Chapter 16: Brigade
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
With Amy and Kevin joining in, our trip to Raum began.
The three carriages proceed in a single file line, with us entrusted to guard the second one.
We’re with the second one because our group is the one with the least experience, and the middle one is in the least danger of being attacked.
A water magician sent over from “Crimson” called Haumea is also with us.
Haumea is from a race called elves, who have long, pointed ears, and tall, lithe bodies as their distinctive racial traits.
The vast majority of them reside in Raum. As a race they tend to be reclusive, and due to their very weak sense of curiosity, it’s very rare to see them outside of Raum.
Being superb magicians and archers, and having long life spans, the elves’ rare appearances cause them to be perceived as a mysterious race.
But Haumea, as an exception, is rather large as far as slenderness goes. Particularly in the chest area.
By her appearance she might be about twenty years old. Among us put in the middle position, she’s probably the oldest.
With Kevin working as leader, she’s supplementing in a sort of staff officer position as far as our setup goes.
“Haumea, you’re an elf, right?”
“Yes, I am.”
“That’s so unusual. Hardly any elves ever leave Raum.”
“Well, I still remember what it’s like to be bored stiff. Back in the village, everyone who forgot that feeling keep spending their days away doing nothing.”
Both of them being women, Amy engages her in conversation relatively easily.
Ah, Master is fidgeting as if he wants to talk with her about something.
“Master Rimuru, want to talk too?”
“Uh, well yeah… Elves are a long-lived and famous race, and I hear they have peculiar magic, so I think I’d like to chat.”
“Not like you have to hold back.”
“Striking up a conversation with a young woman requires some courage.”
“Weren’t you fine with Amy?”
“Well, but she’s… Lacking in some places. I didn’t feel like this about it.”
“Hmm~, I can hear you, Rimuru.”
“Hiiya?!”
Secretly listening in on our private conversation from behind, Amy spoke with a cat-like curve to her lips.
Her voice, having some force behind it, made Master make a kind of pathetic scream.
“Amy, Master Rimuru is in the big boob faction. It’s no use.”
Amy is just past fifteen years old and her chest, like mine, is pretty disappointing.
“And why do you know that, Eir?”
“Under Master Rimuru’s bed is—”
“Not another word!”
“Fufu, well that just means boys are the same no matter where you go.”
“Hwa?! Ha-Haumea, you heard…?”
“The long ears aren’t just for show, you know?”
“Aaahhh…”
Once the three of us ganged up on Master, Carla decided to join in on the conversation.
“This seems fun. A showcase of Rimuru’s sexual interests.”
“I’m begging you, please stop!”
“Want to join in, Moto?”
“Haha… Rather not have the fire spread my way. I’ll pass.”
“Your preferences are known, Moto; nothing left to poke fun at.”
“Eh, when did you hear about that, Eir?”
At that question I took a quick glance at Carla.
Should I give just a bit of a push?
“When helping load. Said Carla is his type.”
“Ooo~”
“Oh my, what a lovely story.”
“Uwawawa! Gimme a break!”
“Heh? Eh, that’s…Well, only natural, right?”
“Dearest God, my slave shows no mercy.”
Carla stuck her chest out proudly with her face bright red, while Master looked toward the heavens in despair.
We were walking along in that peaceful atmosphere when a voice suddenly threw cold water on our conversation.
“All of you need to be a little more on guard. We’re the escorts.”
“Hrm, aren’t you being a little too stiff, mister leader? We’re gonna be traveling for six weeks; if we tense up now, we’re not gonna hold out to the end.”
“Sorry, being friendly isn’t really my nature.”
“By the way Kevin, what happened to your slaves? Pretty sure you had two with you.”
“Ah? Oh them. They weren’t much use, so I returned them to the slave merchant.”
“Whoa, hey… You worked them all hard, and that’s what they get?”
“Ah, shut up. Not like you’ve got any right to talk.”
“Well sure, but still.”
Returned… I wonder if I’ll get returned too if I’m not useful enough?
Or maybe I’ll just get exiled…
In this world, a slave who lost their master is basically dead.
If they don’t want that, they can only go back to their slave merchant. That’s the one thing I want to avoid.
“Master Rimuru.”
“Hm? What’s up, Eir?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“O-okay…?”
Which means I need to play my part as the defender well.
I clenched my fist, huffed out roughly through my nose, and prepared myself.
~*~
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
That said, the road to Raum is a major, and well-maintained, highway. There are lodgings built at regular intervals, and every few days’ trip there’s a post town too.
There are even knight watchtowers erected between the towns. Hardly anything is likely to happen.
