第3章：冒険の前に
私は日本出身ではなく、西洋から来ました。翻訳がうまくできないため、英語で投稿しています。私の物語を楽しんでいただけると嬉しいです！
Tull rushes out of the Adventurer's Guild and sees Grog walking down the road. He calls out to him and begins striding to catch up.
"Where are you going?"
Grog raises his hand and waves Tull off, not looking behind him.
"I did what you wanted and got you registered. Good luck with your dreams, kid." he says dismissively, still walking down the road. Tull paces several steps behind him.
"You're not going to stay?"
Grog sighs and starts walking faster.
"I got nowhere to stay, and I got places to be. Now stop followin' me!"
Tull continues to follow him, walking at a normal pace while Grog's steps move with intent to get away. Tull looks at Grog, then down in contemplation. An idea strikes his face as he looks back up with wide eyes.
"My mom can make you dinner, we can get you washed up, and you can rest there for the night-"
Grog's ears perk up at the sound of food and stops in his tracks. The idea of a meal caused his stomach to churn and growl, the goblin's mouth salivating at the thought. His head slowly turns to Tull nonchalantly.
"Dinner? Like a hot meal?"
Tull nods, "Sure. We usually have leftovers, so I'm sure we could make you a plate."
Grog's brows raise up in interest, then he turns away from Tull in deep thought. His eyes weighing the options between traveling hungry or a hot meal with a warm bed to sleep in. He lets out a defeated sigh and turns towards Tull.
"Fine. Lead the way, kid."
Tull begins walking forward, with Grog following several paces behind. They walk for an hour in silence, with nothing but the sound of evening birds singing and the occasional chatter between villagers to break it. As the sun begins to set, the two arrive at a small house that sits quietly outside of the village. Well-pruned bushes line the outside of the wooden porch, and the sound of gentle running water can be heard from a nearby river. A small shed sits next to a ramshackle stone fence that guards a garden growing vegetables can be seen across from the entrance to the house.
Grog looks around as he approaches, noting the peaceful sounds around him, 'This kid really wanted to choose being a stressed Adventurer over living this quiet life?'
Tull approaches the door and smiles down at Grog, then enters the building.
"I'm home!"
A woman wearing a clean dress and apron is seen preparing food at a wooden counter in the center of the kitchen. Her hair is tied back into a bun, likely to keep it from getting in the way during cooking. As Tull announces his arrival, her soft amber eyes glance over followed by a welcoming and familiar smile.
"Welcome back, sweetie!"
As Grog walks in behind Tull, her eyes light up in surprise and her expression becomes that of gentle excitement.
"Oh, and you brought a friend." She grabs a cloth from the counter and begins wiping her hands.
"How did the registration go?"
Tull grins widely as he shows her his bronze Guild badge.
"They let me become an Adventurer! And it's all thanks to Grog here." Tull gestures to the little green goblin next to him, whose expression is that of a disinterested guest forced to attend an event. The woman approaches Grog and kneels down to meet his eye level.
"Oh?" she begins observing him, reading every detail of his life story that can be seen from the dirt and scratches on his body as well as the unchanging stare shown on Grog's face.
"Thank you, sweetie. It means a lot to us both." she says with a gentle and tired expression. Upon seeing her face change, Grog's eyes look away as if he knows what the woman must be feeling. The same emotions expressed by Tull at the tavern.
"I hope you're hungry." the woman gets up and begins leading the two towards the dining area.
As Grog takes a few steps, suddenly a magical circle appears under his feet in a flash of light. His eyes widen as the circle begins to spin, smaller circles rise from the larger one and begin to surround him.'This is it, this is how I die!'
