the way, we headed out of the city. By the way, this is how Eleanor’s status is now.

Name: Eleanor
Sex: Female Race: Beastman Age: 15
Level: 26 Title: Gluttonous Dog Girl
ＨＰ：１８６５／１８６５　ＭＰ：１３２０／１３２０
Strength: 495 Resistance: 373 Agility: 424 Dexterity: 225 Magic: 122 Spirit: 132
Skills

【Special Skills】
Status Enhancement Lv1・Accelerated Skill Growth Lv1・Accelerated Status Growth Lv1

【Weapons・Physical Skills】
Dagger Arts Lv5・Archery Lv3

【Others】
Crisis Detection Lv2・Intuition Lv3・Detection Lv3・Dismantling Lv6・Service Lv3・Life Magic

【Equipment】
Mithril Dagger ( Strength +50, Agility +30 )
Treant Longbow (Dexterity +30, Agility +30)
Manticore gauntlet (Resistance +50, Dexterity +30)
Manticore breastplate (Resistance +70)
Manticore shin guards (Resistance +50, Agility +30)

　◇　◇　◇

After resuming our journey, we were already inside the Kingdom of Midogal, passing through several small villages and towns.
There has been no trouble whatsoever.
On the road, I’m training Eleanor as we go.
Before we left Sumeria, we went to buy a carriage, but it seemed there had been a large order a while ago and they were just out of stock. So we had to give up the carriage, and are now moving on foot along the road with the forest to our left.
As we walked with the tranquil scenery in our sights, we heard voices and sounds of people fighting in the distance.
If you walk a little faster, you will see a group of demons, such as the Orc General, Orc Leader, Orc, Ogre General, Ogre Leader, and Ogre, fighting against a group of humans who look like a knight order.
I took a closer look at the group and saw that they were in a formation surrounding an expensive looking carriage, and because they were fighting while protecting it, the speed of eradication was slow. There was also a lot of damage on the Knights’ side, and some of them were already running out of steam.
I decided not to help them because I don’t like nobles after what happened with Alfred. I don’t think all nobles are pricks, but I just can’t shake the bad impression.
I could have just walked right past it, but I had a few thoughts, so I took a look from about 20 meters away.

「Master, are you going to help them?　Are you going to leave them alone?」
「Well, I’m just keeping an eye on them for now, but there’s something strange about those monsters, isn’t there? They’re not coming towards us.」
「That’s what I was thinking. I think they’re just trying to get to the carriage.」
I’ve just 〈appraised〉 the ogres, and they seem to be in a state of 〈taming〉. That means there’s a tamer who’s manipulating them. And that tamer is making them attack.」

As I’ve been convincing myself, I hear Eleanor’s voice from the side.

「What is a 〈tamed〉 state or a ‘tamer’?」

Yeah, I don’t know, considering the environment she’s grown up in. I explain it to her.

「This is something I learned from the library. It seems that there is a skill that can be used to tame monsters and make them listen to you. I’m not making it up. And I’m not particularly interested.」
「Do you have such skills?」
「Ah. That skill is called 〈Taming〉. And you say that the monsters that are being used are in a state of 〈taming〉. I also heard that the people who prefer to use those skills are collectively called tamers. I’ve heard that〈Taming〉has a lot of restrictions, but we can disregard that for now.」
「I’ve learned a lot!」

As Eleanor and I were talking about this, the largest man of the knights came running towards us, leaving the battle to the others.
And he speaks to me in a loud voice while being polite.

「I’m sorry for speaking to you so abruptly, everyone. My name is Meyer, Commander of the Private Order of Duke Campbell in the Kingdom of Midogal. I am ashamed to ask for your help. Would you please help us? Of course we will reward you! As it is now, we may be able to drive away the enemy, but the damage will be much greater. You exude the air of a strong man. I’m sure you can easily defeat an opponent that is too much for us to handle. It seems to me.」

He has the air of a powerful man, and he’s from a duke’s house.
Let’s see what we can do.
I open my mouth, feeling neither eager nor reluctant.

「I’m not sure if this is a power struggle or some kind of conflict of interest between the two sides. I don’t know about that, but I don’t know what’s going on in either camp, so I need to think twice about giving in to one side when I don’t know anything about the other.」
「I’m afraid you’re right. …… I’d say we have our side of the story, and the attacker has his side of the story. I can’t tell you the details, but what I can tell you now is that at least we are not at fault. It pains me that I can’t say anymore, anything else would have to come from the Duke……」

Hmm, what should I do?
It’s a monster that’s attacking them, and it’s not the individual I see over there, but I have a grudge against the Ogre General, so why not do it? And this Commander is quite polite.

「All right, I’m going to take care of this now, so let the other knights back off a bit and just defend. Eleanor is still no match for the Ogre General, so stay with the Commander and watch near the carriage.」
I understand! I just want to be able to fight more and more as soon as possible!」
「Are you serious?! That’s great! ‘m sorry I can’t help you, but I look forward to working with you.」

This level of enemy is no problem at all, so I’ll just get it over with.
First of all, in order to defeat the Ogre General and the Orc General that are in control, I’ ll have the other monsters take a【Down Burst】 at once to slow them down.
Then, I fired an【Air Thrust】at the Orc General, killing it in an instant.
At the same time, I used a combination of〈Blink Walk〉and〈Air Walk〉to unleash a flying triangle kick at the Ogre General, snapping its neck.
The monsters were on edge now that I’ve defeated both the Ogre and Orc generals, so I’ll take out the rest at once.
Also, since the monster’s leadership has started to break down, I will check for damage to the rear.
What I saw was Eleanor with a satisfied look on her face and the knights of the order looking astonished.
The back of the carriage seemed to be fine, so I sped up even faster to kill the monsters.
After I had killed all of them, I continued to search the area vigilantly, but there was no sign of the tamer who seemed to have conjured the monsters.
Feeling that this battle was over, I quickly stored the defeated monsters in the 【Item Box】.
　I then turned to walk towards Eleanor and the Commander.

