CH 105

La Veil ordered the 『 Blue Dragon 』 Lucretze to disperse the remaining adventurers. Lucretze didn’t know that she had come here either, so we asked him to tell us the whole story and why we ended up here. Well, we were all wearing hoods, you know. It’s no wonder he didn’t know it was us immediately.

「 Let’s see, where shall I start? Ahaha……」

「 Oi, what are you laughing at? You think this is funny?」

「 Hiii!! 」

… I can’t believe he’s the same ancient dragon, but I can’t talk about that with La Veil here anyway, so I sat Arena on La Veil’s lap to soothe her. That should be good.

「 So, what did you want with us? 」

「 I’m talking about the stray backers, of course. If they’re all dead, you’re all in danger because you acted recklessly and carelessly. I just wanted to confirm and get you people banned from the guild as soon as possible. If you didn’t want that to happen, I was going to ask you to hand them over and…… stop any more of this nonsense 」

「 Before we answer that, why did you assault Jess-san? 」

「 I was thinking that he may have been involved with the deaths of the children. We have to use some force to get him to talk. Information is also as important as life after all 」

「 Even though you’ve never really cared about the children’s lives? 」

「 You didn’t kill them out of spite, did you? 」

…… He’s just blatantly dodging the subject of the matter. I think he knows that the Red Dragons brought the children out of the dungeon. The matter with Jess was only serving as a warning. To show us that he is superior in terms of position and power.

That’s why Lucretze changed the subject with a triumphant look on his face.

「 I was surprised, though. I never thought I’d see a violent dragon working with a weakling. How did you manage to tame it? 」

「 I simply beat her, that’s all 」

Lucretze claps his hands and starts laughing. Lucretze, who began clapping, continued as if he heard an incredibly funny joke.

「 Hahaha, this is amazing! You even started to lie. I think you’re leaning towards the way I am now, aren’t you? I thought you said you didn’t want anything to do with humans. 」

「 The one you are talking to is not a human though, neither is anyone in our group. 」

「……what?」

Lucretze stared at me again.

「……Looking at you again, the flow of your magic power is indeed strange……or rather, what is with this ridiculous amount of magic power? What, what is the meaning of this? 」

「 Let me tell you something, you fool. That one over there is a monster that can no longer be harmed even if there were hundreds of me against her. Trying to venture into murky waters are you? You might end up falling into an abyss, you know……. And she can easily wipe you out of existence 」

I took advantage of her words towards him and gave Lucretze a dose of powerful killing intent for a moment. No, I’m not going to kill him, for now.

「 La, La, La Veil. What was that just now, I felt like I being glared at by our parents, and several magnitudes……」

「 I’d rather not talk about it. More than that……why don’t we start this conversation once again from the beginning?」

「Yes, I’ll talk about anything!!」

Lucretze has been an adventurer in Amone for a few decades, and within a few years he became the head of the guild with a major title in his hands. From then on, they tried to induce various people to have many children.

But there is no place to raise children in this city, and most of them were abandoned. Lucretze had an adventurer tell him about the children living in this city and that they would not be able to survive in this situation, and followed with.

「 They can live as stray baggers. That way, adventurers will be able to hire them. 」

In fact, for many years Amone was in a shortage of baggers carriers. That’s why he told them that because they were children, they can’t become adventurers just yet, but they could take them in as a bagger.

「 That’s what I got the guy there to tell them. He’d been worried about the kids since then, it seemed. 」

It was Jess who he pointed at. I see, that’s why he said it like that and walked away. Because he felt guilty that he let something like that happen.

And so began the hellish earning of the children’s daily bread. Sure, there weren’t enough backers, but still the adventurers thought that it was better for them to do it themselves than rely on the kids. However, the Guild Master also promoted this, saying that 「 They could be hired every once in a while 」, so the adventurers hesitantly agreed to it.

It’s a life-threatening job already, so protecting a child in a dungeon is quite difficult. And if you let them die, you’ll feel guilty. That’s what Lucretze did anyway without much concern about it.

「 『 Stray Baggers are equipment. They’re just forsaken children, and if they is no use for them to be alive, we’ll use them ourselves to make their life at least worth something.』It is what I suggested, and the rest is as you see. It was fun to see their negative cycle slowly spiraling until their minds got corrupted. 」

I look at the trash with a cold stare as La Veil spits at him with ridicule.

