Absolutely Do Not Touch Eldmia Egga
Chapter 34: Ceril Tusin Orgatorph

After having met the commission’s coordinator and gotten assigned a carriage, we heard that there was almost an hour to spare before leaving.

“It looks like it isn’t a problem we can end in a day or two.”

Usually for extermination commissions happening nearby, adventurers left at early dawn and then arrived before noon to begin their work. This was because there were sirs and madams who, as much as these were neighboring areas of a nation’s capital even after all said and done, couldn’t let unstable public security sit by. So even just the part about leaving at almost 11 o’clock was something highly unusual to see.

“This, I can sense it. I’ll do the mouthing bit when we arrive, so you absolutely stick by me and let’s move together.”

“Mouthing bit…?”

“I mean I’ll convincingly lead the business-related talks. There were a bit vaguely written details in the commission paper, and there were guys at the guild that we didn’t normally see, too. Even right here, about half of the adventurers are giving off a different vibe, right? I can’t help but think there’s something we haven’t properly grasped.”

“Hmm. Did I think this too naively…?”

This smart lass never showed herself making a wrong judgment out of an abrupt temper. I hadn’t even explained exactly why I was feeling concerned, but simultaneously with me voicing my concern, she was already putting aside her normal thought patterns and starting to turn her gray matter over in multiple directions to search for something she might’ve missed. Was this what happened when geniuses received early education?

“Even then, it’s better to make mistakes when moving as a group like this. We won’t know until things happen later on, so just keep it in mind.”

Ceril nodded without a word and agreed. Despite having worked as an adventurer longer than me, she didn’t object.

Understandably so, she still didn’t properly understand the intimidation and unfair negotiations of the people in the bottom of the barrel. Of course, she didn’t need to uncharacteristically try understanding them, either. Wouldn’t she probably not have any problem even if she didn’t understand for the rest of her life? Anyhow, because of that, I was the one to usually step forwards for most issues that needed resolving with words.

After all said and done, this ultimately was the bottom layer or so where more than 8 out of 10 were those that tried to use you if you lower your head and concede first.

I swept over the contract again in case there was a mistake, but there wasn’t a mention of a specific chain of command while carrying out the bandit extermination mission. Considering that acting as we saw fit so long as we didn’t run away was the norm in a case like this, they shouldn’t particularly have anything they could say even if Ceril and I moved together. Either way, the commission reward was a base pay with bonuses per enemy killed, so other adventurers like us absolutely didn’t care even if we act a bit passively to gauge the situation.

“There’s no need to flinch and be scared already, but there’s nothing wrong with being careful, after all.”

“I agree.”

After we’d checked over each other’s equipment for the final time and purchased simple emergency rations, only then the carriage finished its roll call and began to move.

The winds were cold, but because it was my first long distance travel in a long time, it wasn’t a boring travel even just by watching the scenery flow by. Hm. Sitting like this, the nightmare of the army conscription, where I had traveled on military trucks, was coming back. It was an unpleasant memory of suffering thanks to one nitwit.

Suddenly an unease struck and I glanced through the adventurers riding the same carriage as us, but I didn’t see anyone whose existence might particularly be a hindrance instead. Of course, those kinds of bastards always had on normal appearances and fucked with people later on, so I couldn’t lower my guard.

“Big bro. Did you say you’re Eldmia?”

“Hm?”

While I was blanking out from having nothing to do with even Ceril falling asleep, a man sitting opposite me glanced over me with a harsh-looking face and spoke. I wondered if he was picking a fight or something and was about to tilt my head, but he quickly drew a friendly looking smile and offered me a handshake.

“I saw you before at the guild. I’m Garun. Are you from the capital?”

“I’m from Ogwen, but ‘been in the capital for a little over 1 year.”

So he’s a true civilized man who knew to smile while saying hi. I’d thought he was frowning, but he just had that sort of a face.

“It’s nothing serious, but I thought it might be good to give you a heads up because of that Dantell gang from before.”

“That ugly sex offender bastard?”

“Kuhuhu. Yeah. That son of a bitch. He was active in the same Port Mandeli as me, so I saw some shitty things rather often.”

“Well, looks like he was a repeated offender seeing where you’re leading, eh?”

“You’re a sharp big bro.”

It was weird to keep hearing ‘big bro’ from a face that looked to have a similar age as my mental age, but it probably was my fault for having a body that by its looks alone could see me as a guy in his 20s with a young face. His face could also have worn down a bit early from hard work seeing how he was from a port.

