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Chapter 440: Liberation

「This is so comfortable to sit on… 」
Hauron said while looking so anxious.

The table and chairs were taken out again* and pushed near the fireplace to make space for the futons. Hauron’s gaze roamed around him as he sat on one of the chairs. I ーno, Forest Note ーprepared the tea.

「Nothing to be surprised, there’s nothing to be surprised of…」
The old man squared his shoulders.

Forest Note placed the tea in front of the stiff Hauron, then he almost imperceptibly smirked at the old guy before turning to me. He bowed before disappearing.

「Why did the spirit brew the tea! And nonchalantly at that! 」
「Can’t do anything about it, he’s modeled after Noth, after all. 」
Get a grip, Grand Sage! You already met Forest Note before, you know.

「Uwuwu. Spirits are swarming here, it’s so packed that this whole place is shining, the furniture is made by Earthkin, and familiar people are lying on the floor… 」
Hauron started to mumble.

Our Grand Sage has lots of monologues to say.

「Huff!!! Alright, let’s switch! 」
Hauron sat ramrod straight after a sip of tea.

「First, the people on the floor are sleeping because they’re exhausted, right? 」
「Yup. 」
I already healed their wounds, so it should be because of exhaustion.

「They’re supposed to be on a quest from Anoma, right? It was supposed to be Valmour’s quest in the first place, so it should be quite dangerous. They already know that Dean and Chris have spirit swords, so maybe it’s a subjugation of a monster that can only be taken down with such a weapon. Well, we can confirm if that’s true based on the oath’s specifics. I wonder how far the confidentiality agreement goes… 」

It felt like Hauron was sorting out his thoughts while he spoke; it didn’t seem like he was literally asking me. Dean and Chris were open about their spirit swords to boost their fame.

「What did Retze and Noth say to you the first time you met them? Aside from greetings of course. 」
「Retze said to allow them to take refuge here, Noth asked me why I was here ー I think? 」
If I’m not mistaken.

「…Can I ask where exactly this place is? 」
「It’s super deep into the Magical Woods. 」
Hauron pinched his nose bridge.

「Uwuwuw. I already expected it, I already expected it, but… Why do you have a house in a place like this, huh… 」
「Because I built it? It’s kinda like a secret base and it’s really fun, you know. 」

It’s the coolest ー or should I say coldest one among my houses. I come here from time to time, light the fireplace until it’s blazing, and watch the snow while reading.

Riche seems fond of this place too. He loves to run around the snow-covered yard, so I also watch him do that from inside the house. The animals’ footsteps on the snow look cute too.

「Refuge, does that mean Retze knew this place? Did he warn you or ask you to do something else? 」
Seemed like Hauron was bent on not listening to my explanation, huh?

「Retze told me to hide my face. 」
I glanced at the fief lord’s daughter.

「Ahh, so this child hasn’t seen your face yet? How about we bring her to town now while she’s still asleep? 」
Hauron’s eyes glazed all over.

「 …While it may be a crude solution, perhaps it would prove effective. 」
Butler abruptly woke up!

Forest Note also appeared suddenly and prepared an additional cup of tea.

「…」
Butler’s expression was complicated.

「Not waking up even though I’m nearby, it must’ve been really tough on you, eh? 」
Hauron’s tone was listless when talking to Butler, but his index finger kept on tapping the table.

Annoyed? Uneasy? He seemed a bit agitated.

「Dealing with such a vast number of monsters proved to be quite taxing, as one might expect. Even those who summoned the monsters seemed taken aback, I must say. 」
Butler said some of them even attacked their fellow monsters.

「Oh my, so enemies had been mixed in with the adventurers, huh. 」
Hauron didn’t seem surprised, though.

「Indeed. 」
Butler had a troubled smile plastered on his face.

「Let’s dive into the details later. It’s a hassle, but I have to prepare some spells that will void the oath ー what’s the extent? We might have to do it in an environment at par with the temple depending on the case, you know? 」
Hauron seemed to find it bothersome.

Oh, right, come to think of it, they did have pledged an oath at the guild, so they couldn’t say anything about the quest. When I looked at Butler, I saw a sash of words made out of light circling his chest. It’s kinda similar to the one sticking to Ash before.

「This must be it. 」
I pulled it off!

「Jean-sama? 」
「Is there a spirit that I can’t see? 」
Both of them couldn’t see the sash, apparently.

「The spirit’s oath is void with this, I guess. 」
Not sure, probably.

「Huh? 」
「The oath is void… is that so. 」
「Yup. 」

The two guys froze.

「…Hey, try to say something about the quest. 」
「I am afraid of the consequences if I were to talk about it… 」
Hauron and Butler whispered to each other.

「I’ll pull off everyone else’s for now. 」
Dean is the nearest, so I started with him. I gently pulled the blanket off him, then tugged the sash away. Next was Chris, then Ash, then Retze. Retze stirred a bit, but nobody seemed to wake up.

「Hey! We just left you alone for a sec and now…! 」
「Jean-sama… 」
The duo’s jaws dropped.

Let’s tear them off before they can stop me, yup, let’s do that.

「Ugh? 」
Fief lord’s daughter.

「What? You’re scaring me! 」
Hauron shrunk back.

「She has boobs… 」
What to do, it’d be bad to touch it, right?

「That’s obvious. 」
「Jean-sama, Ash-sama also have them… 」
「Even guys have them, you know… 」

I gingerly went for her side so I wouldn’t touch them, but this felt like I have a fetish or something, so I hated it. I’m not Dean’s Fire Lizard-kun, after all.

「Why is he acting normally in that part when he’s off about everything else? 」
「Why indeed…」