CH 86

Chapter 86 – Glasses boy has a terribly bad feeling

“Just the right person, can I go back to the village now?” I asked Roda.

He appeared quite suddenly, but he was the person in charge of the assassins here. There was no better person to ask this question to.

“Ah, that? Let’s leave that matter for later. Listen to me first.” Roda replied.

I see… He wants to push my wishes to later and instead focus on his own troubles first?

… He wants me to listen to him quietly, I suppose. He came without warning and directly mentioned my name, after all.

He definitely came to tell me to do something, taking advantage of the fact that his position is above mine.

… It’s certainly a valid way of doing things. In this case, I can’t say I don’t want to listen like when I was invited to hunt by Lisse… Though well, in the end, I wasn’t able to refuse Lisse either.

Roda quickly sat down on the empty chair across from mine and stared at me, “You’re good at finding Demon Beasts, aren’t you, Eil? There’s a Demon Beast that I really want you to find.”

Oh, so that’s what it was…

“That’s not true. I don’t know what you heard, but I’m not particularly good at it. I’m just a countryside hunter.” I replied.

“I don’t get what’s the point of trying to lie here. I heard about the Chalk Chicken. You searched for it and Lisse killed it.” Roda told me.

Ah, so it all started with that one incident…

I turned towards Lisse, “I really should have refused you.”

… She ignored me. She continued devouring her stew without even looking my way.

“Even if you had refused it, things would still be the same.” Roda told me.

Eh?

“The reason you’re here is partially because you hunted the Sky Lizard, after all. Or rather, that’s the biggest reason.” Roda said.

Oh… So it wasn’t just the Chalk Chiken, but also that previous incident.

“Eh!? You can find the Sky Lizard too!?” Even though Lisse had previously ignored me, she now interrupted the conversation, “Why didn’t you tell me!? A Sky Lizard is worth twice as much as the Chalk Chicken!”

Eh? That lizard is this valuable? “I guess its meat is quite tasty…” I muttered.

“It’s not just the meat! Everything about that lizard is valuable! From the leather to the bones, it’s all useful!” Lisse told me.

Oh, is that so?

“Well, it’s certainly very good. I can understand that.” I nodded.

“I’m not talking just about eating it!” Lisse shouted, seeming to understand what I meant.

At this moment, Roda intervened, “Calm down, calm down.” by telling Lisse that. He seemed to realize that the conversation wouldn’t progress if we stayed at that topic. And he was definitely right on that.

He then turned towards me again, “I want you to use this ability of yours to help me in my next Demon Beast hunt.”

Hold on a second, “I wasn’t kidding when I said I was just a countryside hunter. I’m no Demon Beast specialist, you know?

“This kind of thing should be under the jurisdiction of adventurers, soldiers and knights, not me.” I told him.

“That’s just about killing. Searching is a different story.” Roda replied.

Is that so…?

This looks terrible…

“I have a horrible feeling about this.” I commented.

“Mmm? Why? How?” Roda urged me to talk, though his expression made it seem like he already knew what I was going to say.

I started replying, “In the first place, this issue is big enough to make you move. It’s definitely something involving a really strong Demon Beast.

“You’re also going specifically after me, even if you know that I would not want to participate on this. Not to mention that there are surely plenty of strangers available that could help you with this hunt.

“The conclusion I can take is that the Demon Beast we’re targeting is by no means an ordinary one.” Roda remained silent after I said this much, so I decided to continue, “It might not even be just an absurdly strong Demon Beast, but maybe we’re also seriously constrained by time, or perhaps it’s in a really hard to reach place where people can’t usually go to.

“This is, without a doubt, going to be an extremely difficult hunt, isn’t it?”

Roda smiled widely after I said all this. He seemed to be extremely satisfied by my answer.

I’m not sure if one of the theories were right, or if all of them were… But in any case, just go and say something. You surely didn’t come here just to smile.

“Thank you for the meal.” Sorichika quickly finished her meal, including the bread, meat and carrots, then rose up from her seat, “Lisse, I’ll be staying in your room tonight.”

“Huh? Eh?” Lisse said, with visible confusion.

Sorichika did not reply, and quickly walked towards Lisse’s room.

“H-hold on! What’s going on!? Why all of a sudden!?” Lisse exclaimed, then hurriedly stuffed the rest of her dinner into her mouth, and followed after Sorichika.

Well… “Sorichika is a bit strange.” I commented.

“I’m surprised though. I didn’t expect to see that woman caring about others.” Roda told me.

Oh, I knew it. Sorichika took Lisse away so as to not let Lisse hear the rest of the conversation.

She never said she’d be staying in someone else’s room before, after all. I suppose this is Sorichika’s clumsy way of caring.

“A good teacher raises a good disciple, but good disciples can also raise good teachers. Perhaps Sorichika has changed a bit due to her interactions with you.” Roda said.

Well, I don’t know what Sorichika was like before I met her, so I can’t say anything. I’ll be happy as long as she continues to eat properly though.

“You can eat if you want, but listen to me.” Roda told me.

“I don’t want to listen.” I replied.

He laughed, “That’s impossible. If I really want to, I can go and talk to Sorichika. What you’d do if your master ordered you to listen?”

“I’m a disciple that listens to his master.” I sighed.

“If you know it, then let’s skip it. It would be a waste of time.” Roda said.

Seems like there’s really no escaping this…

“Let me tell you though. I really have no guarantee that I’ll find your target. Don’t get mad at me if I’m useless.” I told him.

“Oh, I can promise you this much.

“The target might not necessarily be in the area anymore. If you can’t find it, we’ll assume that it fled to some faraway place where your detection can’t reach.” Roda replied.

I certainly hope that this is the case. I would really appreciate it if I couldn’t find this Demon Beast.

It’s an enemy that is strong enough to move to head of the assassins of Haidiga, after all. It is, without a doubt, a tough opponent that I cannot compete with at all.

“So, Eil, do you know of the Obsidian Wolf?” Roda asked me.

Seriously… To think I’d hear the name of this kind of mighty Demon Beast. An enemy that is strong enough to destroy a large city with complete ease.

… Good grief.