Chapter 30: Delivering Thanks
They returned to the Royal Capital and headed straight for the Adventurer Guild. Of course, I was still being carried. The families of the women were there, and a touching reunion took place as soon as they entered the guild. I was put down on the floor at that time, finally freed… well, it’s not like I was disappointed. I wanted to be free too, you know.
Seeing the girls’ parents hugging them and crying after I was placed on the floor, I felt glad that I had helped. It’s a bit sad that the credit is being taken by the adventurers, though.
I could have quietly slipped away, but since I was here, I decided to gather a bit more information and sat down next to the reception counter.
It seemed these adventurers were the advance team for rescuing the women. The Royal Capital Knights were supposed to head out to subjugate the Orcs later, but it would take time for preparations and organization, so the adventurers who received the request decided to secretly rescue them.
Considering the number of Orcs, including the higher-ranking ones, I think it would have been difficult to rescue them secretly, but I can’t say for sure since I don’t know these people’s abilities.
After the emotional reunion subsided, the questioning of the women began. All three of them were kidnapped around noon yesterday. They were on their way from the town of Gargandi to the Royal Capital when the carriage they were riding in was attacked by Orcs. Monsters rarely appear on the main roads, but it seems the possibility isn’t zero.
They told us that they were taken to a warehouse immediately after being abducted and locked up. They were trembling, probably remembering the fear they felt at that time.
According to the adventurers’ assessment, the Orcs have a clear hierarchy, and it was probably only because a higher-ranking individual was absent that they were just locked up. It’s kind of like a sports club, isn’t it? But as a result, they weren’t harmed, so that’s good.
Around noon the day after they were kidnapped, things suddenly became noisy, and the Orcs guarding them went somewhere while shouting something. After a while, it suddenly became quiet, and they were trembling in the corner of the room when, for some reason, the door opened and a cat came in.
Everyone looked at me at once. Oh my, how embarrassing.
And when they escaped through the open door, the Orcs were gone. But there were no corpses, so they didn’t know where they went. The guild receptionist who was listening tilted her head in confusion at the explanation.
Yeah, let’s keep it a secret that they’re all in my Item Box.
As the guild staff member who was listening to the story was about to go outside to deliver this information to the knights, I followed him and escaped outside the guild. I heard a regretful “Ah!?” from behind, but I couldn’t help it. If I stayed there any longer, they might have taken me home.
Well, I’m a bit tired after all that, so I decided to go back to the shack and rest today. It’s getting quite late, so I’ll go deliver the Orc meat tomorrow.
I curled up into a small ball like a cat and closed my eyes.
The next morning, I was at the back entrance of the Orc Restaurant, but a problem arose.
(How am I going to give them the Orc meat…)
That’s right, it’s great that I have a lot of meat, but I’m a cat right now. What would they think if a cat took Orc meat out of an Item Box?
That means I can’t let them see me taking out the Orcs. I’ll leave it before Ochcho-san comes. With that in mind, I made sure no one was around and placed one of the less damaged Orcs in the middle of the backyard.
After placing the Orc, I hid in a small bush and watched. Soon, the back door opened with a clatter.
As expected, Ochcho-san came out.
“!? W-What is this, an Orc!? Why is an Orc lying here!?”
Ochcho-san, who came out to the backyard with a garbage bag, immediately found the Orc and exclaimed in surprise. He quickly went back into the restaurant and spoke to someone in a flustered manner.
“M-Master, there’s an Orc lying in the backyard!”
“Who’s the master! I always tell you to call me ‘Shishou’!”
The voice of the man called Master, no, Shishou, reached my ears. But that’s not the first thing you should be worried about!
“O-Okay… Shishou, there’s, there’s an Orc lying in the backyard…”
Ochcho repeated as he was told.
“Huh? Ochcho, are you still half asleep? There’s no way an Orc would be lying in the backyard. Even if we’re short on Orc meat, don’t tell such stupid jokes in the morning!”
“N-No, but, Shishou, there really is an Orc lying in the backyard…”
“Geez, there’s no way… there is… it’s an Orc…”
Ochcho’s Shishou, who appeared while grumbling at Ochcho’s words, froze when he saw the Orc lying on the ground.
“…Hey, Ochcho. Carry that thing to the kitchen. If it’s okay after inspection, we’ll butcher it and serve it as food.”
Ochcho’s Shishou, who had been frozen for dozens of seconds after seeing the Orc, seemed to accept this reality easily and decided to serve this Orc to the customers.
Ochcho dragged the Orc’s huge body back into the restaurant, following his Shishou.
I’m the one who placed the Orc there, but is it really okay for them to accept it so easily? Well, it seems they’re short on Orc meat, so I guess it’s okay to consider this a proper thank you.
After watching Ochcho enter the restaurant, I headed to the stall street where the fruit shop that gave me the apple-like fruit, Leengo, was located.
I moved lightly along the top of the wall and reached the stall street.
The fruit shop was in the same place as before, and an old woman was serving customers inside. I landed silently on the ground and entered the old woman’s shop from behind. The old woman was busy with customers and didn’t notice me.
In the meantime, I placed one of the Leengo fruits I had collected in the forest on the table.
“Meow.”
I meowed, timing it with when the old woman finished serving the customers.
“Oh, isn’t it the cat from before! Hmm? Isn’t that a Leengo fruit? Did you bring that?”
The old woman, who found the Leengo fruit on the table, looked at me and the Leengo alternately with a slightly puzzled expression. Perhaps she was wondering how I brought it, seeing the flawless Leengo. Even though the Leengo was small enough to fit in the old woman’s hand, it was bigger than my face. She probably didn’t think I could carry it without using my claws or teeth.
For now, I tapped the Leengo fruit with my cute little paws to show that it was a gift.
“Ah, I see! You want me to peel this Leengo for you!”
Gakuh!? Why did it turn out like that? I just brought a thank you gift!
Things were progressing in a completely different direction from my intentions, but the old woman was happily taking out a knife from under the table and peeling the Leengo, so I guess it’s okay.
“Here you go!”
The old woman skillfully peeled the Leengo and placed the four slices on a plate in front of me.
(Well, whatever.)
For now, I’ll enjoy the Leengo fruit. While I was eating the Leengo fruit, the old woman kept gently stroking my head.
(Well, this isn’t much of a thank you.)
After finishing the Leengo, I placed another Leengo fruit on the table while the old woman wasn’t looking and quickly left.
“Oh? Where did the kitty go? And it had another one of these. I wonder where it was hiding it?”
With the old woman’s mutterings behind me, I jumped onto the wall.
(I guess I’ll go to the orphanage next.)
There’s only one orphanage in this Royal Capital. It’s built on the north side of the city, just before the slums, where the security isn’t very good. The building itself is old, but it’s quite large. The central building of the three is the largest, and the ones on either side are a bit smaller.
I passed through the open gate and entered the largest central building from the front. The building is old, but it’s been cleaned well and is kept tidy. There’s a chapel right inside, where people can offer prayers. In the corner, there’s a donation area with a collection box and a mat. A small pot was placed on top of it. I wonder if there’s soup in it.
It’s just about lunchtime, so there’s no one around except me. Well, I don’t really count as a person either, since I’m a cat.
I moved in front of the mat and placed ten Horned Rabbits and several kinds of fruits, including Leengo, all over the small space. Then, without saying a word, I left the orphanage. It’s sad to see children go hungry, no matter the era or world.
After this, I went around town to give various thanks, and then I returned to my shack to sleep until nightfall. Once it got dark, I planned to slip out of town and get back to gathering materials.