“I guess if I did the opposite of that, I’d be able to take living monsters out of dungeons. My barrier really is versatile...”
Relieved that she’d managed to return the wolves to the mountain, she tottered down to return to the others.
“I sent them home,” she reported, and Vince pointed for her to look back at the mountain.
“Huh?”
She turned around and found all the wolves that should have run back up the mountain lined up and waiting near the entrance to the dungeon.
“Growl...”
“Growl...”
“Grr...”
“Growl!”
The mountain wolves howled as if saying goodbye to Sara.
“Growl.”
“Growl.”
And they went back up the mountain one by one.
“You are a Tamer.”
“No, I’m not.”
Thus, the curtain closed on the continental tortoise commotion that had begun back in Hydrangea.
The four who had gone up the mountain after the continental tortoise returned a week later. In the meantime, Kuntz and Haruto had been gleefully delving into the dungeon. And as for Sara...
“Three potions, yes?”
For some reason, she was selling items at the Guild kiosk.
“This is weird, right? I’m an apothecary. Noel’s at the Apothecary’s Guild, so why am I selling stuff at the Hunter’s Guild? I mean, at least I’m not peeling potatoes, but...”
She swiftly moved the products on sale at the kiosk even as she grumbled to herself. What with the continental tortoise and the monsters getting loose from the Dark Mountain, the Hunters in Rosa hadn’t been able to get into the dungeons enough lately, so the Guild was pretty busy now that it was all over.
“What do you want from us? We’re perpetually understaffed here,” Vince grumbled, rubbing his stubble, even though Sara was the one who wanted to grumble. “Besides, you don’t actually want to go to that Apothecary’s Guild, do you? Be honest.”
“Well, I guess not...”
She’d reconciled with Ted, so he didn’t bother her anymore, but she still remembered how no one in Rosa’s Apothecary’s Guild had helped her back when Ted was being terrible, so she didn’t really want to have anything to do with them. It was nice that Vince understood that.
“It’s Chris’s old haunting grounds, and that Noel kid doesn’t have any beef with them, but you’ve got some bad memories there, right? Oh yeah, that kid’s Liam’s brother? It’s funny how much he looks just like him.”
She was enjoying her time at the Guild when there was a commotion from the entrance.
“Hey, Jay. Good work out there.” Vince raised an arm and gave an entirely too casual greeting to the guildmaster, who’d been away on the Dark Mountain for a whole week at this point.
If he was back, then that meant Nelly and Allen would be with him. Sara went to turn toward the entrance, full of anticipation, when...
“Sara!”
“Gyeh!”
Before she could turn around, Nelly’s arms were already squeezing her.
“Ugh, Nelly! I’m fifteen already! I’m not a little kid!”
“Wipe that grin off your face before you complain, Sara.”
Vince made an unnecessary comment, but the two of them had been apart for more than a week now with all the work they’d had to do with the continental tortoise. How was Sara supposed to stop herself from grinning?
“Listen to this, Sara.” The look on Nelly’s face was oddly grim.
“What’s wrong?”
“The three of them ate up all your lunches.”
“Huh?” Sara’s mouth fell open.
“What were we supposed to do? No one was planning for an extra week of work. What? Did you want me to eat nothing but meat from monsters on the Dark Mountain for a week?” the guildmaster grumbled awkwardly.
“Huh? But don’t you keep at least a month’s worth of food in your storage pouches? Nelly does, right?”
The guildmaster crossed his arms, giving her a look like she’d said something strange, which annoyed Sara a little. “Any Hunter with that much room in their storage bag would bring back monsters instead.”
“I’ve heard that before...”
It was something Nelly used to say back when Sara had first come here. But Nelly herself looked rather affronted.
“I normally keep stocked up on Sara’s precious lunches, but we’ve been apart for so long ever since Hydrangea.”
“Oh yeah, I haven’t been able to give you any more!” Sara felt bad for not realizing.
“Yet Jay and Bradley didn’t hesitate at all to eat them, and even asked for seconds since they’re so good...”
“They really were delicious. I appreciate all the meals.” Bradley thanked Sara, awkwardly looking to the side afterward.
“There, there.” Sara gave Nelly a pat on the head. “I’ve still got three months’ worth on me. I can restock you later.”
“Really?!” Nelly’s face lit up, but at the same time, the guildhall went completely silent.
“Is that really the Red Goddess...?”
“I can’t believe it...”
“I think she’s kinda cute...”
People started whispering about Nelly. That’s right. Nelly is cute. Sara held her head up high with pride.
“Come on, the issue’s not the food...” Vince got the conversation back on track. “What happened with the continental tortoise?”
They decided this wasn’t the place to have the conversation, and sent a messenger to the Apothecary’s Guild to summon Chris and Noel. Eventually, everyone gathered in the guildmaster’s office. It had been a while since Sara had been here. For some reason, Ted was there too.
“So, the continental tortoise...” The guildmaster leaned back in his chair pompously. “...disappeared into a deep pool of water in a valley.”
“Disappeared?!” That was the only reaction Vince could muster to the guildmaster’s brief report.