NBAA Vol. 3 Chapter 2 Part 4
“Grahh!!”
“Woof!!”
“Why do you guys like pulling carts so much?”
Ullr and the cyclops were pulling the wolf-cart together on their way to Faas Village. Looking at the two of them, it was like they had forgotten what species they were.
Kotomin was sitting next to Reito, and she was wearing Suramin. She was sleepily laying down on the luggage.
“Shew shew shew…” she snored.
“She’s asleep, how about you, Suramin?”
“Purupuru…” he could see Suramin’s face peek out from Kotomin’s shoulder. It appeared he was trying to communicate something.
Reito figured he must have wanted more sugar water, so he pulled out a small bottle and gave it to him.
“Drink nice and slow. Get big and become a king. No matter what happens, you don’t want to end up as metal, you’ll be hunted down by adventurers.”
“Pururu (what the hell are you talking about?)”
Reito gave him the sugar water and patted his head.
Suddenly he noticed, he didn’t have any human friends, but he was getting more pets. Kotomin was a mermaid, but he was preparing food for her too, so she also felt like nothing more than a pet.
“I want to join a party of adventurers, just once… I have never fought with other people before, and that’s a problem.”
While he had fought together with Ullr, he had never fought with a human before. He had fought with Gonzo, but he was technically a giant.
He had plenty of one-on-one experience, but rarely any group fighting experience.
If he ended up fighting with other people, he couldn’t just take action selfishly.
Reito thought about that and decided to consult with Bal the next time he headed for the Adventurer’s Guild.
“I have a lot of money, but it’s all gonna disappear feeding this cyclops. I should put a collar on everyone so they don’t get mistaken for monsters…”
“Purupuru”
“What, do you want a collar too? Where would we even put it on you? Also, how are you on my shoulder?” he was puzzled at Suramin.
He looked back to see that Kotomin was still in Suramin’s camouflage attire. But yet Suramin was also on his shoulder.
He was confused before realizing the answer.
“That’s right, you’re a slime. You just split…”
“Purupuru”
“Pururu”
The Suramin that was acting as Kotomin’s clothes and the Suramin on his shoulder both reacted to him.
When he was about to give sugar water to the Suramin that was on his shoulder, he heard a familiar voice.
“Hmm? Is that by chance, Ullr?”
“What in the world is this creature?”
Looking up from the wolf-cart, he found Gonzo and the adventurer from Gollum, Dain.
The two of them were surprised at the cyclops pulling the cart.
“Haa?” ignoring Kotomin’s sleep talk, Reito asked the two of them, “What are you two doing here?”
“Actually, we really hit things off.”
Gonzo said before Dain continued, “He told me you would be in this town so we came here. I wasn’t able to properly say thanks last time. Where did you pick up this creature, though? I swear you didn’t have it last time we met”
Dain looked at the cyclops.
“Graah!!” The cyclops opened its arms wide.
“Hee!?”
“Don’t scare me like that!!” Gonzo said, hiding behind Dain. Reito scolded the cyclops and it behaved itself again.
Gonzo was impressed and nodded his head in affirmation. He was excited to see something bigger than him and touched it saying, “a cyclops. We used to have these in my home country”
“C-Cyclops!? Isn’t it part of the demon race? Why do you have it as a pet!?”
“Grah” Dain was surprised to see Gonzo and the Cyclops hug and shyly reach his hand out to the cyclops before taking it away.
“Whatever. Anyway, we also came for the hunting festival. You and Gonzo are from this area, right? Will you participate in the Hunting Festival?”
“We are D rank so we can’t participate and it doesn’t interest me anyway. But, I’ve been told by Bal to capture a monster for the festival,” Reito answered.
Dain made a strange face when he heard the name Bal.
“Bal? That violent woman? You’re in that monster swordsman’s guild?”
All of a sudden Bal appeared.
“Who is a monster swordsman?”
“When did you get here!?”
