Chapter 5: From Reports to Invitations, or So It Was Told

Beyond the door lay a small room almost devoid of articles of daily living. A lone desk sat in the center of the room, flanked by two chairs. There was nothing else. When he first entered, Renya felt a strange sensation. However, both Shion and Rona went in before him, and neither of them said anything, so he kept it to himself.

A man sat in the chair across the desk. His appearance gave no hint as to his age. Faint blond hair fell past his thin face and reached down to his shoulders. He was well-built with a strong, masculine frame, but compared to the other adventurers in the guild, he was still on the more slender side. His sharp, narrow eyes were angled slightly, and Renya could make out only a scant trace of their greenish hue. Clothed in a well-tailored, navy blue robe, he was otherwise unadorned with the exception of a single silver medal-like ornament on his chest.

“Ah, good to see you here.”

He remained sitting and greeted them in a soft voice. Shion bowed her head lightly. Rona replicated the motion, and Renya, feeling pressured to follow suit, did so as well.

“Good to see you, too, Vice-Branchmaster, I hope you’ve been keeping well,” Shion said as she straightened herself again. There was a hint of strain to her voice. It was the voice of an extremely unwilling speaker who would prefer anything to standing there and talking to the man before them.

Renya directed his attention at the seated Vice-Branchmaster and carefully looked him over, trying to figure out what part of the man vexed Shion so greatly.

“Give it up, young Wanderer.”

The Vice-Branchmaster shifted his gaze toward Renya as if he knew he was being observed. His narrow eyes, their slits so thin that Renya could just barely tell they were open, reminded him of some sort of snake or lizard. Their reptilian appearance sent a chill down Renya’s spine.

“You won’t figure out why those girls hate my guts so much just by looking at me. I maintain a perfect appearance, after all.”

“I’d love to know where that baseless confidence of yours comes from.”

True to his word, there was an air of gracefulness to the Vice-Branchmaster, who smiled pleasantly at them. His mild-mannered disposition revealed no obvious flaws. That did not, apparently, stop Shion from hating him with every fiber of her body.

Curious about Rona’s reaction, Renya glanced at her expression to find her features set firmly in an unchanging smile. He was forced to withhold judgment, seeing as he was not given much to work with.

“My name is Fritz Rustbrid. I serve as the Vice-Master of the Adventurers Guild’s Kukrika Branch. Shion, Rona, and I have already been acquainted with one another, so how about we have you tell us your name first, young wanderer?”

“I’m Renya. More importantly, how much longer do we have to keep standing here like this?”

All three of them had stopped walking as soon as they entered the room. No one took a step toward the desk. Renya stood his ground because he was following the girls’ lead, but they seemed to have no intention of approaching the Vice-Branchmaster. Once they heard Renya’s question, both of them shot reproving glances at him.

“I humbly disapprove,” said Shion in a forced tone. “We’re not nearly arrogant enough to be sharing a table with the Vice-Branchmaster.”

“Let’s not play word games,” retorted Fritz. “Just be honest. Why don’t you simply say you’re allergic to being near me?”

Shion, for her part, did not deny the Vice-Branchmaster’s claim, instead choosing to remain silent. In other words, she agreed with his statement.

“You’re not going to refute me?”

“There was nothing to refute.”

Fritz broke out in a throaty, cackling laugh. Shion continued to glare at him, her expression a mask of enmity. It seemed a fairly disrespectful attitude for her to take toward Fritz, considering he was technically her superior, but the robed man showed no indication of displeasure. Rather, he seemed to be quite enjoying the exchange. For a moment, Renya entertained the thought that maybe Fritz had some masochistic tendencies. Then, he immediately put it out of his mind on the suspicion that any further exploration of the topic would begin to show on his face.

“Well, I think that’s enough of our usual banter for now. Let’s hear the report. I do believe the quest concerned an investigation of the Miasmal Forest, and that it was taken up by a party of eight. Excluding our young Wanderer over there, I seem to count only two of you. Care to explain?”

Upon hearing that this was considered usual banter, Renya considered the implications and found them depressing. Shion and Rona, meanwhile, did not seem disturbed. Maybe they were used to it.

“In the middle of our investigation of the forest, we were attacked by the other six people. Renya came to our rescue during the incident and has been with us ever since.”

“Ah, understandable to a certain extent. Personalities aside, the two of you are rather attractive. Having the advantage in numbers and realizing you were isolated in a forest, I can see how they would have such impulses. The poor souls, really. Had they known what lay below the skin, they surely would have reconsidered.”

Renya mentally grimaced at Fritz’s barbed comment. Shion managed to restrain herself to merely maintaining her staring contest with the Vice-Branchmaster. Behind her, however, Rona’s aura changed. Her smile looked the same as before, but it now held daggers. Seeing that Rona was ostensibly unarmed, Renya began to wonder what kind of offensive abilities were available to gracecraft practioners. Despite their short time together, he knew she was not the type to simply snap, but everyone had their limits. He prayed he would not learn the limits of Rona’s patience today.

“And what of the other six people?”

“Renya beat them into the ground so we just left them there in the forest.”

“Oh? He did now, did he? Six adventurers who hailed from the Mercenary Kingdom, all by himself?”

Fritz looked at Renya as if seeing him for the first time, his eyes showing a hint of curiosity. The Vice-Branchmaster’s gaze stuck to Renya like some sort of thick, gluey fluid. It was not comfortable, and Renya found himself sympathizing with the girls’ plight. With a gaze like that, it was no wonder they hated him.

“I caught them off guard. They also underestimated me. If we went at it head-on, no holds barred, things might have been different. I was lucky,” mentioned Renya. No one had asked him to comment, but he felt like he should say something. Fritz nodded repeatedly as he listened.

“I see, I see. Most intriguing. So, the conclusion I am to take from this is that, regardless of how this sequence of events began, it ended with six of your colleagues from the same guild being left to die — a choice the three of you made willingly?”

“No, that’s incorrect,” interrupted Renya. Seeing that Shion was at a loss for words, and Rona stayed silent, he immediately stepped in. Brushing aside their shocked glances, he took a step forward, putting himself in front of Shion. “Two of them were dead as soon as they hit the ground. That was my doing. The other four wouldn’t have died if I didn’t knock them out. Therefore, any responsibility regarding those six people is ultimately mine.”

“Were those two not the ones who proposed leaving them in the forest?”

“Even so, considering I was the one who jumped in to help, if I insisted on taking them with us, we probably would have. One way or another, I had the final call.”

