Bonus Short Stories

Bad Conclusion

Lorraine and I sat before a woman on a sofa as she described her tragic situation to us in full. She said that her husband had gonewent missing a while ago. He hadn’t been seen in over a week, so she finally put out a search request through the guild, and we accepted it. We visited her in person so we could ascertain the situation and assess his behavior around the time he disappeared. He actually seemed pretty wealthy, as he owned a large mansion with numerous servants. I could guess why the reward for this job was so high. It was enough for both of us to live in leisure for an entire month.

And yet nobody else took this job, presumably because of the difficulty. There would be no reward if he wasn’t found, and there was no guarantee he could be located. Unless you had some special skills, the smart thing to do was pass. In our case, however, Lorraine had spells that allowed for a meticulous search, and I had the ability to locate humans by smell. We had a relatively high chance of success, so we took the job.

The woman immediately provided us with a portrait and a description of him at the time he vanished. Lorraine and I looked at each other and nodded.

“Can you show us your husband’s room, then?” I asked. “Maybe there are some clues that’ll help us find him.” Even for us, searching for him without anything to go on would be a challenge. Some investigation was required.

“This way, please,” the woman said and led us through the mansion.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Lorraine, I think this might be worse than expected,” I said.

“So it seems. But all of these books are sketchy. I can’t imagine he could actually accomplish his goal,” Lorraine agreed. She traced the spine of a book we found in the room.

The room clearly belonged to a man who took on a lot of work, and there didn’t seem to be anything special at first sight. However, after rummaging around for a while, Lorraine discovered some suspicious mana. We found that it came from the bookshelf and the wall. We searched them, and there certainly seemed to be something there. When we took out some books that emitted a faint amount of mana, the bookshelf automatically moved to reveal a hidden door behind it.

We searched the hidden room and found a number of suspicious tomes, along with magic items and a magic circle on the floor. Most of the books described forbidden magic practices, so there was a good chance the husband was dabbling in those. That was what made this whole situation worse than expected. But this wasn’t something so easy to succeed at, and the husband’s disappearance was likely a result of his failure. If so, it wouldn’t be strange if no trace of his body remained.

Whatever the case, we reported our findings to his wife. She looked shocked at first, but she accepted the possibility in the end. Then we took out a map and showed it to her.

“What’s this?” she asked and cocked her head.

“We found this in your husband’s hidden room,” Lorraine explained. “I think you’ll understand once you look at it, but it shows a location about half a day’s worth of travel outside of Maalt. There’s probably something there.”

“Could it be my husband?”

“It’s possible, but it could also be nothing. That’s why we’re telling you about this last. Apologies.”

“No, I understand. You wanted to prepare me for the worst. There’s nothing wrong with that. But if he might be there, can you search the area for me? I don’t mind raising the reward if necessary.” She was pretty worried about her husband. The woman sounded absolutely desperate.

“Of course. The reward is already enough as it is, so we plan to head there first thing tomorrow morning. You don’t need to beg us.”

“Thank you so much. I’m glad you’re the ones who took the job.”

◆◇◆◇◆

The next day, we immediately departed from Maalt for the destination in question. We traveled by carriage for a while and then got off and headed through the forest until we saw it.

“A shack?” I said.

“Looks like it. Is the husband there?”

“Maybe. Let’s check it out.”

When we got to the shack, I knocked on the door. “Is anybody there? Dang, no answer.”

“Maybe it’s empty,” Lorraine muttered.

But I shook my head. “No, somebody’s there. I’m sure you wouldn’t know, but this place smells strongly of blood.”

“What? If you notice it, then does that mean it’s human blood?”

“I guess it’d have to be. Not only that, but it’s pretty fresh. Seems like it belonged to a young woman. It’s from about three days ago, I think.”

“Should we force our way in?”

“I guess we’ll have to!” I shouted and rammed into the door, destroying it. I was sure someone had to be inside, but to my surprise, the shack was unoccupied. “This place is probably like his room. The smell is coming from down below.”

