The Hero Searches Everywhere For The Companion He Expelled (2)

“Tell me more about that.”

“Huh… Mushroom… I mean, Hero-sama, what do you mean?”

“What you were just talking about! You said something about Plain Roy, didn’t you!?”

One of the patrons flinched under the Hero’s fierce glare, but began recounting what he had witnessed.

“You know, when Hero-sama dismissed one of your companions.”

“Yuri… No, do you know where that Plain Roy went?”

The tavern regulars had witnessed the moment when Vanrost dismissed Yuri.

Not wanting anyone to think he was searching for the companion he had once cast out, Vanrost phrased his question as though Roylotte were the one he was after.

“I don’t know where they went. All I saw through the window was Plain Roy getting onto some huge flying creature with that boy and flying off somewhere.”

“A flying creature?”

“I remember it being black and ridiculously huge, but I don’t think it was a wyvern. Roy’s only B-rank, after all. Aren’t wyverns the kind of thing only SS-rank people like Hero-sama can ride?”

“…Yeah, that’s right.”

Vanrost nodded, then clicked his tongue.

He did not care what Roylotte had been riding. The problem was that Yuri and Roy had traveled by air.

They might have gone much farther away than he had expected.

“No wonder we couldn’t find them no matter how much we searched around here…”

“If they traveled by flying creature, that widens the search area quite a bit.”

Rosa let out a long sigh at Van’s bitter muttering.

Irina, meanwhile, remained completely unconcerned as she said, “This cake is… actually not bad.”

Camula took a bite of her tart and muttered, “The tart is better.”

After sighing in exasperation at the two of them, Rosa shrugged.

“If they traveled by air, there’s a good chance they headed for the nearest major city. Maybe they went to the Adventurers’ Guild Hall in Eto?”

Irina and Camula, who had been utterly disinterested until then, immediately lit up.

The commercial city of Eto was about as large as Belgion, the southern capital they had visited recently. As a thriving center of commerce, its streets were lined with large shops carrying extensive selections of goods.

“We’re going to Eto!? Yes! I’m going shopping!!”

“If we are going to Eto, I would like to buy a new staff.”

“And I want new armor from an armor shop!”

“Oh, right! There’s also a restaurant I haven’t tried yet, so I want to go there too!!”

“In that case, I would also like to visit that famous café!!”

Vanrost looked utterly fed up as Irina and Camula suddenly became excited.

Had these two always been this irritating…?

He was desperately trying to find Yuri, yet neither of them seemed particularly interested in helping.

Still, they had already exhausted every likely location around the tavern, so going to the commercial city of Eto was probably their only option.

(Just you wait… Yuri. The Hero himself is coming to pick you up.)

Vanrost addressed the absent Yuri in his thoughts.

Once the Hero’s party had left the tavern, the men who had answered their questions watched them go and let out long, weary sighs.

“Hero-sama… He’s trying to bring back the companion he kicked out, isn’t he?”

“But wasn’t he looking for Roy?”

“He mentioned a different name before Roy came up. That was probably the name of the companion he threw out. Guess he only realized after kicking them out that they were actually pretty useful.”

“Hahaha… Yeah, he sure couldn’t tell us, ‘I’m looking for the companion I banished.’”

And so, the Hero’s party headed for a Flying Creature Rental Station in a nearby town so they could travel to the commercial city of Eto.

The Flying Creature Rental Station had a huge stable where Medium Dragons, Small Dragons, griffins, and other flying creatures waited.

Griffins were flying creatures with eagle-like upper bodies and lion-like lower bodies.

Rental prices varied depending on the creature and duration, but a one-way trip lasting less than an hour started at five thousand xenos. The creatures were trained to return to their stable on their own after delivering their passengers.

“You’re a good girl. I’ll rent this one.”

Rosa stroked the head of a pure-white griffin before taking its reins.

She apparently had quite a fondness for animals.

The white griffin seemed to take an immediate liking to Rosa as well, nuzzling its cheek against her affectionately.

All flying creatures had an instinctive habit of refusing to let anyone weaker than themselves ride on their backs, and griffins were no exception. It quickly warmed up to Rosa, an SS-rank adventurer, but snarled threateningly at Irina and Camula, who were only S-rank adventurers.

Vanrost asked the owner of the rental station with a slightly dissatisfied expression.

“Don’t you have any wyverns here?”

“This is about the best we can handle. If you want to ride a wyvern, the only place around here that has them is the Guild Hall in Eto.”

Rosa visibly grimaced at the owner’s words and shook her head.

“No, no. The one they have there is a Black Wyvern, right? It’s huge, but it’s way too vicious. Even I couldn’t handle it.”

“The Black Wyvern belongs to the Guild Master of the Eto Branch. That thing is in a league of its own. Even SS-rank adventurers would have trouble riding it.”

Listening to their conversation, Vanrost suddenly remembered what one of the tavern patrons had said.

Come to think of it, he thought the man had said the flying creature Roylotte had ridden was huge and black.

(No way…)

There was no chance that plain-looking old man could ride a Black Wyvern. It had to have been some other flying creature.

The owner smiled pleasantly.

“Don’t worry. The Eto Branch has plenty of large wyverns besides the Black Wyvern that would satisfy even SS-rank adventurers. But you’re only traveling a short distance today, so please make do with this fellow.”

The griffin the owner pointed to had an exceptionally nasty look in its eyes and was staring at Van with obvious displeasure.

Rosa giggled.

“You and that griffin have the same face.”

“What!? How am I supposed to look anything like this stupid bird!?”

Apparently, the words “stupid bird” struck a nerve.

The griffin let out an angry cry and began yanking out Vanrost’s hair.

“Whoa!! Why are you ripping out my hair!? Hey, owner, stop this thing!!”

“Well, even if you tell me that…”

In the end, the griffin turned its back on Vanrost, while Vanrost, whose hair had been left in a complete mess, also refused to ride the insolent griffin, so he ended up choosing another flying creature.

Rosa gave a wry smile.

“Aww, and you two looked so much alike. You should’ve gotten along.”

“How do we look alike!? And even if we did, why would that mean we have to get along!?”

Vanrost reluctantly climbed onto a Medium Dragon.

Irina and Camula were riding Medium Dragons as well. They were docile and relatively small, making them popular among female adventurers.

Having to ride something like this was humiliating, but the flight would be short. He would simply have to endure it.

One griffin and three Medium Dragons took off toward the commercial city of Eto.