CH 166

Chapter 4-12. Jigul’s Concern

“Jigul, what are you doing?”

The boy who seemed to be the leader among them spoke to us in a very intimidating voice.

The fact that he knows Jigul means that these kids are probably the ones Jigul was partying with before.

But …… two boys and two girls.

That seems a bit much for a low-ranked party.

The boys and girls were looking at us with a rather grim expression on their faces, as if they didn’t have a very good impression of Jigul.

“Jigul, I have a guess, but who are these kids?”

“They’re former party members.”

As I thought, it seems to be a party member who was with him before.

But …… the way he talks to Jiggle, the way he looks at him, the way he is so blatant about it, it makes me wonder if Jigul might have been in the wrong.

I’m sure that’s not true, but it might be a good idea to listen to what the other side has to say.

That said, …… the downside is that it doesn’t seem to be a very good atmosphere to talk about it.

“So, what can I do for you?”

“You just bought a sword for him, didn’t you?”

“You’re right, but ……?”

“So now you’re relying on a grown-up! That’s why you’re useless!”

Hmm? Not sure I understand.

Eh, I don’t know what he’s talking about, which is surprising.

I mean, well, he’s a kid, so he might not have enough words, but still, I don’t think this kid is well educated.

I have a lot to say, but let’s just say I couldn’t get it all together. ……

“Jiggle, is this kid an idiot?”

“……yes”

“HHAA!?”

Even though it was my first time encounter with him, I could tell that he was not well educated, but I wanted to see if Jigul felt the same way, so I couldn’t help but ask.

The result was as expected, but I laughed a little when Jigul nodded his head without hesitation …….

But what exactly are these kids angry about?

It seems that it was the other party that made Jigul leave the party, and from what I’ve heard from Jigul, it doesn’t sound like he was in the wrong.

I’m not too sure what he meant by “relying on adults” when he said it earlier,…… but I wonder if I can get him to talk somehow.

The other party opened their mouth first while I was thinking about this.

“Are you going to embarrass him now? You should be ashamed of yourself as an adventurer if you think you can rely on the strong to protect you.”

“Do you realize how much we’ve been screwed over by you?”

“I don’t recommend you take Jigul with you, white-haired Onii-san.”

I kind of get what these kids are trying to say.

Not that I was thinking of defending Jigul yet. …… Well, I can certainly understand that a weak adventurer cannot move forward if he is only protected by a strong adventurer.

I’m not sure how I feel about that.

But that is a terrible thing to say about Jigul.

He must have been held in low esteem at the party.

Maybe these kids were unhappy that Jigul left the party and stayed with me, so they came here to complain about it.

Hmmm, so they saw me buying a sword from Jigul at the worst possible time.

Yup! What a bother!

Why do I have to deal with troublesome people like this!

I just want to go talk to Yurie as soon as I can!

I mean, if he doesn’t want anything to do with Jigul anymore, why bother! Just leave him alone!

What a nice guy to go out of his way to warn me!

But on the other hand, there’s something that bothers me.

Since he made these four of them say that much, there might have been something wrong with Jigul.

I’m sure I can ask him about it, so I’m going to ask him anyway.

“Let’s see, …… you guys say what’s the worst thing about Jigul? I’ve never taken a request with him yet, so I don’t know. Let me know if you wouldn’t mind.”

Jiggle gave me a very unpleasant look, but if there is something wrong, I have to fix it.

If he had been around him for a while, he must have a good grasp of what is wrong with him.

It is a little regrettable that they don’t seem to say anything about the good parts.

“There’s plenty to go around! I don’t like the idea of relying on adults like this!”

Ignore this one, because I think there are times when you have to rely on them no matter what.

How can you even have a weapon if you don’t rely on adults? Literally.

“Whenever we’re doing a request, he always walks at the end of the line. It is strange that he is not in the front even though he is a swordsman.”

Indeed, Jigul’s role is that of a swordsman.

It may seem obvious that he should be up front, but …… the party composition of these kids is reasonably balanced, with three swordsmen and two sorcerers, assuming Jigul was in the party.

One of them is in a position called tank with a mid-sized shield.

I don’t think he should be forced to do it even though he is a kid, but I don’t blame him because I think he does it because he likes it.

If there are two close-combat swordsmen, one shield, and two long-distance mages,…… there certainly seems to be no problem with at least one person in the rear guard.

If there is a tanker and one swordswoman who seems to be a rusher, the front line can be maintained.

Mages would be very weak in close combat, and it would not be wrong to have Jigul in the rear guard, would it?

“And when the monsters came out, he never went out at the front. He always fought only the monsters that came from behind.”

Whoa there, he did his job properly you know?

Those two magicians over there, you’re well protected, right? Very well protected in my opinion.

Being in the rear guard means that you have a lot of important duties, such as notifying them of ambushes from the rear or ambushes in blind spots at the front line.

This requires a keen eye for observation, which Jigul seems to have been doing his best to keep up with.

“Plus, he’s messing with the grass along the way.”

Isn’t he just collecting medicinal herbs?

“Also, he takes the commission and all the other fees and stuff! It was something we earned!”

“I returned all of that to you tho-“

“Jigul, you’re in charge of everything? That’s amazing!”

These kids sounded like they were saying it like it was a very bad thing, but if you read into it, you can see just how well-organized Jigul was.

Without a doubt, it was Jigul who held this party together.

The kids may not have realized how important a position Jigul stood in due to his lack of experience.

I decided to pat Jigul’s head.

The kids were stunned and seemed to have no idea why Jigul was being praised, not even Jigul himself.

“Ehh? Huh?”

“I can leave everything in Yurie’s hands without a worry. Let’s go!”

Since there was no need to talk anymore, I ignored the kids who were making some noise behind me and headed for the guild.

I don’t really need to do any more work on the request and review Jigul’s behavior anymore. …… Well, I’m free for a while too, so I’ll help Jigul with his request.