Chapter 314

Return

(You defeated so many, Oniichan~)

“Yeah. I didn’t think it was this many~”

The number of dead Orcs collected exceeded a hundred. I was surprised at the number of Orcs I had defeated.

(You defeated most of the higher species as well, didn’t you?)

“That’s right. But even though I boldly stated that I would deal with all the higher species, one of them slipped through~”

I knew that one of the High Orcs had escaped the magic when I released the advanced magic, but I had my hands full trying to hold off the Orc General and Orc Mages while dealing with the Orc King.

So it was left out in the open with the Orcs, and Evan-san had to take it down on his own.

“Things always go well, so I must have gotten overconfident~”

(Even though there are injured, no one died, right? That’s good! It means you did your job perfectly, Oniichan.)

(Indeed. Niisama, there were unforeseen circ.u.mstances this time, right? Despite the presence of the Orc King, you managed to do as planned from the most part, so there shouldn’t be a problem.)

“… You think so?”

((Yeah!))

When I let out a sigh, Joule and Feat comforted me.

“Thank you, Joule, Feat.”

(I just stated the facts~)

When I thanked them, Joule jumped as fast as he could into my bosom. I promptly embraced him, and he nudged to me as if he wanted to get petted, so I petted him to his heart’s content.

(Fufu, it was precious to see Niisama dejected~)

As I was pampering Joule, Feat was smiling with satisfaction.

Feat’s big sister points increased once again~

After collecting the Orcs, we cleaned up the Orc nest… To tell you the truth, this was much more troublesome than the battle. And it took a lot of time.

Destroying and burning a number of huts and checking the inside of the cave was… a really hard work.

“…~”

“Ah, Evan-san, have you came to?”

We had finished cleaning up and were resting back at the camp when Evan-san woke up.

“What’s up with the dog and cat?”

“They are my contracted beasts.”

Evan-san’s first words were about Joule and Feat, who I was holding.

Since the others already knew about Joule and Feat, I didn’t let them back into the shadow, but worked with them all the while.

“Contracted beasts? Not pets?”

“Contracted beasts. And, my trump card. Well, these are their temporary forms, though.”

“Nn?”

Evan-san tilted his head curiously.

Since Joule and Feat were in their smaller forms, Evan-san didn’t think they looked like monsters.

The adventurer who was close enough to know who they were was grinning, perhaps imagining Evan-san’s surprise when I revealed their true ident.i.ties. Or rather, several people asked me to reveal them in front of Evan-san when he wakes up without telling him anything beforehand.

“Would you like to see their true forms?”

“Y, yeah.”

“Joule, Feat, show Evan-san your true forms.”

(Got it~!)

(Fufu, all right.)

“Whoah!!”

When I asked Joule and Feat to return to their original forms, Evan-san screamed out.

Well, if Fenrir and a Celestial Tiger suddenly appeared before you… you would scream~

“Haah!? Eh? Ehhh!?”

Evan-san was greatly perplexed.

(Niichan, what’s the ruckus about~?)

(Ah, we were showing off Joule and Feat’s true forms.)

(So that’s what the shout was about, I see!)

Vector, Bolt, and Mile, who had already joined us earlier, also came nearby to see what was going on.

“Hey! Waaaaat!?”

Evan-san shouted again.

The adventurers around us were laughing at Evan-san’s appearance. Though I say that, they were also screaming like Evan-san a while ago.

“S, Scarlet King Leo!!”

Everyone was surprised by Vector. Vector is mainly in his smaller form, but… everyone can tell that he is “THE” Scarlet King Leo~

“Darn… I got tired from shouting…”

“Erm… thank you for your hard work?”

“Tak.u.mi, you! What is up with the races and number of your Contracted beasts! That’s way out of the norm!”

“Everyone is a good child, you know?”

“I’m not talking about thaaat!”

Evan-san was giving me a lecture(?), but it was not very impactful because he was petting Joule while at it.

I’m not sure if the petting felt good or something, but Joule had a melting expression on his face.

(Ah~ that’s quite a good petting technique. I think it’s the second best after Oniichan?)

“Evan-san, Joule says that it feels good.”

“Oh, really?——Alright, alright, how about this?”

(Ah~ there, right there~)

Evan-san began stroking, or rather ma.s.saging, Joule in earnest, so the lecture somehow fizzled out, and I was released.

After camping out for the night, we traveled early in the morning and returned to the city of Rubia in the early afternoon.

“”Onii~chan!””

“Allen, Elena! I’m back~”

When I entered the Adventurer’s Guild, Allen and Elena were waiting for me, and jumped into my arms to hug me, so I hugged them as tight as I could.

I’m sure that the Ruven family knew we were coming home at this time, since a few of us were already sent back to the town yesterday to report in.

“Have you been good~?”

“”We were good!””

“Is that so? Good boy, good girl.”

“”Onii~chan? Any injuries?””

“None at all. I had Joule and others help me, too.”

“”I see~””

Their presence has become known, but Joule and the others have returned to the shadow for now. I can’t just walk around with them in the town, as it might cause a commotion.

“Tak.u.mi-kun, welcome back.”

“Tak.u.mi-san, are you injured?”

“Velio-san, Rebecca-san, too? Ah, I’m back.”

Velio-san and Rebecca-san were at the Guild, too.

“I need to hear the report of the attack.”

“And I came with the children.”

… Well, of course.

“I thought so. Oh, I’ll give you a detailed report later, but we did a good job of defeating them. And thank you for taking care of the kids.”

“Tak.u.mi-san, we should be the ones thanking you.”

“That’s right. Thank you, Tak.u.mi-kun.”

When I thanked Velio-san and Rebecca-san, they thanked me in return. They both seemed relieved, since it was their territory that was affected.

“Now then, let’s finish the report.——Allen, Elena, I have things to report, so please wait a little longer.”

“”Ehh~””

When I told them to stay without me for a little longer, since I had to report to the Guild, Allen and Elena let out frustrated voices.

“We got a lot of meat, so we can have a meat party after the report is done.”

“”Ohhh~””

“Okay, I’m off then.”

“”Got it~. Will be waiting~””

I left the children to Rebecca-san for a little while longer, and moved with Velio-san and Evan-san to the Guild Master’s office to finish our report. The Orcs were well annihilated and no one was captured. And of course, the Orc King. It was a very surprising report, and Velio-san and Noah-san’s eyes widened in shock.

After the report, I promised the kids a meat party, but… for some reason it was held in the Adventurer’s Guild cafeteria. It was a mix of members who had gone to defeat the Orcs with me and adventurers from the Adventurer’s Guild. It was a great time, and we had a lot of fun.