CH 35

Before we arrived in town, Zanbara-san made me wear a hooded robe.

「I don’t really want us to stand out that much, so I’m sorry but please cover up yourself with this for now」

Well, having black hair and red eyes would really make me stand out after all, but now I am going to be covered in all black…… Still looking suspicious.

「Bettyー, Bettyー」

『What is it』

I spoke to her in a silent voice then showed her the hooded cloak that was passed on to me.

『It doesn’t have any magical effect, and it will definitely not make you stand out. Well, if there’s something suspicious going on I will inform you, so you don’t really have to be bothered by it』

I got her proof of approval so I immediately wore the robe, but it’s a bit too big for me so the hem is hitting the ground.

「Arara, it was still too big for you, even though I’ve bought something that should have been made for kids」

Gununu, you are telling me that I’m small. Well, I am certainly smaller than Rikka and Lutie after all, but I was surprised that there weren’t a lot of people comparable to my size, and I’m definitely smaller considering the standard of height for people of the same age group as me.

「Are you okay? It’s fine to lift it or just drag it on the ground, but will you be able to walk?」

「I’m alright」

I walked for a bit and my feet were moving just fine. It also doesn’t feel like I’ll be stepping on it unless I’m in a rush.

I covered my head with the hood and walked next to Zanbara-san. I looked around for a bit to see what the new town was like, but I couldn’t look around properly due to the hood, so I only focused my sight on the things ahead on our path.

Hmmー, it doesn’t really give of a special kind of atmosphere. I could say that it has a similar atmosphere to Ruberia, a normal town with two story houses and shops aligned on the side of the wide cobblestone road where carriages pass by.

「Please wait here for a bit, I will be depositing the horse」*

「Nn」

Zanbara-san went inside the stable after telling me that. Hmm, it’s kind of suspicious when a small girl covered with a hood like me is left alone in a place like this. I wonder what I should do.

『You know, you don’t really look all that worried about this』

Helvetia appeared in front of me with her arms crossed as she said that. I again answered her in a low voice, after making sure that nobody was paying attention to me.

「Nn, as expected? A little scary」

『Aiya, I can sense evil intent, so you don’t really have to worry about it』

「Is that so」

After waiting for a while, Zanbara-san came back so Helvetia disappeared. My worries have also disappeared, probably because I was lonely.

「Well then, let’s go, be sure not to separate from me since we will now be passing through alleyways」

「Nn」

After walking for about 20 minutes inside the residential area, Zanbara-san stopped and pointed at a house with her thumb. She then opened the door with a key that she was carrying and went inside, and soon I was also invited to get inside the house.

「I have brought the reported child」

After Zanbara-san locked the door, she corrected her posture and then reported to the man who was sitting on a rocking chair.

Eeh, now this was a surprise, I haven’t heard about any adventurers acting this way, like Zanbara-san, but it seems there are adventurers who are actually disciplined.

「Thank you for your hard work. Toto-dono, for the inconvenience of having you come over to this far away town, I apologize」

「Nn, about that, it’s fine, you know」

Have I met this old man before? I couldn’t really recall any memories about meeting him. He seems like a good looking grandpa with white hair and a bit of a wrinkled face, but I wonder who this person really is.

『This old man, it seems he is magically disguised, his real looks would be…… I see, it’s the person from that time, huh』

「Oops, sorry, you don’t have to be alarmed, I was the one who’s life was saved because of you a long time ago」

「Eh, who?」

I don’t remember saving someone at all, but I do remember hunting a lot, and maybe he’s a person saved by one of my hunts?

『That’s right, you really are such a dullard. It’s the swordsman person wearing a feathered hat that you encountered when you were killing some warwolf』

Ahhh! Before I noticed it, the old man took off his bracelet, and he returned to his original looks.

I now remember those sharp eyes and the Kaiser Beard. It was definitely that person, from the time I got covered with blood.

「At that time, I was supposed to have died after all. I can’t just suddenly pop out and declare that I survived, as it would alert the one targeting me」

「What do you mean by that?」

I don’t really understand what he was saying, and responded while tilting my head. What did he mean by supposed to be killed at that time? Even if he suddenly tells me this, I don’t really know.

「Ah, sorry, I will explain it step by step. Iya, before that let me give you my gratitude. Two years ago I was surrounded by warwolves, but then you saved me. Thank you, I wholeheartedly offer you my gratitude」

All of a sudden, the dandy uncle bowed down to me to express his gratitude. It wasn’t really on purpose, you know. I was only on a hunt back then, wanting to find strong monsters to fight with. Also this is too much gratitude for something that I really didn’t do on purpose.

「Now then, the story will be a bit long, so please sit down over there. And Zanbara, please prepare some tea」

「Understood」

Zanbara-san without hesitation left the room, as if she already knew the place, and then I was guided by the dandy uncle to a seat with a table in front of it.

