Volume 3 Chapter 86 Visiting The ‘Lion’s Companion’ I
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Around 5 in the morning, Sarah and Serena woke up, so I told them Priscilla would join us.
Both gave pretty vague reactions about her coming along.
Sarah said since she’s organizing the carriage and food, and might be a future supporter, we can’t just push her away.
Serena said she doesn’t really know Priscilla much, but if she can help with survival or sneaking in, then maybe it’s okay to bring her.
Kian heard Sarah’s opinion and changed his mind. No matter how much one trains and gets stronger, one can’t beat money──.
She, and even Kian, looking ahead at Dacia’s development, sees Priscilla’s support as super important.
If their relationship tears apart with her, they’d have to start looking for supporters from scratch.
It’s a big difference whether one has one sponsor right from the start, or none at all.
Considering using Priscilla’s network, it’s better to respect her wishes as much as possible.
Some parts bother him, but this is just a lesson about how having only one big potential supporter can cause trouble.
Whether this lesson costs too much or not will only be known when the trip ends and they look back.
After Serena and Priscilla finished introducing themselves, they did a final gear check in front of Oswald’s mansion main gate.
By the time they finished, Maribel, Friedrich, and Gonzales had woken up and gave Kian detailed orders and extra explanations about the mission.
Not all 3 at once, first is Maribel, then Friedrich and Gonzales.
”If you go straight from the fortress’s north gate, there’s a crossroads called ‘Cockley Clay’ near the Ramsey border. If you go right, it leads to Dacia, and if you go left, you’ll eventually reach Westside. You all head straight. This is about as far as my kids can support you.”
”If you go north from ‘Cockley Clay’, you’ll find the ‘Snow Past of the Giant’. Beyond that, there’s a forest, and past that, it’s Ramsey’s wheat fields. The wheat fields are completely under Lord Owl’s control. Be careful with your movements.”
”Got it.”
Friedrich takes Kian’s hand and continues.
”This Quest is a rescue Quest. You don’t need to go head-to-head with Lord Owl or recklessly hunt monsters. I heard from Her Excellency that you’re just going to secretly investigate Lord Owl’s operations, right? If you play it smart, you should be able to finish the job quietly.”
”It’s super hard, but if all the kids from ‘Lion’s Companion’ and ‘Gray Bear’s Group’ are in enemy hands, just head back without risking it, okay? I’ll pay at least 20 gold coins as a minimum guarantee, so weigh your life carefully. If you die, that’s it.”
”I’ll keep that in mind.”
”I’m counting on you, Kian.”
”I appreciate it. And… I’m sorry I’m late, but thanks for hunting the monster that killed my kids at the fortress. There haven’t been any victims this morning, so you can safely think the threat is gone forever.”
”No, I just did my job as an Adventurer.”
”Oh, so humble and super cool! Now that I think about it, I kind of like guys like you♡”
”Sorry, but I just can’t see you as my boyfriend.”
”I’m a maiden! Well, my body’s a guy, but still.”
Gonzales ended with that and blew a little smooch with 2 fingers.
It was super gross.
That was everything the client had to say before we left.
Kian and the gang were finally heading out toward Ramsey.
* * *
They went west along the town streets inside the fortress from the old Oswald mansion, then took the left road by the wrecked Izerland castle to the north gate.
It’s more like a northwest gate, really.
Kian hadn’t been here much either, but the northwest area looked like the Danofen family’s garden and vineyard.
There were lots of trees and white walls, showing someone spent a decent amount of money──but still just ‘decent.’ The Oswald army had trampled everything, leaving it like some empty ruin.
To the southwest, they could see the eastern town, where some homeless folks kicked out of their homes were walking around.
It was a rough area for Izerland.
The group quickly passed through here, crossed the north gate bridge, and came out onto the hills road in Izerland.
The northern hills were new to them, so it felt fresh.
Blue skies and green hills stretched out forever, making it really beautiful.
Looking back, the huge fortress walls made for a nice sight too.
Priscilla’s wagon was packed tight inside the canvas with food, repair tools, and shoes, so when all 6 squeezed in, it got cramped──you couldn’t even fart without trouble.
So 3 stayed packed inside to watch the gear, 2 sat on the driver’s bench, and one──meaning Kian──ran alongside the wagon on his own feet.
The wagon was pretty slow, so brisk walking was enough to keep up.
With his superhuman body now, he didn’t have to worry about tired muscles or blisters.
He got hungry and sweaty, but if he ignored that, it was a fun little picnic after a long time.
In the hilly area, there were many Adventurers heading towards the Westside and plenty of merchants going to trade in the nearby villages beyond the hills.
They had a hard time overtaking a few times because they were in a cart, but they managed to get through the hilly roads without any accidents in about an hour.
The distance was about 6 or 7 kilometers.
At the end of the hills, several rivers flowed, and crossing them led to a place filled with fields of wheat before harvest.
Golden wheat ears swayed, with people’s backs and butts popping up here and there.
The land rose slightly toward the north──heading toward Ramsey.
Because of this, as Kian climbed up the path from the river at the end of the hills, it felt like the waves of wheat were gently rolling toward him.
”Kian”
While hurrying his steps, looking at the wheat fields, Sarah came down from the cart’s cover.
He was startled for a moment when she called out to him, remembering last night, but he managed to mask his expression with a smile and answered her casually.
”What’s up?”
”Actually, it’s about last night.”
”Night…? What part of the night?”
”The part where you were hugging Ms. Christy.”
”──────. Yes. What about it?”
He braced himself, expecting her to grab him with her gorilla-like strength, but Sarah unexpectedly pulled a leather pouch from her pocket.
