Chapter 16: Brigade

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

With Amy and Kevin joining in, our trip to Raum began .

The three carriages proceed in a single file line, with us entrusted to guard the second one .

We’re with the second one because our group is the one with the least experience, and the middle one is in the least danger of being attacked .

A water magician sent over from “Crimson” called Haumea is also with us .

Haumea is from a race called elves, who have long, pointed ears, and tall, lithe bodies as their distinctive racial traits .

The vast majority of them reside in Raum . As a race they tend to be reclusive, and due to their very weak sense of curiosity, it’s very rare to see them outside of Raum .

Being superb magicians and archers, and having long life spans, the elves’ rare appearances cause them to be perceived as a mysterious race .

But Haumea, as an exception, is rather large as far as slenderness goes . Particularly in the chest area .

By her appearance she might be about twenty years old . Among us put in the middle position, she’s probably the oldest .

With Kevin working as leader, she’s supplementing in a sort of staff officer position as far as our setup goes .

“Haumea, you’re an elf, right?”

“Yes, I am . ”

“That’s so unusual . Hardly any elves ever leave Raum . ”

“Well, I still remember what it’s like to be bored stiff . Back in the village, everyone who forgot that feeling keep spending their days away doing nothing . ”

Both of them being women, Amy engages her in conversation relatively easily .

Ah, Master is fidgeting as if he wants to talk with her about something .

“Master Rimuru, want to talk too?”

“Uh, well yeah… Elves are a long-lived and famous race, and I hear they have peculiar magic, so I think I’d like to chat . ”

“Not like you have to hold back . ”

“Striking up a conversation with a young woman requires some courage . ”

“Weren’t you fine with Amy?”

“Well, but she’s… Lacking in some places . I didn’t feel like this about it . ”

“Hmm~, I can hear you, Rimuru . ”

“Hiiya?!”

Secretly listening in on our private conversation from behind, Amy spoke with a cat-like curve to her lips .

Her voice, having some force behind it, made Master make a kind of pathetic scream .

“Amy, Master Rimuru is in the big b.o.o.b faction . It’s no use . ”

Amy is just past fifteen years old and her chest, like mine, is pretty disappointing .

“And why do you know that, Eir?”

“Under Master Rimuru’s bed is—”

“Not another word!”

“Fufu, well that just means boys are the same no matter where you go . ”

“Hwa?! HHaumea, you heard…?”

“The long ears aren’t just for show, you know?”

“Aaahhh…”

Once the three of us ganged up on Master, Carla decided to join in on the conversation .

“This seems fun . A showcase of Rimuru’s s.e.xual interests . ”

“I’m begging you, please stop!”

“Want to join in, Moto?”

“Haha… Rather not have the fire spread my way . I’ll pa.s.s . ”

“Your preferences are known, Moto; nothing left to poke fun at . ”

“Eh, when did you hear about that, Eir?”

At that question I took a quick glance at Carla .

Should I give just a bit of a push?

“When helping load . Said Carla is his type . ”

“Ooo~”

“Oh my, what a lovely story . ”

“Uwawawa! Gimme a break!”

“Heh? Eh, that’s…Well, only natural, right?”

“Dearest G.o.d, my slave shows no mercy . ”

Carla stuck her chest out proudly with her face bright red, while Master looked toward the heavens in despair .

We were walking along in that peaceful atmosphere when a voice suddenly threw cold water on our conversation .

“All of you need to be a little more on guard . We’re the escorts . ”

“Hrm, aren’t you being a little too stiff, mister leader? We’re gonna be traveling for six weeks; if we tense up now, we’re not gonna hold out to the end . ”

“Sorry, being friendly isn’t really my nature . ”

“By the way Kevin, what happened to your slaves? Pretty sure you had two with you . ”

“Ah? Oh them . They weren’t much use, so I returned them to the slave merchant . ”

“Whoa, hey… You worked them all hard, and that’s what they get?”

“Ah, shut up . Not like you’ve got any right to talk . ”

“Well sure, but still . ”

Returned… I wonder if I’ll get returned too if I’m not useful enough?

