An Unexpected Quest

"It's true. When we're traveling on our own, there's no rest to speak of at all. More often than not, we make do with jerky chewed on horseback. Which is exactly why this White Herb has become an absolute necessity for me."

"Oh."

"And honestly, this is the first time we've stopped to rest barely half a day after setting out since I joined the Captain's command. He actually prefers camping in the open to staying at inns within the territory. The fact that he's arranged to use lodgings every other night, as far as I can tell, is a plan drawn up out of considerable consideration for Miss Pereira."

Natalie feared that if she kept insisting it couldn't be so, the atmosphere would turn frosty, so she finally gave a reluctant nod.

"If that's the case, then I'm truly grateful. Though I can't imagine preferring sleeping outdoors to an inn. Wouldn't an inn be far more comfortable? When you camp, it's not just the meals—bathing and sleeping are all that much more difficult. Is there some particular reason? Unless... you think roughing it makes a man more manly, or something."

"Haha, nothing like that. It's just that, strangely enough, whenever the Captain stays at an inn, we somehow end up tangled in troublesome affairs."

"Troublesome affairs?"

"Well, an assassin will slip into the lord's manor and beg us to track them down, or someone goes missing and we get hired to find them. That sort of thing."

"Ah, I understand exactly what you mean."

Natalie understood McLane's circumstances perfectly. Somehow getting tangled up in trouble, somehow taking on requests. Apparently, quests were popping up.

No wonder that man's exhausted. The moment he tries to do anything, a quest appears to shake up his plans.

It seemed fair to conclude that his stubborn resistance to getting involved with her had, in the end, given way to the nudging—no, the outright shoving—of a quest.

Camping out makes total sense.

It was just as the man she'd found so insufferable was starting to look a bit pitiable that the gray-haired Jorel, returning from a scouting run, came back leading a scrawny child—as if to prove her theory for her.

"Captain! I found this boy while scouting the perimeter—"

"H-help us, sirs! Our village is under attack by a goblin horde!"

The boy begged in a half-hoarse voice, his face a mess of tears and snot. It looked as though he'd taken a hard tumble while fleeing—his clothes were torn in places and fresh scrapes covered him from head to toe.

At this, McLane narrowed his brows, let his gaze drift somewhere into empty air for a moment, then muttered, raking a hand through his hair as if sighing out loud.

"Damn it. This is exactly why I was trying to ride through without stopping."

By taking a break along the way, he'd apparently triggered an unexpected quest.

The man bears the title of the Empire's foremost hero. Surely he wouldn't just ride past a poor child like that?

Natalie felt oddly sorry, both for the boy begging for help and for McLane, who'd been dragged into yet another bother. She was watching him with her heart in her throat when McLane clicked his tongue, stepped toward the child, and asked in a brusque voice:

"Can you guide us to the village?"

Having gotten the village's location from the boy, McLane swept his gaze over his men as if about to give the order to move out at once—and his eyes met Natalie's.

There was something distinctly doubtful in his expression.

Fair enough. I did say I could use combat magic, but the truth is I've never seen real combat.

Dreading that she'd keep being a thorn in his side and end up ordered to simply turn back, Natalie nodded as if to say it was no problem at all.

Still looking uncertain, McLane turned straight to his second-in-command.

"Orlando!"

"Yes, sir!"

"You stay here with Miss Pereira and—"

"Yes, understood, sir!"

Before he could even finish the order to guard Natalie, Orlando answered with obvious delight. McLane furrowed his brow and gave a quick shake of his head, reversing his decision.

"No—Bertel! You hold position here with Miss Pereira. Everyone else goes with the boy to the village, deals with the goblin horde, and returns."

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone goes without me—or rather, they were leaving an entire fighter behind because of her. This time it was Natalie's brows that drew together.

Sure, she hadn't expected to be fighting monsters starting the very day they departed, and she was far from comfortable in combat. But unlike the other members, who worked together like a well-oiled machine, it felt wrong from the very start to be the only one sidelined.

