“You are being too noisy!”


  Noah-san, the Adventurer’s Guild Master, heard the commotion and came to the hall from his office.

  “What’s this? Takumi are you in trouble?

  “Nono, that’s not it.”


  Maybe it was because I was at the center of the commotion, or maybe it was my fault… or rather, it seemed like I was being quarreled with.

  “Then, what is this ruckus about?”


  “Erm… how do I explain this? This is the result of everyone worrying for the children, I guess?”


  “Haah?”


  Noah-san made a… I don’t get it face at my explanation.

  “”You see, you see~””


  “Everyone is saying~”


  “That this request is.”


  “”Out of question~!””


  Allen and Elena turned to Noah-san, who is tilting his head, and before I realized it, they showed him the Battle Horse request form in their hands.

  “N? A Battle Horse request?”


  “”Yeah!””


  “You want to accept this? N~ that is a swift and considerably strong monster, but… well, it should pose no threat to Takumi and you guys, no?”


  “”Yeah!””


  The children showed a big smile. I’m sure they were happy that Noah-san gave them a fair evaluation.

  The men who were opposed to the idea looked awkward when they saw the children’s smiles.

  “I see, so these guys were opposed to accepting this request. You guys should quickly select your own requests and get to work! I won’t tell you not to worry about other people, but worry about yourselves first.”


  Noah-san was like a knight in shining armor, urging the men around him.

  “I even heard about the kids treating you to a drink! Don’t be so pathetic and go earn your own money!”


  “””!”””


  “W, why does Master know of this…”


  “Everything that happens in the town can be seen by the eyes of a third party. Of course it will spread quickly. And if it’s about adventurers, I will be the first to hear about it.”


  Wow~ So Noah-san has already heard about the drinking party the other day~ Gossip and that kind of information spreads really fast, doesn’t it?

  “”Is fine! Will treat you again!””


  (!)

  (Pfft!)

  The children, who couldn’t read the atmosphere, said a few words to finish the job. The men who opposed accepting the Battle Horse request hung their heads in dejection.

  In addition, the adventurers who had been watching us from a distance laughed out loud. Noah-san also turned his face away and laughed.

  The laughter spread for a while, but when it subsided, Noah-san sent the dejected men off to work, so each started choosing a request. When things had calmed down, Noah-san spoke to me again.

  “Takumi, you are their guardian, so you ought to stop them.”


  “Stop them from doing what?”


  “What, you ask… various things?”


  “No, which one is it? Rather, I don’t recall them doing something that required me to stop them recently.”


  I’m sure there was no problem with buying people a drink or with the request we want to accept.

  “You guys stand out even when you are acting normal, so don’t do anything that deviates too much from that. You are going to get tangled up in things even more easily than you already are.”


  “……”


  It cannot be helped that we stand out since not many adventurers bring children to the Adventurer’s Guild with them, but to tell me not to deviate too much… I don’t try to? The Crystal Elk event that happened the other day has been concealed by us exactly for that reason, you know?

  Ah, come to think of it, I was wondering if I should report to Velio-san about the Crystal Elk antlers so much that I forgot to report it~ I should probably report it, right?

  “Takumi… why are you tilting your head?”


  “I’m doing my best to avoid deviating from normal to the best of my ability~… or so I thought.”


  “… You have no self-awareness, huh.”


  When I honestly told him I had no recollection of what he meant, Noah-san let out a sigh.

  “Oh well. Report to me as soon as it happens, even if it’s something trivial.”


  “… Pardon me?”


  “Why are you still tilting your head?”


  “Well~ if there was a big problem, I will report it for sure, but… are trivial things something to report?”


  “You must definitely report it!”


  “… Ehh~”


  Normally, you wouldn’t report something trivial to the Guild Master, would you? But Noah-san says to report even the slightest thing.

  “If anything happens to you, the Ruven family is most likely going to act. Rather, they are going to act. If that happens, dealing with them would be too difficult. Therefore, no matter how big of a deal it is, I would like to deal with it before they act, so I’m telling you to report to me.”


  It’s sad that I can’t deny it.

  Noah-san is right, if something happens to us, there’s a… possibility that the Ruven family will act. If the Feudal Lords family acts… let’s not think about it now.

  “I will be careful.”


  “Honestly, I’m not worried about the business relationships. I want you to be very careful with your personal relationships.”


  “… Yes, yes~”


  After the conversation with Noah-san, the excited children and I made the necessary arrangements for the Battle Horse request and headed for the mountains. Once we were deep in the mountains, we called out Joule and the other Contracted Beasts and asked them to look for places where the Battle Horses might be. We soon found a place that looked like a habitat.

  (N~ there is a lingering scent around here, but no presence~)

  “”Not here~?””


  (Indeed. But the scent has not faded yet, so I’m pretty sure this is where it lives. It is most likely away only for now.)

  However, we couldn’t find the Battle Horse.

  Joule and Feat sniffed the area and carefully searched the surroundings.

  (Battle Horses are supposed to move in herds, right? However, there is no evidence of it here. Aniue, what are the contents of the request this time?)

  “The Battle Horse here is apparently a stray.”


  (Niichan, by a stray, do you mean there is only one? Was it driven out of the herd?)

  “There is a possibility of that, but it doesn’t have to be that either. According to the information from the eyewitness, it has got a rough temperament and left the herd on its own.”


  (I see! So it left the herd, went on a rampage, and got a subdue request on itself?)

  “That’s it.”


  As Bolt, Vector and Mile wanted to confirm the details of this request, so I gave them the information I had.

  “If its habitat is here, then it will surely be nearby. Let’s look around here for now.”


  “”(((((Yeah~)))))””


  We could also wait for the Battle Horse to come back, but just as we were about to leave and search together, Vector stopped us for some reason.

  (Niichan, Niichan!)

  “What is it, Vector?”


  (Niichan, cook a meal here! For the dungeon!)

  I had promised the kids that we will go to an advanced-level dungeon next time. Vector seems to want me to make some pre-made food for that occasion.

  “You know, Vector, we have enough food for the dungeon already.”


  (How!? We will be gone for days next time we go to a dungeon, right? We will need more food, right!)

  “We basically cook food on the spot even in dungeons, right? Pre-made food is meant to be eaten when you are in a place where you can’t cook, or when you are moving around and have no time to cook. That’s why, we don’t have to prepare for every meal.”


  Well, the Infinite Storage allows unlimited preservation, so there’s no problem with having a lot, though.

  (Ahh, I forgot!)

  (You are too forgetful, Vector!)

  (But, Niisama, isn’t it true that the more food you have in storage, the better?)

  “That’s true, but I would like to stroll around with everyone today. Is that no good?”


  (((((Of course not!)))))

  “”Let’s go together!””


  I don’t mind cooking, but if I say I want to be with everyone, they won’t refuse. Was I too cunning this time around?