Or maybe I’ll just get exiled…

In this world, a slave who lost their master is basically dead .

If they don’t want that, they can only go back to their slave merchant . That’s the one thing I want to avoid .

“Master Rimuru . ”

“Hm? What’s up, Eir?”

“I’ll do my best . ”

“O-okay…?”

Which means I need to play my part as the defender well .

I clenched my fist, huffed out roughly through my nose, and prepared myself .

I clenched my fist, huffed out roughly through my nose, and prepared myself .

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

That said, the road to Raum is a major, and well-maintained, highway . There are lodgings built at regular intervals, and every few days’ trip there’s a post town too .

There are even knight watchtowers erected between the towns . Hardly anything is likely to happen .

Actually, with this highway being so closely monitored, the bandits probably went over to placed like the roads between Focalor .

“FuuaaaaAAAAaaaah”

“That’s quite the yawn, Eir . But ladies should at least cover their mouths, okay?”

With my sense of caution slackening to its maximum, I let out a vigorous yawn . Haumea giggled as she warned me .

I feel the point of warning was a bit off though .

“Ah, sorry . Was that gross?”

“No, it was actually cute, like you’re a little kitten . ”

“… More of a lizard though . ”

“Hm?”

“Nuh-uh, nothing… Hmm?”

“What’s wrong?”

A magic power response is coming toward us from the front carriage .

I think it’s probably a response from a ring of mental resistance worn by a member of Crimson .

A “Ring of Mental Resistance” provides a certain level of resistance to attacks that interfere with a person’s mentality, like a dragon’s roar or a vampire’s charm .

They’re fairly expensive at ten gold coins each, but they’re very effective for the price, so they’re indispensable items for all the best adventurers .

Crimson is guarding the front carriage, and with every one of them being yellow rank, I think all of them are wearing the rings .

I mean, they all give off magic responses . I guess yellow ranks carry at least one magic item around .

“Oh, Tony? Something happen?”

The one who came over was Tony of Crimson . I’m pretty sure he’s their scout .

“Nope, it’s just about noon so we were thinking of taking a break . I’m gonna go tell everyone in the back too, so go catch up with the lead . ”

“Got it . Well, you heard the man, leader . ”

“Right, speed up the carriage a bit . ”

Carla turned the conversation to Kevin, who gave orders to the driver .

For those of us on foot, we’ll have to run to catch up with the run, which is rough . Especially for Master, with his weaker physique; he’s getting exhausted .

“E-Eir… Wait . ”

“Gosh, Master Rimuru, you’re hopeless . ”

I lent my back to Master, carried him piggyback and ran .

My right leg kicks off the ground, and I land back on the same right leg . To keep my left leg from collapsing, it only slides along the ground, being used as support .

The peculiar running style, to be honest, results in a lot of shaking . I don’t think it’s something the person on my back can bear for long .

“Uwah, I’m shaking! I’m gonna fall!”

“Shaking… I don’t mind if you touch my chest . ”

“Yeah right, forget shaking, there’s nothing to grab!”

“Yeah right, forget shaking, there’s nothing to grab!”

That comment made me pretty annoyed, so to hara.s.s him a bit I made a big leap on the last step .

All at once we jumped a good ten meters, caught up to the carriage, flew over, and arrived at the lead carriage .

“Uwawawa?!”

“Hmhmm . ”

“What the heck do you think you’re doing?!”

“Master Rimuru was badmouthing me . ”

“Not that! Look behind you!”

Turning around, everyone on the second carriage had their mouths hanging open, in shock at what just happened .

A small girl with, young though he may be, a person on her back had jumped over a carriage and immediately caught up to the carriage in front of it . Their shock probably makes some sense .

“Uhh… This is…”

“Ahh, forget it . No choice now, may as well tell them about you, Eir . ”

“I’m… Sorry . ”

“It’s fine, we’re gonna be with them for six weeks anyway . We probably couldn’t have hidden it the whole time . Getting the chance to talk early may be a good thing . ”

I got wound up and made a mistake . I’ll have to be ready for a very poor mood at lunch…

Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com

“So you see, Eir’s actually part of the unusual dragon people race . She is definitely not a demon . ”

To supplement Master’s explanation, I take off my hat, remove the coverings from my limbs, and pull away my eye patch .

