Paintbrush Summoner – 88

Chapter 88 – Beloved Ellie


When they entered, a male employee raised his hand to them from behind a counter.

There were chairs for people who were waiting, and a row of office desks behind the counter. It looked like some kind of city office.

“Welcome. Ah…if it isn’t Mofusen.”

“Hohoho. I came to give this man a little tour. He is a traveler from a different country. By the way, was that…”

“Oh, Ellie? She is one of this town’s scarab researchers, but for some reason, there is one that always gets lost. But there was another one that went with it, and so I said that it should be fine. Still, she went to go look for it.”

Clearly, they were quite advanced in the handling of scarabs in Nadar.

“Bamble and Gaine, was it? So the scarabs gather here?”

Menew asked with a tilt of his head. The guild worker laughed, seeing that Menew really was an outsider.

“Aye. If you tell them, the scarabs will return here. They are smart, so as long as they are satisfied with the reason, they will obey. On top of that, they will spread the word to the other scarabs. In this country, the scarabs are divided into a day shift and a night shift. And they are managed while they work.”

You could say they had a deeper cooperative relationship with them compared to other countries.

“The researchers manage their numbers and health while studying them. For this branch, that is Ellie. It’s just about time to let the day workers rest, and send out the night workers, but… As I said before, one of them got lost as usual. So she went out to catch it.”

“Ah…”

Scarabs were like a cheat. So they took good care of them.

Also, they were worth more in this country.

“It will be bad if the sun sets.. It might be abducted, after all… Mister, if you have time, could you help us? There is this person who is obsessed with scarabs to the point of giving them all names. This could be dangerous.”

Abducted? Those bugs that were everywhere?

The man seemed to read Menew’s mind, as he laughed.

“It is one of the great problems plaguing this country. The more scarabs there are in the storage space, the more compost. And so smuggling organizations target them.”

Menew and the others understood now. That is why the scarabs were managed, and why they did not want to lose any.

If one got stolen, then it would lead to more thefts.

“Very well. Mofusen and Totto will go together, while Ralph and I will go on our own, and we will search for it.”

This way, they would be able to deal with the culprit, if they happened to encounter any.

“Thank you. Ellie should be near the docks.”

“Very well. Let’s go.”

Menew would go to the docks, Mofusen and Totto to the shopping district, while Ralph would check the back alleys.

Apparently, there were only two scarabs out right now. So it seemed like it should not be too difficult to find them. However, that was not the case.

The town of stone buildings was bathed in red as the sun descended into the sea.

While Menew was awed by the beautiful horizon, he shook his head and continued the search.

The shore was lined with storage houses, and so Menew went around and looked between them.

Occasionally, Alcatse would come near him as he looked. But after a short while, I heard the sounds of arguing from between two buildings.

“As I said…I won’t give it to you…!”

“…You too…!”

Menew rushed forwards and saw Ellie and the two scarabs. And there were three ment blocking their path.

“You…!”

Ellie shouted in surprise when she saw Menew. Obviously, the men turned around.

It could not be helped. Menew gave up the hope of an ambush as he slowly walked up to them.

However, one of the men grabbed Ellie and stuck a knife to her throat.

“Hey, mister. Don’t you care what happens to her?”

Menew considered playing dumb, but then he decided to go with a different plan.

After standing in clew view, Menew yawned and then jumped high above their heads, so that he was over the roofs, and then he landed behind the man who had caught Ellie.

When one does something that surpasses the imagination of others, they tend to freeze. And he took the opportunity to free Ellie and move her behind his back.

“Are you alright?”

He asked Ellie and the scarabs. She was too stunned to answer, but the scarabs stood up on their hind legs and waved their arms. It seemed like they were fine.

“So, I will be handing you people over to the Knights Guild.”

“Tsk! Kill him! Smash his face in!”

After failing to abduct the scarabs, they were trying to kill the witness.

Menew sighed as he raised his staff to block the swinging blade.

“This will be easier if you’re unconscious.”

He said, not trying to hide how troublesome he felt this was. And then Menew easily pushed away the sword and swung his staff.

As he rotated the staff, he made sure to hit the tip against the abductor’s head.

The man fell, unconscious. And then Menew moved forward before the other two could run away.

During such times, it was a bad idea to talk to them or leave them conscious.

And so Menew held the staff under his arm, and then grabbed the heads of the two men, and slammed them together.

After making sure that they were unconscious, Menew used magic to bind them together.

“Can you stand? Are you alright?”


“Y-you…what are you…?”

“I am Menew. I am a traveling Summoner, and the scarabs have helped me.”

Summoners did not do martial arts like that, but he brushed that aside for now. Ellie wouldn’t give it much thought until the shock left her body anyway.

“Yo-you saved me… I’m Ellie. A researcher at the Scarab Guild.”

“I’m glad that you’re fine. What about Bamble and Gaine?”

“Ah! Yes! Are you hurt!?”

She swung around and tried to pick them up. However…

The two started to roll their dung balls towards Menew.

“Hm!?”

Menew had a bad feeling about it.

“To-to think that scarabs would be courting a human…!?”

(Courting…!)

The two scarabs stood on their balls and looked up at Menew as if to say, ‘Want to roll together?’

It was better than being kicked. But this was troublesome as well.

As for what was troublesome, it was Ellie’s eyes. They were scary, and burning with jealousy.

“In-in any case…shall we go back?”

“Yes… But I won’t lose to you!”

Ellie growled as she passed Menew.

Not that he wanted it or anything. But didn’t these kinds of situations usually involve raising a flag with a beautiful woman?

Instead, the flag was raised with the scarabs, and Ellie saw him as an enemy…a rival.

Menew had to beg Bamble and Gaine to roll their dung balls to the storage area, and then they all returned to the scarab guild.

As the abductors were restrained with magic, he left them in a secluded spot and sent a report to the Knights Guild to pick them up. As a soldier had gone immediately, they should be arrested without any problems.

After they returned to the guild, people were sent out to call back Ralph and the others.

Ellie finally finished checking Bamble and Gaine, so by the time Ralph and the others returned, it was time to release the night shift scarabs.

However, the night shift scarabs then started to roll their balls towards Menew. And before long, he was surrounded by scarabs.

“What!?”

Menew was in a dung ball paradise, and had his choice of any one.

“Mister. I’ve been working here for a long time, and while I’ve seen people being kicked, I’ve never seen anyone being proposed to like this…by both male and females…”

The guild worker said with a sigh. Ellie burned with rage and jealousy. Ralph was trying not to laugh too hard. Ralph, that bastard!

“Ah, I suppose you will be the first and also the last…”

He said when he was able to breathe again.

After that, he had to ask them to stop, as it interfered with their work. By then, it was already quite late into the night.

Next Chapter

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