BXBX NOVEL — (114) Hidden Village of Demons Prologue
Chapter: (114) Hidden Village of Demons Prologue
Translator: Tseirp
It seemed like the removal works of the landslide at the southern valley was delayed.
It’s because monsters frequently appear at that location and non-combatants would have to run for shelter every time it happens.
Dispatching knights to protect them while they did the removal works was also considered but the cleanup for the recent disturbance had not been settled yet either.
The remaining method was to send a request for the Adventurers but most of the Adventurers from out of town had been hired as escorts for merchants escaping from the monsters and the small number of Adventurers remaining in town received requests to protect the town.
That was the extent of the commotion.
The town residents were probably uneasy from the departure of most of the combatants.
For that reason, Suzuki and his group decided to go defend the site.
Two days after the commotion, we visited the house of a certain tribal chief who stayed near Ferruit.
By nature, more than 90% of the citizens in Dakyat are nomadic so most of them stayed in tribes.
It was the lord’s house of one of the tribes that have the most power among all the tribes so I was certain when I imagined a splendid place but it was a house that was easy to assemble and dismantle.
To be honest, it would have been slightly cramped if everyone entered.
There, Suzuki and his group gave away most of the credit for the commotion this time round.
They said that the one who protected this town this time round, in the end, was Alessio and not them.
And he mentioned that if the information of the knights losing to the monsters gets spread to the world, Dakyat’s national power would be suspected and it would invite major disorder within the country.
Jofre, Elise and we also agreed.
Julio said that he would follow Jofre’s decision while Milky had no interest in it from the start.
Sutchino said that he don’t need fame and honor as long as he receives the reward and was frowned at by everyone around him but the lord replied that rewarding just gold alone is easy and passed him ten gold coins.
And when they heard about the issue with the southern valley, Suzuki and his group, Jofre, Elise and Julio stood up.
Sutchino was reluctant but apparently, that region had gold veins and they were all swept away by the landslide.
Sutchino immediately stood up when he heard that there might be gold mixed within the landslide sediment.
Sutchino was holding onto the mysterious bead that released the ritual on the Goddess statue and returned it to normal at the end.
The client who entrusted that to him was not inside Ferruit so he could not get any reward in the end.
He clamored about how it was a scam.
However, since he was deceived through a negotiation that did not pass through the Adventurers Guild, nobody would help him.
The golden wool could be sold at a high price as a valuable item but Carol told him that all the merchants who would purchase it at a high price had escaped from the country so it would only be bought in bulk at a cheap price now and hence he also could not exchange that into gold.
That’s why he probably wants money now.
Incidentally, we politely refused that request.
I understood that if Suzuki and his group were going then there won’t be any need for any more personnel.
It definitely wasn’t because I don’t want to work as I’m Jobless.
It’s because there are plenty of things that can’t be done if there are others around.
For example, I still had not fully examined the skill 「Hikkikomori」 and My World.
I planned to stay at the inn in Ferruit for awhile to slowly do so.
※※※
Five days passed since the monsters came to attack Ferruit.
In the inn room that I already consider as my own home.
“O… o… o…”
I heard a mysterious voice.
Is it a broken alarm clock?
“O… Oha… Oha… O…”
Isn’t it seriously broken?
And so I woke up and looked to my side.
A black haired girl was performing a seiza on the bed.
Although the long bangs covered her eyes, I could clearly tell that she was embarrassed from her cheeks that were dyed red.
“Oha… Ohayo…”
She was wearing silk clothes.
It was a pair of clothes I bought for everyone since I had an excess of gold.
The clothes had a wide neckline so the slave collar was more visible than usual.
”… Ohayogozaimasu.”(Note: Good morning)
”… Ah, good morning, Malina… as expected, wouldn’t it have been better if you swapped with Carol or Haru?”
Malina shook her head vigorously when I asked.
Yesterday, Carol, Haru and I discussed who would sleep together in a room that night.
Carol and I slept in the same room the previous night so by order it should be Haru’s turn to sleep with me.
However, I accompanied Haru for swordsmanship practice the whole day yesterday.
Although status would rise along with leveling up, it’s said that the skill with a sword requires technique and experience.
That’s why I agreed with Haru’s opinion that we would get rusty if we don’t occasionally fight against a human opponent.
Then, when we returned,
“Ichino-sama, you should be tired today so please sleep with Carol in the same room today. Since you would not be able to recover from your fatigue if Haru-san sleeps in the same room as master.”
and Carol said, indicating that she knew about what we do at night.
Frankly, that was the truth so I really couldn’t decline.
That’s when,
“No, today I will go into eternal sleep with Ichino.”
Marina said that. I don’t wish to go into eternal sleep.
“Of course, I would take off my mask. Since it’s about time Malina establish a tolerance towards the male gender. But don’t make a move on her okay?”
Marina suggested.
It was the first time she mentioned that so in the end, Haru and Carol had no choice but to comply.
However, when the mask was taken off, Malina was nervous as always.
When I woke up in the middle of the night due to a strange voice and listened carefully,
“7291 sheep, 7292 sheep, 7293 sheep.”
I was shocked to hear her voice counting sheep.
If she counted 1 sheep a second, she would have already counted for two and a half hours.
Counting sheep originated because ‘sheep’ and ‘sleep’ sounds similar and would make one sleepy but for people like us who are unfamiliar with English, I don’t think we would feel sleepy even if we count sheep but I thought that she would become even more unnecessarily nervous if I spoke to her then so I quietly laid still.
I could no longer hear the sheep counts after a while but I don’t know if it was because Malina had fallen asleep or because I had fallen asleep.
However, when I looked at her face, the expression of nervousness seemed to overwhelm the expression of drowsiness.
”… Are you going to put on your mask?”
“Ah… I will stay like this… until I have my breakfast.”
“I see…”
“… Yes.”
After that, silence dominated the room.
I was thinking about stupid things like since I could hear the sounds of somebody moving about outside, 「Silent Room」 wasn’t on when Malina spoke.
“Er… I would like to change but…”
“So, sorry!”
I said as I turned around and,
“I’ll leave now.”
“Ah, no… as long as your back is turned…”
“O… okay.”
What’s with this nervousness.
I could hear the rustling of clothes.
What is she taking off now?
No, what am I talking about?
What should I do… that’s right, 「Hawk’s Eye」… if I use that, I would be able to see behind without Malina noticing
… wait what the heck am I thinking about?
Peeping is the worst.
In the first place, I already have Haru and Carol who love me.
If I did something like that here, I would lose their trust.
However, I wonder.
Even though she usually says those chuunibyou-like phrases, after she takes off her mask, she becomes timid and slightly afraid of men but can be seen to have opened up slightly to me and it might somehow lead to a situation where she becomes infatuated with me.
Wait, I’m seriously an idiot.
When did I start to aim for a harem?
To begin with, I’m only thinking about whether or not to peek now.
Wait, eh? Why am I talking as if there is room to consider peeking?
“Ichino-san, I’ve finished changing… what’s wrong?”
Malina asked worriedly as I had slammed my head into the wall.
I smiled bitterly at her as I said.
“Nothing… I wonder… yup. As expected, that attire matches Malina the best.”
“Th… thank you… very much.”
Seeing her look down and her face turn red, I wondered just how much of a shy person is she.