Chapter 29: CH 29

“A‘right, that’s the story. Let’s all be careful, okay~”

I concluded my story, but the children didn’t respond cheerfully like usual.

“Hm? Was the story not interesting?”

“It’s wasn’t funny or interesting!”

“It made me really nervous~”

“What if another Orbazard King appears…”

Apparently, my story made the children afraid that their hunting would attract an Orbazard King. The effect was too strong for a cautionary tale… While I was asking myself how I would recover from this mistake, Ludo-san patted the children’s heads with a bitter smile. Ah, Himeko saw an opportunity and offered his head for Ludo-san to stroke.

“Don’t worry, I’ve lived here all my life and I’d never seen it before that time.”

“Right, right, everything will be fine if you don’t bully the orbazards. You rarely see such violent creatures around here…”

ZUuUuoooOoo … 

“How could it appear?…”

ZUUuuUuooOoOOOoo … 

Uhhh– What was that? What’s this?

Déjà vu?

“Sumire, you liar!!!”

“Hyaaaaa! I’m sca~ared…”

“…… !!”

Before we knew it, we were running for our lives. Why did it come to this?!!

Ludo-san, holding hands with Liliana and Leonardo, ran in the direction of the river with myself, holding hands with Marth and the himekoryuu, chasing after them. Only the himekoryuu looked any bit happy, wagging his tail and going “kue~kue~”. Quick-footed creatures are so nice and easygoing!

The children’s feet weren’t as fast as the adults’, but thanks to their new adventuring experiences, they put up a good fight and, more importantly, we were getting very close to the river. Just as the familiar-sounding rumbling was about to catch up to us, we crossed it.

… it was hardly a river — more like a trickle.

“Oi, is this the river?!”

“But I can step right over it?”

“Rainy season… It hasn’t come…”

The river in the forest, where the weather had been mild, was dispirited and unreliable compared to its state before winter. After hopping over what was left of the river, we turned around.

Shortly after us, an Orbazard King emerged from the thick weaves of branches and vines. Facing us with its elephant-like nose, it looked about 3 meters high.

ZuuUOOo… it went, then it stomped on the ground for a bit, and then… it stopped.

“We, We’re safe… I hope.”

Orbazards hated even the morning dew, staying inactive until the sun rose completely, but the Orbazard King was apparently no more comfortable with water. I let out a sigh of relief together with Ludo-san, who had drawn his sword.

“It’sss sooo big!”

“W, We didn’t bully you~”

“We can’t get back home…”

“Strange… Why did the Orbazard King suddenly attack us?”

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We hadn’t even begun hunting the orbazards yet. The last time we were attacked, it appeared in response to the screams of the little orbazards, but of course there weren’t any of those this time around.

On the other side of the river, flowing feebly, the Orbazard King was standing still and staring at us. It dug its heels into the riverbank, perhaps frustrated, but as long as it stayed there, we were stuck on this side of the river and couldn’t get back to town.

It was on the town-side of the river last time, too. Was it the same Orbazard King, still hanging around? Was it reacting to the scent of me and Ludo-san? Or was it because it somehow knew I was telling a story about it?

Whatever the reason, there was no Puipui-chan with us this time, and the area around Puipui-chan was evidently the only safe space back then. Without that space, it wouldn’t be possible to slip past the Orbazard King a second time.

The himekoryuu would be able to shake the Orbazard King off its path and escape, but he wouldn’t be able to send a message to the guild. And anyway, he was already busy, happily exploring our surroundings.

If it were Su, we could fly away, but the sun was still high in the sky. It would be some hours yet before Fikar came back to town with her after delivering their load.

Hiding the children in our shadows, Ludo-san and I talked with our eyes.

What’s the plan?

Don’t have one.

Yeah, me neither.

While continuing our conversation, I took out an incense amulet from the pouch at my waist and threw it towards the Orbazard King. Technically, it had the effect of keeping small monsters at bay while attracting large ones, but as expected, the Orbazard King kept growling lowly and didn’t even look at it. After all, the amulet was made so that its wearer could evade detection, so it wasn’t much help in the case where a monster was already locked onto the user.

“If it gets too late, someone from the guild will come looking for us… but that’s also dangerous since they might get attacked on that side.”

“It’s the same with smoke signals. I hope Fikar returns quickly.”

“Will he know we’re here?”

“Su has good ears, so she might notice if we call out to her.”

Hearing what we were saying, the children started shouting Su’s name all at once. No, no, she’s still far away… I tried calming them down, but it only got noisier when the himekoryuu joined in. They did quiet down when the Orbazard King let out a louder growl, though.

“Yikes! It’s mad!”

“Sumire-chan, noo~!”

“… How are we going to scare it off?”

“Wait until it gives up or… ahhh~ I wish Puipui-chan was here.”

As I muttered that with a sign, the Orbazard King let out its loudest groan yet. The children shut their mouths and ran behind me and Ludo-san, clinging onto our shirts. The groaning and roaring continued for about a minute, even shaking the leaves on the ground in the area.

Suddenly, Ludo-san looked at me. Then he looked back at the Orbazard King and muttered something.

“… this guy, isn’t it him? Puipui-chan?”

“Eh?”

When the name of Puipui-chan came out of Ludo-san’s mouth, it was so mismatched with the situation before our eyes that I laughed a little to myself. In the meantime, Ludo-san pointed in the direction of the Orbazard King.

“Look, that scar over there… Doesn’t it look like the one made by the sword that time?”

On the Orbazard King’s right shoulder, a white line ran diagonally on its tough carapace-like skin. I don’t really remember that detail, but thinking about it, it may have been the fault of one of the guards the noble-boy brought along.

However, only half a year had passed since then. Was it really possible that Puipui-chan, who was small enough for me to hold in my arms, grew into a 3-meter-tall heavyweight in so little time?

Leaving the terrified children with Ludo-san, I nervously approached the Orbazard King. Standing in front of me across a river that could be crossed in a single step, it extended its elephant-like nose towards me. Covered in hard skin, its nose let out a gust of air. It traced the edges of my face, then popped into my outstretched hand. It was large, heavy, and rough, and air rushed in and out with each breath it took.

“… Puipui-chan?”

With a loud roar, the Orbazard King’s tail swung through the grass around it.

Ah– So this is what an emotional reunion feels like.

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