CH 109

Chapter 109 : Departure

-The next morning-

Today we’re going to leave the town with Celine to complete a quest.

After packing all the stuff we needed and wearing the equipment we got from Grandpa, Nicola and I left the house with Celine.

「Have a fun trip~!」(Mom)

As we left the house, Mom waved at us from the entrance, and we waved back at her. She didn’t look worried at all, instead, she looked excited for some reason.

After seeing us off, Mom will go to Grandpa’s house to get the empty lunch box from yesterday, and give Grandpa another lunch box.

By the way, I’ve told her not to put any weird ingredients into Grandpa’s lunch box, so I think Grandpa should be okay today… I hope…

「Anyway, let’s head to the meeting place. We can buy groceries at shops and food stalls along the way.」(Celine)

While we were heading to the meeting place, we bought groceries along the way with Celine’s money.

I have a lot of food Dad made for us yesterday in my item box, but Celine decided to buy more because food won’t rot in my item box anyway.

「Onii-chan, I want that~!」(Nicola)

Nicola pointed to the bottles of fruit juice that were lined up in a store. They are fairly expensive, by the way.

Well, it’s not like I don’t have enough money to buy some, but perhaps I should ask Celine first.

「Celine, would you buy that for us?」(Mark)

「Hm? Ah, fruit juices. Okay, let’s go buy them.」(Celine)

Nice. As expected from our generous witch.

We went to the store, and I took several bottles of fruit juice.

After Celine paid for them, we left the store and I secretly put them into my item box.

「Your item box really is convenient. Normally, bringing bottled drinks on your trip will only burden you since they are quite heavy. Ahh… I wish I were born with a Gift like yours…」(Celine)

「Don’t you have any Gift?」(Mark)

Celine is a skillful adventurer, so I thought it wouldn’t be weird if she had a Gift or two.

「Nope, I don’t have any. By the way, in the village where I was born, there was an annoying, arrogant person with a Gift. I remember I started practicing really hard to hone my skills so I wouldn’t be belittled by that person.」(Celine)

As she said that, Celine closed her eyes, reminiscing her past.

I’m sure a hardworking person like Celine who puts efforts to hone her skills can compete with that person. After all, Gifts are just part of your innate talent, not your real talent.

「Unlike that person, Mark, you’re not arrogant at all even though you have an amazing Gift. I hope you will grow into a great adult just like you are now.」(Celine)

Celine stroked my head while saying that.

Sometimes, there were times when I wanted to brag about my talent in front of people, but she was right. Let’s live with the motto of “being humble and modest” from now on!

***

After a while of walking down the main street while buying groceries and other stuff along the way, we finally arrived in the South Square.

Delica and her dad, Gauche oji-san, were already waiting for us near the fountain in the center of the square.

「Have you been waiting long?」(Mark)

「Nope, we just arrived too!」(Delica)

As soon as we saw each other, Delica and I exchanged greetings. For some reason, I felt like a boyfriend who met up with his girlfriend to go on a date…

Meanwhile, Celine was talking with Gauche oji-san. As our guardian, it looked like Celine wanted to properly greet Gauche oji-san.

By the way, Celine took this quest as a “solo activity”. We children are just her support members.

Delica has already registered with the Adventurer Guild, so Celine could just have formed a party with Delica and taken the quest as a “party activity” so that the achievements that would be obtained from clearing this quest could be added to Delica’s adventurer record. However, Delica didn’t want it. She said that she didn’t want to make her mom even more worried. Apparently, Delica’s mom still didn’t want her daughter to be an adventurer.

After exchanging greetings with Celine, Gauche oji-san approached us.

「Delica, I’m sure you will be fine as long as Celine-san and Mark are with you, but please don’t do anything reckless, okay? Since you have used your lifelong request for this, I hope you will learn something from this trip.」(Gauche)

「Un. Thank you, Dad. I’ll do my best!」(Delica)

***

After parting with Gauche oji-san, we went to the East Gate and rented a carriage from the carriage rental shop that took care of us when we went to Secard Village a while ago.

