Chapter 31

The morning of the third day since arriving in Kliffia.

Around the time Nagi and Varna were getting fired up, a faint sense of impatience was beginning to take root within the Knights.

In the three days since arriving at the scene, the Knights had exerted every effort to search and monitor the surroundings as efficiently as possible to pinpoint the Orcs’ whereabouts. However, as it stood, they hadn’t managed to track down so much as a movement route, let alone the location of the nest.

While they had spent long periods devouring plans for Orc subjugation in the past, it was rare even for the Knights to go three days without finding so much as a nest. In terms of mission efficiency, it was a very bad sign for this state of “knowing nothing” to continue. In the worst-case scenario, the humiliating prospect of abandoning the hunt and retreating was beginning to loom.

In the midst of this, Caliban, who had been ordered to take a temporary break because his Familia’s reconnaissance was yielding almost nothing, was slumped over in the mess hall.

“Tough times, huh, Caliban? Want some coffee?”

“Ngh… Oh, if it isn’t Bevion. Unusual to see you somewhere other than Nonoka-san’s side.”

“I’m not there twenty-four-seven, you know! I’ve been pulled into reconnaissance since last night; I’m just coming off the night shift.”

As he spoke, Bevion held out one of the two cups in his hands. Caliban accepted it with a “Thanks,” feeling his sunken spirits settle slightly at the fragrant aroma.

Bevion belonged to the Recovery Squad—the squad that usually got busy after an Orc subjugation mission—but on the orders of Vice Commander Rony, who was at his wit’s end with the current situation, he had been drafted into reconnaissance. As proof, deep dark circles were clearly visible under Bevion’s eyes.

“…Wait, if you’re just finishing an all-nighter, doesn’t that mean you’re about to go to sleep? Won’t drinking coffee make it impossible to move?”

“Mine is just water, so it’s fine. I had the coffee brewed thinking you’d be the one drinking it.”

“Bevion, if it weren’t for your specific tastes, you’d be a depressingly good guy…”

“Is that a compliment or an insult, you bastard!?”

While Bevion was a hopeless case when it came to Nonoka or young girls, outside of that, he was a person of excellent character. He had manly features and tended to play the role of a mood-maker among the commoner knights. Though, he did have his twisted sides, such as harboring a simultaneous sense of rivalry and terror toward Varna.

“But man, at this rate, it sounds like there’s no lead on Bevion’s end either…”

“Yeah, absolutely nothing. I’ve seen the face of a crocodile twice, but not so much as the ‘O’ in Orc. I wonder if there really is a secret passage.”

“If you assume there is one, a lot of things start to make sense.”

The secret passage—the potential Orc movement route suggested in Varna’s report. This theory was currently known only to the Vice Commander, the Squad Leaders, and those close to Varna, but Caliban believed it wouldn’t be strange if such a route existed.

“We can’t find them no matter how much we search the surface, and they keep appearing in town despite the perimeter. The possibility is definitely there.”

“Even so, a tunnel in this town that Orcs can use… Unless humans helped dig it, wouldn’t that be impossible? Are the locals intentionally hiding information?”

“You’re overthinking it. They’re suffering all this damage; there’s not a cent of profit to be made in a self-staged setup like that.”

While it wasn’t impossible for it to be a ploy to frame the Knights, Kliffia was the one currently suffering massive losses due to the halt in industry. It was hard to believe the people of this town were stupid enough to engage in such suicidal harassment.

“Whatever the case, we have no choice but to leave the town investigation to Senior Varna. Thanks to that bastard Yagara riling up the townsfolk, he’s the only one who can investigate the town without hesitation now.”

Varna had already begun investigating the town alongside members of the militia.

There were opinions that more manpower should be mobilized, but as mentioned, the combination of Yagara’s blunder and the fact that the militia didn’t think highly of the Knights to begin with meant that unnecessary conflict was expected.

“Oh, that reminds me… Senior Garmon is from this town, right? I figured he’d be out on investigation too, but why hasn’t that happened?”

