Germania (2): Silver Promotion and a Goddess's Name
“Looks like you had a safe trip. No major incidents?”
Larilura approached with a bold stride. She studied me from every angle like a cat encountering a strange new object, then flashed a bright grin.
“When did you get back? This morning? If you came straight to see me the moment you returned, I’d be absolutely thrilled♡! So thrilled I’d have energy to spare even if I skipped eating and drinking until tonight!”
“I got back yesterday evening and hit the full course—honey sleep, honey bath, honey meal.”
“Even if it’s a lie, I was hoping you’d at least say you came right to me.”
Larilura looked devastated, as if the world itself had crumbled. This girl’s every reaction is pure overkill.
“Yeah, well, anyway—did you hold up okay? I heard you’ve been learning magic.”
“That’s right! So I was actually planning to visit the Mage Guild again today!”
Larilura nodded, cheeks flushed pink. So that’s why she had been out since morning. Good thing I hadn’t come any later. We would have missed each other.
“We’re stopping by the Adventurer Guild first, then heading out to look at furniture. Want to tag along? I’ve got something to tell you, but if you’re busy we can talk later.”
“I’m in!”
Larilura accepted with a 0.1-second delay. Her response speed was pure boxer-jab reflexes. It felt exactly like hitting skip mode in a mobile game story.
“Fine, fine. Wait here a minute. I’ll go buy some booze from Dorka.”
I left the party members waiting and stepped into the inn. Dorka had already seen the morning workers off and was now cleaning and washing dishes.
“Oh? What’s this. Heard you got yourself a house—already missing our inn?”
“Not the inn itself, but I still miss the money I sank into it. I’m not here for the rooms today. Came for the bar. You sell beer by the barrel?”
“Hehehe. Of course. We deliver through the transport guild too. One barrel enough?”
“Give me the small one. I’ll be heading far away for a job in a few days.”
I paid Dorka for the beer and signed the ledger. After starting adventurer work I had sworn off drinking to save money, but with Dana and Veronica both being heavy drinkers, it was necessary. When Veronica drank, Franc would quietly pick up a glass and follow along. Or I, not wanting to let my wife drink alone, would join her for a proper bout. Before long all three of us would be completely sloshed. At that point, would our wives have to stagger up to their second-floor rooms with dizzy heads? Hell no. We’d all roll around naked together in my first-floor room. Breasts on the left, breasts on the right (A-cups). That decadent life’s lubricant was beer. Heh. This is exactly why I live.
“Right, we just got some good Alcadi in. How about a bottle? I’ll do you a favor and cut the price.”
“Cut the crap. If you put that on the table our whole family would drop like an adventurer party hit with poison darts, one after another. I know damn well you mix that stuff with anesthetic.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. After a brutal workday, nothing beats a glass of that before bed.”
“It’s literally an anesthetic. The proper use is for insomnia, you crazy bastard.”
“Hehehe. Have your wife wake you up. We sell hangover cures as a set too.”
“Hangover cure my ass—it’s an antidote. Anyway, take care. I’ll come buy more later.”
“Sure. And if possible, send your wives on the errand. Those ladies ask me if any good stock came in even when I don’t bring it up first.”
“Goddammit. Looks like I’ll be seeing your ugly mug a lot starting next month.”
Maybe it was because our wives were absolute suckers for alcohol. They acted like kids dragged to the toy corner of a department store on their birthday. From now on I’d have to be the one buying the booze.
─Clink.
I paid Dorka, who was trying to make a living selling liquor, and stepped back outside. The women’s conversation reached my ears.
“Miss Est said her leg has completely healed! I ran into her around here yesterday after parting with sister.”
“Really? That’s a relief. I haven’t seen her since we met during the promotion request last time. Did she look healthy?”
“Yes! She bought new leg guards to celebrate her promotion… Ah, senior’s back.”
The mood was lively, as if they had grown even closer while I was gone. Since the two of them had gone on a job together, it made sense.
“Yeah. What were you talking about? I thought I heard a familiar name.”
“While you were out, we took a few Bronze Class requests too. During a ruin-guard job we worked with Est Valcas, who had received the same request for her promotion test.”
“That so? Small world in this industry.”
Still, who was Est again? I couldn’t recall exactly, but I was pretty sure she was the short-spear-and-wooden-shield warrior who had made me reconsider the strengths of the spear. We must have simply received the same request by chance.
The world really is small.
On the other hand, it highlighted how steep my growth had been. The person who started adventuring before me had only just taken the Bronze test, yet I had already perfectly cleared the Silver Class exam with extra credit. Even though I tried to act like a cool-headed professional, I couldn’t help feeling a little pride. Still, having met plenty of people stronger than me, I quickly calmed down.
Until I’m strong enough to one-shot a Mithril Class head-on, it’ll be hard to get arrogant.
