3 bar menu

Chapter 282: Interrogation with Tea

「I wanna see the magic circles here. 」
I stopped in front of the temple and looked up at it. We were on our way back to the inn from the restaurant.

A pristine white temple… is what I want to say, but it’s actually made of stones with a yellowish tint. Perhaps the spires and roof had been oxidized by the rain since they’re blackish, although I’m not really sure whether there’s acid rain in this world or not.

The Fortress City is actually older than Canum, and it’s a place that had been systematically established, to some extent, by the kingdom. Moreover, the hero of the olden days also had a hand in creating it. I hastily fled the place the first time I came here, but it’s quite a scenic city.

「We have to stay in this city for a few more days, right? Ah, but I’m going to request the Guild to speed things up when the Deputy Guild Master is back. We’re free, so wanna come here tomorrow? 」
「The temple is already closed at this time, and it’s better to visit while it’s still bright. 」
Butler followed up Dinosso’s question with a suggestion and a smile.

Tsk! So you all want to go straight back to the inn, huh?

「Give up. 」
Retze patted my back lightly.

Retze and Ash were beside me — with Butler on her other side. Khan was behind us while Dinosso walked in front, leading our group. With such a lineup, we reached the inn in just a short while.

We bought firewood from the old boss of the inn, then Retze and Butler went to the well to draw water while I lit the fireplace. Other inns charge fees for using well, but this place doesn’t.

Butler then prepared the tea. Retze took out his vine sword from its sheath, dipped it in the bucket and started tending to it.

「…He’s doing it properly, but it’s kinda odd… 」
Dinosso was mumbling something while watching Retze do his thing. Dinosso and Dean’s dirty blades are cleansed by pouring a bit of mana and letting the swords blaze up.

Ash usually cleans her sword before she sleeps unless it was heavily used. Ah, but she usually does it during her watch when camping outdoors. As for Butler, how he does it is a mystery.

「Well, I can’t See, after all. I probably won’t get it either even if it acknowledges me… 」
Retze plopped down on the bench.
Khan had spread his cloak on the floor beside the fireplace and was sitting cross-legged on it. Right, Es didn’t use chairs; they basically do everything on the floor. Alright, I have to make a mantle with a magic circle.

Even though our room has a “living room” with a furnace, it didn’t come with a sofa, and there’s only two benches with no backrest inside it. Perhaps rather than a traditional “living room”, it’s more accurate to say that it’s a room where relatively wealthy guests can spread their own carpets or rugs on the floor and huddle together like sardines.

We moved the benches at the end of the room so that they’re parallel to each other. Ash and I sat together facing Dinosso and Retze. Butler, who usually stayed diagonally behind Ash, was now closer to Retze, but still diagonally positioned.

「Alright, first things first. What did you do to the son of the former High Priest? The Deputy Guild Master fainted, probably because of mana depletion, and that guy must’ve been the same, huh? 」
Dinosso was the first one to pose his questions again. What a hawk-eyed guy.

「I just thought that it might be too troublesome to keep him awake, so I asked Zabuton — Floor Cushion-kun — to suck his mana until it’s depleted. 」
His mana reservoir was quite huge, so Zabuton became a little bit fluffier after absorbing all that.

「Zabuton? 」
「The spirit possessing Ro…The son of former High Priest.」
「So that spirit looks like a floor cushion, huh… 」
Dinosso seemed baffled.

「Hey Jean, care to do something about that naming aesthetics of yours? I can’t help it, I’m beginning to imagine the spirits being different from other folks vague description.」
「I believe that the correct image is also important. 」
Retze started grumbling about my naming sense, but sorry, I only accept complaints from the creatures themselves.

「Perhaps that isn’t the crux of the issue? Jean-sama, can you also use spirits that are contracted to others? 」
「That son didn’t contract Zabuton himself; it’s more like the spirit had been bound because of a contract from ages ago, so I just released it. I only requested Zabuton after that. 」
Butler must be asking about Zabuton, so I won’t mention White Snake-kun.

「Wait a sec. Can a contract be broken that easily? 」
Dinosso covered his face with one hand and held the other palms up, gesturing stop.

「…Ash-sama’s Az is the same. 」
Butler turned his gaze towards Ash.
「Yeah. Jean was the one who broke the contract with my father, releasing Az and me. I’m grateful for that. 」
Ash glanced at me while saying that, before turning to tickle Az’s chest with her finger. The bird was sitting on her shoulder.

「My spirit was so hyped up while battling that Earth Crawling Snake, that must be because of your instructions, huh. 」
Dinosso gazed at me with half-lidded eyes between his fingers. Argh, already busted!?

「Uh, I think I requested the surrounding spirits to suck mana from folks who can See other than us, and to help with the healing and fighting… 」
I turned away.

「So you CAN move spirits possessing other people, huh!? And here I was thinking my spirit likes me a lot!! Argh, I’m gonna cry! 」
Eh, you’re already crying, aren’t you.

Butler turned down and slowly shook his head. See, he’s exasperated at you, Wolf King-san!