Paintbrush Summoner – 107

Chapter 107 – Ellie’s Escort Request

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The comfortable journey by carriage ended peacefully, and they arrived in Solcia.

As for Menew, he wondered if he would be scolded again, now that the dust had settled. However, it seemed that the mystery masks, and the tension of the situation, helped him to avoid this fate.

“We’re back! Hmm…?”

Menew poked his head out of the carriage window and looked at the town of Solcia. The port town was as lively as usual. Well, maybe a little more lively than before.

“Ah, the Adventurers must have returned.”

Said Kara.

Menew’s eyes lit up at this.

“Oh, so if we go to the guild…”

“There might be requests.”

Ralph said with a nod.

But first, they returned to the Merchants Guild with the carriage. Kara went inside, and then came out with Ling.

Before saying anything to Menew and the others, she inspected the carriage and then let out a deep sigh.

“What did you do! This was made to carry luggage. We can’t sell it to nobles… I suppose you can buy it from us?”

Apparently, this is where the scolding was to start. Menew had lowered his guard, and so he could do nothing but scratch his head and chuckle awkwardly.

While it would not hurt to have it, he did not want to look after the horses.

“…If we could talk about this…”

“Hmph. I suppose you can’t take care of the horses. Fine. I will arrange it so that you can drop them off at any Merchants Guild in any town. They will care for the horses for you.”

It was deal. While Menew did feel a little cheated, he was the one who had altered it with magic, so he could not complain.

And while he could change the carriage back to normal, it wasn’t as if he needed to put anything in it. And it was better to not show off his powers even more.

Still, as they would have to look after the horses while on the road, they were given a quick lesson on what to do, as well as some hay. Thankfully, Mofusen had some familiarity with horses. He had once been a farmer, after all. 

After finishing their business at the Merchants Guild, it was evening. And so they headed to the Adventurers Guild.

“Oh, it’s Menew! Some new work has come in.”

“Great! What kind?”

He had become friends with the old man who worked at the guild, during the time he sold a lot of crystals. 

The job that came in was to work as an escort. And it was to the water capital of Jupno, which Menew had wanted to go to. That country was known for having many dungeons. Including an ancient dungeon that was similar to the one that Kanon had been in. Menew had discovered this when he was bored, and did some research in a library.

If it was an escort mission, they would be able to make use of the carriage.

As the client would be staying in Jupno for some time, they only had to escort them there. And this seemed like a good opportunity to leave the town.

They accepted a few other B-Rank hunting quests, and then promised to meet up with the client on the following day.

After that, they left the guild building.

And then the next day…

“What!? You people are going to be my guards!?”

“Ms. Ellie!?”

This was a most unexpected reunion.

Apparently she was going to do some field research in order to see how the war was affecting the scarabs. And so she needed guards to protect her.

“Well, if it’s you, I suppose there is no need to worry. This is much better than total strangers.”

Menew was not sure about that.

Also, it seemed that in this country, women did not seem to mind traveling with men.

“Ms. Ellie. Wouldn’t you rather be guarded by a more…mixed group?”

“Why? Scarabs are more likely to do something funny to me than any of you!”

Obviously, she was quite right. But Menew was starting to wonder if there was something in his status that made people sure of this.

“You all went to Ramsteris, didn’t you? Everyone knows that ‘friends of god’ do not run towards impure things.”

Ralph nodded.

Ah, so they were being seen as fanatical believers. Well, it was convenient.

Menew wished that he had bought some amulets of protection. That way, he could make a show of being devout.

“Alright then. Thank you for having us, Ms. Ellie.”

“Just call me Ellie. Now, mind if we confirm the route?”

They then looked at the map, and made plans for their departure early the next morning.

The route would take them through Nadar and towards Jupno, but they would be off the main road by quite a lot.

Indeed, you want to have guards with you for that.

In the afternoon, Menew and the others went out to buy supplies. Ellie still had some work left to do, so she promised to see them in front of the guild tomorrow.

When they told the innkeeper that they would be leaving, he gave them back