As soon as we were seated, Zanbara-san came back holding two cups that were for us and placed them on the table. And just like what a maid in my imagination would do, she stepped back and stood still behind the dandy uncle.

「Anyway, sorry for the late introduction, my name is Del Vandelt, a former Earl. You could say that I am the master of Zanbara, but that is also a former, because right now she is overwhelmingly stronger than me」

Hahaha, Del-san laughs joyfully. I see, so that’s why Zanbara-san has such discipline. It was formed during the time she served this person, a nobleman and also her teacher.

Del-san took a sip of his tea, then continued the story.

「Two years ago I was chasing a person who pretended to serve me in order to gather information, but I wasn’t expecting to meet that 《Someone else》there, when I reached their contact point. That someone who appeared, tried to kill me along with the man I was chasing, by using a special medicine to attract war wolves, and it should have succeeded.」

Did that other person die? At that time, I didn’t see anyone else other than Del-san. Were there actually more people involved?

「Del-san, I didn’t find anyone else there?」

「Ah, that woman fled using a teleport gem, and I also moved away from the original place, where that man was killed」

「I see」

「I desperately struggled to escape from the group of warwolves chasing me, and when I was cornered and about to give up, you appeared. At first, seeing your eyes, I thought that I have encountered a really high leveled undead.」

Well, no sane person would ever think that a normal little girl would be able to blow away a monster in just one hit after all, so it was natural for him to assume that I was also a monster, and that’s why at that time, he pointed his sword towards me.

「After that I understood that I was saved. But then I remembered about the woman who tried to kill me, and I decided not to go back to the mansion and pretend that I have actually been killed. Back then I thought that if I did that, I would be able to uncover their secrets」

「You found out their scheme?」

「Um, we’ll talk about that later. ……after finding out those who were responsible for my faked death, I decided to settle down in this town for a while, but I still needed people to work as my limbs. I was also in need of money, so I sent a letter written in a special code, about my situation and the need for source of funds. It was actually a gamble, but I somehow managed. I got in contact with someone from my home and I also let them know that I actually survived」

Fumu, I initially thought that it may have been a family member that he deemed the most reliable. However, he said he was influential enough that he needed to fake his own death, and because he doesn’t have any reliable family member left, the one who received the news was a butler who have been serving him for several years.

「And during my hiding, I couldn’t help but think about the《High Tier Undead》 that I’ve encountered in that forest, who had enough strength to obliterate a group of warwolves instantly. That’s why I decided to make a request at the capital’s guild to do an 《Undead Hunting》 in order to gather rumors if such an undead did exist. Because I have a little surplus from my fuds, I was able to process the request without any problems」

「And that’s why Zanbara-san made contact with me」

「That’s right, though I was surprised that something like that was actually processed, and at the same time, I wasn’t sure if the undead that we were supposed to aim at was the same person. My partner Hannoti and I didn’t have a lot of acquaintances, so we were able to move freely. However, it was fortunate that there were more jobs similar to undead hunting in Eresebel, so I somehow managed to gather information easily.」

Hmmm, thinking about it now, I wonder where Hannou-san is. I was expecting that he would have arrived here first before us when Zanbara-san mentioned about him. But then Zanbara-san continued her side.

「It was a year ago. We have been escorting carriages and were also looking around the capital for a while already, but there were no signs of damage from undead or any reports related to it. At that time, we couldn’t find any decent information and were about to give up, but when we started to return after traveling to a distant place, we found a child that fit almost everything from the undead description entering the carriage we were riding.」

「That was, me」

「That’s right, you have eyes that are unmistakably the same as of an undead, without any doubt. But then, when I tried doing things that an undead would normally hate, nothing happened. That’s why I have concluded that you were definitely a human」

「Eh, ehhh……」

I see, is that why Hannou-san was praying before a meal? I felt a sudden chill during that time, but it’s not something that really bothered me. I did find their actions strange though, but I think it would be better if I didn’t mention any of this.

「And then, knowing that you are actually a human, I asked Zanbara to approach you. At that time, I concluded that Hannoti was also a trustworthy person so I revealed my situation to him. And that’s why」

After Del-san ended his words, we heard a knocking sound on the door.

「I’m back」

Oh, the person we just talked about arrived, and was carrying a large basket filled with vegetables. Upon noticing me, he immediately placed the vegetables on the side of the table and joined our conversation.

「Oh, it seems like everyone has already started. I was a bit late because I was in charge of procuring vegetables」

「It’s fine. Zanbara please prepare another set of tea, and the two of you should join us here after」

「Yes, master」

「Ah, um, I want another one」

Hannou-san immediately took the paper bag filled with vegetables and carried it to the kitchen. He returned just when Zanbara-san finished preparing the tea, then after coughing a bit for confirmation, everyone settled down.

「From here on, I will be explaining the things that I have discovered. And Toto, there is one more reason why I have called you here, I will also inform you about it」