Chapter 131: A Sorrowful Silence
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 131: A Sorrowful Silence
[Malgenic!!! Malgenic, what’s going to happen now, Malgenic!!!]
“Hey, you idiot!! Why would you jump in there?!”
“Yoo, Yoo Eon...?”
“Argh!!! Behind you, you bastard, behind you!! Look behind you!!!”
The Direwolves were slightly different from the monsters Malgenic had faced until now.
The announcer had mentioned his history of fighting various early-stage monsters in small to mid-sized cities—names I couldn't quite recall—but it seemed that until his last match, he had mostly fought one or two strong monsters at a time.
Of course, even then, they were just early-stage monsters, though each individual's combat power was technically stronger than a single Direwolf.
In this situation, Malgenic’s role as a Retiarius truly shone. When facing a small number of enemies, throwing a net to bind a monster could instantly tip the scales. However, against six Direwolves, a net wasn't exactly cost-effective.
While a net equipped with vicious hooks was effective at snagging the skin of a thrashing Direwolf and securing it, the downside was that once thrown, it was impossible to retrieve.
—Kee-eek..!
—Whine!
It seemed his four previous survivals weren't just for show; his net-throwing skills were quite impressive. Malgenic successfully lured two nearby wolves and neutralized them both at once with a single net.
Immediately after, he lunged forward with his spearhead and repositioned himself so that the netted Direwolves were at his back.
Since the hooks on the net were randomly protruding upward, the other Direwolves couldn't leap over them. It acted as a reliable partition in battle, effectively blocking attacks from behind.
“Whoa, he’s good!! Hell yeah!!!”
“Yoo Eon...! Is he really going to be okay!?”
“Kuh, Ravi. Look closely. Right now, Malgenic is—”
“P-Please just watch the match as a match!”
“Ah.”
* * *
“Hmm, that was quite entertaining.”
“Mhm. That last fight was thrilling.”
Malgenic eventually emerged victorious. There was a certain coolness to the way he held his blood-and-flesh-stained spear high toward the sky after laboriously killing all six Direwolves. Even though his left arm had been bitten and was dripping blood, Malgenic’s mental strength was remarkable.
You’ve got talent. Work harder. Kid, your life is finally looking up.
The final match, which Ravi had enjoyed, featured a Fire Mage who had studied traditional fire magic against a Mid Spirit Species water elemental. I didn't know much about magic, but Ravi had studied it. To me, it just looked like things were blowing up, but Ravi gave a long-winded lecture on the brilliance of that battle.
It was a flashy fight, regardless. In the end, whether it was the WWE or whatever, it concluded with a person who looked like a match manager putting the neutralized Mid Spirit Species water elemental into a cage engraved with magic.
Since it was a difficult and expensive monster to handle, it would have been a waste to kill it.
“Maybe it’s because I cheered so hard, but I’m starting to feel a little hungry.”
“It is about time for dinner.”
The event had started around 2:30 PM, and it was already past 5:30 PM. People chatted excitedly about the thrilling battles they had witnessed in the Arena as they headed toward their respective destinations. The interior of the Arena looked quite busy with the cleanup crew.
“I can see why Mother would like this.”
My mother was someone who, in her prime, used to dive into the Labyrinth to smash monsters to bits and occasionally beat the living daylights out of explorers who annoyed her or picked fights.
Now that she had a social standing to maintain, she couldn't just dive into the Labyrinth or pummel anyone she disliked. It made sense that she would pick up a hobby like this.
Still soaked in the lingering excitement of the gladiator matches, I sat on a nearby bench for a while, eating a rabbit meat sandwich I’d bought from a street stall. Ravi, urgently needing the restroom, had ducked into a nearby commercial building.
I was holding my sandwich in my left hand and Ravi’s in my right when I spotted someone strangely familiar standing further down the street.
“Oh, wait. Is that...?”
Bronzed skin and loud, wavy, bright blonde hair. A female explorer wearing a very small amount of fabric, boldly exposing her skin. She spotted me as well, tilting her head as if she wasn't quite sure, and then—
—Ah! You!!
“I guess it is her.”
She stared at me and marched over, then suddenly leaned forward, thrusting her poorly covered chest toward me.
“Hey, don't you have something to say to me?”
“Haha, well. It looks like you’ve recovered well.”
“Haha? You think this is funny, you bastard?!”
It was Mei, the Gold-grade explorer from Roanmarie. When we met in the Labyrinth last time, I had tried out the skill from the Poison Mushroom I’d eaten. Coincidentally, Mei, who was standing in front of me at the time, was hit point-blank by the toxic spores and collapsed.
“You! Just what kind of guy are you?!”
“What do you mean by that...?”
With her eyes narrowed like a hawk's, a furious Mei snatched the sandwich from my right hand. She promptly plopped her plump backside onto the bench and pressed her body close to mine.
“I almost died, you know? What are you going to do about this?”
“From what I heard at the Guild, it wasn't that serious.”