The carriage we rented now was one size smaller than the carriage when we went to Secard Village.

Moreover, it wasn’t a box-shaped carriage like last time, but it was like a mini truck that had a roof with four pillars supporting it in every corner.

Celine chose this kind of carriage so that we could look at our surroundings.

We need a carriage for a mission, not to deliver wood works like last time, so this kind of carriage is a good choice.

By the way, Delica will be driving for the time being.

Gauche oji-san sometimes taught her how to drive a carriage when they deliver wood works to other places.

Delica got on the coachman’s seat and picked up the reins.

「Delica-chan, are you sure you want to drive?」(Celine)

「Un. Don’t worry, Celine-san. You can take a rest while I’m driving.」(Delica)

「I leave it to you then. First, we’re going to Secard Village. Just tell me if you’re tired, okay?」(Celine)

「Okay~」(Delica)

After the rest of us got into the carriage, Delica looked back at us and shouted.

「Are you guys ready!?」(Delica)

「「「Ouuー!」」」

Delica then pulled the reins, and the carriage started moving.

Our destination is in the west of this territory, so we should first go to Secard Village.

We will stay overnight there, and while we are there, I want to buy some Tentacles meat. This time, my mom gave me money to buy it, by the way.

Oh, right. Come to think of it, I haven’t heard the details about the quest.

「Celine, can you tell us the mission in detail?」(Mark)

「Oh, right. I haven’t told you, huh? There’s a settlement near the mine to the west of this territory. Usually, a merchant will come to our town from that settlement at least once a month, but they suddenly stopped coming these two months.」(Celine)

As she explained, Celine sat on the cushion I gave her while hugging her knees.

Celine was explaining with a serious face, but in front of her, Nicola was secretly trying to look into Celine’s skirt.

Hahh… This perverted angel…

「This quest came from a merchant in our town who usually purchases goods from the merchant from that settlement. He asked the Adventurer Guild to investigate what exactly was happening with his business partner.」(Celine)

「I see… But if it’s only checking a person’s well being, I don’t think someone as strong as you have to do it though.」(Mark)

If you only need to check for someone and return, I think a D-rank adventurer is enough. It’s not necessary for Celine, who is the only C-rank adventurer in our town, to do the quest.

「Well, the thing is, as you know, it takes a week for a round trip to that place, but the prize money for this quest is not much. For the client, it’s just a request to go check for his business partner, not his family or important person for him, so he didn’t want to raise the prize money.」(Celine)

Celine sighed once and continued talking.

「And because most of the adventurers in our town have formed parties, no one wanted to take this quest since they had to split the prize money which wasn’t much. Therefore, Liza begged me to do it. She said because I’m a solo adventurer, I don’t need to split the prize money with anyone. Still, I don’t think it’s worth the trouble though…」(Celine)

「So you took this quest because Liza-san forced you, huh…?」(Mark)

「Yeah, but it’s fine. I prefer completing quests by myself, but having cute assistants accompany me like this is not a bad thing at all, fufu. Ah, don’t worry, I will split the prize money with you guys.」(Celine)

「Ah, Celine-san, I don’t need prize money! It’s not much, right? Besides, going out of town is already a reward for me!」(Delica)

「Are you sure? Well, if you say so~」(Celine)

After replying to Delica, Celine laid down with the cushion on her head.

Her large breasts, which were wrapped in her usual black dress, changed shape as she laid down.

「I’m going to sleep for a while. Delica-chan, if you’re tired or something happens, please wake me up, okay?」(Celine)

「Okay~」(Delica)

「Well then, good night, guys~」(Celine)

After saying that, Celine closed her eyes.

I’m a person who can’t sleep in a moving vehicle, so I’m a little envious of those who can do that, but this time, I can’t sleep because I’m excited to learn a lot from this trip.

While looking at Nicola who had turned into Celine’s pillow before I realized it, I spread my mana to the surroundings so I could detect if any enemies were approaching us.