“Another hidden room, then? You think there may be something underground? Oh, there really is something,” Lorraine said after looking under a carpet. A part of the floor was a different color from the rest. She opened it up and discovered a staircase leading underground.

“I’ll go first,” I said.

“Are you sure?”

“If worse comes to worst and I get taken off guard, I should still be able to make it out somehow. You stay back and prepare to use some magic.”

“Understood.”

◆◇◆◇◆

“Where did you come from?!” a man asked as we reached the bottom of the basement. It was the husband we were looking for. He looked somewhat sickly but otherwise appeared as he did in the portrait.

There was a bed behind him with a young woman lying upon it. Beside her was yet another person, and I could see that they were eating her. The smell of blood wafted from the bed, meaning she must have been the young woman I smelled. I doubted she was still alive.

“We’re here at the request of your wife, of course,” I said. “She wanted someone to find you after you disappeared.” It was extremely hard to say that he should return to her after what I saw here, so I left it at that.

To my surprise, the husband sneered. “She’s looking for me? Ridiculous. Only because she thought it was convenient for her, I’m sure.”

“What?”

“You don’t know? She cheated on me behind my back. This is who she cheated on me with,” he said and pointed to the man eating the woman. He looked young judging from his face alone, but his skin and flesh were rotting, so he was clearly not well.

“She didn’t seem demented enough to sleep with a ghoul,” Lorraine said. The young man was undoubtedly a ghoul.

“I turned him into this. He’s eating his own wife. The goddamned bastard insulted me!”

“You? Well, now I see what those forbidden books were for. But controlling a ghoul isn’t something any ordinary human can do.”

“I’m impressed you know that. Yes, that’s why I turned myself into a thrall. I was lucky enough to get ahold of some vampire blood.”

Lorraine frowned. “You drank it? I don’t know if I’d consider that lucky.”

It was said that by drinking the blood of a vampire, a human could turn themselves into a vampire. But just about all attempts at this failed, and the humans lost their minds. The same had presumably happened to this man.

“Rentt, there’s only one thing to do.”

“Right.”

Lorraine and I slayed the monsters. They were so weak it was an easy job, but it felt unpleasant. After that, we buried them and the young woman near the shack. Then we brought their belongings back to Maalt.

◆◇◆◇◆

We explained everything that transpired to the wife and then handed her husband’s belongings over.

“Yes, this belonged to my husband,” she said, her hands quivering. “Here’s your reward. Thank you for everything; now I can finally calm down.” She smiled faintly, but something about that smile seemed different from before.

Lorraine must have noticed it as well. After we accepted the reward and were about to leave, she asked the wife a question. “Your husband said that you cheated on him. Is that true?”

She would no doubt deny that it was, I thought, so her answer was unexpected.

“I tricked him into thinking I did, actually.” Lorraine looked at her with confusion. The woman’s eyes looked ominous as she explained further. “It was dreadful. When he said he planned to retire soon, I didn’t especially mind, but then he started saying he was going to give half of his wealth to the child of his previous wife. I thought he’d gone mad. That’s why I set it up so he would settle all of this himself. I made him think that I cheated on him and that I was going to take his entire fortune for myself and my new partner. He actually did exactly what I hoped he would do. When he investigated this partner and found he was married, my husband went after his wife too. Even though his wife was actually the daughter of my husband’s previous wife. They hadn’t seen each other in over a decade, so he probably didn’t recognize her. Not that he was entirely sane by that point anyway. Now his fortune is all mine. Good work, you two. Goodbye now.”

The door creaked closed, shutting us outside. Only now did we learn that this was all a plot devised by her.

“Rentt,” Lorraine started.

“No, Lorraine, there was nothing else we could do. From the moment we accepted the job, it was all over.”

“Should we tell the authorities?”

“It’s pointless; we have no proof. And even if we can demonstrate that it’s true, she didn’t personally commit any crime. The law can’t touch her.”

