Reunion (1)
A bandit stronghold near the city.
There, the adventurer Dalkin pointed at a fleeing bandit and shouted.
"Elin! One's heading your way!"
I—the one called by that name, Elin—glanced at the bandit charging toward me.
"Haa. You should've run the other way."
Then you might've lived.
I smashed the charging bandit's legs with my scabbard.
"Gwah!?"
The bandit went sprawling with a pathetic scream. No need to even draw my sword.
Crack—
I brought the scabbard down on his neck.
"Ghk—"
The bandit coughed up blood with a fleeting death rattle. I didn't spare him so much as a glance as he clutched his throat in agony. Leave him be and he'd die on his own soon enough.
Looking around, the other adventurers were still locked in combat with the bandits. Whether they were or not, I'd already filled my quota, so I settled myself comfortably atop a bandit's corpse. We were only bound by a simple commission—I had no obligation to help the others.
"Hoo. I just want to get back and have a drink."
It had been nearly three months since I'd settled in this city. I was living as Elin instead of Kyle. No one here knew I was Kyle. To the world, Hero Kyle was nothing more than a dead man—and that man would never walk the earth again.
B-rank adventurer Elin. That was my identity now.
"This should keep me covered for a while."
I muttered, tapping the corpses strewn at my feet. Fifteen of them. At least a month's food money earned. I hadn't saved much during my time as a Hero, so just securing a house in this city had nearly wiped me out. In the end, I was here to make money.
And yet they'd pinned the crime of embezzling property on someone like me. Yuli and that bastard Emperor. I should've torn their mouths open before I left.
"Yeah! Finally wiped them all out!"
Victory cheers rose from all around—looked like the bandits were finished. The adventurers who'd filled their quotas gathered toward me one by one.
"Hey, Elin. Thanks for earlier."
Dalkin, who'd just let a bandit slip past him, clapped my shoulder with a word of thanks. I shook the blood off my scabbard and shrugged.
"Then I'll put that debt on your tab."
"Haha! Sure, drinks are on me when we get back."
"Ah! Then me too, Senior!"
Clara, who'd been listening beside us, cut in. Dalkin and Clara—the two adventurers I'd gotten to know since joining the guild. Dalkin was two years my senior but the same B-rank, and Clara was a rookie who'd come in last week. He ruffled her hair in agreement, and with the commission complete, we prepared to head back.
Looking up, the evening glow had already begun to settle across the sky.
"Well then, shall we head back?"
Three months since Hero Kyle's death. Like the blue sky fading into the red sunset, his name was slowly being forgotten.
The southern city of the kingdom—Laus.
Unlike the Republic, which bordered the lands of the demonkin, the kingdom had no demonkin at all. Among its cities, Laus was celebrated as the finest resort destination, prized for its beautiful natural scenery and diverse cuisine. And this was where I was living now. Not as Kyle, but as Elin.
"Elin and two others. Bandit subjugation commission confirmed. Thank you for your hard work."
We returned straight to the guild after finishing the job, and the receptionist handed over our pay with a professional smile. The moment she got her share, Clara waved Dalkin's pay around excitedly and claimed a table at the tavern.
"Ma'am! Three servings of gremlin skewers, please!"
"And three bottles of booze!"
"Add three bowls of slime stew too!"
"Ah, and also..."
"You lunatics, stop ordering already!"
Dalkin finally cut them off, unable to take any more. Before long the food arrived, and we clinked glasses, washing away the day's fatigue.
"Ahh. Finally feel alive again."
Ever since coming here, having a drink at the tavern after finishing a commission had become part of the daily routine. We ate and drank for a while, until Clara, chewing on a skewer, looked at us and asked.
"Come to think of it, Senior Elin, Senior Dalkin. Did you hear the news?"
"What news?"
"Apparently the Demon King Subjugation Force fought the Demon King's army not long ago. And it was near here!"
Unlike her excitement, Dalkin and I wore indifferent expressions.
"Hmm, is that so."
"'Hmm, is that so'? Come on, why are your reactions so flat? Boring."
Well, we already knew. Finding someone who didn't would probably be harder.
Clara spoke as if it were a scoop, but the news had spread across the entire continent long ago. It had been that shocking an event for humanity, and even I hadn't been able to believe it at first. To think they'd even brought Damian along and still couldn't finish off a Demon King who was already half-dead. Past the satisfaction, it was just absurd.
"I was actually looking forward to it, you know. I thought this time we'd finally win."
Clara said with a bitter smile as she emptied her glass. Dalkin seemed to feel the same—he too wore a pained expression as he tilted his cup.
