Black Iron Magician

Chapter 439 Uuu

「「I’ll be glad to!」」

Even before we heard what the white wolf would say, we immediately accepted it. However, perhaps because of such an attitude, we were able to safely return to the town, even though the white wolf knew that we came to subjugate it.

「We are alive, huh…」

「Yes. Strangely enough, we are alive…」

At the tavern of the inn we were using as a base, we celebrated our safe return. Neither of us was old enough to drink, so we ordered a little luxurious food instead. However, we didn’t look cheerful as we plopped down at the table, and if anything, we looked completely burnt out.

It seems that the white wolf has a habit of changing its nest regularly (though it seems to be once in a decade or so), and this was the right time for it to move the nest to another place. Since it was leaving the continent of Dai, it even told us that we could report to the Adventurer Guild that we had defeated the white wolf. It even gave us a piece of white wolf scale as proof. On the contrary, we were afraid of what would happen next. And as for the request, we regretted it later.

「So, what should we do…?」

I asked Alezel while lying down my upper body on the table.

「About what?」

Alezel, who was also lying on the table, asked back.

「Why did you ask me back in this situation…. It’s about this girl!」

「*Munch munch*!」

At the seat across our seats, the golden hair swayed conspicuously. I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that I’ve told you this much. Yes, there was Nell, who was about 10 years old and still wild. Nell was smaller than Haru at that time, and her golden hair was long enough to reach her shoulder. She was wearing nothing but crudely made clothes that seemed to be made from animal fur. As for her underwear, well… ask Alezel for that. I don’t know anything.

「*Munch*!」

She kept grabbing and putting the food into her mouth, taking advantage of the fact that we didn’t touch the food. She mainly filled her mouth with meat. Yeah, she exactly looked like a hamster. Come to think of it, she was only eating meat at that time. Meat, meat, and meat. Also, she didn’t forget to glare at us as if saying that the meat was hers. It was cute compared to now, but I could see the wildness in her blue eyes at that time.

「In the first place, what does it mean by leaving this child to us? It picked her up when she was a baby, raised her, and sent her back to human society when she was old enough, huh? I can’t raise a child at my age….」

「Well, your ages are not that far. You don’t look alike in the slightest, but at best the difference in your ages is like a brother and sister.」

「It doesn’t change the fact that we have to take care of her.」

「It’s not an unreasonable demand, though. I imagined something worse than that, you know? Besides, we got plenty of money for the request, so let’s not worry about the minor details~. Fuhehe.」

「You really love money, huh…. But in the first place, we’re just adventurers living in temporary lodgings. We can’t take a kid like this on a trip――」

「――Burp.」

「Oh, it looks like she’s full. She’s unexpectedly a light eater, huh. Nell-chan, was it? Look, she has a beautiful face. But you mustn’t assault her!」

「Who would assault a child like her!? …… Well, it looks like she can catch the prey on her own, so the food expense won’t cost that much. The fact that she can’t speak is quite a downside, though.」

「Kuu….」

With her stomach full, wild Nell dexterously curled up on her chair and began to sleep. Perhaps the food served was delicious, she seemed to stuff the food into her stomach beyond her limits. And the way she slept after that was like a child of her age. Rather than a wolf, she was more like a cat.

「S-She fell asleep, huh?」

「Hey, where did she leave the wildness she had just now? …… Good grief, she will catch a cold if she sleeps there.」

「She’s wearing light clothes after all. We have to do something about it first. Should we go to the shop after this?」

「Before that, let’s put a blanket on her.」

In the end, we started to take care of her.

「Ooh, Deris, Alezel, why did you bring a kid like her to the tavern? …… D-Don’t tell me, is she your child――」

「「――AS IF!」」

It must have been unusual for a small child to be in such a place, and for us to be taking care of her. Then, we got entangled with our acquaintance adventurers who were drinking there. Naturally, we objected. But the more we objected, the more they teased us. Then, onlookers heard the commotion and began to gather. We dug our graves deeper and deeper, trying to explain that we were not in such a relationship. And then, we finally came up with something like this

「She is, well… that’s right, she’s our newest party member! Right, Alezel!?」

「T-That’s right! After all, the balance was bad since we are a magician and a thief! Even if she looks like this, this child is a talented child who’s ready to fight!」

「「「Huh?」」」

The people around us didn’t seem to trust us in the slightest, but after making such a clear declaration, Alezel and I were left with no other choice but to include Nell in our party. It was a worthless pride.

「So, what’s her job? If she can strengthen your party, then she must be good at close combat, right? She isn’t a swordsman, is she? She doesn’t seem to have a sword after all.」

「She is… a fighter, maybe?」

「Why the question mark…?」

Thus, Nell joined the party involuntarily. Well, the white wolf told us that Nell was given some combat education, so it wasn’t the wrong choice….Yeah, I was still young, but the temporary measure was remarkable.

Since Nell became our ally, we decided to prepare her equipment. Ordinary clothes wouldn’t do for a combat job, so we brought Nell to an armor shop after we finished our meal. I carried Nell on my back, but she was very quiet as she slept. Where did she leave her wildness?

After arriving at the armor shop, it was a simple matter of choosing the right one, and since she was supposed to be a fighter, we decided quickly that the 『Combat Robe』 would be fine.

「The price is a bit high, but it has a feature to fits any size. The fabric is carefully selected, so you can expect durability as well.」

「Isn’t this cute? The colors are bright, and I think it’s suitable for girls~. We have a lot of money at hand, so why don’t we splurge here! Hey, what do you think!?」

「Nell, what do you think?」

「Uuu….」

「Excellent, she said.」

「Hee, it looks like she’s sleeping to me. Deris, you’re really indifferent to this kind of thing, huh. Well, whatever! We’ll take it!」

「Thank you for you patronage.」

It was really simple. The continent of Dai is a dangerous area with many vicious monsters. Therefore, the equipment is often of the highest quality, and this robe is high-quality equipment even among them. Furthermore, this equipment has a size optimization magic that you wouldn’t normally see. For Nell, whose small stature limited her choice of equipment, this feature was very much appreciated. Now Haru has been using it, so I think it was a good purchase. I guess I should be grateful to Alezel for choosing it.

「Ah, that’s right. While we’re at it, let’s change her clothes here. Is there a fitting room?」

「It’s that way.」

「Thanks. Deris, don’t peek in there just because you’re in puberty, okay?」

「Who’s going to peek!? Seeing a naked kid won’t make me happy at all!」

「Uuu….」

Nell’s voice was a little dissatisfied. Maybe.