Let's Go Back to Town

“......Haha, that kid, she actually went and did it!”

Seeing the Togodo Commander's head whirling through the air far above him, against the overcast sky, Kamasse let out a cheer.

“I'll blow you to the Togodo Commander with magic. So you take its head.”

That was the very brief strategy meeting they'd had just before.

That was when he'd given Emi these words.

Honestly, what an idiotic plan.

It was the kind of plan that made him want to roast himself.

Using attack magic to blast a person to a specific destination.

He'd never heard of anything so reckless.

Could he even manage that kind of precise magical control?

Besides, the Togodo Commander was a robust individual.

And he was telling a girl smaller than himself to take its head.

Was he an idiot?

But Emi had followed this plan, which, thinking about it calmly, could only be called reckless, without a single word of complaint.

And Kamasse had successfully transported Emi to the Togodo Commander with magic, and Emi had taken the Commander's head with that incomprehensible strength.

(......A hero is probably someone like you, Emi.)

Watching the black-haired, black-eyed girl falling from the sky, Kamasse remembered an old tale he'd heard many times from his grandfather as a child.

It was a true story, something his grandfather had run into when he was young.

Kamasse's family, House Kaisetz, was a reasonably large merchant house that had lasted for generations.

In his youth, his grandfather had traveled as a peddler to various regions for training.

During that time, he had the misfortune of encountering a monster stampede.

Before his eyes, a swarm of monsters approached like an avalanche.

Certain death.

Just as he had resigned himself to death, a blonde woman suddenly appeared before his eyes.

With a single swing of her arm, nearly all the monsters closing in were blown away, and his grandfather's life was saved, or so the story went.

Off the charts.

A power that transcended human intellect.

Truly, a hero. He had no choice but to call her that.

Kamasse had looked up to the hero in his grandfather's old tale.

His grandfather probably never imagined that this longing would lead him to become an adventurer and run away from home.

Anyway, Kamasse saw that hero in Emi.

She might not yet have the power to blow away a stampede with a single swing of her arm, but her strength was already abnormal.

That, right there, was the caliber of a hero.

A future hero.

Kamasse was certain of it.

(......I can't afford to lose!)

And so, his heart burned.

He was a genius, acknowledged by both himself and others.

And that genius had met someone of such caliber that he didn't even register with her.

But Kamasse wouldn't let it get him down.

Someday, he would surely stand beside her.

Absolutely!

His heart burned.

Kamasse was a sore loser!

......But, for now.

His petty rivalry didn't matter.

For now, he would welcome that little future hero with a smile.

“‘Wind, enfold her. Protect that one! 【Air Protect】!’”

Wind wrapped around Emi's body, and she landed softly on the ground.

She looked blank.

Given that she wasn't particularly shaken, she probably could have landed unscathed even if he'd left her alone.

Falling from that height?

Why? It made no sense.

Still, it would shame him as a man not to prepare a welcome.

“Hmph. Well, you did a fine job. You have my praise!”

With the fight over and relief setting in, his usual arrogant tone slipped out before he could stop it.

Was it to hide his embarrassment? He didn't really know.

Somehow, his face felt hot.

“......Good work. Welcome back, Emi.”

At last, he'd managed to thank her for her trouble.

Kamasse smiled wryly; when had he turned into such a terribly contrary person?

In response to those words, the black-haired, black-eyed girl.

Answered in a few words, her face as blank as ever.

“I'm home.”

But her voice sounded somehow bouncier than usual.

At least, that's how it sounded to Kamasse.

◇ ◇ ◇

Dosun......!

A little after me, the red damn bird's body comes falling down.

It's so big, so why does it come drifting down after me instead of falling first?

A mystery.

<Togodos fly using the power of magic, you know. Until the magic runs out, the body will descend slowly even if the individual is dead, so it ends up falling later.>

It wasn't a mystery.

Anyway, with this, everything is truly solved, and the matter is settled.

I killed the leader of the damn birds like this, and the other damn birds, terrified, fled somewhere.

Even looking up at the sky now, there's only the gray, cloudy sky.

No unpleasant cries, just the sea wind howling.

The damn birds' attack on Yoshanka that Kamasse was worried about probably won't happen now, so there shouldn't be any problem.

And so.

Guuuu......

I'm hungry, so let's dig in to the red damn bird in front of me.

Buchi buchi. Goku goku, musha musha......

“I TOLD YOUUUUU!! Stop eating raw meat! STOP DRINKING THE BLOOOOOOD!!”

Kamasse is interfering again.

Stop it, don't shake my shoulder. Mogu mogu.

