by CHIROLU
Latina hurriedly looked over her surroundings. She had been in a daze, and now she was in a place she didn’t recognize. It clearly wasn’t where she had been taught and given permission to come and go.
As soon as she realized her mistake, she hurried back to the door. However, something must have been jamming it, as she couldn’t move it at all.
Rattling the door in a panic also turned out to be a mistake. She managed to budge it just a bit, but rather than opening the door, she only managed to wedge it further shut.
“What should Latina do...?” she muttered to herself, sinking into despair.
Since she had gotten in that way, she should have logically been able to make it back through the gap. However, now it was so narrow that even someone as small as Latina couldn’t squeeze through.
Her brow sunk pitifully with regret upon realizing her mistake, but Latina didn’t start crying. She didn’t yell or flail around either, instead choosing to sit atop a dusty wooden box.
Crying and yelling would just waste energy without doing anything to improve her situation.
That was one of the survival strategies she had already come to understand back when she was merely seven years old.
Her absolute trust in her guardians could be seen in her choosing that method, too. She was certain that if she just waited patiently, they would come find her. There was no doubt of that in her mind, thanks to the year or so she had spent living together with Dale and Kenneth.
“Latina will have to apologize for not helping properly...”
Her shoulders slumped when she realized how careless she had been when she got all excited. And so, as she sat there all alone, her thoughts started heading in a worse direction.
But just when Latina started beating herself up, a cute little ball of fuzz hopped up onto her lap, and all those negative thoughts went flying away.
Unbelievably, the rabbit had gone and approached her. And with that, her desire to touch and pet the fluffy creature sprung back to mind. And yet, she didn’t want it to get upset and run away, so she was at a loss as to how to proceed.
Her brain wasn’t able to catch up with this unexpected turn of events, and as a result, Latina was left frozen as the bunny sat atop her lap.
Still, just being able to look at the fluffy little critter up so close and personal was enough to fill her with joy. She couldn’t move, but she was happy. The warmth of the rabbit’s body was heating up her lap. And yeah, she couldn’t move. It was snuggly, but she couldn’t budge in the least. Fluffy... and snuggly...
In the midst of that internal conflict, Latina ended up drifting off. The culprit was undoubtedly her lack of sleep the night prior.
Dale’s voice surely would have reached that place as he ran around searching for her, but sadly Latina was unable to hear him in her slumber.
A little bit later, Yang found that a farming tool had fallen over and blocked the entrance to the storage shed, and inside he found Latina sleeping away, surrounded by three wild rabbits. Apparently the number of bunnies had multiplied at some point, but sadly Latina wasn’t aware of that fact as she dreamed away.
And so ultimately, Yang was the one to find Latina in the midst of her midday nap.
As for what Dale was up to in the midst of his search for Latina... He was in the middle of rehabilitating a so-called gang of troublemakers who were somewhat infamous around Ziege, an experience sure to leave them a bit traumatized in the future.
There was nothing inherently wrong with Dale considering the worst when Latina disappeared. Considering her adorable looks, it was certainly possible she could have been targeted by a real nasty person. Plus her attire made it readily apparent that she had a well-off guardian who doted on her. After all, Dale spared no expense when it came to buying her clothing. And so, both the frilly apron and green dress she had on were far nicer than what you would expect a common townsperson to be wearing.
That meant he couldn’t rule out the possibility that she had been kidnapped for money.
And unfortunately for that gang of troublemakers, Yang happened to remember that they used a nearby dilapidated house as their hideout when Dale brought up the thought.
The gang drank, acted rowdy, and damaged property, so they certainly were a nuisance, but Yang hadn’t ever felt afraid of them. But he was well aware that their hideout was nearby, as they had caused plenty of damage around his farm.
That was why Yang had brought them up as potential suspects.
Of course, even Dale hadn’t decided they must be the culprits based on that alone. He just decided to leave the search of the area to Yang as he and Kenneth went to go ask them some questions.
However, Dale specialized in wiping out his enemies. Perhaps that was a harsh way to phrase it, but that was the nature of most of his demon lord-related work.
“If there wasn’t a chance Latina was inside, it’d be quicker to just bury the whole place.”
It was a completely and utterly coldblooded statement. And yet, that was what he muttered to himself as he approached the dilapidated house. The road leading up to the place was definitely rough, but it wasn’t overgrown enough to make walking it a problem. That was proof that a decent number of people frequented the place.
The pair split up before entering, with Kenneth circling around the back. As such, Dale walked slowly to give him time to make it around.
Before long, the targets came into view: the gang of troublemakers had gathered out in front of the entrance. However, they seemed to have noticed Dale too. At first their faces showed doubt, and then they shifted to clear displeasure.
Dale most definitely wasn’t the sort to meet hostility with a smile. And so, there was a seriously intense air about him as he stated, “There are a number of things I want to ask you.”
“Eh?”
“The heck? Just shut up and get outta here.”
