Travel to another world and become a monster messenger

“This is a place where you can have a leisurely chat. This is where I go often.”

There is a small restaurant in the corner of a small alley. Xu Zhen and his friends were brought here by Kuler.

At the hospitality of Culler, they enjoyed a variety of delicacies and talked about the past. They also introduced the stories of Lim and Foreo, and the stories of Slakić and Ram.

They even confessed that they lived in his house when Culler was away. Culler did not blame them, but smiled and said that there was no need to let the house go to waste, and if they wanted, they could treat the house in the mountains as their own home.

But for Xu Zhen, the house deep in the mountains is always his grandfather's home.

They planned to find their own home. They wanted to find a good place and build a home where they could live with the monsters. When Xu Zhen said this, Kuler showed a surprised expression.

They were not travelling without a destination. They had a purpose, and Culler was delighted to hear that.

"I see. Keep going. I'll support you too."

Culler smiled and nodded.

"When my work here is finished, I plan to return to the house deep in the mountains. I will come back to play when I have time."

"Yes, definitely!"

Xu Zhen and the monsters nodded happily. Just then, a bell rang, signaling that a customer had entered the restaurant. Kuler looked back curiously. This was a secret restaurant, and it was past noon, so there would usually be no customers.

However, when he saw the three young people who came to visit, Kuler immediately understood. The other party also noticed Kuler and his friends and showed a surprised expression.

"Hey, Grandpa Culler. You're here too... You are!"

The young man who was talking, Nelson, noticed Xu Zhen and the others, and his expression froze. He seemed to be asking why you were here. The two young men behind him, Esther and Douglas, were also surprised by the presence of Xu Zhen and the others.

On the other hand, Xu Zhen and the monsters had confused expressions on their faces, not understanding why these people were so surprised.

Although they had met Nelson and Douglas before, they had only passed by each other and their relationship was almost that of strangers. This happened several months or even two years ago and they had completely forgotten about it.

"Um……"

Kuler looked back and forth at Xu Zhen and Nelson and the others, then nodded.

"How about sitting down first? Since you are here, why not join us and chat with us."

With the owner's permission, they moved a large table, ordered additional drinks, and the conversation resumed.

First came Douglas, who thought Xu Zhen might not remember him, so he reintroduced himself and briefly mentioned the incident two years ago. Hearing this, Xu Zhen opened his eyes wide and suddenly spoke.

"Oh, I remember now! You are the knight I saw in the forest of the Kingdom of Santono!"

"Ah, I never thought I'd meet you again in a place like this."

Douglas nodded happily and shook hands with Xu Zhen. When the two let go of each other's hands, Nelson spoke up: "It's been a long time since I last saw you... Well, I didn't introduce myself at that time..."

Nelson put the cup of tea in his hand on the table.

"I am Nelson, the leader of the Knights of the Kingdom of Shuter. Please give me your guidance."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Esther. I work as a court magician in the Kingdom of Shuter."

"Ah, nice to meet you. I'm Xu Zhen, the monster user."

Following Nelson's self-introduction, Esther introduced herself, and Xu Zhen responded to the greeting a little nervously. Afterwards, Xu Zhen and Nelson and others chatted for a while.

At this moment, Daglas explained why he was in Valfermion. After listening, Xu Zhen and Lati frowned at the same time.

"The out-of-control princess..."

“…Is it really okay?”

Currently, the second princess of the Santono Kingdom, Sylvia, is studying abroad at this Valfemin Academy. Hearing this, Xu Zhen and Lati did not hide their uneasiness, while Daglas responded with a wry smile.

“I understand how you feel. After all, something like that happened. But don’t worry. Miss Sylvia is very calm now and is studying hard. Her grades have been noticed by the teachers and she is considered a promising student in the future.”

“That’s a good thing, but now Alicia and the others have also come to this city.”

Hearing Xu Zhen's somewhat nervous words, Douglas also became serious.

"Really...Okay, I get it. I'll be careful too." Douglas replied with a slightly trembling voice.

(Looking at Miss Sylvia now, I hope that such a thing will not happen again... But it is better to be overly cautious than negligent. Especially in a foreign country, if it causes problems, the consequences will be disastrous. I have to observe the situation carefully later!)

Douglas made up his mind secretly, and at this time Nelson and the others started talking again.

"By the way, here we are, Esther was selected as a special lecturer at the academy. I also accompanied her."

"I was also quite traumatized by the incident a few months ago. I think it really caused a lot of trouble for Nelson." Esther said so, and Nelson murmured in a low voice while drinking tea. That was exactly the case.

"But he has calmed down now. I am considering whether I should go back to Shuter. The knights started to slack off when I was away. I will have to train them more when I return."

"Hehe... I can imagine the serious faces of the Knights. But wait..." Esther laughed lightly and turned her attention to Xu Zhen's monsters.

"I've heard rumors, but Xu Zhen, you really have some very rare monsters. And they all live in the deep forest, which is very common."

Xu Zhen looked down at his four monsters and smiled bitterly: "Although I didn't pay much attention. It became like this unknowingly..." Xu Zhen gently stroked the head of Loppel beside him.

Douglas saw this scene.

(――!?)

He opened his eyes wide and looked at Xu Zhen. Although the conversation between Esther and Xu Zhen continued, he seemed to be unable to hear it. He did see it. Through Xu Zhen, he saw a scene from a long time ago.