"Well, honestly, everyone probably thought the same as you. Who would've expected them to lose there?"
"Right! I really thought they'd succeed. I mean, it was an operation with the Hero and the Empire's hero, Mister Yuli..."
"Pfft."
At that, laughter burst out of me before I could stop it. The two of them, mid-serious conversation, fixed their eyes on me—but I simply couldn't hold it in. Hero Yuli. Was there any epithet less fitting for that name? A passing goblin would laugh.
"Senior, what's wrong?"
"You already drunk?"
Both of them looked at me like I was weird. I stifled my snickering and mumbled an excuse.
"Ah, yeah. Guess I am a bit tipsy."
"So drink in moderation, you idiot."
"Haa. Anyway, it's really a shame. I hope they succeed next time..."
Clara sighed in disappointment. I refilled her glass to soothe her, and to change the subject, I recalled the commission board I'd seen at the guild earlier and made a proposal to Dalkin.
"Come to think of it, Dalkin. There were a few more bandit commissions for tomorrow. Want to go together?"
I wasn't desperate for money, but better to earn when you can.
He declined with an apologetic look.
"Ah, sorry. I've got plans to go with my guild party tomorrow."
Guild party. Unlike today's purely business arrangement, it meant adventurers who trusted and relied on each other. In short, something similar to how I'd once lived with my companions as the Hero's Party.
"By the way, Elin. Aren't you going to form a guild party?"
"Nah, not really."
"Why? Someone at your level, others would be asking you first."
As Dalkin said, several adventurers had made the offer. There weren't many B-rank or higher adventurers in this city, after all. But I'd turned them all down, and I had no intention of forming a party or taking on companions going forward. Being betrayed by trusted companions once was enough. So a relationship of just drinking together now and then—that level of distance was perfect. That way, if I ever got stabbed in the back, I could cut them down without a second thought.
"Anyway, think it over, Elin. Having a guild party isn't a bad thing. Only upsides, really."
"Yeah, well, if I feel like it."
"Me! Me!"
At my noncommittal answer, Clara shot her hand up like she'd been waiting for the chance. She shoved her sparkling eyes toward me and volunteered.
"Senior, I want in!"
"No."
"Ehh? Why not?"
"I don't take amateurs."
"What!?"
Hearing herself called an amateur to her face, she wore a look of pure shock. Then she shot to her feet and desperately defended herself.
"I-I mean, among my peers I'm pretty strong, you know! You just don't know, Senior—the other seniors keep praising me, saying how strong I am!"
"Is that so? On this commission I took down fifteen bandits. Dalkin got thirteen. And you got two. Roughly."
"Ugh..."
"Heheheh."
Dalkin snickered from the side. Clara let out a furious "Waaah!", and we used the spectacle as a side dish while draining our glasses.
After enjoying the meal a little longer, we got up earlier than usual for Dalkin's sake—he had to head out early tomorrow. Outside, the sky had already been dyed in moonlight.
"Well, I'm heading off first. You two drink moderately and get home."
"Yeah. Take care."
"See you next time, Senior."
With that, Dalkin left, leaving only Clara and me. I looked at the streetlamps lit along the road and asked.
"What about you?"
"I don't have a commission tomorrow, so I can drink a bit more."
"That so. Then where should we drink?"
"Hmm. How about your place, Senior?"
Clara snapped her fingers as if it were a brilliant idea. I shook my head immediately.
"No."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Because amateurs aren't allowed in my house."
"Oh, come on!"
Clara puffed out both cheeks in full indignation and looked up at me. I poked one of those cheeks, and the air went psssh as it deflated.
As we joked around and headed back into the guild tavern to place an order—
"Um, ma'am! I'd like to order—"
"Hey! That wasn't the deal! You said you were a mage!"
A commotion suddenly broke out at a nearby table. Seemed they were arguing over something among themselves. People who looked like adventurers were raising their voices.
"Damn it, you tricked us!?"
"Th-that's not it. It's all a misunderstanding!"
"Don't make me laugh! Who's gonna fall for that crap?"
One of them desperately made excuses, but it only made the atmosphere worse. Finally the adventurers, fed up, rose from their seats with disgusted looks.
"Hoo. Anyway, get out of here while I'm still being nice about it, old man."
"Show that face again and I won't let it slide. Got it?"
With that warning, the adventurers left the tavern. Only the man who'd been making excuses remained at the table. Well, this kind of thing was common in taverns like this, so most people paid it no mind—and I was about to do the same.
"...Old man?"
Until I saw his face.
Sitting at that table was the necromancer who, three months ago, had crafted Hero Kyle's fake corpse.