Mistral must also be keenly interested in this incident. She want to see it through for herself. These bandits were trying to do bad things while calling themselves dragon tribesmen. As a real dragon tribesmen, there’s no way Mistral will stay silent.

“Captain,”

The patrol soldiers finally appear. You’re all way too late.

“Ah, you all, go round up all of them lying around here.”

“W-what happened here?”

The patrol soldiers are shocked upon seeing the more than twenty buff men collapsed on the ground,.

“What, that’s not a big deal. For now, take them away. I will…”

Ludriad-san looks at us.

“I guess I’ll go home and drink today.”

“Ha?”

Even when everyone directs a cold gaze at Ludriad-san, he laughs loudly.

“It’s already night. If we are going to move, let’s do it tomorrow.”

“Us too, should we head back for the night?”

I want to go there immediately, but right now I should probably stay patient. I decided to follow Mistral, who can judge things calmly, and Ludriad-san, who seems like he has approved our traveling with him. Ruiseine nods, expressing that she also agrees.

“Nnmtto, Priscilla is hungry.”

“Nyaa~”

Priscilla-chan’s belly growls. That’s right, we haven’t had our dinner yet.

“It looks we’ve come to an agreement. Now then, let me know where you are staying. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning.”

“Okay,”

I tell Ludriad-san the name of the inn and he leave without helping the patrol soldiers. Geez, that person is seriously unmotivated to do anything. We all look at each other with strained smiles. Thus, we also leave the matter to the patrol soldiers and return to the highway. I was worried they would detained us, but they let us leave without any trouble. I did feel them glancing as us, though.

Upon returning to the highway, we find a suitable restaurant for and then head back to the inn. This is my first time sharing a room with girls, but I am not excited at all. Instead, I spend the whole night thinking about Ristia. The girls don’t say much to each other either. We all turn in early.

Priscilla-chan and Nymia feel asleep right after dinner. They must have been exhausted with everything that happened today. As for me, I can’t sleep. Morning comes without me even noticing.

Next morning—

We check out from the inn early and depart with Ludriad-san who came to pick us up as promised. Priscilla-chan seems to still be sleepy. She is dozing within Mistral’s arms.

Actually, I wanted for Pricilla-chan to stay some place safe. Unfortunately, no one wanted to stay behind as her babysitter. Mistral rejected the role on the grounds that she would worry about me. Ruiseine, on the other hand, complained about being treated as an outcast despite all we’ve already been though. Seriously, treating girls is very hard.

Since it can’t be helped, we bring Priscilla-chan together with us. Naturally, Nymia as well. Still, if I’m being honest, being near Mistral is the safest place for her to be. Ludriad-san was puzzled upon discovering we’d be traveling with a child, but relents upon hearing Mistral will be responsible for her.

Ludriad-san alone came to pick us up.

“A small, select, group should be enough, right?”

That’s what he said, but I wonder how he determined our strength. Also, if he says that without bringing any of his subordinates along, won’t that imply that everyone in his patrol unit is very weak?

Ludriad-san is just as irresponsible as always. While he wore some fine armor last night, today he isn’t wearing any at all. He’s in just his casual clothes. All he carries is a magic sword by his waist. Other than that, he’s empty handed, not even bringing a canteen.

In comparison, we’re have a lot of luggage. Although, the cause is me. Since I brought too much useless baggage, everyone else is helping me by carrying part of it. I am really sorry.

Since we didn’t properly introduce ourselves last night, we start with exchanging our names and then take off. Apparently, Ludriad-san learned of were we need to go last night. He pulls out a map and leads the way.

So he brought a map, huh.

With a whimsical conversation, we make way down the highway. We reach the side road just before noon. After walking south for a bit, a river comes into view.

“Eetto, is it this way?”

Watching Ludriad-san lead the way while staring at a map gives me a tinge of uneasiness. Still, I choose to believe in him since he’s our guide.

The dragon forest can be seen of in the distance. Although it’s obvious, but if you travel east and then look over from the south, it will appear endless. That’s something I’ve only ever heard about before, but now that I’m seeing it with my own eyes, I’m astonished by the vastness of the dragon forest.

We take a break at noon before pressing forward again. As expected, Ludriad-san didn’t bring any lunch. As such, we all eat the rations that I brought. I’m glad that I can be a little useful.

Noon passes and we finally reach our destination. After taking cover behind a rock, we observe the situation. Before our eyes is the entrance to a cave along a steep cliff. Traces of life are there. We can see firewood along with iron kettles on the arranged stones. There’s no doubt that this is the base mentioned by that bandit.

As we are making out the situation, a young man emerges from the cave.

“Ah.”

I choke on my breath.

The one who appears is undoubtedly Ristia himself.

---

<38.1 Second Time as an Errand Boy
39.1 The Hero, Me, and Ruiseine>