From inside, he could hear the clinking of coins.
”This is for the palm tree damage. I made you pay for it, right? Please take this. I think it should cover it.”
”No, it’s fine. It’s partly my fault anyway.”
”Why is it your fault?”
Sarah tilted her head with a confused expression.
That face of hers, like “I really don’t get it,” was quite scary.
If she was behind the scenes saying, “Kian die! Scoundrel must perish!” while jabbing a doll with pins, he might not be able to look at her face straight anymore.
However, Sarah sighed deeply, shoulders slumping as she exhaled, “Hah.”
”Listen, Kian. I don’t really care if you’re doing whatever with Ms. Christina. Honestly, it’s not my business. I… I abandoned you, after all.”
”You weighed things against the Nakash family. At 12 or 13, anyone would put their own home first. Going with me would literally mean throwing your life away.”
”Still, I gave you up. From that moment, I lost the right to say anything to my ex-fiancé, Kian. So it’s silly for you to apologize, and it’s also silly that I’m not paying for the palm tree damage.”
”But I kissed Christy knowing you were watching. I was out of my mind, putting on a show like that… It’s no wonder you felt jealous.”
”I-I wasn’t jealous! That was… well, I just miscalculated the force a bit. It has nothing to do with you two!”
”Alright. Then let’s leave it at that, and you keep the money. This time, I’ll cover for the newbie, since mistakes happen. That’s fine, right? Just know you won’t do it again. You’ll pay next time.”
”……”
Sarah narrowed her eyes, but sighed long and deep before saying anything.
She looked down at the bag of Silver Coins.
”A compromise, huh? You’ve never been good at backing down when it comes to these situations. This could turn into a pointless argument, so I’ll retreat. Thanks, Kian.”
”Don’t mention it.”
”Yeah, I’ll try not to think about it.”
Sarah said that and went back inside the carriage.
But she soon came back out again.
As if wondering what was going on, Sarah turned her face away and said,
”I’ll walk too. Being stuck in the carriage makes my body stiff.”
Kian glanced at the driver’s seat.
There sat Priscilla and Serena in black lingerie.
They seemed to be having a fun conversation.
So, Priscilla was just talking nonstop, and Serena was nodding along, really listening hard.
Priscilla, who loves to chatter like her brother, and pure, serious Serena might actually get along pretty well.
”Alright. This is a good chance, so I’m giving you a weapon. A mithril curved sword. It’s a spare of mine, but I’ve mostly just left it hanging around, so you should use it. Take care of it too.”
Kian said that while taking a saber he bought from Guy off his back holder and handing it to Sarah.
Sarah was using a temporary steel sword, so giving her a good-quality weapon she doesn’t use would definitely boost the party’s strength.
Mithril’s metal contains a super high concentration of magic power, which makes anyone’s magic just vanish.
Warrior monks fight by wrapping ‘impact’ magic around their weapons, but with mithril, you gotta enchant only the core and a few millimeters around the blade carefully, avoiding the surface.
It’s tough unless you have mad skill or genius talent, but Sarah should probably handle it fine.
”I can’t take it.”
”Why not? You want only that special black steel (adamantite) saber apostles use?”
”No, it’s not that. The sword’s just too expensive. ────Kian, don’t you think I’d run off somewhere if I had this weapon?”
”You have no reason to leave my party. No matter how you look at it, sticking with us means better life and money for you.”
”That’s true, but…”
”And if it gets stolen, it’s my fault. I’ll personally hunt you down to the ends of the earth, so keep that in mind. The cost of stealing won’t go unpaid.”
”Okay. Then I’ll take it. I’ll use it carefully.”
”Yeah.”
Kian nodded and looked forward.
Now, the only one in the party with weak gear was Serena.
If she needs anything, she can borrow from Natra or Rufna.
Sarah got priority because it would boost the party’s strength more overall, and also because Serena wasn’t very used to handling curved swords.
She’s just winging it with her half-baked skills in Mercenary King swordsmanship and Beastmen martial arts, relying on her natural physical abilities and magic power.
She’s more about bashing than slicing, and I’m not sure she can even handle a curved blade properly.
If that’s the case, it might be better for her to keep using her familiar straight longsword and easy-to-handle, beast-like daggers.
It’s less confusing that way.
As Sarah drew her mithril scimitar from her hip, Kian called out to her again.
”That light armor really suits you.”
”Oh, trying to sweet-talk me after showing me such a scene last night? You really have no shame.”
”I mean it sincerely. I can’t help but notice the slimness of your waist or the beautiful legs stretching out from those black shorts. I try not to stare, but sometimes my eyes wander. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
”Was Kian always such a horny kid? Time can be so cruel… I can understand how you feel, seeing your childhood friend turn into such a slut right before your eyes.”
”Sarah, whether it’s Azrael or someone else, a woman might be called a slut, but a man would be called a s*x maniac. Well, no excuses. I’m a total pervert. Especially these past 2 months, it’s been bad.”
Kian said this with a slightly dejected tone, and Sarah furrowed her brow.
”Did you start preying on girls to relieve stress? You mentioned having a split personality before… could that shadow be affecting you?”
”Yeah, something like that. The other me is a nocturnal hunter, driven by an insatiable lust for love. I’m the ‘surface’ me right now, but I want to argue that I’m not all bad. It’s mostly the other me who’s the problem.”
”Alright, then I’ll make sure to take care of that broken heart of yours, if I can.”
”Just talking to you naturally helps me heal. No need to worry about it.”
”I hope so. Remember, building a harem should be planned. It’s none of my business, but you can’t just casually make a harem of girls.”
”I know.”
As Kian nodded seriously, Sarah finally relaxed her expression.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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