We trudged back home. We didn’t speak much for the rest of the day, and in my dreams, I saw that terrifying woman’s face, cackling in the dark.

◆◇◆◇◆

A few days later, I headed to the mansion and found it completely burned down.

“How did this happen?” I asked one of the people standing around.

“It just suddenly caught fire last night. Probably arson, I guess. Is that all you needed?”

“Oh, yeah.”

He walked away. Still in shock, I stared at the remains of the mansion for a while. Then I noticed something. Near the edge, around where the fire most likely started, I saw something familiar. It was the necklace belonging to the young woman we buried in the forest. It was charred black but still recognizable. Nearby, I found some human bones as well. They also belonged to the young woman.

I wondered how this was possible, but maybe she had become undead by the time we buried her. She seemed entirely dead at the time, but if she was only just becoming undead, it could have escaped my notice. Then she must have dug out of her grave and burned this mansion down. That would explain everything, but I had no proof of this either. Both the mansion and the woman were incinerated. According to others in the area, the wife who lived here had died as well.

Maybe I should have thought of this as an appropriate punishment for her crimes, or maybe I should have been outraged about how horrific the whole incident was. But in the end, I didn’t know what to make of it.

Leisurely Fishing

I left my village at the age of fifteen, when I was allowed to register as an adventurer. This story takes place a few months before that.

I and a childhood friend I grew up with were crafting one of our village’s specialty products, wooden handicrafts, in the main square. My friend’s name was Doras. I was three years older than him, so he was like a little brother to me. His father was one of the village artisans, and Doras seemed to take after him by being more inclined to silently focus on his work than to talk on the job. But that day he said he had a question for me. Surprised, I asked him what it was.

“Well, you swing that sword around a lot, but between all the different jobs you do, I was wondering if that gets exhausting,” he said.

I thought it was a strange thing to wonder about, but it was easy enough to answer him. “Sure, it can be exhausting. The work tires me out and all, and then I have to practice with my sword.”

“You could just stop.”

“No way. You know what I’m doing in three months?”

“Leaving the village, right?”

“Right, to become an adventurer. And to be an adventurer, I’ll need some degree of combat skill. If I can’t at least train myself, then I’m hopeless. It’s not like I can just quit.”

Yes, I couldn’t stop now. Not when I wanted to become a Mithril-class adventurer. I didn’t know how much time it would take, but I would get there one day. And to make that happen, I had to practice no matter how tired I got.

“That’s what I wanted to talk about, Rentt,” Doras said timidly.

“What?”

“Nothing’s going to stop you from leaving the village, is it?”

I shook my head. I had already decided to leave. I could understand why they’d want to stop me, though. One wrong step as an adventurer could spell death for me. Doras thought it would be better to avoid danger and enjoy life in the village, as so many others had told me before. But it was too late to change my mind. I was resolute in my decisions, and the whole village knew it, including Doras.

“Why ask me this now?” I asked. “Just a little while ago, you were encouraging me. You even said you looked forward to souvenirs when I came back to visit.”

Doras had actually approved of my idea to leave the village. He sometimes longed for the big city and hoped to go there himself someday, so he asked me to tell him all about it when I came back to visit home.

“Of course I’m looking forward to souvenirs, and I also want to live in the city myself.”

“Then why ask me to reconsider?”

“I think Riri will be lonely, so I wanted to see if there’s anything I could do.”

I wasn’t expecting to hear that name, but now I understood. Riri was another of my childhood friends. She and Fahri, also one of my childhood friends, always hung out with me. They were both seven years younger than me, so they were just eight years old at the time. Doras was twelve, so there was a four year difference between him and them.

I got why he was worried about Riri. I was positive that he liked her, in fact. Riri and Fahri were both adorable girls, and they would likely grow up to be beautiful. They also had cheerful personalities, and they were popular both with their own age group and with older boys like Doras. But Riri seemed to like me a fair bit, and Doras knew that. She seemed a little depressed as of late because I was planning to leave the village. If that was what this was about, though, then there was something I had to say to Doras.

