TL: Yuki

________________________________________________

Before we arrived in town, Zanbarsan made me wear a hooded robe.

「I don't really want us to stand out that much, sorry but please cover up yourself with this for now」

Well, having black hair and red eyes would really make me stand out after all, but now I am going to be covered in all black…… I still look suspicious.

「Bettyー, Bettyー」

『What is it』

I speak to her in a silent voice then show her the hooded cloak that was pa.s.sed on to me.

『It doesn't have any magical effect, and it will definitely not make you stand out, well, if there's something suspicious going on I will inform you, you don't really have to be bothered by it』

I got her proof of approval so I immediately wore the robe, but it's a bit too big for me so the hem is. .h.i.tting the ground.

「Arara, it was still too big for you,      even though I've bought something that should have been made for kids」

Gununu, are telling me that I'm small. Well, I am certainly smaller than Rikka and Lutie after all, but I was surprised that there weren't a lot of people comparable to my size, and I'm definitely smaller if compared to the standard height of people at the same age group as me.

「Are you okay, it's fine to lift it or drag it on the ground, but will you be able to walk?」

「I'm alright」

I walked for a bit and my feet were moving just fine, and I don't feel like I'll be stepping on it if I'm not in a rush.

I covered my head with the hood and walk next to Zanbarsan, and then I looked around for a bit to see what the new town is like, but I couldn't properly look around because of the hood, so I only focused my sight on the things I could see on our path.

Hmmー, it doesn't really give of a special kind of atmosphere, I could say that it has a similar atmosphere to Ruberia, a normal town with two story houses and shops aligned on the side of the wide cobblestone road where carriages pa.s.s by.

「please wait here for a bit, I will be depositing the horse」

「Nn」

Zanbarsan goes inside the stable after telling me that. Hmm, it's kind of suspicious when a small girl like me covered in a hood is left alone in place like this. I wonder what I should do.

『You know, you don't really look that worried at all about this』

Helvetia appears in front of me crossed armed as she says that, and I also answered her in a low voice after making sure that n.o.body is paying attention to me.

「Nn, as expected? A little scary」

『Aiya, I could sense evil intent, so you don't really have to worry about it』

「Is that so」

After waiting for a while, Zanbarsan came back and Helvetia also disappeared. My worries have also disappeared, probably because I was lonely.

「Well then, let's go, be sure not to separate from me since we will now be pa.s.sing on the alleyways」

「Nn」

After walking for about 20 minutes inside the residential area, Zanbarsan stopped and pointed at a house with her thumb. She then opens the door with a key she's carrying and went inside, I was then invited to get inside the house.

「I have brought the reported child」

After Zanbarsan locked the door, she corrected her posture and then reported to the man who was sitting on a rocking chair.

Eeh, now this is a surprise, I haven't really heard about adventurers being this way from Zanbarsan, but it seems like there are also adventurers who were actually disciplined.

「Thank you for your hard work. Toto-dono, for being the inconvenience of having you come over to this far away town, I apologize」

「Nn, about that, it's fine, you know」

Have I met this old man before, I couldn't really recall any memory about it. He looks like a good looking grandpa with white hair and a bit of a wrinkled face, but I wonder who this person really is.

『This old man, it seems like he is magically disguised, his real looks would be…… I see, it was that person from that time huh』

「Oops, sorry, you don't have to be alarmed, I was the one who's life was saved because of you from a long time ago」

「Eh, who」

I don't remember saving someone at all, but I did remember hunting a lot, and maybe he's a person saved from one of my hunts?

『That's right, you really are such a dullard, it's the swordsman person wearing a feathered hat that you encountered when you were killing some warwolf』

Ahhh! Before I noticed it, the old man took off his bracelet returning him to his original looks.

I now remember those sharp eyes and Kaiser Beard. It was definitely that person at the time when I got covered with blood.

「At that time, I was supposed to have died after all, I can't just suddenly pop out and declared that I survived at that time to make sure that the one targeting me wouldn't be on high alert」

「What do you mean by that?」

I don't really understand what he was saying, and responded by tilting my head. What did he mean by supposed to be dead that time, even if he suddenly tells me about it, I won't really know.

「Ah, sorry, I will explain it step by step. Iya, before that let me give you my grat.i.tude, Two years ago I was surrounded by warwolves, you saved me during that time, Thank you, I whole heartedly offer you my grat.i.tude」

All of sudden, the dandy uncle bowed down to me to express his grat.i.tude. It wasn't really on purpose, you know. I was only on a hunt and wanted to find strong monsters to fight during that time, also that is too much grat.i.tude for something that I didn't really do on purpose.

「Now then, the story will be a bit long, please sit down over there, and Zanbara, please prepare some tea」

「Understood」

Zanbarsan without hesitation left the room as if she already knew the place, and then I was guided by the dandy uncle to a seat with a table in front of it.