“It's dangerous!? Especially with strong monsters like this, if you don't process them properly, there's a high chance of ‘magic poisoning’!”

“Magic poisoning”? What's that? Mogu mogu.

<......That has nothing to do with Emi. There's no need for you to, worry about it.>

?

Is that so, Omake-sama? Mogu mogu.

“And listen, Emi. An adventurer's job isn't over just because you've subjugated the monster!”

Is that so, Kamasse? Mogu mogu.

“If you've subjugated it, you report it to the Adventurers' Guild, get your reward, and then the job is over. The adventure isn't over till you're back at the inn! Never letting your guard down and seeing the job through to the very end, that's the adventurer's creed!”

Haah. Kamasse really is serious, huh. Mogu mogu.

Kamasse, chest puffed out as he lectures me, has the severed head of the red damn bird I lopped off in his left hand.

It seems he picked it up before I noticed.

“Are you going to eat the brain?”

“No, it's proof of subjugation. In this case, the guild has probably already been notified that I was fighting the Togodo Commander alone. If so, it wouldn't be strange if a rescue party for me and a subjugation party for the Togodo Commander had already been formed. It would be rude to the other adventurers if they went through the trouble of gearing up and coming all the way to these northern cliffs only to find the battle was already over. I need to return to the guild as soon as possible and report the outcome of this incident.”

......I see. Mogu mogu.

Then, good luck with the report, Kamasse. Mogu mogu.

“............”

What is it? Staring at me like that. Mogu mogu.

I tilt my head. Mogu mogu.

“Don't make a face that says ‘this has nothing to do with me’! You're one of the parties involved! Naturally, you're going to the report too! You're an adventurer too, aren't you!? I mean! You're the! Number one! Contributor to this subjugation!”

Kamasse shouts loudly, getting close to my face and pointing at me while spraying spit.

But he can say that all he wants. Mogu mogu.

Actually, I'm not an adventurer yet. Mogu mogu.

And above all......

“Me reporting, is useless.”

“Hm?”

“Me, cursed child. What I say, probably nobody believes.”

Anyway, this world is really harsh toward black hair and black eyes!

I feel like just by me tagging along for the subjugation report, some unnecessary trouble will happen.

In that case, I think it would be easier for everyone if this was treated as Kamasse's sole achievement.

“............”

Hearing my words, Kamasse puts a hand to his chin and begins to think deeply about something.

But he soon raised his face, looked straight into my eyes, and said:

“No, you're absolutely coming with me to the report. Leave it to me! I won't let you lose out!”

Then, with a confident grin, Kamasse grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and started dragging me toward town by force.

A, aah~......!

W, what are you doing!

Meat! Meat! Meat! Meeeat~......!

“Stop squirming! I'll treat you to meat later!”

Can't be helped, I'll tag along, I guess.

◇ ◇ ◇

Incidentally, what follows happened on the way back to town.

The two of us were walking through the grasslands by the cliffside, where rocks were scattered, heading toward Yoshanka.

“By the way, why were you even at these cliffs? Some kind of request?”

“Kamasse was in danger, I heard. In town.”

“......You came, to save me?”

“Yeah.”

“Why......”

“I saved you because I like you.”

“Eh?”

“Because I like Kamasse.”

As a person, I mean?

“......”

Ah, he's turning bright red.

W, wait, don't get the wrong idea, okay?

“I like you, as a person, okay?”

“A, ah...... ah?...... yeah.”

He's still red.

Are you even listening, hey.

I mean, don't get all flustered just because a little girl said that!

Just how innocent is Kamasse?

<......Emi, you're always saying it yourself, aren't you? You're a beautiful girl. It's just that black hair and black eyes are loathed; apart from that, you're quite beautiful even to the people of this world. And it seems Kamasse's resistance to black hair and black eyes has faded considerably by now. If he's told ‘I like you’, of course he'll get flustered. Let's kill him.>

Omake-sama, what's with that murderous intent at the end!?

“............”

“............”

Aaaaah~~~!

Geez! What!? This silence!!

Awkward! This is strangely awkward!!

I mean, it was just way too awkward, and Kamasse was tired and walking slowly, so partway there I put him on my back and ran, you know.

The 【Grasshopper】 running style, you know. Got us to town in no time, you know.

The town's outer wall?

Of course, I climbed right over it with 【Silverfish】, you know.

Incidentally, Emi-chan has basically been living out in the wilds all this time, but since she eats anything, she's well nourished (she said so herself in Chapter 6, didn't she).

She's as small as you'd expect for her age, but she's tall compared to other kids the same age.