"A monster!"

Elliot and the others turned to their left. There was no one there, so Elliot looked up at the tree. There was Whis with a grim expression and a bow in hand.

"Whis?"

"Do you know him?"

Elliot nodded in response to Belhard's question.

"Elliot, it's cruel to leave me behind!"

Whis said as he jumped down from the tree.

"I heard from my father-in-law and mother-in-law that you were going to travel the world!"

Whis's personality had become quite active in the past few years. It was his original personality that had been suppressed. He still had golden twin tails and blue eyes, but he had a dagger on his waist and was wearing clothes that were easy to move in.

"I'll come with you."

"No, you can't. It will be a tough journey, so I can't take you."

Whis wiped the blood off Elliot's cheek. "You fought a monster, didn't you? You're covered in blood. I'm good at searching, so it would be handy to take me along. I've learned about monsters, too. I think I'll be more useful than that woman."

Saying this, she pointed at Karna.

Karna is certainly strong against the undead, but he won't be a force against living creatures. With searching abilities, we can form a formation just in time. And having a rear guard is reassuring.

Thinking this, Elliot sighed and said.

"It can't be helped. But if you're not a force to be reckoned with, I'll have you go home right away."

"There's no way you won't be a force to be reckoned with. Then it's settled."

Whis joined the party.

"Hey Elliot, is it okay to take a girl like this with you?"

"Belhardt-san, Whis also received special ranger training from Dad, so I think it'll be fine."

"And Ralph-san!?"

"I heard that recently in the forest, she was fighting Dad on almost equal terms, so I think she's pretty impressive."

"Hello, I'm Whis. You're Belhardt-san and Karna-san. I've heard what you've been saying. Karna-san, I'm sorry about earlier, I said 'that woman'. When I saw Elliot leaving me behind, I got all mad."

Whis had already picked up her luggage and was shaking hands with the other members of her party. The flesh on her palm had been torn and hardened many times. Karna guessed that she must have swung the dagger quite a lot.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Belhard."

"...Nice to meet you. I'm Karna."

"Even so, I'm surprised you knew you'd pass through here."

"I thought no one would be stupid enough to cross the Zart Strait, so I headed east. Then I happened to sense Elliot, so I waited for him from up in a tree."

"That idiot is right in front of you."

Belhard points at Elliot.

"Thanks to you, I was able to see a flash of my imagination."

Karna nods.

Whis is stunned.

"I can't believe there was an idiot who tried to cross the Zart Strait..."

Elliot was blushing.

"Well, how can I put it, I just..."

"Just..."

Whis looks at Elliot with half-closed eyes.

"No, but I won't put the party in danger again."

"Of course. I'll keep an eye on Elliot so he doesn't go out of control. So, we're going east, right?"

"Yeah, but monsters that haven't been seen in years are appearing. We've fought them three times already. I think it's the Demon King's fault."

"Demon King, really?"

"Let's go on foot for now. The plan is to spend the night in the castle town of Bilderna."

The four of them started walking east while talking.

"Oh, we can't believe we're getting more companions!"

Trasteria was racking her brains as the party moved in a way that was different from the scenario she had in mind.

"Well, let's go to the Liberian Fish Farm for now and stock up on monsters!"

Even after passing Suwari Village, no monsters appeared for a while. Whis said as they walked along the road surrounded by forest.

"No monsters have appeared. Did you really fight monsters?"

"They really did appear! Right, Karna?"

"Yeah, we really did fight monsters."

"Hmm, but I can't see any monsters around."

Whis's eyesight and hearing have developed abnormally, probably because he grew up in a dark and quiet environment. Even when he squinted his eyes and increased his hearing sensitivity to the maximum, he couldn't detect any living creatures on the road. In the end, even after Whis joined the party, they didn't encounter any monsters until they reached the castle town.