Seeker 256

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Chapter 256. Raid Quest Completed

After a while, we returned to the surface. 

Carrying the still-unconscious men, we reached the village's central square, which served as the assembly point. 

In the central square, the remaining two parties were waiting. 

They seemed to have completed the exploration of their assigned areas.

"Hey, what happened to them?"

Gadol-san exclaimed in surprise, looking at the figures of Dawn Warriors that Griffin and I carried on our backs. 

Some adventurers, upon seeing Griffin, were puzzled and hastily reached for their weapons.

"They were about to be wiped out in the Queen's chamber, so we rescued them. This Griffin is like our pet, harmless."

After lowering the bodies of the men who had fainted from Griffin's back, I signaled to the familiar spirits. 

Griffin, in an affectionate gesture, rubbed its fluffy fur against me. 

Seeing this, the adventurers, though taken aback, released their grip on their weapons.

Gadol-san covered his eyes with his hand, still showing a perplexed expression.

"Wait... what? Leave aside the Griffin for now. Is it true that you rescued them from the Queen's chamber? If so, I should commend you. But how did you manage to escape from that situation?"

"We didn't escape. We defeated the Queen ourselves." 

Yuzuki said, puffing out her chest proudly.

When she did that, the gentle curves of her chest became particularly noticeable.

Well, let's stop there with that mention.

"Huh, defeated? Wait, wait. Tell me the whole story."

"Well, it's pretty much as it is."

Fuune-san chuckled.

Gadoru-san, despite his words, seemed to still have doubts about our limit break.

We explained to Gadol-san and the others what had happened. 

We rushed to the scene upon hearing a scream during our exploration, only to find that the floor beneath the passage had collapsed, leading to the Queen's hall below. 

There, members of the Dawn Warriors got swarmed by Killer Ants and were on the verge of being annihilated. 

We jumped down to rescue them and defeated the Queen.

The adventurers listening to our story seemed to suspect that we were lying.

But when we showed them the large magic stone dropped by the Queen, they widened their eyes in astonishment. 

Furthermore, at that moment, the members of the Dawn Warriors who had been unconscious regained consciousness one after another.

"Eh... Where is this?"

"We... we were eaten and killed by Killer Ants..."

The awakened members of the Dawn Warriors looked around anxiously. They seemed to be unaware of the situation. 

However, the last awakened swordsman pointed at us and said. 

"It's them! When we were on the brink of annihilation in the Queen's chamber, they appeared and slaughtered the Killer Ants with unbelievable force!"

With the testimony of that swordsman, it seemed my Daichi's Spear party's report got accepted as true. 

We seemed to have escaped the accusation of being liars. 

Although there was renewed questioning about the limit break, when I gently refused further discussion with the words, "Do we have an obligation to talk about that?" there were no more inquiries.

Afterward, the raid members divided again to investigate if any Killer Ants were left behind and ensure our job was completed. 

Once everything got confirmed, the party returned to the capital.

***

When we arrived at the royal capital, it was already quite late in the night.

All of us, who hadn't had dinner, were feeling quite hungry. 

After receiving our rewards at the Adventurer's Guild and parting ways with the other parties from the raid, the three of us--- Kazane-san, Yumizuki, the miniature-sized Griffin, and I made our way to a tavern in the bustling district of the royal capital.

Upon entering the establishment, we claimed a four-person table and ordered drinks and food casually. 

Soon, the waitress brought three drinks and an additional cup for us.

"""Cheers!"""

We clinked our wooden mugs and cups and took sips from our respective drinks. 

The Griffin, too, happily chirped, having its milk transferred to a small cup.

Free from the hassles of the raid and enjoying the time with close friends, it was a splendid moment.

"Ah, that hits the spot! After finishing a job, a drink is the best, huh? Miss, another beer, please!"

Kazane-san quickly downed her beer and ordered another, looking genuinely content.

"Kazane-san, you really like alcohol, don't you? But isn't the taste here a bit inferior compared to our world's beer? It's not even ice-cold."

"Well, yeah. It would be nice if it were a bit colder. And taste-wise, it might not match up to ours. But it's still delicious because I'm thirsty."

"But over here, the milk is fantastic. It's like freshly squeezed milk from the farm."

Kazane-san moved her chair closer to Yumizuki and leaned in. 

"But beer is still the best. How about you, Hotaru-chan? In this world, you can apparently drink from age 15."

"Kazane-san, you never change. You always get tipsy so quickly."

"Hehehe, tonight might be another tipsy night for me. Drunk and clingy, I might just attack Hotaru-chan. Yep."

"Wha!? Kazane-san, not there... That's harassment! Kazane-san, you turn into a harassment demon when you're drunk! Nyaahhh! That's a no-go zone!"

"Come on, Hotaru-chan, you don't really hate it, do you? Here, and here..."

"No, stop... Please!"

"Hahaha. Hotaru-chan is truly adorable. Onee-chan might get serious."

Kazane-san, seemingly driven by a sadistic impulse, started embracing Yuzuki and behaving outrageously. 

She nibbled on her ear, and licked her neck, doing as she pleased.

These two often switched roles between being the aggressor and the receiver. 

When Kazane-san drank, she usually took the lead.

"Senpai, don't just watch, help—nyaaaahhh!"

I abandoned Yuzuki, who pleaded for help, and instead prayed.

Poor Yuzuki sacrificed for a greater cause.

In that state, Fūne-san was unstoppable, and stopping her meant the consequences would get directed at me. 

I couldn't endure that.

While vaguely observing the two engaged in their affectionate antics, which resembled a predator-prey relationship, I contemplated today's achievements.