Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Brigade
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
With Amy and Kevin joining in, our trip to Raum began .
The three carriages proceed in a single file line, with us entrusted to guard the second one .
We’re with the second one because our group is the one with the least experience, and the middle one is in the least danger of being attacked .
A water magician sent over from “Crimson” called Haumea is also with us .
Haumea is from a race called elves, who have long, pointed ears, and tall, lithe bodies as their distinctive racial traits .
The vast majority of them reside in Raum . As a race they tend to be reclusive, and due to their very weak sense of curiosity, it’s very rare to see them outside of Raum .
Being superb magicians and archers, and having long life spans, the elves’ rare appearances cause them to be perceived as a mysterious race .
But Haumea, as an exception, is rather large as far as slenderness goes . Particularly in the chest area .
By her appearance she might be about twenty years old . Among us put in the middle position, she’s probably the oldest .
With Kevin working as leader, she’s supplementing in a sort of staff officer position as far as our setup goes .
“Haumea, you’re an elf, right?”
“Yes, I am . ”
“That’s so unusual . Hardly any elves ever leave Raum . ”
“Well, I still remember what it’s like to be bored stiff . Back in the village, everyone who forgot that feeling keep spending their days away doing nothing . ”
Both of them being women, Amy engages her in conversation relatively easily .
Ah, Master is fidgeting as if he wants to talk with her about something .
“Master Rimuru, want to talk too?”
“Uh, well yeah… Elves are a long-lived and famous race, and I hear they have peculiar magic, so I think I’d like to chat . ”
“Not like you have to hold back . ”
“Striking up a conversation with a young woman requires some courage . ”
“Weren’t you fine with Amy?”
“Well, but she’s… Lacking in some places . I didn’t feel like this about it . ”
“Hmm~, I can hear you, Rimuru . ”
“Hiiya?!”
Secretly listening in on our private conversation from behind, Amy spoke with a cat-like curve to her lips .
Her voice, having some force behind it, made Master make a kind of pathetic scream .
“Amy, Master Rimuru is in the big b.o.o.b faction . It’s no use . ”
Amy is just past fifteen years old and her chest, like mine, is pretty disappointing .
“And why do you know that, Eir?”
“Under Master Rimuru’s bed is—”
“Not another word!”
“Fufu, well that just means boys are the same no matter where you go . ”
“Hwa?! HHaumea, you heard…?”
“The long ears aren’t just for show, you know?”
“Aaahhh…”
Once the three of us ganged up on Master, Carla decided to join in on the conversation .
“This seems fun . A showcase of Rimuru’s s.e.xual interests . ”
“I’m begging you, please stop!”
“Want to join in, Moto?”
“Haha… Rather not have the fire spread my way . I’ll pa.s.s . ”
“Your preferences are known, Moto; nothing left to poke fun at . ”
“Eh, when did you hear about that, Eir?”
At that question I took a quick glance at Carla .
Should I give just a bit of a push?
“When helping load . Said Carla is his type . ”
“Ooo~”
“Oh my, what a lovely story . ”
“Uwawawa! Gimme a break!”
“Heh? Eh, that’s…Well, only natural, right?”
“Dearest G.o.d, my slave shows no mercy . ”
Carla stuck her chest out proudly with her face bright red, while Master looked toward the heavens in despair .
We were walking along in that peaceful atmosphere when a voice suddenly threw cold water on our conversation .
“All of you need to be a little more on guard . We’re the escorts . ”
“Hrm, aren’t you being a little too stiff, mister leader? We’re gonna be traveling for six weeks; if we tense up now, we’re not gonna hold out to the end . ”
“Sorry, being friendly isn’t really my nature . ”
“By the way Kevin, what happened to your slaves? Pretty sure you had two with you . ”
“Ah? Oh them . They weren’t much use, so I returned them to the slave merchant . ”
“Whoa, hey… You worked them all hard, and that’s what they get?”
“Ah, shut up . Not like you’ve got any right to talk . ”
“Well sure, but still . ”
Returned… I wonder if I’ll get returned too if I’m not useful enough?
Or maybe I’ll just get exiled…
In this world, a slave who lost their master is basically dead .
If they don’t want that, they can only go back to their slave merchant . That’s the one thing I want to avoid .
“Master Rimuru . ”
“Hm? What’s up, Eir?”
“I’ll do my best . ”
“O-okay…?”
Which means I need to play my part as the defender well .
I clenched my fist, huffed out roughly through my nose, and prepared myself .