“But that’s…”

Shion did not finish her sentence. Renya glanced over his shoulder to find that it was Rona who stopped her by placing her hand on Shion’s shoulder. Taking that to mean she trusted him to handle the situation, Renya turned to face Fritz again.

“That’s the gist of it. Is there a problem? If so, I’m all ears,” said Renya, adding just a touch of emphasis to his question.

“A problem, you say…” Fritz smiled knowingly. “You do seem less clueless than the ladies behind you. I’ll give you that much.”

Renya felt a palpable flare of anger behind him. Keeping his expression perfectly still, he shot the two girls a glance that could be roughly interpreted to mean, “Please don’t say anything stupid.” He wasn’t sure if he they got the hint. Fritz, however, gave a small nod.

“There is no problem with the sequence of events you just described. Our dear ladies were assaulted in the forest by six of their peers. None of you are to be blamed for that. Then, you lent them a helping hand. This is also fine. Following that, you defeated the six men and left them in the forest. While one may debate the ethics of this particular action, it must be recognized that you were outnumbered. Furthermore, your opponents were the kind of heinous villains who would attack women six to two. It is understandable that you would be less humane in your approach afterwards.” Fritz paused for a moment to set his elbows atop the desk. He folded his hands together. “Hmm. Had this been Shion or Rona’s doing, valid reasons or not, I would have had to consider it a problem, to some degree.”

I thought so, you bastard.

Renya kept himself from scowling, but he definitely felt some disgust at the gleefully smiling Fritz. Originally, the three of them were probably supposed to share in the blame for the incident. Then, Fritz would claim that while they did violate a guild rule, he sympathized with their extenuating circumstances, but ultimately, he would still need to inflict some sort of penalty. Renya glanced at Fritz’s expression. Probably some minor penalty, at that. If he had to guess, it would have been a minor one-time contribution to the guild. Free labor for a day or something. When Shion had failed to reply, it was likely because she had not expected the incident to be turned into leverage for the guild to take advantage of.

“You do realize this is exactly the kind of stuff that loses you fans, right?” asked Renya, who could not resist a remark.

“I have not the slightest idea what you mean.” Fritz, however, played dumb. “In any case, your report of the incident has been duly noted. There shall also be no detaining of our dear Wanderer friend. As for the families of the deceased, should they exist and raise the question, they shall be informed that the members in question were killed in an accident after breaking guild rules.”

“Thank you for your understanding,” said Shion from behind. She lowered her head.

“Moving on, then,” continued Fritz. His expression darkened. “What of the investigation in the forest?”

Before a similarly gloomy-faced Shion could speak, Renya put his hand out and stopped her. Calmly and smoothly, he said, “I’ll report that. The situation with the forest isn’t good. That much should be obvious from the fact that a goblin horde with a leader attacked the settlers’ village. Monster activity might be growing more prevalent. I request further investigation to address that risk.”

Fritz, apparently caught off guard, stared blankly at him for a second. Even he probably did not expect the Wanderer of all people to butt in here, as well.

“Should you require proof of the goblin leader’s existence, I can present the manastones we collected. As for the size of their horde, I’m sure the number of manastones will speak for itself. We rescued almost half the villagers from the besieged village. I don’t believe that was a part of the quest, but we did so anyway. I think we deserve some recognition for going above and beyond the call of duty.”

“You rescued half of them? Don’t you mean you failed to save half of them?”

“You heard me. We rescued half of them. You think any of them would have made it out alive without our help?”

With a look of appraisal, Fritz glanced up from his seat. His upward gaze was met straight on by Renya, who maintained his poker face and stared back down at the Vice-Branchmaster.

“Well? Is there a problem?”

When Renya pressed him, Fritz briefly shook his head before replying.

“Are you familiar with a certain idiom? It’s not what you say, but how you say it?”

“Maybe. If you want to play word games, though, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

Renya’s answer was short and blunt. Fritz smiled wryly before spreading his hands and giving the desk a single thump. He stood up.

“Fair enough. Your report is approved, as are your assertions. We’ll discuss conducting further investigations on our side. Should the need arise, we’ll recruit other candidates.”

“Well, then. I think that wraps up the quest the two of them took on. I assume they were successful?”

“I acknowledge the successful completion of their quest. You may collect your reward at the counter outside.”

“Your understanding is appreciated.” Hearing that Fritz had given his word, Renya immediately spun on his heel. He had no intention of continuing the conversation any further. “All right, ladies, let’s get out of here.” He pushed Shion and Rona along as he made for the door. The former looked unsatisfied, as if she still had something to say. The latter wore an expression of pleasant contentment. Before he could leave, he heard Fritz’s voice behind him.

“Renya, do you intend to continue accompanying those two girls in the future?”

“Who knows? Take your best guess.” Without even glancing backward, Renya gave a curt answer and left the room.

Fritz followed Renya with his gaze, watching the back of his figure disappear beyond the doorway. He remained standing until the door finally swung shut. Then, like a deflating balloon, he let out a deep sigh and crumpled into his seat. Throwing himself against the backrest, he stretched out wide and stared up at the ceiling.

“Well, well, it didn’t exactly go as planned… But I suppose this works, too?”

The ceiling, unsurprisingly, did not answer back.

***

Two suns hid themselves away below the horizon. In their place, three moons rose high in the sky. A time of day that could reasonably be defined as evening had come. People began heading home, stores started closing their doors, and, as though there was some city-wide change of shift, a new group of people appeared to fill the void. Some were rosy-cheeked, having had their fill of drink. Others sought the facilities that would provide them with the nighttime entertainment they craved.

Renya’s form could be spotted through the windows of an inn that doubled as a tavern. Foul-smelling smoke swirled within its walls, released by the flames of candles that slowly chewed through their fuel of animal fat. Their glow illuminated a room that was rife with the commotion of tipsy patrons and full-blown drunks. It was, honestly, far too rowdy an environment to enjoy a meal. It was also probably the norm around these parts. So, Renya decided to ignore the issue.

He would have preferred to pick a quieter spot but found his hopes dashed by Shion, who said that inns were basically all the same no matter where you go. With little choice but to give up on his demands, he eventually went along with Shion’s recommendation and settled on the “Auberge Fantasme de Tous.” It was the inn where the two girls were currently staying.

After the exchange with Fritz at the guild’s branch office, the trio had received their reward for the investigation mission at the service counter along with Renya’s identification card. They also handed in the manastones they collected. The receptionist told them that once the manastones were appraised and examined, they would be sold and the profits delivered. Seeing that they had no further business at the guild, the three of them quickly left the building. It was mainly at the urging of Shion, who wanted to avoid running into Fritz again at all costs. Renya actually wanted to stay a bit longer and find out more about the guild, but he grudgingly made his exit as well. He had to make do with the basic explanations he was given, and so he organized the information in his head.

