Instincts are important.
On the second day of being adventurers, Felice and the other two had gone to meet the client of the babysitting request.
At first, only Felice and Albert planned on coming, but after Claude who had a poor complexion questioned Gai at the breakfast, he told the three to act together today.
Fortunately, the request was for three people, so there wasn’t a problem.
When they arrived at the place after walking for a while, a worn-out house overgrown with weeds stood before them.
“Is this an abandoned building?” (Gai)
“Seems like it.” (Albert)
“S, stop it~” (Felice)
Just when Felice felt uncomfortable with Gai’s words, the door of the building opened and a woman with a sharp gaze came out.
“Who are you?” (Woman)
“We came to accept your request.” (Felice)
“Ah, come in.” (Woman)
Entering inside, the interior was so tattered it was hard to imagine people lived there.
(Al, Gai, don’t you feel anything?) (Felice)
(Yeah. Let’s be vigilant.) (Albert)
(Roger that. There seem to be several people inside.) (Gai)
The three were secretly talking via telepathy but followed the woman in silence until they were told to enter a room by the woman.
Inside, four children dressed as adventurers were huddled together and shaking.
There were not only humans as there was a Beastman too.
The four seemed malnourished and their clothes were dirty.
When Felice’s group entered the room, three men pointed their swords at them.
“Oy, if you don’t want to be killed, hand over your weapons.”
“Don’t be resisting now. Well, we are not concerned even if guys like you who accept E-rank requests resist.”
(What do we do?) (Albert)
(Let’s swiftly clean them up.) (Gai)
(But, we won’t know their objective and if something happens to those children…) (Felice)
(Can’t be helped then. Let’s play along for now.) (Albert)
After handing the weapons over to the grinning men, the woman then addressed Gai.
“You were B-rank, weren’t you? I will use magical power sealing handcuffs on you three just in case.” (Woman)
“… Why do you know about me?” (Gai)
“Don’t be asking too many questions now! Get the shackles on him at once! You guys put the shackles on too!”
Felice and the two were given shackles.
In the meanwhile, the men on the side checked their weapons.
“Oy, nobles really do carry good stuff on them, huh.”
“Yeah, although plain-looking, the fellow who made these must be of considerable skill.”
(Information about us has leaked.) (Felice)
(Only the guild staff should have known that we are nobility, though.) (Albert)
(No, the gatekeepers too. You had to show them your identification papers, after all.) (Gai)
(Just what is their objective, I wonder? Those children also seem to be adventurers.) (Felice)
(Let’s observe for a little longer.) (Albert)
((All right.))
Even though they had shackles that sealed their magical power, Felice and others talked via telepathy.
In fact, as they entered the room, they have activated their magic tools with the bestowed effects of “Abnormal Status Invalidation”.
Felice had used “Space-time Barrier” against the “Slave Collar” before, but that had a few faults, so she created a new magic tool for that reason.
The magic tool itself is under the effect of “Stealth” so it can’t be seen.
The spirits of the men who had no way of knowing that were raising.
“I wanted more people, but we got a big catch so Chief will surely forgive us.”
“Indeed. It’s the peerless Faust family we are talking about, after all. They should have quite a lot of money.”
“Well, even if those brats don’t sell for much, the B-ranker can be sold as a Battle Slave for high!”
“There’s a carriage outside, get on it at once!”
Being urged by the woman, the carriage drove away.
A short time later, they arrived at the gate and they were able to hear the gatekeeper’s voice.
“What’s your baggage?” (Gatekeeper)
“Yes. It’s vegetables and fruit.”
“I will examine it.” (Gatekeeper)
The children’s eyes showed hope when they heard the gatekeeper’s words, but they were immediately betrayed.
“Certainly, vegetables and fruit. All right, you may pass!” (Gatekeeper)
“Thank you very much for your hard work.”
The gatekeeper checked the inside and let the carriage pass as if nothing happened.
(That gatekeeper is different from the one who had interacted with us, yeah?) (Albert)
(Yeah. But, it’s positive that this person is cooperating with them.) (Felice)
(The question is whether this fellow is the only soldier cooperating with them.) (Gai)
(Still, they are big fools for making a move on us knowing that we are members of the Faust family~) (Albert)
(The entire family will come for retribution~) (Felice)
(No way~ Otousama wouldn’t let something like that happen… probably.) (Albert)
(((Ahahahaha~))) (Albert, Felice & Gai)
Even though the three laughed, they all sweated while having the same, bad feeling.
(((They are definitely going to come… we better inform them first.))) (Albert, Felice & Gai)
In the meanwhile, a cold smile floated on the face of Claude who was having a tea break with Evan all of sudden.
