Muscle Brothers
Reeve’s Dinner Show finished successfully. While all the satisfied ladies boarded the carriage to head back to the city, Frau walked up to Maria and told her about the incident.
“We’ve caught an a.s.sa.s.sin who was aiming for a woman who was with you.”¹
The culprit was bound with a rope and rolled into the rest of the already closed bathhouse. Katie had already confirmed that she was at least not related with the Warren Thieve’s Guild. Ellis released her from her magical sleep to confirm whether she was a member of a different thieve’s guild just in case. This is because if it was a job taken by another thieve’s guild, then the incident itself could be squashed by an exchange of ransom between the guilds.
But the culprit was not a member of any thieve’s guild. At least she herself did not claim to be a member. If this is the case, then the a.s.sa.s.sin will be disposed of according to the law of Warren. That is why Ellis decided to hand her over to Maria who is also the chairman of the Warren Council.
“Why don’t you torture her and see what she says?” Ellis smiled and laughed.
Maria looked interestingly at Ellis who was showing a deep and malevolent smile that one would think unthinkable for an 8-year-old girl. “Because the purpose and affiliation of this a.s.sa.s.sin can be roughly guessed,” Maria laughed back as she took custody of the pirate. “Thank you for helping me. Please continue the good work tomorrow.”
Continue the good work tomorrow?
Then Ellis remembered.
On the way to Marsfield, they were instructed to act as escorts for Maria.
In the meantime, everyone finished their preparations for tomorrow’s departure. They will be gone for awhile starting tomorrow, so they decided to really really enjoy the public bath and night life.
“Nyan…………”
“An……………..”
“Ahn……………”
“Uuh……………”
And the five girls woke up feeling as good as can be.
Frau put together various kinds of luggage in the kitchen early in the morning.
“There will be times where Maria might join us, so I will prepare a lot of food for meals.”
“I’m looking forward to the outdoor picnics.”
“Just leave it to me.”
Ellis also has fun with the overconfident Frau.
For breakfast today, Frau had already prepared some sandwiches and dipping gravy with caffeinated tea on the table. After everyone finished their breakfast while laughing among each other, next was the last minute preparations for the adventure.
Katie helped Frau carry any foodstuffs from the kitchen, and Claire stored them into the Adventurer’s Bag. Ellis and Reeve filled ten or so barrels with water and carried them to the carriage in a Bag of Gluttony.
“I wonder if this will be enough.”
“I don’t know how much we will end up using on the road. Let’s bring a little more.”
After securing food and water, next they finally started checking their luggage.
Ellis’s Shoulder Bag of Gluttony had no problems.
There were also no problems with Reeve’s Pouch of Gluttony.
Frau’s Tote Bag of Gluttony and Backpack of Gluttony was okay.”
Claire’s Rucksack of Gluttony had no problems.
Katie’s Carry-on Bag of Gluttony had the final okay.
Bags of Gluttony are really convenient.
Reeve folded plenty of towels and toilet cloths in advance and put them into their own bag.
Claire made a final confirmation of the water supply and drainage facilities connected to the toilet and shower.
Katie loaded the water barrels that Ellis and Reeve brought into the designated Adventurer’s Bag on the carriage.
Frau arranged the small bottles of seasonings for dishes and meals onto the shelves of the kitchenette.
Ellis activated their five Magical horses one after another and connected them to the carriage.
Because of the letter that Maria’s messenger had given them, they were each wearing the equipment that they would use when exploring labyrinths. However, in the suburbs in the middle of the day, the black clothes looked inconspicuous and funny, so Ellis and Claire decided to put on their boiler suit uniforms instead of their black outfits. Naturally, Ellis had already copied the Shadow and Guidance abilities into their respective suits.
By the way, Ellis had received a rare color minotaur maul as a present. It was given to her by the old man who was thankful for her signed Flying Swallow long sword that he had won during bingo. He apparently got it after killing a minotaur during his quest of killing all salamanders that he saw while searching for Fever stones.
It shined in the light and let out a thin crimson gleam. It didn’t have the scary image that a normal minotaur maul had at all. In a certain sense, this looked much more similar to a Magical girl’s wand.
Ellis, who noticed Frau’s obviously jealous gaze, duplicated Flying Swallow and Inhalation to the maul, and she handed it over to Frau, “for escort use.”
“From now on, we are going to be particular about the color of our equipment.”
Everyone laughed while watching Frau almost cuddle up to her new crimson weapon.
“Well then, let’s go!”
Katie jumped into the carriage’s driver seat and started manipulating the reins of the five Magical horses. In this way Ellis’s dedicated carriage started its maiden voyage to the merchant guild.
When Ellis’s group arrived at the merchant guild, the middle-aged man Nicole who was the receptionist that Ellis originally met, was already waiting for them at the entrance.
“I was waiting for you.”
Nicole returned to the guild building after telling some workers to tidy up the Magical horses. After a while, two women emerged from the building.
One was Maria the Merchant Guild Master. The other person was the n.o.ble woman who had been targeted by an a.s.sa.s.sin yesterday.
“Please wait one moment. I am having some equipment being picked up from the Workshop guild right now.”
As Maria had said, after a few moments a caravan of four carriages were driven into the Merchant guild’s yard.
The first one is a luxurious horse-drawn carriage that was obviously tailored for comfort. This one was probably for Maria and the other woman to ride in.
The second one was a open top cart with no roof. It had twelve wooden boxes of 2 meter height that looked familiar to Ellis. Yes, they were Claire-Flint brand luxury toilets and showers.
