“Miss. I caught a lot of tanuki again, so please make it dinner for the kids.”
“Oh my, I’ve told you I’m not at that age anymore ♪ I heard you brought some for lunch too.”
The place was in front of the orphanage’s entrance.
An adventurer called out to an older female staff member while showing her the tanuki he had taken down.
He had brought tanuki for the orphans at noon as well.
He’s a kind-hearted person. A hypocrite.
He’s not a great adventurer described by those words.
When he was little, he used to play with the orphans.
At that time, he had his first love for the staff member in front of him.
Wanting to see his first love in good spirits, he uses the orphans as an excuse and visits like this often, just a regular guy.
“You’re still young! ♪ Besides, I can go hunting for more tanuki.”
“I’m going to visit even though there’s no adventurer’s request,” he muttered in his heart.
“Is that so? Thank you.”
“By the way? Did something happen?”
He immediately worried when he saw a shadow on his first love’s face.
“!”
He was surprised that it showed on his face.
It was too late to hide it now.
“Actually…”
The staff member explained to the adventurer why she was at the entrance.
“The kids aren’t back?”
The adventurer wondered why the orphans had gone out of the village.
When he returned to the village with the tanuki in the daytime.
He had heard from a fellow adventurer who had taken on the job of dealing with tanuki that were eating the fields, that the orphans had gone deep into the forest.
They said they haven’t returned since then. There was something deep in the forest that made them skip lunch. Thinking about that, he remembered seeing a shooting star pass directly over the village last night.
“A shooting star? We didn’t notice it.”
“I heard about it from a colleague who was on night patrol. I didn’t actually see it, though.”
The adventurer, who saw the shooting star at night and said, “You are more beautiful than the shooting star,” in a showy manner.
His face turned bright red with a “pssssh.”
The staff member is single. The adventurer is also single.
The staff member had vowed never to marry.
The adventurer, due to his first love overlapping with his girlfriends, or in passing.
“Your face is red. Shall we go inside?”
The staff member, concerned, placed a cold hand on his forehead and asked if he would come into the orphanage.
“N-no ///”
The adventurer had reached his limit.
He said he was going to look for the orphans and rushed out of the village.
“It’s already late… I’m worried…”
The adventurer also worried about what to do if something unexpected happened.
He felt helpless, only being able to contact the Adventurer’s Guild.
The Adventurer’s Guild is a facility belonging to the Adventurer’s Guild.
It exists even in this rural village as a branch office.
The work ranges from pest control that ravages fields.
Guards for merchants who come to the village.
Requests for gathering materials deep in the treacherous cliffs and monster-infested forests.
Specific requests to collect materials from designated monsters.
There was no adventurer rank for requests.
The adventurer’s ranks were established when Rayos became an adventurer.
The adventurer who went deep into the forest came back empty-handed.
He didn’t meet a single orphan. Also, there were fresh traces, but.
He couldn’t determine if they were left by the orphans.
“Damn it. Ale, another round!”
He drank himself into a stupor at a bar frequented by adventurers.
“Whoa, you’re upset.”
“You were on good terms with the kids from the orphanage, weren’t you?”
“No, this guy’s more like…”
Two fellow adventurers, who came for a drink after work, came over to bother him.
They were the same adventurer rank.
So, he glared at the adventurer about to speak dangerous words and shushed him.
“?”
“Heh heh heh, it’s nothing ♪ Right ♪?”
If you stay quiet, I’ll buy you a drink.
The adventurer glared at the two, treating them to ale.
Well, since they knew about the orphanage incident, there was no need for reconfirmation. But one of them signaled with his eyes as if asking to be heard.
Even though he treated them to ale. That greed.
He wondered if he would one day attain a higher rank and make them cry.
Such thoughts came to his mind.
“The orphanage staff are questioning people.”
“Even though they acted as a group, none of the kids came back. On top of that, no bodies were found. It’s baffling, isn’t it? ♪?”
He downed the ale he was treated to.
“Puuuh ♪ So, this means a big request is coming our way, right ♪?”
Monsters that have tasted human flesh will definitely attack the village.
Or they will attack those who have fields.
Before that happens, a request will be issued for us to subdue them.
“I hope it’s just the kids playing a prank…”
“Hey, hey ♪! That’s impossible…”
“Read the room. Let’s avoid a fight here.”
His companion provoked the one who had been down. In a bad way.
If this continues, he’ll suddenly stand up and draw his weapon, thinking, “Are you picking a fight!?”
He wanted to leave the place quickly.
“You bought me ale. Let’s drink up quickly and prepare for tomorrow, okay?”
“Cheers to the free drinks ♪ The order for tomorrow’s request is understood, chu ♪? Hiccup ♪? Huh~, you’re two people ♪? When did you become twins ♪?”
They drank too much.
Because they said there was a big request.
Their drinking pace and volume were high.
That’s why he was so drunk.
“Hey, don’t sleep here. Well, we’re leaving. Sorry about this.”
“No, you’ve got it tough too.”
He was working with someone so thoughtless.
“That’s right-ra ♪! A snake fell from a tree branch today, and I had a really, really tough time ~… (thud)”
” ” … *Puff*. Hahaha.” ”
In the end, the atmosphere lightened. They parted ways.
The adventurer returned to the inn, reserved a private room, and went to bed thinking about the orphans.
“…Be safe, okay… *zzzz*…”
Adventurers sleep when they can. Like mercenaries, jack-of-all-trades.
They choose their rewards and clients. A profession where they might die tomorrow.
The private room at the inn had a lock.
There was no one targeting him, so he fell into a deep sleep with peace of mind.
