𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟑: 𝐒𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝟏)

If you want to buy casual clothes suitable for scenic spots, you should use your own money. 

Even if you want to buy risqué clothes like the ones I saw earlier, you should buy them if you want to. 

I don’t know what you’ll use them for, though.

“I want clothes, but I can’t spend much money. I have to pay back my debt.”

Asuka responded a bit dejectedly.

I reach out and pat her red head.

“That’s right. When we get back to Gaillia, I’ll take over. With the clan’s money.”

“Huh?”

“Not ‘huh’. It’s equipment for an adventurer, so it has to be bought with the adventurer clan’s expenses.”

I use a bit of a leap in logic.

Originally, an adventurer’s equipment is their own. Except when making uniforms.

After all, it’s meaningless if you don’t wear weapons and armor that suit you, and buying something that only you can use with the clan’s money is a bit off.

But, the idea of equipping the members with the clan’s money is not entirely wrong.

Since the work of the members is the income of the clan, they must work with the highest performance.

Equipment is no exception.

“Is that so?”

Asuka tilts her head in confusion.

“It’s just my way of thinking, it’s not common at all.”

Rather, I just don’t find it amusing that young girls can’t even buy the clothes they like because they have to pay back their debts.

This is something that doesn’t need to be said out loud.

“So, you can put the debt out of your mind for now. We’ll think about it as a clan.”

I say this while looking evenly at Asuka, Miliaria, and Meisha.

The day we move to a proper clan house is getting further away, but that can’t be helped.

Even that shack has some. . . no, it doesn’t. Unfortunately.

“Mommy! I love you!”

“Mom! We’ll always be together!”

“Mama! I love you!”

I’m mobbed by the girls who cling to me, or rather, jump on me.

You guys are doing this on purpose, aren’t you?

We buy food and firewood and return to the villa.

We’ll play in the lake tomorrow.

Today, I’m really hungry and tired.

Let’s eat, take a bath, and go to bed.

We divide the tasks among the four of us, taking care of fetching water, cooking, and heating the bath.

Ah, as always, the main dish is meat. Because Meisha is here.

With that, our bellies are full, our sweat is washed away, and we’re relaxing in the living room when a commotion breaks out.

We can see flames rising in the direction of the town.

We hear a voice that is neither a scream nor a shout, saying “A sahagin has appeared!” and the alarm bell rings.

“Everyone. Get your equipment ready immediately. As soon as you’re ready, gather in the garden. We’re going out.”

I give instructions to the three girls and rush into the servant’s room where our luggage is stored.

I put on my breastplate, wrap my sword belt around my waist, and carry my favorite broadsword.

“Alright.”

I tie a bandana around my forehead to psych myself up, as usual.

When I run to the garden, the three of them are already gathered.

“Meisha. Make sure you’re nourished.”

“I know.”

I lightly pat the waist of the monk who pops a candy into her mouth.

“Miliaria. Are you nervous?”

“N, No, I’m fine.”

I pat the head of the wizard who raises her voice in an unexpected situation.

“Asuka. Don’t let your guard down.”

“Okay!”

And then, I bump fists with the swordsman, whose blue eyes are shining with the urge to fight.

OK.

Let’s go.

We’ll gather information along the way.

First and foremost, we need to get there. We need to reassure the people in the shopping district by showing them that there are people who can fight.

“Keep up! Don’t fall behind!”

I take the lead of the girls and start running.

A sahagin is, to put it very simply, a water-dwelling demon.

It’s also called a fish-man, but if you say that, you’re lumping mermen, mermaids, sirens, and Innsmouth all together, which is too broad a category.

As for sahagins, they are cruel and troublesome monsters that hunt humans for fun and eat them.

From a human perspective, it’s not an exaggeration to say they are mortal enemies.

Well, most monsters are mortal enemies.

There’s no way creatures that we can coexist and prosper with would be called monsters.

“Here they come! Miliaria!”

Three large shadows appear in front of us.

He’s a head taller than me, and twice as bulky.

“Okay! Light!”

Miliaria uses a light source magic with zero duration and maximum brightness.

For just a moment, her staff emits a light as if the sun has appeared.

It’s a strategy we’ve been given in advance.

All of us close our eyes and guard them with one hand.

The sahagins scream and cover their faces with both hands, but for a different reason than us.

Sahagins are weak to light because they live in dark water. That’s why their basic strategy when attacking human towns is to do so at night.

When they’re exposed to strong light like this, they become temporarily incapacitated.

“Meisha!”

The moment the light disappears, I give instructions to Meisha.

“Leave it to me. Oh, holy power!”

The broadsword I drew emits a pure white glow.

“Asuka!”

“Yeah!”

We charge in at the same time.

My sword, imbued with divine power, and the Asuka Blade (named by Asuka) that we received from General Kytes, sever the heads of the sahagins covered in hard scales.

That makes two.

“Magic Missile!”

The last one is killed by Miliaria’s attack magic.

Its body is pierced by nearly ten beams of light.

If they’re incapacitated, no matter how ferocious or large they are, this is what happens.

“Let’s move on.”

I declare while looking towards the shopping district where the battle continues.

・・・

『”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”.』

・・・

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