The third carriage was the same as the second and just carried more luxury toilets.
The fourth carriage had a simple roof over top of it and a mountain barrel of feed for the horses inside it.
Maria explains as the carriages are all lined up.
“Actually, one of the objectives of this trip is to expand the sales channels in Marsfield for the Claire-Flint brand products in partnership with the Workshop Guild.
Then the air was suddenly torn apart by a scream.
“Kyaaaa - - - - -!!!!”
Everyone looked back in a hurry to Claire’s sudden cry.
“Uah!”
“Uuh!
“Hii!”
Reeve, Frau, and Katie all unexpectedly screamed as well.
Ellis recoiled to the sight that had appeared before her.
Because there were five short-haired macho men wearing nothing but loincloths lined up with their arms crossed.
“The girls are screaming at us.”
“Only people who have no common sense shout out like that.”
“It is because of these sinful muscles of ours.”
“Even so, screaming is very rude.”
“These little girls cannot understand our supremacy.”
Maria, who had not stopped looking at the five new arrivals, didn’t say anything until she noticed that Reeve had drawn her sword.
“Stop! They are members of the Merchant Guild!”
“We are the Muscle Brothers aka the Muscle Dharma Corps!”
They are the Merchant Guild Delivery Committee more commonly known as the Muscle Brothers. They are the group who is in charge of transporting goods between Warren and other cities. Their reputation is well-known, and they are credited as being prompt and clean. They are reliable contractors who undertake not only the delivery of goods but also installation work and trial operation.
But such things have nothing to do with Ellis.
“It’s no good! Forgive me!” Ellis screamed like she was dying.
“Who would work with these guys!?” Reeve pulls her b.a.s.t.a.r.d sword out of its sheath.
“What would you do if something happened!” Frau took a step forward while brandishing her new crimson maul.
“I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared.” Claire falls into a panic and hides behind Frau.
“Fu-nya!!” Katie makes like a cat and hisses at them with her fur standing on end.
Maria hurriedly tried to ease Ellis and everyone else who were starting to release a dangerous atmosphere.
“It’s alright everyone! They’re all gay.”
Huh?
Then one of the brothers who seemed to be the leader complained to Maria.
“Maria, how many times do we have to correct you for you to understand? We are not such a weak word as ‘gay.’ We are Descended from Heaven Super Gay!²
Ellis and everyone else froze from the dignity these men had from saying something that sounded so ridiculous.
“My name is Ichiro Tamon. I am not gay. I am super gay.”
“My name is Jiro Hyoe. I am not gay. I am super gay.”
“My name is Saburo Tayu. I am not gay. I am super gay.”
“My name is Shiro Tokisada. I am not gay. I am super gay.”
“My name is Goro Meiko. I am not gay. I am super gay.”³
As each one introduced themselves, they each pulled off their own muscle pose.
“Together, we are the Muscle Brothers!”
The eyes of four people are left swimming, and they all feel a little dizzy.
But Ellis’s eyes shined.
“That pose is so cool! Let’s do that next time!”
Then Ichiro stepped forward to Frau as the representative of his group.
“Mm. You have the same odor as us.”
While listening in to Ichiro’s words, Ellis had a bit of a bad premonition, and she turned to Maria. “So what will they be doing?”
“They will serve as a man on each carriage.”
“But you only have four carriages.”
“What are you talking about Ellis? With your carriage, don’t we have five?”
Now all weapons were turned on Maria.
When it came to Claire, she had already started to recite the {Lightning Shower} spell she read the other day.
Maria was pushed by the overwhelming premonition of death and hurriedly corrected herself.
“Because Ellis’s group will run parallel with Magical horses!”
Can we trust a stranger with our cart?
Ellis could claim that they could just have their carriage driven by Magical horses, but this would unfortunately be rejected for sensible reasons. Cooperation between carriages is vital in caravans. It would be inefficient and dangerous to mix together Magical horses with one car while others had regular ones.
Ellis decided to obey Maria’s persuasions.
“I understand. We’ll run alongside on Magical horses for the time being.”
Finally a horse was connected to Ellis’s carriage, and the reigns were taken by Goro Meiko.
“Mu. It is a pleasure to be working with you young ladies.”
Well, they are pretty polite.
“There are no dangers on the road, but please take precautions just in case. Everyone in Warren’s Jewelry Box.”
The mood quickly returned to normal as everyone laughed at Maria blushing a little. No matter how many times she or anyone else says it, it’s still an embarra.s.sing name.
Then Maria took out a package she just remembered about.
“By the way, Theseus told me to deliver this to you all.”
“What is it?”
Ellis tore open the wrapper on everyone’s behalf, and opened up a thick cloth that was folded inside.
The five girls admired it.
Because it was a Flag embroidered with the spiritual dance between a black and white fairy.
The five people remembered that the Adventurer Guild Master promised, “I will give you a flag.”
In this way, they each realized that the love from the guild masters was included in the name Warren’s Jewelry Box.
Ellis hung the beautiful flag on their carriage, and each of the five took a moment to admire it swaying in the wind.
“Let’s head out.”
By Maria’s command, the caravan departed from Warren.
Next stop, the citadel city of Marsfield.
1. They actually call the a.s.sa.s.sin a buccaneer or a pirate, but as much research as I did, I couldn’t find out why, so I just went simple with a.s.sa.s.sin.
2. 天下御免のガチホモ Tenka gomen no gachih.o.m.o. I wonder if this sounds as ridiculous in j.a.panese as it is in English.
3. All of their first names are numeralized, so it is “1-ro”, “2-ro” so on.