Chapter 370:
“Zephyr”
“ARE YOU DONE EATING?”
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
“Pefu!”
The three slimes smiled contentedly. Sol looked particularly satisfied after eating its fill.
“I’m glad you guys didn’t get hurt, but you were way too reckless up there! You really scared me, you know?”
The three had seemed amused by the shaking and falling of the trash on the piles, so they’d tumbled and bounced around during their meal. I was exhausted from the stress of watching them.
Mrrrow.
“Thanks, Ciel.”
I’d had Ciel stand by in case anything happened, and I was truly relieved that the adandara hadn’t needed to step in. After their feast and big playtime, the three slimes were in a better mood than usual.
“I’m exhausted,” my father remarked.
“Me, too.”
We were utterly burned out.
“Okay, let’s head back. Are you hungry, Ciel?” my father asked.
Ciel only purred in response. That didn’t mean much of anything, so it probably wasn’t all that hungry. The slimes took the lead as we headed back to the village.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
Sora and Flame playfully bounced off each other as they went, repeating the motion over and over. When Ciel noticed, it shapeshifted into a slime and charged into the pair. Meanwhile, Sol discreetly shrank back from the others and hopped to my side. It gave me a meaningful stare, so I picked it up, and it jiggled happily.
“Wait!” my father suddenly boomed.
Shivering all over at the tone of his voice, I looked over to find him scanning the area around us.
“Puuu?”
“Ryu?”
Silence hung over us.
Mew?
Not even Ciel, who had a keen sense for auras, seemed to know what was going on as it checked our surroundings. I also searched for auras to see if I sensed anything amiss, but nothing struck me as odd.
“Dad, are you okay?”
“Yeah…sorry. I thought I sensed something.”
“Sora, Flame, Ciel, come here a minute.”
Everyone immediately huddled around us, sensing something was different with my father.
He sighed heavily. “I just don’t get it. Sorry I worried you all.”
“Don’t feel bad. I’m sure there’s something out there.”
Ciel was sensitive to auras and magic energy, yet it hadn’t sensed what my father had. Was it a monster with an undetectable aura or energy? Did such terrifyingly powerful creatures really exist?
“Dad, is there a monster that can mask its aura or magic energy?”
“I was just thinking about that.”
“Yeah.”
“If such a monster existed, I would’ve learned about it during my adventurer training, but I didn’t.”
“Huh. Guess that means there isn’t one.”
“In the past, I would’ve agreed with you. But now…” His gaze suddenly shifted to my creatures. I followed suit and looked at them. “Now, I think such a monster might exist. Maybe there’s a monster we already know about that has different powers.”
He had a point. Even slimes had a variety of powers, and it was dangerous to assume you knew everything about them. Besides, we had been hearing rumors about new types of monsters being discovered.
“Yeah, we don’t know everything there is to know about monsters.”
“Well, if it is a monster, that’ll be a big mess to deal with.”
He was absolutely right. Most adventurers relied on their ability to sense a monster’s magic energy or aura. If they couldn’t do that anymore, they would be a step behind on defense if they were attacked. That was incredibly dangerous. One wrong move, and people could get seriously wounded…or killed.
“Let’s go back to the village. I think we should stay out of the forest until the survey team finishes.”
“You’re right. Think we won’t be able to hunt at all?”
We’d heard that there were monsters similar to wild rabbits near this village and that they were very tasty. I think they were called lappos. My father and I were hoping to figure out a way to trap them because we really wanted to hunt them. But given the current conditions, it looked like hunting was out of the question.
“I don’t think we can. Sorry.”
“I get it.”
But seriously, what was going on? Was it a monster with an undetectable aura and magic energy? Or was it an animal?
“We should put the creatures back in the bag.”
“Yeah. Sora, Flame, Ciel, can you guys get back in the bag? You too, Sol?” I asked the slime in my arms. It chirped Pefu! back at me. I gave its head a little pat and put it back in the bag.
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
Mrrrow.
The others raced over to my feet and jumped into my arms, one after another. I tried my best not to drop them as I set them into the bag.
“Sorry, guys. Be good until we get back to the tent, okay?”
The bag jostled a little in reply, slightly harder than it usually did.
“If some random person saw your shoulder bag, they’d be terrified.”
“Yeah, it does tend to move an awful lot.”
We walked back to the village, discussing hunting and dinner plans as we went. But when the gate came into view, we stopped in our tracks. Right at the gate before us, some bodies were keeled over on the ground, and there were village watchmen frantically moving around them.
“They’re hurt.”
I nodded in reply. The people on the ground looked like adventurers.
“Think they’re badly injured?”
“No, they’re probably okay. I think they’re conscious.”
I took a closer look and saw that the people on the ground were indeed awake and talking. After a while, more watchmen came out from the village and handed the fallen adventurers some potions.
“Looks like they’ll be okay now.”
“Uh-huh. Will they pay for the potions later?”
“Yeah, and if they can’t afford to pay, they can work for it.”
“Oh, that’s nice. Well, I’m glad they’re all right.”
I looked around and noticed some other people were waiting to enter the village just like us. They were a trio of rather brawny men, probably in their forties and dressed like adventurers. As I stared at them, one of them made eye contact with me. I didn’t want to seem rude by looking away, so I gave a light nod. Then I turned my attention back to the wounded and noticed they would let us back into the village soon. As I heaved a little sigh of relief, I heard footsteps coming our way. Wait…should I not have nodded to him?
“Hello there.”
“Hello.”
One of the three adventurers approached us with a friendly smile. “Is that your daughter?”
“Yes. And who are you?” my father asked warily, scooting me closer to him.
The adventurer moved back a step when he saw this. “I’m sorry, sir. I assure you, I’m not suspicious.”
“No, you’re definitely suspicious. Who walks up to a guy and asks, ‘Is that your daughter?’”
The adventurer’s two companions walked up after him. My father stepped completely in front of me, hiding me behind him.
“I apologize for my companion. I am Zinal of the Hatahaf Village elite adventurer party, Zephyr.”
“I’m Garitt of Zephyr. And the guy who came up to you like some creepy old pervert is my buddy Fische. He’s not a bad guy, I swear, he’s just a little dumb. He tends to act before he thinks, so he causes a lot of misunderstandings, but he’s just an idiot.”
Huh?
“Yeah, he meant no harm. He just doesn’t think things through.”
They’re standing up for their friend, right? They’re not making fun of him, are they?
“Uh-huh. I promise you, he’s not a pervert.”
Why are they focusing on that?
“Zephyr of Hatahaf? The Zephyr?” My father’s jaw dropped a little as he stared at the men. Apparently, their adventure party was quite famous.
“Ooh, you’ve heard of us? I’m flattered!” Fische gave my father’s shoulder a hearty slap. Zinal and Garitt exchanged looks and sighed. That seemed to lower my father’s guard a little, and he positioned himself next to me.
“Nice to meet you all. I’m Druid, and this is my daughter Ivy.”
“Nice to meet you.”
When I greeted the men, a smile bloomed on Fische’s face.
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