Chapter 312

Chapter 312: 312

The River Town of Donsama (South Side)

After crossing the river and heading back into Donsama proper, I headed straight the the inn since I’d tired myself out . I slept soundly, falling asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow, and kept at it until just before we left the next morning .

Maaan can I get some nice sleep after tuckering myself out .

“I don’t see anything different between the north and south sides, are they really different?”

“The adventurer guilds aren’t a part of the conflict at least, so that’s all that matters for us . ”

The whole thing’s inconsequential for travelers like us though .

At most we just had to plaster smiles on ourselves while listening to people say stuff like [Oh, you were in the north side yesterday? My goodness! It was so much more warm and comfortable down here, can’t you tell?] . Like heck we can!

“Alright, so we’ll be leaving Donsama today—is there anything we’re forgetting?”

“I ate fish from the carts and some more for dinner . I’m greeeeat, plus I can just get some more on the way back if I think of somethin’!”

“I’d expect nothing less, Ichika-san . What about you, Kehma-san?”

“I’m good . Now we’re just going to accept a commission from the adventurer guild yeah?”

“What about solving the inn parent-child duo’s discord?”

“Pass . ”

With that out of the way, we went to South Donsama’s adventurer guild . Wataru had delivered the luggage he got from North Donsama’s adventurer guild some time beforehand, so we just accepted a delivery commission heading for the capital without much happening .

Just as we were all about to head back outside, someone called out Wataru’s name .

“Wataru-sama . Someone asked for you specifically for an escort commission to Corky . Would you like to accept it? The person you would be escorting is a merchant . ”

“Hmm? What do you think, Kehma-san?”

Wait, you’re asking me?—is what I first though, but then I remembered that I’d already hired Wataru to be my escort .

In that case, I—the client—had the power to make the decision . By the way, Corky was the name of the next big town on the way to the capital at around three days away by coach .

“The coach’s already too cramped to bring another person . ”

“They have their own . ”

Wataru spoke while looking at the commission ticket he received from the receptionist .

By the way, the reason the receptionist already knew that Corky was our next destination was because Wataru came here saying [We’re planning on heading to Corky next on our way to the capital, are there any delivery commissions we could take?] . Nothing about it seemed suspicious, but…

“Why’d they nominate Wataru directly? Wouldn’t it be a good bit more expensive to request a hero directly?”

“It happens occasionally . They could have something that requires a hero, or perhaps their very goal is to be escorted by a hero . ”

So some people just want to get closer to a hero? I see . He’s a bit off, but he is a hero… Still though, it just feels like one gold for a three-day escort by Wataru is expensive .

“Well, it says that it will be switched into an ordinary escort commission asking for an appropriate adventurer if it isn’t accepted, so Kehma-san, let me know whatever you decide . ”

“I guess it’s fine . If you get onto the merchant’s coach, that just means we’ll have one less person on ours . ”

“Aww… alright, fine . ”

Saying that, Wataru went back to the receptionist to accept the commission . The merchant was delighted and asked to shake Wataru’s hands, to which Wataru responded .

… So I guess there’s these kinds of commissions too .

With that, Wataru finished greeting the merchant and came back as the merchant looked as if they were in a rush to head outside .

“He asked for us to wait a little longer so he can fetch more goods to bring . ”

“Alright . I guess it makes sense for him to want to bring more now that he knows a hero’s going to escort him, not to mention that he’d want to bring more to recoup his losses from the nomination fee . ”

“Well, Corky’s public security isn’t too bad in the first place… But I heard there was an eyewitness report about a band of thieves stalking the area, so I figured that it was a great chance since it said the merchant has four wagons . ”

Oh, so he wants to fish out some thieves . Which means that him accepting the escort this time is for the sake of fighting people…?

“Kehma-san, have you killed anyone before? If not, don’t feel like you have to push yourself . ”

I have as a Dungeon Master, but that’s indirectly…

If I was attacked by a thief… I could probably do it? Hmm . Let’s not worry about it .

“By the way, it’s common for C-Ranks to be escorts… that is, they’re at a level that are able to fight thieves, robbers and the like . Kehma-san, I know you’re D-Rank, but do you think you’ll manage?”

“As long as no big shot comes out, probably . I’d be able to stall if I get surrounded, so make sure you save me if it looks dangerous, yeah?”

“Got it, leave it to me . ”

I didn’t just have to rely on the clothes golem, I had magic too . I figured I could manage one way or another .

Gozoh and Roppu were C-Rank, and Ichika was formerly one, so they should be fine… and Meat’s even stronger than Ichika so she should be fine . The problem’s actually whether or not she’d be able to hold back enough to not kill them .

By the way, it also seems like our coachman has the strength of a C-Rank adventurer, too . As expected of an aristocrat’s coachman .

I guess the only problem’s Rokuko? She has a clothes golem, but I can’t picture her actually fighting . She’s wearing a rapier, but it’s just a decoration right?

… Is Rokuko, a non-human, the most typical person among us?

… Let’s have Ichika guard her .

“Alright, shall we wait at the meeting area, the south gate?”

“Yeah . ”

*

And that’s why we decided to wait at the south gate out of Donsama toward the capital .

Ichika headed out with Meat for some nearby stalls to procure food… I thought she said she didn’t forget to eat?

“Still though, getting a nomination commission… Wataru really is famous, isn’t he?”

“He is a hero, after all . ”

“It’s kind of strange since we see him all the time at our inn though . ”

Hearing Rokuko and I chat with each other about him, Wataru hopped into our conversation .

“Were you talking about me just now?”

“We were, we were . About how totally different people treat you in and out of our village . ”

“Golen’s special . Because the village chief is Kehma-san . ”

Wataru spoke as if it was my fault . Rokuko even nodded in agreement . Why tho .

Me being the village chief has nothing to do with it… I mean, I’m just a figurehead . Heck, Village Sub-Chief Wozuma, Receptionist-san from the adventurer guild, even Gozoh as the adventurer representative had more authority than me .

“While we’re on the topic of the village, how’s it going with you and Nerune?”

“Oh, it’s going great! Nerune-san said she’d go on a date with me to Tsuia next time she has an opening in her schedule . So, Rokuko-san, please give Nerune a vacation . Actually, she needs money, so please raise her pay too . ”

“Oh well… I guess I’ll just have to give Nerune a holiday the next time you come by, Wataru! I’ll lend you her . ”

“Thank you very much!”

Huh? Nerune’s always on holiday whenever Wataru comes . She should be able to do whatever she wants with him .

And it’s not like there’d be any issue with her going on a date with him to Tsuia… eh, whatever .

A while later, the merchant we’d be escorting arrived .

He had four covered wagons . They looked like they were loaded with a lot of goods . From what I heard, his [Storage] is filled up too… But wouldn’t the wagons get stuck from being so weighed down?

Let’s stop there . I get the feeling I’ll raise some flag if I keep up that train of thought .

“Alright, Mr . Hero-sama, my safety is in your hands . ”

“Yeah, leave it to me . We’d even be able to deal with a dragon, so don’t worry about it . ”

“That is very reassuring . ”

The merchant then bowed his head toward us as well . We look forward to working with you for the next three days .

We took the merchant and exited the gate, leaving for the next town .

Although Wataru predicted that we’d be attacked… even if we were, he would probably go so hard that he’d take them all out himself .