CH 66

“Then Sasha, please wait here for a while. I’ll tell the children that I’m going out.”

…Don’t get mad Nina and the others again.

“Okay”

After making Sasha wait at the entrance, I returned to the living room with Ares. Nina and the others saw me and came running up to me.

“Welcome back Otosha!”

“Papa give me a hug”

“Oh, I’m back.”

Well, I’m going to go out again soon… but I want to have this exchange with the children as many times as I want.

I pick up Stella, who asks for a hug, and Nina, who jumps with her arms outstretched. Ratz was also staring at me with his fingers in his mouth, so I bent down in front of him with my back to him and he climbed up on my back.

Nina and Stella on the left and right arm. And he stands up with Ratz on his shoulders.

This is the perfect B-class adventurer.

“Fufu, good for you three. But don’t bother Gray-san too much, okay?”

Ariamel calls out to the three who are delighted. Nina and Stella raise their hands saying “yes”, and Ratz puts his chin on my head and nods.

Well, I’m keeping Sasha waiting outside, and I need to explain this to everyone as soon as possible.

“I have to tell you all something.”

“Well… if it’s a serious story, at least after letting the three of them down…”

Iska said that with an indescribable expression.

“It’s all right.”

“Ha…haa”

Well, I know what you mean. But if I accept the request, I’ll make these kids feel lonely again.

As I said earlier, this incident. As long as there is a possibility that these children will be harmed, I can’t leave it alone.

I may not be able to go home again for a few days due to a request from the guild…when he told them, silent protests shot from both arms and the back of his head.

Nina grabbed my clothes and puffed her cheeks out, and Stella grabbed hers as well and looked at me with glazed eyes. And Ratz hugged me tightly on the back of my head.

…Mmm.

“Aria-nee, aren’t you going to stop Nina and the others?”

“Hmm… Gray-san looks happy, so I wondered what to do.”

I can hear the conversation between Fio and Ariamel.

“Uh, I thought that he was supposed to be angry…?”

Mia mixes in their conversation.

“Yes”

“……I can’tt understand at all”

“Mia… look, that’s someone that only we can understand…”

Ares responds to Mia’s words in an unfamiliar way.

Well, they say I look like I’m in a bad mood even when I think I’m acting normal….Even if I’m trying to look happy, it doesn’t work.

“Sorry, I kept you waiting.”

Later, after I managed to calm Nina and the others down, I went outside, and Sasha was standing in the same pose and in the same place as before..

“No, it’s okay. I’m the one who suddenly barged in. Let’s go to the guild right away.”

“Oh”

Then the two of them headed to the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Gray-san”

“Huh?”

On the way, Sasha, who had been silent until then, opens her mouth.

“… It’s strange to say something like this as someone who asked for a request. Please don’t push yourself too hard.”

“What is this all of a sudden?”

“No, it’s just that it’s natural… I thought that Gray-san had a place to go home, and that there were people waiting for Gray-san to return.”

It’s rare for her to say such a thing. Sasha basically treats adventurers as a job and does not take on more than necessary.

……Could it be that the conversation at the house just now could be heard outside?

“Of course, I know that.”

I was a little curious, but it was kind of embarrassing to hear about it, so I answered briefly.

―――――

“Hey, are they there?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what they look like, and I don’t know if they’re boys or girls, so there’s no way to find them.”

In the woods not far from Bastok. There was a group of people surrounding a fire

A large carriage was parked on the side, and children’s sobbing voices could be heard coming from inside it. Children kidnapped from neighboring towns and villages were trapped there.

“That’s why you kidnap kids at random to show them.”

“And what if they’re all different? You’re not going to put them back where they came from, are you?”

“Well, if it’s not the same, they’ll buy them from me. I don’t know what they use them for, and I’m not interested.”

“Hmm…well, whatever it is, I don’t want to work for free.”

The man then yells, “Shut up, May!” and kicks the carriage, yelling at him.

“Hey, stop it. Didn’t you hear what they said? We don’t know under what conditions they will awaken their skills. And depending on what skills they awaken, we could be in danger.”

Hearing this, the man grimly clicks his tongue.

“Ahhh…I want to sell these kids off and have a nice drink.”

“I agree. It’s about time the guilds and the lords of Bastok knew about this.”

They had been doing this kind of work for a long time and knew when to call it quits.

It was supposed to be.