Actually, with this highway being so closely monitored, the bandits probably went over to placed like the roads between Focalor.
“FuuaaaaAAAAaaaah”
“That’s quite the yawn, Eir. But ladies should at least cover their mouths, okay?”
With my sense of caution slackening to its maximum, I let out a vigorous yawn. Haumea giggled as she warned me.
I feel the point of warning was a bit off though.
“Ah, sorry. Was that gross?”
“No, it was actually cute, like you’re a little kitten.”
“… More of a lizard though.”
“Hm?”
“Nuh-uh, nothing… Hmm?”
“What’s wrong?”
A magic power response is coming toward us from the front carriage.
I think it’s probably a response from a ring of mental resistance worn by a member of Crimson.
A “Ring of Mental Resistance” provides a certain level of resistance to attacks that interfere with a person’s mentality, like a dragon’s roar or a vampire’s charm.
They’re fairly expensive at ten gold coins each, but they’re very effective for the price, so they’re indispensable items for all the best adventurers.
Crimson is guarding the front carriage, and with every one of them being yellow rank, I think all of them are wearing the rings.
I mean, they all give off magic responses. I guess yellow ranks carry at least one magic item around.
“Oh, Tony? Something happen?”
The one who came over was Tony of Crimson. I’m pretty sure he’s their scout.
“Nope, it’s just about noon so we were thinking of taking a break. I’m gonna go tell everyone in the back too, so go catch up with the lead.”
“Got it. Well, you heard the man, leader.”
“Right, speed up the carriage a bit.”
Carla turned the conversation to Kevin, who gave orders to the driver.
For those of us on foot, we’ll have to run to catch up with the run, which is rough. Especially for Master, with his weaker physique; he’s getting exhausted.
“E-Eir… Wait.”
“Gosh, Master Rimuru, you’re hopeless.”
I lent my back to Master, carried him piggyback and ran.
My right leg kicks off the ground, and I land back on the same right leg. To keep my left leg from collapsing, it only slides along the ground, being used as support.
The peculiar running style, to be honest, results in a lot of shaking. I don’t think it’s something the person on my back can bear for long.
“Uwah, I’m shaking! I’m gonna fall!”
“Shaking… I don’t mind if you touch my chest.”
“Yeah right, forget shaking, there’s nothing to grab!”
That comment made me pretty annoyed, so to harass him a bit I made a big leap on the last step.
All at once we jumped a good ten meters, caught up to the carriage, flew over, and arrived at the lead carriage.
“Uwawawa?!”
“Hmhmm.”
“What the heck do you think you’re doing?!”
“Master Rimuru was badmouthing me.”
“Not that! Look behind you!”
Turning around, everyone on the second carriage had their mouths hanging open, in shock at what just happened.
A small girl with, young though he may be, a person on her back had jumped over a carriage and immediately caught up to the carriage in front of it. Their shock probably makes some sense.
“Uhh… This is…”
“Ahh, forget it. No choice now, may as well tell them about you, Eir.”
“I’m… Sorry.”
“It’s fine, we’re gonna be with them for six weeks anyway. We probably couldn’t have hidden it the whole time. Getting the chance to talk early may be a good thing.”
I got wound up and made a mistake. I’ll have to be ready for a very poor mood at lunch…
~*~
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
“So you see, Eir’s actually part of the unusual dragon people race. She is definitely not a demon.”
To supplement Master’s explanation, I take off my hat, remove the coverings from my limbs, and pull away my eye patch.
They gasped and gazed at their grotesqueness. The only exception being Amy, who already knew.
“She has a slave contracted collar on, and I’m keeping a close eye on her, so… Please don’t chase us out.”
“Now I see. So that’s where the amazing strength came from.”
Interrupting Master, who seemed to be having trouble speaking in my defense, Moto expressed his admiration.
“Come on, nothing to worry about. We’re a traveling theater troupe. We’re used to all sorts of unusual races and strange customs.”
“R-right you are! You say some good things, Moto. I’ve seen you in a new light.”
“Really? But the one who’ll decide is the boss, so…”
“Sheesh! You’re supposed to beat your chest and say “leave it to me!” right there.”
“Hrm…”
It would seem Moto was the start of the backstage people and actors to accepting it, but the most important one, the boss, is still silent.
“Boss? You’re not gonna say no, are you? If you do, then I’ve misjudged you, boss.”
“What’re you talking about? ‘Course I’m not gonna say no. In fact, we wholeheartedly welcome you!”
“H-huh?”
The boss raises both of his hands in joy. The pressure behind it… Is kind of impressive.
“Actually, I want you! By all means, we’d be glad to have you!”