In the end, Natalie bit her lip and stopped McLane just as he was about to ride off.

"Um, Captain! One moment. Would it be all right if I came along too and waited nearby?"

"There's no need for you to throw yourself into danger so soon—"

From the way his mouth was already twisting, a firm refusal was clearly imminent, so Natalie hurriedly tacked on a more persuasive excuse.

"I promise I won't be in the way. If we're going to keep traveling together, I should see how the others fight, shouldn't I? And if it comes to it, I can support the battle with long-range magic. If you're truly worried, Deputy Orlando uses a bow, so you could position me at his side firing support shots. Besides, moving as one group would be more efficient—we could set out again the moment the job's done."

"He's right, Captain. I'll guard Miss Pereira safely at her side."

Orlando jumped in with his backing as if he'd been waiting for the opening, and McLane's eyebrows twitched yet again. Grunting a dissatisfied hmm, he finally gave a reluctant nod.

"Then Miss Pereira and Orlando follow at a safe distance. We move now. Kid, what's your name?"

"B-Billy, sir."

"Right, Billy. You ride with me and guide the way."

"O-okay. Thank you."

With the boy aboard, the party moved out at speed. Bertel, who had been driving the carriage Natalie rode in, swapped places with Orlando and mounted a warhorse.

Orlando and Natalie decided to trail the party at a slight distance and keep watch on the situation.

"Just in case, should we lay a warding barrier over the carriage? Something for concealment and defense?"

"That would be wise."

"Though if someone attacks from inside, the barrier could break—so any attacking would have to happen outside the carriage."

"I doubt it'll ever come to us actually supporting them, but if it did, the support fire would likely happen well away from the carriage anyway."

"Then I'll lay the barrier right now."

Natalie formed a sigil with her hands and murmured a short incantation, and a thin, transparent film like a soap bubble wrapped itself around the carriage.

By the time they had passed through the forest and reached a winding mountainside, the party could tell they were drawing near the village. Even before their eyes confirmed it, faint screams mingled with monstrous shrieks—unmistakably those of monsters—had already seized hold of their footsteps.

"H-hurry, please! Just past that cornfield down there—that's the village!"

The boy's cry urging them on sounded less like shouting and more like wailing pure and simple.

"Hyah!"

As they cracked the reins and began the descent, a small village—home to barely a dozen households, if that—came into view nestled below.

"Whoa, whoa!"

McLane reined his horse to a halt at the village entrance and leapt down in a flash, shouting to the boy who stood there helplessly at a loss.

"It's dangerous, so you get in that carriage over there! Munash, Muki—advance into the village with me. Bertel, Jorel—circle around the other side and strike them from behind!"

"Yes, sir!"

"And..."

McLane continued the orders, fixing Natalie with a narrowed gaze.

"Miss Pereira and Orlando hold position here and deal with any that slip past. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Move out!"

In the blink of an eye, a massive greatsword had appeared in McLane's hand as he charged.

Whether they'd heard the party coming or not, dozens of goblins came pouring from the village's interior as if to meet the men head-on.

"Hrk!"

Natalie sucked in an involuntary breath at the grotesque reality of the goblins she'd always breezed past in her Monster Compendium without a second glance. Green skin, squat bodies that barely reached an adult's chest, and eyes flashing yellow like a beast's. At first glance, it almost looked like a few dozen children who'd rolled around in green paint come swarming toward her.

Khraaaaah! Keeeeeh!

But when the creatures' shrieks made it unmistakably clear they were not human, a chill ran down her spine whether she liked it or not.

"Th-the goblins, over there..."

Billy, who had crept up beside her at some point, tugged at the hem of Natalie's clothes with hands trembling violently. Left alone, he seemed bound to faint from sheer terror before he ever made it into the carriage.

Natalie took the boy's hand and patted it gently, as if to say don't worry.

"Now then, hurry and get inside the carriage. I've laid a magical barrier over it, so you'll be perfectly safe in there."