Last part of Chapter 5 ~. Only the epilogue left now ^^

Can’t believe I’ve nearly made it through volume 01.

Enjoy ~

[Arnold]

Muir told Arnold what had happened during the rescue.

"You… You really…"

Arnold was surprised since he didn"t think that Hiiro would go as far as to ask the mother and daughter for compensation. Arnold scornfully stared at Hiiro.

"We live in a world of give and take. If you want me to do something, you"ll have to compensate me with something I want." Hiiro clearly declared, Arnold and Muir smiled bitterly. They understood once again that their travelling companion was an eccentric realist.

"Ah, the books were burnt, but… What was it? The book that you partially—-."

Hiiro frighteningly stared at Arnold and he cut his sentence short.

(I, I thought so. It"s that kind of book…)

Arnold pitied Hiiro. Hiiro was also a man, he should be interested in such books as well, but Arnold didn"t say it aloud since Hiiro would only look at him angrily.

(But this time… If it wasn"t for his help, it would have been impossible… Who is he?) Arnold stared at Hiiro and asked himself.

Hiiro had high physical ability for someone from the 『Human Race』and above all else his magic attribute was unknown. As far as Arnold could tell, Hiiro concentrated magic power into his finger and seemed to write something that Arnold couldn"t discern. Or rather, Arnold had never seen writing like that before. Furthermore, whenever Hiiro released the letter, something happened. It was unfamiliar magic to Arnold.

(I"ll ask him when I get the chance.)

Arnold made up his mind since he was interested in Hiiro"s magic. But right now he had to prioritise getting away.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaait~!"

Arnold heard someone screaming. Everyone turned around and it was,

"I won"t let you get away! Us.h.i.+s.h.i.+s.h.i.+s.h.i.+!"

It was the Greasy Chubby. His name was Abel. Abel had been caught up in Arnold"s《Explosive Wind Claw》and was blown off somewhere. But it seemed that he was fine, although a bit tattered. Hiiro sighed in annoyance and smoothly drew his katana.

"Hey, Oily Combover1."

Abel: "Oily Combover?!"

Abel"s hair was certainly mostly parted to one side and he was a greasy chubby. As expected of Hiiro"s naming sense.

"Be quiet if you don"t want to die."

It sounded like something a villain would say. But when Abel heard Hiiro"s words,

Abel: "P-puh! The reinforcements from 《Beast Cage》will be arriving soon! I called them! You won"t be getting away! Those beastman are mine!"

Abel pointed towards Muir and co then with a smile,

"Us.h.i.+s.h.i.+s.h.i.+s.h.i.+! This time, you"ll be returning the favour by giving me your utmost service!"

Abel laughed harshly. Someone was briskly approaching from behind Abel but he didn"t notice.

Upon seeing the person, Ur and her mother gasped and a look of relief appeared on their faces. Arnold and co"s eyes widened in surprise because they had seen, no, had met that person somewhere before. The person came up behind Abel and,

"Hoh, and what would that be?"

Abel: "Us.h.i.+s.h.i.+! That should be obvious! I will be pleasured by those bodies, until I"m fully satisfied! Us.h.i.+s.h.i.+s.h.i.+s.h.i.+!"

"Hohoh, by who?"

Abel: "Mhm? I would like to start with the silver haired girl, but as I thought, I"ll do the mother and child first! Yup, yup, especially that girl, she has such an outrageous body despite being a beastman… Wait… Who are you?"

Abel finally noticed that someone else was talking to him and slowly turned around. There stood an extremely angry skinhead man with a devilish expression on his face. That man was definitely someone they had met before. His name was Raab.

Raab gripped Abel"s head with his big hands, using his full strength and turned Abel to face him.

Raab: "Oi, you certainly said you want to shame the mother and daughter over there, right?"

Abel: "Eh… Ah… Weeeeelll…"

Abel completely withered under Raab"s strength. Abel"s body was trembling and rattling, his body had unintentionally added a vibrator function. Raab raised Abel"s body into the air with one hand and brought him up to his face.

Raab: "Now you, listen here."

Abel: "Ye-yes.h.!.+"

Raab: "That divine beautiful woman and the charming beautiful girl are…"

Raab suddenly released his hands from Abel"s face. Raab swung his thick muscular arms below him and uppercutted Abel in the chin.

*CRAAACK!*

Abel: "Buyahhhhh!"

The sounds of bones breaking resounded through the area and Abel was sent flying through the sky like a rocket.

"Papaaaaa!"

(Huh, Papa?) Hiiro and co were dumbfounded upon those words.

Ur and her mother walked towards Raab. Ur leaped into Raab"s arms and he gently stroked her head. Her mother sighed in relief and her eyes teared up. They talked about something for a while then Raab called out to Hiiro and co.

Raab: "It seems that I"m in your debt again! But, just like the Chubby said, reinforcements are on their way. I prepared a wagon outside of town, please come."

