Well-Received
Captain Kyle asked, “Who are you?”
“Oh, sorry. I’m Bale. Or rather, I was a member of the adventurer group ‘Black Lion.’”
The Black Lion group is a B-rank adventuring party of five. Bale himself was a C-rank healing magician.
His build was more on the slender side than sturdy, and since he’d only focused on defense against the Frozen Spider, I’d already guessed he was a magician.
Being part of a B-rank group, he must be a capable magic-user in his own right.
Bale told us why he had been alone.
In pursuit of reaching A-rank, his group had gone deep into the forest for a big target and encountered a Mizuchi.
At first, they fought it together, but as his companions were injured, they pulled back.
While Bale was still defending them with barrier spells, the others left him behind.
Fortunately, the Mizuchi went after the others instead of Bale, allowing him to survive.
After that, while trying to get out of the forest as quickly as possible, he ran into the Frozen Spider.
He was covered in wounds, so the healing magicians treated him and gave him a potion.
“I haven’t had a proper meal in two days. Sorry, but could I have something to eat?” he asked, so one of the knights handed him bread and soup.
After finishing his meal and catching his breath, he said,
“Once again, thank you for saving me. I hate to impose, but could I travel with your group? I don’t think I can make it out of the forest alone. I’ll make sure to repay you later.”
He bowed his head.
Captain Kyle responded,
“We are the knights of Westland. We will permit you to accompany us, but you must not act alone and must follow our rules. Also, the heir to House Westland is among us, so act respectfully.”
Bale looked at me and Brother Gerald and nodded as if to say he understood.
After that, Ripka, Bianca’s family, Atre, Ripka, and Ciel continued to subjugate monsters smoothly, and we arrived at the mid-mountain fortress. We decided to stay here for the night.
While I was helping the healing magicians treat the Vaash, Bale came over and asked,
“What are you doing?”
“We’re treating mana blockages in the Vaash.”
“Can I help too?”
He looked like he wanted to do something useful instead of just standing around.
We let him try, and he treated one Vaash. It took him less than five minutes.
When Atre asked that Vaash for feedback, it said that as soon as the blocked spot grew warm, the mana started to flow—so it was very well received.
When I asked Bale if he could treat the remaining five, since the Vaash appreciated his help, he replied, “Leave it to me,” and accepted the task.
He finished treating the remaining five much faster than I did.
“Are you especially good at clearing mana blockages?”
Apparently, when his youngest sister was little, she used to suffer from them often, but their family couldn’t afford the clinic. So Bale and his father used to treat her themselves.
Now she’s grown and no longer has those issues, and she’s healthy.
Bale asked if we were milking the Vaash. When I said we weren’t, he told us it might be a good idea even if we didn’t drink it—having the same milk remain inside could be bad.
That made sense, so I asked the Vaash if they wanted to be milked.
They told me that now that their illness was improving, they were producing milk again and would appreciate it.
Bale said he used to milk goats in his village and offered to do it, so I handed him a pot and asked him to help.
Later, in the break room, I talked to Brother Gerald about Bale’s treatment and milking work.
“Do you want to make Bale the Vaash caretaker?”
“You can tell? I think he’s perfect for the job.”
“If we were to hire him, we’d have to look into his background. And if he wants to keep adventuring, it may not work out. But it wouldn’t hurt to ask if he’s interested.”
Bale accompanied us to the estate to care for the Vaash—because they had taken a liking to his treatment.
When I asked if he still wanted to be an adventurer, he said that after being abandoned like that, even if his former teammates were still alive, he wouldn’t want to work with people he couldn’t trust.
So he had been considering quitting the adventurer life—if he could find stable work.
When I asked what he’d do if we asked him to stay on as the Vaash caretaker, he replied that it would depend on the exact job, but if it were stable, he’d be grateful for the opportunity.
What do you think about this chapter?
