Chương 373: Intermission. Monster Tamer's Thoughts

Monster Tamer's Point Of View" We already know who'll take over, so you should have a backup plan. The easiest one would be to work as an Adventurer, like your Brother."" But I'm a Monster Tamer, I can't just rush off and start taking on Quests like him."" Just take one of the Eggs in the husbandry section of Our Ranch. You're guaranteed something decent at least." Father's face flashed into my mind as the memory seemed to be happening at super speed.

Landscapes changed from our dining room, where he told me that, with Mother and Becca, my Big Sis, both looking confused by his reasoning. Even though we were all confused, we couldn't argue with him. If only my Brother were there. He would've told him how stupid of an idea it was... As that wish circled my mind, the scenery changed again. A cracked in half egg and a warmth filled my hands and arms as I looked around to see I was in Phoenix Tail. The 2nd biggest city in Promethia.

It was the Southernmost city in Promethia and also where the headquarters of the Adventurer Guild was. I was currently in one of the dormitory rooms in the Guild. And I felt a warmth in my arms and chest. I heard a gentle howl." SAAAA!"" Haah!" It was Sally. My First real Friend. Sally was born from the recently cracked egg. I was handed her egg from the Leader of the Ranch Crew before I was placed on a carriage for Phoenix Tail and forced to become an Adventurer.

I had to wait for Sally to be born in order to even begin to accept higher level Quests. Because of that, my living funds are less than healthy at the moment. But with Sally in my arms and licking my face, it all feels worth it. Sure, she's only the size of my arm right now, but with my Job Class and the Natural Growth of Monsters, she'll grow big in no time! Ah! The optimism I felt at that time is swaying my thoughts. nudge..." Hngg..."" Come on. Wake up, it's time to start the morning!" Open!

I heard a somewhat familiar voice call to me as I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. I woke up from my sleep and saw the girl staring back at me." Morning! It's time to get up, Becca!"" Okay... Morning, Shirley..." I rub my eyes as I greet Shirley, the Bard of this Adventuring Party that was nice enough to allow me to join the girls' tent for the night. She used my fake name to greet me, I decided to use a nickname I used for my Big Sister to hide who I was.

The Party that I was working with was a party of 5, it was 2 men and 3 women, we were tasked with guarding a Merchants' Convoy. It was only 3 Merchants, but it was a convoy of 6 carriages. We had just left Phoenix Tail yesterday. I left the tent to see the sun beginning to rise as I looked where we previously had traveled, I can still see Phoenix Tail's cityscape from our camping area." SAAAA!" bump!" Ah, Sally... Can't you wait till I brush my teeth?"" She's so cute!"

Shirley's Party Member, Cat, couldn't help but squeal as Sally jumped onto my shoulder as I attempted to brush my teeth. Since Sally's a newborn Salamander, her skin and scales are a light-pink color. I wish I could've matched with her, but I had to hide my natural hair and eye color since I needed to hide my identity. Even with changing my hair to dark-brown and my eye color to blue, the basic colors of the Commoners.

It's so common in fact, that all of the other Members of this Party had the same hair and eye color. The only real differences were the long hair of the girls that were in ponytails and the men's hair that was short and spiky. Despite my best attempts to lay low, because of Sally, I still became the center of attention when it comes to young children and women. Though I can't blame them, Sally's pink appearance and big, round, light-blue matching eyes are cute to look at.

Cat and Shirley were victims of Sally's charms as well. In fact, I think the only reason I was allowed to work with them is because of Sally being My Partner. I decided to just mark that as another benefit from being a Monster Tamer. I allowed Sally to be held by Cat as I finished washing my face and brushing my teeth. With that, my morning was rather uneventful.

The 3 of us waited for Samantha, Greg and Harry, the last 3 Members of the Guards to gather around the campfire and we had a humble breakfast of dried meat and savory porridge. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it." Okay, they want to head out. Are we ready?" Greg, the Leader of the Party asked that question, with everyone's nodding of their heads, he decided to call it a morning and get to work.

We began to travel after gathering the rest of our belongings and putting out our campfire. Sally chose to rest on my shoulder as we walked the long road to Falcon's Perch. The town that the Merchants wanted to reach, it was to the West of Phoenix Tail and was about a 5-day trip by foot. We were making good progress, at least in my opinion. I was surprised at how well I was doing, since this was the first time that I was traveling by foot along with my gear.