Firstly, there were penalties for breaking rules. For minor offenses, there might be a fine. At worst, the death penalty. Try to run, and the whole guild would be notified of a new name on the wanted list. The Adventurers Guild apparently had access to a fairly extensive intelligence network, and there was a hint of pride in the receptionist’s tone when she declared that for as long as the guild had existed, nobody who made it onto its wanted list ever got back off alive. This was attributable to the fact that their capture — either dead or alive — took the form of guild missions, each of which promised a handsome reward. As a result, adventurers kept a close eye on new postings and enthusiastically participated in pursuing the wanted. Thus far, no stray adventurers had escaped their colleagues’ eager eyes, bright and round like the coins they were promised.

Secondly, adventurers came with ranks. There were seven ranks in total: S, A, B, C, D, E, and F, with S being the highest for most intents and purposes. Ranks were assigned based on various factors, which included no-brainers like actual competency, but also level of contribution to the guild. S-rank adventurers were more or less treated as heroes. Among them, however, there were those whose skills put even their fellow S-rankers to shame. These elites were given the rank of SS, but their sheer exceptionality meant that few people even considered SS an actual rank. Currently, the number of adventurers recognized to be of rank SS amounted to no more than five.

Renya would have liked to gather some information about those five people as well, but he did not have enough time before Shion pulled him away from the guild. He did take the opportunity to ask Shion about her rank, which he learned was F. The answer was obvious, considering her short tenure as an adventurer. He took a look at his own card. As expected, there it was — a big, bright F.

Afterwards, Renya, who was clueless about the local geography, asked Shion where he could obtain some armor to replace the suit that was destroyed during the goblin attack. He also wanted a proper weapon. She took him to a store where he managed to acquire some leather armor and a longsword. The set came to one gold in total. He had no idea how this compared to the market average, but he decided to trust Rona, who carefully scrutinized every angle of the items before finally declaring that the price was probably reasonable. As for their quality, he made use of his own Appraisal skill. Both revealed themselves to be class 2 generics — average, run-of-the-mill items.

Shion had spent the whole time incessantly recommending metal armor to him. The things were expensive, heavy, hard to move in, and made him sound like a walking cupboard. There were literally zero merits, so he politely refused her suggestion. He had also hoped for a weapon of higher quality, but had to give up when the clerk told him that was the best they had. The longsword he settled on was, unsurprisingly, better suited to crushing than cutting. To his eyes, the ironwork was crude — the process probably involved little more than taking a chunk of heated iron and hitting it a few times so it looked like a sword. If this was the average quality of weapons in this world, it was very unlikely that he was going to find something that satisfied him. The thought depressed him. Fortunately, he was given the Blacksmith ability by the girl when he came to this world. He made a mental note of that fact, promising to himself that he would try his hand at the forge someday.

He paid using the money in his inventory. Shion offered to foot the bill, but was amazed to find him pulling out a gold coin himself. She continued to marvel at the feat for a good while afterward. To her credit, though, her bewilderment was well-deserved. Considering the Wanderers came to this world purely by accident, it was very much impossible for them to be carrying local currency. They had yet to receive their profits from the sale of manastones, so it must have seemed extremely odd for him to be carrying his own money.

After an intense bout of mental gymnastics, he managed to produce the truly abysmal excuse of “I found some on the ground when I came here.” Even he found his tale a difficult sell as he told it, fully expecting to be challenged. To his surprise, Shion took him at his word, saying that although the coins might have belonged to someone else, since the person dropped them, it was better for them to be put to use by Renya.

Too easy, Renya found himself thinking. So damn easy, in fact, that it’s bordering on morbidly naive. I worry about you.

“Renya, first, allow me to say thank you.”

The statement dragged him out of his thoughts and back into reality. He turned toward the speaker to find Shion staring meekly at him from across the table. Beside her sat Rona, who was smiling her usual smile. Renya brought a piece of his meal to his mouth, silently wondering what exactly he did to deserve any thanks.

Dinner was simple. He had ordered what was essentially a typical meal combo, and it came in the form of bread, soup, and a salad. The salad was little more than a mishmash of vegetables he did not recognize with a dab of salt and vinegar for seasoning. Nevertheless, perhaps owing to the vegetables’ inherent tastiness, he still found it fairly palatable. The problem, however, was the soup and bread.

Thin slices of meat stewed with some greens comprised the soup. It tasted plain, possibly due to a lack of salt. The bread was literally just a hunk of dough that had been thrown into an oven. He took a bite and immediately regretted it — the thing was hard enough to shatter teeth. It was probably meant to be broken apart and put in the soup to soften, but bread with no taste mixed with flavorless soup made for an extremely unappetizing combination. Having already had his fill of this kind of bread when they were waiting for rescue at the settlers’ village, he had high hopes for better food once they reached the city. The higher the hope, the graver the disappointment. Renya sighed, noting that there was much room for improvement in the local food culture.

“So, what were we talking about again?”

“I was expressing my gratitude, thank you very much for listening!” shouted Shion as she lurched toward Renya in dissatisfaction. Her words of appreciation, carefully selected after a long period of deliberation, were met with a look of complete puzzlement. The scene must have elicited some pity from Rona, who cut into the conversation.

“I believe she’s talking about the exchange with Fritz, the guild’s Vice-Branchmaster.”

“Oh, that,” said Renya as he gave up trying to eat the bread-rock and took a sip of the drink he ordered, “I don’t think that’s anything to be thanked for, is it?”

Carrying the same name and a similar texture to the drink in his original world, the ale was more sour than bitter and devoid of a head, having lost all its foam. Honestly speaking, this tasted bad, too. The fact that it was served warm made it even worse. He began having doubts as to whether the girl’s claims about this world’s delicious foods were true. If not, there went a good half of his reasons for living.

However, it was also true that the better something tasted, the more expensive it was. This held true regardless of the world and times. Therefore, Renya held onto hope of the possibility that even in this world, there were savory wonders waiting for him, as long as he was willing to splurge. Should that final glimmer of hope fail him, he would have to have a good talk with the girl after he died.

“Uh… Renya?”

“I said don’t worry about it. That whole mission was over the minute the goblins showed up. Investigation and elimination, right? You can say you failed all you want, but it’s not like anyone can say no if you claim you succeeded, either.”

