CH 14

Chapter 14-: The Second Strongest Species(

A week has passed since I met Kanade.

My days have been going well since then.

I've been doing requests with Kanade, eating with her, sleeping with her. ......

...... No, sleeping together might be misleading.

(TL: But we want that misleading.)

It's just that Kanade doesn't like having separate rooms and has no choice but to put them in the same room.

Anyway,......

I spent my days with no problems whatsoever.

When I was in the brave party, every day was as busy as a storm.

I was in charge of searching the surrounding area, carrying luggage, and other beast tamer tasks, as well as preparing meals for everyone.

Not only that, but I was also on guard duty, and even had to wake everyone up in the morning.

Now that I think about it, I guess I was just being used for thier own convenience.

But that's not the case now.

I can do what I want to do.......

I can do what I want to do, and I can make a move for Kanade.

I'm really grateful to Kanade.

I don't know what would have happened to me without that encounter.

And just like that, I was enjoying my free adventurer life.......

But then an incident happened.

It was an incident that, in a way, would affect me for the rest of my life.

"The Watchdog of Stride Bridge?

As usual, I was at the guild, looking for a request.

The receptionist, Natalie, who I had become friends with over the past week, was sighing deeply, so I spoke to her to see what was going on.

Then I heard an interesting story.

"Yes, that's right. It seems that a rogue has been living on the ...... Stride Bridge south of town for a few days now, and he's been running rampant, challenging ...... passersby to one match after another.

Natalie seemed to be deeply troubled, and she looked tired.

Incidentally, her tone of voice was a little more broken, probably because she had gotten to know him to some extent.

I'm glad to hear that we're getting to know each other better.

...... I didn't mean   anything by it, okay?

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not to ask this But  is that watchdog a bad guy?

"That's the hard part. ......

In response to Kanade's question, Natalie pressed her fingertips to her temples.

It must be a headache.

"It's not like they're trying to kill each other....... I'm not sure what to make of this. It's weird to say......, but no one has died so far.

"Hmm, that's a strange case. Why would they do such a thing?

"That's what I don't understand. It's not like they are robbing money or targeting anyone in particular.  I could think of a line of harassment against a particular merchant corps, but that's not the case. ...... Anyway, they seem to be indiscriminately attacking people passing by the bridge. It seems that the general public is not the target, but...... there is no way to feel safe with that, and the number of people using the Stride Bridge has dropped drastically. If this continues, there will be a serious traffic paralysis."

"I see. ......

It is indeed a serious problem.

The Stride Bridge is one of the bridges that connect the central continent, where the city of Horizon is located, to the southern continent.

If an incident occurs there and people go away, the logistics will be stagnant.

Now that the incident has just happened, it doesn't seem to have caused much damage. ......

If left unchecked, the damage will be too great to ignore.

"So, why are you telling us all this?

"I'm so glad you asked!"

Natalie came at me with a gusto that made me climb over the reception counter.

I don't remember her being such an aggressive person.......?

Was she wearing an outgoing mask until now?

But she seemed to get along well, and it was nice to see a new side of her.

"'This time, the Guild has been tasked with solving this case! So how about ...... there? Would you like to take on this case?"

"What, us?"

"What?"

I was puzzled by the sudden talk.

It's a very important matter, from what I've just heard.

"This time, it's called a special request, and there are no restrictions based on rank. Also, multiple adventurers can take on a request. The first one to complete the request gets the reward.

Why is it a special request?"

"It can't be helped....... At first, we issued the request as a high difficulty request, but a lot of people came back and they couldn't solve it at all....... We can't pretend to not solve this request  so we made it open for all ."

I see.

The adventurer's guild wants us to solve the problem, no matter who it is.

It's a great way to make sure you're getting the most out of your money.

"But I'm not sure...... we can do it.

"Yes, you can. I'm secretly hoping for the best, you know?

"Is that so?

"I'm not sure if you know it but  your duo is  the hottest thing on the market right now.

"...... What do we do?

"What?"

I'm not sure what to do.

I'm not sure if she was listening to us or not.

"There are people doing bad things at ......, aren't there?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'd like to do something about it. No bad things allowed."

This is a very Kanade-like opinion.

"But I respect Rain's opinion, right?

"Yes, I do....... Natalie, what's the reward, by the way?

"You'll be surprised to hear! Five gold coins!

"I accept.

This is the first time I've been able to do this.

And I heard that there were no deaths, so there was no need to worry about Kanade getting hurt.

Well, there's always the possibility that it just hasn't happened yet, so we can't be too careful.......

So, Kanade and I came to the Stride Bridge.

"Wow, wow, wow, it's a big bridge! Rain, Rain! It's so big!"

Kanade was excited like a child, and I could not help but understand her feelings.

There is a huge canyon lying between the central and southern continents.

I don't know...... how deep it is.

There were scholars who tried to measure it, but everyone gave up because of its unbelievable depth.

It's about as wide as a city.

The cracks running through the earth are so huge and tremendous.

The bridge that spanned it was so huge that it could have been mistaken for a castle or fortress.

The huge bridge is made of several iron pillars intricately combined and reinforced with magic.

It was not only sturdy, but also wide enough to serve as a key to traffic.

It was wide enough to accommodate four large wagons of the trading corps running parallel to each other.

"It's amazing! I've never seen anything like it.

"Huh? I've heard rumours that the Cat Spirit Tribe's home is on the Eastern Continent, but didn't you go through the ...... bridge? The East Continent is also separated by a canyon, right?

"I didn't go through it. There's a toll.

"Then how did you get to the Central Continent?

"Well... I ran hard, jumped hard and jumped over the ravine!

...... She was a crazy kid.

She jumped over that huge ravine.......

Once again, I am reminded of the bullshit abilities of the strongest species.

"It's such a big bridge, but there's no one on it.

"Maybe they're afraid of the watchdog."

"Yeah, that's right. Let's do it.

I crossed the bridge with Kanade.

"What does he look like?

"I don't know....... There's no real testimony left.

There are no deaths, so we should be able to get some testimony about the killer. ......

The adventurers who were struck back were all dejected and apparently in no condition to speak properly.

There is an unidentified enemy.

I'm getting a little nervous.

"We don't know what's going to happen. Let's keep our guard up."

"Yes."

We walked with caution. ......

It must have been about half an hour later.

When I got to the middle of the bridge, ...... it finally came.

"Rain, that!"

"What?

A roar echoed in the sky.

The wings were so huge that they covered the sun.

A body that cuts the wind and runs through the sky.

It's ......

"Dragon?

A dragon, one of the most powerful species, landed in front of us.