Volume 3 Chapter 81 The Vanished ‘Lion’s Companion
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Sorry, I dunno. Guild just opened up earlier. I only unlocked the front gate and ran out to get Friedrich, so I didn’t check anything.”
”I see.”
Anyway, he plans to go tell her about Ramsey after this.
Going over there bugs him because it seems to go as Priscilla planned, but he thinks he’ll just be exchanging info as Maribel’s agent.
When they talk stuff out, he can also push for a Quest about Bloodsucking Kind from Fortress, based on how the investigation’s going.
Rean and the others’ lives and deaths change the pay, but it’s been 3 days since they went quiet.
By the time they get there, they’ll probably be dead or hiding somewhere safe, bouncing back from whatever mess they’re in.
Money-wise, he thinks if he gets to advanced-rank Adventurer, he can start raking it in. Maybe snag 3 more sponsors like Priscilla, then just spend a year getting by, and Sarah’ll have all the cash she needs. No need to rush into stupid fights for quick money, that’s all.
Sorry about Rean and the others, but they’re gonna prioritize their moves here.
Kian just needs to keep that contribution points triple period going.
”Then I’ll take my leave.”
”Yes, I’ll prepare as quick as I can.”
Kian stands up and says that, then Friedrich, Gonzales, and the Guild staff start filing out.
The only ones left are Kian’s team of 5 and the quiet, empty eating hall.
”Master, Ramsey’s confirmed, that’s good, but what about Châtillon’s souvenir stuff?”
Rufna tosses nuts in her mouth and asks that.
”About the support contract with Lady Priscilla too. If we sneak into Ramsey, that multi-purpose carriage is just in the way.”
”Kian, Ms. Serena and I will gather fur coats, blankets, and maybe some herbs for warming the body, and spices too. Ms. Serena, you’ll come along, right?”
”Yeah. I know cold places well, so I think I can pick a good coat and stuff.”
”‘The Boar’s Trot Inn’ and souvenirs for the monastery, I’m planning to ask Priscilla to deliver those to those place. I need to talk to her again about the support contract. ──Sarah, Serena, this is money for coats and herbs. It’s party funds, so use it wisely.”
”Okay.”
”Got it.”
Alright, let’s break for now──just as Kian was about to say that, he suddenly stopped.
”Master?”
”No…”
He suddenly remembered something with Serena and ‘Storm Herd.’
Because they had been distant until now, he couldn’t ask what he had been wanting to know.
Kian looked at Natra, who was standing up from the table.
”Natra, do you remember what happened right before Rufna joined us, when we were ambushed in the waiting room at Châtillon?”
”Yeah. When we were called to the negotiation table by father──Duke Shajar. That’s when we took down Rufna and made her one of us.”
”When we were attacked, there was an assassin, Rufna, and another guy, a Wolfman. Ypu fought Rufna while I fought the Wolfman and let him escape. If I remember right, he turned his body into black mist to get away?”
”Yes.”
”──What? I’m hearing this for the first time.”
”I just told Serena now. We were already split up back then, and I didn’t have time to talk about the Wolfman when I invited you to the fortress fight.”
Kian looked back and forth between Sarah and Rufna.
”So, who was that Wolfman, Rufna?”
”I might have mentioned it somewhere before, but I don’t know. I think Shajar suddenly said he would attach someone temporarily? He told me to call him Randy. Other than that… Sorry, my memory is fuzzy…”
”──No, his real name is Yorlund. I’m pretty sure Christophora said that.”
”Yorlund? …Christophora…”
At Sarah’s words, Serena reacted, as if to say “I knew it.”
Kian turned his gaze to Serena.
”Do you know, Serena?”
”We’re not that close, but… Yorlund is part of the ‘Storm Herd’. It’s a different family from us Silverwooloo. What was Yorlund doing? Did he sign a mercenary contract?”
Serena glanced at Sarah.
After thinking for a bit, Sarah shook her head.