Of course, if the mission had involved gathering details about how many goblin camps there were in the forest and how large they were, they would have definitely failed. He did not mention that, though. This was pure conjecture, but he suspected that the guild did not even need any of that information, especially considering they sent an apprentice duo and the Sleazy Six. No investigating was going to be done by that kind of crew. The guild probably figured that as long as a couple of adventurers were frolicking in the forest, they would run into some goblins sooner or later, and an eight-person party could probably handle weak monsters like those. Some crude goblin population control, if you will. Basically, as long as they killed some goblins and reported back, things would be fine.

Had they reported that they were unable to conduct a proper investigation and therefore failed the mission, the guild would have just taken them at their word. What followed would be simple: “No money from us, then. Oh, and have this penalty, too.” In other words, pure profit for the guild. For Renya, there was a take-away from this whole incident: honesty was a virtue, but at times, it could also be a serious flaw.

“Still, if it was me talking, things probably would have gone differently. Instead, we all got off scot-free, and with the reward to boot. I think that deserves thanks.”

Honesty was a virtue. It was indeed a virtue to be honest. But when it was preceded by the adjective “too damn,” it ceased being a virtue, leaving only the flaw part behind. Shion was, unfortunately, the very embodiment of this phenomenon. In fact, insisting that he did not need to be thanked was unlikely to result in anything but further stalemate. It was, however, simply a matter of phrasing. As long as Renya changed his approach, the solution would be simple.

“All right.” He nodded. “Your expression of gratitude has been duly accepted,” he said, making sure to emphasize “expression.”

Shion looked like she wanted to push the issue, but she ultimately swallowed her words. Knowing her personality, it was easy to guess that she probably wanted to give him part of the mission reward.

“Are you sure about this?” said Rona, taking Shion’s side. “The reward came out to 12 gold in total. Shion said she wanted to give you four.”

Renya shook his head. He had no clue when the two of them had discussed that, but he told them he had no intention of taking any money. The reward did not belong to him. It was not even his mission to begin with. He was not going to change his mind, no matter how much they insisted on sharing.

“On that note, is it just me or does that seem like a lot of money for a reward? Is this, like, par for the course?”

“You’re right. This is eight people’s worth.”

Rona explained that the reward was one gold and fifty silver per head. It took them two days to get there, two days to investigate, and two days to get back. Spread over six days, the daily rate was twenty-five silver. That was worth about $250 of old-world money, which seemed more or less reasonable. It seemed unnecessary to dole out rewards for dead people, but according to Rona, rewards for missions were predetermined upon commencement, so if the head count dropped, the extra portion was normally divided evenly among those present.

“F-Fine. Let’s say we’re done with the topic of rewards, then, and move on. Renya, this next topic, you see, is the most important one for me.”

Shion settled into her seat and let out a deep breath, as though she were mentally switching gears. With the air of someone about to divulge something of profound importance, she kept her eyes on Renya as she spoke. Sensing that he was about to hear something troublesome again, he looked off to the side and avoided meeting her gaze. Silently, he awaited her next words.

“Actually… I’d like to ask you to join our party.”

“You’re inviting me to your party? Me? A Wanderer?”

He recalled being asked something similar when they left the guild. Fritz had wanted to know if he was going to accompany the two girls. He was probably hinting at the impending invitation from the pair. If so, it meant these two showed some signs that suggested they were going to do this — signs that he missed, but Fritz noticed. He supposed the title of Vice-Branchmaster was not purely for show. At the time, he said he did not know. Now, with the question finally presented to him, he still had no answer.

First of all, he was not even sure why they were inviting him. He did wipe out an entire horde of goblins almost all by himself. In terms of his capabilities in battle, he was definitely a force to be reckoned with; that much was understandable. The bigger problem was his unique position. Being a Wanderer, he was not a denizen of this world. A background check would reveal nothing but his guild registration. Everything about him was shrouded in mystery. He was Sketchy with a capital S. If a person’s fishiness could be represented by a gauge, his would have wrapped around to the other side of the screen. On top of that, his common sense was functionally nonexistent in this world. He had no idea what kind of trouble he would get himself into. Wanderers were endless chains of problems just waiting to happen. Why would anyone want to be around a person like that? If anything, people would normally want to stay as far away as possible.

“Even though we haven’t known each other for very long, you can probably tell that I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed. I don’t know much about the ways of the world.”

Renya’s ears perked up. Ever since meeting the girls, he had been harboring some questions. To date, they remained unanswered. What Shion just said seemed to touch on that topic, so he gave her his full attention.

“That’s why I can’t handle situations like the one with the Vice-Branchmaster very well. Compared to me, you seem, well, very experienced with things like that.”

Renya mentally shrugged. He was, after all, 94 years old, albeit sans memories. If he turned out to be denser than the girls, that would be a failure of epic proportions. He wondered what Shion would say if he told her that.

“You’re really strong, too… I’d feel a lot safer if we had you as a companion. Otherwise, it’d just be the two of us, and I’m starting to think a party of two girls isn’t the best for adventuring.”

Being a man of reasonable restraint, Renya did not point out that she should have realized that a long time ago. Unless they were insanely strong, most people would team up with a bunch of trustworthy allies and seek safety in numbers. There was no way they were going to survive as adventurers otherwise. All things considered, the two of them were lucky to have made it even this far in their short adventuring life. They should be thanking the god of — somewhere, but definitely not here, considering this world was literally on the brink of demise thanks to said god’s mismanagement. There was that girl, too, but she also seemed like the wrong candidate. In the end, he decided that there must be some faraway god of fortune who would not mind an extra thanks or two.

“The goblin attack showed that you’re trustworthy, too. Usually, people would just run away from a situation like that. Instead, you stayed and helped us.”

“I feel like that was just sort of going with the flow.”

“Maybe it was. But I trust my heart. What do you say? Will you join us as a friend and tell us what you know? Of course, we’ll also explain as much as we can about this world, and we can help you out, too. I think it’s a pretty good idea, personally.”

Renya played around with thoughts of how much he could reasonably tell her, but to them, he showed only a faint smile. Taking it to be wry, Shion’s expression clouded. Rona, meanwhile, did a peculiar thing where she dropped the temperature of her smile. That was the only way to describe it. She kept smiling, but he could feel the chill in her gaze. It was honestly quite impressive. Figuring that she must be onto him, he covered his mouth with his right hand and chewed on his answer.

“Uh, okay, let me first say that I’m happy to have been invited. I’ve got nowhere to go, so I’m glad to have made some friends. As for my answer, though, I’d like some time to think on it. One night, to be exact.”

“I see. You’re right. It’s not something you can figure out immediately, and it’s the kind of decision that’ll affect a lot of things down the road. I understand. There’s no need to rush. We’ll wait for your answer. Hopefully, it’ll be the one that makes us happy, too,” said a noticeably more cheerful Shion. After expecting him to turn them down, hearing that he would think about it caused her expression to visibly brighten.

