“Why are brats in here!.”
A loud voice echoes around the Guild.
That voice gathers the attention of the other people around.
“They are my company, is there a problem?”
“This is not a place for brats to play!”
“No... they are obediently behaving, right? I don’t think they are being a nuisance to you, but?”
“They are a nuisance just by being here!”
“Just by being here, you say...... give me a break...”
This is the type of person who would pick up a fight no matter what I say. I’m certain my words won’t connect with him.
I would like to settle this peacefully, but...... now then, how to deal with this......
I wanted to sigh, but I forcibly suppressed it. The opponent seems to be the type that would get even more agitated by it.
Nevertheless, to think that there would actually be a person who would pick a quarrel for no reason...... I thought this would happen only in novels.
“Oi! Don’t ignore me!”
“No, I told you...”
“Aan!? Are you defying me right now?”
The opponent suddenly extends his hands and grabs me by the collar without a thought.
Ah, it’s no use no matter what I say. Talking is impossible.
Now then...... what to do......
While thinking so, the hand that was grabbing me was suddenly repelled.
“Ah...”
When I let the voice, it was already too late.
Allen and Elena kicked the bald adventurer’s hand away. Then, they proceed to kick him in the abdomen just like that.
The adventurer let’s out『Gu!』a suffering groan while his upper body bent. He then fell back right on his backside.
“Uwa! Stop, stop! Allen, Elena. Wait!”
I shout in panic.
I stop Allen and Elena a second before they can both land ax kick on the collapsed adventurer’s head.
The kicks that were going to land directly on his head just barely swept beside him.
That was dangerous... seriously dangerous...
He would definitely die if those ax kicks landed.
His upper body fell down with a thud and he stopped moving. He must have already fainted after suffering the hit to his abdomen.
A silence drifts in the Guild which was noisy just a minute ago.
The adventurers and the Guild staff stiffened in shock.
Even if they are used to fighting, witnessing small children KO’ing a grown man must have been really surprising.
Well then...... what do I do now?
“Ou. Excuse me......... N? What?”
A person walks into the guild and looks around the stiffened adventurers and guild staff dumbfoundedly.
“What, what? Did something happen?”
A familiar voice. If I’m not mistaken, it should be one of the west gate Knights.
He is not wearing armor today, but a dark blue knight uniform.
Thanks to him, the stopped time in the Guild started moving again.
First of all, I turn to the Guild staff behind the counter and timidly ask.
“Ah~...... Is there punishment in a case like this?”
I can’t leave without asking that, right?
◇ ◇ ◇
There was no punishment.
This time, we were not at fault because the other party one-sidedly picked a quarrel with us and we only defended ourselves.
I’m glad...
The fallen adventurer was dragged to the guild’s sickbay by other adventures on the guild staff instructions, he started moving again normally after a while.
“This~ Takumi-san...”
“Yes?”
“See...... the children......”
“Huh?”
Luna-san reservedly calls out to me. Prompted by those words, I turn around to look at Allen and Ellen...... they were crying.
They were shedding tears without a voice.
“Waa!? Why are you crying!?”
I rush up to the two children in panic and crouch to match their line of sight.
“Injuries... none, right? What’s wrong?”
“...... Don’t... leave us......”
They cling to me with a fragile voice.
Leave? Why?
Perhaps, is it because I raised my voice a little while ago? Are those two uneasy because of that?
They thought I was angry at them...
“There’s no way I would leave you? It’s all right, okay”
I embrace the crying children while repeating “It’s all right”, “We are together” in a gentle voice.
It took about ten minutes for those two to calm down.
“Here, you must be thirsty, right?”
Still sobbing a little, I hand the two a fruit juice.
They cried a lot, I must let them rehydrate properly.
“In the end, what has happened?”
Ah, Knight-sama, you are still here...
The Knight-sama from the west gate is the second commanding officer of Shirin Knight’s, a noble named Grunwald Ruven.
A captain of one of five Shirin’s divisions. The second most important person in the Shirin Knights. It seems he came today to talk to the Guild Master.
＝＝＝＝＝
＝＝＝＝＝
Un, he has the skills appropriate of a noble knight-sama.
Indeed, a knight should be about riding a horse and swinging weapons around. Besides, “Commanding”. Un, I feel like it’s necessary for a captain.
“Etiquette” and “Dancing” is noble-ish.
The title “Knight of the Flaming Sword” sounds cool~ Looking at the name, is it about using a sword enhanced with Fire Magic?
...... Oops, he asked a question.
“They probably thought I would abandon them.”
“Haa? What’s that about? You, would you do such a thing?”
“I won’t do anything like that! Please don’t do something so disgraceful.”
“Then, why are they thinking so?”
“No~ I didn’t perfectly grasp the understanding yet, I still don’t understand well~”
That’s the truth. I don’t know their circumstances before meeting me at that place.
“They are your children...... probably not, they are your sibling, aren’t they?”
“Unfortunately, they are not. I have just met these children recently. To be precise, a week ago? They were in the Gaya Forest.”
“Haah?”
“If they were discarded or just lost, I do not know, though.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. Wasn’t there recently a carriage attacked near the Gaya Forest or something? They were most likely slaves.”
Weren’t they sold as slaves because they don’t have parents? Is what I think. After all, if they were in the orphanage, I wouldn’t meet them in a place like that.
“...... There certainly was. A Slave Trader from the Argo was attacked by monsters in the Gaya Forest while heading to this town.”
Luna-san immediately recalls the information.
“Ah, as expected. They were probably made into a decoy.”
“Children like these...”
“It doesn’t look like they were the ones to become the decoy in the end, though. In this case, how are these children going to be treated? There won’t be problems if I take them in, right? Fortunately, they don’t have any proof of being slaves.”
“In that case, they are simply treated as orphans. There won’t be problems whether you put them into an orphanage or raise them yourself. Besides, it looks like these children completely recognize you as their guardian. If you’d like, I will guarantee for you.”
“Ruven-sama, thank you very much.”
I was worried about the interference from the merchant, but it doesn’t seem like there will be problems.
It seems like Ruven-sama will become the guarantee.
“Wald is all right. Apart from that――”
“Rather than that, Takumi-san! You went into the Gaya Forest?”
Luna-san interrupts Ruven-sama who said it’s okay to call him Wald-sama, and she bends forward over the counter.
