Chapter 27

Xiao Ming followed the man.

At the gate, because of the big commotion we caused, most of the men glared at us along the way.

Just from what I could see, there were nearly a hundred of them, and all of them were glaring at me.

"What's with these guys, they're so annoying," Colette said frankly.

I agreed with her.

I did what I was told to do, yet this was really infuriating.

I was thinking about causing some more trouble when—

Suddenly, it felt as if the temperature of the place dropped instantly.

The warmth that had been there a moment ago was replaced by a freezing, wintry atmosphere that enveloped the surroundings.

Then—the men who were glaring at me all shrank back at once.

Some of their faces stiffened, some collapsed, and a few even wet themselves.

Most of them seemed to be afraid of something.

"Chris?"

There was only one person it could be.

I turned around and faced Chris.

"Hehehe, I just gave them a light glare," Chris said.

"Light?" I asked.

"Just a little tease. If I were to get serious, these punks would have their hearts paralyzed and be sent to the other side by now," Chris said cheerfully.

Indeed...

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem, we're heart friends, aren't we?" Chris replied.

"Yeah, still, thanks," I said.

"Hehehehehe."

Chris laughed even more cheerfully than usual and poked my head with her claw.

She was trying to pat me, I guess.

By the way, for a medium-sized Chris, one of her claws was about as thick as my head—or rather, my neck.

"You... you..." the man in front of us said.

"Hm? Oh."

When I looked forward, the boss-like man had stopped and turned to glare at me.

"What... what is that monster...?" he asked.

"He's my companion," I replied.

"I wasn't told you had such a monster," he said.

"Is that so?"

I answered indifferently.

I could have said something like, "Why should I reveal all my cards?" but even that seemed too much trouble.

"Anyway, tell me about the job. How far do we need to go?" I asked.

"..."

The man clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Here is fine," he said.

"Is it okay here?" I asked.

"Hmph! Hey!"

The man signaled to one of his subordinates nearby and nodded his head.

The subordinate ran off in the direction we were heading, probably to guide us.

"Why did we stop here?" Emma asked, voicing a natural question.

Chris answered her.

"They probably don't want us to go any further," Chris said.

"Why not?" Emma asked.

"Inviting us deeper into their territory would take a lot of courage. They probably decided against it because they couldn't control my heart friend completely," Chris explained.

"Oh..."

Emma thought for a moment.

"I get it! They're afraid of Cyril," she said.

"Hehehe, exactly," Chris laughed.

"Hmm, inviting us in and then saying that," Emma said.

"I've seen it before. Women who invite men in and then later scream 'assaulted!'"

"Hey, hey..."

Louise made a rather harsh comparison.

It was similar, but... well, it was "exactly" that.

While I was nodding in agreement with Louise's analogy, the group from earlier came back.

They carried several boxes.

The boxes were lined up in front of the boss.

"This is the stuff," he said.

"Got it," I replied.

"Take this to a man named Gigoo in the city of Mannowar," he said.

"Just take it there?" I asked.

"Right. But Mannowar has a city wall and a checkpoint at the entrance. You'll need to figure that out," he said.

"Understood," I replied.

"Get your pay from Gigoo," he said.

"Got it," I nodded.

"Anything else?"

I asked.

The job itself was simple—just deliver the goods to a specified location—but since the goods were what they were, I asked if there were any precautions.

"Go to hell after you're done."

The response was a childish curse.

☆

"What a jerk, so annoying!" Colette said.

"Yeah, it's really annoying," Emma agreed.

"I would have bitten them if Master hadn't stopped me," Colette added.

On the way from the fort to the designated city of Mannowar, Colette, Louise, and Emma were all quite angry, to varying degrees.

"Was it okay to let them say that, Master?"

Louise asked me, who was riding on her back.

"Yeah, if Master had said something, we would have," Emma added.

"It's fine, let them say what they want," I replied.

"But..."

"Hehehehe, you're young," Chris laughed, chiding the three of them.

"Learn from your heart friend. Not being affected by such small fry is a sign of a great heart," Chris said.

"I understand, but..."

"Hmm?"

Chris's eyes widened.

She seemed to find it interesting that Emma was directly contradicting her.

"I can endure anything said to me, but I can't stand insults to someone I respect," Emma said.

"Hehehehe, you got me there," Chris laughed even harder.

"Yes, you're right," Chris acknowledged.

"Cyril, can I go back and—"

"Come on, come on, it's fine. It's not worth wasting time on such things," I said.

