Bonus Short Stories

A Day in the Life of Lorraine Vivie

“Lorraine! I don’t get this part!”

“Miss Lorraine! Help me too!”

“Lorraine!”

A number of voices inside the cramped room called my name. We were gathered in a private classroom in the city of Maalt. I occasionally came here to help the students with their studies, so they were pretty familiar with my presence.

Since it was a private classroom, there wasn’t an easy way to discipline the students. The children were of various ages and at varying levels, so it was difficult to make the classroom feel cohesive. In this situation, it was a bit too much to ask that all the children quietly focus on their studies.

When one of the children got too out of hand, I did, on occasion, chastise the child in question. But since there were also children as young as three or four years old, raising my voice wasn’t the wisest course of action. I had learned to strike a careful balance in tone. In the end, the students were willing to listen when it was something of importance, and they all took their studies seriously.

I wasn’t doing any of this for payment, though. I was volunteering. I did this because the community in Maalt was built on mutual aid, and this was part of that way of life.

Most of the students here were children of poor farmers and the like, the sort who couldn’t afford to attend an expensive private school. They did technically charge tuition here, but it was a token amount, so many parents sent their children here for a better future.

I felt that was a worthy thing to do. Education was the most effective way the poor could climb the ranks in society. Of course, there was the option of becoming an adventurer and achieving success through force of arms, but that path was only available to a select few. Besides, busy classrooms like this one were an indication that the city was doing well. That didn’t mean I didn’t face a constant string of problems every day, though.

“Lorraine!”

A child suddenly burst into the room and called out my name. He didn’t have any classes today, so he had no reason to be here. Yet here he was, looking tense.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“Jad fell into the underground sewer!”

Jad, another one of my students, usually acted without thinking, and he was constantly getting into trouble. This was just another incident among that growing list. However, the underground sewers were concerning. Everyone knew that there was now a dungeon beneath Maalt, but parts of it were connected to the sewers—or rather generated from them. They had yet to find all the routes connecting them and the dungeon, and powerful monsters would occasionally appear there. Ordinarily, skilled adventurers patrolled or watched the sewer entrances, so this shouldn’t have been an issue.

“What entrance did he use?” I asked.

“We found a new one the other day,” the student said hesitantly.

“Take me there now. Everyone else, stay here and behave yourselves.”

The students in the classroom all nodded seriously. They knew how dangerous the sewers were.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Oh, there really is an entrance here,” I muttered.

We were in a secluded corner of Maalt, in a part where numerous buildings had collapsed. Not many people came this way. In the debris, there was a small opening barely large enough for a child to walk through. I squeezed my way between the rubble and slowly hopped my way onward.

Gerge, the boy who’d come seeking my help, acted as my guide. He’d brought me to what was clearly a sewer entrance, but it was small enough that it made sense no one had found it yet. I was somewhat impressed that the children had spotted it, but that happened when childish curiosity met with a penchant for getting into trouble. At any rate, the most important thing was finding Jad.

“Gerge, you stay here,” I instructed.

“Huh, but—”

“And if I don’t return, go find Rentt. Understand?”

Rentt also occasionally stopped by the classroom. He was actually quite knowledgeable in his own way. Part of that was because I’d forced him to learn certain things, but most of it was because he recognized the importance of knowledge. It made up for what he lacked in fighting skill and magic. In truth, he was a better teacher for young students than your average scholar.

“Y-Yup. He lives at your house, right?” Gerge asked.

“Yes. Now, I’m off.”

The air in the sewers was moist, and a thin stream of water ran down the middle of the tunnel. As I proceeded deeper within, I felt the mana around me grow thicker.

“I hope he hasn’t gone too far in...” I prayed.

Immediately after I murmured that, I saw a child lying face down a short distance away. I ran over to his side. A quick glance confirmed that it was Jad.

I checked to see if he was still breathing and sighed in relief. “He’s still alive. And he’s not drained, it seems. But...why is he unconscious?”

Suddenly, the answer to the mystery materialized right in front of me.

“You’re going to...take him away?”

When I looked up, I saw the blurry outline of a girl in white. I stood and pointed my staff at the apparition.

“I’m afraid so. You should leave as well,” I suggested.

I’d made sure to issue a warning, but the girl in white opened her mouth widely—almost inhumanly—and screeched, “I won’t let you! Won’t let you! WON’T LET YOU!”

Her mouth was much larger than any human’s, and her gaping maw spouted fangs that lashed out at me. It was a mimic, a monster that pretended to be a human so that it could drain its prey of strength and then eat them. Fortunately, this mimic seemed rather weak.

“Foteia Borivaas.”

I unleashed a single fire spell, and it consumed and incinerated the mimic. I picked up the magic crystal that had dropped from its ashen remains, then picked up Jad and quickly left the sewers. I also made a mental note to report this entrance to the adventurer’s guild.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Lorraine, you’re finally back,” Rentt greeted me when I arrived back at the classroom. While the mask obscured his face, I could tell from his demeanor that he was tired.

