CH 221.2

「Now then, onto the next page」

The protagonist has changed from the Plain Queen to Lightning. Now that Lightning has lost, I guess the next will be the very mature woman.

And sure enough, the article about the final was from the perspective of the very mature woman.

「――『The man with a thousand scars on his back』 who made his appearance after a long time of absence. In the face of his overwhelming power, even the Legend of the Eastern country has no chance of winning against him. It was as if he took his time simmering her down in her own juices」

As the Santa Claus-like vice guild master said, this middle-aged man seemed to have had a lot of fun with the old woman.

The guild master, Goblin jii-chan and the man with a thousand scars on his back. I wondered if they had the same taste.

That’s what I thought as I continued reading. However, the next words from the reporter hit me like a punch in the face.

「――The Legend of the Eastern country, repeating her sorrowful and sweet sounding plea. Hearing this, I thought from the bottom of my heart, “Let me do the old lady too”」

That’s the end of the article. I let out a deep sigh through my mouth.

(“Let me do the old lady too”, he said?)

If it were just the Goblin jii-chan, I could say that it’s because of his personal taste. Even with the addition of 『The man with a thousand scars on his back』, I can still say that it was a personal taste of theirs.

But to think a reporter from a well-known publishing company felt this way and wrote it in an article. I guess the general public in this world has a much wider range of tolerance than in my previous life.

(The level of tolerance is just that different)

When I was banned from entering Jayanne, I wondered if somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking that, 『I’m just too amazing』.

Now that I’ve read this article, I realized how ridiculous it was.

(It’s a matter of pride, I guess)

No matter how much I tried to make them scream, all I was dealing with were beautiful women.

Their age ranges from magical girls, to mothers, and the mature viscountess. All of these women were far below the pension eligibility level.

Let’s assume that the general public has the same sensibilities as this reporter. If this is the case, then many men in the world would have the feeling of 『Let me do the old woman』 even to old women on pension.

(How profound)

I was moved by the vastness of this world and became absorbed in thought. Fortunately, my familiars didn’t respond to 『Let me do the old lady』 part.

『How about the skewering whirlwind?』

This is the nickname of my best friend Corneal, and the name of his special move. For some reason, the name 『Skewering Whirlwind』 never fails to capture the hearts of the two animals.

Dangorou also noticed something and asked a question after Imosuke.

『How about unicorn?』

『Yeah! How about unicorn?』

Imosuke also reacted. My best friend 『Skewering Whirlwind』 and the monster of the doom squad, 『Virgin eater Unicorn』. Neither of them have been brought up so far.

I shook my head from side to side with a sorrowful expression as the two of them were being excited.

「Unfortunately the two of them didn’t participate in the tournament」

I can feel as if they’re saying “Whaaat?”. Only the turtle who remains silent.

『Why aren’t they participating?』

『Why?』

Two of them didn’t give up on pursuing the matter. I scratch my cheek with my finger and answer.

「The reason is the same as mine. They are probably busy with work or there’s a circumstance that won’t let them participate」

The caterpillar and the dung beetle stopped and stared at me. Then they looked at each other and started talking in whispers.

I could hear them saying words like “it can’t be helped,” “I get it,” and “What a shame”. Anyway, I was relieved that they seemed to be satisfied with my answer.

Then I looked at the champion’s profile. When I did, I reflexively spoke loudly.

「His main job is a tuner, it says!? And he travels around the world, tuning women in different places!? That’s amazing」

A tuner. It’s a job that has fascinated me ever since the herbivore mechanic told me about it.

「Actually, Zaratan. I’m thinking about traveling the world in the future」

And then I told him about the problem.

I’m not going to leave my familiars behind and of course I’m not going to leave the heavy lancers, who came here by relying on my familiars, either.

I was wondering if he has a good solution for this.

「As I thought, it’s difficult huh」

I look at the silent turtle and let out a sigh. Imosuke and Dangorou don’t seem to have any good ideas either.

「Eh? You think that there might be a way? You need some time to think about it, you say?」

To be honest I didn’t have much hope, but he seems to have a good idea. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

「Thank you, Zaratan. It won’t be anytime soon, so just take your time」

The turtle nodded at my words.

Before I knew it, it was already evening. As I started to think about what to do for dinner, Imosuke tapped my knee with his wart-like foot.

『There’s a guest』

Spirit beasts are sensitive to presence. They will tell me when someone is approaching, like this.

「Hm? Ah, okay. Let’s wrap it up for the day then」

An exclusive door at the bottom of the window for the spirit beasts. Imosuke and the others were going out into the garden forest knowing that I’m going to prepare to welcome our visitors.

I stood up and headed for the front door.

(Is it Cool-san? No, it might be Lightning. It wouldn’t be surprising if he came to say hello after coming back from the Divine Tournament)

While I was thinking about this, I went to the front door and found that the other person had just finished climbing the stairs.

I knew that all my expectations were wrong when I heard the words they said.

「Haa… a call from the guild master, is it?」

Standing outside the door was an employee I had seen at the Merchant Guild.

「Yes, he seems to be in need of your help immediately」

Apparently he hadn’t been told the details. When I asked, “Did a demon beast appear?”, he just shook his head and said, “I didn’t hear anything about that at the least”.

If the Goblin jii-chan called for me, I just have to go and see him.

「I’m going to the guild merchant headquarters for a bit!」

I opened the window and shouted to the garden forest. Then after taking only the bare minimum of my belongings with me, I went outside.

I got on a golem carriage driven by one of the staff members and headed for the merchant guild.

(It doesn’t seem to be a bad thing)

It doesn’t seem to be an emergency from the way the staff talked.

「I wonder what is it about」

「My apologies. I didn’t get the chance to ask about why you’re called」

The staff looks apologetic over what I said. It couldn’t be helped, so I sat back down on the carriage chair.

It was a distance that wouldn’t hurt my feet even if I walked there, so I arrived in no time at all. I climbed up the stairs and went to the guild master’s office on the third floor.

「Oh, Tauro-kun. I’m sorry to have called you so suddenly」

The two men in the room were an old man who looked like a goblin and an old man who looked like Santa Claus. They were the guild master and the vice guild master.

「We’ll sortie when it gets a little darker. Please, lend me your strength」

The petite guild master rises from his chair and takes my hand.

「No, I have no particular occasion to attend to. You said “sortie”, so is it a demon beast as expected?」

I answered and looked around, but I didn’t see the herbivore mechanic. If we’re about to sortie with the Old lady, he should have been called here too.

I wondered if he was already in the hangar getting ready.

「No, it’s not a demon beast. But it is an existence greater than that, in a way. And it’s not something a Knight can defeat」

『An enemy, greater than a demon beast and cannot be defeated with a Knight』

Just what could it be?

「I have the Prime Minister’s permission. So rest assured」

Even though he told me to be rest assured, I don’t know what it is in the first place.

As the mystery deepened, the furrow between my brows deepened. At the same time, an unfathomable sense of foreboding began to seep in.

「This one’s for you, Tauro-kun」

The guild master, who was speaking in a one-sided manner, pushed a folded thick cloth at me. When I unfolded it, I was utterly shocked.

(This is definitely a ski mask, isn’t it?)

What he handed me was a black hat woven with thick thread. However, it was large enough to cover the entire head, with only three holes for the eyes and mouth.

(Are we going to rob a bank or something?)

I look at Santa Claus, the man with common sense. The vice guild master gave me a pitying look, then slowly looked away.

This is definitely not a good thing.

「Um, I’m sorry, I suddenly remembered that there’s something I had to do」

「No, you can’t!」

He refused my leave.

Thus I ended up going with the guild master tonight.