CH 160

Chapter 160 – A Familiar Demihuman!?

There was a large crowd of people gathered in the plaza of the commercial district. And then a moment later, other waves of people began to move towards the plaza.

“What’s all the raucous?”

“Should we go and take a look?”

Ecleshia asked, and I nodded my head.

“I am interested as well!”

“There are so many humans… We have to be careful so we don’t get lost.”

Ymir and Enna said, and then Ecleshia pulled them closer to her by the hands.

“Both of you, stay close to me.”

It was such a natural movement, that I remembered that Ecleshia was always the person who stayed behind.

“Hmm? What is it, Joshua?”

“Nothing… I will also be careful so that they don’t get lost.”

“Aye. They are both quite small.”

After that, we joined the flow of people as we headed towards the plaza in the commercial district.

“However, why is everyone… Hmm? What is that?”

I noticed that there was a raised platform in the center of the plaza.

And there, a demihuman with orange ears and tail was shouting loudly.

“Now, now! Gather around! Gather around! We have grains, fresh meat, fish, eggs and ale!! Come quickly, or it will all be sold out!”

Upon seeing this, Ecleshia said,

“The tigerfolk…”

“It is! I remember playing with one called Riise back in the village!”

Enna seemed to not know, but was satisfied after hearing Ymir’s explanation.

I didn’t expect to see tigerfolk here… And a merchant at that. Well, they were probably from the Grank Mercenaries.

In fact, the tigerfolk were all armed, and had scimitars hanging from their belts. They were the same weapons the Chief Beyron and his daughter Neia had carried.

And in the past, they had aided us during our battle against the Demon King’s army, which had been led by Bish the orc.

Furthermore, they had given us a lot of Grank wheat that they had raised. That was why we were now able to eat delicious bread.

I currently had some of the harvested Grank wheat and flour saved in my magic workshop.

“…I think that I’ll go and meet them. Perhaps Beyron is there. He might be happy to see the wheat that we harvested.”

“Aye. He can see how strongly they have grown in Fendel soil.”

I nodded to Ecleshia and then started to make my way to the tigerfolk store.

However, there were too many people. Everyone was desperate to get their hands on some fresh food.

Furthermore, it seemed that the prices were quite affordable compared to other places, which contributed to the popularity.

“…Sold out! It’s all sold out now! But we will come back tomorrow, so please come to buy from us!”

At the sound of this, the crowds of people looked very disappointed as they started to move away.

And then the tigerfolk began to calmly withdraw as well.

“We won’t be able to catch up…”

Now that we had to go against the current of people, there was no hope of catching up with them.

And Ecleshia, Ymir and Enna were here as well. It was best to be safe.

“…Well, we will try again if they are coming tomorrow as well. We just need to wait here in this plaza.”

“Indeed. There is no need to rush.”

Ecleshia agreed.

But then, I heard some voices nearby.

“Hey, aren’t those the people from the Grank Mercenaries?”

“Aye. They go back and forth between humans and monsters… Opportunistic bastards.”

“I bet that everything they were selling was stolen from nearby villages.”

It was clear that the people of the city had very negative feelings towards the Grank Mercenaries.

That was no surprise. There were humans who had died because of their betrayal.

Their reputation had been bad even back when I was in the Knights Order. Furthermore, they were merciless when it came to retaliating against slave merchants like Cobis, who we had also fought. Though such merchants were villains without a doubt, the cruel methods used when killing them had earned the ire of many humans.

Ecleshia said,

“…However, why have they come to a place like this?”

“Perhaps they were working nearby.”

They had betrayed the Demon King. And so they had no choice but to work for humans for some time.

Just then, Enna pointed into the crowd of people.

“That child… I think it might be lost?”

“Hmm… Oh, you are right. It is about the same size as me and Enna.”

While we could not see them, apparently Ymir and Enna could because they were small.

“A human child?”

“No, tigerfolk… Wait, that is Riise!”

“Beyron’s daughter? Why is she here?”

However, Ymir’s face grew tense.

“It seems like she was separated from someone… Hmm? Someone suspicious-looking is pulling her by the hand… They have hair like a chicken’s head!”

Ymir said, and so I stretched and tried to look into the crowd.

“Not tigerfolk? …It might be an abduction then. Let’s follow them.”

I said, and Ecleshia and the others nodded.

And so we made our way through the crowds and followed after Riise.