“Doras, do you like Riri?” I asked.

“Uh, n-no, I wouldn’t say that,” he responded, obviously flustered. But there was no use questioning him further, so I just moved on.

“If you do like Riri, then you’d be wrong to stop me.”

“Why?”

“Think about it. Riri, well, she seems to kind of like me.”

“Yeah,” Doras said with a sigh.

“But that’s just because I’ve looked after her since she was little. You must’ve had a similar relationship with an older girl, right? In this village, kids look after the younger kids, whether they’re related or not.”

“Sure, you’ve got a point there.”

“But those feelings don’t last forever, you know. Riri’s not going to feel that way about me for long.”

Now it seemed like Doras got the point. He was only twelve, but he was good at using his head. After thinking for a bit, he said, “And if you leave the village, she’ll forget about you sooner?”

“Right. And rather than yearn for a guy who’s away for years, she’ll be more interested in someone close by. So, Doras, you should be happy to see me leave. Am I right?”

“Rentt, I get what you’re saying. Forget that I told you to stay. But I’ll be lonelier without you too, to tell you the truth. And so will Riri. Come back as often as possible.”

“You’re too nice. Riri’s never going to fall for you if you act like that.”

“Look, I’m not trying to―Oh, nevermind, no use trying to hide it. But it’ll happen if it happens. Seems like you’re only interested in being an adventurer, so I’ll take my time here.”

“Good luck to you. Well, I’ll come back once in a while, then. Look forward to whatever stories I have to tell or souvenirs I have to give. I’ll even pick out some good gifts for you to give to Riri.”

“That’d be nice. I’ll keep practicing till I can make something that’ll be useful to you out in the city.”

Three months after that conversation, I departed from the village as planned. I made Maalt my home, and just as I told Doras, I returned to the village as often as possible. But those instances were more spread out than anticipated, so I only came back once every two or three years. No matter how much time passed, Riri and Doras’s relationship never seemed to blossom into love. Even then, he took his time and waited. Riri was certainly still popular, but maybe it’d be a man like Doras who hooked her in the end.

One Day

Where did you get that?!” Lorraine asked as I returned to her house after finishing a job.

Dangling from my back was a rabbit tied up with string. I had caught it this morning and had drained the blood, so it was still fresh. Not only that, but this variety of rabbit monster was rare and considered a delicacy. Not even skilled hunters caught one of these often. I would have kept it in my magic bag to hide it from thieves, but I took it out before I entered the house so I could brag to Lorraine. She reacted exactly how I had hoped.

“Well, here’s the story,” I said with a chuckle.

◆◇◆◇◆

I was surrounded by dense foliage. Hardly any light shone through the leaves and branches of the great trees, but that was preferable for an undead man like myself. For ordinary humans, however, it was like the darkness of night. There was a path with faint footprints here, which left me with some questions. I could see no reason why someone would live in this inconvenient location, but I came from a village in the middle of nowhere, so maybe I’m not one to talk. I proceeded down the path, not out of curiosity but because of my job. My magic bag contained a letter meant for my target.

◆◇◆◇◆

I kept muttering to myself as I walked down the path. That was partially because I was lonely and partially because going too long without talking would make it hard to speak when necessary. There was always the possibility of passing somebody on even the most empty roads, and if you didn’t say something, they might take you for a ghost or monster and attack. Being ready to speak at a moment’s notice was something every adventurer practiced.

At the end of the narrow path, I saw bright light. I gleefully ran toward it and exited the dark and oppressive forest, finding myself in a wide open space. The first thing that caught my attention was the glistening lake and then the grassy field around it. I further observed the area and saw a hut surrounded by a small garden with fresh vegetables. This was my destination.