“Apparently, it’s famous that he gets along terribly with his younger brother. And since that brother is acting alongside Senior Varna, it seems like cooperation is a bit difficult.”

“Haa~, good grief, the world just doesn’t work out.”

“I hate the idea of my vacation being cut because the mission dragged on… Do something, Senior…”

Leave it to others! Leave it to others!

“Myu-n!! Myuuu~n!!”

As if rebuking Caliban for relying on his senior the moment things got tough, a Familiar parrot and a mysterious creature shouted into Caliban’s ear. Because the Familiar were attached to Caliban, they would occasionally come to him of their own volition like this.

…No, wait a second. What was that “mysterious creature”?

Caliban, who had almost accepted the creature’s existence as normal for a split second, snapped to his senses and turned toward the Familiar’s voices. There, a sight unfolded that slightly exceeded his imagination.

“Myuuu~n…”

There, held by the edge by the Familiar parrot’s beak, was a creature that looked like a lovely mini-mermaid doll, staring at Caliban with resentful eyes. Confirming it had made eye contact with Caliban, the mysterious creature puffed out its cheeks the next instant—and blasted a massive glob of water directly into his face.

“Myun!!”

“Ugh!?”

Taking the sudden high-pressure water full-on, Caliban was blown backward along with the chair and table, hitting the back of his head against the floor so hard that sparks flew in his vision.

According to the Familiar, they “brought it because it was in the river.”

One might have expected the creature to incur the wrath of the cooking squad for soaking the mess hall, but it was a massive hit with the women, who cried “Oh, how cute!”, thus avoiding the fate of being gutted on a cutting board. However, even the Familiar who brought it didn’t know its true identity.

Thinking they needed a professional opinion to figure out what it was, Caliban and the others headed to the Recovery Squad station to rely on Nonoka-san, the only scholar in the Knights.

Nonoka-san’s reaction far exceeded Caliban and the others’ expectations.

“Incredible!! Amazing, amazing, amazing, amaaaaaaazing!! This little one is a Veera!! THE famous Veera!!”

“…I’ve never seen Nonoka-san get this hyper. You must actually be an impressive creature.”

“Myu-n♪”

Floating on the water in a pot borrowed from the mess hall, the mini-mermaid—now identified as a Veera—let out a cute, seemingly satisfied cry.

Caliban took another look at this creature called a Veera.

It had smooth, light-blue hair that looked like noodles. Where a human’s ears would be, translucent, drooping fins fluttered. Its entire body was humanoid on top and fish-like on the bottom. However, unlike the mermaids often seen in illustrations, there were no scales on the lower half; it felt closer to the creature called a dolphin he had once seen in a picture book.

With a face close to a human’s and the rounded features of a child, combined with large, round eyes that soothed the soul like a dog or cat, it didn’t feel right to treat it like a monster. The Veera was charming enough that one would believe it if told it was a plush doll.

Nonoka-san, her eyes sparkling, stared at the Veera as if trying to devour it with her gaze.

“Seriously, being able to see a live Veera with my own eyes is incredibly precious, you know!? Veeras are mystical monsters that only inhabit the vicinity of pure spring water! The presence of this little one is proof of the highest water quality in the natural world, so among scholars, they’re even called Water Fairies!! Furthermore, this is a larva, which rarely shows itself to humans! This is so, so, so, sooooo ultra-rare that I want to present it at an academic conference!!”

Caliban felt a bit overwhelmed by Nonoka-san, who was dancing with joy far more than she did even when Varna brought back a clean Orc corpse. However, something in her words caught his attention.

“Is this kid a monster?”

“Yes! But they don’t fundamentally live near human settlements, and they’re a gentle species that won’t harm people unless you do something totally unnecessary. Because of their low danger level and beautiful appearance, they can fetch prices in the hundreds of millions among monster collectors!”

“Is that so… that’s a relief.”

