My Reincarnation Skills Are “Playing With Dolls” and “Playing With Clay”, but What Am I Supposed to Do With These? C115

 

Episode 115: First collaboration

The next morning, I decided to take the two remaining bandits I had captured to the next town, Sarat. 

A rope about 10 meters long was stretched out from the last carriage, tied into beads, and forced to walk. Lucien is on the back of the loading platform, holding a bow and watching over me, so I have no choice but to walk seriously. 

In this world, if you catch a thief and hand him over to the nearest town guard, you'll receive a considerable reward. Apparently, if they don't get something in return, some thieves will seize a small amount of money and run away, which is not good for public safety. 

When the thieves are handed over, those with serious crimes or those with bounties are often executed, but those with lesser crimes are apparently sent to dangerous mines as criminal slaves. In other words, the bounty is equivalent to the money you would get if you were sold as a slave. 

"It's customary to divide the bounty equally between the client and the guard. You guys fought and captured him by yourself, but this is the general rule, so please understand."

Old man Habar says he's a little sorry, but that's fine. It would be difficult for us to take them to town on our own, and it seems that the merchants will handle the formalities and other troublesome matters. However, when a monster is exterminated, the magic stone becomes the property of the person who purified it, usually the adventurer. 

It seems like the way we fought last night was appreciated, and the way the merchants look at us has changed. At first, Aunt Natasia seemed to be licking him, but now she seems to be treating him as an equal. For now, it's a little easier. 

"Normally, if you're attacked by 10 bandits, if it's this scale, you might surrender and pay the ransom."

Osmarf whispered in my ear. 

It would have been troublesome if 10 people attacked me all at once, but I'm glad I was able to defeat each of the scouts individually. 

Due to the combination of foot thieves, the carriage moves slowly. It was a relief that the city of Sarat was already close, but even so, by the time the merchants had finished the formalities after handing it over to the guards, it had been nearly two hours since dawn. 

It was meaningful because we were able to rest the horses during the procedure, and we were also able to have Nolte and Carmilla come to the town market to buy food. Looks like I'll be able to eat something nice tonight. 

“Nolte, is there something on your chin?”

Nolte turned red when Lucien pointed it out. Did you also buy something and eat it? I'll pretend I didn't hear it. I'm going to let two greedy people go, so I guess that's what will happen... 

Sarat was a smaller town than Scutari, but perhaps because it was a post town on the main road, it was quite lively, and I saw many inns. 

When we set off, we coincided with another caravan passing in front of us, so we ended up proceeding side by side. We are picking up the pace a bit to make up for the delay in the morning, but the other side is going at the same speed and the intervals are the same. 

The next break was just around noon, so I took it a little longer to let the horses graze. 

Meanwhile, the merchants were discussing something with each other. 

"Shiro, can you come for a moment?"

Osmarf called out to me. There are three merchants here and seven or eight on the other side. Haybar will explain the situation. 

"We're going at roughly the same pace, so I think we'll just go together for a while to be safe. Do you mind if the guards don't mind?"

“Eh, uh, we don’t have any particular objections?”

There were two other commercial caravans that were moving at the same pace, with 3 and 2 wagons, each with a party of adventurers like us as escorts. 

In the three cars, there was a party of five men, led by a LV16 warrior named Fabregas. At a quick glance, they are warriors, warriors, adventurers, scouts, and monks, and all of them are LV10 or higher. There are no magic users, but they seem to be reliable for weapon combat. 

In the two cars, there was an unusual party of three girls, and the leader was a LV11 adventurer named Maura. She is only a 17-year-old girl, and the other two are a wizard and a shrine maiden of the same age. That slave trader said that the job of being a shrine maiden is limited to virgins... no, that's not what matters, I don't have any evil thoughts at all. 

The merchants and the guards had no objections to each other, so they decided to stand in formation. 

As we have been lining up so far, we will be at the back. Since they were in last place, I thought it would be better to keep a close watch on the rear, so I swapped the positions of Carmilla and Nolte. 

There were 8 horse-drawn carriages and a total of 12 adventurers as escorts. If this were enough, the risk of being attacked by bandits on the highway would be reduced. 

The column passed through a town called Stratsa with a short break in between, and by the time the sun set, they had made it about halfway to the next post called Hundea, and finally stopped. 

It was a slightly raised hill-like area, like the one where we had intercepted the bandits on the first day, and the forest had broken off into grassland, giving us a good view. It certainly seems like it's hard to get attacked here. 

It was decided that the wagons would be gathered in the center and the tents of the escort party would be placed around it. 

The two carriages with three women seem to be led by a female merchant, and that is at the east end of the row of carriages, next to them is Natasia's covered wagon, followed by Heybar and Osmarf, and the three are all male merchants. Horse-drawn carriages line up on the west side. 

Surrounding the escort tent are a party of 3 girls on the easternmost edge, our large tent for girls on the south side, my small tent on the southwest side, and 2 tents for a party of 5 males on the northwest and north sides. I decided to hang it. 

We decided to send people out from each escort party in order to keep an eye on the surrounding area, so it felt like we could eat in relative peace. 

First of all, we raised our hands to be on guard duty for the first moment after dusk. The other people's cooking fires are lit, and the delicious smell fills their empty stomachs, but they have a plan in mind. 

Me, Nolte, Lina, and the clay dog, Wan, surrounded the camp and stood guard. During that time, I would have Carmilla and Lucien go around scouting the surrounding area, and also procuring food and firewood. They both have a sense of smell and night vision even when it gets dark, so they don't have any trouble getting around. 

A little far away, in the darkness, Fabregas and his friends were setting up a tent. 

"Hey, move that one a little further west, Ganis."