”Officially, it was a mercenary contract, but I think the real deal was more like ‘goods’… Christophora was secretly a merchant selling monsters.”
”And who exactly is this Christophora?”
”She’s your brother’s right-hand girl. The ones who usually dealt with her were either Master or Milady Sarah, so I haven’t talked to her much… She’s a small girl with short silver hair and mismatched blue and yellow eyes. She called herself ‘boku’.”
”Sounds just like Priscilla.”
When Kian blurted out his honest thought, Sarah shook her head.
”Totally different person. Christophora is a loyal subordinate of Jibril… Well, it’s a bit awkward to say, but it’s rumored that the Vahid family is secretly conducting shady experiments, and Christophora is said to be one of their products. I don’t know how true that is, but she suddenly appeared as Lord Jibril was rising in power.”
”Was there such a girl?”
”Yes, there was. Natra, even while you were studying at the monastery, she had already set her sights on you. You were being considered as Lord Jibril’s future consort.”
”Oh? So I was quite popular after all. Sir Kian, what do you think? I’m not bad, right?”
”Of course, it’s Natra we’re talking about.”
”Hehe.”
Natra, who had only been responding randomly, now wore a proud expression.
It’s still hard to understand her thought process.
”No way, that’s a weird reaction! Lord Jibril’s taste in girls is legendary, right? It’s just plain creepy!”
”──Mismatched eyes. Blue and yellow.”
”Ms. Serena?”
”Serena, what’s wrong?”
When Sarah and Kian asked, the Wolfmen girl raised her face.
She purse her lips tight and look around at everyone.
”That person with blue and yellow odd eyes. I think it was about a few months before I was kicked out of the herd that they came to sign a support deal.”
”What the hell?”
”Oh, but, it wasn’t a girl, it was a guy. Hair was black… but he called himself ‘Boku’. And he gave me a really bad feeling. There was this shaman, Barghest, who is Dad’s right-hand, but even he told the herd women, ‘Stay away from that guy at all costs.’”
”…….Serena, how much has Friedrich told you about the quest where we met Yelmar?”
”Um, just that you uncovered some evil plot in a rural village.”
”The quest in the mountain village was originally to kill a monster that was eating villagers. Natra, Rufna, and I met Natasha, the former court magician, and Yelmar outside the village in the forest. That’s also when we met the wolfmen escort of Natasha.”
Kian kept talking.
”He seemed to have lost his reason. During the fight, Yelmar cut off his head after he turned into a werewolf and was killing villagers──he called the guy a murderer.”
”Yelmar, borrowing the Witch’s power, was turning his comrades into wolves, huh?”
”I don’t know for sure, but I think that’s likely. Can’t say it for certain.”
”…I see.”
Serena nodded with a serious look.
Sarah, Natra, and Rufna all exchanged glances.
Kian put his hand over his mouth.
(Odd-eyed man who appeared in the Storm Herd, Yorlund coming to kill me with Rufna, Serena’s brother was killed, and afterward Serena was abandoned in the herd…)
Disjointed info.
But it all seemed like puzzle pieces, fitting together somehow on the edges.
(Did Serena really get branded a failure and exiled? When her brother was killed, Serena was poisoned. Did something happen to the ‘Storm Herd’ while she was asleep?)
He doesn’t know.
At this point, he doesn’t have enough info.
’Kian, if you go to Ramsey, you might run into the ‘Storm Herd’. I’m curious about the odd-eyed man Lady Serena mentioned. Be careful.’
(Ah)
Kian nodded and took off his glasses.
Lately, he had been relying less on the other side of himself.
Was this a good sign or a bad one──?
He placed both hands on the table and looked around at everyone’s faces.
”Sorry for stopping the flow, everyone. Get ready to head north. Once you’re done, gather back here. I’m going to speak with Her Excellency and Ms. Priscilla now. Rufna or Natra, if you’re free, come with me.”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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