𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕: 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐭

“Resting is also part of training, Asuka.”

“I’m sorry! But I feel like I’ll get weaker!”

“I understand how you feel.”

If you skip even a day, you feel like you’ve suddenly become weaker.

That’s why you end up training every day without fail.

It’s like an obsession.

In reality, the human body needs rest, and if you don’t rest properly, you’ll end up damaging your body.

There are quite a few warriors who have collapsed like that, you know?

“Stop training behind my back. If Asuka gets hurt, it won’t do any good.”

“Okay. I understand! Mommy Nel.”

“Children who worry their mother will be punished!”

“Spank my butt? Spank?”

For some reason, Asuka happily turns her butt towards me.

I’m not going to spank you, okay?

As we return to the guild lobby while chatting nonsense, Jennifer seems to be beckoning us.

With a full-faced smile.

That’s definitely the face of someone who’s up to something.

“I have a perfect request for poor Lionel-san.”

“That adjective pisses me off. It pisses me off even more because it’s true.”

As we approached, the demon Jennifer offered us a job.

It’s a bodyguard request.

The content is to escort a merchant from the royal capital who came to the city of Gaillia for business, to the royal capital Galangran.

In other words, it’s a return journey escort. Another team must have escorted them on the way there.

This is a common story, and the adventurers who escorted them from the royal capital to Gaillia are not always sticking to the merchants.

Business is not something that ends in a day or two.

If you’re going to keep them tied up, it means it’s going to cost that much money, so normally, once you’ve been sent, that’s it.

The escorts return to their base.

In that case, if you can get a job like escorting cargo to the royal capital at the adventurer’s guild here, you’re lucky. You don’t have to go back empty-handed.

Well, the same can be said for us.

Once we deliver the merchant to the royal capital, we’ll probably stop by the adventurer’s guild there and look for work.

But, whether there will be any convenient jobs or not, we don’t know, so it’s a gamble.

In other words, there’s a possibility that there’s only one way to work, so it’s not necessarily a good job.

“What’s your reason for recommending such a job? Jennifer.”

“The client requested a small party centered on women. Isn’t that perfect for [Hope]?”

“It smells like a crime?”

A party with many women and few people, I can only think that there is a sideways purpose.

It’s neither funny nor strange, but if a female adventurer who was traveling disappears, the authorities don’t do a proper investigation.

The guild doesn’t send out a search party either.

Even if a report is filed, it’s dismissed as a common missing person, and if the deadline for payment of sponsorship money passes, the guild registration is cancelled.

That’s how it is.

Whatever happens, it’s your own responsibility.

That’s the world of adventurers.

That’s why clans cherish their members like real families, to stand up to the rough waves of the world with the unity of their comrades.

“It’s unfortunate that I haven’t investigated anything. It’s just that the client is a woman. That’s the condition.”

“I see.”

I nodded lightly.

If she’s a female merchant, she might not feel safe if all her escorts are annoying men.

・・・

『”𝔸𝕨𝕖𝕓𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤.𝕔𝕠𝕞” – 𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕒 𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖, 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕕𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖, 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕦𝕝𝕘𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 “𝕕𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕪 𝕦𝕡𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤” 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕖𝕩𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕠 “𝕒𝕕𝕧𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤”.』

・・・

And three days later, we were with a caravan heading to the royal capital.

It’s a fairly large caravan with four horse-drawn carriages.

Two merchants are riding in each carriage.

The representative is a female merchant named Anita, which was as the guild information said.

However, I didn’t hear that all seven of the remaining merchants were men.

Even though they’re all in their twenties to early thirties, it’s not very satisfying that Anita, who is probably not even twenty, is the representative.

“Mama Nel. I have a revelation from the Supreme God. . .”

“Ah, I understand.”

I nod to Meisha, who whispers softly.

She, who has the divine gift of a saint, occasionally receives messages from the Supreme God.

One of them is a phenomenon called sense evil.

She seems to be able to sense the presence of beings with evil hearts.

There’s also something called sense luck, where she gets a hunch when it’s a crucial moment.

She said it was the same when she met me.

Anyway, I can tell even without a revelation from the Supreme God.

If you don’t find it strange that such a young and timid girl is the leader of seven men, then you’re not cut out to be a strategist.

“However, I want evidence. At this point, it’s just speculation between Meisha and me.”

“Understood. Let’s continue pretending we haven’t noticed anything.”

This is a strategy meeting, with voices just loud enough for each other to hear.

Asuka can’t do ventriloquism, so we’ll tell her how to move once the operation starts. It was decided that Meisha would whisper to Miliaria later.

“We have to help that girl too. Mama Nel.”

I glance at Anita on the driver’s seat.

She’s probably, or rather undoubtedly, being used by the seven men.

Not only as bait to lure in prey, but also as an outlet for their beastly desires.

“Of course we’ll help. It’s a given.”

I don’t consider myself so rotten as to ignore a woman being treated horribly.

“As expected of Mama Nel. I thought you would say that.”

With a slight laugh, Meisha moves away from me and naturally approaches Miliaria.

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