The Labyrinth Raids of the Ultimate Tank

Chapter 58: Introductions

Translator: “Pink Tea” Editor: ”Ryunakama”

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Walking through the town, we introduce Phi to everyone.

While the militia make very tense expressions, after hearing that this is a fieldzaurus, they are still making an effort to accept Phi with smiles.

The people that don’t have much contact with monsters also welcome Phi, treating it almost as if it was some dog or cat.

With this, they probably wouldn’t be that afraid even when Phi grows up.

Meanwhile, clouds keep gradually covering more and more of the sky.

A mere lack of sunlight makes a huge difference.

Phi, perhaps worn out by the hot weather, had its tongue sticking out of its mouth.

We head to the militia headquarters.

We are still yet to greet Feel.

From what we heard from other militia members, she should be training at the headquarters today.

Lately, she was too busy with patrols and everything and couldn’t get enough free time. So now, she is taking a break from all of that.

Along with the deployment of the knights began the construction of the permanent residence for them.

It seems they also want to make it usable by the lord.

Or rather, originally, the current militia headquarters was supposed to be that place, but since the lords rarely visited the place and the town had no knights stationed, several generations ago it was loaned to the town by the lord of that time. Back then, they had no extra resources to construct another building.

And since many years of it being used by the militia wore out the building, they decided that it is a good opportunity to build another one.

……And they also began making something for our clan.

For now, they are building something of a similar scale to an inn. When we grow larger, we can have a bigger building made.

So they are building it with that in mind, so when the time comes, the old building can be easily converted into an inn.

Basically, our clan has the local lord for the backing.

It’s not that unusual for a noble to support a clan.

It gives nobles additional war potential in case of emergency, and more routes to procure materials and ingredients.

Gaining support from a famous noble can be a huge boon for a clan.

『Black Dragon Fangs』and『White Tiger Claws』are both backed by the three of the greatest noble houses.

Though it doesn’t seem like their ties are that strong.

Those noble houses are also split into factions and often squabble among themselves.

And their fights are much more sinister than trivial brawls and rivalry among adventurers.

And of course, it influences the clans in its own way.

So I have the perfect conditions to manage the clan.

If I can’t bring it to the top with this, then it is my fault. I have to do my best.

Heading to the courtyard of the militia headquarters we find Feel swinging a sword.

Not wearing her usual armor, she lets her blonde hair freely sway in the wind.

As expected, even she wouldn’t train in full plate armor in such weather. With each swing of her sword, small droplets of sweat flying through the air.

「Feel, how is it going?」

「Rude, and Luna…… and…… What is this cute creature?」

Feel stopped her swings and grabbed a towel.

Luna took one of Phi’s front legs and moved it as if waving to Feel. Probably getting the idea, Phi waved the other leg on its own.

「It hatched from the egg of fieldzaurus. The name is Phi.」

「Pretty close to mine, huh. ……Or rather, is this going to grow into that? That’s scary.」

As expected, the gap is surprising for those that faced an adult fieldzaurus in battle.

Since the courtyard was originally designed to be used by nobles, it was a place that could provide some degree of comfort.

As we sat on a nearby bench, Feel disappeared inside the building.

A short while later, she came out carrying a box.

On top of the box was a water balloon, probably meant to protect it from this heat.

I guess some kind of a dish?

「I had a day off today. So I made a cake.」

「I see. So that’s why you were going so hard at exercise.」

「N-not really, why would you say that?」

Feel shook her head, slightly panicking.

Luna slightly tilted her head. Phi mimicked the motion.

Feel’s cheeks turned slightly red.

「It’s too embarrassing to talk about this myself! Rude, can you explain this?」

「No, if you don’t want you don’t have to talk about this.」

「No, keeping secrets is no good. Humans grow by facing their past!」

「And yet, I have to be the one to explain this?」

「Kuh, I, I got it. I’ll say it myself. ……And it is also something that I have to explain as the senior, so my mistakes won’t be repeated.」

You don’t really have to steel yourself so hard to talk about this.

Feel put the box with the cake on her knees.

Then, coughed once, clearing her throat.

「Actually, cooking is my hobby.」

「I heard about this from Manicia-sama. And that you also taught cooking to her.」

「Yes, this brings back memories. …Okay, but this is not about that. My hobby is cooking, and I made sure to take care of what I cooked myself.」

「I see…… And it was very lonely, I guess?」

「N-no, that’s not what I meant…… Well, it’s not like you are wrong, but……」

Luna, don’t rub salt into the wound.

Seems like Luna also realized that she said something that she shouldn’t, as she closed her mouth, tightly pressing her lips together.

「Do you realize what will happen if the amount of food you eat were to increase?」

「You will get fat.」

「Yes, and so I did…… I was way more…… Round back then…… So now, I always train with a sword before I eat.」

When we first met she was just a bit chubby.

And as a result of earnestly training with a sword to lose weight, she gained her current strength.

That is a secret backstory to her abilities.

「Luna, you shouldn’t drink and eat too much. Phi, the same goes for you. Once you gain weight, getting rid of it is not that easy. 」

「Understood. However, I’m homunculus. All of the nutrition is converted to magic power, so there won’t be any changes to my constitution.」

「Kuuu, how envious!」

Feel shouted angrily.

……The prelude dragged out a bit too much.

「Feel, we should start with the cake already. With this weather, the water bag won’t save it for long. It will melt.」

「You are right. C’mon, let’s dig in.」

Opening the box revealed a fruit cake.

If Lily and Lilia learn that we ate this without them, they will probably be very mad.

Then, Feel cut it with the knife she brought.

I took a piece with my hands and took a bite.

Sweet. A nice combination of sweetness and refreshing sourness spread through my mouth.

Luna also took a bite and smiled with a blissful delight written on her face.

Phi, who saw that, squeaked, making it known that it wants to try it as well.

Feel pinched a piece of a cake, and brought it to Phi’s mouth.

And Phi instantly snatched it from her hand.

Using that chance, Feel patted Phi on the head. So this is how she tamed the twins.

「So cute. Can’t believe that this will turn into that.」

Looks like Feel recalled the fight.

Well, I agree with her on this. If they stayed this way forever, everyone would’ve wanted them as pets.

After we spent some time enjoying the cake, people came into the courtyard.

The usual inseparable duo from the militia.

They came with frustratingly radiant smiles, which could make up for the heat of the sun that began to hide behind the clouds.

「Hey, Rude! There is a guy, who is claiming to be your clan member, saying that he wants to see you, so we brought him here!」

「Yeah, to think you already got new comrades, aren’t you quite resourceful! Why won’t you keep it up and make the strongest clan in the world? If you do, I might even consider joining as well!」

「Won’t you ruin everything by joining?」

「That’s not true! Hey, man, Rude is over there!」

The duo waved their hands to someone behind.

The visitor, who was wearing a conical hat with big poles. raised it a bit by using an index finger, revealing his face.

With a mask covering half of it, he smiled upon seeing me.

Instead of his usual outfit, he was wearing the same clothes I was wearing earlier.

He probably made all of that using energy.

The sky was completely covered in clouds by now. That’s why he came out, huh.

Marius.

As usual, he comes when he is least expected……

「I had something to discuss, so here I am. I visited your home, but they said that you aren’t there.」

「Tell me that you are coming beforehand…… No need for surprises.」