Chapter 48

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 appetite .

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 appetite 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 succumbed 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, nobody . ”

‘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 assigned 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 .

The sun had set as he ate dinner .

Using a piece of firewood from the fireplace as a torch, Wynn walked around the chicken coop .

The chickens in the coop were woken up by the approaching light, and began to rustle around .

‘Nope, I don’t see anything . ’

He inspected the ground around the coop, but couldn’t find any possible clues .

‘The soil of the fields are soft, so there might be footprints there… ’

Wynn closely examined the fields .

“Found something!”

There were many footprints left on a ridge in the soil .

The footprints came from several different people, but some of them might belong to Laura and her parents .

Among them, Wynn found a set of small footprints that appeared to belong to a child .

Given that Laura’s child had passed away, it was likely that the owner of those footprints was the culprit .

Unsurprisingly, when he followed the footsteps, they led towards a stream in the plains beyond the fields .

It was one of the tributaries of the river that flowed from the northeastern part of the city to the southeastern part of the city .

Upstream, was a thick forest, that seemed as if it was covered in a dark ink due to the sunset .

‘It’s dangerous to go there alone…’

Wynn confirmed again that the footsteps did lead away from the fields towards the stream, then rushed back to the cottage .

“Paul!”

He flung open the door, then ran inside .

Immediately, Paul and Laura shushed him .

He then saw Leti nodding off in the corner of the room .

Wynn nodded in understanding, then softly walked over to Paul .

“Did Leti fall asleep?”

“Yeah, though she was awake until just now . Is she always like that?”

“What’s wrong?”

For some reason, Paul seemed weird .

“Well, right after you left, she became strange . ”

When Wynn left, Leti became completely expressionless, as if all emotion had left her .

She looked exactly like a doll .

She then sat in a corner of the room, and no matter how much Paul and Laura talked to her, she didn’t respond .

They were baffled, but eventually, due to having eaten her fill, Leti dozed off .

That was right when Wynn returned .

“You also surprised me . Who is Leti’s family, exactly?”

“Umm… well, she isn’t like that when she’s with me . I also don’t know who her family is . ”

“Okay… Even though she seems like a lady from a well-off family, there hasn’t been a fuss about how she hasn’t returned . She doesn’t seem to be treated well . ”

‘Could she have been an illegitimate child?’

“What I wanted to say, was that there were some strange footprints that led beyond the fields, way from the cottage . ”

“Well done, Wynn . ”

“What do we do about Leti?”

“We have to guard the house tonight, so let’s let her sleep in here . ”

Paul looked at Laura to make sure it was fine .

“That’s fine . I wonder if something happened to this girl? She seemed frightened of me . ”

Leti had curled up on the bed .

The sheepdog had also curled up beside her .

Laura took out a blanket to let Leti sleep soundly .

Wynn took the blanket from Laura and laid it over Leti’s small body .

He then took a moment to arrange Leti’s blonde hair, which had been disheveled by her sleeping posture .

“Without you, Wynn, Leti seems quite helpless . You have to protect her well, you hear?”

Wynn nodded firmly, and then left the cottage, out to where Paul was waiting for him .

Translator Notes