As for Rona, the frigidness in her gaze had waned, and her made-to-order smile, inscrutable as ever, had returned.

With a gulp, Renya downed the nasty ale that rolled around in his mouth, but he could do little about the uncertainties that continued to roll around in his mind.

***

He had no way to tell, but it was probably some time past twelve. Night was different here; once the city was asleep under the quiet veil of darkness, motion itself seemed to cease throughout the world. Nothing made a sound. Silence entered his ears like a constant buzz, alleviated only by the periodic whispers of his own breath.

When he was in the settlers’ village, he could hear the howls of creatures — dogs, or maybe wolves — from the forest. But in the city, even those were gone. Once the facilities in amusement districts shuttered their doors, residents returned to their homes. At this time of night, the sole proprietors of wakefulness were the grumbling city guards who were bound to their posts.

With his mind occupied by such thoughts, Renya sat up in bed. The room was dark. Each room had candles for lighting, but they were put out when people went to sleep. The sole source of illumination in the room was the window, which shimmered in the light of a brightly glowing moon. He approached it and looked up at the sky through its mildly transparent opening.

Night had teased him with only the lightest of slumber. Perhaps he was not as tired as he thought. Or maybe the bed was ill-fitting. Even the tranquilizing drinks at supper failed to lull him into a deep sleep. To Shion’s credit, the inn’s bed was clean — it did her recommendation proud. Nevertheless, something felt off. He could not put his finger on it, but something was preventing him from sleeping soundly.

His mind teetered on the brink of drowsiness, but it stubbornly refused to take the fall. Groggily, he sorted through the possible causes of his disturbance and considered the fact that he had yet to take a bath since coming to this world. It was not that he was lazy about it. It was simply that the habits of this world did not include taking baths. That of course begged the question of how the people of this world went about cleansing their bodies. Apparently, the answer involved a tub of hot water, a cloth, and lots of wiping. Renya was aware that he used to be Japanese. Consequently, he shared in their notions of hygiene; taking baths was a natural part of a day’s routine.

And he couldn’t do that.

Baths did exist, but the space required to set up a bathtub and the effort it took to heat enough water to fill it made the process prohibitively expensive. Renya knew that kind of bath was well out of the means of average citizens, accessible to only a handful of the rich and the nobility. It bothered him to no end, but he had no choice but to endure. The best he could do was ask the inn staff to bring him a tub of hot water and use that to wipe himself off before sleeping — a process that left him feeling strangely uncleansed. He concluded that true relaxation required the warm embrace of a proper bathtub.

With the culinary aspects of his lifestyle already in dire need of improvement, it was extremely worrying that the hygenic front was also becoming a pressing concern. It occupied his thoughts to the point that it squeezed the sleepiness right out of his mind.

As soon as he found himself fully awake, there came a soft rap at the door, followed by another. The timing was so perfect that he doubted his ears. He turned toward the door and waited. A short span after, he heard another knock. He was definitely not hearing things, but he also knew no one who would visit him in his room at this hour of the night.

He didn’t even know anyone in general. The only acquaintances he had were Shion and Rona. He supposed that Fritz also counted, considering he knew his name and face, but he definitely had not told Fritz where he was staying. That removed one possibility, which left the two girls who shared the same inn. Nice, young ladies like them, however, did not visit a man’s room in the middle of the night. It seemed like common sense to have at least that much discretion. Or did such rules of engagement not apply in this alternate world? Was it perfectly normal to walk into a man’s room at night here? If so, there was not much else he could say.

Were he the protagonist of a lighter variety of novels, this would be where he bounced up with glee, wondering when he triggered a flag with one of the heroines. Unfortunately, Renya was a hardcore realist with a healthy dose of pessimism. He was one hundred percent certain that no such delightfully embarrassing situations were about to befall him. If anything was to befall him from a visitor at night, it would be trouble.

Rummaging through what little belongings he had, he dug out the cooking knife he’d borrowed. He removed its sheath, gripped it in his right hand, and hid it behind him. Had he the option, he would have preferred to be holding the most powerful weapon he had — the longsword — but in the extremely unlikely case that it was not trouble knocking at the door, walking out with an unsheathed sword in hand would both scare the daylights out of his visitor and do irreparable damage to his image.

The knocks ended after the second round. Despite that, he was pretty sure someone was still waiting beyond that door. Carefully, he placed his left hand around the doorknob and spoke in a soft but clear voice to whoever stood on the other side.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Rona. I’m sorry to disturb you so late at night, but there’s something I’d like to speak to you about. May I come in?”

The voice was indeed Rona’s. It was now clear that the person beyond the door was someone he knew. Strangely, the smell of trouble also became ever stronger. He grimaced. Were it Shion at the door, he could at least assume that her sheer naivety and lack of prudence led her to the ludicrous act of coming to his room. There was at least that possibility.

With Rona, however, there was none.

At a glance, there was an innocent air to Rona that made her seem vulnerable. That was a lie. She was not vulnerable. In addition, she was a priest, albeit an apprentice, which meant she must be well-versed in such matters of appropriateness. She, a veritable paragon of prudence compared to Shion, had come to man’s room by herself in the middle of the night. There had to be something. The opposite was simply impossible. With that said, she was still someone whom he might be spending a lot of time with in the near future. Hostility was not an option.

“Can it wait till tomorrow? I’m ready for bed. And I’m pretty tired,” said Renya in a tone that said “no” in all but the word itself.

“It’s something we have to talk about now. I know I’m imposing, but the fact remains. May I?” replied Rona. Her defiance was also clear. She did not intend to back down.

Renya hesitated. It would be easy to flat-out deny her and tell her to go away. If that ruined his image in Rona’s eyes, he could simply turn down Shion’s offer. Clueless as he was about the world, he was confident he could somehow manage on his own. In reality, he asked for time to think only because it might hurt their relations down the road if he immediately rejected them. His answer had been no the whole time. If companions were necessary, then he preferred those of the same gender. Women were less comfortable to be around; there were too many things to keep in mind.

That was why he intended on declining Shion’s invitation tomorrow morning and heading to the guild to look for a party he could slip into. There were also other concerns: Shion always seemed sort of dense, and he could never tell what Rona was thinking. The two of them were keeping secrets, and they were the kind that reeked of trouble. His conclusion was obvious.

