Chapter 686

Each Taking Action

*Town Gatekeeper’s PoV*

It really p.i.s.ses me off.

The knights were arrogant and overbearing just because they had the Lord behind them.

Moreover, they were so strong that I couldn’t even raise a complaint with them.

How did they get that power in the first place?

Originally, the Knights were weak. Then, a few years ago, they suddenly became much stronger.

Everyone felt that the magic power that had been stolen from us was used by the knights to become stronger, but we did not dare to say it out loud.

It couldn’t be helped for us to a.s.sume so since after we lost our magic power, it was also known at the same time that the knights had become stronger.

I have very little magic power, and I couldn’t really cast magic. But even with my meager amount of magic power, knowing that it was stolen and used by those knights made me feel infuriated.

They were looking down on us and laughing at us while claiming that, “We defeated the monsters in the area,” and “We protected you”.

Some of the adventurers were arrogant, but they had earned their power.

I did not want to be told such things by knights who had not earned their power through hard work.

What mattered most was that the Lord giving orders to the knights had started h.o.a.rding magic stones. This had caused a shortage of magic stones in the town, and the prices had gone up, making life difficult for the people.

The merchant’s guild and merchants were doing their best, but some were bad ones, plotting to make more money by ripping off others, and others were just trying to get a leg up to sell at a higher price.

But I couldn’t say anything bad about those merchants either.

I’ve fallen from grace myself, getting a magic stone by cheating a young lady like that.

I remember the girl dressed as a bear.

The girl had no money to pay for entering the town, so she offered me a magic stone.

I guess she didn’t know the value of magic stones in this town.

I was given four magic stones to get the two girls into town.

Two of them were for the little bears the two girls were holding.

There was no need for them to pay that many magic stones to get into the town.

I could have even covered the money they needed to enter the town, but instead, I overcharged them and put those extra magic stones into my own pocket.

It felt disgusting.

What I did was the same thing that I hated the merchants for.

The girl didn’t know I practically scalped her, and she didn’t suspect me. On the contrary, she even thanked me for letting her into the town.

She came to this town to help her injured father. I felt guilty for deceiving that pure and innocent girl dressed as a cute bear.

This was all the Lord’s fault.

That’s what I told myself.

Then, the next day, the Guild Master of the Adventurers’ Guild came to the gatekeeper’s office.

I was nervous, thinking it might be about the girl I scalped yesterday, but that was not the case.

The Guild Master introduced me to the adventurers.

They were the adventurers who had entered the town earlier that morning.

I was envious of one man with three beautiful women, but I remember warning him to be careful with the knights because I disliked them even more than him.

Not many adventurers come to this town in the first place.

When I was wondering what business they had with me, I was asked to tell the knights that I did not know about these adventurers’ comings and goings in the town, even if they asked.

He said that they hold the fate of this town in their hands.

Originally, I did not like the knights, and I was indebted to the Guild Master. So I agreed without asking for more details.

*Rosa’s PoV*

“We have finished hunting down monsters.” (Blitz)

“Oh, thank you very much. You helped a lot.” (Village Chief)

The villagers bowed their heads and thanked us.

Based on the information given to me by the Guild Master and Carla-san, I could take advantage of the information and get the request before the knights could take it.

“No, no, I’m just glad we happened to pa.s.s by.” (Blitz)

Since telling them that we were working for the Adventurers’ Guild could cause them trouble, we posed as adventurers who happened to be pa.s.sing by and took on the task of defeating monsters.

The Guild Master and Carla-san a.s.sured us that our kills would be recorded on our guild cards later, but we didn’t mind.

We did not think it was necessary to register what we had done this time.

In return for defeating the monsters, the villagers gave us a small amount of money and materials from the monsters we killed. We have also asked the villagers to report to the Adventurers’ Guild that an adventurer party pa.s.sed by the village and took down the monsters.

That way, the Knights could not complain to the Adventurers’ Guild.

“We were told that the Knights would be coming, but we were not sure when they would arrive, so thank you.” (Village Chief)

Apparently, the Knights were inconsistent and would only sometimes arrive on time.

Also, they had to be treated politely, despite being arrogant, so the villagers were grateful that we had defeated the monsters.

I’ve never met this town’s Knights, but they didn’t seem to enjoy a good reputation.

The villagers asked us to have dinner with them as a thank-you, but we politely declined since we could not stay in the village for long.

We left the village after receiving only a small token of appreciation.

“Let’s camp around here for the night.” (Blitz)

We dismounted from our horses. My back ached a little, so I stretched out.

We were traveling by horse.

Since most of our transportation was by carriage, we were not accustomed to riding horses.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t ride, but a horse-drawn carriage was more comfortable over horse riding.

However, individual horses moved faster and were more maneuverable. They didn’t have wheels that would get stuck in ditches, and they could move around in places where the roads were unpaved.

The only drawback though was that we were unable to rest. After all, we could not take turns as we do while guarding the carriage and leave the operation of the carriage to someone else.

This time, it was not necessary because we were not traveling at a leisurely pace.

“Camping out in the field – why didn’t we just have dinner in the village and stay there?” (Ran)

Ran looked annoyed as she prepared water and food for the horses.

“If we run into the Knights, we’ll be in trouble.” (Rosa)

“But they wouldn’t necessarily come at night. I think we could have just left early in the morning.” (Ran)

Ran had a point, but the Guild Master also told us to especially make sure that we didn’t run into the knights. It was better to reduce the chances of encountering them as much as possible.

If we ran into them, it would definitely become more troublesome than staying in the field.

“But you know, I didn’t expect to meet Yuna-chan at a place like this, did you?” (Rosa)

I spoke to her while preparing to camp out in the field.

