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88.7% Does the System know what kind of monster the villainess is? / Chapter 220: The caravan travel (part 4)

Chapter 220: The caravan travel (part 4)

After some more time passed, the bodyguard, who had a better opinion of Norn initially, stood up, making the other one motion at him with interest.

"I figured out a reason why a thief would just out himself by revealing Pocket Storage. He might not actually be after any merchandise but after Lady Boss. The Adonis family's eldest daughter is worth a hell of a lot more than the rest of the caravan combined. I'll go tip the commander about the possibility."

"Good thinking."

The one who stood up whispered, and the other one perked up and nodded, encouraging him in a hushed voice,

During the change of watch, the commander of the bodyguards approached the wagon in the middle of the caravan and discretely knocked on the door.

He didn't have to wait long for a small hatch at the top of the door to open, and a reflection of a keen yellow eye flashed in the mirror that was pushed outside.

Only after the man clearly showed his face and even turned around a few times proving he was unarmed. The door opened - only to reveal a second door, this one made out of a fine iron net, allowing the outsider to peek into the brightly lit carriage without actually being able to enter it.

Behind the iron net stood a green-haired woman with fringe covering her eyes.

Her outfit changed from the one she was wearing during the day, but it didn't get lighter.

In fact, Doyen was clad from head to toe in defensive gear, including a half-mask device of unknown properties covering her mouth and nose, despite resting in the center of the heavily guarded campsite.

"We have a suspicion about that Norn guy. We'll be increasing your protection accordingly, Young Lady."

The man acted completely different than during the day too, lowering his head and pressing his right hand to his chest while speaking to the green-haired woman.

"I'm hesitant."

"Young Lady…?"

Doyen spoke up, with her voice muffled by the half-mask, making the bodyguard commander inquire.

"My ability is telling me he isn't a danger. Even more, it tells me he is trustworthy. But still, my brain is screaming at the ridiculous amount of coincidences that would have to happen consecutively for someone like him to just show up."

The woman sighed, combing through her wavy hair with one hand.

"We checked him for magic disguise, but our artifacts didn't show the right reaction. He doesn't seem to be concealing his looks, at least."

"That doesn't change the fact that his story and looks don't fit any of the nobles we have information on. Keep up the good work."

The man added, making the woman shrug her shoulders and pull on the almost invisible thread, shutting the door to the carriage right in front of the bodyguard leader without giving him a chance to respond.

The next day, after a quick breakfast, the caravan moved on. This time, instead of traveling in the driver's seat of Doyen's wagon, Norn was swept away by his new acquaintances under the pretext of checking the perimeter in search of the bandits' tracks that might still be lurking somewhere close.

Keeping him away from the caravan for the additional safety reasons was the main objective of that, there was a secondary one too, though.

Besides the obvious making sure that the bandits weren't preparing an ambush, the bodyguards wanted to organically learn of Norn's stats and his capabilities.

All to be prepared in case of the worst but also quite probable option of the platinum-haired man being either a thief, bandit, or a kidnapper.

They only properly reunited with the rest during the evening when the others already set up camp for the night.

Needless to say, when Norn pulled out a pair of deer monsters and began to carve them up skillfully, all the onlookers were… cautious.

Even more so when the platinum-haired man declared that he will be cooking a stew for everyone as thanks, either not wanting or being unable to see how suspicious he was for the group.

Even so, he wasn't stopped and as it turned out, Norn was a skilled chef, or at least a good cook.

"...and are you sure he didn't pick up anything even remotely poisonous…?"

After taking a whiff of a smell so delicious that he began to salivate, the commander of the bodyguards asked for the fifth time, glancing at one of the two bodyguards who accompanied the platinum-haired man the whole day.

"As far as I could tell. However, I can't be too sure since his herbalist skills are way better than the one I have. I'm not sure if it's a synergy with the tracking skill or something, but he can pinpoint a plant he wants from behind a bush that's behind another bush that's behind a tree thirty feet away from him."

The bodyguard shrugged his shoulders before answering, leaning to the side to peek at the lightly seared cubes of seasoned meat disappearing into the massive pot.

"Sweet Perseverance. Next, you're going to tell me that he also has apothecary or alchemist skills and will start brewing potions!"

The commander let out a tired groan, leaning back and rubbing his tired eyes.

"...about that…"

"You're kidding me."

The man's subordinate mumbled awkwardly, making his superior freeze before slowly glaring at him with intense expression.

"...he already bought the bottles, see? The ones behind him? They're drying after he sterilized them."

"Who. The fuck. Is he?!"

The bodyguard pointed out at the dozen of small glass flasks placed on a clean handkerchief, making his commander slouch down and hid his face in his hands before exclaiming, close to despair.

"He's not going to tell us. He does, though, like to share his life stories. If a quarter of them is true, then his father is a piece of shit."

The bodyguard answered the question the best he could, although it was a rhetorical one, while watching Norn put the lid on the pot full of ingredients and start casting a few basic spells for the sake of something he called -pressure cooking-.

"Hmm?"

"I mean, it sounds like his family is filthy rich and could afford some of the best artisans with royal-type abilities to work for them. Because of that, according to Norn, at least, most of the skills he learned were labeled useless and a waste of effort."

