Chapter 70

"Meow~"

Momo licked my cheek, and I snapped awake.

The cave was dim, but it was probably around sunrise. I was still a bit groggy, but I felt somewhat recovered.

"Rumble~"

Next to Momo, Daiger sat with his limbs neatly tucked. It seemed he had almost fully recovered. After asking, "Can I check you?" I cast <Appraisal> to confirm his condition and saw that he had the title <Tiger King>. It seemed he was the king of the tiger monsters. There were no lingering symptoms like paralysis.

Momo, responding to the king's call for help, had the title <Favored by the King>. That was odd; I had worked hard to defeat the monsters and recover, yet the credit went to Momo? Besides, Momo was a leopard, not a tiger, right? They were different species... but still a cat. And a monster.

Perhaps there was some kind of hierarchy among monsters... I should apologize to Naga for assigning titles without permission.

The large tiger, the Tiger King, followed me obediently... but I couldn't tame him, so I had to say goodbye. If Naga were here... but even then, I couldn't keep him in my current home.

"...Good morning."

When I went deeper into the cave, a blonde young man was awake. The brown-haired one didn't stir, but his body temperature had risen slightly, and he had a pulse. His condition... hadn't worsened, but it hadn't improved either.

The blue-haired one was still asleep, but his complexion had improved, and he seemed much better.

"How are they doing?"

"...I can't appraise, so I don't know... Probably the same as when you fell asleep."

"Okay. I'm heading to the town I live in. Is that alright?"

"Sure. I've thought a lot, but I can't help the two of them... If there's a chance they can be saved, I want to ask for your help."

"...I agree."

The blue-haired man, who was supposed to be asleep, slowly woke up.

After appraising him, it showed mild paralysis. The numbness hadn't completely gone away. However, his speech was just a bit slower, so it wasn't too bad.

"Crow! Are you okay!?"

"...Yeah, I'm sorry for worrying you... I'm much better... thanks to you."

"I don't think you're fully recovered, but can you walk? It will take half a day or more to get down the mountain and to the town."

"...I'll leave it to your judgment... If it's too much, just leave me behind..."

"Understood."

Crow still had mild numbness but could walk. By the way, in the morning light, I confirmed that Crow had blue hair with reddish-brown... or orange? The color changed depending on the angle. His hair was straight and beautiful, with no frizz. He tied it back at the nape of his neck, and it reflected light in a strange way.

I gave him HP potions and paralysis cure medicine with breakfast. I also tried to cast <Dispel> to remove status effects, but it was ineffective... or almost ineffective. It consumed a lot of MP, so I gave up on further treatment.

For the other one, who was unconscious, the blonde young man, Leus, was supposed to carry him...

"Arf arf!"

As a thank you for the treatment, the recovered Tiger King decided to follow us, so I decided to let him ride on his back while we descended the mountain.

If monsters appeared, I would mostly handle them.

That's because Leus and the others were level 12, which was insufficient to defeat the monsters around here.

Given their stats, the mountain monsters were too tough, so I did my best. When the Tiger King roared, many monsters fled, which reduced the number of battles, which was a relief.

At the base of the mountain, I parted ways with the Tiger King.

If I took him too close to the town, he would become a target for extermination, so I explained that I couldn't take him any further, and he obediently returned to the mountain.

If Naga were here, I could tame him, but even then, keeping him would be difficult. After all, a 4-meter tiger is scary.

Momo was howling as if to see him off, but it was going to be tough from here...

"......Do you need a hand?"

"...Sorry."

The unconscious young man, whom I thought had brown hair, actually had a unique hair color: brown with golden highlights and golden tips. He was also a beastkin, with cat ears. He might have other features, but the only thing I could see at a glance were his ears. He also had a tail, apparently...

Leus and he were both half-breeds. Leus was a dragonkin, apparently. There weren't many of them... I had never seen one before. Foreigners were rare too.

The unconscious young man was the strongest of the three, so his legs were dragging a bit... It was quite a pitiful sight.

Leus had to carry him, so Crow had to walk on his own, which looked quite painful, so I offered to support him. He was short, so it might not make walking much easier, but...

He was walking hard without complaining, so I wanted to help.

After that, we checked the entrance to the Mushroom Forest Dungeon and found a merchant selling goods. I asked the merchant for help, and we rode in a carriage back to the town.

