Encounter With a Fool ②
"Eek!? They're here here! The wolves are here!"
The girl cried out and retreated into the tent. Margine thought about just leaving her there and running away, but looking closely at the wolves, they were quite skinny. Also, unlike monsters, wolves are animals and very cautious. They might attack people if you entered their territory in the mountains, but coming out to the highway like this was strange.
Maybe they were driven out of their territory by something?
The wolves remained wary of Margine, who showed no fear, and didn't attack. Since they weren't attacking, Margine had no intention of attacking them either.
Maybe they'd go away if I give them something.
Margine searched his item box for some meat. It was full of stuff from his Hero Party days, so he looked through the item box list page.
Hmm, this should do.
Margine took out some seal-like monster meat that he hadn’t eaten because of its strong flavor and greasy smell. He divided the large chunk into five pieces and tossed them in front of the wolves.
"Here, take these. If you still attack, I will kill you."
The wolves only growled.
No matter how hungry they were, I guess they'd be wary of food thrown by a stranger....
The wolves continued to glare at Margine, but their eyes occasionally wandered to the meat in front of them. They probably realized that it was safe to eat from the smell.
I hope they would just grab the meat and go somewhere. In the worst case scenario, they would prefer us as dinner.
"Hey, do you have a pot or something?"
Margine called out to the girl inside the tent.
"Y-Yes, I do."
"Give it to me. I'll make some noise to scare them away."
Only a pot poked out of the tent this time. Margine grabbed the pot and hit it with a stone to make some noise. The wolves flinched. He was almost there.
"Just take the meat and go away. Otherwise...."
Margine held out the pot while directing his killing intent. The wolves finally gave up, took the meat, and fled somewhere
"It's alright now. The wolves were startled by the noise and ran away."
"R-Really?"
"See for yourself. I will go now."
"P-Please wait!"
"What now? I've chased away the wolves."
Margine felt the wolves' presence moving further into the forest, so the girl should be safe now.
"What if they come back?"
"Just bang the pot or something."
"They might be used to it and won't be scared this time...."
"It's none of my business, See ya!"
"Nooo! Don't leave me behind!"
How troublesome....
"Then hurry up and pack up your tent. We are running to the next town."
The girl started packing up in hurry.
That's a lot of stuff. Can she run with all that?
"S-Sorry to keep you waiting, My name is...."
"You don't need to introduce yourself or thank me. Besides, I don't intend to introduce myself either. Once we reach the next town, we will immediately part ways."
"Huh? Isn't it a common sense to introduce yourself?"
"Shut up, let's go quickly. If we encounter monsters next, banging a pot won't save us."
"Eek!"
Margine, exasperated at the pale-faced girl, started running. He thought he had slowed down to a speed she could keep up with, but the girl, burdened by heavy luggage, was more like toddling or walking and couldn't catch up.
"Wait, please wait...."
*thud*
The girl desperately tried to catch up with him, but stumbled over a stone and fell. Margine was using Night Vision, so he could see without any problem, but the girl could barely see anything in front of her. The girl, sobbing after falling, remained stuck to the ground, unable to get up for a while.
"If you keep lying there, monsters will catch you."
"N-Nooo!"
The girl immediately got up and started running.
"You can run properly, after all. If you don't want to become monster food, keep up with me."
"That's awful! That's awful!"
The girl managed to catch up with Margin while crying and screaming.
"What's awful?"
"Normally, if a girl is carrying heavy luggage, you'd ask if you could help her with some of it."
"I'm not normal. Besides, my family motto is to do things by yourself."
"Just a little bit...."
"Don't be so spoiled. Why should I also help you carry your luggage after I saved you from wolves? If you really want me to carry it, at least hire me for it."
"You mean I have to pay for it?"
The girl asked sullenly.
"I can't pay much, but if it's just 500 G...."
"Come on, start running again."
The moment she said 500 G, Margine lost interest and told the girl to start running again.
"Then, 600 G.... No, I will pay 1,000 G!"
"I'm not a kid asking for pocket money. I will carry your luggage for 50,000 G."
"I don't have that much money! I've used up almost all my money on the boat fare and haven't even had a proper meal!"
"I don't care about your financial situation. But traveling with almost no money, just what the hell are you thinking?"
"E-Everything will be fine once I reach the royal capital."
"How it will be fine?"
"It's a secret."
What's that supposed to mean?
"If you don't have money, carry your own luggage and start moving."