“Uh, that’s…”
“I know, I know, but with how she looks she could play demons, vampires, she’d have a huge range of roles… It’s so unfortunate.”
“She probably can’t act very well…”
“Nobody’s good at acting at first! That kind of experience is gained as a result of practice! More importantly, if she could just play out a fight looking like that, she would truly shine on stage.”
“Come to think of it, Eir has an “Acrobatics” gift—”
“What?! That means she would be perfect for fights! Rimuru, both of you, in the troupe.”
“Like I said, I can’t. There’s things I need to do.”
“Urgh…”
There are a lot of problems left, but I guess the troupe are all on board then?
All that’s left is the other escorts…
“I knew already anyway. Eir saved my life too, and having her along is more fun I think.”
The first to speak up was Amy. Her support made the corners of my eyes suddenly feel warm.
Kevin still has a dubious look on his face… Is getting support going to be difficult with his personality?
“Well, not like there’s anything wrong with a dragon person anyway. You’ve got the slave contract collar, and you’re taking care of her, so we have nothing to complain about.”
“If the upper ranks approve, then us orange ranks can’t really argue. No problems here.”
The people of Crimson and Moonlight gave their approval one after another.
Seeing them, Master had a clearly relieved look to him.
Everyone turned their gazes to the only one yet to voice his consent, Kevin.
“Hum… Fine by me.”
Taking the surrounding looks, he seemingly reluctantly agreed on having me along.
Gaining everyone’s approval, we could now openly and boldly carry out our escort job.
After that, when we dispersed to prepare for lunch… Kevin came over to talk.
“You’re the ones who defeated the disaster beast, right?”
“Eh?”
“I’m not an idiot. It doesn’t take much thought to realize whether I could stab logs into and kill a disaster beast on my own or not.”
“…”
“You did it, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“I see… Thank you.”
Haa?! Gratitude? From Kevin?!
“Like I said, I know my own strength.”
Saying that, he turned away disagreeably and left in a hurry.
“Is this one of those tsudere I’ve heard about…?”
“Master, where did you learn that word?”
“Call me Rimuru. I heard it was a word used by my ancestors.”
“… Hard to understand the personality of Master’s ancestors too.”
That day I found out the accumulated knowledge of a distinguished family is, surprisingly, nothing to scoff at.
Chapter 16: Brigade
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
With Amy and Kevin joining in, our trip to Raum began.
The three carriages proceed in a single file line, with us entrusted to guard the second one.
We’re with the second one because our group is the one with the least experience, and the middle one is in the least danger of being attacked.
A water magician sent over from “Crimson” called Haumea is also with us.
Haumea is from a race called elves, who have long, pointed ears, and tall, lithe bodies as their distinctive racial traits.
The vast majority of them reside in Raum. As a race they tend to be reclusive, and due to their very weak sense of curiosity, it’s very rare to see them outside of Raum.
Being superb magicians and archers, and having long life spans, the elves’ rare appearances cause them to be perceived as a mysterious race.
But Haumea, as an exception, is rather large as far as slenderness goes. Particularly in the chest area.
By her appearance she might be about twenty years old. Among us put in the middle position, she’s probably the oldest.
With Kevin working as leader, she’s supplementing in a sort of staff officer position as far as our setup goes.
“Haumea, you’re an elf, right?”
“Yes, I am.”
“That’s so unusual. Hardly any elves ever leave Raum.”
“Well, I still remember what it’s like to be bored stiff. Back in the village, everyone who forgot that feeling keep spending their days away doing nothing.”
Both of them being women, Amy engages her in conversation relatively easily.
Ah, Master is fidgeting as if he wants to talk with her about something.
“Master Rimuru, want to talk too?”
“Uh, well yeah… Elves are a long-lived and famous race, and I hear they have peculiar magic, so I think I’d like to chat.”
“Not like you have to hold back.”
“Striking up a conversation with a young woman requires some courage.”
“Weren’t you fine with Amy?”
“Well, but she’s… Lacking in some places. I didn’t feel like this about it.”
“Hmm~, I can hear you, Rimuru.”
“Hiiya?!”
Secretly listening in on our private conversation from behind, Amy spoke with a cat-like curve to her lips.
Her voice, having some force behind it, made Master make a kind of pathetic scream.
“Amy, Master Rimuru is in the big boob faction. It’s no use.”
Amy is just past fifteen years old and her chest, like mine, is pretty disappointing.
“And why do you know that, Eir?”
“Under Master Rimuru’s bed is—”
“Not another word!”
“Fufu, well that just means boys are the same no matter where you go.”