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As we both enter the Adventurer’s Guild, I feel eyes on us.
But that was soon gone.
Yesterday’s incident must have been effective. I feel like everyone in the adventurer’s guild is giving off an aura that they don’t want to get involved.
Well, it’s easier for me, too, because I can’t be bothered to do what I did yesterday.
So I went through the request board, but of course there was nothing good at the F and G ranks.

【Request Form】
Request Title: Cleaning up the city
Request rank: G
Reward: Three copper coins
Rank points earned: 1 point
Number of people who can receive request: No limit
Description: I want you to clean up the city.
Note: Location will be specified at the registration desk.

【Request Form】
　Request Title: Pet Search
Request rank: G
Reward: Three copper coins
Rank points earned: 1 point
Number of people who can receive request: No limit
Description: You need to find a missing pet.
Note: You can ask about the pet’s characteristics at the reception desk.

【Request Form】
Request Title: Dog Walking
Request rank: G
Reward: Three copper coins
Rank points earned: 1 point
Number of people who can receive request: No limit
Description: I need you to walk my dog for two hours.
Note: You can ask for the location of the client’s residence at the reception desk.

【Request Form】
Request Title: Defeat Slimes【Perpetual】
Request rank: G
Reward: Three copper coins
Rank points earned: 1 point
Number of people who can receive request: No limit
Description: Defeat 10 slimes.
Note: Each time you kill 10 slimes, it counts as one achievement.

【Request Form】
Request Title: Gathering Medicinal Herbs【Perpetual】
Request rank: G
Reward: Three copper coins
Rank points earned: 1 point
Number of people who can receive request: No limit
Content: Collecting 10 bundles of medicinal herbs
Note: Collecting 10 bundles of medicinal herbs will result in one achievement.

【Request Form】
Request: Defeat Wild Wolves
Request rank: F
Reward: Five copper coins
Rank points earned: 1 point
Number of people who can receive request: No limit
Description: Defeat five wild wolves.
Note: Defeating five wild wolves counts as one achievement.

【Request Form】
Request Title: Defeating Goblins【Perpetual】
Request rank: F
Reward: Five copper coins
Rank points earned: 1 point
Number of people who can receive request: No limit
Description: Defeat 10 goblins.
Note: Each time you kill 10 goblins, you get one achievement.

I’m wondering if I can get a little more reward for the defeat-type requests, since I’ll probably be able to get materials that I can sell if I properly dismantle the monsters I hunt. I have money earned from duelling, but I need to earn more.
I decided to take on the F-ranked Defeat Wild Wolves.
I’ve heard that you don’t have to bother with constant requests, you can just go to the guild counter with the proof when you’ve accomplished them, so let’s kill some slimes and goblins and collect some herbs.
When I took the request form to the reception counter, I felt that the receptionist was a little scared of me.
Maybe I shouldn’t stay in this city too long. I have to go to Midogal, too. But since I have to strengthen Eleanor, it’s quite difficult to find the right balance.
I learned a new〈Map〉skill during training this morning, but it’s still not very useful. We will have to earn our way out of this, even if it is inefficient.

【Map】
It allows me to auto-map an area centered on myself (radius skill level x 20 meters).
It can also be combined with 〈Detection〉.

Once we got the request, we moved out of the city.
I use my skill level 1〈Map〉to search for wild wolves, goblins, slimes, and medicinal herbs. The basic idea is to let Eleanor take them down, and I’ll back her up.

We took a lunch break in the middle of the day, but in the end, thanks to the hard work we put in until the evening, we were able to achieve quite a lot.
We killed 22 wild wolves, 44 goblins, and 63 slimes, and got 90 bunches of herbs.
When we returned to the guild to report the accomplishment of the requests and sell the materials, they were surprised by the large amount of materials……
The receptionist, who had changed her mind, took proper care of me after that.

「The results are 15 points for the G-rank requests and 16 points for the F-rank requests, for a total of 31 points. So Louis-sama and Eleanor-sama will each be ranked F, and their rank points will be 12 points minus that amount.」

Did today’s request alone raise our rank? The always-on system is nice and easy.

「As a reward, you will receive four silver coins and five copper coins for fifteen G-rated requests, and four silver coins for eight F-rated requests, for a total of eight silver coins and five copper coins.」

Yeah. I knew it, but the rewards for this rank range are low. But will the price of materials be good?

「The buyout is 22 wild wolf pelts for one silver per piece, 22 wild wolf magic stones for five copper per piece, 44 goblin magic stones for two copper per piece, and 63 slime magic stones for one copper per piece. The total of these will be four gold coins, eight silver coins, and one copper coin.」

With the reward for completing the request and the purchase, I ended up with five gold coins, six silver coins, and six copper coins.
This is still a little short of the 10 days of innkeeper’s fees I’ve already paid, but I’m sure I’ll be able to earn more as my rank rises, so I’ll return for today and try again tomorrow.
On the way back, I point out to Eleanor the problems I had with today’s battle.
After returning to the inn, I ate with her, took a bath with her, and slept with her.
Of course, I was a little more moderate at night……
Thus, our first request went off without a hitch.

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