Thanks to that, we made it to the town by nightfall.

Money... I was in the red. I had to pay for the carriage... I would have to collect the expenses later, or I couldn't afford it.

"Alright, before we get to the town, I'll confiscate your weapons and armor."

"Eh? Why?"

"Because if you have weapons and armor, things will be revealed."

"...Is it bad if our origins are known in the kingdom?"

Crow calmly handed over his weapons and armor and looked at Leus. Yes, adult-like response... or rather, he looked like an adult.

I couldn't check the contents of the foreigners, but the troublemakers I had seen before also looked like adults.

"Leus. At least in the town we're going to, people wearing that equipment won't be welcomed. Foreigners who entered illegally? Well, I'll confiscate these as payment for treatment."

"Ah, really?"

Leus reluctantly handed over his weapons and armor, and I put them in my magic bag.

...It had been a while since I had handled the initial equipment of foreigners. Mine was copper, and this was iron.

It had been a month and a half since I came to this world...

It had been three weeks since the foreigners in the town were collected, but the town hadn't fully returned to peace. The药师公会的暴走也...总之，那个镇子的不安定状态还在持续。

"...我无意给你添麻烦...需要对口供吗？"

"不。公会已经知道我去了那座山脉，所以直接告诉他们就好。冒险者公会会询问情况，所以最好如实回答。不过，最好在公会人员面前说，不要让镇上的人知道你们是外国人，以免引起敌意。"

"啊，那个...我们是从帝国来的，但既然国家不同，这里也不行吗？"

"现在要去的镇子，平民用的药正在涨价。虽然药剂师公会也有问题，但根本原因是外国人破坏了材料。"

"引起了反感？"

"镇上的人...确实如此。"

实际上，他们也可能被带到王都...但为了救另一个人，去镇上是唯一的办法。

我们在马车入口处下车。商人说搬运很麻烦，但马车在镇上太显眼了。不过，如果使用冒险者入口...也会很显眼。

不如从这里直接去教堂，更近，也不显眼。

其实，我家就在附近...但不能把他们带回家。家里有灯光，师傅还在。

无论如何，除了报酬，我会送他们一些高质量的伤药和魔丸药作为感谢。在地牢入口做生意的商人不会浪费这些。

然后，我们直接去了教堂。

"病人...可以借张床，但治疗由你来，可以吗？"

"...只要借张床就好。毕竟不能把他们带回家。"

"明白了。小姐...我不治疗，也不看，可以吗？"

"好的。"

这位神父，不知道是通过<诊疗>看到的，还是有其他原因，一看到Tiga就放弃了治疗。大概是因为他的状况太糟糕了。

虽然不是见死不救，但既然交给我，可能有什么原因吧？

"等等，Tiga..."

"Leus，闭嘴。"

"神父...我待会再过来。我们走吧。"

我们在教堂后面的一个房间的床上安置了那个昏迷的棕发青年。虽然想解释，但神父什么也没说，我也不清楚情况。

不过，没有他们在场，神父可能会解释更多...

"虽然你看起来不满意，但先去冒险者公会吧。"

"...真的没问题吗？Tiga...我们..."

"Leus，问她也无济于事。你也对不起她。"

"不，没关系..."

我们直接去了冒险者公会。虽然他们三人不是冒险者，但既然我在冒险活动中救了他们，最好报告一下。虽然一个人无能为力，但至少报告两个人。

"Marie小姐，我救了一些遇难者...该怎么办？"

"Clain小姐，遇难者吗？他们在哪？"

"在边境山区的半山腰。我在山脚下采集材料时，Momo发现了他们...或者说是Momo带我去的。"

"原来如此~...遇难者...有轻微的麻痹症状？快去医疗室。"

"啊，好的。不过，我已经治疗过他们了..."

他们被带到医疗室，接受治疗的同时，似乎也在接受询问。我也被叫到了会长的办公室...虽然被叫来了，但被晾在一边。

可能是先确认他们的情况，再确认我的情况吧？

他们那边怎么样了？没有武器和防具，看起来不像冒险者...