It wasn't much, just a simple short sword and buckler for melee combat. As a Monster Tamer, my power is connected to My Partners, simply put, the stronger that Sally gets, the stronger I'll get, this effect is boosted depending on the Quantity and Quality of My Partners. With Sally, it's only a minor boost to my physical abilities right now, that's why, along with my sword and shield, I also have leather armor. Granted, this getup is a little uncomfortable because I had to bind my chest to help hide my identity.

Together with all of this, I feel like this Quest should be nice and easy practically, but difficult in other ways, especially considering the Quest was ranked as a C-Rank Quest that allowed all comers. Along with Shirley's Party, which is a B-Rank Party called Dancing Winds, I was already budgeting the reward for my bills and food for Sally and me to eat." What are you smiling about, Becca?" Cat saw my happy smile and wanted to know what I was thinking about." Oh, you know... Stuff..."

I didn't want to admit that I was already spending the reward in my head. It just seems like something an amateur would do, I wanted to leave a good first impression to Dancing Winds." Didn't you say that you came to the Guild from Phoenix Claw? Were you thinking about the Hero Party? They had a parade for them not too long ago, didn't they? Don't tell me you were thinking about the Hero?"" No. Absolutely not."

I quickly turned that idea down, not because I've met the Hero, but because I already know who he's going to Marry, it's not difficult if you look in the history books, pretty much every Hero has either Married the 1st Princess of Promethia, or a Duke's Daughter in the case of a Princess not being available. There's also the case of a combination of both Princesses and High-Ranking Noblewomen, but that was usually due to the male lines of the Noble Houses being ended due to battle or even treason."

Wow, why so cold?"" Because Rebecca Phoenix isn't Married. Neither is Duke Cana's Daughter or even Duke Edwards."" Ah, you're a buzzkill, aren't you? Come on! Dream big a little! You don't want to be an old woman who's only thing in life was being an Adventurer, right?"" Well, I certainly don't want to remain single my whole life, but for right now, I want to become an S-Rank."" Ohhh... Trying to boost your value, eh? I wonder if dating prospects are boosted from being a High-Ranking Adventurer?""

I'd imagine it would."" Hey, you two! Come to the front! I think we found a nest of Hobgoblins! Becca, you want Sally to Rank Up, right? Now's the chance!" Harry calls to me and Cat and we rush to the front of the convoy. Once we were there, we saw Harry, Greg, Shirley and Samantha waiting for us, who were guarding the back of the convoy." Look, see the fire?"" Yeah, so what's the plan?" Everyone turns to Samantha, who was the main Strategist of the Party.

After she took a moment to survey the land using a Spell from her Hunter Job. She began to explain what to do to us." First, I want Greg and Harry to stand at the front, Becca and Sally will come in from behind you and pick off the ones that you damage, Cat and I will provide back up and Shirley will use her Bard Skills-" /SHOOP! /"!"" TO..... To.... to..." /THUMP! /" SAM!"

Greg screamed Samantha's name as we all watched her fall to the floor, a large arrow had pierced her skull, chunks of her brain and fragments of her skull scattered onto the ground as her body twitched as it fought to keep her body alive. Harry quickly looked towards where the arrow came from, his scream told us everything we needed to know." DEMONS!"

"!" Grip! / Screech! / With his scream, we all quickly drew our weapons. The Merchants in the convoy began to panic at Harry's announcement. Everyone else began to ready ourselves for the incoming Demons. I was getting ready to tell Sally to use her strongest attack, when I heard Shirley's lute begin to play a song. Strong! I felt something imbue me with strength. I then heard a voice begin to whisper to me." Becca, you need to flee back to Phoenix Tail, tell them what happened here."" I can figh-"" No!

I'm sorry, but you're too weak for this. You'd just be a hindrance. I imbued you with Rabbit's Double Time. It's a Quickening Spell, you and Sally should be able to run back to Phoenix Tail in 5 hours. Go!" /CLANG! / A sword came swinging down from the right side of the carriage we were in front of. Harry stopped it with his sword." GO! NOW!" Harry began to be pushed back from the Demon's sword. /CLANG! /" Greg followed suit with a Demon attacking from the front of our position." BECCA! RUN!" / HISSS! / GRIP! RUN!

I wanted to stay and fight... But I knew that Shirley was right. I grabbed a hissing Sally that was ready to fight, and I began to run at full speed back to Phoenix Tail as fast as I could.