Chapter 23
The next morning, we were startled by villagers coming to pick up farming tools early, but we started preparing for the day.
Preparation was just using purification magic to clean the dirt off our bodies.
By the way, although purification magic sounds like some incredible magic,
it's commonly, or rather semi-officially, called lifestyle magic and is widely used even among the general public.
As for how common it is, some children as young as five years old start using it.
It's just a magic that cleans dirt from your body or clothes, but thanks to this magic, the frequency of getting sick has drastically decreased, so I can only be grateful to the ancient sages.
"So, about what's next,"
I said after swallowing some bread and bacon I bought from a villager.
Since this was planned as a day trip, we didn't prepare camping gear, so breakfast was eaten sitting on the ground.
Fortunately, it's a grassy area, so it's not painful.
"Since there's nothing else to do, I think we'll go around asking the villagers for eyewitness accounts."
Even though Erika is just sitting on the ground drinking water from a canteen, her overflowing elegance dazzles my eyes so early in the morning.
"I considered joining a carriage heading to town as a bodyguard, but from their perspective, having an unknown Rank 1 adventurer tag along would probably be more worrying, so I decided against it."
Against Bonbo, in the worst case, you can drop your luggage and run to escape, but it's not the same with humans.
From the villagers' perspective, having outsiders like us tag along would likely be far more concerning.
"But well, since we've taken care of the Bonbo horde, in two or three days, the villagers will probably believe the monsters have been dealt with."
That won't count as completing the request, but at least the village will likely stop submitting requests to the guild.
In a while, monsters will probably appear again, but that's another story.
I figured that while they might not trust us, time would eventually resolve the issue.
*
Including the fields, it's a large village, but the area where people live is much smaller.
The population is about two hundred, which is on the larger side for a farming village, but even so, it didn't take much time to hear accounts from humans who had actually witnessed monsters.
It seems that only certain people take turns going to town to sell crops, so the number of humans who actually saw monsters was surprisingly small.
By the time the sun passed its zenith, I finished hearing the story from the last person, thanked them, and walked with Erika toward the usual tool shed.
"What do you think of the eyewitness accounts?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Erika countered my vague question with a question of her own.
"Was there anything suspicious about them?"
At my question, Erika murmured, "Suspicious, you say?" and thought for a moment.
"If I had to say, I felt they were very observant. That's what caught my attention."
Yes, that's it.
Seeing my nod, Erika continued.
"The stories from the villagers attacked by monsters all clearly indicated they were attacked by Bonbo. The characteristics were detailed, almost as if they knew beforehand."
Erika stopped walking and looked at me.
"I thought villagers would have at least some knowledge of monster characteristics, but is that not the case?"
I shook my head at Erika's question.
"Normally, unless you're an adventurer, you wouldn't know. Moreover, to observe and remember detailed characteristics while being attacked is rare, though not impossible."
When a request like this comes to the Adventurer's Guild, usually the monster is inferred from vague eyewitness accounts.
Like, if it's a monkey-like monster in that area, what color is its fur——something like that.
But this time, it was explicitly stated as Bonbo from the start, and moreover, the eyewitness accounts were unusually detailed.
They were so specific and similar, almost as if they had been coordinated and decided in advance.
I scratched the back of my neck.
Something just doesn't sit right with me.
As I was thinking that, I noticed small footsteps approaching from behind.
Turning around to see what it was, I saw a little girl holding a small wooden doll, staring intently at me and Erika.
The little girl spoke.
"Is the big sister an adventurer?"
Erika and I couldn't help but exchange a glance.