10 Years After – 21
The Shadow of a Mysterious Monster
We left the royal capital and headed for our destination.
The request had come from a relatively large village that was two hours away on foot.
On the way, Serulis said with a smile:
“It’s quite eerie to have monsters appear so close to the capital.”
“Monsters that appear close to large cities are usually weak.”
“It’s for E Rankers. So it must be pretty weak then.”
Serulis was in a good mood.
She must really like going on adventures.
While we walked, Serulis would keep asking for stories of our past.
Since it was a good occasion, I told her heroic stories about Goran.
Talking like this made the journey end all too quickly.
When we arrived, the villagers led us to their chief, who had put up the request.
The chief smiled brightly when Serulis showed him her Adventurer’s card.
It had taken so long, but an Adventurer had finally accepted the request.
“Thank you so much for coming here.”
“No, no. Helping people is what Adventurers do. I heard that there is a monster that is troubling you?”
I intended to leave the negotiations to Serulis. I would only help if she needed it.
And from what I could see, Serulis seemed quite capable, considering she was new to it.
She was friendly with people and very polite. And this had the result of them looking at her favorably.
That in itself meant she was halfway to success.
“Yes, about that…”
The chief looked troubled.
“We don’t know for sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“Damage really has been done. And there are witnesses. However, the testimonies are all different.”
“Could you give me some specific examples?”
“Yes. First…”
The chief told us about the first witness’s testimony.
It had been a giant wolf. It had three heads and flames spewed from its mouths.
Serulis listened to this and muttered,
“…Cerberus.”
“Cerber-what…? Is it strong?”
“Yes. Very strong.”
“I see. That is frightening.”
“And what damage did this Cerberus cause?”
“It took one sheep.”
“That’s it?”
The chief scowled at Serulis’s reaction.
“How very rude of you. Do you have any idea how valuable and important sheep are to us?”
“I misspoke. I’m sorry.”
Serulis apologized.
As her senior, I had to help her a little.
“They are most horrible monsters. It would not have been strange if the entire fold were wiped out. That is why she said that.”
“I see. So we were very fortunate then.”
The chief became a little pale when he heard me.
“Where was this Cerberus seen?”
Serulis asked as she spread open a map.
“Around here.”
“I see…”
Serulis and the chief began to talk as if the monster really was the Cerberus.
This was a mistake.
The witness testimonies were all different. She should ask about what the others said.
Koko wa Ore ni Makasete Saki ni Ike to Itte kara 10 Nen ga Tattara Densetsu ni Natteita