"How can you be so cold?"
"Listen... I just want to go home. If you keep complaining, I'll leave you here."
The girl reluctantly started moving after being told she'd be left behind, but her steps were slow. Looking closely, Margine could see the girl's knee was bleeding from the fall earlier and she was walking while enduring the pain.
Tch, how bothersome.
"Hand over your luggage."
"Huh?"
"I said I'd carry it because if I kept going at your pace, I'd never get home."
"B-But I can't pay you...."
"I don't need your pocket money. Just give it to me quickly."
The girl dropped her luggage with a thud.
Might as well heal her knee while I'm at it.
"Don't tell anyone about this."
Margine crouched down and grabbed the girl's leg.
"Nooooo! I've never said I'd pay with my body!"
"Are you an idiot!? Who would lay a hand on a kid like you?"
Margine healed the girl's knee with magic as she thrashed about and shouted at him.
"Look, it doesn't hurt anymore, right?"
"Huh? Oh.... it doesn't hurt anymore."
When the girl was checking her knee, Margine stored her luggage in his item box.
"Huh? Wait? Where's my luggage?"
"I’m already carrying it. Now, let's go."
Margin started running without giving explanation.
"Wait, please wait!"
Even though Margine was running quite slow, it was still difficult for the girl to keep up with him. The girl continued running with a desperate look on her face.
*thud*
Tch, she tripped again.
"Waaaaah! Waaaaah!"
"I just healed it, and now you hurt your knee again. Watch your step when you run!"
"But it's so dark. I can't even see the ground!"
Margin grumbled as he healed the girl's knee and gave up on running.
"Is this healing magic? Are you perhaps a priest? But you're not wearing priestly clothes...."
Magic existed even in this era. In this kingdom, those who could use offensive and healing magic either became Hunters, working for government, or joined the church.
"Don't pry. I told you not to tell anyone that I used healing magic."
"Are you perhaps a stray magician?"
Stray magician? What a nasty way to put it.
"I told you not to pry. Stop talking nonsense and start moving!"
Margine told the girl coldly and started walking. He wasn't like this when he first came to this world.
~ Margine during his time in the hero's party ~
"Hey, Margin. I told you not to be too nice to anyone. You're being too meddlesome!"
When Margine stopped in a certain town after hunting monsters as part of his training, he met an injured girl and healed her with magic
"What is this, Misty? Are you jealous or something?"
"W-Why should I be jealous?"
"It didn't even take a minute. What's the big deal?"
"Thank you, Hero."
"See? I make this girl happy, and she even calls me Hero."
Margine was pleased to be called a hero.
"You fool! Maverick is the hero. I kept telling you that you're just a supporter."
"But, you know, those guys don't come to hunt monsters in towns without nobles."
Margin sulked after being scolded by Misty.
"The two of us can handle this, so there's no need for Maverick and the others to come all the way here. When people call you a hero, you should immediately deny it!"
"You heard that, girl? Sorry, but I'm not a hero. I'm just a member of the Hero Party."
"B-But to us, you two are heroes. You saved this town from a monster attack, and you even healed me."
The girl's face flushed as she said this.
"Come on, Margine. It’s time to go home."
Misty forcibly dragged Margine, who got embarrassed by the girl's words, away. The two then left town and returned to the royal capital.
"Is it over?"
Maverick and the other members visited Misty's lab.
"Yeah, we have defeated all the monsters. It was a town with delicious food, you guys should have come, too."
"I see. Maybe I will go with you next time."
Hero Maverick answered expressionlessly and immediately left the lab with Gain, the battle axe wielder.
"Margine, you shouldn't get full of yourself!"
Saint Sophia added before leaving.
"If you find a monster's nest, don't rush in alone. Make sure you report it first."
Having said that, Veloce, the scout, also left. Maverick was a prince of this kingdom. Sophia was a marquis's daughter and Maverick's fiancée. Gain was a military commander and the eldest son of a count's family. Veloce was a viscount's daughter. Except Misty and Margine, the other members of the Hero Party were nobles.
"Don't you think everyone seems to be in a bad mood?"
Margine said so as he watched Maverick and the other members left the lab.
"It's because you did too much unnecessary stuff. I'm sure they have already received today's report."
"Unnecessary stuff?"
"Just do what you're told to do next time. Just hunt the monsters. Don't get involved with people too much. It'll only create more trouble."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just do as I say, please."
Misty said with a bitter expression.