“Hey, I know my own body best. Besides, is it okay just because I didn't die? Those toxic spores back then—you’re the one who made them, right?”
“That’s true, but... why were you following me?”
“No, that’s... W-What are you talking about?! Who followed you?! We just happened to run into each other!”
“You were tailing me from behind.”
Of course I felt it. I knew she was wearing a Perception Dampening Hood when I carried the unconscious Mei back to the surface. A perception-hindering artifact only blurs the wearer's impression; it doesn't make their very existence undetectable.
The Illusion Hood Delbaheim used before felt similar. At any rate, if someone followed me from that distance, there was no way I wouldn't notice.
“You were saying something about how I should beg for mercy or whatever.”
“T-That’s... well, obviously, if you want to be treated, shouldn't you say thank you first?!”
“Isn't it normal for the person doing the treating to do it first?”
“Hey! That’s up to the person doing it!”
“But what was all that about? You, Mei. After you collapsed. You were talking about husband material, and how you liked my face.”
Because the poisoned Mei had spouted so much nonsense while in my arms—about how her womb was throbbing and her nipples were hard and whatnot—I honestly felt a bit sorry for her and hadn't intended to press her about the tailing.
But if this was going to be her attitude, that was a different story.
“Talking about your womb throbbing... and your nipples being stiff. You should really keep those embarrassing stories to yourself at home. Do you usually walk around thinking things like that...?”
“Are you crazy?! Do you want to die?! S-S-Shut up, will you?!”
“I hope you’ll... exercise some self-control. I’m only saying this because I’m worried.”
“Eeeek!! Fine! I’m leaving!!”
“Get back safely. And try to cut back on the lewd talk.”
“Shut up, please!”
Mei stomped off, taking Ravi’s sandwich with her. Does everyone in Roanmarie just snatch food out of strangers' hands? What an open-minded city.
A short while later, Ravi walked toward the bench, shaking the water off her hands.
“Ah, Ravi.”
“Oh, Yoo Eon. Where’s my sandwich?”
“I was robbed.”
“Huh...? If you wanted to eat two, you should have just bought two....”
This felt a bit unfair. I really was robbed.
“Do you want to eat this instead?”
“...Can’t you buy me another one?”
“Alright. Let’s go.”
* * *
I bought the whipped cream honey waffle Ravi wanted and returned to the lodging. I bought an extra waffle for Ms. Alfi, who would be working there.
“Oh, Theodora. You’re here early.”
“It’s more comfortable this way than waking up early tomorrow morning to prepare and move.”
Ms. Alfi and Theodora were together at the lodging. It seemed she found it bothersome to go to the Gateway after waking up, so she finished her schedule quickly and arrived in Roanmarie an hour ago.
It was currently around 7:00 PM, so it wasn't particularly late.
“Hello? You’re that appraiser, right?”
“A-Ah, hello! I am the appraiser, Ravi Sateria!”
“Right, nice to meet you.”
Ravi had heard some explanations while with Ms. Alfi, so she knew Theodora was coming. Of course, I didn't expect her to burst into the lodging like this, but she was scheduled to come anyway.
“Is that waffle mine?”
“Well, yeah. If Ms. Alfi doesn't mind.”
“I am fine, My Lady.”
“Thanks, I’ll buy you one later.”
The waffle I’d bought for Ms. Alfi went straight into Theodora’s mouth. Watching this from the side, Ravi stared at Theodora with wide eyes, as if she had discovered something amazing.
“M-My Lady...!”
“Hmm? Me? You can just call me Theodora.”
“Ah, right... It’s just, the title 'My Lady' sounds so cool. Hehe...”
To Ravi, who had never not been scruffy in her life, the title "Lady" was just something boisterous middle-aged explorers called women they weren't close to. In Ravi’s case, they usually added "Little" in front of it. It was quite different from the title a real "Lady" of a high noble family received.
“Really? I don't think much of it. Ravi, do you want to be the youngest daughter of the Lymain family?”
“M-Me?!”
“Yeah. Be Ravi Lymain. In exchange, you’ll have to check an average of 180 monster material trade contracts a day, go to the processing plant to manage products for auction display, attend meetings once a week, and it would be great if you could attend social gatherings once every six months.”
“U-Uh....”
Upon hearing Theodora’s grueling schedule, Ravi, who usually had almost nothing to do, turned pale.
“No. Ravi is busy with the appraisal office. She’s already overwhelmed receiving an average of 0.5 customers a day.”
“...Is that true?”
Theodora asked Ravi, wiping the whipped cream from the corner of her lips as if asking if I was serious.
“It’s... it’s not that few....”
“Then?”
“It’s... at least 0.7....”
“Ah...”
At Theodora’s short and intense "Ah," Ravi, who had been standing still, looked even scruffier for no reason.
“Stop it, Ravi’s going to cry.”
“Yoo Eon is the meanest person in the world...!”
Under the sorrowful silence, Ms. Alfi’s gentle patting echoed softly in the living room of the lodging.