Chapter 168 A Rocky Start Full of Challenges
"Haaaah. Sunshine again, huh? God, it's annoying how the weather never bothers to match My mood. Seriously, can the sky learn to read the damn room for once?!"
"You sure don't hold back, huh? What, you think you're the center of the world or something?"
"If I were God, I'd wipe out the male species, every last one. No exceptions, mind you."
"What are you, some apocalypse goddess? Gonna end humanity in one dramatic swoop?"
Her grumbling?
It was so intense, I almost wanted to applaud how fast she could turn that clear-blue sky into a storm cloud.
Being a knight isn't a lifestyle out here.
It's just a job title.
With that kind of cold, hard reality staring her down, Shannon probably just gave in for now.
Day after our little meet-and-greet, everyone showed up bright and early at the city gate──nobody missing.
"So, our job's in that port town, Fjikra, right?"
"Yep! Seems like things around Fjikra's coast have been super weird lately. The fishermen aren't catching much──hardly any fish at all. The town's famous *blue* coral is disappearing fast, and even worse, some fishermen aren't making it back at all. So, the quest this time is to investigate what's going on...and go looking for the missing folks."
The one who answered my muttered question was Captain Hailey, just done sorting out the wagon.
Nice, clear explanation, but man...the news itself had my eyebrows ready to tie themselves in knots.
Especially that part about missing fishermen.
"Missing people again, huh...? Here we go with that routine."
"Hrm? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Heard there was a mess kinda like this at a place called Korghi Village. Annoying case, that one. ...Of course, it was me truly who fixed it up."
"Ooh! For real? Pretty gutsy, Hiiro! As your rival, I'm not lettin' you outdo me, no way──gonna give it my all, too!"
Taking me at my word, Friese's eyes spark with hardcore competitive fire.
Mmm.
We haven't even known each other that long, but man, that kind of simple-mindedness...it's actually kinda soothing.
Feels like all those prickly words from Shannon are just...falling right off me.
...Well, not like I'm letting my guard down or anything.
That Korghi Village deal almost took us out, after all.
Could be there's a BEAST waiting behind the scenes, this time too.
That's probably why I can't help but stay on alert.
(Fjikra, huh.)
But what's bugging me most is that name──Fjikra.
If my memory's on point, that was... yeah, I'm pretty sure...
(Hey, Ruthless. Mind if I ask──got any idea what's up with all this?)
(Hmm? Maaaybe? Hard to say, y'know? That was 'over a year ago', right? I totally forgot all about it, tehe~)
Acting clueless on purpose, huh.
That's pretty much my fake-bad partner's trademark move by now.
Port town Fjikra.
It was over a year ago when Shura took down Ruthless after they went on a rampage there.
I figured Ruthless might spill if they knew anything... but of course, no honest answers from them today.
Or maybe they're just messing with me, pretending to know something for fun.
(If you don't know, just say so! Don't be all weird and mysterious. Seriously, your hobbies suck.)
(But c'mon──I'm Ruthless. Maybe, just maybe, this whole deal was my doing the whole time~? )
(Yeah, right.)
(Oho, calling me out, huh? You got proof?)
(If you were the culprit, you wouldn't ask 'So what if it was me?' That's rule number one for bad guys.)
(...Haha. Master, you really know your stuff.)
Well──guess I trust her, in my own way.
But there's no reason to just say that flat out... call it payback for all her mind games.
Maybe Ruthless's twisted attitude is starting to rub off on me a little.
"Ready to roll..."
"Ah, Nana-Nana! Thanks. Count on you again today!"
"'Kay."
After a short pause, Nanaiza showed up, holding the horse's reins for the wagon.
"Wait, Nanaiza's actually driving the carriage?"
"Usually it's the captain's job to drive, but I'm, uh, really not good at it... So I always ask Nana-Nana."
"Yup! Nanaiza's rides are super smooth, super comfy. I mean, the captain's driving is a thrill ride too──kinda wild, but I kinda love that."
"Man, sounds rough on everyone else."
"Ugh, how embarrassing..."
Got it.
If Shura ever rode in Captain Hailey's wagon, it'd be a disaster.
Zero doubt in my mind.
Think I'll pass on that experience myself, thanks.
"...Good horsey, good horsey."
(Wow...)
But it's not just because she's good at it, apparently.
All that crazy pressure she gives off?
It's totally gone when she's petting that horse.
Maybe she just... really likes hanging out with horses?
She's got the moves down, too.
She must've looked after them before, right?
Case in point: that horse is looking at Nanaiza like, "Yeah, I trust this lady."
Nanaiza then said, "Alright, let's roll out. You all set?"
"Hehehe! First time we get to go far in ages. I'm super hyped, I am!"
"U-Um, Fri-Fri, it's not like we're going on a field trip, okay?"
Friese: "No worries, Captain! See, I brought sandwiches! The maids packed me a ton, so if you get hungry, just ask me, 'kay?"
"Sandwiches? Seriously, it's not a picnic out here..."
Faced with Friese's overwhelming freedom, Captain Hailey's shoulders just slumped in defeat.
Suddenly, it made perfect sense why this young captain basically sleeps with a bottle of stomach meds.
Even Captain Shidou would probably just give up on this chaos.
Compared to Friese, I'm a star student.
For real.
Oh, but I'm totally snagging one of those sandwiches later.
Anything made by Twelve Seats has gotta be delicious.
"Ughh. Riding in the same carriage as *men*? How absolutely terrifying. No, no! Who knows when their masks will slip and they'll suddenly attack──Ahh, most beloved assistant commander of the order, please, spare poor pure Shannon and shower all that misfortune on Brute instead!"
"Huh? What, you worship Leiva or something?"
"Whuh!? Hey! Hold it, Brute! Did you just call Lady Leiva by name?! How *dare* you act so familiar, like you're not a total stranger! Just because you've got a medal you think you're something special? Wanna get flattened? 'Cuz I'll mess you up, buddy!"
"Not like I'm a total stranger, alright? I'm on the same squad as her brother Quollio, and Leiva's helped me out a bunch, too."
"Huh? N-No way, my Lady Leiva hangs out with this scruffy punk Brute!? My brain──my poor brain's breaking!!!"
Girl, you're the *first* one whose mask slipped.
The laid-back air around Friese suddenly shifted to pure violence.
It seems like they really look up to Leiva, but maybe they're taking it a bit too far, don't you think?
Shannon's bizarre transformation into a demon made me break out in a cold sweat.
"Whoa, wait, Sha-Sha! Don't just pull out a bow like that! We're on a mission, right!? There are eyes all around us!"
"Shut up! I have a top priority mission to take out this punk right away!"
"What's going on here?!"
"Knights fighting each other?"
"Hey, you! Don't cause a scene in front of the national gate!"
"Ugh. Great, more trouble with the 'Giant's Footsteps.' Pardon me..."
Suddenly, Shannon's erratic behavior of pulling out a tiny harp-like bow caused a commotion around us.
Captain Hailey tried to calm things down with flapping wings, but Shannon growled at me like a mad dog, threateningly.
This is bad.
If I mention the whole thing about getting taken care of by Leiva during the operation the other day, I might really get killed.
Yeah.
For now, I'm gonna make sure not to casually drop Leiva's name in front of Shannon.
That's the vow I made to myself.
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