Here is the next chapter. Sorry for being late. With me always being late, I might as well say that I don’t have a release schedule. Well, better now than later. Enjoy.

The Preceding Hero Makes a Decision

According to the Centaur Nee-chan (the leader-looking one), because several ten-odd children had gone missing in the past several weeks, when they investigated, they found out that human merchants were selling Centaur children as slaves.
She said that although they somehow managed to rescue several of them, there are still many that have fallen to becoming slaves.
Moreover, they are in a situation where they don"t even know where more than half of them are right now.
Maybe because they were impatient, they tried to investigate each and every merchant party using some rough methods.
The bow and arrow that the Centaur girl (her b.r.e.a.s.t.s are on the larger side) had drawn seemed to be meant as a check, and it seemed that it was supposed to be used at the right moment as a warning shot.
I see, so it wasn"t just one or two of them. Moreover, for it to be children……, no wonder they were doing it indiscriminately.

While sitting like a horse (……well, it"s because her lower half is a horse) inside the tent, the leading woman explained it as such to me and the merchant party Occhans.

「Unfortunately, we don"t handle any slaves. To deal with them, suitable qualifications are required, you see.」

Occhan said it like that, but the Centaurs didn"t seem to trust those words.

「Occhan. If it"s alright, I think it would be faster to let them search through everything.」

「I don"t mind but, I"ll be troubled if the goods get damaged you know?」

「I"ll watch over them.」

When I said that and stood up, the Centaurs all simultaneously stood up and closely observed me.

Y, you don"t really need to put your wariness to the max like that……Honestly, that kind of hurts me a bit.
In particular, the little sister of the Centaur that I stepped on is looking at me with a gaze as if I were her parent"s enemy.

I"ve gotten used to it, but being looked at with those kinds of eyes sure is the most painful~.

In the middle of the weakened rain, the Centaurs carried out their search of the caravan.

Speaking only of the results, its natural but, within the caravan, there weren"t any abducted Centaurs, and even before that, there weren"t any slaves of any kind.

「……We are sorry.」

What came out from the Centaurs that completed their search of the caravan was words of apology.

「Ah, yeah. We don"t really mind……Right?」

「Yeah. Rather, it"s a bit pitiful.」

From the fact that the high in pride Centaurs had admitted to their mistake and apologized, the merchant troupe Occhans, who conversely felt feelings of guilt, had all unanimously considered the Centaurs to not be in the wrong and forgave them.

「If it"s slaves, they probably might be in either 『Be Io』 or 『Oltaine』, you know?」

When one of the people among the merchant party was struck with an idea, the Centaurs" eyes changed.

「Is that true!?」

「I"m not sure. It"s just, the slave markets that sell slaves don"t open just to sell one or two slaves. The underground slave markets are the same. Since sea routes are used to transport slaves in large amounts, they are often opened in things like port cities.」

Discovering hope from Occhan"s words, the leading Centaur smiled as if she were relieved.

Ara, she"s surprisingly cute.

「By the way, what"s Oltaine?」

「It"s a port city that you"ll hit if you head in a straight line from Lizwadia. Come to think of it, why didn"t you head over there? I mean, going to Be Io where you have to cross a mountain is longer after all.」

When I asked, a lanky bodied merchant answered and at the same time asked something.

「Just a pretend delivery. Leader-san, about that kidnapping case, could you let me help you guys out?」

「What?」

When I began to talk with that, the leading Centaur-san……Erm, that sure is long.

「By the way, what"s your name?」

「I"m called Ire.」[1]

Ire-san, right.

When I began to talk, Ire-san looked at me with a dubious face.
It was a distrustful expression that felt like it was asking "Why?".

「I"m also heading to Be Io. My objective was to meet with the town mayor there and hand over something that was left in my custody. It"s not like its a ship that"s set sail but, I"ve come to understand the situation. To begin with, it"s not a rushed journey, so if I"m able to help, I want to help.」

I"d rather not get involved with troublesome things, but, this case, it"s something that I can"t ignore.

Not as a Hero, but as a single human.

Translator’s Notes:
[1] Original: イーリェ. p.r.o.nounced (ee-re)