When he was still a child, before he became an adventurer, he met a human woman who brought many monsters with her. The woman stroked the heads of the monsters, which were so small that they could be confused with small animals, with a gentle smile. The smile that Xu Zhen showed perfectly overlapped with that woman's smile.

-I'm sorry...Have we met somewhere before?

Two years ago, in the forest in the south of the Kingdom of Santono, Daglas couldn't help but ask Xu Zhen a question.

He thought he had asked a strange question, but later he finally realized clearly that it was through Xu Zhen that he relived his childhood memories.

Douglas was terribly embarrassed. After all, so many years had passed, how could the woman still be the same?

He didn't think further about it at the time, and was busy dealing with Sylvia's sword, so he forgot about it unknowingly.

Yet now, he felt the same shock he had felt two years ago. This coincidence seemed too unusual.

(Could that woman be... Xu Zhen's mother?)

Douglas couldn't help but think so.

The action of caressing the monster overlapped involuntarily in front of his eyes. Although it was entirely possible that they were just different people with similar looks, Douglas felt that Xu Zhen and that woman were not unrelated.

(Given their ages, it would make sense if they were mother and son. But I have no hard evidence, and it was a long time ago. I could be mistaken.)

Thinking of this, Douglas smiled softly.

(Okay, this isn’t something you need to know. For now, I’m going to keep this to myself. Best not to think too much about it.)

Douglas came to this conclusion and drank the completely cooled tea in one gulp. Not long after, Xu Zhen and the others finished their conversation and prepared to leave their seats and leave the store.

---------------

"Ah! Mr. Culler, there you are!"

As the sound of jingling bells rang out, they just walked out of the store when a young elven magician ran over loudly.

"How long are you going to run away? Please come back soon!"

“Oh, sorry.”

Facing the excited young mage, Kuler kept his own rhythm of smiling. Seeing this scene, Xu Zhen said with a wry smile.

"Grandpa, get back to work. We're going to just wander around town and then start our journey."

"Really? Well, I wish you a safe journey. I'll pray for your safety."

"Ah, thank you."

Then Kulair was taken away by the young magician.

"Goodbye!"

Lati waved his hands and shouted, and Culler turned around and gently waved his right hand. When they turned the corner and were no longer visible -

"Mr. Nelson, Mr. Douglas!"

From another direction, a young demon dressed in knight's clothes ran over with a pale face. Judging from his expression, the situation was obviously not a trivial matter, and Nelson's eyes widened.

"Hey, what happened?"

“In fact, we have captured a suspicious mage over there. He is resisting fiercely, and we need support as soon as possible.”

"What?"

Nelson and Douglas thought of what Roland had said this morning. It could be the criminal who stole the magic tools. If he guessed right, he had to be dealt with before things got serious, Nelson thought.

"Okay, I understand. Lead the way." Nelson nodded to the young knight, then turned to Xu Zhen and the others: "So we have to say goodbye here. Just walk straight down the street. That way, you won't be implicated."

“We’ll see you later.”

"Come to the capital of Santono if you have the chance. See you then!"

Esther and Daglas said goodbye briefly, and the three of them ran into the alley under the guidance of the young knight. Then, Xu Zhen and the monsters were left alone again, and they couldn't help but feel that the surroundings suddenly became quiet.

"Let's go to the street too."

"Yes."

So Xu Zhen and the monsters walked towards the source of the noise in the distance. Soon, they came to a corner.

“Wow, that scared me!”

Xu Zhen was surprised as he almost bumped into someone who suddenly appeared.

The figure in the black cloak looked like a magician. More specifically, his appearance looked suspicious. Then Lati seemed to notice something and pointed at the black-robed figure and shouted.

"Master! I feel the magic power emanating from this man in the cloak is suspicious!!"

"Ah? That's..."

Before Xu Zhen could say that this might be very dangerous, the black-robed figure smacked his lips and muttered, "I thought I could get away with the bait... but there's no way. I have to use this magic tool to send you flying!"

He spoke with a heavier tone and took out a tool from his arms. It looked like a device with a gem. The golden flame inside the gem was flickering. It was easy to imagine that this golden flame was magic.

Xu Zhen and the others realized that this guy was undoubtedly a bad guy and very dangerous.

The golden flame may have been activated. Its brightness is gradually increasing. The black-robed figure seems to have been sure of victory, with a smile that looks down on Xu Zhen and the others.

"Are you ready, boys... Huh!?"

But at that moment, the golden flame suddenly burst into a dazzling light. The black-robed figure made a silly sound, and at the same time, there was a sound similar to something breaking.

Then the golden light turned into a halo, wrapping around the black-robed figure.

“W-What’s going on…Ah, ahhhhhhhhhhh——!”

Whether it was fixed by the halo or screaming in fear, the black-robed figure was swallowed by the halo. And then——

"This is……!"

“It’s a magic circle!”

A huge magic circle unfolded around Xu Zhen and the others. Just when they wanted to escape, a dazzling light was released, and everything in front of them was white.

That state continued for a few seconds, and soon the light gradually disappeared. Xu Zhen opened his eyes carefully.

"…Where is this, here?"

Xu Zhen muttered to himself in confusion. At least what he could understand at the moment was that he was at the end of a huge, unfamiliar underground passage.