Chapter 514 Intruder in the Food Storage
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Ack──!”
Just as I was petting Dorothy’s bottom in the greenhouse… a loud scream echoed through the Clan house.
”Is it… Hanna!?”
”Kitchen, probably towards the food storage.”
Dorothy and I dashed out of the greenhouse and ran towards the entrance hall.
* * *
Exiting the entrance hall, we met Simona, Asuka, and Liz who seemed to have come down from above at the staircase.
”That scream, was it Ms. Hanna?”
”The wolfmaids are at school. They’re not here as guards, and there’s also the possibility of a thief breaking in…”
”Most likely it’s the food storage ahead.”
After exchanging glances with Liz, Simona, and Asuka, I took the lead towards the food storage, with the 3 of them following behind us from downstairs.
The door to the food storage was open, and we descended the stairs leading to the semi-basement storage.
There, we found Hanna sitting at the bottom of the stairs, and I rushed over to embrace her shoulders.
”Hic, Mr. Hiroya…”
”What’s wrong, Hanna? What happened?”
In the dim light of several magic lanterns, I checked Hanna for injuries and asked what had happened… and she fearfully pointed towards the back of the food storage.
”Something moved back there…”
There were piles of rice bags that we had bought the day before.
”Is someone there!?”
Liz called out towards that direction.
──After a while, a small voice replied.
”I’m sorry-meow… I’m sorry-meow…”
Dorothy gently called out, “It’s all right,” to the voice that kept apologizing repeatedly.
Soon, a small silhouette appeared from the shadows of the rice bags.
”Don’t be scared. I won’t do anything.”
Supporting Hanna’s shoulders, I helped her up and spoke to the silhouette, but…
”Eep!? I’m sorry-meow!”
…it disappeared back into the shadows of the rice bags.
”Hiroya, you have a harsh tone. ──Hey, we’re not angry, right? This person just got a bit scared and screamed.”
”…If they don’t come out soon… I’ll just have to cut them down.”
”Ah, Asuka!?”
I couldn’t help but interject.
Simona was kindly trying to persuade them, so what was Asuka doing threatening them?
However, perhaps Asuka’s threat had some effect, as the apologetic figure reappeared from behind the rice bag.
”S-sorry…”
The silhouette took a few steps closer, illuminated by the magical lantern, and I could finally see it clearly.
”Catfolk…?”
It was a small figure, about Romy’s height, with distinct triangular cat ears on its head and a long, slender tail.
Wearing a tattered shirt, a worn leather vest, and pants…
”A child?”
”No, it’s probably an adult. Catfolk tend to look younger than they actually are.”
Dorothy replied to my murmur.
”Maya is 15 years old-meow…”
”Alone…?”
At Liz’s question, the catfolk girl rapidly began to tear up.
”Everyone’s dead… Maya is all alone…”
──sniff… sniff…
She started to tremble and cry right there.
”It’s okay… I’m sorry for startling you, okay?”
Hanna spread her arms out in front of her.
The catfolk girl slowly approached Hanna, clung to her, and began to wail.
* * *
Once the ‘intruder’ finally calmed down, Ms. Hanna first gave her a bath, dressed her in Suu’s properly fitting nightgown, and fed her.
Then, she gathered everyone from the Clan house to hear the circumstances once the catfolk girl had settled down.
”Everyone’s gone… only Maya returned-meow…”
Her name is Maya.
Apparently, she was a porter who had visited from fortress city Mundo to explore the ‘Great Labyrinth Raetia.’
Moreover, she had been the leader’s ‘slave.’
Before the Grand Market opened, they ventured into the Great Labyrinth, rested on the Fourth Floor in the ‘Closed World,’ and then moved on to the Fifth Floor, where the party was wiped out.
”The slave mark is gone… Master must be dead…”
Maya bowed her head, her hair stroked gently.
”But… you managed to return from the Great Labyrinth alone.”
Kazumi’s face fell into a sorrowful expression.
”I had a ‘teleportation’ scroll given to me. I used it to return to the garrison…”
”You used a scroll… does that mean you can use magic?”
Rena asked in surprise, her voice raised.
Could it be that she were a Porter, despite being able to use magic?
”I can’t use magic. But Master had left me a scroll because ‘Maya has magical power’…”
”I see. You have the power but haven’t been trained. ──Even so, using a teleportation scroll requires quite a bit of magical power.”
Rena nodded in admiration.
”Then, after you got back to the surface, did you go to the guild’s branch office?”
Maya nodded slightly in response to Liz’s question.
”Everyone was gone… I didn’t know what to do. So I just walked, and I returned to Raetia… When the sun rose, I passed by here and it smelled nice…”
That’s how she sneaked into the Clan house and hid in the food storehouse.
”I’ll take this girl to the guild’s branch office in the Great Labyrinth. I need to report that the party she was with was wiped out.”
”I’ll come along too. ──I won’t cause trouble, so can you let me tag along?”
When Kazumi called out, Maya nodded honestly and got up from her chair.
* * *
”A Porter… I want one.”
After Liz and Kazumi left with Maya in the carriage, Gargantua muttered gruffly while folding his arms in the cafeteria.
”But loading that tiny body with luggage… I’d feel too guilty.”
”Now, Hiroya… she did have surprisingly strong muscles in her slender arms and legs, didn’t she?”
I express my opinion: Gargantua explains her impression of her.
I see, so she’s saying her body is fit for being a Porter.
”If you have nowhere to go… I want you to come with us.”
Esperanza nods vigorously at Hernando’s words.
…That girl seems totally within Esperanza’s strike zone.
”If you want, I can carry ‘you’!”
”Hey! That’s not what ‘Porter’ means!”
I couldn’t help but interject strongly at Esperanza’s words.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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