Bal knuckle-punched Dain. She then looked at Dain as he lay on the ground and said, “I was wondering who it was. What do you know, it’s this angry little boy. What’s wrong? Did you finally get fired?”
“Ow, ow! What are you doing, you strong freak!!”
“Hey now! Thanks for the compliment.”
Dain was crying while shouting in anger. Bal maintained her composure.
Bal looked at Reito and said, “Good timing. You were riding that carriage, huh? You were just going to go home without accepting my request, right?”
“Uh…” Reito suspiciously whistled.
“You’re bad at whistling. Let me get a ride with you into town,” Bal said, picking up Dain and carrying him on her shoulder.
“Why am I getting involved?”
“Can I ride as well?”
Bal got in the cart with Dain on her shoulder and Gonzo got in as well. Reito carefully moved so as not to wake up Kotomin.
~
Bal made a puzzled expression as it was the first time she had seen Kotomin and Suramin.
“Who are these people? I’ve never seen them before.”
“Kotomin, Suramin, say hello!” Reito said.
Suramin greeted, “purupuru”
“I never thought I’d nod my head to a slime.”
“*Yawn*. I am sensing the presence of a stranger.”
“You’re quite the samurai warrior,” Reito joked to Kotomin who had finally opened her eyes.
Dain complained to Bal, “Why do I also have to help with this request? It’s my holiday today!”
“Don’t be so stubborn. Your shadow magic would be just right for the job. Sit down!!”
“Gah!?”
Dain was forced to sit down next to her by Bal.
Reito felt like he was watching a parent and child squabble seeing the two of them.
“Is Dain your acquaintance?” Reito asked Bal.
“Acquaintance? I practically raised him. He was struggling in the slums so I took him in and trained him.”
“Don’t spread fake news!! I only learned how to argue from you!! You kept hitting me with your sword even though I’m a magician. You sent me into the jungle without so much as a cane. I won’t forget that!!”
“What kind of education did you receive…”
“Wild…”
Bal coaxed Dain, “Shush now. Thanks to me you’ve gotten stronger. There are not many magicians who are strong at fighting… although, you’re still not that strong to be honest.”
Bal looked at Reito and shook his head, smirking before talking to Dain again.
“By the way, Dain, I heard you were tricked by a succubus and thrown out on the streets naked”
“W-Where did you hear that!? Reito, you wouldn’t have…” he stared at Reito suspiciously.
“It wasn’t me.”
“Then, was it Gonzo!?”
“I also didn’t say anything…”
Bal laughed, “Don’t underestimate the information-gathering powers of the adventurer guild. The succubus made a confession to the police officers. By the way, your clothes have also been collected. When we get back to town, you can go pick them up”
“Shit, that succubus!!”
It appeared that, after being turned over to the authorities, the succubus confessed everything. Dain had been saved, but she had committed a minor crime.
“What’s going to happen to the succubus?” Reito asked timidly.
Bal answered, “she’s in prison in Gollum Town. To prevent her from seducing a male guard, they put a female guard on her. The fact that you were tricked by a succubus means you really are stupid.”
“Shut up!! I’m helpless when I see large breasts!!”
“…I feel like that’s no excuse,” Reito joked.
Bal joined in, “Were her breasts really that large? How do you like mine?”
“Don’t play around. Those aren’t boobs, those are pecs!!”
“You really are a rude little brat”
Bal and Dain were arguing like they were a wife and husband comedy duo.
Reito laughed at their conversations. He thought about the time he had spent with Aria when he was at the mansion, deep in the woods.
Bal and Dain were acting like he and Aria used to. Reito realized he would never see her again and suddenly felt depressed. He sighed.
“Reito?”
“Purupuru” Kotomin and Suramin were worried and looked at his face.
“It’s nothing. I just remembered something from a long time ago.”
He said, smiling at them. He wanted to know what Aria was up to now. He was going to ask Airis when all of a sudden the wolf-cart stopped.