I clenched my fist, huffed out roughly through my nose, and prepared myself .
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
That said, the road to Raum is a major, and well-maintained, highway . There are lodgings built at regular intervals, and every few days’ trip there’s a post town too .
There are even knight watchtowers erected between the towns . Hardly anything is likely to happen .
Actually, with this highway being so closely monitored, the bandits probably went over to placed like the roads between Focalor .
“FuuaaaaAAAAaaaah”
“That’s quite the yawn, Eir . But ladies should at least cover their mouths, okay?”
With my sense of caution slackening to its maximum, I let out a vigorous yawn . Haumea giggled as she warned me .
I feel the point of warning was a bit off though .
“Ah, sorry . Was that gross?”
“No, it was actually cute, like you’re a little kitten . ”
“… More of a lizard though . ”
“Hm?”
“Nuh-uh, nothing… Hmm?”
“What’s wrong?”
A magic power response is coming toward us from the front carriage .
I think it’s probably a response from a ring of mental resistance worn by a member of Crimson .
A “Ring of Mental Resistance” provides a certain level of resistance to attacks that interfere with a person’s mentality, like a dragon’s roar or a vampire’s charm .
They’re fairly expensive at ten gold coins each, but they’re very effective for the price, so they’re indispensable items for all the best adventurers .
Crimson is guarding the front carriage, and with every one of them being yellow rank, I think all of them are wearing the rings .
I mean, they all give off magic responses . I guess yellow ranks carry at least one magic item around .
“Oh, Tony? Something happen?”
The one who came over was Tony of Crimson . I’m pretty sure he’s their scout .
“Nope, it’s just about noon so we were thinking of taking a break . I’m gonna go tell everyone in the back too, so go catch up with the lead . ”
“Got it . Well, you heard the man, leader . ”
“Right, speed up the carriage a bit . ”
Carla turned the conversation to Kevin, who gave orders to the driver .
For those of us on foot, we’ll have to run to catch up with the run, which is rough . Especially for Master, with his weaker physique; he’s getting exhausted .
“E-Eir… Wait . ”
“Gosh, Master Rimuru, you’re hopeless . ”
I lent my back to Master, carried him piggyback and ran .
My right leg kicks off the ground, and I land back on the same right leg . To keep my left leg from collapsing, it only slides along the ground, being used as support .
The peculiar running style, to be honest, results in a lot of shaking . I don’t think it’s something the person on my back can bear for long .
“Uwah, I’m shaking! I’m gonna fall!”
“Shaking… I don’t mind if you touch my chest . ”
“Yeah right, forget shaking, there’s nothing to grab!”
“Yeah right, forget shaking, there’s nothing to grab!”
That comment made me pretty annoyed, so to hara.s.s him a bit I made a big leap on the last step .
All at once we jumped a good ten meters, caught up to the carriage, flew over, and arrived at the lead carriage .
“Uwawawa?!”
“Hmhmm . ”
“What the heck do you think you’re doing?!”
“Master Rimuru was badmouthing me . ”
“Not that! Look behind you!”
Turning around, everyone on the second carriage had their mouths hanging open, in shock at what just happened .
A small girl with, young though he may be, a person on her back had jumped over a carriage and immediately caught up to the carriage in front of it . Their shock probably makes some sense .
“Uhh… This is…”
“Ahh, forget it . No choice now, may as well tell them about you, Eir . ”
“I’m… Sorry . ”
“It’s fine, we’re gonna be with them for six weeks anyway . We probably couldn’t have hidden it the whole time . Getting the chance to talk early may be a good thing . ”
I got wound up and made a mistake . I’ll have to be ready for a very poor mood at lunch…
Translated by Soyokaze Translations: soyokazetranslation . Com
“So you see, Eir’s actually part of the unusual dragon people race . She is definitely not a demon . ”
To supplement Master’s explanation, I take off my hat, remove the coverings from my limbs, and pull away my eye patch .
They gasped and gazed at their grotesqueness . The only exception being Amy, who already knew .
“She has a slave contracted collar on, and I’m keeping a close eye on her, so… Please don’t chase us out . ”
“Now I see . So that’s where the amazing strength came from . ”
Interrupting Master, who seemed to be having trouble speaking in my defense, Moto expressed his admiration .
