Life as an Adventurer with the Banished Marquis' Daughter - Chapter 23: The Exiled Marquis's Daughter Takes Responsibility, Part 3

Chapter 23: The Exiled Marquis’s Daughter Takes Responsibility, Part 3

Early the next morning, as we prepared for the day, the villagers who came to retrieve their farming tools were surprised to see us.

Our preparation mainly involved using purification magic to clean ourselves.

Purification magic might sound like an impressive spell, but it’s more commonly known as household magic and is widely used by the general public. 

It’s so common that even children as young as five can use it. 

This magic simply cleans dirt off your body and clothes, but thanks to it, the frequency of illnesses has significantly decreased, and we owe our thanks to the ancient sages.

“So, about what comes next.”

I spoke after swallowing the bread and bacon we bought from the villagers.

Since we planned for a day trip, we didn’t prepare camping gear, so we sat on the ground for breakfast. Luckily, the grass made it comfortable.

“We don’t have anything else to do, so I thought we could ask the villagers for any sightings or information.”

Erika, sitting gracefully on the ground and drinking water from her canteen, looked radiantly elegant even in the morning.

“I considered accompanying the cart going to town as a guard, but they might be worried about having a rank-1 adventurer they don’t know tagging along, so I decided against it.”

If someone were dealing with Bonbos, they could at worst drop their stuff and run, but that wouldn’t work with humans. The villagers would be more worried about having strangers like that follow them.

“But, well, since we took care of the Bonbos herd, the villagers will believe that the monsters have been defeated in a few days.”

Although this doesn’t mean we’ve completed the request, at least the village will stop sending requests to the guild. 

Monsters will likely appear again after a while, but that’s another story.

Even if we aren’t trusted, the problem itself will be resolved with time, or so I thought.

＊

Including the fields, the village is quite large, but the residential area is much smaller.

With a population of around two hundred, it’s a sizable farming village, but it didn’t take much time to hear from those who actually saw the monsters.

It seems that those who sell crops in town take turns, so fewer people than expected had actually witnessed the monsters. 

By the time the sun was past its peak, I had finished talking to the last person and thanked them before Erika and I walked back to the tool shed.

“What do you think of the witnesses’ stories?” 

“What do you mean?”

Erika responded to my vague question with another question.

“Did anything seem suspicious to you?”

Suspicious? Erika murmured as she thought for a moment.

“If I had to say, they seemed very observant. That stood out to me.”

Yes, that was it.

Seeing me nod, Erika continued.

“The stories from the villagers who were attacked by the monsters clearly indicated that it was Bonbos. The details were so precise, it was as if they had known beforehand.”

Erika stopped and looked at me.

“I assumed that even villagers would have some knowledge of the characteristics of monsters. Was I wrong?”

I shook my head in response to Erika’s question.

“Usually, only adventurers know such details. It’s rare for someone to remember specific features while being attacked.”

When the adventurer’s guild receives a request like this, it often relies on vague sightings to deduce the type of monster.

For example, if it’s a monkey-like creature in a certain area, they’d infer its fur color.

But this time, the sightings clearly identified Bonbos from the start, and the witnesses’ stories were unusually detailed.

It was almost as if they had been prepped, with their accounts being similarly specific.

I scratched the back of my neck. 

Something didn’t sit right. 

As I pondered this, I noticed small footsteps approaching from behind.

Turning around, I saw a little girl holding a small wooden doll, staring intently at Erika and me. She spoke up.

“Big sister, are you an adventurer?”

Erika and I exchanged glances.