Legend

Chapter 207

If you find the base of the criminals who attacked the carriage escorted by the knights, please help us to suppress them.

Although Rei was told that, he was confused in his mind.

(Why bother asking me to do that?　Is it an issue of strength?　Even considering that, I would have to act as a group with either the guards and knights. Considering that, there is no need to specifically include me since I would disturb that……no, there is. First of all, if the enemy wants to capture me, by bringing me along, the chance of causing excessive damage to the city decreases. At the same time, I would serve as a trump card if there was an opponent stronger that Ranga?　The strength of the guards seem to be around the same level as the knights as well.)

「I understand.In that case, please submit a nominated request to the guild.」

「I’m sorry about this.You adventurers basically suspend your work during winter.」

Ranga lowered his head to apologise, but for Rei, who had plenty of time to kill, it was something he had been hoping for.

(But, saying that I would take up this request just to kill time, I can’t say that because he might be hurt by me saying that.)

He thought to himself and shook his head in order to get rid of those thoughts.

「Don’t worry about it. For me, I’m close to ranking up again. This isn’t something bad for me at all.」

「Thank you, I feel better now that you said that. Well then, let’s go to the guild right away.」

Shoving a few sandwiches into his mouth and then washing them down with the tea, which had cooled down while they had been talking, Ranga then stood up.

The sandwiches might have been bought from a nearby bakery or something. Because they were quite delicious, Rei stood up as well somewhat regretfully.l

「Captain Ranga, I will head out to support the others.」

The guard also stood up and lightly thanked Ranga before leaving the room.

「Ah. I would like you to focus on helping the ones who are gathering information.」

「Yes, I understand.」

「Fuu~……Well, let’s go now.」

Ranga put on a large robe, a magic item that provided some protection from the cold, before prompting Rei.

「Well, let’s get going. I know this case will cause some bother to you in various ways, but I would like to ask for your help regardless.」

「Ahh, don’t mind it. ……Even so, is it fine for you to go out with such a robe?」

The guard who had walked out earlier had been wearing a fairly thick robe for protection from the cold. However, standing before him right now, Ranga was wearing only a thin robe. Ranga smile at Rei, was was wondering about that.

「Ah. Even though this robe looks thin, it’s a magic item. It has resistance to cold to some extent. It can’t handle snowstorms, but it will manage the cold weather we currently have.

「……Heh, that’s interesting.」

Rei, who had an interest in magic items, murmured to himself, but Ranga just smiled and shook his head.

「I know you have been collecting magic items, but this isn’t a big deal. It’s cheap enough that you can buy it with silver coins.」

「Cheap, huh.」

Even if it was cheap though, it was still difficult for ordinary guards to get to use seeing that there weren’t any other guards using it. While thinking that, Rei, who wasn’t interested in the coat anymore due to the high performance of his Dragon Robe in terms of cold resistance, left the building and headed for the guild with Ranga.

「Ah, Rei-kun……and Ranga-san?　Well, this is an unusual combination.」

After Rei and Ranga left Set outside and entered the guild, they were first greeted by Kenny’s voice.

Even the guild had mostly suspended business due to the large number of adventurers taking a break. Usually, there would be several receptionists including Lenora, but right now, only Kenny was here, checking through documents in her spare time. Naturally, Kenny had been quick to notice the presence of Rei.

After momentarily glancing somewhat enviously at the adventurers who were drinking during daytime at the bar attached to the guild, Ranga returned his greetings to Kenny.

「Hi, Kenny-san Actually, I was hoping to give Rei a nominated requested.」

「……Could it possibly be about the rumored attack?」

Even Kenny……or was it because she was a receptionist at the adventurers guild, it seems that she already knew about it. Frowning slightly, she asked in a low voice.

This was a murder case that had happened in the city. And the victims were knights. As it was a dangerous event, information about it had spread quickly.

「Well, that’s right.」

「But, why Rei-kun?　I know he’s strong, but that’s just in battle right?　I don’t think he’s suited for investigations.」

「That’s true, but he was the one who had caught the criminals who had been escorted by the knights yesterday. And in fact, the perpetrators of this attack are probably quite strong. Anyhow, they managed to kill knights. Rei is our trump card against them.」

「I understand. Well, the official documents are different because this is a nominated request……um, where are they.」

The request form submitted to the guild was probably different between regular and nominated requests. On the other side of the counter, she took out one form and handed it over to Ranga.

「Please fill in this form.」

「I understand.」

Ranga filled in the document quickly while saying that.

As the captain of the guards, he was quite used to these types of documents. He kept writing with almost no hesistation.

「Hey, Rei-kun. Are you okay?」

Kenny called out to Rei while watching Ranga.

「If you ask me that, I honestly can only reply that I don’t know. There’s no doubt I was their original target, but I have no time to be worried about myself anymore now that things have gotten to this stage……I guess.」

In the case of the Bestir Empire, Rei replied as such as he didn’t realise how important his existence was.

(In fact, I think it should be more important to them to get out of the city rather than to remain fixated on me now that things have gotten to this stage. I don’t think they would be able to escape immediately because the city guards are monitoring the people entering and leaving. But that won’t last weeks or months, and it’s almost impossible to get over the wall.)