Anyway, from listening to the friendly Mr.Garun’s explanation, he was a really rotten bastard. Seeing how he was famous for lechering after any women seen near Port Mandeli and was put on blacklists of all things in several cities for it, he was definitely a bastard without even a chance of redeeming. But listening to that, there was a nuance that there were quite a lot of guys that came up to the capital from there, so the moment the gossip about him more or less finished, I couldn’t help but ask Garun about it.

“By the way, did something happen over there? It sounds like quite a lot of people came in from there, but that’s not a common event, isn’t it?”

“Hm? You’re unexpectedly slow on the news, big bro. It’s the Demon King Army. Those bastards ripped the port to pieces.”

Unlike Garun who answered extremely casually, I opened my eyes wide and froze on the spot.

“Well, big bro must’ve also predicted it since we both work as adventurers, but… it’s that the frontline that’s been ongoing the last 7 years have ultimately slipped. From what I’ve heard, it sounded like a group that seemed to be a special force troop have broken through the frontline, and… the last I saw, it wasn’t in a state I could call it a port anymore.”

I’d thought it was holding on well somehow, but surprisingly, it seemed the threat of the Demon King Army had been slowly becoming serious.

🔷

Saying that there wasn’t anything to do while traveling, Garun answered my questions quite enthusiastically. And most of those words were made up of seriously bitter and horrible stories.

He said that besides the occasional news of victory, there were only stories of haggardly maintained lines or defeats all the time at the cities near the frontline. Saying that it was only thanks to those occasional victories striking amazingly big that the line was precariously being maintained, Garun said he couldn’t even understand just how the kingdom was managing to hold on based on listening just to the stories at taverns, and continued his words.

“Perhaps because of that, recently all sorts of weirdos have been appearing. Unbelievable stories like a swordsman that decimated a Demon King Army company alone, or hilarious stories like an area of effect magic used to kill a devil wiping out together a Demon King Army in hiding. Being not bored thanks to that might be one of the few pros.”

“Sounds like everything besides that are cons.”

“Just being alive is a pro, ain’t it? Going by that, as an ordinary guy I wanted to live a bit longer and came to the capital, but this place really got a different mood going. Kuhuhu, though it doesn’t all seem to be like that seeing this extermination commission.”

For sure, as much as he was experienced as an adventurer, it seemed he too was feeling that this commission was slightly different from the norm. Garun, who shared with me lots of information besides those as well while we chatted about this and that, got down from the carriage the moment we arrived at the destination and then coolly left with a light goodbye.

“See you again after we kill them all.”

He was so fucking nonchalant that his harsh looking face almost felt like the true men’s face. He could’ve offered to move together when we’d even shared our stories, but seeing how he was acting like that, he might have quite a confidence in his skills.

“He was a funny man unlike how he looks.”

“Holy shit, what!”

Ceril, who I’d thought was still sleeping since she hadn’t moved a bit after she’d put her head on my shoulder and fell asleep, stood up the moment Garun left and stretched.

“You should’ve stood up if you woke up. I’m all stiff from not moving.”

“Thanks for the nap.”

It absolutely wasn’t the answer I wanted, but it was obvious that it wouldn’t matter even if I spoke further, so I simply stretched and jumped down from the carriage.

“For sure, this commission is a bit strange.”

“Yeah. They just openly let us off at the village.”

I’d thought we would get off near the middle of the forest where it wasn’t very visible and then slowly circle in, but the carriages stopped at the winery. Unless the supposed ruin in the forest was underground, the bandits would know of our arrival without any difficulty. When I turned my head wondering if there was anything else, something that really wasn’t welcome even a little bit entered the edge of my eyes.

“Shit.”

“What is it?”

“Look at that. It’s a camp.”

Ceril’s face that turned towards where I’d pointed to slightly froze.

“Are they planning on using adventurers as meat shields?”

Ceril asked, but I couldn’t be sure of the situation, either.

“I don’t think we can tell right now.”

Since this was a winery near the capital, I did think that someone who was at least a noble would obviously be the owner. Since this extermination commission extended into a 2nd attempt, I’d also predicted that it wouldn’t be a level that could somehow be solved with private soldiers. But I didn’t quite predict that they would set up a base camp and be preparing as if fighting a war like that.

Were our opponents here really bandits?

“Looking at the layout of the camp… it looks like it’s set up to monitor the forest.”

Ceril’s two eyes that let out an assessment fitting the eldest daughter of a knight captain began to thin with suspicion.

TL note: Sorry this chapter is late. As said before, Ch.35 & 36 will be released over the next few days. And Ch.37~40 are scheduled for release around next week.

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