NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11: Request
Time passed, and the day of the long-awaited exam had finally arrived.
The details and assignments for the test had been notified to all the new recruits three days prior, so the place was swarming with them since the early morning.
The thing is…
These new recruits hadn’t stepped outside of the knight training facility in almost six months. Whether noble or commoner, rank didn’t matter—none of them had left the premises.
Perhaps because of that, despite it being exam day, there was an air of excitement among the recruits. They had been carefully preparing since the announcement day, eager to be the first ones to depart this morning.
It seemed like a yearly tradition, as none of the instructors showed any intention of reprimanding them.
And as for us…
“———So, this is Kagechi Village… It’s bigger than I expected.”
“Yeah, it feels more like a town than a village, doesn’t it?”
We had arrived at the village where our client was waiting, just a few hours after sunrise. We were now marvelling at how the village was more developed and spacious than we had imagined.
“I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”
“What a coincidence, I’ve got a strong feeling things are going to get messy. I mean, this place seems big enough to hire at least one or two stationed knights.”
Stationed knights, in short, are lower-ranking knights dispatched by the knight order to protect towns or territories that are large enough and have sufficient tax revenue to afford them. The number of knights varies depending on the town’s size and wealth, but for a village this big, having a stationed knight wouldn’t be surprising.
To put the size of Kagechi Village into perspective, it’s about two-thirds the size of Disneyland. That’s rather large for a village in this mediaeval-like world.
“Well, no point in mulling over it. Let’s head to the client.”
“…Yeah…”
“If you act like that in front of the client, you’re gonna get a fist to the face.”
“Let’s go, my fair mademoiselle.”
Please, spare me from the fist!
———
Several minutes passed.
Eresdia-Sama and I had arrived at the house of the client, Ager, the village chief, who was a frail-looking man in his late thirties.
“———Right, let’s punch him.”
“Eek!?”
“I’d love to agree, but hold back. If we hit the client, we’ll be the ones punished. But… if he trips and falls, that’s another story, right?”
“Eeeeeek!?”
The contents of the request he explained nearly pushed me to take action. As the trembling village chief cowered in fear, I slammed my fist onto the wooden desk.
“Hey! What the hell is with this difference in the request details!? ‘Multiple mid-tier monsters’ you said? Now it turns out we’re dealing with ‘a group of bandits suspected of controlling multiple mid-tier monsters’? This is outright false reporting! Even a scam artist would be shocked!”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!!”
The village chief, now on his knees, was rubbing his head against the floor in apology. It was a pathetic sight, but for those of us tasked with the job, this was unacceptable.
“We’re done here. This is beyond our capacity.”
“Yeah, I have to agree this time…”
As I waved my hand dismissively and began to pack up, Eresdia, rubbing her chin, nodded with a grim expression.
Of course, she would. It’s one thing to deal with multiple mid-tier monsters, but we’re talking about bandits using them as familiars. According to the village chief, there were different types of monsters being controlled, and at least two handlers involved, though the information was vague and lacking.
Facing a superior enemy without sufficient intel and knowing there are more of them than us—it’s practically suicide.
“Eresdia-Sama, what should we do in this situation? Did you bring any communication devices?”
“No, there aren’t any. We’d have to send a letter, which would take at least three days. Until then, we’d have no choice but to wait.”
“———W-wait! Are you going to abandon the request!? Please, I beg you, help us! I’ll accept any punishment for falsifying the report! But please, please save my daughter…!!”
Interrupting our conversation about reporting to the instructors, the village chief suddenly burst into tears, mentioning something that caught my attention.
…Wait, their daughter…?
Could she be a hostage?
That information was too significant to ignore. Glancing at Eresdia-Sama, I saw that she, too, was frowning, deep in thought. She didn’t seem eager to abandon the request.
Yeah, I knew you’d get caught up in this too… Damn it!
With a deep sigh, I looked at the tearful village chief.
“…There aren’t any high-level mages, are there?”
“!? O-of course not! We’ve never seen anyone use magic other than monster taming!”
“Is that so…”
The village chief looked up at me with wide eyes, while Eresdia-Sama, finding the situation amusing, smirked.
“It’s rare for you to take interest. Aren’t you usually shaking in your boots?”
“I’m still shaking. I’m more scared now than before.”
But still, still!
It feels wrong to turn a blind eye when someone’s daughter’s life is in danger! And if we don’t do something and those girls die, we’ll be blamed, won’t we? Besides, if there are no high-level mages involved, we probably won’t die either… Seriously, this world is just too unreasonable!
“…Sorry, Eresdia-Sama, I need your help. There’s no way I can handle this alone.”
I scratched my head and, with a serious expression, turned to Eresdia.
To my surprise, she smiled warmly.
“Hehe, it’s rare to see you this motivated… Besides, I owe you from that duel. ——Of course, I’ll help.”
“Sorry for being selfish.”
“I’ve gotten used to it after these past six months, so it’s fine.”
Eresdia teased playfully, her usual stern demeanour now seeming like a lie.
But anyway…
I squatted down and looked the village chief straight in the eyes.
“———Alright, spill everything you know. We’ll see what we can do… for your daughter, at least.”
With that, I accepted the request.