I walked straight up to the hut and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. I knocked a few more times, and on the fifth attempt, the door jerked open. A weapon stabbed at me from the other side, but I frantically jumped out of the way.

“Hm?! Oh, you aren’t a monster,” the bearish old man on the other side of the door muttered. He was tall and muscular for his age, like a martial artist.

I remained wary of the old man as I approached. “I’m sorry for the sudden intrusion, but are you Jid Dalger? Father of Razzie Dalger?” I asked.

“I am. Sorry about all that; I’ve been getting the occasional visit from gran bears lately, and they even knock. I thought you were one of them. I don’t exactly get many visitors, and if I do, it’s just my hunter friends.”

Gran bears were a type of bear monster that were, of course, dangerous. They were easier to deal with than other bear monsters, so a group of Bronze-class adventurers was enough to handle one, but they weren’t something you wanted coming to visit, obviously. I didn’t know how he could mistake me for one of them, but given the location of this hut, maybe that was just the most sensible thing to expect.

“In that case, I guess I can’t blame you,” I said. “This kind of thing happened at the hunter homes in my hometown too.”

“You’re a hunter?”

“No, an adventurer. I’m here to deliver this,” I said and handed the letter over.

Jid’s eyes went wide when he saw the name of the sender. “I see. Well, come on in. You’ll have to tell me about this.”

“Got it.”

◆◇◆◇◆

The greatest hunter in the village of Shigaon was Jid. He had an only son named Razzie who ran a mid-sized business in Maalt. Razzie was about fifty years old and had his own son. The letter said that Razzie’s son, Dat, was going to get married and he wanted Jid to attend the wedding.

When Jid finished reading the letter, he smiled bitterly. “He left the village because he didn’t want to be a hunter and then refused to invite me to his own wedding. I guess his feelings have changed,” Jid said.

Razzie told me that he and Jid had been antagonistic toward each other for a while, and from the way they acted, that seemed to be accurate.

“Razzie’s an adult now. He probably understands how you felt then,” I offered.

“Well, I get what you’re saying. I’m not against going to the wedding, Rentt, but there’s one thing I’d like to ask of you.”

“What?”

“Oh, it’s nothing much.”

◆◇◆◇◆

The wedding had tons of guests. For a wedding for the heir of a mid-sized company, it was unusual to see a self-serve buffet as the only option for food. But the quality was great, and the unique style of the party seemed to be well received.

I felt just a bit out of place there, but I attended the wedding at the request of the family. Besides, it wasn’t all bad. All of the food was excellent, and the main course featured an extremely rare monster called an aurum rabbit. There was enough for all three hundred guests, and everyone was shocked to see it but delighted to eat it. I partook in it too, and while I wasn’t that impressed by any ordinary cooking anymore, I found it surprisingly tasty. These rabbits were caught by none other than Jid. His skills were apparently as magnificent as claimed. Not only that, but I got a whole rabbit as a gift. I couldn’t wait to bring it home to Lorraine.

“Hey, Rentt, how do I look? I’m not too conspicuous, am I?” Jid asked. He no longer looked like the hunter I met by the lake in the forest, now wearing his wedding attire. It looked a bit tight simply because he was so brawny, but it was order-made, so it actually fit perfectly. His request had been for me to lead him around town and help him find new clothes for this occasion. He was from a small town, so he didn’t know what he was supposed to do, according to him. I’d accepted his request and introduced him to some stores.

“Jid, you look fine. In fact, you look great,” I said.

“I hope you’re right. This is my grandson’s big day. He doesn’t want his grandfather looking like a hunter.”

“Come on, it doesn’t matter how you look. You’re a great grandfather, and a great father.”

Jid not only went out of his way to get dressed up, but he acquired the rare ingredients needed for the main dish. For a mid-sized company employee to get this many aurum rabbits, Jid had to be incredibly generous.

“I hope so. Anyway, thanks for the help. Make sure you get that rabbit home. Also, Rentt, tell me when you’re having a wedding. I can catch something even better for you.”

