CH 185

“Okay, I’m sorry, I’m done cleaning up, so you can have a seat.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“Drinking standing up isn’t so bad, but you know, you’re legs is ……”

“So you’re treating me like an old man! Ha-ha-ha!”

“Ha-ha-ha!”

A few moments after the commotion, the waitresses and employees cleaned up and we sat down in front of a man named Conrad instead of the men who had run away, and Basleigh-sensei made a toast.

“Cheers to meeting new people!”

“We just toasted our departure, teacher.”

“You can make as many toasts as you like you know, Makina-chan!”

“Oh, I see ……”

“Don’t be fooled, Makina-chan. and please don’t say random things, Basleigh-sensei? Oh, I’m sorry, my name is Lars.”

“I’m Makina.”

As we greeted each other, Conrad placed his mug on the table, looked at us alternately, and then opened his mouth.

“I’m Conrad, as you may have heard before. On top of showing such an unsightly scene, you also saved me, thank you.”

“No, we didn’t do anything special. And I don’t want there to be any bloodshed in our territory, either. I don’t mean to be rude, but it looks like you were originally from Oriola territory?”

When I said that, Conrad-san narrowed his eyes and looked at me, answering my question and asking me a question.

“It is true that I was an adventurer in Oriola territory until a few months ago. Anyway, what do you mean by our territory?”

“It’s–“

As I tried to explain, Basleigh-sensei, who was sitting next to me, narrowed her one eye at me over a beer and said with a laugh.

“Puh-ha! This is Lars Irving, the second son of the lord of the Gust territory.”

“What!?”

“Haha, well, that’s why it’s our territory. I can’t say it out loud because my father and brother run it, though? Anyway, what’s the deal with those guys?”

“I’m a former teacher at Oblivion Academy, and I, Basleigh, am twenty-six years old.”

“Hey, Basleigh-sensei, please don’t interrupt. It sounded like you were kicked out ……”

Makina seemed to have heard her correctly and asked her what she wanted to say. He looked thoughtful for a moment, but then Conrad spoke.

“…… I can’t say it out loud too, but those are adventurers from Oriola Territory who I partied with. We were investigating the cause of the destruction of crops in response to a certain request, and we …… no, I figured out the cause.”

“Hoh~ ……”

Basleigh-sensei’s eyes gleam with sparkle. She listened to Conrad, wondering if this had anything to do with her being called to the castle.

“Do you know that there is a tree monster in the forest called ‘Treant’? They’ve been increasing in number and affecting the village. We told the lord about it, but for some reason the Lord forbids us to tell it to anyone. Our friends, who approved of it, and I decided that it would be a bad idea to leave it as it was, so I asked them to form a team to take it down. But here’s the result.”

“Treant …… I’ve never seen one of these, though I know of them from my classes …… They’re so good at mimicry that it’s hard to find them, right, Makina?”

“That’s right. I heard the story was famous because the woodcutter who was startled when he tried to cut down a tree with his axe.”

But they are not carnivores, so they do not attack humans, and they are weak against fire, so it is not difficult to defeat them, Verna-sensei told me.

“Doesn’t look like we need to form a strike force, right ……?”

I ask, taking a sip of my beer, and Basleigh-sensei opens her mouth, snorting.

“That’s naive, Lars-kun. Treant is good mimicry, which means it’s hard to find. Of course, there are some here in Gust territory, but they are not so easy to find because they are properly handled by adventurers, you know? Now, based on that, Oriola’s territory didn’t put much effort into defeating the monsters, right? “

“I’m ashamed to admit it, but, not really.”

Basleigh-sensei nodded her head in satisfaction and continued.

“So, I’m sure that’s the reason for the increase in the number of Treants, and if you continue to leave Treants that are hard to find without hunting them, they will increase. It’s not easy to kill Treants with ordinary requests. You can even burn down the forest faster.”

“Heh~ …… Oh, but Conrad said he ‘found’ it, but can Treants be found?”

While Makina was admiring Basleigh-sensei’s fluent speech, she suddenly became curious and asked Conrad about it. Conrad replied with a serious look on his face.

“My skill is called [Detect Presense], so I can sense the presence of people and monsters around me when I stop and concentrate, even when they’re mimicking. So now that there are too many of them, I thought now would be the time to get rid of them.”

He seems to have quite an interesting skill. It’s true that if you can tell a Treant from a normal tree, you can get by with Conrad taking the lead.

…… But the lord did not do it. What’s the trouble with that ……?

“I’ve proposed it to them several times, but none have worked, and I’ve been kicked out by them who started to think less of me.”

“But there is still the possibility of Treants increasing, isn’t there? Then it should be easier to defeat them ……”

“There’s no reason to refuse.”

“Gulp-gulp …… Fuha~, then, let’s ask him directly, shall we?”

As we were arguing, Basleigh-sensei, on one elbow, smiled at us. Conrad says in a confused manner.

“But they’re just adventurers, and I don’t think there’s much difference of information between them and me ……?”

“No, no, it’s just the person who refused to listen! Hiccup.”

“By “refused”, do you mean …… the Lord?”

“As expected of Lars-kun, you understood it quickly! That’s right. And, I’d like to check something, after all?”

“You want to check something ……?”

When Makina gulped, Basleigh-sensei looked at Conrad with moist eyes and opened his mouth.

“Um …… Conrad-san, how old are you?”

“What? I’m twenty-eight ……”

“Yes!”

“That’s what you want to check?”

Basleigh-sensei chuckled as she sipped her beer and asked Conrad a series of questions. I don’t think you should ask him how much money he makes, though ……

Well, you’re right about asking the lord something. The increase in the number of monsters may have an effect on the neighboring Gust territory in no small way. It’s not a border, so it’s basically a continuation of the land.

Now, let’s make some moves to reduce the burden on Dad and the others, shall we?

It’s almost three o’clock …… Good night!

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“What’s your feedback?”

I’m too busy for that ……

“Work like a horse! You don’t have time to go to the hospital!”

What the hell are you saying!?