“Come on, nothing to worry about . We’re a traveling theater troupe . We’re used to all sorts of unusual races and strange customs . ”
“R-right you are! You say some good things, Moto . I’ve seen you in a new light . ”
“Really? But the one who’ll decide is the boss, so…”
“Sheesh! You’re supposed to beat your chest and say “leave it to me!” right there . ”
“Hrm…”
It would seem Moto was the start of the backstage people and actors to accepting it, but the most important one, the boss, is still silent .
“Boss? You’re not gonna say no, are you? If you do, then I’ve misjudged you, boss . ”
“What’re you talking about? ‘Course I’m not gonna say no . In fact, we wholeheartedly welcome you!”
“H-huh?”
The boss raises both of his hands in joy . The pressure behind it… Is kind of impressive .
“Actually, I want you! By all means, we’d be glad to have you!”
“Uh, that’s…”
“I know, I know, but with how she looks she could play demons, vampires, she’d have a huge range of roles… It’s so unfortunate . ”
“She probably can’t act very well…”
“I know, I know, but with how she looks she could play demons, vampires, she’d have a huge range of roles… It’s so unfortunate . ”
“She probably can’t act very well…”
“n.o.body’s good at acting at first! That kind of experience is gained as a result of practice! More importantly, if she could just play out a fight looking like that, she would truly shine on stage . ”
“Come to think of it, Eir has an “Acrobatics” gift—”
“What?! That means she would be perfect for fights! Rimuru, both of you, in the troupe . ”
“Like I said, I can’t . There’s things I need to do . ”
“Urgh…”
There are a lot of problems left, but I guess the troupe are all on board then?
All that’s left is the other escorts…
“I knew already anyway . Eir saved my life too, and having her along is more fun I think . ”
The first to speak up was Amy . Her support made the corners of my eyes suddenly feel warm .
Kevin still has a dubious look on his face… Is getting support going to be difficult with his personality?
“Well, not like there’s anything wrong with a dragon person anyway . You’ve got the slave contract collar, and you’re taking care of her, so we have nothing to complain about . ”
“If the upper ranks approve, then us orange ranks can’t really argue . No problems here . ”
The people of Crimson and Moonlight gave their approval one after another .
Seeing them, Master had a clearly relieved look to him .
Everyone turned their gazes to the only one yet to voice his consent, Kevin .
“Hum… Fine by me . ”
Taking the surrounding looks, he seemingly reluctantly agreed on having me along .
Gaining everyone’s approval, we could now openly and boldly carry out our escort job .
After that, when we dispersed to prepare for lunch… Kevin came over to talk .
“You’re the ones who defeated the disaster beast, right?”
“Eh?”
“I’m not an idiot . It doesn’t take much thought to realize whether I could stab logs into and kill a disaster beast on my own or not . ”
“…”
“You did it, didn’t you?”
“Yeah . ”
“I see… Thank you . ”
Haa?! Grat.i.tude? From Kevin?!
“Like I said, I know my own strength . ”
Saying that, he turned away disagreeably and left in a hurry .
“Is this one of those tsudere I’ve heard about…?”
“Master, where did you learn that word?”
“Call me Rimuru . I heard it was a word used by my ancestors . ”
“… Hard to understand the personality of Master’s ancestors too . ”
That day I found out the acc.u.mulated knowledge of a distinguished family is, surprisingly, nothing to scoff at .