"Ah, I see...stay!"

There was a dull sound, and it seemed like the big man had fallen. 

"Are you okay?"

"Ah, there was a strange stone and I kicked it away..."

From a distance, I saw something that looked like a large stone slab, which didn't seem like a natural stone, cracked and was lying around. I wonder what it is? that. 

When our time was over, the two of us returned from reconnaissance. 

Carmilla brought wild birds, Lucien brought edible mushrooms and wildflowers, and in his backpack he brought tree branches that could be used as firewood. This will make tonight's meal more diverse. 

After taking over guard duty to Fabregas' party, we had a late dinner and began preparing for camp. Since they didn't have a wizard, they had to go to the valley to get water, so I guess they couldn't have a leisurely meal, I feel sorry for them. 

Light the firewood with magic and wash the ingredients with water magic. Of course, the water in the pot is also magically drawn out. 

Carmilla and I make a roasted whole bird, and Nolte puts the meat on the bones in a pot and makes a dashi while Lucien simmers the chopped mushrooms and wild herbs together. 

After setting up the ceramic table and chairs I put out, Lina is preparing for a ``drum can bath'' in the shade of a large tent. 

As I started eating, a party of three girls came from next door who had finished eating. There were girls around my age here too, so I guess they came to check on me. 

“Good evening, may I interrupt you?”

Being able to talk to a group around the age of high school girls is too difficult a quest for me, so I leave it to Nolte and Lucien and stand back... Speaking of chicken, Kimiko, don't get close to the danger? Yes. 

"You all belong to the adventurer's guild in the capital, right? We are a party of adventurer school graduates..."

Apparently there is a royal adventurer school in the Elzark Kingdom. I didn't know that, but it seems like a different world story. 

It's only been 6 years since the company was founded, so they seem to be first-generation members. 

The students are mainly second sons and younger of lower-class aristocrats and wealthy merchants, and the curriculum basically lasts for three years starting at around 13 years old. During the school year, students will get some kind of job when they turn 15, so for the last year, students will form parties according to the job and do practical training, with the goal of reaching Level 5 by the time they graduate. 

"If you reach level 5, you will have the right to register with the adventurer's guild in the capital as soon as you graduate, so you can start working right away. Those who haven't reached that level will either take a job other than being an adventurer, or still want to become an adventurer. Students register at local guilds with more relaxed conditions.''

Maura explains in detail to Nolte, who turns out to be the youngest. 

"Then, will you all be at least LV5 by the time you graduate? You must be excellent."

"Yeah, unfortunately we couldn't make it to the top of the first generation, but all three of us were LV6 by the time we graduated."

A small, chubby-eyed girl named Kindy, a LV10 magician, seems to be the most talkative, and is always in high spirits, choking when she brings out a cup of drink. To be honest, I'm not good at this type of thing, and I tend to fall further and further behind. 

However, the LV11 shrine maiden named Maia, who had been quiet until then, asked me in a low voice. 

"It seems that everyone is Shiro-san's slave, but how does that feel?"

Now, the air has gotten cold. 

"Well, no matter what you say..."

“Besides, everyone is like that, right?”

"Hey, Maia, stop. It's not rude."

Maura, who is the leader, scolds her, but somehow it seems like she's thinking the same thing... Things like this are really tough. 

I really didn't like the group of talkative girls in my class, and I wondered what I thought about the current situation if I looked at it from my own perspective. There's a feeling of guilt, so the atmosphere is even more heavy. 

"It's almost time for us to be on guard duty."

"Well, excuse me...I'm sorry to bother you."

Kindy changed the topic and the trio quickly returned to their tent. 

"Master, I don't think you meant any harm..."

“Ah, yeah, no, I actually made you worry.”

I don't think he meant any harm, but maybe it's just a sense of justice or cleanliness, because in that world, if another man was in this situation, I'd tell him to explode. 

I regained my composure and took turns using the drum bath. However, the water is only about knee-deep. 

With this, you can squat inside the drum and take off your clothes without being seen by anyone around you. 

"Do I need more hot water?"

"Lina will take care of it, so Shiro doesn't have to come."

I'm sorry, Lucien. My pleasure... 

"...Hey, what is that doing?"

"A bathtub by any chance!? I can't believe it happened while camping."

“But aren’t you a little jealous?”

Maura and the others are looking at me from a distance and talking about something, but I don't care. 

After using the hot water in turn, we decided to go to bed for now since our next shift would be in the middle of the night. 

It's just me in a tent with only one companion, so it's not lonely at all, I'm used to it... 

“Wanwan!”

What is this rough thing? A feeling I don't remember,

(Wake up, a swarm of monsters is coming!)

Almost at the same time, I felt my head being shaken by Lina's sharp telepathy. After her second guard duty, we should have slept until twilight. 

One is licking me. Did you make a tongue too? I thought about something that didn't matter. 

A swarm of monsters! ? 

In an instant, my consciousness suddenly rose from the depths of the water. 

I grabbed the sword by my bedside and ran out of the tent in my civilian clothes. Red dot on map skills! Before that, I sensed the presence of a monster quite nearby. 

When I looked around, I saw a wriggling shadow on the north side, near Fabregas' tent. Not a person. Who is on guard duty? There's a figure lying at my feet. Is that a person or a woman? 

"Enemy attack!"

shouted loudly. It takes detection skill to wake up some signs. 

(Shiro, all three of us are already awake. They seem to be close, but do you know what it is?)

I strain my eyes as I run toward Fabregas' tent. 

5, 10, no, more. That slow movement looks familiar. I screamed again with both my physical voice and my mind. 

"Everyone wake up, it's a horde of undead!"