Raab: "Thank you so much! I am so grateful towards you!"

Raab was a skilled adventurer and his skills were famous amongst other adventurers. Hiiro remembered that Arnold had a question he wanted to ask.

It was obvious that Raab was someone from the 『Human Race』and Hiiro doubted his ears when he had heard Ur call him, papa. Before anyone could ask, Raab had readily provided an answer.

A while back while he was out adventuring, Raab had received a potentially fatal wound. The ones who saved him were Ur and her mother, Jill. They lived quietly in a small cabin that Jill"s deceased husband built.

Raab had stumbled upon the cabin and Jill, who saw that he was covered in wounds, just couldn"t leave him to die. Naturally, they knew that the relations.h.i.+p between beastman and the human race were tense in this period. But even if they were going to receive abusive language, they couldn"t just abandon an injured person.

When Jill and Raab"s locked eyes after he awoke, she were ready for mockery and contempt but his actual words froze her.

『Beautiful! I have never met such a beautiful person before! 』

Those words were surely shocking.

Raab: "So then I made a ferocious attack! Gahaha!"

Raab laughed heartily and Arnold and Muir stared blankly at him. Falling in love at first sight and even proposing was definitely bold of Raab.

"But Honey, why"re you here? You said it would take about three days for you to get to this town…"

Raab"s eyes sparkled and he laughed upon hearing Jill"s words.

Raab: "You idiot. You"ll be lonely waiting for three days, right? It"s obvious that I wanted to see you and Ur as soon as possible, so I swiftly finished my work."

Jill: "Honey…"

The two stared at each other and held hands, creating a pink ambience.

Muir covered her eyes with her hands but peeked through her fingers while saying, "Awawa".

Raab and co split up before arriving at this town. Raab went off to do a quest in the nearby forest while Jill and Ur waited in town. Unluckily for them, 《Beast Cage》had received intel on them.

Raab: "Still, I"m glad you"re safe."

Jill: "Yes, they saved us."

Ur: "Yeah! Hero-san saved us!"

"Mhm? Hero-san?"

Raab tilted his head and Muir twitched at Ur"s words.

Ur: "Yeah! Hey, onee-chan! Hero-onii-chan really did come save us, just like you said onee-chan!"

Muir: "Eh… Ah, yes, th-that"s right."

Seeing the sparkle in Ur"s eyes, Muir couldn"t tell her that the hero she was thinking of was Arnold.

Raab: "Once again, I"m so thankful to you! Mhm, your names are…?"

"Ah, my name"s Arnold. This girl here is Muir and that extremely anti-social person is Hiiro."

It seemed that Arnold needed to learn manners about revealing a person"s name involuntarily. But since they didn"t seem like bad people, Hiiro remained silent.

"I see. Thank you for saving my family, you three!"

Raab had a scary face but he was earnestly thanking them. So he left a very favourable impression on Arnold and Muir.

Come to think of it, Raab had also earnestly apologised for frightened Muir when they had first met. At that time, they never would have thought that they"d run into the man, wanting《Frog Bee Needles》, again so soon.

Arnold: "Ah no, we only helped out because Muir was also caught by them."

Raab: "Even so, thank you. I also want to thank you for that time as well."

Jill: "Thank you so much."

Ur: "Thanks, Uncle and Hero-san!"

Arnold: "Un-uncle… We-well Muir calls me that too, so it"s fine but… I"m still young…"

Arnold was once again reminded of his position upon hearing the little girl call him Uncle. This made him a little sad. If possible he wanted to be called onii-chan.

*GRUUUMBLE!*

Suddenly a rumbling sound could be heard nearby and everyone turned towards it. There stood Hiiro with his arms pressed to his stomach.

[Hiiro]

Jill: "Oh my, oh my, fufufu. Now I will have to display my abilities so that I can express my grat.i.tude and pay the request fee."

Jill rolled up her sleeves and pulled out cooking utensils one after another from a bag at the back of the wagon.

Jill: "Ur, help me out."

Ur: "Yes ~."

Muir: "Ah, I will help out too!"

Arnold: "A chef like me can"t stand here and do nothing!"

Apparently they wanted to treat Hiiro to a feast right here. Hiiro thought it was about time and waited in antic.i.p.ation.

Raab was away from the wagon, he had gone out patrolling for pursers in the surrounding area. Hiiro was drooling from the aroma of the food and waited quietly.

By the time Raab had returned the dishes were done. There were no pursers so everyone could comfortably enjoy the food.

Raab: "Be grateful, Rascals! My beautiful wife"s cooking is superb!"

Hiiro gasped in admiration at the food that was served out in front of him.

Jill: "This is 《Clover Rat Meat》, it is soft and nutritious. The sauce on top is made by mixing《Blue Plums》and《Orchy Fruits》. This over here, is the salty-sweet《Winter Melon Rice》, it is made by crus.h.i.+ng 《Winter Melon》and mixing it in with the rice. I have made some other food, as well. Eat as much as you would like."