“Hwa?! Ha-Haumea, you heard…?”
“The long ears aren’t just for show, you know?”
“Aaahhh…”
Once the three of us ganged up on Master, Carla decided to join in on the conversation.
“This seems fun. A showcase of Rimuru’s sexual interests.”
“I’m begging you, please stop!”
“Want to join in, Moto?”
“Haha… Rather not have the fire spread my way. I’ll pass.”
“Your preferences are known, Moto; nothing left to poke fun at.”
“Eh, when did you hear about that, Eir?”
At that question I took a quick glance at Carla.
Should I give just a bit of a push?
“When helping load. Said Carla is his type.”
“Ooo~”
“Oh my, what a lovely story.”
“Uwawawa! Gimme a break!”
“Heh? Eh, that’s…Well, only natural, right?”
“Dearest God, my slave shows no mercy.”
Carla stuck her chest out proudly with her face bright red, while Master looked toward the heavens in despair.
We were walking along in that peaceful atmosphere when a voice suddenly threw cold water on our conversation.
“All of you need to be a little more on guard. We’re the escorts.”
“Hrm, aren’t you being a little too stiff, mister leader? We’re gonna be traveling for six weeks; if we tense up now, we’re not gonna hold out to the end.”
“Sorry, being friendly isn’t really my nature.”
“By the way Kevin, what happened to your slaves? Pretty sure you had two with you.”
“Ah? Oh them. They weren’t much use, so I returned them to the slave merchant.”
“Whoa, hey… You worked them all hard, and that’s what they get?”
“Ah, shut up. Not like you’ve got any right to talk.”
“Well sure, but still.”
Returned… I wonder if I’ll get returned too if I’m not useful enough?
Or maybe I’ll just get exiled…
In this world, a slave who lost their master is basically dead.
If they don’t want that, they can only go back to their slave merchant. That’s the one thing I want to avoid.
“Master Rimuru.”
“Hm? What’s up, Eir?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“O-okay…?”
Which means I need to play my part as the defender well.
I clenched my fist, huffed out roughly through my nose, and prepared myself.
~*~
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
That said, the road to Raum is a major, and well-maintained, highway. There are lodgings built at regular intervals, and every few days’ trip there’s a post town too.
There are even knight watchtowers erected between the towns. Hardly anything is likely to happen.
Actually, with this highway being so closely monitored, the bandits probably went over to placed like the roads between Focalor.
“FuuaaaaAAAAaaaah”
“That’s quite the yawn, Eir. But ladies should at least cover their mouths, okay?”
With my sense of caution slackening to its maximum, I let out a vigorous yawn. Haumea giggled as she warned me.
I feel the point of warning was a bit off though.
“Ah, sorry. Was that gross?”
“No, it was actually cute, like you’re a little kitten.”
“… More of a lizard though.”
“Hm?”
“Nuh-uh, nothing… Hmm?”
“What’s wrong?”
A magic power response is coming toward us from the front carriage.
I think it’s probably a response from a ring of mental resistance worn by a member of Crimson.
A “Ring of Mental Resistance” provides a certain level of resistance to attacks that interfere with a person’s mentality, like a dragon’s roar or a vampire’s charm.
They’re fairly expensive at ten gold coins each, but they’re very effective for the price, so they’re indispensable items for all the best adventurers.
Crimson is guarding the front carriage, and with every one of them being yellow rank, I think all of them are wearing the rings.
I mean, they all give off magic responses. I guess yellow ranks carry at least one magic item around.
“Oh, Tony? Something happen?”
The one who came over was Tony of Crimson. I’m pretty sure he’s their scout.
“Nope, it’s just about noon so we were thinking of taking a break. I’m gonna go tell everyone in the back too, so go catch up with the lead.”
“Got it. Well, you heard the man, leader.”
“Right, speed up the carriage a bit.”
Carla turned the conversation to Kevin, who gave orders to the driver.
For those of us on foot, we’ll have to run to catch up with the run, which is rough. Especially for Master, with his weaker physique; he’s getting exhausted.
“E-Eir… Wait.”
“Gosh, Master Rimuru, you’re hopeless.”
I lent my back to Master, carried him piggyback and ran.
My right leg kicks off the ground, and I land back on the same right leg. To keep my left leg from collapsing, it only slides along the ground, being used as support.
The peculiar running style, to be honest, results in a lot of shaking. I don’t think it’s something the person on my back can bear for long.
“Uwah, I’m shaking! I’m gonna fall!”
“Shaking… I don’t mind if you touch my chest.”
“Yeah right, forget shaking, there’s nothing to grab!”
