Chapter 19 – I tried patrolling around town

El, Labrys, and I are together for the first time in a long time, we’re going out to patrol around town together.

A monster stampede just happened, even if it ended up falling flat.

I’m sure the normally peaceful Almana is in a state of chaos and…

“Three cheers for the monster stampede!”

“Fuu~… And to our great mystery hero!”

“Monster meat! How about some monster meat skewers?”

I guess not.

“I-it sure is peaceful…”

Even more than usual.

It’s like there’s a festival going on.

“What happened…”

We keep looking around.

“Hey! I heard there was the corpse of a dragon!”

“What!?”

Townspeople take off running.

“I-I see… The town is making money off the corpses from the monster stampede.”

The primordial dragon’s breath vaporized a lot of them, but there should still be hundreds of corpses.

That’s got to be worth a lot of money.

The economic effects of monster corpses are nothing to be sneezed at.

When a large monster is put down, adventurers, butchers, craftsmen, etc gather around it, and stores open nearby to cater to them… Basically, it’s like a whole new town is put together.

Apparently something similar to this is happening now.

“Yesterday’s monster stampede might actually be a plus to this town.”

“I’m just glad everything is peaceful…”

“…Hmph. What a laid-back town. I was worried for nothing.”

“You were worried about this town, Labrys?”

“…I-I was not.”

Labrys then turns away.

She really doesn’t want to get along with me.

“But if we really think about it, doesn’t the fact that so many monsters came out mean it’s actually safer now?”

“Well, I guess so… Monsters are living beings. It’s not like there’s an endless supply of them.”

Say El and Labrys.

I’m assuming everyone else has reached the same conclusion.

Unless you know what’s to come, you’d never guess calamities would happen in succession.

(Oh well, I’ll just be happy that it’s peaceful.)

I didn’t save this town to see it become dark and depressing.

If it’s peaceful, that’s for the best.

“Chrom! Laby! There’s an all you can eat of monster meat over there!”

“Wait, El… Don’t pull me by the hand. It’s embarrassing…”

And they’re having fun too, so it’s all good.

And so, we’re going to start by going around checking the stalls.

They’re a good source of information too.

“Hey hey, you’re patrolling today, Chrom?”

“Can you even settle a quarrel if one breaks out?”

“We can’t count on a failure like him.”

“T-that’s not true! Chrom is very dependable!”

The owners of the stalls all look at me with frowns on their faces.

It’s a small town, so most people know me because I live in the house of its feudal lord, Mister Sirius.

Not that I’m as popular as El.

“El is looking cute as always!”

“It’s big sis El!”

“Here Miss El, take an apple!”

“Geez. It’s such a waste for her to marry Chrom.”

“M-marry…!?”

Everyone makes a big fuss about her.

“…You’re the town’s idol, El.”

“Well… It’s because the Moonhart family has an aura of the light attribute. I’m sure that comes with a charm that attracts people.”

“Maybe. I’m not like that at all…”

“You attract a lot of attention too Laby.”

“Eh?”

We look around, and see half of people’s attention really is on Labrys.

“Uwah… She’s so beautiful.”

“Pretty…”

“Isn’t that the one that trains in Mister Sirius’ place…?”

Labrys comes to this town almost every day, but she doesn’t usually come to this sort of place, so the townspeople aren’t used to seeing her.

“…”

She’s startled and hides behind me.

That’s right, she was always pretty shy.

“Isn’t she the daughter of an important noble…?”

“She’s the daughter of the fourth duke of Scarlet!”

“Why’s she with someone like Chrom?”

Some voices like these also start to pop up, and Labrys looks increasingly more annoyed.

(…Yes, I remember she doesn’t like to be treated like a noble lady.)

I think that’s why she wants to be a knight.

But I want her to have fun in this town while she’s here.

“Labrys, let’s go to that stall over there.”

I point in a direction where there aren’t many people, and take her hand.

“…!? W-why are you holding my hand!?”

She then starts flailing.

“S-someone like you…! T-this isn’t a date, you know…!?”

“Eh? Date?”

I’m confused.

“Sorry, that’s not what I was going for. I was just doing what I did when we were kids.”

“…”

Labrys’ face turns bright red.

“Hum, is that bad?”

“…I’m… Not a kid anymore…”

Labrys puffs her cheeks like she’s sulking, but doesn’t try to shake me away anymore.

“She accepted it…!?”

“C-Chrom’s not bad uh… First El, now…”

“Seriously, Chrom? Maybe I was wrong about him.”

“Why’s that Chrom the only one who…”

I’m getting some painful looks from guys for some reason, but it’s best not to mind it too much.

I pull Labrys by the hand and take her somewhere without many people

“Hum, is there any kind of trouble here in town?”

I ask the owner of a stall after buying Labrys a skewer.

“Ah, yes. Remember that rumbling yesterday? I’ve heard that it made furniture fall, and even brought down roof tiles.”

“Was anyone hurt?”

“Nah, not that I’ve heard of.”

It doesn’t look like there are monsters here or anything. Everything’s nice and peaceful.

Leaving that aside…

“Did anyone from the Sorcerer Association come here?”

I ask, just in case.

They’re the ones behind yesterday’s calamity, and I need to pay attention to what they’re doing.

“Sorcerer Association. Ah, they did.”

“…! Really!?”

“It’s not like they did anything… You know that mystery hero? The one who took care of the monster stampede?”

“Yes, I’ve heard the rumors.”

No one suspects that he’s actually a failure like me.

“Apparently they were looking for him. They even offered a reward too.”

“…A reward already? It happened just yesterday.”

I was wondering what they might do, since they were behind it all, but…

(They’re faster than I expected…)

Am I that much of a hindrance in their eyes? Are they just interested in me?

In any case, I’m not happy about it.

“That hero sure is unlucky. Having those troublesome people after him.”

“Ha, haha…. He sure is. They’re really… Troublesome.”

“…?”

At least they haven’t figured out who I am.

Having the Sorcerer Association after me is like being wanted throughout the whole continent.

Their goal is probably to ‘eliminate’. And then ‘dissect’ me.

I’m sure those people are interested in my power. They’ve sold their souls to the research of magic.

And they probably want to ‘eliminate’ and ‘dissect’ a hero like El.

(I think this means… We’ll probably face each other soon.)

My expression turns bitter without me realizing it, as I picture what’s likely to come.