CH 362

“!

“Kuoon♪!”

“Woof Woof!”

“I’m back, guys. Thank you, Fath-san, for keeping watch.”

“Hmph, I gave the guild members a bit of a beating, but are you guys okay?”

As we left the guild and walked back to the carriage, Sephiro and Ash jumped out of the back and gathered around me. As I stroked Schneider and hugged Sephiro and Ash, I thanked Fath-san and she, who was sitting on the driver’s seat, said with a grumpy noise.

“Thanks to Master’s fame, we had no problem at all! Master is amazing after all.”

“Umu. Well, I’m sure Makina will be like me one day.”

“Oh, the pressure …….”

“Now, now, Makina is training diligently, so it’ll be fine. And from what we’ve heard, there’s a place called Gariada Valley where Dibit-san is.”

“Fumu, that place, huh…… It’s just like him, you might say. Do you want to leave now?”

“Yeah. Oh, and there’s something else I should tell you.”

I told Fath-san about Dibit-san’s current situation and how he had helped King Afmand. She narrowed her eyes and thought about something, but the next words that came out of her mouth were not about Dibit-san, but about Ornob-san and the others in the back of the carriage.

“The Gariada Valley is about two days from here, but …… What about these guys?”

“Hmmm …… About that ……”

As I was thinking about it, Ornob-san got out of the back of the carriage and opened his mouth.

“We have no idea where to go, but we’ll say goodbye here. Yukuta-san, Rata-san, I’ll manage to get you to the village where you can live.”

“No way …… even though you’re on the run too ……”

I frowned at the tragic exchange, and said to Ornob-san and the others 

“No, It’s not like we’re leaving them behind. If Ornob and the others are willing, we’ll give you guys a ride to the Gariada Valley, but if there’s no village, we’ll have to finish our business first, and that’s what we’re talking about what to do.”

“What? Oh, that would be great, but are you sure?”

“We’re close to the town you escaped from, right? Then I think it’s better if we stay together. We still have food, after all.”

When Makina said this, Basleigh-sensei also spoke up about the current situation.

“Makina-chan is right, If you are caught, Ornob-san will have a terrible time, right? If you are in the vicinity, there is a good chance that you will be found …… It is also fate that we met here.”

“But we don’t have any money, so we’re a liability, you know?”

“Well, don’t worry about that, because Lars, our leader, has every intention of taking you guys with him. Then I guess we’re going, right?”

“……. I appreciate it.”

When Ornob-san and the others bowed to us, we smiled and left town.

◆ 　 ◇ 　 ◆

“–And so I became an idol.”

“Ah-ha-ha! I’m sure you had a great time at the academy!”

Helena was invited by Afmand to talk with her mother in the reception room over tea. Afmand asked her to tell him about her life, and she told him about her childhood.

She thought he would get bored soon, but surprisingly, he enjoyed the story and laughed out loud when her mother told him the story from the time she was born until she entered the academy and how she became an idol right after entering the academy.

“The class was interesting, and Lars was the one I never got tired of watching. It is thanks to Lars that I am an idol in the capital.”

“Hmm, Lars? The other day, when I went to the Reflexion, the chef who served me food was named Lars. He was also a bodyguard ……”

“Oh, you know Lars? It’s definitely him If he has served you, you know he’s my costume designer and an ancient wizard. He’s got a dragon in his house, and he’s recently learned how to tame, he’s got everything.”

“Indeed. The hamburger dish was especially good …… and I saw a bear that he tamed. He also have a dragon?”

“Well, Sarge is a little different, though.”

When Helena replied with a chuckle, Afmand put his hand on his chin and muttered.

“…… I see, he’s not an ordinary guy after all. I’d like to have him as my aide if I could.

“Ahhh, that’s impossible. Lars is not interested in power, and he has the money to do so freely. He even turned down an offer from the king of Reflexion. At the age of ten.”

“What ……”

Abol, who was standing next to her, shouted in astonishment at these words. And then Helena’s mother opened her mouth.

“Lars-kun is a good boy, and I don’t think he’ll be tied down. I’ve also heard that he is merciless to those who oppose him? And that he’s very protective of his friends.”

“…… I’ll keep it in mind.”

Her mother smiled and watches, feeling bad for Lars, thinking that if anything happened to Helena, Lars might jump in. Afmand, who understood her intentions, smiled back and continued talking.

“Oh, yes. Your father, who is the main issue, apparently disappeared when he was out doing construction work in the town. We’re looking for him now, but it might take a while.”

“What!?”

“Escaped ……!?”

They managed to get his name and search for him, but Ornob had just fled the town with Yukuta and the others. Afmand says to Helena and the others, whose faces are turning pale.

“Well, if we catch him, he’ll be punished, so it’s difficult to say. But, Helena, if you do me a favor–“

(T/N: The favor is here! I think my imagination’s running wild from too much reading of manga/manhwa/manhua recently.)

◆ 　 ◇ 　 ◆

“Kuoon!”

“!”

“Well done! Take this !”

“Gichigichi ……!?”

“Guoon!”

I complimented Ash and Sephiro for confirming the enemy from the back of the carriage and unleashed my magic. The wild Sand Scorpion was after the horse, and when it pulled the shears out of the sand, I snatched it up and dragged it away. Radina, who was riding alongside the horse, cut the sand scorpion in half.

“As expected of Radia! It’s hard to get a handle on that power. Won’t she be a good match for Kuderica?”

“I also miss Kudelica’s [Superhuman Strength]. There, there, Radia, you’re doing great.”

“Grruuuu.”

“So you’re a great wizard, Big brother! The food is delicious too, you can marry if you want to!”

“Hey, Dasha! I-I’m sorry ……”

It’s been a day and night since we left town.

There were no pursuers, just monsters like now, so we proceeded to the valley while making sure to defeat them. Due to food shortages, we were only able to eat meal at day and night, but it was enough nutrition for the current Ornob-san and the others, so they thanked us every time they ate.

Dasha-chan, who had been so weak, seemed to have regained some of her original energy and had recovered enough to be as cocky as she had been earlier.

“It looks like we’ll be arriving tomorrow. Fath-san, is there a town or village near here?”

“I came to this country a long time ago, after all …… I seem to remember there being one, but I’ve forgotten.”

“Do Ornob-san and the others know anything about it?”

“I was a slave, so I don’t know much about geography. I’d say the two of them are pretty much the same.”

Ornob-san said, and Yukuta and Rata-san nodded.

It’s not on the map we bought, but we seem to be in the right direction, and if it’s there, we’ll take a rest, we drove on while thinking about that, and as we came near the valley, we spotted a village.

A suspicious village near the valley ……?

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“I’m sure Dibit is in that village anyway, right?”

No body, no nothing!?