That comment made me pretty annoyed, so to harass him a bit I made a big leap on the last step.
All at once we jumped a good ten meters, caught up to the carriage, flew over, and arrived at the lead carriage.
“Uwawawa?!”
“Hmhmm.”
“What the heck do you think you’re doing?!”
“Master Rimuru was badmouthing me.”
“Not that! Look behind you!”
Turning around, everyone on the second carriage had their mouths hanging open, in shock at what just happened.
A small girl with, young though he may be, a person on her back had jumped over a carriage and immediately caught up to the carriage in front of it. Their shock probably makes some sense.
“Uhh… This is…”
“Ahh, forget it. No choice now, may as well tell them about you, Eir.”
“I’m… Sorry.”
“It’s fine, we’re gonna be with them for six weeks anyway. We probably couldn’t have hidden it the whole time. Getting the chance to talk early may be a good thing.”
I got wound up and made a mistake. I’ll have to be ready for a very poor mood at lunch…
~*~
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
“So you see, Eir’s actually part of the unusual dragon people race. She is definitely not a demon.”
To supplement Master’s explanation, I take off my hat, remove the coverings from my limbs, and pull away my eye patch.
They gasped and gazed at their grotesqueness. The only exception being Amy, who already knew.
“She has a slave contracted collar on, and I’m keeping a close eye on her, so… Please don’t chase us out.”
“Now I see. So that’s where the amazing strength came from.”
Interrupting Master, who seemed to be having trouble speaking in my defense, Moto expressed his admiration.
“Come on, nothing to worry about. We’re a traveling theater troupe. We’re used to all sorts of unusual races and strange customs.”
“R-right you are! You say some good things, Moto. I’ve seen you in a new light.”
“Really? But the one who’ll decide is the boss, so…”
“Sheesh! You’re supposed to beat your chest and say “leave it to me!” right there.”
“Hrm…”
It would seem Moto was the start of the backstage people and actors to accepting it, but the most important one, the boss, is still silent.
“Boss? You’re not gonna say no, are you? If you do, then I’ve misjudged you, boss.”
“What’re you talking about? ‘Course I’m not gonna say no. In fact, we wholeheartedly welcome you!”
“H-huh?”
The boss raises both of his hands in joy. The pressure behind it… Is kind of impressive.
“Actually, I want you! By all means, we’d be glad to have you!”
“Uh, that’s…”
“I know, I know, but with how she looks she could play demons, vampires, she’d have a huge range of roles… It’s so unfortunate.”
“She probably can’t act very well…”
“Nobody’s good at acting at first! That kind of experience is gained as a result of practice! More importantly, if she could just play out a fight looking like that, she would truly shine on stage.”
“Come to think of it, Eir has an “Acrobatics” gift—”
“What?! That means she would be perfect for fights! Rimuru, both of you, in the troupe.”
“Like I said, I can’t. There’s things I need to do.”
“Urgh…”
There are a lot of problems left, but I guess the troupe are all on board then?
All that’s left is the other escorts…
“I knew already anyway. Eir saved my life too, and having her along is more fun I think.”
The first to speak up was Amy. Her support made the corners of my eyes suddenly feel warm.
Kevin still has a dubious look on his face… Is getting support going to be difficult with his personality?
“Well, not like there’s anything wrong with a dragon person anyway. You’ve got the slave contract collar, and you’re taking care of her, so we have nothing to complain about.”
“If the upper ranks approve, then us orange ranks can’t really argue. No problems here.”
The people of Crimson and Moonlight gave their approval one after another.
Seeing them, Master had a clearly relieved look to him.
Everyone turned their gazes to the only one yet to voice his consent, Kevin.
“Hum… Fine by me.”
Taking the surrounding looks, he seemingly reluctantly agreed on having me along.
Gaining everyone’s approval, we could now openly and boldly carry out our escort job.
After that, when we dispersed to prepare for lunch… Kevin came over to talk.
“You’re the ones who defeated the disaster beast, right?”
“Eh?”
“I’m not an idiot. It doesn’t take much thought to realize whether I could stab logs into and kill a disaster beast on my own or not.”
“…”
“You did it, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“I see… Thank you.”
Haa?! Gratitude? From Kevin?!
“Like I said, I know my own strength.”
Saying that, he turned away disagreeably and left in a hurry.
“Is this one of those tsudere I’ve heard about…?”
“Master, where did you learn that word?”
“Call me Rimuru. I heard it was a word used by my ancestors.”
“… Hard to understand the personality of Master’s ancestors too.”
That day I found out the accumulated knowledge of a distinguished family is, surprisingly, nothing to scoff at.
