CH 208

“…… They’re not coming back.”

“What’s wrong? The only ones who haven’t come back are Conrad and the others, were there any others?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

The people who had instigated the assassination had not returned in the morning, and now, as evening approached, no one was in sight.

When Leisha asked Kelbrem, who was working at the guild to create an alibi, muttering to herself, Kelbraem replied in a calm voice 

“(…… Did they fail? Nevertheless, I don’t see any movement from the Lord. There’s supposed to be no one in that house, including the gatekeepers, who has the power to defeat them …… and they won’t be defeated since they’re attacking by surprise. Did Irumi and Reiss sense our intentions and took out the five of them? It’s not surprising if they came to me.)”

The fact that the five of them didn’t come to report brought up all sorts of speculation, and I didn’t feel calm inside. However, he told himself that it was not a good idea for Kelbrem to make a move at this point, so he waited for them to return.

“(Damn …… things haven’t gone well since Retzel came …… that god of pestilence, things have always been bad when he’s around ……)”

As I was wiping down the guild table and thinking about this, the guild door suddenly opened and the bell rang.

“Oh, welcome!”

“Welco–!?”

Leisha shouted cheerfully, and Kelbrem, looking at the entrance, tried to greet him, but his words faltered when he saw the person standing there.

“Hey, long time no see, Kelbrem”

“Thanks for yesterday.”

“What’s the matter, you look so surprised?”

This is because the three people who were there were Retzel, Irumi, and Reiss. Aside from Irumi and Reiss, Kelbrem, who doesn’t know that Retzel will not die, squirts cold sweat without hiding the surprise that Retzel was alive.

“‘Y-You guys ……!”

“Hmm? What’s wrong? Do I have something on my face? We’re about to leave, so we thought we’d stop by, thanks for your help.”

“Oh my, so you’re a friend of the Master!”

“Yes, we are friends.”

At Leisha’s words, he turned to look at her, smiled narrowly, and approached the Kelbrem. With a grin in his eyes, Retzel whispers in his ear.

“‘Rejoice, the Treants has been successfully vanquished. The adventurers are safe. And I’ve told the adventurers about your plan. It will be interesting to see what they’ll do when they return. And the five men you sent to the lord’s mansion have been captured. There is some very strong bodyguard in there, you know? It looks like running away was the best that Irumi and Reiss could do”

“Y-You ……!? How dare you brazenly come here!!”

“K-Kelbrem-san!? …… H-Huh?”

Kelbrem is furious with Retzel, who laughs in his ear and tries to punch him. Leisha screams in surprise, but the next moment, Retzel has already put his hand on the guild door.

“Well then, I don’t know when I’ll see you again, but I hope you’ll do well. Let’s go, both of you.”

“Ahhh. That’s right, I’ll give you this.”

Just before leaving, Reiss threw a small bottle to Kelbrem and smiled wryly. Kelbrem, sweating profusely, grabbed the vial and followed the three as they left.

“T-Take me with you too!”

“Ahhh, it’s true that if you want to run, now’s you’re chance, I guess? I’m sure you’ll die if you tell them about the organization. But I’ll have to refuse of you coming with us. Well, I don’t like you, you know! Hahahahahahaha!”

“T-They disappeared ……?”

“It’s not bad that you became a guild master with just your sword skills, but after that, you couldn’t make any more moves, poor Kelbrem. The Lord has decided he doesn’t need you.”

“R-Ridiculous ……!? Aren’t you the one who ended the plan?”

“It wasn’t a bad plan, but it was a bad idea to have too many Treants spreading throughout the country. If you had at least kept the problem to this town and the neighboring villages, the country would not have moved. Do you remember the adventurer named Conrad and the strange woman who was with him? …… That’s someone from the country.”

“…… !?”

The mention of the woman who was with Conrad sent a chill down Kelbrem’s spine.

“We must not let them know that our organization is working …… Escape or die, that’s the only way.”

“If you don’t want people to know about our organization, why did you tell them about me?

“The information you have is not enough …… And you will survive, right? Let’s see what you can do.”

With those words, Retzel’s presence was cut off. Kelbrem stood there, staring at the liquid in the vial.

◆ 　 ◇ 　 ◆

“Huh? What’s that, Makina?”

“This is one of the branches of that glowing Treant. It didn’t wither, and it survived my attack, so I brought it as a trophy.”

“You can’t deal with the undead, but you’re okay with that kind of thing, aren’t you, Makina.”

“Because it only looks like firewood to me!”

“Indeed ……”

After subjugating the Treants, we headed back to the town, but due to the distance, we had to camp again. Makina was playing with Trent’s large, almost firewood-like branch in her hands like a trophy.

“We’ll take turns on guard. Lars and Makina have been instrumental in this battle, so when they fall asleep, we’ll be on guard alone, without talking to them.”

“Yeah, of course. But Lars-sama is amazing because he has the skill [Jack-of-all-Trades] ……”

“I’ve been told that it’s a failure, but was that a lie?”

The adventurers are talking in whispers that we can barely hear. We’ve been through a lot, but I think we’ve accomplished one of our goals? Using my bag as a pillow, I fell asleep with Makina. The next day, we return to the town, defeating the monsters along the way.

“Finally, we’re back …… I’m exhausted ……”

Cave uses his sword like a staff and whimpers. You can’t blame them because they’ve been attacked by another monster, perhaps as a reaction to the Treant’s disappearance on the way home. And then Conrad said.

“Let’s be patient, we’ll get to the guild soon. We need to question Kelbrem.”

“Oh, I need to rest in a bed ……”

“Sifol-san, you’re almost there!”

After a good night’s rest, Makina and I are fine, so Makina takes Sifol-san by the shoulders and walks with her.

In the middle of all this, I remembered something and said to Conrad.

“How do we report to Hugel-san? If what Croix says is true, the assassins should have gone to the lord’s mansion. I’d like to see what’s going on over there.”

“It’s true that we need to report to the lord as well …… But if he notices that we are back, won’t we be able to escape?”

I crossed my arms and thought about what Conrad had said to me. It’s true that what he said is right, I’m sure he’d be surprised that the people he planned to kill him have come back boldly. I don’t know how many friends he has out there, but since we came back after defeating Treants that had been giving us a hard time, it’s more likely that he’ll escape than fight.

“Then let’s split up. Makina and I will go to Hugel-san’s place. Basleigh-sensei is also there, so we’ll pick her up as well.”

“All right. We’re exhausted, but with this many people, I’m sure we won’t let them escape.”

Conrad smiled. He said something to me that could’ve flagged it …… I wonder if it’s gonna be okay? At any rate, we headed to the lord’s mansion.

Now, Retzel’s is gone, and the remaining Kelbrem is ……?

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“Legal Wife Time”

(T/N: 正妻 means Legal Wife.)

No, that has already finished for some time now ……

“I got that wrong. Punishment Time”

(T/N: 制裁 means Punishment. I did this because both the Legal Wife and Punishment are both read as “Seisai” but have a different way of writing.)

The fact that you’re so happy about it gives me a psycho vibe.