“That’s true. Yuna-chan seems to pop up everywhere. I guess she has been to many more places than we do.” (Ran)

“Yuna-chan has Swaying Bear and Hugging Bear, after all.” (Rosa)

“Swaying Bear, Hugging Bear, I envy her.” (Ran)

“They can traverse the desert, they are strong, and they also understand human language, they are wonderful bears.” (Rosa)

Yuna-chan always rode those adorable bears to get around.

“Above all, they are so comfortable to ride. So soft.” (Ran)

“The little bears are adorable.” (Grimos)

Even Grimos, a woman of few words, complimented Yuna-chan’s bears.

Well, I agreed with Ran and Grimos.

“But it’s such a relief just to see someone we know in such a faraway place.” (Rosa)

Having met Yuna-chan had put our minds at ease.

My anxiety did not disappear completely, but it was great news that we found a way to go back home.

The question now was whether the Fairy Queen would accept us.

To achieve that, we needed to find Primme-chan’s sister and bring her back.

*Carla PoV*

“Guild Master, are you really going to involve those girls?” (Carla)

“They have a fairy with them. I can’t help but get them involved.We’re going to help them. And I’m not going to let them do anything dangerous. If things turn out to be dangerous, I’ll protect them.” (Guild Master)

“But it will still be dangerous.” (Carla)

“I know. But if that fairy takes the other fairy in town with her, we can finally change the situation. You don’t want things to stay the same, do you?” (Guild Master)

“Yes, but…” (Carla)

“Besides, that bear girl is a real talent.” (Guild Master)

The Guild Master looked at me with eyes as if he was looking into the distance.

Even now, I couldn’t believe it even though I saw it with my own eyes. How could such a pretty girl beat the Guild Master? That movement, her judgment, she had no fear when the Guild Master confronted her. The strength to stand up to those with weapons.

“I’ve seen many adventurers, but I’ve never seen a girl that out of the ordinary.” (Guild Master)

The girl dressed as a bear was strong. The way she moved, the timing of her approach below the Guild Master. All of them were first cla.s.s.

The Guild Master couldn’t even touch her, and I, who had been with the Guild Master for many years, could tell that the Guild Master was fighting without restraint.

Even a male adventurer would be afraid to fight a scary-looking individual as the Guild Master.

But Yuna fought without showing any fear of the Guild Master.

“I guess we can only put it in one word: talent.” (Guild Master)

“Blitz also said the same.” (Carla)

“However, no matter how talented a person is, if they don’t have experience, they will be afraid. And that’s even with practice.” (Guild Master)

People would normally be frightened if a sword were pointed at them. I have seen many adventurers like that. But Yuna was not afraid. She did not turn away, and she even dodged the attacks of the Guild Master without problem, as well as blocking and parrying some of the attacks.

No one could fight without fear from the start. After all, fighting may very well lead to death.

I didn’t know how much experience Yuna had at that age.

“Moreover, she can even use magic. And at a high level. And she was still holding back some of her power.” (Guild Master)

“You think she’s even more powerful than she showed us?” (Carla)

“I can tell because I was fighting her directly. She was definitely holding back.” (Guild Master)

To me, it looked like she had some leeway but not that much, but if the Guild Master who was fighting her directly said so, then it must be true.

“I didn’t know a girl like that existed. When I first saw her, I thought she was just a girl dressed as a cute bear.” (Carla)

When she first came to the guild, I thought she was a cute frail girl dressed as a bear.

But when I discovered that her tone of voice was different and that she was acting, I felt awkward.

I wanted to tell her, ‘Give me back my feelings at that time.’

“And the other girl, too. She is not a normal village girl, I guess.” (Carla)

“Yeah, I can see that. What should I say? Maybe a young lady from some place. Or she was like the daughter of a well-educated merchant family.” (Guild Master)

I’ve met a number of girls who live in ordinary villages, but they were not that smart when I had a conversation with them.

“Yeah. In the talk about magic stones, there were a number of words she said that you would never hear from a village girl who lives a normal life. Above all, that stance, the posture, and the manner in which she spoke. What in the world kind of pairing are those two?” (Guild Master)

I could tell by looking at her that she was out of the ordinary. Many kids around that age had a hard time sitting still. But she listened quietly, expressed her opinion, and could see the big picture of things.

“I guess you could say that they were a pair of a Young Lady and her escort, dressed in a bear from somewhere, right?”  (Carla)

“The question is, what brought them to this town?” (Guild Master)

“Maybe it was just like what they said. The fairy really asked them for help.” (Carla)

I could not think of any other reason.

“Also, a young lady like that without many escorts? I don’t think her parents would normally allow it.” (Guild Master)

“That’s because her parents knew what the bear girl was capable of, so they allowed her to go with only her.” (Carla)

“Well… but still, even if her parents let her go to a strange place, they would have normally given her more escorts.”  (Guild Master)

“Isn’t that what makes Yuna so great? After all, she even beat the Guild Master.” (Carla)

“Don’t say that. But yes, she is strong.” (Guild Master)

“I know what you mean. I’ve seen many adventurers myself, but never have I encountered anyone like her.” (Carla)

She was no ordinary adventurer.

I asked her to allow me to check her guild card, but she flatly refused.

I couldn’t say much about it… How strong she was and what ridiculous records would I find if I were able to inspect her guild card?

“All I can say, however, is that I’m starting to see hope.” (Guild Master)

“It’s pathetic, though, we have no other means, and we have to rely on a little girl like her.” (Carla)

“Don’t worry, we’re making our move, as well.” (Guild Master)

“This time, we have nothing to hold back.” (Carla)

“I apologize for investigating the lord without telling you.”

(Guild Master)

“I can understand. I know you don’t want any harm to come my way. But. We’re on the same side from here on.” (Carla)

“Yes, I’m counting on you.” (Guild Master)

It was also time for us to move. 

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