The Tough-Faced Owner of A Fluffy Cafe ~ The Strongest Mercenary Feared as the Headhunter, Living Leisurely Surrounded by Little Girls and Cute Monsters ~ - Chapter 48

Episode 048: Headhunter, Going on Patrol with the Tsundere Wolf

While running the café, Ack was chatting with Maria. Since only a maximum of three customers would come, he had plenty of time. Tina and the idle monsters were doodling in a corner of the café.

“I didn’t expect the outskirts of town to be considered dangerous…”

“For ordinary people who have nothing to do with fighting, wild monsters are a threat in themselves. It’s no wonder rumors spread when such a large ice sculpture appears. However, it’s also because the residents don’t want to go outside much, which is partly due to the inadequacy of our knight order, so it’s frustrating.”

It wasn’t until they were lectured by the knight order that they finally understood why there weren’t many people coming to the café.

For many people, monsters meant potential death if attacked. Although the knight order regularly patrolled the vicinity to exterminate monsters, there weren’t enough people to defeat all the monsters due to the vastness of the land. Moreover, even if they defeated them once, there were no barriers to stop monsters from flowing in from other places.

As a result, it was impossible to reduce the damage to zero, leaving the residents with lingering fear.

Ack was also scared when he was young, but he had become so strong that it was no longer a threat, and he had lost that feeling without realizing it.

“It seems like a difficult problem to solve,” Ack muttered, furrowing his brow.

Changing the perception ingrained in the residents for years couldn’t be done overnight. Even if they were to eliminate all the monsters in the vicinity, they wouldn’t be able to prove it to everyone in town, and no one would believe them even if they said it.

It would take a long time for the residents’ fear to diminish.

Through training, sewing, and drawing, he had gained his current abilities. He had no choice but to gradually increase the number of customers.

However, Ack learned from Maria’s next words that his presence in the town had brought unexpected benefits.

“No, I can’t say that definitively. Since Ack-san arrived, we haven’t seen many monsters around the area. Since Rim-san arrived, it’s been even more noticeable.”

It was a fact that Ack, an overwhelmingly strong presence, caused the monsters near the town to flee. Furthermore, with the addition of Rim, the strongest Fenrir, the effect was even more pronounced.

Maria had also participated in patrols, but she hardly saw any carnivorous monsters. As a result, they were able to reduce the need for nearby extermination, and they were able to organize expeditions to exterminate monsters on trade routes with other towns, greatly reducing the damage to merchants and travelers.

“Hmph. It’s only natural that monsters wouldn’t come near when I’m around.”

Rim seemed to say it was obvious, but his face relaxed, and his tail wagged.

He was a straightforward tsundere wolf.

“Yes. Thanks to both of you, the outskirts of the town and the main roads have become safe. As people gradually come and go more, and rumors spread that there are no people suffering from monster attacks near Farmrest, the residents should eventually feel at ease leaving the town.”

Maria’s words were unexpected, but understandable.

Ack was aware of his overwhelming strength.

During his days as a mercenary, as his name became renowned, the number of people challenging him drastically decreased. The only ones left were either confident warriors or fools who couldn’t understand the difference in their abilities.

It was likely the same situation near Farmrest now.

“In that case, all we can do is do what we can,” Ack said, realizing that all he could do was to completely bring this area under their control.

“We, as the knight order, will do whatever we can to cooperate,”

Maria agreed with a smile.

After closing the café, having dinner, and cleaning up, Ack stood up.

“I’m going out for a bit.”

“I’ll come too. I was just thinking my body was getting dull.”

Understanding what they were going to do, both Rim and Ack stood up.

“Will you come back today?”

Tina got off her chair and clung to Ack’s leg, looking up at him.

Since they returned from the Great Blizzard Mountain, Tina didn’t want to leave Ack’s side too much, probably because she was afraid of being left behind.

“Don’t worry. I’m just going for a short walk. I’ll be back soon.”

He squatted down, gently stroked Tina’s head, and hugged her tightly.

“Okay.”

Relieved, Tina moved away from Ack.

Ack and Rim left the house to search for signs of monsters. They aimed to eliminate carnivorous monsters that seemed to be attacking ordinary people in the vicinity.

“It feels good to move my body after a long time.”

Running through the forest, Rim released the hunting instincts of a Fenrir that had not been expressed, and he happily wagged his tail, showing his excitement.

“That’s good. Would you like to go on patrol together regularly?”

“Hmph. If it’s an order from the leader of the pack, I have no choice. I’ll cooperate.”

Rim’s tail wagged more vigorously with joy at being relied upon.

“Now, the rest is—”

“Ahhhh!!”

Just as they were about to search for other dangerous monsters, they heard human screams.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

They immediately rushed to the scene and saw a group of young adventurers, seemingly boys and girls, being attacked by a horde of monsters.

“Leave it to me.”

With heightened spirits, Rim unleashed a Blizzard Breath.

With that alone, the horde of monsters in front of the adventurers froze along with the forest.

“Huh?”

The adventurers showed a dumbfounded expression, unable to understand what had happened.

“Are you okay?”

As Ack and Rim approached and spoke, the adventurers turned their faces towards the direction where they heard a voice, like a creaking tin doll.

“Eek! Monsteeeers!”

The moment they saw Ack and Rim, the adventurers trembled in fear and fainted.