As soon as we were seated, Zanbarsan came back hwhile holding two cups that was offered to us and placed on the table, and just like what a maid is like in my imagination, she stepped back and was standing still behind the dandy uncle.

「Anyway, sorry for the late introduction, my name is Del Vandelt, Former Earl. You could also say that I am the master of Zanbara, that is also former, because right now she is overwhelmingly stronger than me」

Hahaha, Del-san laughs joyfully. I see, so that's why Zanbarsan has that image, which was from the time she was serving this person, a n.o.bleman and was also her teacher.

Del-san took a sip of his tea, then continues the story.

「Two years ago, at that moment, I was chasing a person who was pretending to serve me in order to gather information, but then I wasn't expecting to meet that 《Someone else》there at the time I reached their contact point. That someone who appeared tried to kill me along with that man by using a special medicine to call out the war wolves, and would have succeeded.」

Did that other person die? At that time, I didn't really see anyone else other than Del-san, so there was actually more people that was involved?

「Del-san, I didn't find anyone else there?」

「Ah, that woman fled using a teleport gem, and I also moved away from the place where that man was killed」

「I see」

「I desperately struggled to escape from the group of warwolves chasing me, and when I was cornered and was about to give up, you appeared. At first, after seeing your eyes, I thought that I have encountered a really high leveled undead.」

Well, no sane person would ever think that a normal little girl would be able to blow away a monster in just one hit after all, so it was natural for him to a.s.sume that I was also a monster, and that's why at that time, he pointed his sword towards me.

「After that I understood that I was saved, but then I remembered about the woman who tried to kill me, and then decided not to go back to the mansion and pretend that I have actually been killed. I thought at that time that if I did that, I would be able to uncover their secrets」

「You found out their scheme?」

「Um, we'll talk about that later. ……after finding out those who were responsible for my death, I decided to settle down in this town for a while, but I still needed people to work as my limbs at that time. I was also in need of money, so I sent a letter while writing it in a special code, and with that I informed about my situation and the need for funding source. It was actually a gamble, but I somehow managed to get in contact with someone from my home and I also managed to tell them that I actually survived」

Fumu, was it a family member that he deemed to be the most reliable. However, he said that he was influential enough that he needed to fake his own death, and because he doesn't have any reliable family member left, the one who was received the news was a butler who have been serving under him for several years.

「And during my concealment, I couldn't help but think about the《High Tier Undead》 that I've encountered on that forest who had enough strength to obliterate a group of warwolves instantly. That's why I decided to make a request on the capital's guild to do the 《Undead Hunting》 in order to gather rumors if such an undead did exist. Because I have a little srplus on my fuds, I was able to process the request without any problems」

「And that's why Zanbarsan made contact with me」

「That's right, though I was surprised that something like that was actually processed, at the same time, I wasn't sure if the undead that we were supposed to aim at was the same person. My partner Hannoti and I didn't have a lot of acquaintances, so we were to move freely. However, it was fortunate that there were more jobs on the same area as undead hunting in Eresebel, so I somehow managed to gather information easily.」

Hmmm, thinking about it now, I wonder where Hanno-san is. I was expecting that he would have arrived here first before us when Zanbarsan mentioned about him. But then Zanbarsan continued her side.

「It was a year ago. We have been escorting carriages and was also looking around the capital for a while, but there were no signs of damage from undead or any reports related to it.At that time, we couldn't really find any good information about the subject and was about to give up, but then when we have decided to return after traveling to a distant place, we found a child that fits almost everything from the description entering the carriage we were riding. 」

「That is, me」

「That's right, you have eyes that was unmistakably the same as the eyes of an undead without any doubt. But then when I tried things that an undead would normally hate, nothing happened. That's why I have concluded that you were definitely a human」

「Eh, ehhh……」

I see, is that why Hanno-san was praying before a meal? I felt a sudden chill during that time, but it's not something that really bothered me. I did find their actions strange though, but I think it would be better if I didn't mention any of this.

「And then, knowing that you are actually a human. I asked Zanbara to approach you. At that time, I also felt that Hannoti was also a trustworthy person so I also revealed my situation to him. And that's why」

After Del-san ended his words, we heard a knocking sound on the door.

「I'm back」

Oh, the rumored person has just arrived, and was carrying a large basket filled with vegetables on his hand. Upon noticing me, he immediately placed the vegetables on the side of the table and joined our conversation.

「Oh, it seems like everyone have already started. I was a bit late because I was in charge of procuring vegetables」

「It's fine. Zanbara please prepare another set of tea, and the two of you should join us here after」

「Yes, master」

「Ah, um, I want another one」

Hanno-san immediately took the paper bag filled with vegetables and carried it to the kitchen. He then returned just in times when Zanbarsan finished preparing tea, then after coughing a bit for confirmation, everyone settled down.

「From here on, I will be explaining the things that I have discovered, and Toto, there is one more reason as to why I have called you here, I will also inform you about it」