“I don’t know when that’ll be happening, but I’ll keep that in mind.”

◆◇◆◇◆

“This is divine. Aurum rabbits live up to their reputation,” Lorraine said as she ate. Thankfully I seasoned it properly.

As we ate and chatted, Lorraine suddenly said, “I doubt we’ll get the chance to eat a delicacy like this again in at least ten years, unfortunately.”

“Well, there’s a way we could get some faster.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jid said he could get something for us, next time there’s a chance.”

“I see! I look forward to that.”

He said it would specifically be for a wedding, but I left that part out.

Gambling

I was in the village of Wega, a short distance from Maalt. The village had only a single bar. Lorraine and I, along with some young men from the village, were drinking together when someone suddenly came up behind me and askedsaid, “You the guy who―Hic, who beat the lord of the forest?”

“Are you talking to me?” I asked. He had comecame out of nowhere and his eyes were unfocused, so I wasn’t sure who he was talking to at first, but the man didn’t seem to get it.

“Who else would I be talking to, huh?”

Around us were four men from the village, along with Lorraine. He could have been talking to any of them, but logical arguments wouldn’t work on a man like this. He was clearly drunk. I made eye contact with Lorraine and then decided to deal with this person however seemed appropriate.

“All right, just tell me what you want.”

“I just asked you! Are you the guy who beat the lord of the forest?”

“Oh, the lord of the forest? That somewhat larger than average goblin?”

Lorraine and I were here because, like this man said, a big goblin had appeared in the forest. It was attacking the village and farms, so there was a job out to slay it. The damages apparently weren’t serious at first, but the goblin gradually got more brazen until it even attacked the village during the day and stole crops and livestock from the villagers. It never went after the villagers themselves, however, unlike most goblins. It seemed to know it would get away with stealing for longer that way. These sorts of goblins who considered the consequences of their actions were sometimes peaceful, and they would set up their own settlements from which to do trade with humans. But this one wasn’t so peaceful. And if left to its own devices, it might have set up a gang of goblins that could attack as a group.

As soon as we got to the village and heard the details, we set off to hunt the goblin. We finished the job by nightfall. When we reported this to the villagers, they held a party at the bar we were currently at.

“Yeah, that one. That was my prey! You just waltzed in here and snatched it from me, damn it!” the man complained.

Another man who was drinking with us whispered into my ear to explain. “That’s Rudol, a local hunter. He slays the monsters that aren’t worth going to adventurers for. He was supposed to be the one to stop that goblin at first.”

“I see. Why’d that change?”

“He went to check it out with the other hunters, and it turned out to be too tough for them. Rudol was actually the one who suggested we ask adventurers for help. Due to the cost, the mayor actually hoped our hunters could deal with it, but this is one time that wasn’t happening. And it turns out that we made the right decision. I looked at that goblin’s corpse. It was what, two meters tall? It even had a broadsword. That couldn’t have been easy to take down.”

“Yeah, a party of Bronze-class adventurers could vanquish it without much issue, but I’m sure some local hunters would have a rough time. Anyway, if that’s all true, then why’s he bugging me?” I asked and turned back to Rudol.

Rudal put a hand on my shoulder and said, “I challenge you to a duel.”

“Uh, what?”

“Duel me, damn you! Then I’ll forgive you!”

“I’d rather not.”

This could only be a pain in the neck. Especially when this incident had ended without any harm to the villagers, getting in a fight and having to hurt this man would be entirely counterproductive. I wanted to reject his demand, but the other men had different ideas.

“Rentt, please duel him,” one of them said. “I think that’ll satisfy him.”

Another said, “Yeah, he’s usually a good guy. He just drank a little too much, I’m sure.”

Even Lorraine said, “Well, why not? You can go easy on him, right?”

“Yeah, what they said!” Rudol shouted. “Come on, show me your arm! We’ll use this table.”

