Well, school started, lots of stuff to do, and hard lines make me lose my motivation. But you know what they say: Sloane’s Teddy wins the race. I’ll have to also do double duty and get started on the Christmas SS, if I ever want it done by Christmas…
GDoc .
The Work Begins"I"m sorry for yelling so loudly."
The requester was a woman in her mid-twenties named Laura. After realizing that Paul wasn"t a kidnapper, Laura invited the three into her home.
At her feet, a brown sheepdog observed the three adventurers vigilantly, its ears standing straight up.
But once Laura, its owner, invited them in, it trotted over to the fireplace inside, where a fire was flickering, and lay down.
They had arrived at about dinnertime, and Laura had been making dinner.
She was making chicken stew with vegetables harvested from the fields.
The smell wafting from the pot simmering over the fireplace stimulated their appet.i.te.
Having been startled by the shriek Laura had let out when they first met, Leti was hiding behind Wynn"s back while eyeing the pot.
"You haven"t had dinner, right? Why don"t you eat with me? You are helping us with keeping guard after all."
"Huh? Is it alright? We do have some food with us, you know?"
"Don"t hold back. I made a whole pot of stew, but it"s too much for Auntie to finish by herself.."
"Wynn, let"s take her offer."
Wynn"s stomach had been growling
The hard bread and dried jerky could not compare to the chicken vegetable stew.
Wynn and Leti sat down beside the fireplace, and began to eat out of the small wooden bowls and spoons that Laura served.
"Be careful, it"s hot."
"Okay!"
Blowing on it as they ate,
"Ugh… it"s hot."
"Leti, just wait for it to cool down a bit before eating."
For a while, Wynn and Leti were engrossed in eating their meals.
"I thank you again for giving us food."
"It"s fine. I once had kids their age. Since they"re still growing, I unconsciously ended up making a bit too much."
Laura smiled upon seeing Wynn, who had emptied his bowl, holding it out for seconds. Paul filled the bowl with stew.
There was a generous helping of chicken in the stew, so it was delicious.
"If there were some alcohol here," Paul thought.
"I"m happy that this pretty young lady likes it. Her clothes looked so luxurious, I was worried that it wouldn"t suit her taste."
"Not at all, it"s really yummy!"
This was a feast compared the the potage with increased volume made by putting bread flour in it that she normally had.
"Wynn aside, even Leti"s appet.i.te is still going strong, huh," Paul thought
She was a young lady from an affluent family, and yet, despite the fact it wasn’t haute cuisine, she devoured the food in front of her without stopping.
"You shouldn"t put too much food in your mouth at one time."
Wynn gave Leticia, who was trying to cram as much food as she could into her mouth, a warning. He then looked around the rrom.
Apart from Laura and the dog, which was gnawing on a chunk of meat that Laura had given to him, he didn"t see any other people living here.
"Are you the only one living here, Auntie?"
For a moment, Laura was silent, her eyes cast downwards.
"Back when my husband and child were alive, our whole family lived here… but now, the rest of my family lives in the capital."
Laura"s family lived in the capital. She only had her parents, her husband and her child, but her husband and child had succ.u.mbed to illness last year.
"In order to protect the land that my husband left behind, my parents and I take turns staying the night here."
There was a solemn Laura"s face as she thought of her departed family members.
Paul cleared his throat, trying to change the subject.
"Umm, so what in particular has been damaged?"
"The chickens, eggs, and fields have all been affected."
"Has any livestock been harmed?"
"Not at all."
"I see."
"It doesn"t seem to be a wolf or demonic beast. It is most likely a fox or weasel, but it could also be a fiend."
"Have there been any sounds, such as animal cries?"
Wynn stopped eating to ask Laura.
"I don"t thi– Ah!"
Lola, who had been thinking about the question, widened her eyes.
"Come to think of it, sometimes, some mushrooms and herbs are left in front of the chicken coop."
""Really!?""
Paul and Wynn exhanged glances.
"Does it always happen the night the incidents occur?"
"Yes, it was the exact same time. At the same time something stole the chickens and eggs, they"re left there."
"Actually, today"s stew was also made from those mushrooms and herbs," Laura said nonchalantly.
Unlike Laura, Paul was deep in thought.
"Could it have been a human that did it?"
If the culprit left behind such items, that ruled out the possibility that it was a monster or an animal.
It had to be the work of an intelligent being.
"Does anybody around here know that we adventurers would be coming by today?"
"Apart from my parents, n.o.body."
"If the culprit is somebody who lives nearby, or somebody from the slums, then it would be good if they didn"t know we"re here."
"Wynn, when you finish eating, shall we take a look at the chicken coop?"
"Got it."
"Eh? Leti also wants to go with Onii-chan!"
Gulping down the remaining stew from the bowl, Wynn stood up vigorously.
In response, Leti also stood up, but.
"Leti, it would be disrespectful to to Laura to leave food behind."
Wynn warned her.
"But… "
"In the first place, Leti has to stay here and guard the house."
If, by chance, the culprit were from the slums…
Paul looked on as Wynn tried to persuade Leti, who was puffing her cheeks out in dissatisfaction.
Anybody could tell that she was from an affluent household from her clothes, which would make her the primary target for kidnapping.
"If she got kiddnapped… my head would roll…"
"But Leti is also an adventurer!"
"Oh, so this girl here was also an adventurer?"
After Wynn left the hut, Leti cried out. Laura looked at her with admiration.
"Yep, I may look small, but I can still drive away animals, for sure."
"Hmm… these brats practicing swordplay is quite dangerous."
They weren"t merely swinging around wooden swords, pretending to be knights.
From the way they swung their wooden swords, even an adult would be out of breath after a few swings.
But the two children whirled around, quickly trading blows, as if they were performing a sword dance.
Moreover, the Guild wouldn"t have a.s.signed them the job for no reason.
"If my child were still alive, he[1] would be around Leti"s age, huh."
Hearing Laura"s lonely mumble, Paul looked back at Leti.
""Leti?"
"What"s wrong?"
They noticed something strange to Leti.