A stagecoach was speeding along the road.
It would take about 10 hours to travel from the imperial capital to Mintz village. Since we would need to change stagecoaches once along the way, we decided to rest for the night at an inn at the transit point and start the second leg again in the morning.
At the latest, we should reach Mintz village by noon tomorrow.
My butt is so sore Im bad with stagecoaches
The stagecoach had arrived at the city of Yudra, the transit point.
Alma got off the stagecoach and sighed while rubbing her butt. I was in the sa boat. The sun had already set and the stars were glittering in the night sky. After being shaken by the stagecoach for seven hours, my butt hurt and I also felt sick and nauseous.
It was the worst feeling. I wanted to quickly take a bath and sleep.
Worn out, both of us set out into the night to find an inn.
Sorry, bro. Weve only got one empty room left
Yudra was a key transit point, so all of its inns were full. Even when we finally found an inn where we could stay, I was troubled by the fact that there was only one room. Since I was aiming for a wholeso party, I would prefer not to have n and won stay in the sa room.
Alma, you can stay in the room. Ill rent the barn and sleep there
Eh, couldnt we just sleep together?
Its a problem for n and won to sleep in the sa room, isnt it?
Youre worrying too much about it. Could it be that youre shy? So cute
No, its not like Im shy or anything
But she might be right about worrying too much about it. As long as we were in the sa party, it was disrespectful to treat others differently because of their gender, even if you were thinking on their behalf. Being able to sleep even in the sa bed without being concerned about each other was the correct way for a Seeker to act.
Apparently, my way of thinking had beco biased without noticing because of the love problems that my previous party had. We should sleep in the sa room without worrying about it, just like what Alma said.
After we checked in and received the key, we headed to the cafeteria. We were tired, but we were also hungry. We were thinking of building up energy for tomorrow by having so lip-smacking food.
But the food at this inn was terrible. It was the first ti in a long while that I had eaten food that was so bad that it gave a headache. Even Alma, who had been secluded in the mountains until recently, was hugging her head in dismay at how horrible-tasting the food was.
We silently shoveled the horrible food into our mouths, and then entered our room.
The food was terrible, but the room is pretty nice
Alma sighed in relief after surveying the room.
The room was clean and there were no stains on the walls or floor. The bed was first-rate and looked soft. The furniture and furnishings were stylish and an incense had been left burning.
I was wondering what to do if the room was terrible, but looks like Ill be able to sleep well
Yeah. You can go take a shower first
I accepted her offer and headed to the bathroom. I took off my equipnt and clothes and entered the bath area. The bath area was large and had a large bathtub. It wouldnt be bad to soak in the bath, but we would need to get up early tomorrow, so I made do with a shower.
When I twisted the faucet and the hot water rained down, my body relaxed all at once. There was a lot of hot water, so I could feel my tiredness draining away just by standing there in the hot shower. When I had stayed at inns while on expeditions, there were many tis when the showers only had a small amount of hot water, but we had struck the jackpot with this inn. It was the best inn even if it had horrible food.
After washing my whole body carefully, I wore my clothes and returned to the bedroom.
In the bedroom, Alma was doing stretches. She had such a flexible body that even when she bent forward while doing an 180 degree split, her upper body was flat on the floor.
Noel, are you done with the shower?
Yes, it was nice and hot. Alma should go too
Ill do just that
Alma went from her bent forward position into a handstand then a forward roll to get into a standing position. I was also fairly confident in how flexible my body was, but I was likely no match for Alma.
As expected, when you take off your coat, I can clearly tell your body is well trained
Almas line of sight was riveted on my upper body which was only covered by a shirt.
Wonderful. Great. Just like a wild beasts. There are no excessive muscles and theyre superb
Is, is that so? Thank you
Can I touch them for a little bit?
Well, if its only for a little bit...
When I consented, Alma started touching my body. Squeezing and stroking with her fingertips, she didnt hold back at all when touching . It was starting to feel ticklish and I wanted to laugh.
