Translator: Silver  Editor: Namorax

「Monster Researcher」Part 2

Casey lead us through the corridor that connected to the mansion. He nodded at the feudal lord’s guards and servants as we pa.s.sed them by. Occasionally a gaze would linger on the dark elf Ariane but they wouldn’t stay long enough for it to be considered rude.

The large central building we found ourselves at was probably feudal lord’s residence. When Casey said h.e.l.lo to the guards that stationed in front of the large main door, they silently opened the door.。

Casey thanked them as he pa.s.sed through the door, but when I tried to follow him one of the guards blocked my way.

“I’m sorry, you have to leave your weapons here.”

The 『Sword of the Lion King』and the two-handed 『Holy Thunder Sword』hung on Ariane’s and my waist respectively. Seem like we wouldn’t be able to carry our weapons into the feudal lord’s residence.

I would feel a little uneasy with my weapon out of reach, but it wouldn’t help even if I complained. I silently nodded and held my sheathed sword out to the guard. Ariane also offered her sword in the same manner.

The guard’s admiration of my sword lasted until he tried to take it. When I let go of the sword, the guard immediately lost his balance and staggered.

“Ku! H-Heavy……”

The guard struggled to lift the sword that I could easily wield.

“Are you alright?”

“S-Sorry.”

The sword lacked any feeling of weight when I used it, but it would be difficult for normal people to swing. I was able to relax a little when I had that thought. Even if someone had such a powerful weapon, they weren’t much of a threat if they couldn’t use it.

Since we had the guards’ permission, we pa.s.sed through the same door that Casey had. Ahead, we saw him talking to a female servant in the main hall.

“Casey-dono? How can I help you today?”

“Ah, is Sukitosu-kun in the usual room? I could use a good guide.”

The woman briskly started walking up the main stairway to the second floor. When Ariane and I tried the keep pace as we followed, the woman’s eyes bulged in surprise.

“Huh!? Casey-dono you have to say so beforehand when you have guests!”

Right before we followed Casey up the stairs, in her haste to greet us the women tripped on and started to fall right in front of us.

Ariane moved immediately. Without a sound, she approached the falling woman as caught her.

“Are you alright?”

“S-Sorry, honorable guest.”

When Ariane looked at the woman with her golden eyes, she blushed and quickly separated herself from Ariane.

“Casey-dono! Please wait!!”

In order to hide her embarra.s.sment, the woman quickly ran up the stairs and called out for Casey.

“Brita-kun don’t be so mad.”

“Do you wanna take my scolding!?”

“Is Sukitosu-kun really gonna be upset over such a thing?”

“I’m gonna be scolded by the head maid!”

When we reached to top of the stairs, the woman name Brita caught up with Casey and was arguing with him. She was still blushing as she led the laughing Casey to his destination.

This scene must have been a common occurrence since the guards and servants they pa.s.sed by wryly smiled at the two.

Ariane was slightly amused by the exchange as we followed behind the two of them.

“Hey, I’m coming in. Sukitosu-kun.”

In the depths of the mansion, Casey opened a remarkably beautiful door without knocking. It was the maid Brita that stepped in, while at her wits end, who said “Excuse us.” to the person inside.

Ariane and I share a look between each other and then back at those two before entering the room.

“You, I thought that you were entertaining an elven guest? Did you decide to come here when your talk was over……”

In this small rectangular room, there were bookcases displayed on both sides while the furniture was neatly arranged throughout the room. There was large gla.s.s window in the back with an ebony-colored worked carefully centered in front of it.

A man that was in the prime of his life was sitting at that desk and had been going over a doc.u.ment in his hand before he looked up at Casey and Brita’s entrance.

Casey had called the man in the prime of his life “Sukitosu-kun.” He was about 40 years old, his dark hair was cut short, and although he was dressed in fine clothing from what I could see, his upper body was highly toned. That combined with the stubble on his chin made the man look more like a veteran adventurer than a n.o.ble.

Lord Sukitosu looked surprised when he saw Ariane and I enter the room before shaking his head and looking back at Casey.

“Actually, we have agreed upon securing the Sandworm sample I’ve been talking about.”

Sukitosu turned his head at the relaxed Casey’s laid back explanation.

“Didn’t you give up on that? Haven’t I already said that you’re trying to take the soldier too far from the town? Though the fields were expanded thanks to you, there aren’t enough people to spare. Even if you only need a few people I can only offer you three or four at most.”

Sukitosu signed and messaged the wrinkles on his forehead, but Casey simply called out to Ariane and me with a joyous expression.

“It all right! These two are willing to cooperate this time. The messenger from my village Ariane-dono and the one wearing the armor──”

“This is my personal guard, Arc.”