I was confused about what we were using the table for, but one of the men explained. “Oh, I see, you must not know what we’re talking about. By a duel, we mean arm wrestling,” he said.

“Oh, you should have said so sooner. If that’s all, then I’m happy to oblige. I could use the workout, actually. All right, Rudol, let’s do this.”

I got up from my chair, walked up to the table Rudol was at, and grappled arms with him. One of the village men was going to be the judge. Then I noticed that quite a few of the men had gathered around to watch, and some of them were even betting on the match. I listened closely and found that most of them believed Rudol would win. They must have been awfully confident in his skills.

“Sorry about this, pal,” Rudol said as he brought his face close. He no longer seemed drunk.

I looked at him curiously, wondering what he meant.

“These villagers don’t get how strong adventurers are. Some of them even think I’d be stronger than them. I just want to teach them otherwise. Give me all you’ve got. If you don’t, then next time something like this happens, I’ll have to break my back convincing them to hire adventurers all over again.”

Now I understood Rudol’s intentions. It was all an act. He was a decent man, willing to besmirch himself for the good of the village.

“Got it, but I want you to give it all you’ve got too. Don’t hold back.”

“You asked for it. Maybe I can’t win a fight, but when it comes to arm strength, I’ve even bested some adventurers. You sure you can take it?”

“It’s fine.”

“All right, then.”

Once we were finished talking, the judge announced the start of the match.

◆◇◆◇◆

“You could have held back a bit more than that,” Lorraine muttered on the way back to the local inn.

I won the arm wrestling match. No ordinary human could compete with my enhanced monster strength. He told me to give it my all, so I nearly broke the table in half. But Rudol himself was mostly unharmed. I bruised him a bit, but I healed that with divinity.

“He told me not to hold back. Besides, he said he just wanted them to see him lose.”

“What? That was the idea? Interesting. He’s a good man,” Lorraine said, recognizing Rudol’s intentions based on that fact alone.

“I guess. So, what’s that?” I asked when I noticed the bag Lorraine was holding. She didn’t have it when we first came.

“Oh, this? I won a bet. Made quite a bit off of it.”

“You were gambling too?”

“Yes. Most of them were betting on Rudol, you see. How about we find another village and do the same thing? We’ll make a killing.”

“That kind of feels like swindling, but it could be a good idea. How about you be the one to compete next time, though? They’ll be more likely to let their guard down that way.”

“Perhaps. Then next time there’s an opportunity, you can be the one to place the bet.”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Unsolicited Help

I approached a man in a noisy bar. He looked like an adventurer, brawny and in his mid-thirties. With his skill and experience, he was considered a veteran around Maalt. He was also a Silver-rank, which contributed to this perception of him. But he didn’t match that reputation now, as he lay on a table covered in beer bottles.

“What, it’s you, Rentt? Leave me alone,” he murmured, either half asleep or severely drunk—it was hard to make him out. The man’s name was Eiras.

“It’d be fine if this was just about you, but I can’t just leave you like this,” I said with a sigh.

“The hell are you talking about?” he said, confused. His voice became just a bit clearer, and he looked at me dubiously.

If a normal human saw those eyes, they’d be so intimidated they’d be unable to speak. To me, though, this was nothing. The bloodshot eyes of a monster were far more frightening, to say nothing of the dragon that ate me. I couldn’t find humans that scary anymore.

“You know who I’m talking about,” I said. “I mean Myurin. If you don’t do something, you’ll never see her again.” Myurin was a girl who worked at a general store in Maalt. I knew her from occasionally shopping there. She also held a special position. She did at one point, at least. “I hear you told her that you wanted to split up. She was pretty sad about it. Don’t tell me you found yourself another girl.”

“Hell no! Myurin’s the only one for me. Wait,” Eiras paused, realizing what he said. “No, Myurin’s not my girl anymore.”

“What a relief,” I said with a chuckle. “With how you’re acting, it looks like you still love her after all.”

“Rentt, are you here just to tell me this? Piss off.”