CRACK
The circle breaks and the light fades. Grog looks at his hands and body in shock, only to hear the sound of a girl cackling. He looks up to see a small human child, no taller than he is, wearing a frog hoodie that is too large for someone her size. Her arms reach only halfway through the sleeves, and the bottom of the hoodie reaches her knees. The hood is in the shape of a frog's open mouth, with two large button eyes making it look like the wearer is always looking forward. Inside the mouth is a young girl with blonde hair made into twin tails that barely leave the frog's mouth. A tiny strand of hair poking up at the top of her head bounces as she snickers and cackles at Grog.
The woman slowly walks toward the child, who barely comes up to her knee, and folds her arms to express a playful disappointment.
"Susie, you know using magic on strangers is rude." she says as she turns towards Grog.
"I'm sorry, sweetie! Even since she obtained her Tamer skills, she's been using them on everything and everyone."
Tull runs over and grabs Susie, pulling her out of the way as he begins to tickle and play with her. The woman chuckles and her eyes close, tilting her head slightly in an apologetic expression as if she was the one to scare Grog.
"Even though Tamer skills don't work on humanoids, she still tries! Sorry if that scared you, Grog."
Grog, still frozen in fear, musters everything he can to hold up his hand to dismiss his visible expression.
"D-don't worry about it. I wasn't scared."
The woman nods and turns to the little girl, who is still being poked and tickled by Tull.
"Susie, why don't you show Grog where the bath is? Let him get cleaned up before dinner is done. I'm sure they both had a long day!"
Upon hearing that, Susie immediately jumped up and grabbed Grog by the hand with the hoodie sleeve, pulling him along towards the bath. She slings Grog inside and shuts the door, leaving him alone to his thoughts. Grog turns on the bath, as small magic circles appear and begin to warm the water. He takes off his loincloth and gets in, letting out a deep sigh as his body and head sink into the water.
Minutes pass as he contemplates, looking down at his own reflection. He sees the exhaustion in his face and wrinkles between where is brows constantly push against the skin.
'It's been weeks since the storm happened, and I'm barely making it by. If it wasn't for this town, who knows how much longer I could have gone on.' He looks up towards the bathroom door, taking in the peaceful silence. 'But I don't belong here, either. I'm a stranger to the people that have willingly taken me in. A worthless goblin with nothing. Not even a dream.'
He lets out another long sigh, "What am I even doing here?" he says as he continues to look as his reflection before sinking into the water even further, ears and eyes lowered as if the sadness couldn't get washed away like the dirt.
After a while, he drains the bath, dries off, and reaches for his loincloth that looks surprisingly cleaner than when he had removed it. He hesitates to take it before finally tying it back on. All of them finish eating dinner before Grog and Tull ready to sleep. Grog has a soft mat rolled out for him topped with a single pillow and tiny blanket, likely Susie's. He lays himself down and quickly passes out from exhaustion.
Tull, laying in his bed, is holding up his Guild badge. He gently turns it to shine it in the moonlight as his happy expression admires every simple detail, from the grooves on the wings to the thicker hilt of the blade.
He looks towards Grog, who was facing away from him and sleeping. 'If it wasn't for him, who knows if I would have ever become an Adventurer. And now that I am, I can finally work towards accomplishing her dream...' Tull puts the badge away on a shelf next to him and lays back down, thoughts filled with quests he dreamed of taking and the monsters he'd fight that he heard only stories about before.
The Next Morning
"I made you both warm lunches and prepared some extra rations in case you need them. And just because you're an Adventurer now, doesn't mean you shouldn't stop by once in a while. Okay, Tull?"
She hands them both small packages, warm to the touch and carefully tied at the end. Afterwards, she hugs Tull to tell him goodbye.
"I promise I'll visit often, mom. Thank you for the food!"
They both turn to leave the house, Grog looks over as he leaves.
"Thanks..." he says quietly.
"Oh, and Grog-" she looks down at Grog with a warm, sad smile. Tears building up slowly.
"Please protect Tull for me, okay?"
The two lock eyes for what seems like forever, Grog's expression unchanging. The moment is silent the entire time as Grog then begins to leave the house. Tull's mom tilts her head slightly and smiles at Grog as he leaves.
