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Published at 19th of December 2019 02:38:24 PM


Chapter 43

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The blue fox tribe siblings and their homeland’s fruit

Blue Sagittarius helped Garamdoor with demi-humans trafficking.

I believed what Mizuha said, but I only had circumstantial evidences, so I couldn’t prove it yet. Also, even if I reported Garamdoor, we wouldn’t be able to demonstrate Blue Sagittarius’ involvement.

I was racking my brain about how to find a crucial proof… when Sakuya entered the shop from the backdoor. What a perfect timing, she had probably waited the end of our conversation.

“Master, the demi-humans prisoned in Garamdoor’s attic has been moved to another place, but I already figured their new location out.”
“Great job as always, Sakuya. So, where are they now?”
“Look at this map. This inn in the 11th street looks like many others, but I received eyewitness reports of Garamdoor’s people bringing huge luggages into it.

Zect and Mizuha’s expressions darkened at her words.
The young fox was clearly mad and she surely wasn’t afraid of fighting for her own kind. Her power wasn’t something to be underestimated, as Aileen had almost went all out in their showdown.

“Let us help too. I’d love to quench my revenge. But more than that, I wanna rescue those prisoners.”
“…Let me join too. I don’t want to kill anyone in the capital and I promise I won’t ruin the reputation of your guild.”

Aileen almost had to face Zect and Mizuha, who were two SS rank adventurers, ‘seriously’, so those siblings alone were more than enough to handle this mission… but three men could be better than two.

“If you allow me, I will be their guide.”
“Sure thing, Sakuya, please do. Sorry for always bothering you.”
“No bother. I was going to rescue those demi-humans anyway.”

Sakuya’s will was clear. The dedication in her investigation brought her to find the demi-humans’ new prison. If she went all out, she could’ve rescued them even by herself.

“Rigel, Lia, McKinley, well done. Your job is over, so feel free to go home and relax.”
“Yay! We’d like to help too, but it would be bad if we attracted attention for being too many on the move, so I’ll just go home.”
“Let us know if we can help. We’ll make sure to be ready for anything.”

After that, Rigel and McKinley left the room and headed to the guild’s dormitory.

“Mister Guild Master, I’d love to help too… as a fellow demi-human, I want to rescue them.”
“Are you sure? You just got back from a mission, aren’t you tired? Let me heal you and rest for a bit.”
“Mhh… T-Thank you, but you don’t need to worry. I trust my stamina.”

I cast Healing Light on her to help her recover… and while I was on it, I did the same on everyone else. It didn’t even cost me much magical power.

“Master, I was not expecting to be healed… your consideration warms my heart.”
“Even priests hesitate to use Healing Magic due to its huge cost of magical power… I really admire your kindness, Sir Guild Master.”
“…What on earth is your main job?”
“Brother, what a silly question. Is he not a Guild Master?”
“It should be written on my guild tag, but unluckily I don’t have it with me right now.”

I deceived them and recalled what was really written on my guild tag…
Oh boy, they’d have seen I’m a SSS rank adventurer with ‘Demon Lord Slayer’ as my job…! All my efforts to be unnoticed would’ve gone to waste!

On the other hand, I was starting to take into consideration the possibility of acting in the frontline instead of pulling the strings from the shadows…

Wait, that wasn’t the time to think about it. The next moment, I noticed Aileen eyeing Mizuha.

“Oh, right, Mizuha! You’re only wearing that overcoat, aren’t you cold? Do you want some warm clothes? I live nearby, I can get some for you.”
“I have another small maid dress like this in my room. It is on the second floor. Let me know if I should take it for you.”
“Are you sure? Then I’d… urr… I wanna…”

It was a hard choice: a onepiece dress with a long deep slit like one of Aileen’s martial art’s uniforms or Verlaine’s maid dress?

“…Since you work here I’m sure you need as many change of clothing as you can, so I’d go for Aileen’s, if I can.”
“Sure thing~! Wait a few minutes, I’ll get back in a flash!”

Aileen left the room and headed to her house while Verlaine brought a hand to her cheek.