不知道他们会怎么解释...但会长的眉头紧锁，气氛很沉重。

"我已经听他们说了。你救了被巨蟒袭击的遇难者...能从巨蟒的巢穴中救出他们，真是了不起。"

"啊，那条大蛇突然袭击，很麻烦。"

"嗯？听说你不在的时候，小姐出现了，救了他们..."

"因为宠物的原因，发生了战斗，打败后，我们去了巢穴。不过，可能没告诉他们？"

我只做了必要的最低限度的事情，比如迅速治疗和封住洞口，所以可能没提到那条大蛇。毕竟，当时情况紧急，没办法。

"嗯...一个人打败巨蟒很不容易。"

"确实很不容易。它速度快，剑连鳞片都伤不到，还折断了...最后，我用魔法打败了它。"

"有讨伐部位吗？"

"我带回来了头和身体...讨伐部位是哪里？因为是意外遇到的怪物，没查过..."

"有全身就好。讨伐部位是冒险者的事，自己查吧。"

虽然没查过稀有怪物，但至少...在公会的图书室查过怪物。也和其他冒险者聊过...但只和认识的人聊过。不过，书上只有文字描述，很难理解。怪物也不是按种类排列的。即使听别人说，没见过也很难理解。

结果...

本来打算直接带回来稀有怪物，然后委托解体，赚点钱，但似乎被看穿了。

"他们中有一个还没恢复意识，如果可能的话，我想请师傅制作血清。"

"嗯...他们今后打算怎么办？"

今后？

我没问过。毕竟，他们三个人都是外国人。从言行来看，是帝国的非法入境者。我不知道怎么处理，所以把他们作为遇难者保护，交给冒险者公会处理...

如果可能的话，我想收回一些钱。那些防具和武器卖不出去，肯定赚不到钱。

"嗯，我会让他们赚治疗费。"

"嗯。他们打算在这里成为冒险者，还清欠你的钱。"

"嗯，有问题吗？"

"巨蟒的毒很特殊。如果要治疗，需要保密，由我们处理。小姐，你不能说你打败了巨蟒。另外，尸体不能被看到。"

"带着很危险吗？"

那条蛇，是个很危险的个体？

查了一下，它以山脉为巢穴，但很少被发现，是非常稀有的怪物。一旦发现，公会会立即组织讨伐。甚至在发现之前，贵族也可能先一步讨伐，因为它很受欢迎。

"这是一种相当稀有的毒。因为解毒困难，贵族们都很想要。而且，被咬后只是轻伤，反而更麻烦。"

"嗯...另一个人，麻痹症状很严重...我治疗不了，所以带回来了。"

"能解巨蟒的毒和麻痹的，只有圣教国总部的主教或各国派遣的大主教。这个国家可能有一两个。这种毒很珍贵，大家都想要。如果治疗不及时，恢复几乎不可能，甚至无法再站起来。除了下毒外，还可以用来牵制敌对势力。"

原来如此？总之，这是一种危险的毒，需要小心处理。因为能治疗的人很少...不，拥有这种毒是贵族的象征？这不就是宣传自己有下毒用的毒吗？

贵族真可怕...

"血清..."

"帕梅拉可以制作，但知道会很麻烦。如果可能，小姐应该负责，一个人完成。"

"嗯，我同意不能给师傅添麻烦，所以他们的治疗由我来做...关于巨蟒的讨伐，能保密吗？"

"嗯，这样最好。重伤者呢？"

"我放在教堂了。神父声明不参与。"

"那么，不要泄露给其他人。其他两人可以安排住宿。"

"...对不起。"

好的，对不起。

我会负责，秘密治疗，不会泄露。

"那么，我会为你办理D级晋升手续。"

"啊？可以吗？我刚升到E级。"

"你一个人打败了B级怪物，实力没问题。虽然时间短，但小姐的推荐很多。我会想办法。C级也可以，但作为非治疗者处理。"

"好的，拜托了。"

作为治疗者，C级；作为非治疗者，D级。这似乎是公会的权衡。毕竟，治疗者不需要战斗能力。不过，我觉得升职速度很快...不过，在这里，D级之前的冒险者几乎没有。

关于Crow和Leus，公会会处理，但需要时间...已经22点多了？可以吗？

无论如何，我会让他们传话，即使来看情况，也等到明天。

那么...如果只能由我治疗Tiga...去教堂看看吧。