“O, oy. What’s the matter, Claude?” (Evan)
“I feel that there is someone picking a fight with our household. Sorry, Evan. I am going home for today. Ah, I will be taking Miguel and Nathan with me.” (Claude)
“Umm, hey.” (Evan)
“Kukuku… I don’t know who it is, but at least I got a practice target after a long time. I am looking forward to exploring how much they can last for~” (Claude)
“………… Lewis! Lewis~! It’s a state of emergency!” (Evan)
Evan who saw Claude leave the room while muttering something improper had a bad premonition and shouted for Lewis.
“What is it, Evan? You are too noisy! A King shouldn’t lose his composure!” (Lewis)
“Now’s not the time for that! Some stupid fool had made a move on the Faust Household! ‘The Faust Household’s Banquet of Frenzy’ is about to happen!” (Evan)
“Surely not!? I can’t stay here. I have to find people to fill out for Claude!” (Lewis)
“Indeed. He did not come out for a month the last time… hey, that’s not it! Shouldn’t we stop him!?” (Evan)
“Stop him? How?” (Lewis)
“B, by persuasion?” (Evan)
“He became like that after Miguel got abducted the moment he got born. Even before we got noticed, Claude muttered ‘Welcome, practice target’ and disappeared. Were we able to stop him at that time?” (Lewis)
“We weren’t.” (Evan)
“Let’s not waste time on the impossible. However, it’s necessary to confirm the situation, so I better contact Austin and others. You shouldn’t think needlessly and do your job.” (Lewis)
“… Yes.” (Evan)
Claude who wasn’t able to contact Felice’s group already felt that something was going on and started acting.
Without being aware of that, Felice, Albert, and Gai were deciding via telepathy about who should be the one to report.
(I believe that Feli should be the one to report!) (Albert)
(Why!? G, Gai would be a much better choice! He’s a senior, after all!) (Felice)
(If we talking seniors then Al is the elderly here!) (Gai)
(What are you saying! I am only ten!) (Albert)
(Stop kidding with me, Gramps! You are older than me, aren’t you!?) (Gai)
(He will scold us anyway! In that case, it’s better for Feli to do it since it will end faster!) (Albert)
(No way! I won’t be able to withstand the silence in the beginning! Geez, let’s decide by rock-paper-scissors.) (Felice)
(Alright, no hard feelings, though.) (Albert)
(Only a single game, alright?) (Gai)
(((Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!)))
((Rock!)) (Scissors!)
As a result of the telepathic rock-paper-scissors, Felice and Gai played rock while Albert played scissors.
(……… This was just a practice round! Next one is the real one!) (Albert)
((No way~!)) (Felice & Gai)
(Darn~!) (Albert)
While the three were doing something worthless via telepathy and staring at each other silently, the children around them took a step back, but the three did not notice at all.
After a while of driving, they arrived at the place of destination as they were unloaded from the carriage.
The surroundings were filled with trees, and they were forced to walk into the cave before them.
Proceeding inside, they arrived at a spacious place where at least thirty dirty men and several women waited.
“Chief! We have returned!”
“Ohh! What, isn’t there too little?” (Chief)
“This time, we did not go for quantity but quality.”
“Yeah?” (Chief)
“This man is a B-rank adventurer and the two next to him are noble brats.”
“Hou… good. Throw them into the jail.” (Chief)
Moving again, they were put into jail with another ten handcuffed people.
Before going out, the woman who guided them there turned towards Felice and approached her.
“Right, Missy.”
“Eh?” (Felice)
The woman grasped a strand of Felice’s hair and cut it off with a knife.
At that moment, Albert and Gai’s bloodthirst exploded, but Felice stopped them.
“Ohh, scary. Well, you can’t do anything with the shackles, though.”
“”You bastard…”” (Albert & Gai)
“How lively~”
The woman smiled as if looking at fools and left with the stand of hair.
“Feli… “ (Albert)
“It’s fine. The hair will grow back. Thank you for enduring, you two.” (Felice)
“However, they are planning…” (Gai)
“They are going to send them Feli’s hair.” (Albert)
“””…………”””
“… Anyhow, let’s verify the situation! Okay?” (Felice)
“I, indeed.” (Albert)
“A, alright.” (Gai)
The bad feeling they had grew stronger as they tried to escape from reality.
On the other hand, in the Faust family’s house, Samantha’s hand that was holding a cup of tea stopped.
“Is something the matter, Madam?” (Miranda)
“Yeah, Miranda. He is returning.” (Samantha)
“Master is? He’s quite early, isn’t he?” (Miranda)
“Yeah, he’s with Miguel and Nathan too. Miranda.” (Samantha)
“Yes.” (Miranda)
“Inform everyone to prepare for the ‘Banquet’.” (Samantha)
“!? Understood.” (Miranda)
“Just who has the guts? Fufu… fufufufufu.” (Samantha)
While laughing cheerfully, Samantha’s eyes grew cold.
Will Felice’s hair arrive first, or is Albert going to report before that?
Felice and others who were currently escaping from the reality were also escaping from reporting.