「 Master, as you can see, this is this one’s true nature, that’s why he wants to be in the human world. This is why grandfather asked me to bring him back, kill him if needed. He told me not to leave the trash of a monster who is not even considered an ancient dragon anymore at large. 」

This was the first time he had heard of this fact, and Lucretze began to shake again, looking pale. Well, it seems that there are countless charges against you. Or perhaps you’ll do anything as long as it gives you pleasure.

「 Are you sure about this? This is a human world. I’m the guild master here, and if you kill me, you’ll be in serious trouble as adventurers. You’re living in the human world now, aren’t you? Come on, you can say something, too. 」

I’m sorry to say, but I’m not going to let you get away with it.

「 It’s true that the death of the guild leader would be a problem for the adventurer’s guild. But that’s only if you’re still the guild leader. 」

「 Hey, hey, hey, I’m the guild leader of this city, right? 」

「 Then let’s check with the person in that mirror then 」

「……eh?」

I had only seen that magic tool once before. Something that only Guild Masters have the authority to use, a 『 Communication Mirror 』. From the moment I entered this room, I had activated it with fairy magic. I had it muffled and disguised, so it wouldn’t have looked like it was active.

And the channel we tuned into.

『 Ou. I’ve heard all of it. Guildmaster of Amone-san 』

It was Haval’s guild master’s office.

「 Long time no see, Drew-san. That’s what I’m talking about. Please report back.」

『 I’ll take care of it. I’ll make sure to tell HQ. Amone’s guild leader is a child predator and a trash who has no place in an adventurer’s life. But it seems like you are still the same, just like the time you got involved with Haval and the Royal Capital 』

「 Aren’t you always happy to see me.」

『 Shut it!!…… Haaah, can’t you get a grip? Nah, it’s you after all 』

Then the communication was cut off. I turned to Lucretze with a refreshed look on my face.

「 Okay, what was that again, Guildmaster? 」

I no longer need to hold back. I took out my holy sword and activated it with all my might, and Lucretze looked horrified.

「 Ha, how are you able to use a Holy Sword, you are not Human!!?? 」

「 Don’t worry, the other one is a normal human, you see. Isn’t that right, Mika? 」

「 Yup! Holy sword, activate! 」

「 Whaat, there’s two!!? Damn!! 」

Perhaps thinking that we would cut him down, Lucretze acted quickly. He threw himself out the window of the room and immediately transformed into his true form. It was a Blue Dragon with indigo scales glittered as it took flight into the sky.

The adventurers and merchants were astonished, but Lucretze didn’t care and ran away as fast as he could, his face serious because he knew well the persistence of La Veil and the fear of fighting against a hero.

La Veil tilts her head and looks at me before asking a question.

「 Are you not going after him? 」

「 Nah, we don’t need to chase after hit. Because 」

A sound of something exploding was heard from the roof. After a few minutes, a fairy came into the room humanized into an old gentleman.

「 Welcome back Quad 」

「 I’m back. By the way, Aidle-sama, I dealt with a rare species of dragon that suddenly appeared when I was on my way back, and I took the jewel from its body by hardening it with fairy magic. What would you like me to do with it? 」

A nice middle-aged gentleman, Quad, was showing off the jewel with a nice smile. He was probably thinking that it’s just a monster that was a little stronger than usual. I feel sorry for the dragon who ended up in this pathetic state.

「 Thank you Quad. I’ll take care of that. 」

「 Okay, here 」

「 What about the body?」

「 The effect of the fairy magic I used turned him into water, and was dispersed. 」

Eh, what kind of image did he use……

The jewel was placed in a small bottle. This was also made very strong with fairy magic, so it would not break easily. Then I threaded a string through the vial. Fill the vial with water, mix its super-dense magic power into the water, and cover it with a lid. …… Okay, I guess he won’t die with this.

「 La Veil, I’ll leave this to you 」

「 Yes, I’ll handle it 」

La Veil took it with a wicked grin on her face, and judging by the way Arena went to be carried on Quad’s shoulders, she thought it was a fair punishment. 

「 Can I borrow your ear for a moment? 」

「 Yes, yes…… Hmm. Okay, thanks.」

「 No, no, It’s but a small price to pay 」

Well, it’s all been a bit of a prelude so far. Let’s get to the original objective, shall we? I slap Jess on the cheek and wake him up.

