Chapter 96
A few minutes after the grandchild came into the room,
An argument was currently breaking-out in front of my eyes between the grandchild and grandfather.
[Why can’t it be me, Ji-chan! I have become a lot stronger than before, if it’s now I can definitely take on the Guros Rabbitsu]
[It is certain that you have grown quite strong. It is something that I know as well. But, you are still far from taking on the Guros Rabbitsu; you still have a long way to go]
Ah, excuse me~ since the briefing for the request has been completed, is it fine if I go back now?
Certainly, it was not a situation where I could say those words out loud. So it might, therefore, be better for me to exit silently, and so, I slowly started to move towards the exit. But suddenly, the man who showed me the way in was blocking my path.
The eyes of the man in front of me were screaming at me to not leave him alone. Fine, fine, I understand, I understand…...it would not be just of me to leave you alone in this situation.
However, I could not just stay here. I wanted to reject the man's pleading right now. But the man in front of me had no intentions of letting me pa.s.s through. It seemed like I would not be able to get out of here without going through this. This thought immediately gave me a nauseous feeling.
But I could not give up; therefore I thought I could let this man sleep for a while. Your sacrifice will be remembered, young man. And so I slowly extended my hand towards the man’s neck. The man who quickly understood my gesture tried desperately to block, but it was in Vain. An A-Rank Adventurer like me; do not underestimate the Head Hunter!
As the two people argued with each other, the conflict between them slowly started to intensify.
[Old Ji-chan, do you even know just how strong I have grown?! But you still always! Always made me help out the Villagers with their petty errands!]
When the grandchild told him that, Zonga-san's face contorted very unfavourably.
[s.h.i.+ngu, I am the Village Head of the Barris Village, I have an obligation to protect every single person in this village. And therefore I cannot just treat you uniquely.]
[Don't give me any excuses! Either way, tomorrow I shall be heading to defeat the Guros Rabbitsu; I shall not allow anyone to get in my way!]
While saying so, the grandchild glared at me.
Well, I don't even know why he was glaring at me…...
[That is the one, that is the one who took my dad away from me and I will be the one to take it down!]
As soon as he said so, the grandchild went ahead and left the room.
The only ones left behind was the Man who was standing at the entrance of the door, and Zonga-san, who seemed very depressed. Oh Man, I really don’t like these kinds of awkward situations.
For a few seconds, all of us stood stock-still.
And then Zonga-san noticed the situation.
[Forgive me Yuuma-dono, I seem to have gotten you mixed up in our family quarrel]
You should be, I retorted while pretending to be calm in front of him.
[It’s all right, Zonga-san. I don't mind.]
[Thanks a lot. But, since you have already heard quite a bit, I guess I can’t keep the rest of it hidden. So, I shall tell you what exactly the relations.h.i.+p between the Guros Rabbitsu and our family is.]
Ehh, but I really don’t mind not knowing.
Honestly, I just want to go back home right now. But I gave up those thoughts looking at Zonga-san’s serious look; I had no choice but to listen to the whole story.
[Yes, please continue]
I sat down in front of Zonga-san, and the story began.
[About three years ago, a party of
B-Rank is the same as Grace-san.
In other words, this was the party in which people of Grace-san's level gathered.
[The members of the Blue Wolf were quite friendly towards everyone in the village and so were the villagers to them. Those were the days when they hunted for prey, which they used to bring it back to the village and have a feast, s.h.i.+ngu also laughed a lot during that time. He was….]
I wonder if he was remembering the old days.
Zonga-san's expression was calm as usual.
But, his eyes had clouded over…...
[It was a lot of fun in those days, so I did not have to worry a lot during then. But, when the Blue Wolf thought about moving their base to Forks, those things, the Guros Rabbitsu got in the way…….]
[I think Yuuma-dono already knows, but the strength of the Guros Rabbitsu is Actually A-Rank. At that time we didn't have the kind of money to hire A-Rank Adventurers for this village*. When the village was in trouble it was Blue Wolf that stood up for us.]
{*EN: you still don't; isn't that why you put it up as a B-Rank request?}
Brave, isn't it.