“Oh, you were here, Rentt?”

“Gerge came to find me. He was panicking. I figured you’d be fine, so I decided to check in on the students instead. If things had been more serious, you would’ve found some other way to contact me anyway.”

“I’m grateful. The fruits of our long acquaintance, hm?”

“So, is he okay?” Rentt asked.

“I’ve given him a potion, so he should wake up soon. He wasn’t particularly drained either. Still, I’m going to give him a talk about going into the sewers.”

“Ah, so he’s getting a lecture. Poor kid,” Rentt said sympathetically.

“Would you like to sit in on the lecture?”

I’d only offered in jest, but Rentt laughed dryly. “I’m a little too old for that, aren’t I?”

This was what my daily life in Maalt was like. Perhaps I would enjoy it if these days were to continue on indefinitely, but that hadn’t been an option as of late. Even this little incident was pretty dangerous. Maalt had plenty to offer, but it was still perilous. I needed to make sure that these children understood that.

I quietly renewed my oath to myself.

The Much Admired Isaac

“Oh, it’s Rentt. Perhaps it’s fate that we’ve run into each other in a place like this.”

I turned toward the cheerful yet cool voice and saw a familiar face. It belonged to an elegant man with pale white skin—a faint blue-ish tinge to it—beautiful silver hair, and supernaturally charming eyes.

He was Isaac the vampire, and he served the Latuule family as the butler. He was the one who’d gotten me involved with Laura Latuule in the first place, and he was also teaching me how to wield my vampiric abilities.

It was relatively rare to run into Isaac in the middle of the city. He was hard to pin down, and while he was often out shopping for his mistress, I’d almost never seen him in town. I’d seen him once or twice since I’d met him, but I didn’t remember ever running into him before that.

Given how much Isaac stood out in a crowd, I would have remembered seeing him even if I didn’t know him, so that struck me as somewhat unusual. I had a few guesses as to why that was, though. He was an old and very powerful vampire, much more powerful than I was in every way imaginable. When you were that skilled, it was easy to hide your presence from those weaker than you. Furthermore, as a vampire, he was nocturnal. I had no doubt that the skill of remaining unseen came easily to him.

I wondered if I would ever catch up to him, but I knew that day might very well never come.

“I didn’t expect you to believe in fate, Isaac,” I remarked. I figured vampires weren’t particularly religious.

“Ha ha, what an interesting thing to say. Perhaps I do, and perhaps I do not,” he said with a meaningful tilt of his head.

I was curious about the meaning behind his words, but it looked like he wasn’t going to answer me. I decided to end this coincidental conversation and just extract myself from the situation. Besides, I’d already told Lorraine that I would make her something nice for dinner, so I had quite a bit of shopping left to do. I needed to get home and start prepping the food.

When I tried to excuse myself, Isaac suddenly said, “Don’t be in such a hurry to leave, Rentt. Please.”

“Why not? I actually am in a hurry.”

“Oh, are you? There must be some purpose to us meeting like this, so there was something I wanted you to help me with.”

Isaac gazed at me, looking like a sad puppy. All vampires were handsome and beautiful, and Isaac was no exception. That sort of hangdog expression worked very well with his features, but it didn’t make him adorable or anything. Rather, there was a strange, supernatural charm to that look.

Now, I could easily say no, but Isaac was my mentor. I owed him for teaching me how to use my vampiric abilities. Also, my mentors back home had mercilessly driven into my head that a mentor’s request was like the word of the gods. I had no choice.

“Okay, fine,” I agreed.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Hey, Rentt! Over here!”

“Please wait up, young master!”

A little boy was running around the yard and issuing orders to me. He was perhaps ten years old, and his name was Frahe. Several of the families in this region were known as great households, and he was part of one of them, the Muze family.

This had been Isaac’s destination, and since he needed to speak with Frahe’s parents, he asked if I could watch the boy for a bit. I’d been looking after him for what felt like an eternity now.

“Sheesh, Rentt, you have no endurance! Isaac can play with me until I get tired!”

“Impressive. He’s a different breed entirely.” I couldn’t picture Isaac playing with a child, but I knew that he’d look cool and collected no matter what he was doing.

“Yes! Isaac is amazing! You should learn from him! But...” Frahe’s expression turned sad.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Well, I’ll eventually inherit the family title. I can’t help but wonder that when the time comes, will I be able to do as well as Isaac?”

A city council made up of members of the most powerful families in the region ran the city of Maalt, and the Muze family was on that council. The Latuule family was as well, and it seemed Isaac often attended council meetings as Laura’s representative. Laura couldn’t physically attend those meetings now since she was asleep, but even before all that, she’d rarely gone to a meeting herself.