_______________________________

「…… nn… guh…… What the? Stop hitting, I’m awake, I’m awake……no, wait, why are ya guys still here!? What the hell is this mess!!?」

「 Now, now, calm down. It’s just a little about the guild master not being the guild master anymore and locking him in a vial right here. 」

「 That’s not an explanation!!」

After I managed to calm him down and explain to him what had happened, I asked him about the topic again.

「 You didn’t honestly accept the children’s thanks because the guild leader encouraged you to go ahead with the bagger plan, didn’t you? 」

「……Before Ashia, you told me that there was someone else who was the leader of the kids. 」

「 Un 」

「 It was me who gave him the idea about of stray baggers. He was so happy that he gathered all the kids and made them all stray baggers……. We were all dreaming about making a guild dedicated to baggers and making a lot of money when they grew up. I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a great idea.」

But he died. The child died in the dungeon. He talked about his dreams and kept dreaming.

「 That trashy bastard told me. He said he had them killed in the dungeon because there was a chance they would rebel. I knew he wasn’t the kind of guy who would want that. That’s why I rebelled and stopped being an adventurer. To stay close and watch over the children. 」

To make sure that would never happen again. It was the last atonement Jess could make.

「 Every day, I watched them being mistreated by the adventurers. I felt like my head was going to explode. But it was the only thing I could do. That’s why I’ll never expect to be thanked for it…… I’m never going to be able to face him again now that he’s dead… 」

He just turned his face down, saying that he didn’t deserve it being the one who caused the death, and the one who caused all of their suffering.

Okay, you’ve had your moment of weakness.

「 La Veil, carry him. 」

「 Umu 」

「 Hah? Eh, oi what are you doing!? 」

I let La Veil carry him, and we left the guild. They should have been waiting outside the city for a while now. Seriously though, I should have asked one of the red dragons to do this. Jess is currently yelling, flailing on La Veil’s shoulder.

「 Hey, where are you taking me? 」

「 Let’s go outside. 」

We went outside the city and had La Veil drop Jess off, and Aidle signaled to the sky, to all at once, ordering them 『 Red Dragons come down now.』

「 Uuuooooo!???!?」

Jess was startled and slumped over, but he quickly came back to his senses when he saw the people riding them. And those kids also saw Jess and came down immediately.

「「「 Uncle Jess!!!」」」

「 Jess-san!!」

「 Oh, you guys are………why 」

Ashia and the others really wanted to thank Jess. For being the one who had been looking out for them. For using his own money to clumsily and stealthily bring food to a child who was dying of hunger, for leaving a blanket from his own house for a baby, and for always telling them to come back even if they died whenever they went into the dungeon. So,

「 We knew. We knew everything that Jess had been told by the guild leader. 」

「……Eh?」

Ashia and the others had been told directly by the guild master the day after their leader had died. That it was Jess who had started the Stray Baggers. That the leader died because Jess tried to make the leader dream and become a business rival.

「 But we had to work like that to survive. It’s true that he did terrible things, but Jess did it all for the best!! Even the leader must have known about the possibility of that happening!! 」

The kids had also gotten their thinking skills from the board game Aidle had put out. That’s why it seemed to them now that Jess was not that bad of a person. And also because their leader always had a smile on his face.

「 And the leader had always been grateful to Jess! We’re the same way! 」

「 Uh……Ugh……Aah 」

Surrounded by children, Jess listened to it while standing on his knees. He couldn’t find the words to argue. He should have denied it. He should have not forgiven himself. He thought it was natural for people to hate him. He can’t get the words out of his throat. Only tears flowed down his face.

「 Uncle Jess……this 」

Then Run pulled a sheet of tattered paper out of his pocket.

「 If Uncle Jess is crying, he wants me to give this to you…… 」

「……that ? 」

Jess looked at the piece of paper that was handed to him. On it, in poor handwriting, was written the following. It looked familiar.

『 We owe you a debt of gratitude, stray bagger leader, Rasta. 』

「……Um……Ugh, that stupid…… idiot kid…… why… just why!! 」

He couldn’t stop crying. Run, Ashia and all of the kids just couldn’t stop crying. Even though it was cold, everyone felt so warm inside.

「 Jess-san……」

「「「 Thank you very much!!!!!!」」」

「……Aa, to you brats too…… thank you……」

Those words certainly melted the frozen heart of this man.

「 That’s the best end of it……」

「 Indeed, it is a good story.……」

「 Guh……that was really good. 」

「 A happy ending, huh?」

「 A perfect score of 100!! 」