Shadow Ruler

“The tough guy who helped us escape from that town told us that he had collected a lot of evidence of their embezzlement and other things, and after he let us escape, he was determined to expose them to the world and have them die socially.”

“We don’t even know the name of the town. We don’t even know the names of the family. And the random transfer magic that they used to move us around… And we have no evidence… The fact that we can’t do anything about it is also true… I’ll leave it to that person.”

“Master’s mother said. Words gain power when they hold strong feelings.”

“Wow, what a nice mother you have.”

“I heard that word is called the spirit of speech, though.”

“Is it some kind of special magic?”

“She was a mysterious person in many ways. While she was alive, she was kind to me and the cat, she fed us, and she read to us often.”

“… If it were possible, I would have liked to have met her and talked to her.”

“Not at all… If that person had lived, Master would have lived a happy life. Alright! I’m done talking about this! Master, let’s rest now, shall we? I think we’ve reached our limit, don’t you?”

Bird-san, you know exactly how I feel.

Actually, I am too tired and sleepy.

“But Bird-san, how can you understand this girl’s situation…? Even though she doesn’t speak and has no expression on her face.”

“The reason she is expressionless is that she has never known any happiness, so she has not been able to develop emotions and has pushed them inside. And it’s not that she doesn’t talk, she can’t talk.”

“…. What do you mean?”

“That damn lord!!! He crushed Master’s throat just because she cried too much at night. !!!”

“What?

“Isn’t that too much?”

“That’s why he’s not Master’s father! He’s a scumbag! I’d kill him myself if I could! That’s why Cat and I decided to protect Master together.”

“I see… I think I understand how close the three of you are and how much you care about each other.”

“So you guys are like her parents.”

“Well, yeah. He only brought a glass of water and a small piece of bread that was too hard for her to eat, which was almost the same as fasting, so we brought her nuts, wild vegetables, and medicinal herbs to feed Master. We were sneaking in while trying not to be seen by that guy, into the room where Master was locked up.”

“… Even if I wasn’t in your shoes, I’d feel the same way as Bird-san…”

“So, where were you headed?”

“We saw what looked like a town over there, so we were heading that way, taking frequent breaks…”

“Oh, yeah, that’s the closest town to here. We were on our way to that town, too.”

“… It’s not over yet.”

“What was Lily doing?”

“You know from the fight earlier that I can use water magic, right?”

“Ah…”

“My water magic is a bit special and reacts very excessively to my emotions. So when I want to defeat someone, my attack power increases, and when I want to heal someone, my healing power appears. Isn’t that strange?”

“That’s unusual… Maybe you could help Master with her injury?”

” There are too many old wounds… She is lucky that she has only a few injuries on her face, but other than that, she is covered with injuries at a level where nothing could be done… The most I could probably do is make it a little faded… and when it comes to her throat… I probably won’t be able to do anything about it… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. It is that Worthless Lord’s Fault to begin with.”

“Well… Do you want to go with us?”

” Why? Thanks, but what’s in it for you?”

“I’m here to help. Besides, in a way, you guys are the reason I have so much to cash in. Plus, there’s a Traumawolf in the mix.”

The term “Traumawolf” referred to a large-sized dog that is one size larger than the dogs.

The bigger the dog, the stronger it was.

“It’s going to be hard for you guys to carry all this with you, and you’d better have some money, right? And the medical care and clothes for the girl?”

“But we can’t take all that because there’s also your shares, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Eh? Is it different?”

“No, of course not. I can tell from the marks that you guys took out about 40% of those guys. Besides, it looks like the young lady took out one of the three Wolves… It’s amazing that she beat the Wolf, even if it was just by accident.”

“So, we’ll need to split the money for that, and we’d appreciate it if you went with us. Besides, it would be hard for us to feel good about it if we were to receive the portion of the money that you guys have taken down.”

“But we can’t do anything in return, you know?”

“Well, we want to take care of her until she settles down somewhat, so won’t you come with us? If you don’t, I’ll make her mine, okay?”

“I’m not giving her to you!”

“Then you’ll come with us, won’t you?”

“…Yes, we are grateful for the help.”

So, adventurers are like this? I was going to a town with a group of adventurers who were in charge of collecting money by fighting and helping others.

I tried to walk as fast as I could, thinking that I would be a nuisance if I didn’t walk by myself, but Lily-san carried me in her arms.

Then there was Cat-san on Dan-san’s head, and Anne-san was petting Bird-san on her shoulder for some reason.

Zell-san is lightly fighting Cat-san’s tail as we go along.