The commander lifted his head and let out a curious sound, prompting his subordinate to elaborate, which he did.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Sound_Hammer Sound_Hammer

:3

Chapter 221: The caravan travel (part 5)

"Yeah, no. I don't buy it. I get that the nobles can get shit-brained with too much wealth, but surely not to that degree. In the best case scenario, for us, he is an ex-soldier from some super secret special unit who had to run away because he was betrayed."

The bodyguard commander scoffed, gazing bitterly at the happily humming platinum-haired man watching the pot.

"Boss… how is whatever you said more believable than Norn's story…?"

"That was the point. Shut up."

The other man's face scrounged as if he licked a lemon, and he asked in disbelief, making his commander roll his eyes and shake his head in annoyance.

"...Perseverance… it does smell good…"

After a couple of minutes of silence, the bodyguard commander's stomach let out a growl, and the man slumped, begrudgingly swallowing his saliva.

"Without something like Norn's Pocket Storage to easily put away the prey, getting it to the camp is too much of a hassle. Preserved traditions are definitely the most convenient…"

The man added, staring at the package with the preserved ration, clearly not believing his own words and swallowing saliva again.

By that time, it seemed that the stew was ready, but as the ones responsible for protecting the camp, the bodyguards could not be swayed into eating something prepared by someone untrustworthy.

"Oh, Perseverance…! It's so good!"

…at least, that was supposed to be how things go, but soon enough, the other bodyguard who spent the day keeping an eye on Norn stumbled past his comrade and commander with a bowl of deer stew, devouring it hungrily and moaning in delight with every mouthful.

"Roy? ROY! What the hell are you doing!?"

His comrade had to do a double take to understand what was happening before he called out in pure bewilderment.

"Mnnmn…? Oh! Bern! Boss!? This…! This isn't what it looks like…! I… I'm sacrificing myself as a tester to check whether the stew is poisoned or not! Avenge me if I die! Mmmmmnnn! This is the best stew I had in my life…!"

The weak-willed bodyguard exclaimed in surprise as if he only then and there remembered the existence of his comrades, awkwardly coming up with a lousy excuse in between stuffing his face with the stew.

"Roy. If you get a negative status effect from that, I will kill you myself before the poison does."

"...mnmmh… ummm… mnmgnmn.."

The bodyguard commander took a deep breath and declared with a fierce expression, making Roy swallow whatever he had in his mouth and freeze up… only to stuff another spoonful of the deer stew into his mouth the next second.

"Wh-what are you..?! Roy, you moron, stop eating that! Did you at least use a poison detection scroll or wait for Otto to use his skill?"

Bern stared at his comrade in utter disbelief, baffled by the display of recklessness he would have never expected.

"..."

"..."

Instead of answering verbally, Roy looked over to the side, and Bern and their commander followed suit.

By that point, there was a line of merchants queuing to the pot where Norn was serving the stew accompanied by another bodyguard, Otto, who would use a Poison Detection skill on each serving before the hungry person was allowed to walk away with it.

"Was Otto there when you got a portion?"

"...no comment…"

The commander furrowed his brows and inquired, making Roy mutter before scuttling away with his bowl.

Sometime later, the bodyguard commander, accompanied by Otto, approached the carriage in the middle of the convoy, carrying a bowl of steaming deer stew.

"Why are you here…?"

This time, even after confirming the visitor's identity through the mirror, Doyen didn't open the door and instead asked, her voice passing through another tiny hatch in the side of the reinforced wagon.

"It's food prepared by Norn. Can't live on preserved rations alone. Otto, do the thing."

"Share display. Poison Detection."

The commander showed off the steaming bowl, nudging his subordinate, who used two skills in succession, creating a pale-blue window displaying the composition of the dish before emanating a green glow, signaling no trace of any dangerous substance.

*click*

Without another word from Doyen, the hatch with the mirror and the one for communication shut with a soft sound, and… nothing else happened announcing the woman's stance on the food.

"We'll leave it here. Together with Poison Detection scroll, too. That stew is very tasty, you know?"

After exchanging understanding glances with Otto, the bodyguard commander put a handkerchief and placed the bowl with the stew, a wooden spoon, and a scroll with greenish-purple ribbon on top of it. After another minute passed without any sign from the caravan leader, the two of them left, shrugging their shoulders at each other.

The next day, at daybreak, the door to the carriage opened, and the green-haired woman stepped outside. She stopped next to the bowl of the cold stew on the handkerchief, staring at it for a few moments.

"Good morning, lady boss! Are you going to eat it…?"

"..."

One of the bodyguards passing by with a piece of hard brown bread greeted her before asking, making the green-haired woman glance at him in silence - or at least turn her face towards him.

"No. If you're not too busy, please clean it up and return the Poison Detection scroll to your commander."

"With pleasure!"

Doyen shook her head lightly without exposing her eyes and waved her hand dismissively before flinching a bit at the enthusiastic reaction of the man who dived for the bowl as fast as he could.

As he snatched it, instead of throwing it away, he began to eat the cold stew hungrily.

"Mmmnmnn! It's great even when it's cold…!"

"...!"

The bodyguard was so eager that he managed to deal with the stew in less than a minute. Using the brown bread to clean the bowl, he moaned in delight while finishing it up, giving Doyen quite the surprise.

For a moment, she made a troubled expression - at least at the visible part of her face - but calmly made her way to the first wagon before the satiated bodyguard picked up the scroll and the handkerchief.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Sound_Hammer Sound_Hammer

:3

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