Because of Isaac’s involvement in the council, the young boy saw him as a model to look up to. Unfortunately, he was comparing himself to an absurd standard.

“There’s no need to do things like Isaac,” I said to Frahe. “Or rather, I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Huh?!” he exclaimed.

“He is something other than an ordinary human, and if you tried to emulate him, the effort would end up crushing you. I doubt there’s a person in the world who can do things the way he does. The important thing is to do your best and find the right way for you to serve as the master of this house.”

Frahe thought for a moment, as though the idea had struck him by surprise, and then nodded. “Rentt, you have a good head on your shoulders! I might let you serve as my adjutant in the future!”

Frahe once again started running around the yard, and I ended up having to chase him around until sunset.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Thank you so much for your help, Rentt. You were a lifesaver,” Isaac said on the way home.

“Really?”

“Yes. Frahe also looked like he had sorted something out in his head. It seems he’s been struggling with something.”

“Oh, about that...” I explained to Isaac that Frahe had been feeling inferior because he compared himself to Isaac.

“I see. I never imagined that would be it. Nevertheless, it was a bit awful of you to say that I wasn’t human.”

“But it’s true, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but...”

Frahe probably hadn’t taken my words literally, so I doubted it would ever be a problem.

Isaac sighed. “There are times when I can’t tell if you’re brave or just thoughtless, Rentt.”

“If I weren’t a bit of both, I wouldn’t have ended up this way.”

“Indeed. You have a point there,” Isaac conceded, breaking out into a grin.

When I got home, Lorraine was furious that I’d been out so late. It wasn’t because she’d been worried about me, but rather because dinner had been delayed. However, once I prepared our meal with the various expensive ingredients I’d received from the Muze family, Lorraine said, “Make sure you go help Isaac from time to time. This more than makes up for the effort.” She then began happily enjoying her meal.

The Princess’s Table

“Are you serious?” Lorraine asked, looking like she had a headache.

Deep down, I agreed with her, but all I could do was nod quietly.

In front of us sat a worn old table. It was part of the request I had accepted, so we had it on loan.

A few hours ago, Wolf had brought me a job. It wasn’t quite an official request, but there were jobs that Wolf gave directly to the most suitable adventurer. This request happened to be one of those. He’d chosen me for it because I just happened to have the widest circle of acquaintances in Maalt.

“What are you talking about?” I asked Wolf.

“I want you to find the artisan who made this table.”

When I followed Wolf’s gaze, I saw a worn old table sitting there. Now it all made sense. I could definitely handle this much. I began listing carpenters here in town.

Wolf added, “Evidently, this table was made fifty years ago.”

“Pardon?”

“Like I said, it’s fifty years old. The carpenter who made it was in his twenties at the time.”

“Then that’d mean they’re well into their seventies. They’re already retired. To find someone who’s retired...” I was pretty sure that was impossible.

Wolf looked at me pleadingly, an unusual expression for him. “That’s exactly it. Since everyone who was offered the job said they couldn’t do it, it ended up coming to me. Please. This is a request from a princess. It’s hard to turn down.”

It wasn’t that princesses in their seventies didn’t exist, but it was still hard to imagine.

“She’s in her twenties,” Wolf continued, proving my assumption incorrect. “She inherited the table from the original owner, her grandmother. And her grandmother’s dying wish was that this table be returned to its creator. She even included in her will that the princess wouldn’t inherit her estate if she didn’t.”

“Oh boy, that sounds like a headache and a half.”

“Yeah, it is. So please, do this as a favor to me.”

“Okay, fine,” I agreed.

While I had the option of declining, Wolf seemed to be in a real bind. I figured no one other than me would accept the job, so I decided I’d take it. I also figured I might as well ask Lorraine to help me. She resisted at first, but in the end, she relented.

“Fine. But if we’re going to do this, we’re going to find this man,” she declared.

And so began our search for this carpenter.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Is this the right place?” I asked, looking at the weathered old house.

“Yeah, it should be,” Lorraine replied.

“It took less time than I expected,” said the other person present. Her golden blonde hair was cropped into a short bob, and her eyes sparkled with an inborn pride. She was a noblewoman with a faintly Machiavellian air, and she was our employer for this job.

When we reported that we’d found the person she was looking for, she had immediately come to see us. She was remarkably quick to move for a noble.

“Perhaps it would have been better for you to have waited until we were certain,” Lorraine offered.

The woman politely chuckled. “My grandmother told me that he would deny it if asked, so the only way to be certain is to watch his reaction when he sees the table.”

“Is that why I had to carry it all this way?” I inquired.

The table in question was strapped to my back. We’d brought it because the noblewoman had asked us to.

The noblewoman looked at me with a faintly apologetic look, but continued, “Well then, shall we say hello?” She stepped forward and opened the door to the house.