However, one issue remained. No matter how 94-years-old and lived-long-and-prospered and old-and-degenerate-and-emotionally-wilted-to-the-core he might be, he was still male. Just barely, perhaps, but he still considered himself a man. How appropriate was it, then, for him to reject a woman’s request so flatly? He had given no thought as to his appearance when he was in the settlers’ village, but the tub of water he got in the inn provided him with his first opportunity to take a look at his own face. In his reflection, he saw black hair, dark eyes, and truly average looks. Not good, and not bad. Passable in every way. He also saved the two girls and helped them at the village. Presumably, he gave them a good impression. If a one dollar lottery ticket could win a one hundred million dollar jackpot, surely, there was a very slim but very much existent possibility that she was here to confess the depths of her love to him.

“…Yeah, as if.”

His argument met a swift end at his own hands. Despite that, he still let Rona in. There were two reasons. The first was that he deemed himself capable of countering whatever scheme Rona had in mind. The second was that he simply could not think of a way to convince such an adamant Rona to leave.

“Okay, fine. The door’s unlocked. Open it if you want, but I’m not showing you in.”

After phrasing his words in a way that made it very clear he did not appreciate the visit but had no choice but to deal with it, he unlocked the door and immediately turned his back to it. Lowering himself onto his bed, he placed the knife beside his pillow and scrunched his face up into a wicked grin. Maybe the sight of it would convince her to go away.

He waited, then waited some more. Suddenly, it occurred to him that he never heard the door being opened. Was she waiting for him to open the door? Slightly amazed by the girl’s nerve, he turned around to find Rona standing inches away from his face, her smile unreadable as always.

A single thought — that he’d let his guard down — and a moment’s bewilderment at how she got in dulled his reflexes. In the span of a heartbeat, Rona tackled him and pressed him down on the bed. Question begot question in his mind, further slowing his reaction, as he wondered what kind of joke this was supposed to be. By the time he got his wits about him, he was fully at Rona’s mercy, and she was mounted upon him.

“Renya…”

With her hands on his shoulders, she kept him firmly pinned to the bed as she brought her face close. Understandably, her priest robe was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she wore a simple nightgown fastened at the waist by a string. It draped down her shoulders, opening wide at the chest — much wider than the priest robe — and showed off an unreasonable amount of skin. Naturally, two half-exposed mounds that he must not lay eyes on peered through the crack. Furthermore, because she was straddling him, the hem of her clothing was pushed all the way up her thighs, which left very little down there to the imagination. It was truly a very provocative sight, and Renya felt a slight — just the slightest — jump in his heart rate.

“I’m sure we both know what this means, so… shall we begin?”

“Uh, how about no? I don’t know what this means, and I sure as hell don’t remember setting off any flags like that.”

Rona’s hand snaked its way from his shoulder to the hem of his shirt. Before his brain could even process the heightened state of emergency, his shirt was already rolled up his chest. She shifted her hips slightly off his stomach and pressed herself against his exposed skin in an embrace. Her lips whispered into his ear.

“Is this clear enough? …Or do you have to hear it from my lips?”

Sans clothes, much of their skin came into mutual and intimate contact. The heat, the weight, and the softness all congealed into a wave of sensation that threatened to relieve him of his wits. Somewhere deep in his mind, the last vestiges of his good judgment was shouting desperately, trying to warn him that this was absolutely a trap. Their opponent, however, had an equally convincing argument: “Who cares if this is a trap? Why not just run with it?” After all, what was that saying again? Something something life, something something lemons? Whatever it was, he was staring at one heck of a lemon, and there was plenty of delicious lemonade to be had. He could definitely hear the tantalizing whispers of his other half.

What surprised him — other than his logical faculties seeming to have no control over his own body, of course — was Rona’s strength and how well she was handling the tussle. While he was caught off-guard and thrown onto his back, he was certainly not incapable of resisting. He tried multiple times to struggle out from under her, but she kept her arms and body latched firmly around his. Again and again, he failed to escape. In a test of pure strength, there was no way Renya would lose, but Rona had the positional advantage in this case. Until he figured out why she was doing this, he also did not want to resort to more drastic measures such as shoving her off by force or physically hitting her to make her flinch.

“Would you please stop struggling, Renya? …Just leave it to me. You won’t regret it.”

“No, no, stop! Damn it, woman, keep your pants on! Like, literally! Just calm down. Then again, maybe I’m the one who needs to calm down… Whatever! In any case, get off me already. I did nothing to deserve this!”

“Now, now, keep that mouth closed or you’ll wake up the neighbors. Unless… you want me to close it for you?”

“Knock. It. Off. Stop whispering in my ear. Stop making slurping sounds. And stop breathing on me.”

A moist warmth began to envelope one of his ears. He just managed to process the fact that she had taken a gentle bite when something soft and wet caressed his earlobe. The sensation sent a chill down his spine. At the same time, he decided that the situation had reached a critical state. No more games. He could either give himself over or show her the door. It was time to choose.

“Rona, this is your final warning. If you stop now…” he said as she nibbled on his ears with her lips.

“Renya…” She pulled her lips back. He felt teeth.

He took the hint. This was beyond the point of negotiation. His right hand curled into a fist, leaving the thumb pointing up.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He jammed his outthrust thumb up into the side of her ribs.

“Eeeyah?!”

She yelped in shock and he felt her let up her hold. He continued his assault, now aiming for both sides. Before she could retaliate, he slipped out from under her. Grasping a part of her clothes, he pulled hard on it and threw her onto the bed. With a leap, he grabbed the knife by the pillow and bounded away to the wall. First, he had to put some distance between the two of them. That was the instruction from the calm part of his mind. All the other parts had already melted into a honey-like puddle of sweet brain soup. Panting hard, he reminded himself that for all the conveniences of a young, virile body, it evidently was not without its flaws. He would have to be careful of such issues.

On the bed lay Rona, sprawled lazily across its surface. She made no attempt to get up. The veil of night kept the room dark. That was a good thing. As his breath slowed, Renya put his thoughts back in order. His face was probably bright red; he could feel the blood flooding his cheeks. Technically, he could also feel the blood flooding somewhere else lower down, but that was a physiological response and therefore did not count. Feeling entirely unconfident in his ability to resist another advance, he prayed she would stay down for a while. In the meantime, he took slow, deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. Silence ensued for some time, broken only by his progressively smoother breathing. Eventually, Rona spoke first.

“Well,” she said, still sprawled on her back, “that sure didn’t work. Too bad…” With her limbs spread casually across the bed, her body was flat except for two prominences on her chest that demanded the attention of onlookers.

Renya refused to give them his attention, lest it cause some inconvenient urges to stir again. Holding the knife he’d retrieved from the bed did not make him feel any safer. He was acutely aware of how ineffective a deterrent it would be against the monster that lay before him. A knife could not cut down a tidal wave.

