the next morning
　I got up early and got ready to leave the room.

'I'll leave the goop with Lord Unya and then follow him.
　That's what I said, and I left the goop thing to Lil Pop.
'No!　I'll go with you~
　And, well, the goo-pop is limping along....

　It's just, well.
　Well, I couldn't really hike all that fast this time.
　So I had my heart in the right place.

　I moved to the town hall, with a limping goop trailing behind me.

　When I got to the town hall.
'Good evening, Captain Googus Guards.
　and the five guards and others who had assembled earlier.

　I asked the XO for help yesterday.
　As is to be expected of a man who can do his job well, that's only because I chose him as my deputy chief.

　Well, while praising myself, I was transferred to the lord's office with the others.

''Ah, googly eyes. Good job.
　In the lord's room, the lord's Safate had been busy doing this and that since early today.

　.........or rather, when is this lord taking a break?
　Sometimes the women around me force me to take a break, and all I can imagine is that I'm finally giving up and taking a break....

　And, well, you know, I'm thinking about something else.
It's a bit late for that.
　And then Lil Pop came in with a magic firearm.

...but...

...Hey, what's up?　What about those blue eyes?

I'm a bit of a fool for a little girl, sir.
　says Lil Pop.
　There's a big blue tang around his right eye....

　Apparently, a goo-pop has gotten to you.
　Did Goopop meekly leave you with Wunya?
　That's what I heard, and Lil Pop was like.
They have been physically silenced.
　Yeah, he just said it outright.

　For now.
　I'm gonna have a hell of a time getting my goop to work on my mood when I get back from my mission, my friend.

　
　In the meantime, Eel and the other five members of the GianaCombe team had arrived, so we left immediately.


　Our destination was...
　This is the site of a former settlement to the south.

　The plan for this day is to go as far as we can take the horse-drawn carriage and then enter the settlement on foot first.
　It's a long march, and we plan to be in the frontier village by nightfall tonight, so we just have to hurry.

　We were given a ride in a horse-drawn carriage to the far end of the village, and we were going at a trot through the dense jungle.
　Since the bandit group is also on the prowl in this zone, everyone carries weapons and moves as closely as possible.

　At the front is Lil Pop.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

　It's true that it would be good if we could go at this pace, but after two hours, as you would expect, the battened-up guys start to appear.
"It's inevitable, isn't it?
　Okay, so we're going to take a pause in front of Lil Pop, who's gasping for air with his magic gun on his shoulder.

　That Lilpop guy never takes a break from looking around.
　He's a very energetic guy, a reliable guy.

　Yeah, I was just admiring him.

"Incoming attack!
　Lil Pop's voice suddenly rang out.
　At the same time, the sound of Lil Pop firing his magic gun could be heard.

　What the hell is that?
　As I hurriedly went to call out to Lilpop, a great number of bows and arrows suddenly swung at me.

　I run up to Lilpop while brushing them off with the basket hand I wear in my right hand.

''What about the enemy?''
Eleven in the right front. They are armed with bows. But they may have weapons for close quarters combat.
　With that said, Lil Pop.
　I picked up something fist-sized and round, and pulled out a pin at its head.
One, two ... now!
　Then he threw the bow toward the one that was being launched.

　Then.

　Gahhhhhhhhhh!

　And, well, with a hell of a bang.
　Their screams echo through the air.

　What the hell?
　That round thing exploded with all this pomp and circumstance?

You'll have time to blabber, and you'll be throwing googly eyes too, sir.
　While doing so, Lil Pop arranges the round ones from earlier on the ground in pieces from the magic bag at his waist.

　I pick up one of them.
　I was just watching Lil Pop do it.
　Pull the pins out of his head.
One, two, now!
　And then I threw it.

　Then, at the end of the throw, I heard another violent explosion.
　At the same time, the presence of fleeing enemies and screams echoed through the forest.

　As expected.
　Those guys who took two of those explosions in a row.
　He immediately began to withdraw.

'Captain!'
Are you okay?
　Just in time, the arrows stopped flying, and the guys in the rear rushed in, just in time to see the arrows stop flying.

'They're on the run, we'll capture as many as we can.
　I said, and stood up next to Lil Pop.

　Ah.

　It was cool up to this point.

　At this point.
　An arrow that flew into my chest pierced my chest.
'Googus!'
　I saw a lillpop run up to me with an amazing look on his face.

　

　I'm in a slowly muddling consciousness.
　I just stared at Lil Pop's face.

◇ ◇.

...Huh?
　When I woke up I found myself in my room.

　No way, was this all a dream?
　I was about to stand up when I felt a sharp pain in my chest.
Adadadadadadadadadadadadad...
　When I looked closer, I saw that my upper body was wrapped in bandages that were wrapped around my upper body.

　In

　A goo-pop heard me.
Dad!　Daddy's awake!
　And then he hugged me.

　'Oh, hey, goo-pop, I'm glad you feel that way, but you're going to have to simplify tackling me to the wound.

　
Because Dad, it's been three days since I've been asleep.
　And then Gupop kept on crying like that....

　In.
　I looked closer and saw Lil Pop in a folded arms position behind him.

　Lilpop was staring at me in silence.

'What happened after that?'
　That's what I ask, and Lil Pop asks me.
As Captain Gugs was hit by a poisoned arrow and fell into a coma, we temporarily withdrew from the area, but we captured some members of the group of thieves who were unable to move due to the impact of the explosive bombs, and brought them back with us.
　However, perhaps startled by the sound of the bombs, the ancient monster tribe was nowhere to be found in the marshland that was our search point, and the lord's search party has now taken over the investigation.

　When I say that much, Lil Pop walks over to my side.
The report is complete.

　After saying that, he joined Goopop and hugged me.
''I'm sorry ... while I'm with you ...''
　Yes, it's a lil' pop that speaks of apologies.

　No, that's not true.
　I think my actions of rushing to your side and standing up carelessly at that point in time are what deserve to be reprimanded...

　but

　The one with the lil' pops.
　I'm with Goopop and he's holding me and not moving.

　........at this minute.
　I'm sure you were there for me the last three days when I was unconscious.


　This is something I heard later.
　After I was hit by an arrow.
　I heard that Lil Pop rushed into the enemy lines at a tremendous pace and destroyed the bandit group by himself.

　After that, he carried me on his back alone back to the carriage.

　According to Erdena, who treated me.
If I'm even half an hour late getting back to the city...
　It was...


　The day after I woke up.
　I've got a message from my lord, and Foldente has brought it to me.
They're calling off the search for a week, and if they don't answer the questions, they'll come back.
　And you'll be home until you're better. Safate gave me strict orders not to overdo it.
　I'm in a life-and-death situation, and I'm in trouble.

　Well, I was in a real life-and-death situation this time, and I got everyone in trouble.
　Let's just go easy on him this time.

　What do you think?
　That Foldente guy, he was staring at my crotch really hard.
I see you've come back to active duty.
　I mean.....

　You know, how do you know that?

　Oh, well.
　So this search ended in a rather indigestible way.
　
　Well, I'll do my best next time, I thought to myself.
　This report is finished.