252 Looking Back at This Day
"It's so good, aah, so tasty..."
Minya doesn't seem to have 'come back' as she sips her soup.
We're back in the hut to have lunch. Meanwhile, Minya is escaping reality.
I don't think she can even taste the flavor. Her mind must be full a lot of stuff right now.
She got like that after I explained to her about the orcs.
I ran into six orcs while I was exploring outside and annihilated them. When I came back to the hut to ensure her safety, a group of 30 orcs showed up aiming for our steed beasts. I disposed of them all.
She was terrified by that fact and started imagining the worst possible outcome.
Then once she realized it never came to pass, she found out about how 'unusual' my strength is.
She couldn't just overlook it this time. It buffer overflowed and she started muttering to herself, 'But', 'Just how', 'How does he', 'Who is he?', then just when she finally seemed to get over it, Chimera turned up in Lion Mode.
After all this chain of 'unbelievable-ness', she started speaking to herself, 'I must be dreaming, I'm sleeping in my bed and having a nightmare from fatigue', I worry about her mental state.
Minya who had no choice but to accept this reality is mechanically putting soup into her mouth. Like an automaton looking dangerously close to breaking down.
Once she was done eating, she stared at me with eyes that reflected no light, which scared me.
"Err, is there something on my face?"
That was the only thing I could ask back, yet it was the impetus for Minya.
"Just who are you really? What is up with your strength, how are you able to defeat so many orcs? That giant magic beast looks like it's under your command. Just what is all this? Why would someone like you at the capital? Why would you accept my commission? Why does someone who hails from a rural area seek this katana object? What exactly is your goal?"
This is the first time someone ever questioned me so much. But I'm not going to give a straight answer.
Not like I can. I pretty much don't have the answer myself.
"Just like I told you earlier, I'm a 'wanted man'. I can't answer your questions. Doing so would likely cause you trouble Minya. Please don't pursue this matter, it's for your sake."
My circumstance is quite complex. But I don't think it's that dangerous, I only worded it like a threat to make her listen.
Minya quieted down when she heard that.
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"...Please excuse me. I won't ask any more. However, will you please stay away from us once your business with katana is over?"
Looks like she took my threat seriously and chose rejection here.
However, she's still going to see to the end of her bargain it seems.
I'm thankful she's got a sense of obligation. But it would be better if she's not high strung all the time.
"Remember what I told you? I'm not a criminal despite using 'wanted man' term. I've got a lot on my plate so not like I can assure you everything will be alright. But at the very least, neither me nor Chimera is gonna harm you. That applies to your gramps as well. You can rest easy on that point."
After this, Minya finally took a deep breath and relaxed.
"I also said before. You didn't seem like a bad person. So I will trust you. Of course I'll also help persuading gramps. You're my savior after all."
"It's not that big a deal really. I only took this bodyguard job for my own selfish reason. All for a katana."
"But there's no denying I would have been abducted and enslaved by Dento if not for you. It's all thanks to you I avoided that fate, right?"
Minya is likely unaware of Dento's death. It must have looked like he simply disappeared to her. Thus the question mark.
"That's also partly because of my own reason, think nothing of it. I mean without you there'd be no commission and no way to ask the gramps for a katana, no?"
"I understand. You're a kind man. Ordinary mercenaries would have jumped on the chance to ask remuneration in exchange for the favor."
It wasn't probably Minya's intention, but I took that as her saying 'you're not ordinary' which hurt a tad.
(Yeah well I'd rather be ordinary. Though I wouldn't be here then.)
It got dark out while we were talking. With all the accumulated fatigue we had today including the express travel, we decided to go to bed early, into our sleeping bags.
The gramps never came back that day.
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