Chapter 16 Brigade Translated by Soyokaze Translations soyokazetranslation . Com With Amy and Kevin joining in, our trip to Raum began . The three carriages proceed in a single file line, with us entrusted to guard the second one . We re with the second one because our group is the one with the least experience, and the middle one is in the least danger of being attacked . A water magician sent over from Crimson called Haumea is also with us . Haumea is from a race called elves, who have long, pointed ears, and tall, lithe bodies as their distinctive racial traits . The vast majority of them reside in Raum . As a race they tend to be reclusive, and due to their very weak sense of curiosity, it s very rare to see them outside of Raum . Being superb magicians and archers, and having long life spans, the elves rare appearances cause them to be perceived as a mysterious race . But Haumea, as an exception, is rather large as far as slenderness goes . Particularly in the chest area . By her appearance she might be about twenty years old . Among us put in the middle position, she s probably the oldest . With Kevin working as leader, she s supplementing in a sort of staff officer position as far as our setup goes . Haumea, you re an elf, right Yes, I am . That s so unusual . Hardly any elves ever leave Raum . Well, I still remember what it s like to be bored stiff . Back in the village, everyone who forgot that feeling keep spending their days away doing nothing . Both of them being women, Amy engages her in conversation relatively easily . Ah, Master is fidgeting as if he wants to talk with her about something . Master Rimuru, want to talk too Uh, well yeah Elves are a long lived and famous race, and I hear they have peculiar magic, so I think I d like to chat . Not like you have to hold back . Striking up a conversation with a young woman requires some courage . Weren t you fine with Amy Well, but she s Lacking in some places . I didn t feel like this about it . Hmm , I can hear you, Rimuru . Hiiya Secretly listening in on our private conversation from behind, Amy spoke with a cat like curve to her lips . Her voice, having some force behind it, made Master make a kind of pathetic scream . Amy, Master Rimuru is in the big b.o.o.b faction . It s no use . Amy is just past fifteen years old and her chest, like mine, is pretty disappointing . And why do you know that, Eir Under Master Rimuru s bed is Not another word Fufu, well that just means boys are the same no matter where you go . Hwa Ha Haumea, you heard The long ears aren t just for show, you know Aaahhh Once the three of us ganged up on Master, Carla decided to join in on the conversation . This seems fun . A showcase of Rimuru s s.e.xual interests . I m begging you, please stop Want to join in, Moto Haha Rather not have the fire spread my way . I ll pa.s.s . Your preferences are known, Moto nothing left to poke fun at . Eh, when did you hear about that, Eir At that question I took a quick glance at Carla . Should I give just a bit of a push When helping load . Said Carla is his type . Ooo Oh my, what a lovely story . Uwawawa Gimme a break Heh Eh, that s Well, only natural, right Dearest G.o.d, my slave shows no mercy . Carla stuck her chest out proudly with her face bright red, while Master looked toward the heavens in despair . We were walking along in that peaceful atmosphere when a voice suddenly threw cold water on our conversation . All of you need to be a little more on guard . We re the escorts . Hrm, aren t you being a little too stiff, mister leader We re gonna be traveling for six weeks if we tense up now, we re not gonna hold out to the end . Sorry, being friendly isn t really my nature . By the way Kevin, what happened to your slaves Pretty sure you had two with you . Ah Oh them . They weren t much use, so I returned them to the slave merchant . Whoa, hey You worked them all hard, and that s what they get Ah, shut up . Not like you ve got any right to talk . Well sure, but still . Returned I wonder if I ll get returned too if I m not useful enough Or maybe I ll just get exiled In this world, a slave who lost their master is basically dead . If they don t want that, they can only go back to their slave merchant . That s the one thing I want to avoid . Master Rimuru . Hm What s up, Eir I ll do my best . O okay Which means I need to play my part as the defender well . I clenched my fist, huffed out roughly through my nose, and prepared myself . Translated by Soyokaze Translations soyokazetranslation . Com That said, the road to Raum is a major, and well maintained, highway . There are lodgings built at regular intervals, and every few days trip there s a post town too . There are even knight watchtowers erected between the towns . Hardly anything is likely to happen . Actually, with this highway being so closely monitored, the bandits probably went over to placed like the roads between Focalor . FuuaaaaAAAAaaaah That s quite the yawn, Eir . But ladies should at least cover their mouths, okay With my sense of caution slackening to its maximum, I let out a vigorous yawn . Haumea giggled as she warned me . I feel the point of warning was a bit off though . Ah, sorry . Was that gross No, it was actually cute, like you re a little kitten . More of a lizard though . Hm Nuh uh, nothing Hmm What s wrong A magic power response is coming toward us from the front carriage . I think it s probably a response from a ring of mental resistance worn by a member of Crimson . A Ring of Mental Resistance provides a certain level of resistance to attacks that interfere with a person s mentality, like a dragon s roar or a vampire s charm . They re fairly expensive at ten gold coins each, but they re very effective for the price, so they re indispensable items for all the best adventurers . Crimson is guarding the front carriage, and with every one of them being yellow rank, I think all of them are wearing the rings . I mean, they all give off magic responses . I