You, thats more than a little bit, isnt it? Im going to get angry
Thats true. Then Ill stop here
With a reluctant look, Alma took her hands away.
That was a good experience. Thank you
Youre welco
Youve really built such a nice body. But, its such a pity
What do you an by that?
You need unyielding hard work to build a body like that. Its impossible using normal thods. But no matter how much Noel trains, youll never be a match for soone with a vanguard Job. Its ultimately sothing built through only hard work and not through talent. Thats why its a pity. If Noels Job was Warrior, just like Over Death, you could have been the strongest Seeker
When she gave it to straight like that, I couldnt help but be stunned for a mont.
Alma
Yes?
Close your eyes
Huh? Like this?
Alma closed her eyes as instructed. I gave her defenseless forehead a hard finger flick.
Ouch! Why!?
Thats for not minding your own business
I clicked my tongue and pointed to the bathroom as I laid flat on the bed.
Im going to sleep first, so hurry up and shower
Muuu Got it
As Alma headed to the bathroom, a sigh naturally escaped .
Sothing like that, I know it better than anyone
I knew only too well that my talent for Jobs was lacking. Still, all I could do was to keep trying without giving up.
For the sake of keeping my promise to Grandfather, and for the sake of not giving up on my dream Even if there was a possibility that none of my hard work would pay off, I had absolutely no intention of stopping my feet.
While I was thinking about tomorrow with my eyes closed, I heard the sound of water filling the bathtub coming from the bathroom. Apparently, Alma intended to soak in the bathtub.
That woman, she had better be able to get up tomorrow morning
There were only two stagecoaches heading to Mintz Village, one at 8 am and one at 3 pm. So if we missed the morning stagecoach, we would have to kill ti in this city.
Indifferent to such worries of mine, Alma started singing in a good mood from within the bathroom.
It had a gentle lody and calming lyrics. It was a song that healed a persons heart. As I listened while lying on the bed, I found my consciousness gradually drifting away.
beco a Seeker that will never lose. Beco a man that will never bring sha to our Stollen na. That is my wish
In my dream, I could hear Grandpas voice. Since that day, this was a dream that I had seen over and over again. A hotown that had been turned into a scorched plain, Grandpa turning cold in my arms.
I promise, Grandpa. Ill beco the strongest Seeker
And the who proclaid to Grandpa my resolution.
Every ti I dread this dream, cold sorrow and burning passion swirled in my heart. And just like how strong winds were born between hot and cold extres, a strong will that consud everything was born from my passion and sorrow.
One that said that I would definitely beco the strongest Seeker.
I faintly heard a little birds chirping. It told that morning had arrived. Probably because it was a dream that I had seen countless tis, my consciousness had been clear the entire ti. The dream had ended and it was ti to open my eyes. A new day had started.
Unn. ..Unnn?
My first impression was, that it was hard to breathe. Then, I slled a flowery scent and felt a softness on my face. It was warm and strangely a little moist. The instant I realized that it was the feel of human skin, I jumped off the bed.
This idiot woman
Alma was sleeping peacefully next to . That was fine. We had originally planned to sleep in one bed after all.
The problem was that Alma had slept stark naked. She didnt even have a towel wrapped around her and was as nude as the day she was born. In other words, it was Almas uselessly big breasts that had enveloped my face. Apparently, it appeared that I had been her replacent for a body pillow.
Even if youre not concerned about it, theres got to be limits
I was feeling a dizziness that didn't co from just waking up. It was because I was that I could restrain myself, but if this was another man, there would be a big problem. n were simple creatures. If you buried a mans face in nude breasts, he would be downed in one shot. Considering all the trouble that would occur if that happened, let alone feeling dizzy, I was starting to get a headache.
Yum lots of fried buns Hehehe
Alma mumbled her sleep talk blissfully while I was holding my head in worry.
Just go die while buried in fried buns!
Having passed the limit that I could endure, I swung an open palm down onto Almas breasts.
