CH 209

It had been two weeks since Ankh and I started sharing a house.

The first few days, Aeris came to the house frequently, so Ragune also came over and the four of us spent more time together, but Aeris and Ragune, who both are women, spent more time talking alone, so naturally, we began to separate into men and women.

When the four of us are together, Tauro and Aeris, Ankh and Ragune were often separated,  but we still often talked to each other.

Ankh, perhaps because he was a mercenary for a long time and did not often stay in one place for long periods of time, seemed to dislike taking it easy, but when I looked into his room, I saw that he had finally started to unpack his belongings and spread them out.

He had been keeping them all in one place until then.

“Have you been in the village of Dansas for long?”

Ankh asked me one evening over drinks after dinner.

“Not really. I used to live in another town.”

“But I’m surprised that so many of the villagers here know you, leader.”

“Oh, that’s …….”

Tauro explained that the village had been under a curse for a while, and that he and Bob, another fellow adventurer, had lifted the curse and were treated as benefactors.

“That’s amazing.”

Ankh was impressed.

“But more importantly, Ankh. why are you always keeping an eye on us? “

Tauro suddenly asked a puzzling question.

“…..What’s this all of a sudden? I’m not watching you, am I?”

Ankh stopped drinking and answered.

“I just thought you were worried about Aeris and me.”

“…..Huh.…… Well, even though you’re a senior adventurer, you’re still just a kid. You have to be a little careful.”

Ankh replied plausibly.

“I understand it’s not just that, …… you probably don’t want to be pursued?”

Tauro puts it in an inclusive way.

“… that’s right. Think about the circumstances of adults.”

Ankh smiled wryly and let out a little of his true feelings.

“…… I understand. I believe you. I look forward to working with you all in the future .”

Tauro bowed his head and asked, guessing Ankh’s answer as best he could.

“Does that include Ragune too? Well, she’s worth training. Wahaha!”

Relieving his tension, he burst into laughter. It was a great laugh to blow away everything.

As Tauro thought, Ankh was not the enemy.

On the contrary, he would not be allowed to interfere.

That would be equal to bringing harm to Aeris.

In other words, there is a strong possibility that Ankh was hired by the Marquis Van Dyne as an escort for Aeris.

Furthermore, it may be part of his job to report on Aeris’s recent situation.

He must have asked Ankh, who was originally a skilled mercenary, to become an adventurer at a moment’s notice, and then come with his money and ability to raise his rank to E in a short period of time.

It is possible that I am also a target of escort, or that he is being told to investigate my background and report it.

to check out my background ……. Hm? So does that mean there are other employers?

The possibility of an employer outside of my imagination caught me  off guard and got me thinking.

I was tempted to ask Ankh for more details, but he probably won’t answer me any further.

Well, if we stay together, we might be able to see some things.

Besides, after working with the team, Ankh is very trustworthy.

He seems to be someone who is willing to do more than he is asked to do, so it would be better for us to stay together as a team.

Tauro felt refreshed when one doubt was cleared.

The next day.

“Good morning, Ankh.”

“Good morning …….”

It seems that Ankh drank more than usual after that, either because he was relieved or because he was ashamed of being found out.

Since he seemed to be suffering from a hangover, Tauro cast an ailment recovery spell on Ankh to relieve him of his hangover.

“…… Oh? My hangover is gone! Leader, I want that magic every time from now on!”

No, no, no, you’re going to drink a lot, aren’t you? That disqualifies you from being Aeris’s bodyguard!

Tauro was dumbfounded, but he thought about harassing him by using magic to sober him up while he was having a good time drinking.