guess yellow ranks carry at least one magic item around . Oh, Tony Something happen The one who came over was Tony of Crimson . I m pretty sure he s their scout . Nope, it s just about noon so we were thinking of taking a break . I m gonna go tell everyone in the back too, so go catch up with the lead . Got it . Well, you heard the man, leader . Right, speed up the carriage a bit . Carla turned the conversation to Kevin, who gave orders to the driver . For those of us on foot, we ll have to run to catch up with the run, which is rough . Especially for Master, with his weaker physique he s getting exhausted . E Eir Wait . Gosh, Master Rimuru, you re hopeless . I lent my back to Master, carried him piggyback and ran . My right leg kicks off the ground, and I land back on the same right leg . To keep my left leg from collapsing, it only slides along the ground, being used as support . The peculiar running style, to be honest, results in a lot of shaking . I don t think it s something the person on my back can bear for long . Uwah, I m shaking I m gonna fall Shaking I don t mind if you touch my chest . Yeah right, forget shaking, there s nothing to grab That comment made me pretty annoyed, so to hara.s.s him a bit I made a big leap on the last step . All at once we jumped a good ten meters, caught up to the carriage, flew over, and arrived at the lead carriage . Uwawawa Hmhmm . What the heck do you think you re doing Master Rimuru was badmouthing me . Not that Look behind you Turning around, everyone on the second carriage had their mouths hanging open, in shock at what just happened . A small girl with, young though he may be, a person on her back had jumped over a carriage and immediately caught up to the carriage in front of it . Their shock probably makes some sense . Uhh This is Ahh, forget it . No choice now, may as well tell them about you, Eir . I m Sorry . It s fine, we re gonna be with them for six weeks anyway . We probably couldn t have hidden it the whole time . Getting the chance to talk early may be a good thing . I got wound up and made a mistake . I ll have to be ready for a very poor mood at lunch Translated by Soyokaze Translations soyokazetranslation . Com So you see, Eir s actually part of the unusual dragon people race . She is definitely not a demon . To supplement Master s explanation, I take off my hat, remove the coverings from my limbs, and pull away my eye patch . They gasped and gazed at their grotesqueness . The only exception being Amy, who already knew . She has a slave contracted collar on, and I m keeping a close eye on her, so Please don t chase us out . Now I see . So that s where the amazing strength came from . Interrupting Master, who seemed to be having trouble speaking in my defense, Moto expressed his admiration . Come on, nothing to worry about . We re a traveling theater troupe . We re used to all sorts of unusual races and strange customs . R right you are You say some good things, Moto . I ve seen you in a new light . Really But the one who ll decide is the boss, so Sheesh You re supposed to beat your chest and say leave it to me right there . Hrm It would seem Moto was the start of the backstage people and actors to accepting it, but the most important one, the boss, is still silent . Boss You re not gonna say no, are you If you do, then I ve misjudged you, boss . What re you talking about Course I m not gonna say no . In fact, we wholeheartedly welcome you H huh The boss raises both of his hands in joy . The pressure behind it Is kind of impressive . Actually, I want you By all means, we d be glad to have you Uh, that s I know, I know, but with how she looks she could play demons, vampires, she d have a huge range of roles It s so unfortunate . She probably can t act very well n.o.body s good at acting at first That kind of experience is gained as a result of practice More importantly, if she could just play out a fight looking like that, she would truly shine on stage . Come to think of it, Eir has an Acrobatics gift What That means she would be perfect for fights Rimuru, both of you, in the troupe . Like I said, I can t . There s things I need to do . Urgh There are a lot of problems left, but I guess the troupe are all on board then All that s left is the other escorts I knew already anyway . Eir saved my life too, and having her along is more fun I think . The first to speak up was Amy . Her support made the corners of my eyes suddenly feel warm . Kevin still has a dubious look on his face Is getting support going to be difficult with his personality Well, not like there s anything wrong with a dragon person anyway . You ve got the slave contract collar, and you re taking care of her, so we have nothing to complain about . If the upper ranks approve, then us orange ranks can t really argue . No problems here . The people of Crimson and Moonlight gave their approval one after another . Seeing them, Master had a clearly relieved look to him . Everyone turned their gazes to the only one yet to voice his consent, Kevin . Hum Fine by me . Taking the surrounding looks, he seemingly reluctantly agreed on having me along . Gaining everyone s approval, we could now openly and boldly carry out our escort job . After that, when we dispersed to prepare for lunch Kevin came over to talk . You re the ones who defeated the disaster beast, right Eh I m not an idiot . It doesn t take much thought to realize whether I could stab logs into and kill a disaster beast on my own or not . You did it, didn t you Yeah . I see Thank you . Haa Grat.i.tude From Kevin Like I said, I know my own strength . Saying that, he turned away disagreeably and left in a hurry . Is this one of those tsudere I ve heard about Master, where did you learn that word Call me Rimuru . I heard it was a word used by my ancestors . Hard to understand the personality of Master s ancestors too . That day I found out the acc.u.mulated knowledge of a distinguished family is, surprisingly, nothing to scoff at .