Not just the city of Gilm, the wall surrounding the city could also be said to be a kind of magic item. It had several effects. There was one to increase the strength of the wall and one to shock enemies trying to climb over it. Or, as a measure against flying monsters, it was possible to set up a barrier covering the sky above the city. However, the final barrier was not always active due to the corresponding amount of magic power required. Rei concluded that they were probably cautious against some means of flight as the barrier had been activated right now.

（That said……）

As he thought about that, a thought about something the Bestir Empire had created passed through his mind. The magic items that made teleportation possible.

(If they can use that magic item, it would be pointless to set up checkpoints. There is also a large possibility that they aren’t in the city anymore.)

「Rei-kun, what’s wrong?」

「Ah, no. It’s nothing. Nevertheless, there’s no shortage of incidents in this city. Since I came to this city, there have been various things occurring like the Orc settlement, mine closure and transportation of medicinal ingredients for Magic Fever. And now it’s an attack on the knights.」

「There certainly have been more incidents than in the past, but this is the frontier. The assault case aside, Orcs will set up a settlement nearby once every few years. ……Well, it’s rare to see an attack against the knights.」

Kenny gave a sigh somewhat depressingly. Even though Kenny was usually bright, she was still anxious that the knights who symbolised the city had been attacked and killed.

「Kenny-san, is this fine?」

「Ah, yes. Wait a moment. ……Well, yes, there are no problems. So, Rei-kun will accept this nominated request, right?」

「Ah.」

「I understand. I’ll handle the rest, so that’s fine. ……Be careful.」

After confirming that the document she had received from Ranga had no problems, Kenny asked whether or not Rei was going to accept it.

When Rei replied that he had accept the request, the request was formally dealt with.

「Okay, I’ll deliver it to my boss immediately. Let’s go for a meal once this is done.」

Saying that, Kenny disappeared to the back of the counter.

「Well, then let’s get back to the headquarters. Basically, I’m thinking of getting Rei-kun to stay at the headquarters until the case is resolved.」

As they left the guild, Ranga discussed what they planned to do after Rei had received the request.

「So when the assassins aim for me, we’ll try to avoid getting the surroundings caught in it?」

「There’s that, I also expect you to be a powerful force in the event that we find their base and launch a raid. I’m sorry to say it, but the guards are used to deal with rough things, basically their main job is to arrest people who are fighting. Of course, there are cases where fights between adventurers lead to murders, but it’s still tough for them to match up against the underworld as their opponent. ……Our only bright point is that the knights are actively cooperating with us. After all, unlike the guards, the knights, who exist purely as a force to protect the city, had been attacked and killed. Even for the knights, they have their reputation to uphold.」

「Gurururu~」

Seeing Rei and Ranga coming out of the guild, Set came over with a cry.

Seeing Set get up, the children, adventurers, merchants and residents of the city that were near Set also began to leave with disappointed sighs.

The number of people was smaller than usual, probably because it was lightly snowing, but that didn’t really make a difference.

「We’ll be relying on you for a while Set.」

「Guru~」

Watching Ranga pet Set, Rei suddenly thought of something.

Set was like the police dog that would usually appear in many TV dramas.

Of course, Set was a Griffon and had the body of a lion, part of the feline family. However, as a Griffon, his five sense were sharp and he also had the ability to sense magic. His sense of smell in particular was very sharp, as had been proven when they had entered the undead area in the dungeon.

「Hmm, Ranga.」

「Hm?　What is it?」

Rei called out to Ranga, who was enjoying the feel of the smooth hair on Set’s back.

Rei was lost in thought for a few seconds as he thought about whether he should voice his thoughts. Ranga probably noticed his hesitation. He turned to look at Rei, his tough, bearded face showing a serious expression.

「Tell me. I don’t know what it is, but it might be related to this incident?　I have no clue what to do now. Because of that, it might be helpful in one way or another, even if not right now.」

「Is that so?　I’ll say this in advance, but this is just an idea and I can’t say for sure that it will work……is that still fine?」

「Ahh, no problem.」

Ranga wanted a clue, no matter how small it could be. It might just have been a possibility, but he welcomed it.

Rei spoke up after giving a small sigh, as if understanding Ranga’s thoughts.

「As you know, Set is a Griffon and his five senses and sensitivity towards magic is much sharper than ours.」

「That’s certainly true. He’s a rank A monster. It’s clear that his abilities are much higher than other monsters in that regard.」

「That’s it. Five senses are good……but his sense of smell is much better.」

「……-!?　I see!　That’s right, I really hadn’t thought of that. Even if it’s impossible with the nose of a dog or a beast from the wolf family, there is certainly a possibility if it’s a high rank monster like Set.」

He had not expected Rei’s words. After being silent for several seconds, Ranga’s face was dyed with astonishment as started to nod and talk excitedly.

Originally, the guards had dogs and beasts who could track scents. However, as the carriage had been burnt out, there wasn’t any traces of smell they could follow. But. Ranga looked at Set, who was looking back with round eyes.

「If it’s Set……」

As far as he could see, Set looked just like a large pet animal. But still, he was definitely a high ranked monster, a Griffon. This didn’t guarantee that they would get to the bottom of the attack. Still, as there was a possible method, Ranga wasn’t so lazy as to not try it.

「Rei, Set. ……I’m sorry, but will you come with me to the site of the attack?」

Rei nodded silently at Ranga’s question. Set also gave a cry in agreement.

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