[If it was the usual, then it should have been solved quite easily. Blue Wolf was certainly strong but they could not win against the Guros Rabbitsu. But, as the Village Head my primary concern was the safety of the village and therefore I could do nothing but turn my head away and leave it to the Blue Wolf.]
Zonga-san's face reflected the suffering that he had faced.
[As result, Although they were unable to beat the Guros Rabbitsu they succeeded in wounding the Guros Rabbitsu quite heavily and were able to drive them quite deep into the Barris Forest, but at the cost of Jirugu’s life, my son, who was the leader of the Blue Wolf, and my grandchild's father………...]
I could actually deduce that from the argument that happened a short while ago.
[s.h.i.+ngu was unable to grasp that fact at that time and cried all alone all day every day. It was something that was bound to happen if you think about it. s.h.i.+ngu’s mother pa.s.sed away while he was still quite young. For s.h.i.+ngu, his father was quite the special existence for him……..]
[……] {EN: alone? You left your grandson to grieve in solitude?}
[Due to such an event, Everyone in the village including myself could not find a word to say anything about it, I suppose due to that s.h.i.+ngu felt that he was abandoned, Since then s.h.i.+ngu did everything by himself, and did not even bring a single person along with him for anything…….]
Oh, so that's the reason for the small house beside this one.
But, to stay alone. It’s almost as if…...
[Well then, that is the end of this story, Yuuma-dono can I ask just one single thing of you. Will you accept it?]
[......Ah, Yes. What is it?]
[Can you please take s.h.i.+ngu along with you tomorrow for the subjugation of the Guros Rabbitsu? If you were to leave him alone, s.h.i.+ngu will definitely go alone, and if he does I believe that he will definitely end up dying.]
Indeed, it might be safer with me there, to some extent.
But, that is not the difficult part.
However, it will certainly be quite a bother. Those eyes with which he looked at me.
s.h.i.+ngu might actually just dislike Adventurers......
[Zonga-san, I don’t mind s.h.i.+ngu accompanying me, It’s completely fine with me. This might just be my conceited thought, but doesn't s.h.i.+ngu hate all Adventurers?]
[Certainly. It does indeed seem like s.h.i.+ngu has quite the lot of hostility towards adventurers since that incident. He probably thinks that Blue Wolf abandoned his father and left without saving him.]
[Then, wouldn’t it be hard for him to get along with me?]
[Hmm. Well that might be so, but not to worry, I shall persuade him, so it will be fine.]
Persuasion huh, I wonder if it will really work.
Well forget it, since Zonga-san has said it, it will be fine.
[Understood. Then I shall come here tomorrow morning as soon as the sun rises. Please persuade him by then]
Saying so, I stood up and left the room.
Then the man who was standing outside the room stood before me with an astonished expression on his face.
--What just happened to him?
[Sorry about that, did I surprise you, is something the matter?]
When I asked him so, the man panicked and immediately started talking.
[Ah, no. I heard that the Head-Hunter Yuma-san, had a really cold personality, and there are rumours that those who offend him will have their heads taken away. And then such a person easily accepted the Village Head’s request, so it was quite surprising. Well, I guess the rumours are not that reliable.]
……..No. It certainly, definitely isn’t like that.
The second half the rumour is definitely wrong but I guess it’s not wrong that I have a cold personality. At least usually, even if it was Zonga-san’s request, I would not have accepted it that easily.
Then you might wonder, just why did I accept Zonga-san's request? Did he use any magic? No, that would be wrong. Zonga-san would never do something like that. Even I know that much.
No, no matter how much I think about it, the answer won’t come to my mind. Well, anyways I guess it’s useless to think so much about this right now, so let's give up on it.
Perhaps it was just a whim.
[Um. is anything the matter?]
The man spoke to me anxiously.
It seems that he noticed that I was absorbed in my thoughts and was thinking quite hard about something.
[No, it's okay. I shall take my leave now.]
I said so to the man and left the Village Head’s house.
[Yuuma-sama, Please look after s.h.i.+ngu-sama.]
When I got out of the Village Head's house it was already pretty dark.
The Briefing of the request was done, and therefore.
It was time for me to return to the inn where Gantt-san was.