Ariane glanced in my direction after cutting into Casey’s introduction. I offered the two a small nod in response with that short introduction.

I wonder if she used that as an excuse for me to keep my helmet own. After all, there was little that could be said about the personal guard of an important elven messenger. I don’t know if the concept of diplomatic immunity existed in this world, but I’m not foolish enough to point that out.

However, the man in front of us didn’t seem to mind the small things.

“You’re not being coerced into this are you, Messenger-san?”

Sukitosu leaned back in his chair to look up at the ceiling and sighed, before turning his sympathetic eyes on us and asked that question.

“I didn’t coerce anybody, we performed a fair trade, didn’t we?”

While Casey was pleading his case, Brita deeply bowed her head in apology behind him.

“Well Sukitosu-kun, could you please loan me four people that can manage the bait?”

“You mean those goblins you’ve been saving…… I’ll lend you the men if you dispose of them. I’ve been getting complaints about the foul odor they give off for the last five days.”

Sukitosu made a dismissive gesture to Casey before looking in our direction and standing up.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Ariane-dono. I am Sukitosu Du Buranbeina, this town’s feudal lord, but you can just call me Sukitosu. Since this is such an out of the way place, I ask that you excuse my bad manners.”

“I am Ariane Glenys Maple, and I don’t really mind.”

When Sukitosu offered his right hand, Ariane took it. There must have been something special about Ariane’s skin as Sukitosu looked down at their combined hand in surprise before quickly looking away.

“Then…… I’ll prepare a seat at the table for tonig──”

“No thank you, since we don’t have a lot of time to spare, we’ll be leaving once we are done helping with this matter……”

Just as Sukitosu was offering us a seat at dinner, Ariane immediately declined the offer. Again, thanks to my condition, even if we attended the meal I would have had to stand behind Ariane the entire time.

“That so? There is no need for you to refuse……… but I suppose that a messenger is always busy. Thank you in advance for helping Casey-dono.”

Sukitosu tried not to scowl as he said that and put on a false smile while turning in Casey’s direction.

“Ah? Where did he go?

When Sukitosu couldn’t find Casey he frantically started to look around for him.

“He left some time ago in high spirits.”

“Again……”

Brita resigned herself to go looking for him, while Sukitosu apologetically looked towards Ariane.

As she stared at the feudal lord, Ariane slowly opened her mouth.

“Why would a feudal lord such as yourself take in an elf?”

For a moment, Sukitosu looked as if he didn’t know how to respond, but he immediately started to smile.

“He is a truly talented researcher. About ten years ago, the constant monster attacks had put this land on the brink of collapse. After he came and taught my guards the various characteristics of the monsters that inhabited the area, the town was able to become livable again. My territory’s people and I are truly grateful to him……”

I see, Casey had appeared in this place’s time of need and the two of them built up mutual trust from that point on.

Ariane must have realized that fact herself as she listened to the story without interruption.

When Ariane prepared to leave the room Sukitosu said “Come by anytime.” with a smile and a chuckle. Though the town wasn’t that large, its feudal lord left the impression of a good mayor in my mind.

When we retrieved our weapons at the entrance, we were told that Casey had asked us to be brought to a warehouse on the propriety.

There wasn’t anything particularly special about the building, it being nothing more than a  bow with a small window. However, a horrid smell was spewing from the warehouse’s opened double door.

The smell became even worse as I looked inside and Ariane’s face unconsciously distorted into a scowl. Ponta must not have minded the smell that much because she was wagging her tail as usual. There was only one wagon in this deserted warehouse, so naturally, the person looking over its contents noticed its use.

There were ten green-skinned dwarves laying in the wagon and they were all giving off the strong scent of decay.

“A horde of goblins were recently chased out of their territory by wyverns, so they tried to raid the city. I intend to use these corpses as bait for the Sandworm.

“Casey-dono, when will we hunt the Sandworm?”

Ariane had tears in her eyes and was holding her nose beside me as she asked her question.

“Sand Worms are nocturnal monsters, so I a.s.sume we can set off after lunch. Oh, do you guys have something to eat for lunch? There’s a pretty good place in town called Oak.”

When I turned back to Ariane I saw that she was holding her noses as she shocks her head no. Since I couldn’t eat in the open and I really didn’t feel like standing around that Oak place watching other people eat.

Casey looked a little disappointed at her answer before turning to me.

“No, I’ll decline as well.”

“Is that so? That’s too bad, the food is really delicious.”

Casey pouted a bit before looking back at the decomposing goblins and starting to put together as schedule in his head.

“Well then, how about you guys return here a little bit after noon? You can explore the town till then.”

We parted ways with Casey at that and headed back into town.