Chapter 199: A Job Unsuited for Longdagger 5
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Surely, it was because I was wearing a Mask that she endured her embarrassment and put one on herself.
That’s how I concluded Erika-san’s strange behavior, taking off my own Mask with a pang of regret.
In other words, Erika-san is kind.
There’s no way she was embarrassed to declare herself my wife. If that were true, I could just die.
No, that’s wrong. If that were the case, I’d just have to become a man she wouldn’t be embarrassed by. Don’t falter, me.
Just as I steeled my resolve, Yuunou-san Maricia let out a scream-like voice.
“Hey! Stop it, Masked Man! Stop making that face right after asking me to join an Escort Mission!”
Wondering what kind of face I was making, I looked at Maricia, only to see her looking slightly pale.
“What is it this time? What are we protecting the client from? A Dragon? A Chimera? A horde of ogres?”
Since it’s an Escort Mission—
“From all of them, I guess,” Drim chimed in.
“Alright, I refuse, Drim.”
I hurriedly stopped Maricia as she tried to stand up.
“No, that’s not it, he misspoke. He meant that since it’s an Escort Mission, we obviously have to protect them from all dangers!”
“Well, yeah, that makes sense,” Drim nodded. Maricia continued to eye me suspiciously.
Still, this is strange.
It’s not unusual for adventurers to ask others for help when they’re short-handed for an Escort Mission.
So, it shouldn’t be strange for me to ask them to join, and it should just be a matter of whether Drim and Maricia are available, right?
So why are they looking at me as if questioning my sanity?
When I found out Drim and Maricia were free and eagerly proposed forming a temporary party, I thought they’d agree without a second thought.
“The reward is way too high for just an Escort Mission. Aren’t you being deceived?”
Yuunou-san is competent as always.
Unlike just brawling with Monsters for money, taking jobs requested by humans means assessing the situation correctly is a matter of life and death.
“It’s a nominated request from the Margrave. The escort target is apparently a VIP for Hecate.”
“A nominated request from a noble, and the target is important to the town? How could you accept something like that, Masked Man?”
Maricia sounded exasperated, in a way very typical of an adventurer.
“Apparently, the escort target specifically requested me for some reason.”
“With so many ‘suspicious’ elements lined up, suspecting it’s some kind of trap starts to feel ‘suspicious’ in itself.”
“Right?” I shrugged. If that Margrave wanted to trap me, he’d do it much more ruthlessly and perfectly.
He’s probably as good, or maybe even better, than Jen-san at scheming.
Yuunou-san Maricia furrowed her brow as if enduring a headache.
“Well, from Hecate’s perspective, the Masked Man is a benefactor who subjugated the Blackened Dragon, so they probably don’t resent him… Hey, wait, what’s with that face?”
Oops, my expression gave it away.
“Well, there was a little incident in Hecate recently, and at that time, a building kind of went… vertical, you see?”
“You mean that thing about the Majin appearing? I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me you were right in the middle of it. Idiot, stop making that face, seriously stop!”
My face being far too expressive, I put the Mask I had just removed back on.
Seeing this, Maricia let out a huge sigh, turned to her partner, and tilted her head. “Hey, Drim, what do you think?”
It was because Bearded Drim wasn’t there.
Come to think of it, Drim had vanished from my sight a little while ago. For a moment, Maricia’s gaze faltered, and her eyes widened.
Wondering what was going on, I followed her gaze and turned around, equally stunned.
In my line of sight were Drim and Shara, wearing the same white Masks as me.
Shara said, “Well, Erika-san is wearing one too, and it’d be sad if I was the only one left out, right?”
Drim said, “They said we’d get masks if we took the job together!”
I ignored their words and looked at Erika-san, who was also wearing a Mask.
“Even if it’s temporary, I thought it might be nice to have a symbol since we’re forming a party,” Erika-san said, averting her gaze.
“Masked Man.”
I turned back at the chilling sound of Yuunou-san’s voice.
“I am absolutely not wearing one, understand?”
It was an absolute declaration.
Muttering something about whether an adventurer could take back their word, Yuunou-san (Maricia) reluctantly agreed to form the temporary party with a bitter look on her face.
The “word” she couldn’t take back, according to her, was the fact that Beardy (Drim) had already accepted a Mask from Erika-san.
It seems Maricia is also an adventurer (an idiot) in this regard.
Luckily, we were able to recruit the two we wanted right after arriving in Noel Jeun.
The rendezvous with the escort target was two weeks away, so we had plenty of time on our schedule. Therefore, I thought about inviting Digris and Houran to the temporary party as well, but…
Unfortunately, they were apparently away on another job.
Maricia complained that ever since we defeated the Jewelhead Dragon together, people often treated us as a set even though we weren’t actually in a party, which was annoying.
Lately, I often get blamed for things that are definitely not my fault.
I admit it was bad that the fire spread when I deflected it, but I wish people would complain to the one who threw the fire at me in the first place.
Oh well.
Anyway, we managed to expand the party members as planned. We spent a day preparing and left Noel Jeun Town the next day.
On the way to our destination, we practiced things like watch rotations during camping. We took about two weeks to cover a distance that would normally take less than a week at an adventurer’s pace, even moving slowly.
＊＊＊Afterword＊＊＊
Thank you always for the comments and likes.
They are the driving force for the author’s life.
I’ve advertised this several times, but…
I am currently participating in the short story division of Kakuyomu Contest 10.
I have posted my fifth short story, so I will promote it.
Super Tokusatsu Fanatic Helps a Pretty Girl Dungeon Streamer ~But My Transformation Isn’t Complete Yet?~
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093091553734119
If you like it, please read it and give it a star ★, it would make the author happy.
If you leave comments, I’m not lying, I’ll be grinning all day long.
Well then, I’ll update again around next week.