Point of Contact
Point of Contact
The conversation with Ragnis that followed was ordinary enough.
Sure, she'd talked about what she was studying, how Radnelbandes had gone past simple satisfaction and now marveled every time at how quickly she was progressing in magic, and how surviving retainers of her house were gathering after hearing the rumors. But most of the conversation still ended up being questions about me.
The thing was, I wasn't exactly the type who lived each day spectacularly, so I didn't have much to tell. Yet Ragnis had been quite persistent, asking about my daily life with real fervor.
Honestly, I was a little spooked.
"Anyway, there's nothing I need to prepare separately, right?"
After that interrogation disguised as casual conversation finally ended, I figured it was about time to head for the guild and asked once more just to make sure. Ragnis nodded with a satisfied expression.
"This time you'll be going as my personal escort. It may be a little uncomfortable, but I'd like you to use the equipment and clothes my side provides."
"Free food, free room, free clothes. Nothing hard about that."
It wasn't like I was in the army or anything.
As the Margrave's personal escort, nobody could casually pick a fight with me or order me around. It was basically a trip. And we were going to the place people called the heart of the Empire. What kind of danger could possibly be waiting there?
...Come to think of it, every time I'd gotten complacent like this, something had gone horribly wrong. But surely not this time.
"Then I'll send word to the Ogatorf house once the specific schedule is set."
I left the mansion, leaving behind Ragnis, who wasn't happy that she couldn't see me out because of the servants. Things had already changed a lot since we first arrived in the capital, so it couldn't be helped.
By the time I'd picked up my repaired gear, bought the rest of the supplies I needed, and returned to the guild, sunset had given way to night. The guild had already wrapped up normal request business and was shifting into tavern mode. I'd arrived just as that was getting underway, and Engrim came out to meet me as though he'd been waiting.
"You've come at the perfect time."
"Judging by what you say, I take it I'm not the first to arrive?"
"Ha ha. That's right. You're actually the last. I said perfect time because the meal preparations have just finished."
I couldn't tell if he was simply diligent or had just planted himself in the guild all day because we'd made an appointment, but it wasn't like I'd come late, so I nodded without any self-consciousness and followed him in.
At first I'd assumed they wouldn't discuss anything secret in such an open place. But the lobby was already so loud that talking here actually seemed both more natural and more private. In a little while it'd probably be hard to hear the person sitting right next to you.
It was hiding a tree in a forest, plain and simple. I'd almost never come to the guild at this hour, so I hadn't realized how wild it got. Engrim must have noticed me staring around, because he explained.
"It is louder than usual. I gave a bit of a discount."
Looking around, impressed, I realized the drinks and food were being sold for nearly half their normal prices. It made me wonder whether a job serious enough to justify spending money like this should really be entrusted to a mere Green-rank adventurer like me. Still, that was Engrim's judgment, so I decided not to worry about it.
My actual skill wasn't just at that level, and I could manage my own hide somehow.
"Hey, Guildmaster. Perfect timing, you're just—what? The last member is the Mad Dog?"
A blonde warrior woman whose muscles looked ready to burst through her leather armor reacted the instant she spotted Engrim and me. At her table sat two men and another woman. Each was distinctive in their own way, but none had quite the same sheer presence as the woman who'd called out to us.
She was so huge and muscular that my first thought was to wonder whether she was somehow related to Radnelbandes. I wasn't short anymore, but I could tell she'd stand a little taller than me. The strangest part was that her face was round and pretty. The contrast was ridiculous.
A body built like clenching her jaw would make muscles jump along it, paired with a face that cute. She'd stepped straight out of a comic.
"Wasn't the Mad Dog Green-rank? I'm not doubting the Guildmaster's judgment, but it's still a surprise."
The bald man across from her had already started drinking. His face was sharp, but his expression was lively as he smiled at me. The others said nothing, though they reacted much the same way, and Engrim laughed as he pulled out a chair for me.
"There was a request recently that confirmed his skill. There'll be no problem whatsoever."
"Ha ha! I'm not doubting that. Mad Dog, I only meant it's impressive that you've already stood out this much. Don't take it the wrong way—it wasn't an insult."