Unbelievable, how could you smack a girls boobs like that
Shut up, its all your fault
Could it be that Noel likes these kinds of things? Big sister is a bit scared
Shut up, you arent my big sister. Oh, we can see it now
We had been able to get on the early stagecoach without incident. After three hours of the old stagecoach speeding down badly paved roads, we had finally arrived at our destination, Mintz village.
Long ti no see, mbers of Blue Beyond! Thank you for coming despite the urgent request?
A thin-hair old manthe village chief, who had co to welco us, tilted his head as he looked at us.
Um, umm, where are the rest?
The other three from before have already left. This is all of our current mbers
What? That is, will it be alright?
It was only natural for the village chief to be worried as there were only two subjugators. Also, since Alma and were the types that didnt look strong to normal people, I was sure that it was causing him even more anxiety.
However, if subjugation was really impossible, we wouldnt have taken the 10 hour journey just to get here. We had a proper chance of winning and by my calculations, there was a 99 percent chance for us to co out on top.
Dont worry, village chief. Well massacre the group of bandits by today
Ma, massacre
The village chief was startled by my disturbing words.
At tis like these, it was better to push the act of a rough Seeker. It was actually more reassuring for the client that way. As proof, the worried look disappeared from the village chiefs face.
I, I understand, Ill leave it all up to you. Then please co to my house so I can tell you the details
Mintz village was a remote village that you could find anywhere. It had no local specialties and the lord was also the incompetent type, so the villagers didnt have an easy life. Even the village chiefs house, which we were being led to, was a wooden building that no one could have said looked respectable even when trying to flatter him.
Please have so tea
When we sat at the table in the reception room, the village chiefs wife offered us tea.
His daughter was also behind him. If I rembered correctly, she should be 10 years old now. She had freckles and wore pigtails. While she looked every bit a village girl, her features werent bad. If she learned so fashion sense after she grew up, she would probably beco the village Madonna.
Maybe she got embarrassed when I looked reminiscently at her after I rembered that I had played with her a year ago, but she ran into the back of the house.
Im so sorry, shes at a difficult age In truth, she had been looking forward to the arrival of everyone from Blue Beyond
When the village chief bowed his head to apologize, I gave a bitter smile.
In that case, weve done sothing bad. Our most popular ex-leader is not here today, so she must be feeling disappointed
No, the one my daughter always talks about Well, lets put that topic aside. Ill start explaining about the group of bandits
According to what the village chief said, the group of bandits had appeared in the area five days ago. The neighboring village had already suffered damages and many villagers had been killed. They had been left scattered after all of their valuables and food had been stolen.
There were about 20 bandits. Their faces were not familiar to the locals, so they were most probably drifters. Their hideout had not been found, but the villagers said that they had witnessed them disappearing into the eastern forest.
Understood. The information that youve given is more than enough
Even if I took the village chiefs words at face value, I was sure that we could annihilate them easily.
The reason why the bandits had been able to ravage the neighboring village with a middling number of people like 20, was probably because they had a few decent fighters that could force their way past the villagers defenses. Even if we took that into account, it didnt change the fact that it was an easy job. They were ultimately bandits who preyed on the weak. Their fighting ability would be several levels below that of a professional Seeker.
Of course, I had no intention of get conceited just because of that. It was the Seekers way to go full force and destroy them as long as the request had been accepted.
Now, lets talk about the reward. In the case of annihilating about 20 bandits, itll co up to a total of 500,000 Fil, an advance of 200,000 Fil now and another 300,000 Fil after the request has been fulfilled
500,000 Fil Thats quite a lot, isnt it
I think that 500,000 Fil is an exceptionally cheap price, considering the fact that youre asking us to kill 20 people. After all, its only 25,000 Fil per person. Or will you let your village suffer the sa fate as the neighboring village just because you cant bear to part with your money?
N, no, nothing of the sort! Ill pay! Ill pay right away!
With quick steps, the village chief left the reception room and then returned quickly with a dirty bag.