Unsurprisingly, they had no intention of being friendly towards Dale, either.
One of the men who made the gruff comment carelessly reached out towards Dale’s chest. That was actually a pretty novel reaction from Dale’s point of view. In Kreuz his black coat and the gauntlet on his left arm were his trademarks, and he was well known as a skilled adventurer, so it was quite rare for a punk to go picking a fight with him.
He doesn’t seem all that smart, seeing how he was telling me to leave, but now he’s trying to pull me in closer.
Dale’s body moved almost subconsciously as that thought ran through his head. He swatted away the incoming hand, and when his opponent faltered just a little, he swept his legs out from under him. Now that he’d already gotten started, he coldly noted that even if he took out one or two of them, there’d still be someone left to interrogate.
Dale’s conclusion was prompted by the rage the other thugs had flown into, after seeing what Dale did to their friend. And so, they collectively rushed Dale despite how ineffectual it would end up being. They likely didn’t understand how thoroughly outclassed they were because ultimately, they came from a small town where they’d only ever encountered people weaker than them.
When someone resorts to violence, all you can do is reply in kind.
To begin with, both Dale and those around him recognized that he was a doting idiot when it came to Latina. And so, there was no way he would be able to keep his cool when he didn’t know where she was. He couldn’t help being quick to anger and prone to rash decisions. In short, “irritated” was quite understating his current mood.
A blow from his gauntlet could prove fatal, depending on where it landed. And so, Dale took care with the angle of approach and held back so that he was only using enough force to pulverize a jaw.
As for his opponents’ punches, they were sluggish enough for him to dodge purely on reflex. He stooped down, closed the distance, and then sent one of them flying. The man who’d been tripped back at the start was struggling to his feet, but was promptly bowled back over by the body of his friend.
Though his
number of allies had dwindled in an instant, the last man standing pulled out a weapon. The fact that he hadn’t lost his will to fight may have been less praiseworthy and more merely a case of him still not yet being willing to face the reality of the situation.
Dale squared off with the man, not even bothering to dodge the knife being thrust his way.
“Wha...?”
The man was left utterly dumbfounded, as his deadly weapon didn’t even come close to carrying out its task, instead failing to leave so much as a scratch on the leather coat.
Dale’s black coat was no ordinary garment, as it was made out of magical beast leather and was a defensive magical device. There was no way the blade of some punk could ever prove a threat to it.
As he stood there looking utterly baffled, Dale landed a blow on him in the next instant that left him in an unconscious heap.
There were still a good number of men in the dilapidated house, but the sounds of fighting, and how abruptly they’d gone quiet, had left the men in a state of panic.
Of course, they were all aware of how bad their behavior had been. And so, they came to the conclusion that one of the townsfolk must have brought in someone to deal with them. Plus, the man in front of them was far too dangerous. With that in mind, their decision to flee through the rear exit wasn’t wrong in the least.
However, they soon found a large man barring their way.
As they looked at his face, they hesitated. And apparently, they came to the decision that it would be easier to deal with the young guy out front than this intimidating mountain of a man.
In actuality, since Kenneth had retired he certainly wasn’t as big of a threat as the still-active Dale, but it seemed their powers of observation weren’t keen enough to figure that out.
It took Dale no time at all to crush the fresh group that came flying out of the half-collapsed old house. However, that wasn’t the end of their terrifying ordeal.
Dale lifted up one of the trembling men, then chanted healing magic in a low voice.
“I believe I said I had some things to ask. Now behave yourself and answer.”
The man had no will left to fight and had been completely and utterly defanged, so of course he nodded in response. With that, Dale went ahead and finally set about taking care of what he had come here to do.
“Do you know anything about an unbelievably, overwhelmingly adorable little girl?”
It was around then that Yang found Latina in the middle of a midday nap, but the man had no way of knowing that. Still, they had gone and resorted to violence first, so it’s not exactly like they were being unjustly punished, either.
The (likely) victim had finally realized at last the overwhelming power difference between him and Dale, then been healed only to be seriously asked about some little girl. Unsurprisingly, he had no idea whatsoever what was going on. If this guy had just declared he was an adventurer who had come to deal with them, this whole thing would make a lot more sense.
“Answer clearly whether you know her or not. She’s a super cute, well-behaved little girl who looks adorable no matter what she’s saying or doing.”
His totally serious expression drew even closer.
The man didn’t feel like he would be believed if he honestly answered that he didn’t know. And he had no idea what the intention was behind the question, either. Nor did he have any clue what the excess of modifiers was about.
Plus, it was frightening how he couldn’t read the guy’s expression.
In general, things that you can’t understand are seen as frightening. In that way, Dale was absolutely terrifying at the moment.
Kenneth had circled around from the back and observed the situation, and apparently decided it was best to just stay out of it completely. And so when he ultimately came and released the man Dale had strung up, he wept like a child with relief.
