“Thank you for waiting, Sir Archer, Sir Wallace.”

Glen gets off the driver’s seat and hands me the reins which he held in his left hand, but… I shake my head from side to side.

“Bururuh!!”

“Hihin!”

“Van garuouaaa…” [They are wary of us…]

“Now that you mention it, you are a Kobold, after all… What about you, Sir Wallace?”

“Well, we Werecats are forest people, so we do not ride horses.”

In the forest where there are many obstacles, horses can only move on even footing. Thus, it is more advantageous for the Werecats and us Kobolds who can easily move in the forest terrain. Considering the cost and efficacy of maintaining a horse, forest people like us do not keep horses because it is not economically reasonable for us.

“Lady Ernesta?”

“It’s fine, you can send some of our men with them. They would have nothing to do without the carriages, after all.”

Ernesta answered while she dismounted from the carriage in the same manner. Glen slightly bowed before he turned and walked away.

“I heard everything from Glen. Looks like we’ll be relying on you again.”

“Wau, worua kuruaooua.” [Well, it just so happened that we were helping the Werecats, though.] 

After thinking for a bit, I showed my true intention and continued.

“Garuu kuruooan?” [Can I have this as part of the reward too?]

“Hmm, sure. That was originally part of the equipment I provided, after all.”

“Kyuon kuruoou… Gauruo, gaugoau voruoaaan?” [Then I shall receive it with thanks… By the way, what is the situation with the Bleeding Disease patients?]

In response to my question, Ernesta ruffles her beautiful, silver hair and groans.

“Urghh, we found out that the disease was a curse that circumstantially causes the magic inside the body to run amok, destroying the body little by little from the inside, but the thing is, the effect of the curse is now weakening.”

“Although…” she added, 

“Once the body is ruined, it won’t return to normal even if the curse loses its power completely. We can’t be optimistic that the magical disturbances in the body will also recover naturally, so we can’t rely on the Holy attribute healing magic either.”

“Guruouaru…” [So it’s just like before…]

“No, it’s hard to help the people with terminal infections, but if we can slow down the progression and stabilize those who are exhibiting the early signs of infection, then we’ll have a fighting chance. This is a critical time for us…”

The only patients of the Bleeding Disease I’ve actually seen were the purple-haired female Knight and her crew who were sprawled on the street. It would weigh on my conscience if they died of illness, but… it seems like they have a good chance of surviving now.

“Vuu, garuann.” [Then, please do your best.]

“Yeah, thanks.”

As I continued to talk to her a while after that, two men who appeared like coachmen cautiously approached. 

“… We’ve heard so much about you. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Holy Beast.”

“Pleasure to meet you, sir.”

I nodded lightly as the two coachmen who approached us took off their hats in greeting and made their way to the carriages.

“Guruo, gaoruaaann!” [Everyone, get inside the carriages!!]

“Aouwan.” (Got it.)

“Kyuaon♪” (This looks fun♪)

After lightly checking the inside of the carriage, Blazer went in and was followed by my sister who used her inherent leg strength to leap inside the vehicle. I followed them after and called out to my two remaining companions to get inside the other carriage.

“Wauu, guruu kuuaouaon.” [Ax, you and Lancer get in that one.]

I point out to the second horse wagon that Wallace just got into.

“Guruo, aoon.” (So we’ll be going there, right?)

“Wau, waonn.” (Okay, got it.)

“U, uuwh” (It’s so impressive…)

The coachman nervously sweated as the big, blue, macho Kobold slowly approached the carriage. And it was not just him, but the horses as well.

“Buruaaaaah!!”

“Hihiiiiiiiiinn!?”

“Kuu!? Ki, kyuun.” (Wah!? I-I’m so sorry!)

“Hooo, y-you guys need to calm down!!”

When the coachman managed to pacify the horses who were about to go wild, Ax ducked and entered the carriage and the Spear-using Kobold followed suit.

(He’s the most harmless guy in the group though…)

And after all of us boarded the carriages, I lightly waved to Ernesta who saw us off.

“Garuoon.” [We’ll be off, then.]

“Take care.”

After the exchange, the carriage left and passed from the gatehouse to the outer walls of the castle and into the streets of Selkram, the Royal Capital, where the people were suddenly excitedly talking about the Holy Beast.

……………

………

…

Exactly at the same time, a Merchant caravan advances through the road connecting the Royal Capital of Selkram to the city of Kelp in the Wilm territory. Around twelve bodyguards surrounded the three horse-drawn carriages which contained the precious cargo.

Compared to the actual Merchants, the number of bodyguards accompanying them was rather large.

Only three people on each carriage are the Merchant and his subordinates, while the rest are ruined adventurers under their employ.

These adventurers have been stripped of their adventurer status for crimes or violations. And because of these circumstances, they often fall directly into the ranks of ruffians and thugs…

“Mr. Selam, we will be entering Wilm territory soon.”

One of the men on horseback drew back to the middle carriage and spoke to the plump merchant who poked his head out to admire the scenery.

“Good work, now all we have to do is get out of there and head back to the League of Free Cities.”

“… Are we going to enter the city of Kelp?”

“Of course we’re going in, but we don’t need to cause any more mischief. Wilm territory has a deep relationship with the League because they hold its capital, so if we do anything there, it could be traced back to us.”

Although King Alexius was aware that the League of Free Cities was economically encroaching on the Wilm territory which has been strengthened by the relationship between the daughter of a wealthy merchant on the Alliance’s side and the children of the nobles under the Earl of Wilm.

And because of that fact, the Knight Glen placed priority over the jurisdictional right of the Earl of Wilm. After all, if they handled it poorly, then they would just be poking the hornet’s nest…

“Then, it’s just business as usual, isn’t it?”

“Yes please.”

When they enter the city through the strict checkpoints, they would drop off the women and children they abducted as slaves in a secluded, and guarded area. That way, there would be no problem even if the guards inspect the inside of the wagon.

“However, we still have a bit of a distance to go, so we will have to camp out today… ha!”

With a shout, the man on horseback kicks his horse on the side and returns to the front of the caravan. 

“But this time it looks like it will be profitable, Mr. Selam.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

As the man sitting on the driver’s seat calls out to the plump merchant while driving the horse carriage, Selam turns his gaze to the back of the wagon.

Along with selling their wares, their itinerary this time included abducting people along the way, and one of those they abducted was the Werecat mother and child who were in high demand as pets. They were bound, gagged, and thrown along with the luggage.

“Tsk…”

The young mother’s right shoulder was haphazardly bandaged as she received a stab wound when she resisted, and even now, muffled voices leaked out as the carriage swayed on the road.

Furthermore, the other carriages also carried other captives as well, so all in all, he considered this trip an excellent harvest.

“There were some unexpected results, but I wonder if it’s due to my good behavior?”

“Haha, there you go again with your jokes… but we really did get lucky this time.”

However, unbeknownst to them, they were already being chased by someone from the Royal Capital…