Theres 200,000 Fil in there. Please go ahead and confirm it
I took the bag and counted the coins inside. There were no gold coins, half were silver and the other half copper. Moreover, they were darkened with dirt and gri. It appeared that they were leading a harsher life than it had seed.
However, this was a profession where we were also risking our lives. I couldnt be bound by feelings.
Ive certainly received 200,000 Fil. Ill ask for the rest when the job is done. Oh, assemble the youths of the village as well
The youths? Why?
Its for collecting the belongings of the bandits that weve subjugated. For a group of 20 bandits, the amount you can get from selling their equipnt probably wont be a large sum, but they should be holding onto a lot of money since theyve just attacked a village. It ought to help if you add those to your finances, right?
U, understood! Ill assemble them right away!
Once the village chief realized that money might be coming his way, his greasy face shone even brighter.
Originally, how the belongings of the targets of subjugation were handled varied depending on the party or clan. Most of the ti, the policy was that the subjugators would have ownership, and did not have to relinquish them to the client. Empire law also stipulated that the belongings belonged to the subjugators unless there was a contracted agreent in advance.
For as well, even if the money that could be obtained was small, it was better to have it than not. However, collecting the belongings from corpses was also tough work, and above all, it was a request accepted for the purpose of testing the power of the party, so I shouldnt be fussy about it like I usually was and let Mintz village have it.
Were heading out right away. Just relax and wait for our return
We left the village chiefs house and headed for the eastern forest where the bandits were said to have been spotted.
That thin-hair baldy kept staring at my boobs
Eh, really?
Alma said with a grimace on her face while walking.
Really. Even though his wife and daughter were there, it was disgusting
Co to think of it, Tania had said sothing similar. I vaguely rembered her saying his gaze was indecent and disgusting.
I could understand being drawn to pretty won, but like Alma said, he was in a position of responsibility, so I wished that he would control himself better.
Mister Noel!
Hearing soone call my na, I looked back and saw the village chiefs daughter panting as she ran towards us.
Haa, haaa A, are you heading out for the subjugation now?
Yeah. It be done in a jiffy, so dont worry about it
I see T, then G, good luck! Im rooting for you!
Eh? Yeah, thank you
I was taken aback by suddenly being told that I was being rooted for. But it didnt feel bad. The honest, good intentions of a child made feel a bit embarrassed but happy.
Do you still rember the thod of making bamboo dragonflies that I taught you a year ago?
Yes! Of course! My bamboo dragonfly flies the highest among all the children! Whoosh!
Thats amazing. Then it was worthwhile teaching it to you
The girls face reddened at my smile and she took out a bamboo dragonfly from her skirts pocket. It didnt look new and was a little tanned by the sun.
This is the bamboo dragonfly that Mister Noel made for . Ive been taking good care of it since that day it err Its my treasure! Thats why Ill wait! Ill make food together with Mother and wait for Mister Noels return!
She said the final part in a rush and ran back the way she ca. As I sent her diminishing figure off with my eyes, I saw Alma with a profound smile out of the corner of my eye.
Whats with that smile?
Noel is such a smooth operator. Leading such a pure girl around by the nose. So indecent despite your cute face. Big sister is shocked
Shut it, useless-boobies-idiot-woman
Useless-boobies-idiot-woman!? Are you referring to !?
Dont say such pointless things and lets go find the group of bandits
Wait, Noel! Big sister cant ignore that!
Behind , who had went on ahead, Alma was indignant, but it was a pain so I ignored her.
Leaving Mintz village, we stepped into the deep forest. As we walked through the dark and cold forest, I was thinking of sothing that had been on my mind the whole ti.
That girl, what was her na? I wondered.
Hello, FBI? Theres a cri in progress against a minor I would like to report.
For the sharp-eyed readers, at least we now know why the letter was addressed to Noel instead of Lloyd.
What? Idiot woman is evolving!
Congratulations! Idiot woman has evolved into useless-boobies-idiot-woman. ( )
Bandit hunting next chapter, how will Alma and Noel work together? Stay tuned to find out.
Reviews
All reviews (0)