“Of course not. I’m here to give you this,” I said and tossed him a bottle containing a transparent blue liquid. Eiras caught it in midair. However drunk he may have been, he was still Silver-class. Or maybe he wasn’t that drunk anymore.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“It’s luan grass boiled in moontree sap and mixed with a few magic drugs. Which is to say it's a special medicine for treating fiel disease.”

“What?!”

“Now there shouldn’t be any problems, right? Her younger brother’s disease will be cured. She won’t have to marry someone she doesn’t want to anymore.”

Eiras got the point and calmed down. “How do you know about that?” he asked.

“I heard rumors you were looking for luan grass. Then later, I heard you’ve hardly been visiting your good friend Myurin lately. After that, I’m sorry to say, I went ahead and did my own research.”

That’s when I learned that Myurin’s brother had caught a somewhat peculiar illness called fiel disease and didn’t have long to live. Curing it required a rare herb called luan grass that cost an exorbitant amount. But then a rich man proposed to marry Myurin, and if she accepted, then money wouldn’t be a problem.

Once I heard about all that, the answer was obvious. Eiras was trying to stay out of the way so that Myurin’s marriage meeting would go without a hitch. Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with the rich man in question, and he was actually an honest man, based on my investigation. If he wasn’t, Eiras wouldn’t have been doing this to himself. He did unfortunately put Eiras in a position where he felt he had to make this decision, however.

“You really didn’t need to do that,” Eiras said. “But if this is the real deal, then I’d even be willing to lick your boots.”

“Sure, go ahead and lick. But don’t, actually, that’s gross. This is the real thing, I promise you. Lorraine and I got luan grass from the Empire and mixed it ourselves. It’ll work, I guarantee it.” I didn’t actually contribute much, but the other magic drugs we needed were all uncommon as well, so I helped with gathering the materials for those. I also helped with the mixing when it came to the parts that didn’t require alchemy. I didn’t train under a medicine woman for nothing.

“From the Empire? How much did it cost you to get that? I hear you could build a house with that kind of money.”

“Lorraine’s pretty well connected. She got it from someone who grows the stuff, apparently. Also, it might be that expensive after it’s been made into medicine, but luan grass itself isn’t too costly. You don’t need to worry about any of that. If you really care, I can charge you for the materials later. How does that sound?”

“You and Lorraine are too nice. Tell Lorraine that she can charge me as much as she wants. I’ll go visit Myurin right away.”

“Sounds good. Invite me to the wedding.”

“Hey, I’ll invite you both. I owe you,” Eiras said and left the bar.

◆◇◆◇◆

“That settles that, I suppose,” Lorraine muttered.

“Yeah. Sorry I asked so much of you,” I said.

“It’s fine. I know Myurin too. I hadn’t heard about her brother’s illness, though. She should have just told me.”

“You can’t just go telling customers about your depressing problems. She needed medicine that was virtually unobtainable, so what do you expect?”

“That’s fair enough. She’s beautiful, though,” Lorraine said as we looked at her clad in a gorgeous dress. She stood next to Eiras, who wore magnificent armor that could have belonged to a knight. They were surrounded by people who were congratulatingcongratulated them. Today was the day of their wedding, and we were invited just as Eiras had declared.

“You wish you were in her shoes, Lorraine?”

“Maybe. I’m not as proper a lady as Myurin is, so a white dress probably wouldn’t be a good match for me. But I would like to try one on someday.”

“Yeah? I think it’d look good on you.”

“Don’t flatter me. You might look good in that armor, though.”

“Now that’s flattery.”

“It’s not supposed to be, but yes, maybe a witch’s black robes and cursed black armor would be a better fit for us.”

“That could be interesting, but it sounds more like some sort of ritual than the cheerful event it’s supposed to be.”

“You’re not wrong.”

We laughed as we looked back at Eiras and Myurin. We saw Myurin's brother among the people congratulating them. We prayed that they all found happiness in their futures.