Chapter 159 -- A 10 Year Old's Firm Resolution

　　"Sorry to keep you waiting." I announced as Sui-chan and I re-entered the clearing.

　　"Oh, you're back-" Dora-chan was gliding in lazy circles above a rec.u.mbent Fer who raised his head to stare at me.

　　"Nuu, what took you so long?" Fer grumbled, quietly for once. It took me a few seconds to notice Darryl and Eris were both asleep, lying propped up on Fer's side. Well, they were just children and they had walked a long way in the forest before being chased for their lives by Orcs so it wasn't surprising they were tired. The fact they were using an S-ranked nation-destroying Fenrir as a comfy pillow was something else, of course...

　　Never mind. We were all done here. "Well then, ready to go back to Doran?"

　　"Umu." Fer said quietly, swivelling his head around to check on the sleeping children and making sure they weren't being disturbed. I slung Sui-chan's bag across my shoulder and opened the flap.

　　"Get inside, Sui."

　　"Yeah-" Sui-chan pyonged up and into his travelling bag. I looked at the two sleeping kids and sighed.

　　”It’s a shame to wake those two up but if we don't get going soon it'll be dark before we get back to Doran." I gently shook them by their shoulders. "Eris, Darryl, sorry to wake you up but we're going back to town now."

　　""Nnnn..."" The kids rubbed their eyes, obviously still tired.

　　“Darryl, Eris, I found some medicine that should cure your mother.” I said. That brought them both completely awake in an instant.

　　“Uncle, is that true?” Darryl exclaimed.

　　“Will it really make mother well, Uncle?” Eris asked as both of them hugged me desperately. They both cared for their mother so much...

　　“You see, I thought I had some medicine that would cure your mother's disease but I had to search through my entire Item Box to find it. That's what took so long, sorry." The children's eyes lit up and big smiles crossed their faces.

　　“But I can't simply give it to you.” I added. When I said that they both froze and Eris' face fell like she was about to cry as I raised a finger.

　　“Darryl, you have one Orc right now, don't you?” I said.

　　"... Oh, yeah I do." Darryl had caught on to what I was hinting at. I had given one of the Orcs Sui-chan and Dora-chan had subjugated to Darryl to hear his story so he now owned that Orc, not me.

　　“How about exchanging it?” I offered.

　　"The Orc, ah MY Orc in exchange for the medicine?" He made sure he understood what I meant before he offered payment. He would make a good Merchant if he decided on that career in the future, I reckoned.

　　"That's right. How about it?"

　　When I said that Darryl smiled widely and nodded. “Yeah, of course it’s okay”.

　　“Right then, there’s the medicine." I handed him the bottle of Sui's Special Elixir (Degraded Version). "I'm sure this will cure your mother's illness. Get her to drink it as soon as you get home." I pa.s.sed over the pot of egg rice porridge too. "This is a little extra free of charge. It's something that's easy to eat even for someone who's sick. You can eat it together with her."