153. Erza Is Willing
We had a pretty easy time getting back up to the surface.
Solas had spent the rest of the trip wrapped up in some of my threads and strapped to Urus.h.i.+’s back. We only healed him to the point of necessity; we closed his wounds and stopped him from bleeding anymore, but that was pretty much it.
Fran had also stripped him of all his armour and even covered his face with a cloth in order to make sure that his companions wouldn’t be able to recognize him on sight. He’d already told us everything we wanted to know, so we’d also gagged him in order to prevent him from speaking. We figured that we might as well bring him all the way over to the guild. It was impossible for anyone to tell that the person we had bagged was Solas, but we kinda just sorta really stood out anyways.
「O-Oi oi, did something happen?」
「Was it serious?」
「Sure looks it. I wonder if everything’s alright.」
「Looks like someone’s gotten themselves a pretty serious injury.」
The gazes of the people around us immediately locked on to us the moment we left the dungeon. The guards had began rus.h.i.+ng our way as well.
Welp, it doesn’t look like we’d be able to get out of this by making any sort of excuse, so I guess we’ll have to tell the truth. That said though, we still wanted to keep attention to a minimum in order to prevent Solas’ lackies from getting away.
「Got attacked during return trip.」
「Woof.」
The people around us immediately started to make a fuss the moment Fran informed the soldiers of our circ.u.mstances.
「She did that to the person that attacked her?」
「Man, she’s merciless.」
I feel like we gave the people around us a bit more of a scare than we should’ve, though I guess it can’t really be helped seeing as how our wolf companion was kinda dragging a person with severed limbs around like a piece of luggage. The fact that we’d hidden his face away didn’t really help our case much either.
You know, now that I think about it, the way we’re going about this has a bit of a homicidal kinda feel to it, so I can kinda see why people are getting freaked out.
「Oh, you were attacked by thieves?」
「Nn.」
「Nice job there! Both you and your doggy did h.e.l.la good.」
That said though, the only people that got freaked out were the general populace’s members. The adventurers and guards actually seemed to view our actions in a favourable light. To them, thieves and the like were vicious criminals whose actions verged on the unforgivable.
I thought that they might end up being rather suspicious of us, but Fran’s outward appearance manage to dissuade those who did and made everyone view us in a bit more favourable a light. They seemed to think that there was no way such a young girl would lie about capturing a thief, especially if she had him in tow. Moreover was the fact that going to the guild would allow verification of our claim’s authenticity. A few soldiers ended up offering to accompany us to that end.
「Are you planning to head back over to the guild?」
「We’ll escort you over if so.」
Them accompanying us was an action that’d kill two birds with one stone; they’d be able to escort and monitor us simultaneously. Honestly, we didn’t mind it at all. In fact, we were happy to have them accompany us, as it’d help save time. It’d make it so we wouldn’t have to stop to explain our circ.u.mstances every single time we came across a guard.
We happened to encounter Erza on our way back. He’d ran over because he’d heard something had happened, and was a bit concerned about all the fuss.
He’d initially a.s.sumed that Fran had been arrested, and started giving one of the soldiers a really hard time.
「Are you okay, Fran!?」
「Nn.」
「Whew, thank G.o.d~ Were you afraid?」
「Perfectly fine.」
「Fufufu, you sure are a strong one. So I’m guessing that’s the sc.u.mmy thief that attacked you?」
「Yup.」
Erza sent a hateful gaze in Solas’ direction. It was one filled with such an an immense amount of rage that it caused its target to tremble despite him not being able to see it.
The raging bis.e.xual lowered his lips to Solas’ ears before whispering a single line.
「How wonderful.」
「Hiii….」
「I would’ve smashed you to bits had you given her even the slightest scratch.」
We decided not to tell Erza about the fact that he’d made us inhale a decent bit of poison. I feel like the he’d go on a total rampage if we did, and we kinda couldn’t have Solas dying on us right here and now since we still needed him to verify if we got the right people when we hunted them down.
Actually, that might not be that much of a problem, if any at all..
『Hey Fran, what do you think of asking Erza to help us round up Solas’ lackies?』
（Nn. Good idea.）
『I mean, there’s a good chance that Erza knows what they look like. He’s pretty d.a.m.n strong too, so he shouldn’t have any issues on that end of the spectrum. It’d be far more likely to succeed than us dragging Solas around everywhere looking for them too.』
We were attracting a fair bit more attention than I’d initially been suspecting. I wasn’t actually all that keen on heading over to the guild as we were now. It didn’t seem like that great an idea.
It seemed like us meeting Erza here was actually a lucky break on our parts.
「Erza.」
「Sup~ Did you need something?」
「Want favour.」
「Sure, leave it to me!」
「Didn’t tell any details yet.」
「Doesn’t matter, just leave it to me. I’ll do whatever you want me to. What do you need? Want me to help you tap the Guildmaster because he’s p.i.s.sed you off? Or maybe punish the guards that’ve been bullying you?」
Oh G.o.d, was that a joke? Please tell me it was. He looks h.e.l.la serious, but please tell me it was just the kind of joke h.o.m.os like to make.
For f.u.c.ks sake, this guy makes me feel so creeped out that I get the chills despite being a G.o.d d.a.m.n sword!
Fran, however, seemed not to mind even in the slightest. She simply conveyed her request to Erza in her usual indifferent tone.
「Need help capturing this man’s companions.」
「Mhmm~」
Erza’s eyes sparkled like those of a dragon that’d found itself some prey as Fran told her the lackies’ names and features.
「Will leave to you.」
「Ufufu~ I just have to not kill them, right? That’ll take a bit of effort.」
「Nn. No issues so long as reward.」
「Got it. I’ll personally give you a reward if you don’t end up getting one from the guild.」
That uh, no. We didn’t mean that. We just want to take them alive so we can have them tell us where they keep their loot and fess up about all the stuff they’ve done.
「I’ll be off then!」
「Nn. Do best.」
No, Fran, no. Please don’t tell him of all people to do his best. That just won’t turn out right.
「Ufufufufu! Hearing you cheer me on makes my bravery and vigour increase a hundred fold! Of course, the same goes for my love too. I’ll be back soon, I’ll catch them right away!」
The manwoman ran off like a gale before Fran had a chance to tell him to take it easy on Solas’ companions.
『Uh….』
（Master?）
『It’s nothing, don’t worry.』
「Woof.」
I hope he doesn’t mess them up too much. It’d be nice if they were at least still recognizable by the time he was done with them.