Strange Dragon – 116

Chapter 116 – Gisela’s Situation

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While I was holding Gisela, she raised her voice excitedly.

“Hippolius is so fast.”
“Kyuo!”
Hippolius was quite happy.

Thanks to Hippolius, we were able to return to the base before too long.
When we entered, everyone came and gathered around.
However, Kelly, Ije, Fio, Shiro, and the wolf cubs were not there.
I suppose they were inside one of the houses.

“Mr. Theo. Did you learn… Huh? Ms. Gisela?”

Victor noticed her and looked very surprised.
Well, he was seeing a Hero from the old continent, after all.

“It’s been a long time, old man.”

“Gisela greeted him with a smile.

“Huh? Gisela?”
“Ah, it really is Ms. Gisela. How is this possible?”

The Adventurers gathered around us.
As Gisela was a Hero, there was not a single Adventurer who did not know about her.

“In any case, we can talk about the details later. Right now, Gisela needs to be properly treated. And so I’m taking her to the infirmary.”

I said as I climbed off of Hippolius while carrying her.
At the same time, Hippolius became smaller.

“She does not…appear to be injured. Is she ill?”

Victor had inspected her quickly.

“…Red poison berries.”
“Ah…”

As Victor had been suffering from them recently, he felt great sympathy for her.
He looked at Gisela with kind eyes.

The other Adventurers also knew Victor’s pain, and were sympathetic.
Especially the ones who had been sick with him.

“I already gave her some medicine. Right now, he needs to rest.”
“Indeed. I shall call the healer.”
“Thank you.”

And so I started to walk towards the infirmary while carrying Gisela.
“Uh, I would rather be with you, Theo.”
“The infirmary is closer to the bathroom.”
“…Oh.”

Gisela did not look too happy.
I suppose she felt lonely now that she was sick.

“It cannot be helped. Fine.”

And so I took Gisela to Hippolius’s house.

“Wuff! Welcome back.”
“Welcome back.”

We were greeted by Fio and Ije.
As for Shiro and the wolf cubs, they were sleeping with Kelly.
Kelly must have been tired.

“We’re back.”
“Kyuo.”
“Pii.”

I placed Gisela down on top of the blanket.

“Who is that?”
“An old friend.”
“Hello. I am Gisela.”
“Hello.”
“It nice to meet you.”

As they were introduced, the healer and Victor came to Hippoius’s house.

“So you ate the red poison berry?”
“I did.”
“But you don’t seem to be in too bad a shape.”
“Because I took Theo’s medicine.”
“I see. But even then, you seem almost too well.”

The Healer said as he inspected her.

“You should be healed after getting some rest.”

He said, and then left.
A moment later, Kelly woke up and opened her eyes.

“Hmm? …Oh, Gisela.”
“Ah, Kelly. I didn’t know you were here.”

Kelly petted the wolf cubs and Shiro gently and then came over to us.

“Kelly. Do you know each other?”
“When I was a student. I once helped to investigate a monster that Gisela hunted. That’s when we met.”
“How nostalgic. That was fun.”
“It was more of a horribly frightening experience for me.”

Years ago, when Kelly was a student, she had gone to see this rare monster that had been slain.
And it was Gisela who had taken the monster down.
But it was only the very first one.
By the time that the scholars arrived, there was a whole pack. And so they were attacked by dozens of the monsters.

“I really thought that I was going to die. We would have died if Gisela was not there.”
“But you were able to do some good research, weren’t you?”
“That’s true. I earned my doctorate with the thesis I wrote back then, titled ‘Morphological Changes and Collective Consciousness in Colonial Monsters.’”

Apparently, she had been doing some complicated research.
And since Gisela and Kelly were a similar age, they became friends.

“Gisela helped a lot with my research.”
“It was a good opportunity for me to get some exercise!”

Gisela had liked being able to hunt monsters on the frontier, and she was able to do it with the excuse of helping some important scholars.
However, the continent has been very peaceful for the last two years.
There were hardly any new monsters left to be discovered.
That was why Kelly had joined the expedition to the new continent.

Just like me.

“So, why are you here? Gisela?”

Kelly asked. Victor also nodded.

“Ms. Gisela. I was wondering about that as well. What brought you here?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Yes. We will still listen.”
“I got bored of my job, so I chased after Mr. Theo.”
“…That was not a very long story.”
“Hehe.”

Gisela looked a little embarrassed.
Kelly let out a sigh.

“Gisela. I hope you haven’t caused a lot of trouble for the others?”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Theo. I made sure that things would be fine without me.”
“Hmm? How?”
“Uh, once I wanted to quit my work, I talked to Lilia about it.”

Lilia was the Sorcerer in our old party.
She was very strong and very smart.

“And what did she say?”
“Well… She wrote a petition.”
“Hmm? A petition. To improve your working conditions?”
“No. I don’t think Lilia wrote anything about that.”

So how did that lead to her being able to come here without causing any inconvenience for the others?

“Ms. Gisela. What did it say?”
“That there are too many who are sick? The smell of the city?”
“Was it about improving the medical facility and sewage systems?”
“Yes, yes. A lot of stuff like that. As I had opportunities to meet the king, I was able to deliver it directly. And it caused quite an uproar.”
“That’s no surprise.”

A Hero going directly to the king. That was a big deal.

“Lilia wrote that if things did not improve, I would no longer work.”
“A strike.”
“And so I was fired from all of my jobs.”
“I see. So that’s what happened.”

Most of a Hero’s work was honorary positions.
Gisela’s achievements were astounding. And she was also young and beautiful, which made her greatly popular with the people.
She made a convenient public figure for the country.
As long as she was quiet and cooperative.
They had probably wanted to wait for the right time, and make her marry some nobleman, or even a member of the royal family eventually.

“Well, that must have been a surprise for the country.”
“Yes, everyone was shocked! It was very funny.”

Gisela had been working quietly up until then, but she suddenly started to cause problems.
If left like this, she would gain the public’s support, which could lead to a social movement.
And so they had taken away her work and titles, so that she was in a state close to banishment.

“They probably felt that the child Gisela had become an adult and gained knowledge.”
“Perhaps. No, I think I was always smart.”
“Hmm. Not really.”
“Hmph.”

Gisela puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.
Gisela had only been fourteen when she defeated the Demon King.
So now that ten years had passed, she was twenty-four.
An adult who should have good judgment.

“Lilia really is smart. And so I was free in no time!”

Gisela said as she smiled happily.

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