“Usually, our customers enter the bar expecting a maid-dressed girl to serve them… losing against Lady Aileen is slightly vexing…”
“By the way, Mizuha, if I consider you as one of our employees, do you mind if I pair you up with Zect?”
“Guild Master, quit the formalities when you speak of me. I’d be your subordinate just like my sister, so you don’t have to be this midnful. Also, I’ve yet to start working for you.”
“Oh, okay. Got it.”
“Forgive my brother, he’s adamant on some topics. He’s always been the thickhead he looks like.”
“…Sorry.”

Zect’s reply was curt, but I could tell he wasn’t really angry. Mizuha knew it, that’s why she tried to laugh the matter off with that joke.

“…Now, would you like to take a bath before changing your clothes? Or do you prefer to wait until you return home?”
“Ah… s-sorry, I couldn’t bath for sum time. I-I must… s-smell like…!”
“You don’t smell. My overcoat is odorless.”
“Whatcha say?! I’m wearin’ it ’cause I can’t just walk ’round naked! It’s self-control! Do ya have any idea when I last took a bath?!”

It’s common for adventurer to camp outside, so they slowly grow accustomated to their own smell, but sometimes they get reminded of the importance of bathing.

When I was still an adventurer, there were times I didn’t bath for days, but whenever I got back home, my sisters forced me to take one. And well, now I got why. Bathing is a good thing, and even though the tub was a luxury, I would’ve used it every day if I could.

“Verlaine, can you prepare a bath for her? She’d probably like to change  clothes after it.”
“Can I?! Boy, It’s been so long since my last one I can’t believe I’m gonna take it now…! This guild’s adorbs! Don’t cha think too, Brother?”
“I’m glad you’re better, but stop playing around. I can feel shame too.”
“Please, turn a blind eye to her tomboyish behavior. She is still your adorable little sister.”
“Verlaine, how kind of you…! Ma’am, I like you! Can we live together?! My brother can live by himself, I’ll bother him every now and then!”
“Why are you… well, fine. Do as you please…”

Zect’s baffled expression was so precious I was about to forget he was a SS rank adventurer… but I had heard of his achievements in Blue Sagittarius, and they were all surely proof of his strength.

Rescuing the demi-humans from their prison wouldn’t be hard for him. If he paired with Sakuya, there wouldn’t be anything to do for me and I could leasurely drink all day in the bar.

“…Master, are you going to employ Mizuha as our weitress? She probably has the right attitude to join the intelligence department.”
“Oh, you think so too, Sakuya? These siblings look great, don’t you think?”
“Yes. What about measuring their adventurer score?”

Mizuha’s score probably rivalled Sakuya’s, or it was even higher than hers.
The blue fox tribe girl was stronger in her beast form, so now she should’ve more or less matched a S rank adventurer.

Since I broke our guild’s measurement instrument, I had to buy a new one… but maybe it was better to bring the siblings with me and let a specialist measure their score.

◆◇◆

The basement of the inn that Sakuya had pointed out really turned to be the prison of Garamdoor’s articles. It was guarded by some members of Blue Sagittarius, but they were all B or C rank adventurers, so Zect’s party easily defeated them all without being noticed.

Within the prison were a wolf girl and a racoon guy wearing the collar that forced them into their beast form. They were caged in different jails.

Once the collar was on, their consciousness dulled and they grew wild like beasts, so different species couldn’t be together, as they risked to attack each other. Some of the people ‘questioned’ by Zect’s party said that even beast-tamers gave up handling them.

The inquiring party welled with rage when they heard that, but none of them vented it on the inn’s owner or the Blue Saggittarius’ members guarding the prison.

Now that they had gathered the proofs they needed to uncover Garamdoor and Blue Sagittarius’ wrong doings, there was no need for the blue fox tribe siblings to take the law into their own hands.

Zect brought the rescued demi-humans to our guild and I asked the licenseless doctor living nearby to take care of their wounds, then we left the patients relax and sleep for the night. Meanwhile, Sakuya was able to get in touch with the wolf girl’s parents and she made them talk to the doctor to reassure them about their daughter’s conditions.

After that… my bar was lively as always.

Mylarka and Yuma came to the bar and were now drinking with Aileen in their private room.
Rigel and McKinley had returned too and were sitting at Lia’s table. They noisily talked about their adventure and every now and then the tiger race girl, who was usually silent, chimed in their talk curtly to remind them she was unluckily paying attention to their words.