Caliban and the others were part of the Royal Foreign Hazardous Species Countermeasures Knights. “Foreign Hazardous Species” fundamentally referred to monsters that caused harm to people. Therefore, if the Veera were a hazardous species, Caliban would have had to grip his sword to carry out his mission.

However, no matter how many Orcs he had killed, even Caliban would feel a pang of conscience laying a hand on such a lovely creature. He breathed a sigh of relief, truly glad that it wouldn’t come to killing the Veera, who was currently tilting its head in front of him. Bevion seemed to share the sentiment, as his expression looked somewhat eased as well.

“If it’s a domestic monster, we have no reason to hunt it. Was it a monster that already lived here, just unconfirmed by the Kingdom until now, Nonoka-sama?”

“Hmm, well, I suppose that’s the case. This Kingdom is quite vast, so there might be other rare species hiding out there!!”

“But Nonoka-sama. Is the water quality in the rivers around here really that good? If so, I’d expect the local residents to have found this Veera and caused a bit of a stir…”

“There’s no way that’s the case. A Veera’s main habitats are lakes with little current or underground caves, you know? They aren’t a species that shows themselves to humans of their own accord! There must be a lake nearby clean enough for a Veera to live in!”

“—Then why was this kid in the river?”

Caliban posed the question while stroking the Veera’s chin with his finger.

“You said they live in calm places with clean water, right? If that’s the case, isn’t it strange for one to be swept away and end up in a river?”

“Hm, Caliban-kun, you’ve noticed a good point… You’re exactly right. Moreover, Veeras are social creatures, and larval Veeras are protected by the adults specifically so they won’t be attacked by predators. It likely got separated from its parents after being attacked by a predator or because the water became contaminated and it couldn’t stay in its original home…”

Nonoka-san’s gaze fell upon the Veera, which was squinting its eyes and accepting Caliban’s finger with a comfortable look.

“Were you… lonely, maybe?”

“Myu~n… Myu?”

The fact that it allowed a stranger to touch it this much might mean it was that insecure. Thinking that it had been separated from its parents and forced into an inhospitable river, it was only human to feel pity. If possible, they wanted to find a replacement home or return it to its original place.

“Fortunately, the water created by the Recovery Squad’s purification function is clean enough for a Veera to live in, so let’s keep it here for a while. It would be a pity to return it to the river where crocodiles live. Besides, as for Nonoka, I want to observe this little one a bit longer, you see?”

“Myu… Keppu!”

Suddenly, the Veera leaned over the edge of the pot and spat something out.

Nonoka-san stared at it, poking it with her finger and sniffing it to identify what it was. Seeing her touch such a thing with her bare hands without hesitation served as a reminder that this was, indeed, her profession.

“What did it spit out?”

“Ah, these are impurities it swallowed while it was in the river. It’s like phlegm in humans. It must have been hard on this little one since it’s a larva, even if an adult could handle it. There, there, if you feel icky, you can spit it all out, okay?♪”

“Myu-n♪”

“Nonoka-sama. As for this Veera matter, I, the humble Bevion, shall inform the Vice Commander. Naturally, with the intent of not making this little one sad!”

“Then I’ll leave the report on this matter to Bevion-kun! …I’m counting on you!♪”

“Hah!! I shall carry it out even at the cost of my life!!”

It would have been perfect if not for the slovenly look on Bevion’s face upon receiving what could be taken as words of encouragement from Nonoka-san, but well, that wasn’t a major problem. Fortunately, the Veera didn’t seem excessively wary of people, and with Nonoka—who knew its ecology—present, it shouldn’t waste away.

With that thought, Caliban suddenly came up with an idea.

‘Communicating only in ‘myu-n’ is inconvenient… Right, I wonder if I can have a conversation with this kid? ‘Professor’ did say that the Familiar rings have various uses besides just the Familiar contract—’

Recalling the words of the mage who had hammered the essence of being a Familiar User into him, Caliban headed back to his room to check the books and rings he had been given.

—The fact that this whim, characteristic of a Familiar User, would lead to an unexpected result was something that would happen a short while later.