CH 236

The old butler quickly approaches the feudal lord, Sadd, and speaks in his ear.

Sadd then clears his throat, and elaborates on what he said before.

“I’ve heard that you want to go to Altair, but I can’t just give you permission no questions asked… If you help… If you accept my demands, I can make an exception.”

“Meaning, take down bandits?”

“Precisely. However, I heard that you’ve been working as a group, but I want you to accept this alone.”

Sadd says, before closing his mouth and crossing his arms.

I look at the butler, and see him holding his head.

“H-hum, may I ask a question?”

Asks Chris, and while Sadd doesn’t look too happy, he nods.

“Why does Sora have to accept this quest alone?”

“It’s very simple, to draw less attention. And in actuality, you’ll be going with knights from my domain. But only a few, since they would be alerted by a large group.”

That explanation doesn’t really clarify things all that much for me, but if those are his conditions, do I have no choice but to accept?

“Think of it as a consideration by our feudal lord. Adventurers generally only fight monsters, but in this case, you will have to fight people. It might be harsh for ladies who are not used to this sort of thing.”

The butler adds.

I turn to the side, and Chris really does have a troubled look on her face.

Hunting monsters and killing people are very different things. I do wonder how Rurika and the others would fare.

As I think that, my hands shake, and I clench my fists.

It’s fine. I mean, I’ve already…

“Very well. When are we leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning. I will have a wagon ready in front of the gate.”

He says before he leaves with fast steps.

The butler gives us money to cover the costs of the trip, and gives us more details.

We’re going to a place in the opposite direction of where we picked medicinal herbs, to a mountain on the way to the town of Croix.

There are rumors that the bandits are living there, and they’ve caused quite a bit of damage.

There have been many attempts to take them down, but the bandits hide too well, and they all ended in failure.

If that’s the case, it looks like this will probably end the same way, but I don’t say anything.

“We are glad to have you on board.”

Says the butler as he lowers his head deeply.

I do get the feeling that they are worried about having a group of bandits in their territory, and really want to do something about it.

◇ ◇ ◇

“And so, I’m joining that group that’s going after the bandits.”

I explain to everyone what happened, after we come back to the inn.

It’s not that complicated. If I want to go to Altair, I have to catch those bandits. And they don’t have to be alive.

The real questions are how many bandits are we dealing with, and how many knights are coming along.

I only thought of that after we left the mansion.

Well, it’s not like I can refuse anyway, but it does leave me feeling a little worried.

“Are you all right?”

Asks Rurika, sounding concerned.

“I’ll have knights with me, so I’ll be fine. And apparently they’re his best.”

The butler said it’s a small but elite group of knights that are experts at fighting people.

I can probably judge that myself by using People Appraisal on them and checking their levels.

“That’s fine then, but…”

Chris also looks worried. It doesn’t help that this came out of nowhere.

Hikari on the other hand is just silently staring at me.

“Anything on your mind?”

“No, nothing.”

That night, we talk about what will happen while I’m out catching the bandits.

They say they saw there was an urgent quest from Folk in the adventurer guild, and they might accept it depending on what it’s about.

Dealing with the bandits will take at least five days, and it can take much more if we can’t find them.

Still, the time frame they set is ten days. I asked what would happen if we don’t find them at all, and he said he’ll think about it. Let’s hope there’s no problem.

“Then should I leave item bags and food that will last for a long time?”

“I guess. Various seasonings too.”

Rurika and Chris tell me what they need, and I hand it to them.

“Well then, I have to get up early tomorrow, so I’m going to bed.”

I go to bed right away after everything is ready.

Usually I go to bed when the sun goes down. Keeping the light up costs magic stones, although I don’t need fuel if I use Light Magic instead.

After laying down, I cast Space-Time Magic to increase its proficiency, and since I also recover MP while sleeping, I use Parallel Thinking to also cast Space-Time Magic while I sleep.

Now that I think about it, it’s been a while since I’ve done anything alone.

I stare at the ceiling. Fighting people… I should ask the knights for advice.

Also, we’re going by wagon, but with the Walking skill maxed out, there’s really no need to go out of my way to walk.

But what about food… I have plenty in the Item Box, but if I’m going with other people, that would normally mean eating with them.

When I really stop to think about it, this whole thing is full of holes. Why was he in such a hurry to put this quest together anyway?

I remember Sadd’s nervous face, and eventually fall asleep.