“It was just getting good, too. I thought we had a thing going,” Rona lamented.

“The only thing that was going anywhere was my good sense, you idiot! I was this close to losing it!” snapped Renya.

Rona laughed. He gave her a glare that asked her what was so funny. She made no attempt to get up, turning only her head to face him.

“A shame you didn’t.”

“Care to do some explaining?”

“I wanted you to accept Shion’s invitation. That was all.”

“That was all? You expect me to believe that a priest of all people would resort to whoring herself out just to make me say yes to that?”

“I expect you to believe that I have my reasons for doing so,” she answered back with a bit of an edge to her voice. However, she soon sighed and said, “But, unfortunately, I failed. Renya, you were planning to turn her down, weren’t you?”

He found himself unsure how to reply. Should he keep playing dumb? Or was it better to be genuinely impressed at how perceptive she was? Before he could make up his mind, Rona continued, as though she never expected an answer in the first place.

“Personally, I’d very much prefer you take Shion up on her offer. Is there anything I can do to convince you?”

“Why? What’s your stake in this? And why are you so insistent on me?”

“To answer your first question, I just want you to. Call it a gut feeling. Look, Renya, you think Shion’s a clueless little idiot, right?”

“I wouldn’t go as far as idiot.”

“But you’re okay with clueless?”

Renya found himself agreeing, though in his head, he thought, You’re the one who said it, not me. To be fair, she was a good girl in general. Her kindness and earnestness were both positive traits. However, she also had a tendency to help people without any regard for the situation at hand. There were also times when shameless defiance would have served her far better than blind honesty, yet she immediately put herself on the back foot by admitting her own fault. As an adventurer, she definitely deserved to be called naive. Or, depending on one’s vocabulary, clueless. He bluntly conveyed these thoughts to Rona, and she nodded in agreement.

“That’s why I want you to join our party.”

“I seem to recall hearing the same thing from Shion, as well, but don’t you people think it’s risky to have me, a Wanderer, be the voice of reason for her?”

“Not at all. I’m of the opinion that you’re far more experienced than you look.”

94. Just saying. 94 years old here.

He was not actually worried about them knowing his actual age. He could have told them, but he figured there was no point; they would just assume he was joking. Instead, he kept the thought to himself.

“Please? If I offer myself, will that change your mind?”

“Damn it, woman, stop playing the prostitute card every time! What is it with you and that blatant disregard for your own body?”

“Well, let’s just say… a woman has her secrets.”

On the one hand, that was cheesy as heck. On the other, it was also an extremely tantalizing proposal. Normally, she was pretty enough, but right now, she was lying on the bed in a way that was almost asking him to approach. Even as they spoke, it took effort to keep himself under control. Given the chance to have their way with a girl of her calibre, most men would probably say okay without a second thought. Renya, however, was not most men. He firmly stood his ground.

“Actually, that’s not why I was going to decline the invitation. There’s another reason.”

Something had been bugging him ever since he met the two, and he decided he might as well ask now. Surely, they were already past the point of propriety. After an attempted seduction, anything was fair game.

“After I hear the explanation, assuming it clears up my concern, then I’d be open to accepting the invitation. Without your services, even.”

“I’ve got a creeping suspicion that whatever you’re about to ask is something I’d rather not answer.”

“It’s nothing complicated. Just treat it like we’re comparing answers. I show you what was bugging me, and you show me what you know.”

Rona tilted her head, her face a mask of innocent incomprehension. Her gesture was so natural and charming that any other guy would have doubted his own words, figuring he must have said something strange. Renya was not convinced.

“You can play dumb all you want, but I’m going to start talking,” pressed Renya.

“As you wish. I’m listening,” she replied smilingly.

“The first thing goes back to when we first met,” Renya said as he dug through his memories. “Something doesn’t add up. If we assume you were on a mission to investigate the forest as you told me afterwards, that party composition makes no sense.”

“Does it not? What was wrong with the party?”

“You don’t think there’s anything wrong with a party of two girls joining a party of six guys for the same mission? That just screams danger. If you were originally an eight-person party, then sure. But you weren’t. You were two separate parties that knew nothing about each other. That’s like slapping a wolf on the nose with a piece of meat.”

“Hmm…”

“Granted, the two of you might have been master adventures who could handle six guys in your sleep. In that case, it would be understandable. But then you declared that you were both apprentices.”

Rona continued to watch Renya from the bed. Her expression was unchanging, shielding her thoughts from him.

“Continue, please.”

“…The second thing is your appearance. No matter how you look at them, your clothes don’t fit you. If you tell me it’s for some religious purpose, or if that’s just your taste in clothes, then I’ll take it. To me, though, it looks like you’re purposefully emphasizing the curves on your body by wearing clothes that are a size too small.”

“Is that how you were looking at me? How lewd.”

Rona squirmed, as though she was embarrassed. To Renya’s suspicious gaze, however, her swaying mounds no longer enticed him. If anything, it seemed more like a deceptive trick meaning to draw his attention. Skeptically, he kept his eyes on her as she wriggled around. After a while, she stopped, apparently noticing that it was having no effect.

“Are you wondering why I’m doing that?” she asked.

“Back in my world, we call that a form of misdirection. To put it simply, it’s a technique that pulls the attention of people around you toward yourself. For women, they’d purposefully dress lightly, wear short skirts, or show a lot of skin.”

“Your world doesn’t have it easy either, does it?” said Rona in a profoundly sympathetic tone.

Renya did not entertain the tangent, choosing instead to continue on.

“The third is your names. This is only a hunch, since I don’t know much about how things work in this world, but the two of you have both a first name and a family name. In Shion’s case, her family name is extra complicated. It seems like a compound name or something.”

“What’s the matter with that?”

“There are these things in my world called novels that we read. According to them, when a name is long, it tends to be long for a reason. Or, it could be a sign of nobility.”

“I definitely wasn’t aware of that. Granted, I was also sweating a little when Shion just went and blurted out her whole name. Wasn’t expecting that, to be honest,” said Rona. She kept smiling, but she also let out a small sigh.

“And the fourth is the sword I borrowed when we fought the goblins.”

“Ah, right. That, uh… Even I thought that was a problem.”

The slightest hint of a grimace marred her smile, but it passed quickly.

“The blade itself was nothing special,” continued Renya, “but the hilt was something else. Then, Shion said it was an heirloom, after which you said it should be fine if I’m a Wanderer.”

“You don’t forget, do you?”

