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We’re switching to Michelle’s POV. Nicole won’t appear in this chapter.

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Once Michelle and Cloud left Methuselah, they worked as guards for the dust-tight mask acquisition. They employed Adventurers to guard them through the journey from the port city to Methuselah.

It was a fairly big order this time, so they needed to transport a large amount, thus they needed people to work both as laborers and guards.

“So the place we carry these is supposed to be Nicole’s goal, most likely. So we shouldn’t lower our guards.”
“Hey, I know that already without you telling me, Cloud.”

Cloud warned her clearly over and over, and Michelle was already fed up with it. She did know that he was doing that out of concern for her, so she didn’t take offense at it. They needed an entire carriage to carry the luggage, so other than them, there were also three more laborers accompanying it.

The port city was located at about a day’s distance from Methuselah, the round trip was estimated to take three days. Since they were using a road that passed through Raum’s characteristic forest, the free view around wasn’t very good.

“Looking at it like this, Raum really isn’t suited to trade, huh?”
“Hahaha, but if we don’t transport goods, people would suffer from it!”

The merchant in charge of the transporting was a large man with a scarred face, who said he couldn’t show himself to customers for that reason. Certainly, the scar gave him a fierce impression, so it wasn’t suited for service business.

However, he had a cheerful and openhearted personality, so people like Michelle who were not timid quickly got along with him. He was currently gnawing on jerky with a big smile.

“You sure can eat, little lady. That’s fine and all, but please be a bit moderate. Even if it only takes a day for the one-way trip, they are still our preserved foods.”
“Ohay, I wiw conhwow myshewf.”
“Okay, I will control myself, she said.”

It was usual for Michelle to talk while eating. Cloud heard it so often that he could translate her words to the merchant.

“Gulp. It’s fine. If we run out of food, I can just get some locally. I am a hunter, after all.”
“Finding prey is Nicole’s work, isn’t it?”
“I can do it too, you know?”

She tapped on the hunter bow case on her waist with those words. Seeing that, the merchant looked at her curiously, noticing she had another bow case on her back.

“Young lady, the one on your back is a bow too, right? Why do you have two of them?”

Archers often had light swords on them for close combat. But she had two bows, but no close-combat weapon on her. She also had two types of arrows, so she drew a contrast with common Adventurers that were specializing in a bow.

Moreover, he noticed that the breastplate and gauntlets that protected her arms and chest from the bowstring were made of strangely good material. They were too high-class items for her to be a young Adventurer.

“That one is a special bow for hunting big game. This is the one I normally use.”
“You don’t have a sword or something on you?”
“I can handle that part with physical combat. Plus I have Cloud to protect me.”
“Oh, she’s depending on you quite a bit there, sonny.”
“Why am I a sonny while she’s a young lady… Ah, whatever.”

Cloud felt bothered by the treatment difference, making the merchant burst into laughter. He gave him a strong slap on the back and spoke in a good mood.

“Sorry about that. I tend to be pretty unreserved towards guys. That aside, look at that.”
“Hmm?”

There was a single vulture flying from the direction the merchant pointed to.

“Sorry to ask right away, but assuming you’re as skilled as rumored, can you take it down for me?”
“Vultures are dangerous since they can swoop down on you from high altitudes. I wouldn’t be able to fully protect you, so it’s easier to make the first move. So yeah, Michelle, do it.”
“Gotcha!”

She quickly pulled out the bow from the case and nocked an arrow before her reply was even over.

Her flowing sequence of movements looked so smooth and masterful that the merchant stared wide-eyed. It only took her an instant to take aim and she loosed the arrow so casually as if it was no big deal.

The arrow that was loosed in a short moment flew straight to the sky and accurately pierced the head of the vulture that was searching for prey. It died with that single attack and fell to the ground with a spin.

“Wha… It’s over?”
“Well, it’s Michelle, after all. She may not look like it, but she’s a fourth-rank.”
“Hah! I had my reservations about her rank despite being so young, but this is amazing.”
“Yeah. Everyone around me is a monster, so I’m feeling quite overwhelmed too. More importantly, aren’t you going to recover that?”
“Oh, right. You guys, go and grab it.”

The merchant entrusted the recovery of the vulture to the laborer men.

Like Michelle and Cloud they were also both guards and laborers, so they were able to move through the forest. They seemed like they wanted to object to them being the ones to recover it, but they couldn’t go against their employer’s wishes.

One of them remained behind while the other two headed inside the forest as a pair. The vulture didn’t fall that far away, so they probably judged two of them would be enough.

“Wait, I’ll come too.”

But Cloud judged that it would be dangerous if a large-type monster appeared judging by their equipment, so he asked to accompany them. The men exchanged looks for a moment and quietly nodded curtly in approval.

“Okay, Michelle. I leave here to you.”
“Okay, take care.”

Michelle didn’t seem to care about the transcendent skill she displayed earlier, and responded with a short wave. Cloud returned the wave and then followed after the two who entered the forest before him, making his way through the weeds.