Everyone said, "Bon appet.i.te" and then put the food into their mouth.

"… This is delicious."

Hiiro enjoyed eating the 《Clover Rat Meat》which tasted like roast beef. The meat was very tender and the sour sauce matched it perfectly.

The 《Winter Melon Rice》looked like fried rice. Its salty-sweet taste simulated his mouth and the more he ate it the more his mouth watered.

Jill"s cooking was indeed superb, just as Raab had said. Jill had made enough to feed an entire army, so Hiiro could eat to his heart"s content and was satisfied.

Raab: "Haa~, look at that, Arnold. The way Ur"s eating her food is just like an angel~."

Arnold: "Heh, you"re too soft, Raab. See there! The girl next to her looks even more like an angel!"

The two got along unexpected well and was now displaying their dottiness towards their daughters with a bewitched look on their faces.

Raab: "Hah? What"re you on about? There"s no angel cuter than Ur."

Arnold: "Hahaha, oi, oi, Brother. Look carefully. That glistening silver hair, those adorable eyes, plumped cheeks and that cute small mouth. No matter how you look at it, she looks like an angel, no, she is an angel, right?"

Raab: "Hohoh, so what you"re trying to say is that my Ur loses to Muir?"

Raab was laughing but a dark aura was flowing out from behind him.

Arnold: "Rest a.s.sured, Raab. No one can win against Muir"s cuteness!"

Raab: "Bulls.h.i.+t! That"s my line, Idiot! You don"t know this but, Ur wakes me up with a good morning and a tap on the head!"

Arnold: "Whhhhhaat?! I"m so envious of you!"

Raab: "Fufufu, how is it!? Ur was so cute, it was like I was in heaven with an angel! When I"m hungover, seeing her heals me immediately!"

Arnold: "Argh… To-today I sweated a lot, right? My Muir wiped my back with a wet towel!"

Raab: "Th-that"s awesomeeee!"

Raab grasped his fists while nodding his head and decided that he would definitely get Ur to wipe his back next time.

"Now, now, don"t make such a fuss you two." Jill rebuked as she stood in between them.

Raab: "Urg… Bu-but Jill…"

"No buts. They"re both cute. Isn"t that all that matters?"

Hearing Jill"s words, the two looked at each other in mutual understanding, grinned then held onto each other"s shoulders.

Raab: "Yeah! Cute is justice!"

Arnold: "Yeah, that"s right! Muir and Ur are both angels!"

Jill: "Goodness, those two."

Jill shrugged her shoulders in amazement. However at that moment, Arnold"s and Raab"s face stiffened and their eyes flew out of its socket at the scene in front of them.

Ur: "Onii-chan, eat this too!"

Muir: "Aa-aaah Hiiro-san! Th-this is delicious too!"

For some reason, Ur and Muir were both sitting on either side of Hiiro and were presenting him with food from their plates. As a bonus, they were both blus.h.i.+ng.

"Mm? You guys aren"t eating? Then, I"ll take it."

Hiiro took food off their plates and ate it. Ur and Muir were smiling happily. Jill smiled as she watched the scene.

Jill: "My, my, fufufu. You"re so popular, Hiiro-kun."

There were two people who couldn"t tolerate the scene in front of them.

Raab: "H-hey Arnold, what"s the meaning of this?"

Arnold: "Hahaha, it"s okay, Raab. It"s surely a mistake."

Arnold and Raab both forced smiles as a vein popped up on both of their foreheads.

Ur: "Hey, oniichan. You"re pretty strong! And you"re pretty cool too! Hey, hey, maybe I should become your bride! Ehehe!"

Raab: "Uuur-chaaaaan! Be-becoming a bride!? Ar-aren"t you a little too hasty?!"

Ur: "Well ~, I"m my mum"s child, so I"ll grow up to be a beautiful woman!"

Jill, her mother was most certainly a stylish beautiful woman. That"s why Ur who has her blood flowing through her, would no doubt become a beauty in the future.

Muir: "Awawawawa! Bu-buuut…"

Muir became fl.u.s.tered by Ur"s innocence. Hiiro was focused on his meal and didn"t hear a single thing they had said. The two men who were watching those three…

Raab: "He-hey Arnold, what should I do to keep that brat away from Ur? I won"t give my beloved daughter to that brat!"

Arnold: "Hahaha, don"t worry Raab. We"re about to leave on a journey so your daughter"s fine. I"m the one who has to worry since I"ll be travelling together with him. I"m so jealous of Hiiro!!!! That rascaaaaaal!!"

The two shed bitter tears and like always, Hiiro was ignorant to what was happening around him as he continued to stuff his cheeks.

(It"s too bad about the books, but I got to eat delicious food. So it"ll have to do. I"ll be able to get my hands on more books while we"re travelling the continent.)

Hiiro wasn"t even paying attention to Arnold and co.

1. If you can come up with a better nick, be my guest ^^.↩