"...If that's what you think, Cyril," Emma reluctantly agreed.

Louise and Colette, who seemed to share the same sentiment, also lost their momentum at the same time.

"Anyway, let's focus on getting the Dragon's Tear safely into the city," I said.

"Right, there's a checkpoint, right?" Emma asked.

"What's this checkpoint?" Colette asked Emma.

"Yes, in large cities, checkpoints are sometimes set up to manage and restrict the entry and exit of people and goods," Emma explained.

"You know a lot about this," I said.

"I've been to such cities a few times when I was in Lindwurm," Emma replied.

"Ah, I see."

I understood.

Compared to Louise and Colette, Emma, who is usually more reserved, tends to be "overlooked."

This has become even more pronounced since Chris arrived.

I sometimes forget, but originally, Emma worked in Lindwurm and has far more job experience than Louise and Colette.

Being a combat-oriented Smey species, she has probably been through more battles than I can imagine.

She even had the nerve to say she would charge into the fort alone earlier...

"Anyway, if the Dragon's Tear is found at the checkpoint, it will be a big problem," Emma said, looking at Colette.

Right now, all the Dragon's Tear is in Colette's stomach.

Colette, a Mushfush species with three storage stomachs, is good at transporting things.

"At a checkpoint, they'll probably check your stomach first," Louise said.

Mushfush species' stomachs are well-known to checkpoint personnel.

"...What should we do?" Colette asked me.

Her tone was not much different from usual, but she seemed a bit anxious.

"Don't worry, I have a plan," I said.

"Hehehehe, as expected of my heart friend. So, what's the plan?" Chris asked.

"First..."

☆

At the entrance to the city of Mannowar, a wall surrounded the city, much like a fort's wall.

There was a gate, of course.

A line had formed, and the gatekeepers were conducting inspections.

"Let's do it as planned," I said, turning to the four of them.

Among the four, Chris, Louise, and Emma were in their usual forms, but Colette was inflated to nearly three times her normal size, almost as big as the medium-sized Chris.

"Are you okay, Colette?" I asked.

"Who do you think I am? This is nothing," Colette said confidently.

She didn't seem to be in any discomfort despite her volume tripling.

I was once again reminded of the Mushfush species' incredible capabilities.

"Let's go," I said and started walking with the four of them.

I got off Louise's back and walked on my own feet.

"Stop."

When we reached the gate, a guard stopped us.

We stopped.

Two guards approached us.

They stared intently at me and Colette, especially Colette.

"You're a Dragon Knight. Name and guild?" the guard asked.

"Cyril Arrows. Guild is 'Dragon First'," I replied, showing my guild card.

One of the guards took it and checked it.

The other guard came in front of Colette.

"You're a Mushfush species, right? What's in your stomach?"

"Nothing much," I replied.

"That's for us to decide. Show us," the guard said.

"Here?"

"Yes."

"All of it?"

"Of course."

"Hmm, well, we're already at the city, so it's fine."

I patted Colette's leg casually, being careful not to be too theatrical.

Colette opened her mouth and vomited.

Water gushed out of her mouth like a small waterfall.

The sudden outpouring soaked the guards and me up to our ankles.

The water spread, and people nearby exclaimed in surprise.

Naturally, the guards closest to us were the most shocked.

"What is this!?"

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

"It's water. Water is essential for travel."

"But do you need this much?"

"What are you talking about? You need water to drink, wash your face, make tea, and boil noodles."

"Boil noodles?"

One of the guards exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.

"What, you boil noodles for camping?"

"Of course. It's a hassle to throw out the boiling water. If you pour it carelessly, it gets sticky—"

"Enough, that's enough."

The guard cut me off.

By then, Colette had vomited out "all the water."

I said, "I've vomited it all out. Is this okay?"

The guard glanced at Colette.

Colette, having vomited all the water, had returned to her normal Mushfush size.

There was still "a little bit" left in her stomach, but compared to before, she was much closer to her normal size.

"That's enough, get going," the guard said.

"Yes. Oh, when we buy water in this city—"

"Ask the merchants in the city!"

The guard, annoyed, pushed us into the city.

We entered the city.

Once inside, we moved away from the entrance.

"Cyril, that was amazing, they didn't even check us," Emma said.

"It's not something you can use every time, it's more like a one-time trick," I replied.

"Still, it was amazing!!" Emma said, and Louise and Chris also looked impressed.

In any case, we had successfully entered the city with the Dragon's Tear.