I was sitting at the counter along with Mizuha, who was wearing a dress similar to Aileen’s and was hiding her fox ears with a hat, Zect, who sat alongside his sister, and Sakuya, who sat a bit far away from me. It was very rare for her to drink something at the bar, but tonight she felt like it and asked Verlaine a drink. It was carrot liquor blended with citrus juice.

“Thank you for your hard work, Lady Sakuya. Today you look quite in high spirits.”
“Yes. I always have a sense of fulfillment whenever I finish a job, but today I feel particularly fulfilled…”

I would’ve loved to hear what they were talking about, but I decided to make Mizuha and Zect taste what I made for them.

“Guys, try this out. I don’t know if it will fit your tastes, though.”

I asked Verlaine about the liquor and the drink I made, and she placed two glasses in front of me. After checking them one last time, I made them slide toward their consumers.

“T-This smell is… coconobi fruit mixed with goat’s milk… how do you…?”

Goats were the most common livestock of cold places. Even the fox tribe – which descended from the blue fox tribe’s same ancestor – rose them, so I guessed that the siblings would be quite familiar with it.

The glass for Mizuha was a ‘coconobi shake’. It was made by skinning the coconobi fruit, mashing its white part, straining it, adding some spices and honey to balance the flavor and then shaking it with cold goat milk.

The one for Zect was ‘coconobi rum’. It was made by steeping the edible part of the fruit in the rum and waiting for its extract to flavor the liquor. Unluckily, I only had one day to do it, so I didn’t know how much I should’ve left it there, but it turned out good anyway.

Unlike its white part, the blue skin of the coconobi fruit didn’t look very tasty, but once the edible part was soaked in rum, it started to turn a pale yellow and color the rum.

“Take a sip. It should taste familiar to the blue fox tribe.”
“When did you get this…? Did you know we were going to come here and prepared these in advance…?”

I didn’t answer. Not everything went as I planned and I didn’t know if they would’ve liked their drinks.

“Thanks for the treat. Mhh~! Gulp! Gulp!”

Mizuha held the glass with both her hands, and after the first sip, she started to gulp it down only to stop halfway.

“It tastes like mom’s… It has the same flavor of the village’s… and it’s also…! My, who knew coconobi fruits could taste this good!”

She then returned to chug her drink down. Probably she didn’t drink much at the water cave.
Zect ended up doing the same: first he tasted the rum and opened his eyes wide in amazement, then he checked if his sister was liking her drink, and lastly he gulped his liquor down.

“To warm our body in snowy days, we often drink alcohol. Where did you get the idea of steeping a coconobi fruit into liquor…?”
“This is a bar and I love drinking nice stuff. I spend a lot of effort making drinks. Anyway, the most important part for me is that you liked it.”

The mug in front of me was filled with simple ale, but I had tasted their drinks before.

If I found a way to obtain coconobi fruits regularly, I could’ve added those drinks in the menu. Also, the nice part of those fruits was that they restored some magical power.

“Being a Guild Master is such a wonderful job, isn’t it? We just met each other and yet you’re trying to make me feel at home…!”

Tears welled in Mizuha’s eyes as she was recalled her hometown.

Verlaine handed her a handkerchief, and Zect, looking at her sister tearing up, grabbed his glass, stood up and walked to me.

“It tastes like home… Guild Master, sorry for taking me so long to ask, but could you keep taking care of us?”

Mizuha grabbed her glass as well and walked to me. Both of them handed them over waiting for my answer.
I took my wooden mug and clinked it with the siblings’ glasses.

“Remember that I’m just a drunkard in this bar, so treat me accordingly. You’re forbidden from calling me Guild Master here.”

The siblings glanced at each other while Verlaine and Sakuya turned to look at me with a smile on their faces. They were clearly thinking ‘stop with that thing already’, but I couldn’t just stop following my principles out of the blue.

When Zect and Mizuha understood what I meant, they both smiled—it was the first time he showed me one, and only then I realized that, as obvious as it was, even he could smile.
I believed that was the true form of the man his sister knew so well.





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