“Well, that part of her is certainly noble,” I quipped.

“They’re all like that. But she is rather friendly. I’d say she’s a good noble,” Lorraine observed.

I nodded. While I got the sense that she went her own way, there was no indication that she actively looked down on us.

We then followed the woman into the house.

◆◇◆◇◆

“I’m not the craftsman,” the old man said with a sullen expression, rejecting the idea in a low voice.

The noblewoman turned to us as though to say, “See, I told you that would happen.”

Lorraine and I exchanged glances. This seemed like quite a hassle. I was wondering just how we were going to sort this out when, surprisingly, the noblewoman offered a way forward.

“Then you are fine if we break it?” she asked as she looked at the table strapped on my back.

With a note of panic, the old man exclaimed, “Wha?! Isn’t this a memento of your grandmother?!”

The noblewoman laughed. “Not at all. This is my inheritance. It’s mine to do with as I please. Very well, Rentt, please ready the sledgehammer.”

As ordered, I retrieved a sledgehammer from my magic bag. The noblewoman was stronger than she looked, and she picked up the heavy tool without any visible strain. I realized then that she knew how to use magic to enhance her physical abilities.

Just before the hammer was about to make contact with the table, the old man intervened.

“Please wait!” he shouted.

“Oh?” said the noblewoman.

“Please don’t destroy it. Yes, I’m the one who made it.”

The noblewoman set down the sledgehammer. “Then you should have said so earlier.”

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened after that. The old man explained why he’d sent the table to the woman’s grandmother. They had once been lovers, but her family had forced them to separate. Since he couldn’t marry her, he’d made the table for her so that she always had something to remember him by. It was because she’d kept that promise that we’d brought the table to him.

Once the old man had finished his story, the noblewoman asked, “So, how do I open this?”

“What? No one told you?” the old man asked in surprise.

“It was my grandmother’s dying wish that I ask you directly. I had to agree to that condition when I inherited the family title.”

“I see. That’s very much like her. Here, this is how you open it.”

The old man moved the various protrusions on the underside of the table, and the tabletop opened like a clamshell, revealing two envelopes within. One was addressed to the old man, while the other...

“A last will and testament. So you were here for that?” the old man guessed.

“Yes, that’s correct. My business here is finished. I return the table to your care.”

The noblewoman turned to Lorraine and me and said, “Come, time to go.” Then she quickly left the house.

We followed behind her. When I turned to glance behind me, I saw the old man weeping as he read the letter addressed to him.

◆◇◆◇◆

“So were you really here to get that will?” I asked the noblewoman.

She chuckled and inquired, “Oh? What else could it be?”

“If all you wanted was the will, you could’ve just broken that table.”

“If you understand that much, then there’s no need to ask, is there? Lorraine, this man’s a bit of a boor, isn’t he?”

“That part of his charm, m’lady.”

The women exchanged chuckles. I felt faintly irritated by their conversation, but their contented faces did make me feel I’d been a bit boorish to ask such a question.

The Manor During a Storm

The manor door opened with a click. The master of the manor smirked. It was pouring rain outside, and no decent guest would arrive during this sort of weather, but the master was pleased for some reason. It was a strange sight.

A hooded man came through the door. “I’m sorry for the intrusion. It’s pouring outside. May I rest here briefly?”

Ordinarily, the master would have turned him away, suspecting him to be a beggar. However, he welcomed the visitor with open arms.

“Ah, welcome. Please come in. I have warm soup if you would like some.”

The guest seemed a bit confused at the generous welcome, but he noted his appreciation and introduced himself.

“I’m grateful for your hospitality. My name is Rentt, and I’m an adventurer. This mask is to hide a disfiguring scar on my face. Please don’t let it bother you.”

◆◇◆◇◆

A certain amount of time had passed since Rentt, the adventurer, had eaten and retired to the guest room.

“Surely he’s asleep by now.”

The master of the manor stood up from his chair. It was very late. Usually, he would have been asleep by now. Instead, he quietly snuck into Rentt’s room. He carefully lifted the blanket and exposed Rentt’s neck.

“Ah, how delightful. I can’t wait any longer!”

The master lunged at his prey...

“Yeah, I figured there was something wrong with you.” Rentt grabbed the master’s face with a vise-like grip.

“Wha?! Y-You’re awake?!”

“The whole reason I came out this way was because the relatives of the people who have vanished in the area asked me to. How many people did you attack?”

“Blast!” The master of the manor was well aware of his own guilt, and at first, he looked around for an escape. But his efforts were in vain.

“This is where it ends for you,” said. Then a deep darkness spread out in front of him and sucked the master into it.

“What are you?!” the master cried.

“A creature closer to the darkness than you, I suppose. Am I a creature? Anyway, it’s not something for you to worry about.”

With that, the master’s consciousness faded into oblivion.