Combatants Will Be Dispatched - Volume 7 - Chapter 3.6

6

We put our answer on hold and return to our inn, where I lie down on the sofa to discuss our options.

“What do we do, Alice? Should we just ignore the assignment and go back to the hideout? We’ll just leave Tiger Man to return to nature.”

“It was supposed to be a simple job to start with, but it’s starting to be not worth the effort. Still, under the circumstances, we can't afford to have rumors spread to the neighboring countries that we're a weak mercenary group. A bunch of countries and cities have offered to submit to us thanks to Lady Belial’s rampage, but if we show any weakness, they’re likely to all turn against us.”

Oh right, there’s still that problem to deal with as well.

"Plus, I don’t like losing. I also don’t like the idea of the Hiiragi putting on airs in this kingdom. And I hate working for free.”

“For an android, you sure hate a lot of things.”

I guess because of her high-level learning abilities, she’s become a lot more humanlike compared to when I first met her.

“Still, as for whether to side with Princess Lydia or Prince Madia, the obvious answer is the princess. Prince Madia’s too pious to work with us. In that sense, the princess would probably be more flexible.”

“We’ve got more than our share of scheming royalty with Tillis, honestly.”

...It’s then that I notice there's something off about Rose.

“Are you trembling, Rose? What’s wrong, did the Calorie-Z wear out?”

“No, I feel like there’s a really powerful animal coming in our direction... Um, what do you mean Calorie-Z wearing out? Does the thing you give me regularly have something weird in it?”

Alice and I tilt our heads and look at Rose as she trembles on the bed. curled up under the sheets.

“Is there some sort of new giant monster approaching?”

"If that were the case, the city’s residents would be in a big uproar. She never reacted like this, even when facing the Sand King. Then it must be something like the Superior Dragon mentioned earlier or—”

Before Alice can finish her sentence:

An explosion echoes from outside the inn followed by a sudden chorus of screaming.

We look out the window to see what’s happened. Thugs who picked a fight with the wrong opponent sit cowering around a crater in the road.

As the city’s residents start talking among one another to figure out what’s going on, loud footsteps start stomping up the stairs.

The stomping stops in front of our room, and the door flies open.

“Six! Ready a bath!”

The one who orders that as the first thing out of her mouth is the long-missing Belial.

“Ready a bath? Really? Just where have you been wandering until now? It’s not funny when a Supreme Leader gets lost in the wilds of an alien world.”

“I was never lost. I was just working solo.”

Even though she always gets lost when she gets separated from her comrades, Belial is too stubborn to admit to it.

Perhaps because of the fact that she spent most of her time outdoors, Belial’s covered in dirt and dust.

“Working solo? Just what were you doing? We’ve had a heck of a time while you were gone. We’ve had all sorts of messengers coming to us to offer either friendship or submission.”

"I was just hunting monsters or beating up bastards who picked a fight with me. I haven’t done anything wrong. As proof, I didn’t hear any announcements giving me Evil Points.”

“I’m not one to talk, but please stop using Evil Points as a way to determine if what you’ve done is good or bad.”

I don’t know why she’s shown up all of a sudden, but I'm grateful at least one of our problems has been solved.

Alice, who seems a bit relieved now that we’ve found Belial, comments:

“So we recently had two countries send us messengers of peace and five villages declare they wanted to submit to us. Just what did you do? You didn’t have nearly enough manpower to actually invade them.”

At Alice’s critique, Belial scratches the back of her head in embarrassment.

“I would force my way into a city every time I needed to take a bath or use the restroom. Then it’d devolve into a fight whenever I threatened them to get information about Kisaragi, so I would have to smack them around, and they would just end up giving in.”

“I feel sorry for those places that had to submit as an add-on to you needing to take a bath or use the restroom."

I see, she must have found out we were in this inn when she threatened the thugs outside.

“Lady Belial, you’ve certainly had a long, hard time of it. So shall you take a bath? Or use the restroom? Or will we go beat up Tiger Man?”

“Restroom first, then a bath... Beat up Tiger Man? What'd he do this time? ...Also, Six. What’s that vibrating under the sheets?”

Belial’s gaze is fixed on a clump trembling violently under some sheets.

"Hey, Rose. This is one of Kisaragi’s Supreme Leaders, Lady Belial. She’s not an enemy, so relax already.”

Rose’s trembling is probably Belial’s fault.

Rose peeks her head out from under the sheets but can’t bring herself to meet Belial’s gaze.

“My instincts as a chimera are screaming at me to stay away from her.”

“Y’know, given that you spend your life like a spoiled dog, stop trying to show off your chimera-ness at times like this.”

Belial’s curiosity is evidently piqued by Rose, and she starts poking at the flinching lump hiding under the sheets.

“I’ve heard about you. You take on the powers of whatever you eat, right?”

“Y-yes... But, that only happens if I eat a lot of something.”

Belial nods with a serious expression in response.

“Six, let’s try feeding her an Olympic-sized pool’s worth of crickets. Have Kisaragi send them to us.”

“There’s crickets on this planet as well, so why don't we just catch them here? I don’t have that many points and don’t want to spend them on crickets.”

“Why does everyone from Kisaragi keep trying to feed me crickets?!” Rose wails tearfully, when I realize something.

“Lady Belial, what happened to your handheld teleporter?”

“Oh, it broke even though I didn’t do anything. It was in the way, so I just tossed it.”

Belial, who commented on her portable teleporter like some middle-aged boss talking about a broken laptop at work, no longer had her Kisaragi-issued portable teleporter on her wrist.

It probably broke during combat, which explained why we couldn’t get in touch with her.

How was she surviving without any supplies or money or anything else?

“So what are you lot doing here anyway? Are you here to invade this country?” Belial asks curiously, as I order towels from Kisaragi.

“It’s a long story, so why don’t we have you take a bath first. You’re giving off some serious pheromones right now, Lady Belial.”

“Sh-shut up about pheromones!”