“Putting all of that together, I figured that the emblem of the two dragons carved into it was some sort of family crest. Specifically, Shion’s family crest. And the reason you said it should be fine was because you thought a Wanderer wouldn’t recognize where it came from. Any objections?”

“Why couldn’t they have just passed down through her family as a piece of art? Maybe they just appreciated the craftsmanship,” argued Rona in a tone that suggested even she was not convinced by her own words. Renya, of course, saw that coming.

“Then she sure as hell wouldn’t be carrying it around as a backup weapon, now, would she?”

“Ah… Right. She did say it was a backup weapon.”

“Okay, the fifth…”

“…There’s more?”

The smile had completely faded from her face. She now regarded him intently, her expression serious. It did not faze him, and he fully intended to press the assault. He had good reason to — Rona had yet to officially confirm any of his hypotheses.

“The name on the adventurer card. I only caught a glimpse of Shion’s, but it had just a single name on it. She verbally told me her full name, but the card only had her first name. Maybe it was nothing. But maybe it wasn’t, in which case it only provides further evidence for my third point. In other words, she’s from a special family — the kind that if anyone who knew her family name saw it on her card, they’d know exactly who she was and where she’s from.”

“I’m surprised you saw that. I must not be jiggling them enough…” she said as she wrapped her hands around her breasts and bounced them up and down. This had the irresistible effect of pulling his eyes toward them, no matter how conscious of her intent he was. Seeing this, Rona grinned and said, “Aha. Progress.”

Renya blushed a little. “Shut up. I’m a guy, too. Moving on. The sixth thing.” With a concentrated effort of will, he peeled his eyes away from her bouncy breasts and kept speaking. “The guard hesitated for an instant when he was giving your cards back.”

“I’m sure that was because he was loathe to part with the pleasant warmth of our bodies on the card.”

“Yeah, half of me wants to agree with you. But that’s not true, is it? I believe what actually happened was that the guard recognized one of you.”

Rona made no reply. Gone was her playful grin. She fixed Renya with an intent stare.

“Well? That wraps up the list of things about you two that were bugging me. Anything to say for yourselves?”

“I’m not sure what to say… I thought I was being careful, but I suppose I was only fooling myself.” She looked down and gave a conciliatory shrug. “But to answer your questions… Number one, I took up a mission like that on purpose so Shion can learn to be more careful.”

“I guess she hasn’t been adventuring for very long?”

“That’s right. She’s been at it for about a month. I swear, that girl has no sense of danger. I figured it might do her some good for her to be in real danger for once.”

While he understood the intention, her particular method of doing what amounted to shock therapy seemed far too risky. Renya’s appearance was pure coincidence. She could not have accounted for his help when she was cooking up this plan. That meant she was expecting an attack, and she had meant to handle it with just the two of them.

“Oh, just to be clear, I am a knight. Used to be, anyway. That was my original profession. I can mop the floor with six guys like them barehanded. You don’t get assigned as a bodyguard just by looking pretty. You need the chops.”

Rona appended an explanation after seeing the doubt in his expression. The revelation surprised him, but it also helped explain how she’d managed to pin him down just moments before. He nodded in understanding. Basically, he was dealing with a case of falsified professional identity. To his chagrin, he also realized that meant she was vastly underperforming during the goblin attack.

“The fact that I’m a knight is top secret, so… Unless we’re in seriously dire straits, I’ll always be doing the priest thing.”

“Geez, thanks… Then, the reason you can’t use magecraft is…”

“If I could use magecraft on top of being a knight and a priest, I might as well go save the world!”

Presumably, what she meant was that she would be far too overpowered. Also, while it was not her real profession, she technically was still a priest.

“As for the second question, you’re absolutely correct. This is actually pretty uncomfortable, you know… but, well, it comes with the job,” she confessed as she gently stroked her own chest. Whether she meant it was physically constricting or psychologically embarrassing was unclear. Maybe both. “Question three. You’re correct in assuming that Shion is of noble blood. I cannot, however, reveal her full identity to you at this time.”

Renya nodded and prompted her to keep going. So long as his position remained unclear, he could not expect her to divulge everything.

“Question four. You’re right about this, as well. That emblem is a symbol of Shion’s lineage.”

“Which means my fifth question is…”

“Yes. Registering her with her full name would cause all sorts of commotion.”

“Then, the sixth question…”

“If I’m to be picky, I’d point out that technically, the guard did not recognize one of us. He probably recognized both.”

Rona smiled at him and told him that she has answered all his questions. He leaned against the wall and placed his hand on his forehead before speaking.

“So, let me get this straight. Shion is a princess from some noble lineage whose identity needs to be all hush-hush. You, Rona, are a knight-slash-apprentice-priest assigned to be her bodyguard. I don’t know how the two of you ended up in this position, but being new to this whole adventuring business, you figured some help would be useful. And that’s where I come in. You saw that I seemed fairly competent and decided to nab me for your purposes.”

“Yes, but mind you, those are my reasons for doing this. I doubt Shion gave it this much thought. She probably just sees you as a strong and reliable guy whom she can trust, and she wants you to be her ally and her friend.”

With an innocent grin, she offhandedly mentioned how glad she was that she let Renya do the honors when they were trying to figure out a compromise to Shion’s stubborn insistence to help the settlers’ village. He glared at her. If gazes could kill, he would have had blood on his hands by now.

“In other words, you’re the evil mastermind behind all this.”

“And I’m quite proud of it.”

“The smell of trouble around you is so thick you could cut it with a knife. Don’t drag me into your problems.”

“Aww. Don’t be like that. If you’re mean to me, I’m going to sit here for the whole night, and then go cry in front of a bunch of people about how you had your way with a poor, defenseless girl like me.”

“Damn it, woman! In that case, I might as well just go ahead and take you for a spin, then! How about that, huh?!”

“About time. Come on, then! Show me what you’ve got! Give me some lovin’!”

Rona spread her arms wide on the bed and invited him to approach by curling her fingers at him. The hopelessness of his situation dawned on him and he looked up at the ceiling. The girl in front of him was all in on this bet from the start. She was ready to wager everything she had. Renya, on the other hand, was not. Be it in negotiating, gambling, or fighting, the strongest contestant was he who had nothing to lose. In other words, this match was decided the minute Rona set her eyes on him. He was not going to win. At this point, the most he could do was damage control and try to wrestle the most favorable conditions out of her. With that in mind, he raised both hands in a sign of surrender.

“Okay,” he said, eyes still fixed on the ceiling, “you got me. I give. No promises about how much I can do for you, though.”

He glanced at the bed. Rona beamed at him, her expression entirely satisfied.