They gasped and gazed at their grotesqueness . The only exception being Amy, who already knew .

“She has a slave contracted collar on, and I’m keeping a close eye on her, so… Please don’t chase us out . ”

“Now I see . So that’s where the amazing strength came from . ”

Interrupting Master, who seemed to be having trouble speaking in my defense, Moto expressed his admiration .

“Come on, nothing to worry about . We’re a traveling theater troupe . We’re used to all sorts of unusual races and strange customs . ”

“R-right you are! You say some good things, Moto . I’ve seen you in a new light . ”

“Really? But the one who’ll decide is the boss, so…”

“Shees.h.!.+ You’re supposed to beat your chest and say “leave it to me!” right there . ”

“Hrm…”

It would seem Moto was the start of the backstage people and actors to accepting it, but the most important one, the boss, is still silent .

“Boss? You’re not gonna say no, are you? If you do, then I’ve misjudged you, boss . ”

“What’re you talking about? ‘Course I’m not gonna say no . In fact, we wholeheartedly welcome you!”

“H-huh?”

The boss raises both of his hands in joy . The pressure behind it… Is kind of impressive .

“Actually, I want you! By all means, we’d be glad to have you!”

“Uh, that’s…”

“I know, I know, but with how she looks she could play demons, vampires, she’d have a huge range of roles… It’s so unfortunate . ”

“She probably can’t act very well…”

“I know, I know, but with how she looks she could play demons, vampires, she’d have a huge range of roles… It’s so unfortunate . ”

“She probably can’t act very well…”

“n.o.body’s good at acting at first! That kind of experience is gained as a result of practice! More importantly, if she could just play out a fight looking like that, she would truly s.h.i.+ne on stage . ”

“Come to think of it, Eir has an “Acrobatics” gift—”

“What?! That means she would be perfect for fights! Rimuru, both of you, in the troupe . ”

“Like I said, I can’t . There’s things I need to do . ”

“Urgh…”

There are a lot of problems left, but I guess the troupe are all on board then?

All that’s left is the other escorts…

“I knew already anyway . Eir saved my life too, and having her along is more fun I think . ”

The first to speak up was Amy . Her support made the corners of my eyes suddenly feel warm .

Kevin still has a dubious look on his face… Is getting support going to be difficult with his personality?

“Well, not like there’s anything wrong with a dragon person anyway . You’ve got the slave contract collar, and you’re taking care of her, so we have nothing to complain about . ”

“If the upper ranks approve, then us orange ranks can’t really argue . No problems here . ”

The people of Crimson and Moonlight gave their approval one after another .

Seeing them, Master had a clearly relieved look to him .

Everyone turned their gazes to the only one yet to voice his consent, Kevin .

“Hum… Fine by me . ”

Taking the surrounding looks, he seemingly reluctantly agreed on having me along .

Gaining everyone’s approval, we could now openly and boldly carry out our escort job .

After that, when we dispersed to prepare for lunch… Kevin came over to talk .

“You’re the ones who defeated the disaster beast, right?”

“Eh?”

“I’m not an idiot . It doesn’t take much thought to realize whether I could stab logs into and kill a disaster beast on my own or not . ”

“…”

“You did it, didn’t you?”

“Yeah . ”

“I see… Thank you . ”

Haa?! Grat.i.tude? From Kevin?!

“Like I said, I know my own strength . ”

Saying that, he turned away disagreeably and left in a hurry .

“Is this one of those tsudere I’ve heard about…?”

“Master, where did you learn that word?”

“Call me Rimuru . I heard it was a word used by my ancestors . ”

“… Hard to understand the personality of Master’s ancestors too . ”

That day I found out the acc.u.mulated knowledge of a distinguished family is, surprisingly, nothing to scoff at .