The Strongest Wizard Becomes a Countryside Guardsman After Taking an Arrow to the Knee

Chapter 371 – Tant and the Bath

So the wholesaler told us everything.

「T…Tant’s…」

「Our Tant?」

「Y…yeah. Tant’s house that he lived in…we used zombies to break it down.」

This is when the so-called Demon Lord just began to rule from the castle.

At that time, there were many people that rebelled against him.

「We had to make an example of others…had to make all people in Elkay fear him…or at least that’s what the Demon Lord told me.」

「The “so-called” Demon Lord.」

「Yeah, the “so-called” Demon Lord.」

They used zombies to trash the stores and homes of the tradesmen that resisted him.

However, the so-called Demon Lord still thought that wasn’t enough.

So he started attacking residents as well, which is why Tant ended up as he did.

Tant’s parents’ store and home were destroyed.

Tant would run from abandoned house to house, and those were destroyed one by one as well.

If someone gave him food, they were attacked.

Finally, no one was left to help him.

But Tant never gave up and decided to just die.

In fact, the constant attacks made him want to live all the more. He burrowed into trash and then lived off any food he found.

After all, if he was seen getting food from others, they’d be attacked.

So Tant was a living tragedy in Elkay, with residents unable to help.

Everyone was too fearful of being destroyed by the so-called Demon Lord.

「You guys really are trash.」

「I…was just following orders!」

「That’s no excuse!」

Vi-Vi said cooly, then,

「Maybe we should just kill them.」

「Eeep!」

「Leave the punishment to the agent.」

「Hmph. Okay, Al.」

So Vi-Vi, Moofy, and I left the adventurers to watch the prisoners.

As we walked through the snow, Vi-Vi said,

「That’s so horrible what happened to Tant.」

「You’re right. After all that tragedy, he must have thought we’d do the same.」

「…yeah…」

We went back to the adventurer’s guild, and Yureena was caring for a much more relaxed Tant.

She was a holy maiden, so it was her natural talent.

So I took Tant back with me to Mulg.

I introduced him to Millet and Collette, and got him right into the bath.

He had been living in garbage, so he stunk quite a bit.

「Okay, Tant, into the bath.」

「Sure.」

So he immediately got in.

「Mooo moo」「ryaa ryaa」「Wuff」「PiGGi」

Of course, all the beasts wanted in at the same time.

Shiggy was still aware of Tant, and said nothing.

We got into the dressing room, and Shiggy jumped on Tant’s head and started petting him.

「Eheh heh heh」

Tant seemed to like Shiggy quite a bit.

Then Cruz came in with her lion mask still on.

「I’m getting in too.」

「Why are you getting in now?」

「I told you I was getting in with you last time!」

「Huh? I guess you did…」

「Come on, Al, you can’t just forget that!」

「Okay, We’ll get in first, then you can get in after.」

「Got it!」

I had to wash the beasts and Tant, so I’d be busy.

I was going to wash Femm, Moofy, Chel, and Shiggy in that order.

Tant got in before Cruz. I asked him,

「Can you wash yourself?」

「Yeah.」

「Okay.」

So Tant started scrubbing himself down as well.

「ryaa ryaa」「PiggGi」

As I was washing Femm and Moofy, Shiggy was washing Chel.

It was cute.

After I finished washing Shiggy, Cruz walked in,

「You took too long!」

「I couldn’t get the zipper for the lion mask off!」

It had bent a bit and was hard to take off.

She had taken a while because she didn’t want to break the zipper.

「Al, I’ll wash your back.」

「Wash Tant’s first.」

「Okay…」

I started washing myself while Shiggy flew behind me and squeeze water on my back.

「Thanks.」

「ryaa」

As I washed, Cruz said,

「You’re such a cute kid, Tant, that we have to clean you up well!」

「Why do you want to…」

「Then we have to get Yureena to find some cute clothes for you.」

「Wha?」

I heard Tant’s voice change…I had thought Tant was a boy.

「Wait, isn’t he a boy?」

「You can see she’s not.」

Cruz said with a sigh.

「I…I see.」

『I knew by her smell.』

「…um…」

Honestly, Tant only had the smell of garbage before.

After everyone was washed off, we got in the bath.

「Um, no need to take care of me like this…」

「Don’t worry about it.」

「If you didn’t help me, I’d be in real trouble…」

「I took care of the so-called Demon Lord already…just relax.」

「Moo moo!」

Moofy happily paddled up and licked Tant’s face.

「W…wait, Moofy. Wait! You “took care” of him?」

Tant asked as she pet Moofy. She didn’t know what I meant by “took care.”

I guess she couldn’t believe someone could just “take care” of someone like that.

Cruz patted Tant’s head and said,

「It’s because I’m the hero!」

「Wha?」

「It’s true! A weakling like that so-called Demon Lord was a breeze to beat.」

She said, going back to the changing room and bringing back a steel ball.

「Why are you walking around with one of those?」

I asked with a sigh,

「Look at this」Cruz said, holding it out in her hand.

Then she passed it to Tant as said,

「See?」

「S…sure.」

Tant felt how heavy the ball was still in Cruz’ hand and pulled back.

After a bit, Tant started crying 「Waaaaah」!

「It’s okay.」「ryaa」

Shiggy and Cruz tried to calm down Tant as best they could.