Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Five: Do You Like Absurd Demands of a Beautiful Older Brother?
Mr. Ville snatches the paper from his smiling brother’s hand, his gaze fixed intently on the document. As his crimson eyes move back and forth across the paper, his expression seems to grow increasingly grim.
“Hey, wait… Don’t tell me there’s monster trouble here in the royal capital too…!?”
“Yes. Probably starting around the time of what you call the ‘saint summoning’.”
The older brother answered casually, still smiling, as Mr. Ville looked up from the paper and muttered.
Saint summoning.
…As I thought… that was the turning point after all…!
My skin prickled at those words, which should have been familiar… or rather, which had become all too familiar to me. I had expected it, but hearing it confirmed by someone else made it feel all too real and somehow terrifying.
Half of me felt, "So it really was that," while the other half wondered, "Why is the saint summoning the trigger?”
Still… if the monster incidents are happening here too, how widespread could this be?
I hope there aren’t any injured… or dead people…
“This is a matter that was just reported. There’s been no damage yet, but if we can respond quickly, that would be best, right?”
“…You weren’t planning on having us handle it from the start, were you?”
“Of course not! This is truly a coincidence. I was going to take it to the capital’s guild, but when I heard you all were coming, I thought it might be convenient.”
The older brother waved his hand nonchalantly, unfazed by Mr. Ville’s sharp, suspicious gaze.
At that moment, a display-like image appears in mid-air before me. If the large blue dot represents our current location, then the small red dot nearby must be the destination? From what I can see, it doesn’t seem too far, but… I think it might be getting dark soon.
Well, with Campy, it shouldn’t be a big problem.
Confirming that Mr. Ville had tucked the paper with the information into his pocket, the older brother deepens his smile and waves his gloved hand gently.
With that, everyone bows deeply once more and quietly leaves the room.
I follow, still holding Gomamiso…
As we exit into the hallway and close the door, I feel my shoulders lighten.
I must have been really tense.
“I… I was so nervous…! That atmosphere was scary, scary, scary, scary…!”
“Ah… well, I’m sorry about my brother…”
“He’s not a frightening person, but the aura he exudes is quite something.”
Mr. Ville patted my back sympathetically in response to my involuntary outburst.
Even the usually composed Mr. Xenon seemed to have been tense, his shoulders now relaxed in relief.
Well, yes… I don’t know exactly who the older brother is, but that aura of absolute authority was impressive. That kind of presence isn’t something you can acquire overnight…
The man who guided us earlier is leading the way down the hallway again.
Taking advantage of the slight distance, I quietly speak to Mr. Xenon beside me.
“By the way, what are we going to do now?”
“From what I read in that report, it seems a strange shadow has been spotted in a nearby village. We’re going to investigate that.”
“Strange shadow…?”
“Apparently, a large shadow has been seen flying over the village between evening and night. The request is to investigate… and if there’s any danger, to eliminate it.”
From what Mr. Xenon told me as we walked down the hallway, it sounded pretty scary for the villagers. Something unidentified flying around in a place with little lighting—that would be frightening. I can understand why they’d make a request like this…
Though the timing of when this report came in seems a bit calculated… let’s believe the older brother’s words that "there’s no ulterior motive.”
The hallway felt slightly shorter than when we came, and we were guided to what seemed to be the same small room as before. The man who had been leading us bowed gracefully and silently disappeared down the hallway.
Sure enough, opening the door revealed the same interior we had left earlier.
In front of the door leading to the underground passage, Mr. Ville bows his head slightly.
“…I’m sorry for involving you in this strange situation.”
“That’s my line, Mr. Ville. From what we’ve heard, it seems like the trigger was indeed ‘saint summoning’… I should be the one apologizing…”
I hurriedly waved my hands in front of the visibly dejected Mr. Ville.
Because! Aren’t I the one causing more trouble? If I hadn’t joined the party, he and everyone else wouldn’t have had to do anything…! Oh no… Am I really just causing them inconvenience with my presence…!?
“Now, now. You were the one caught up in this ‘saint summoning’, Rin! You don’t need to worry about it!”
“Mm! You… not bad!”
Mr. Ed and Ms. Aria gently placed their hands on my back as I bowed my head. I could feel the warmth of their comforting touch.
“If the ‘saint summoning’ was the trigger, we can probably expect similar monster incidents to occur in the future.”
“Considering that, it’s better for you to stay with us, Rin. We might be able to find some clues, right?”
Oh… everyone… everyone is so kind!
As Mr. Xenon and Mr. Ville patted my head with gentle smiles… and with the kindness of everyone in the Gourmands, I struggled to secretly wipe away the tears that welled up.
No comments:
Post a Comment