Dale looked astounded, but honestly, Kenneth sympathized with the group a bit.
“Geez, so they didn’t know anything? They should’ve said that from the start then,” Dale complained with a click of his tongue as he employed Earth attribute healing magic. Thanks to his divine protection he was able to cast it endlessly without using up mana, and to the country youths, it really was so incomprehensible that it seemed quite literally like magic.
Even though he healed all the wounds on their bodies, he couldn’t do that for the trauma carved into their hearts.
As a result, the vast majority of Ziege’s gang of troublemakers mended their ways and started walking the straight and narrow. And even those who couldn’t calm their rebellious spirits seemed to not act as awful as before, as if they were afraid of something.
Then, when they grew up and became parents, they all told their children the tale that if you cause trouble for others, a demon lord garbed in black will come for you. For better or worse, they never happened to see the champion called the Platinum Hero who conquered the demon lords, so they never had their image of the national savior crumble as they found out he was the “demon lord” they remembered.
When Dale and Kenneth returned to report that they hadn’t found out anything, they learned that Yang had found Latina. She had unsurprisingly woken up by now, but even to an outsider like Yang it was clear how depressed she was feeling, so he gave an awkward smile.
“Dale, Kenneth... Latina’s sorry for worrying you...”
“Latina!”
For the time being, Kenneth managed to hold Dale back as the younger man tried to go and hug Latina tight now that she had apologized and looked so sad.
“Do you understand what you did?”
“Latina didn’t help out properly... She went somewhere that wasn’t where she was told all on her own... And went into someone’s place without permission...”
Yang was shocked to hear how readily she listed off her own faults, while Kenneth joined him in giving an awkward grin.
It was important to scold children when they did something wrong, but she was already aware of her mistakes and regretted them, so there wasn’t much left to say.
“Mr. Yang, you went and let Latina help you out, but she just caused trouble. Latina is so sorry.”
“All that doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you’re alright, Latina.”
“Latina screwed up, and did bad things... You can’t say that doesn’t matter, Dale,” she replied, going so far as to reprimand her overly doting guardian.
Kenneth didn’t feel up to scolding her any further now that it had come to that point. And so after giving Latina’s hair a bit of a rough tussle, he turned towards Yang.
“I really am sorry. You were kind enough to offer your time, and yet we caused all this trouble.”
Latina looked surprised at first to hear Kenneth apologize, but she then gave a firm bow, too.
“Ah, no, it was just a kid being a kid. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m really grateful to hear you say that,” Kenneth replied, then rustled Latina’s hair again. “What we discussed today was real useful and taught me a lot. And I hope to keep doing business in the future with you.”
Seeing that, Latina realized that she shouldn’t just be apologizing right now. And so, she lifted her head, faced Yang, and clearly stated, “Thank you so much for today.”
In the end, Latina’s memories of her first outing were just a bit bitter, as they contained her failures as well.
On the carriage ride home, Latina sat silently atop Dale’s lap.
Latina had said he should scold her, but Kenneth had already done that. And so, he decided it should be fine to just pamper her.
That wasn’t solely because he was a doting idiot, as it was also important to divide up roles. After all, if all the adults around her all scolded her, she would be left feeling cornered. And that was something that Dale wanted to avoid.
“Like I said, I’m just glad that you’re alright, Latina.”
“Dale... Latina is sorry.”
“I’m sorry for taking so lo
ng to find you, too.”
Then, he stopped and thought on what to say next. Dale didn’t want to have the outing Latina had been so looking forward to end with her looking so sad.
“Was it fun seeing all the animals...?”
“Yeah.”
“You can’t really see them in Kreuz, after all. What about the town of Ziege? It had a pretty different feel than Kreuz, didn’t it?”
“Yeah. It felt more easygoing than Kreuz, somehow.”
“I see. I’d like to go enjoy some other towns with you someday, Latina. You know, my home village is in the mountains.”
“Mountains?”
“That’s right.”
He had been attempting to shift the conversation in a direction that would interest her, and it certainly seemed to have worked. Dale went ahead and kept on talking, feeling relieved about that. After all, it would be a shame if she came away with just memories of her mistakes after all the enjoyable things that happened.
Kenneth could hear Dale’s intention as their voices leaked through to the driver’s seat, and he broke out in a faint smile as a result.
By the way, Latina still hadn’t yet firmly answered why she had entered the storage shed. That was because she knew she was at fault and it was essential to apologize, so she didn’t want to slip up and sound like she was trying to make an excuse.
And so, Dale only just now learned why Latina had lost control of herself back then.
“So there was a rabbit, huh?”
“Yeah. It was so fluffy and little. It was really cute.”
“Yeah, but you’re even cuter,” Dale replied with the expected line.
“Latina wanted to see it closer, so she chased it.”
“You really are an animal lover, Latina.”
It had been a rabbit rather than the cat that Dale had been thinking, but still, he could certainly understand how it happened now.