Her broad wave was energetic enough that I could almost feel the air move. I just laughed along. I didn't know any of these people, while every one of them seemed to know me; that alone had me too off balance to come up with a better reaction.
Had I seriously become established as 'the Mad Dog'? They were using it in place of my actual name at this point.
"The friend has a perfectly good name, wouldn't it be a bit much to keep calling him by that alias, Yekaterina?"
The man beside the bald one—whose magnificent beard and thick hair made quite a contrast with his companion—gave her a mild warning in a voice that perfectly matched his appearance. The warrior woman's eyes went round, and she immediately panicked.
"Ohh? Is it? Is that so? I'm sorry! I thought nicknames were all good since you only get one by having a presence. Looks like I was rude."
Apparently she'd been a foreigner rather than some lost Radnelbandes relative. The woman sitting beside her, memorable for her short dark-purple hair, added an explanation.
"Yekaterina is from Ravil. She's not very good with this sort of social nuance, so please don't take it personally, Ega."
No, seriously, I was the only one who didn't know them, and everyone knew me. The situation was completely unexpected, so I decided to cut in directly before the conversation went deeper.
"I really don't mind the nickname. What I don't get is how all of you know me when I don't know any of you. I'd like somebody to explain that part."
Actually, the 'someone' was already decided, so I looked at Engrim. Engrim, who'd sat down and was just wetting his throat, answered with an awkward smile.
"I'll say this in advance, but I gave no prior word to these people. As you can tell from Yekaterina's reaction."
"I'm not going to hold that against you. Just introduce everybody. I'll listen while I eat."
I was getting hungry myself, so I grabbed a turkey leg from among the dishes covering the table and started eating. The others laughed a bit too and began their meal.
Yekaterina was a warrior from Ravil, just as the short-haired woman had said. Apparently the imposing frames and muscles that looked so strange beside her pretty face were typical of Ravil's people. It really must have been a nation of warriors. She was a Blue-rank adventurer who swung a war hammer enormous enough to match her build as though it were a wooden staff, so she was almost certainly an aura user.
The short-haired woman was a mage named Rellie. Because she'd naturally addressed me by surname rather than given name, I'd assumed she came from some upper-class background, but... whether she was hiding something or not, she claimed to have no surname. She was also Blue-rank, yet already a high-level mage classified as a 'Star Bearer.'
Since I was a guy who could barely use magic for anything beyond lighting a campfire, it wasn't something I'd paid detailed attention to.
I only vaguely remembered 'Star Bearer' as the kind of qualification that filled the same role as magic-circle ranks in fantasy novels, so I had no idea what level it really represented. Still, I'd heard you normally needed to be at least Purple-rank before people acknowledged you like that. If she'd already earned the designation, she was probably a genius too.
The bearded man was a Blue-rank adventurer with the short name Gin. I'd thought he had the build of a dwarf, only for the punch line to be that he actually was one. He was so tall for a dwarf that he'd definitely pass as a giant among his own people; at a glance he just looked like a slightly short human.
But the bald guy was the real surprise.
The bald man introduced himself as Gaendal, and his adventurer alias was none other than 'Weapon Master.'
"The others are plenty surprising too, but Gaendal really takes it up a notch."
"Just what people around me kept calling me somehow stuck as an alias. It's not that great a skill."
He'd downplayed it, but apparently he could pick up almost any weapon and use it competently, so the alias was well earned. He was still Blue-rank only because he lacked enough completed requests, not because of his ability, and everyone expected him to reach Purple-rank soon. After hearing all that, I felt downright ordinary.
Anyway, by the time the introductions circled back around to me, we'd all gotten friendly enough to eat together and talk with a fair degree of ease.
"And as everyone already knows, this is Eldmia Ega. Generally called the Mad Dog, but..."
"Ah. I've heard the skilled ones call him the Light Sword instead."
"Huh? What?"
What sword? Light Sword?
"Mm. Mages know the rumor too. Whatever he's doing definitely isn't magic, but his swordsmanship looks like it is."
Even Rellie nodded as if she knew all about it, and at the sight of no one disputing it, I was left speechless.
What the hell? Why was I the only person who didn't know my own nickname?