Having witnessed heavenly warriors fight, I could view myself objectively. Though Odin and Sleipnir, being gods I only met in dreams, still didn’t feel entirely real. It was like college friends arguing over who was better at games when an administrator super-account suddenly joins the match.
Anyway, I was Silver Class now. If the guild had any conscience, they wouldn’t revoke the promotion.
“Senior~. What was it you wanted to talk about?”
Larilura asked on the way to the Adventurer Guild. I put a finger to my lips, making sure the topic of the ruins didn’t slip out on the main road.
“I ended up having to go to Germania for a job. I wanted to ask if you’d like to come along.”
“I’ll go!”
Instant answer again. Did this girl’s lips have a mind of their own? Maybe ask your brain for its opinion once in a while.
Franc looked dumbfounded and tried to persuade her in what somehow came across as opposition.
“Larilura. If it drags on, we might be stuck there the entire winter. You’re going to Romania in the spring, aren’t you? You need to practice the show you’ll perform for the circus troupe there.”
“Ugh… Wouldn’t it be fine? Back when I was with the circus, I practiced while traveling, you know?”
Larilura answered in a deflated voice. It was good to be confident, but she was still only eighteen. I worried her confidence might be groundless. A nineteen-year-old who just received their ID was bound to think they were a full adult in any world, right? Ah, fuck. To think I was having these stale old-man thoughts. I really had become a geezer without noticing.
“Or is it that… I’m not allowed to follow you?”
Larilura asked hesitantly, eyes wide. The way she bit her lip and searched my expression—its effect was devastating. A clean conscience-piercing strike. I knew it was half-joke, half-serious, but that fifty-percent hit landed with double damage. To outsiders I probably looked like the world’s biggest asshole. If she had truly been someone without combat ability, I would have had to refuse while vomiting blood. But Larilura could pull her own weight if brought along.
I waved my hands dismissively.
“Ah, forget it. If you want to come, then come. We’re the same party. If we live, we live together. If we kick the bucket in some far-off land, you won’t even get your share of the elixir payout, you know?”
“Ahaha♡! Then we die together! How wonderful!”
“Larilura. There’s nothing in what I just said that’s worth being happy about.”
“A woman with fucking two lives.”
─Step, step.
While talking we reached another fork. Franc glanced down the street where the furniture shop lay and tugged my sleeve.
“Nord. How about we split up here and meet back at the house? If we want the furniture today, we need to order it early.”
“Right, that’s true. But don’t say we’re splitting up. Even knowing you don’t mean it that way, it still tears my heart apart.”
“Hehe. If Nord’s heart tears, I’ll just sew it back together.”
Franc stuck her tongue out mischievously. Ugh, Franc. Don’t be that cute without any warning. Your husband is dying here…!!
“Here’s the money. You know what to buy, right?”
“Yep. See you later. Larilura’s coming home too, right?”
“Yes~! Leave senior’s walk to me♡! I’ll take good care of him so he doesn’t cause any trouble!”
─Pat pat!
Larilura thumped her own chest. There were a lot of owners treating me like a dog today.
“Then senior! Let’s go!”
“Grrrr…”
“Senior, no! Paw!”
“This bitch really wants to die.”
─Thwack!
I gave the line-crossing Larilura a solid flick to the forehead and arrived at the Adventurer Guild.
After the now-familiar-to-the-point-of-boredom process, the receptionist brought over some documents.
Nord. Congratulations on your promotion. From today onward, the entire guild looks forward to even more splendid accomplishments from you as a Silver Class adventurer.
The receptionist even gave me the promotion certificate and congratulated me on passing the test. The plate itself would take time to make, so I apparently wouldn’t receive it yet.
“It went well, senior!”
Larilura clapped as if she had been waiting for this moment. She kept the volume down since we were indoors, but her joy was obvious, as if it were her own achievement. I grinned back at her.
“By the way, receptionist. What about the other matter?”
“If you’re asking about the ogre, the guild master expressed official condolences on behalf of the guild and delivered the belongings to the bereaved family. Ah, the three of you who participated in the subjugation—including Nord—have received promotion credit and compensation. Please take it.”
─Clatter.
A tray stacked with coins appeared. As expected of our pathetic little guild that never failed to embarrass itself no matter where you put it. They wouldn’t even put the compensation for an incident like this into a leather pouch. It was neck-and-neck with 21st-century trash corporations that paid out death benefits in the tens of thousands of won. Well, this probably wasn’t danger pay. Half of it was probably the ogre’s life value. Since no one had commissioned the subjugation, the amount couldn’t be that large.
“The two individuals besides Lady Arma Shunas declined the ogre subjugation reward, so after the guild subsidy this comes to two silver and fifty copper.”
As expected. That ogre would have been worth Gold Class at minimum, but the reward seemed calibrated to the average difficulty of ogre subjugations. I wasn’t particularly disappointed. I had gained far more than money.
“Ogre? Not orc?”
Larilura’s eyes bulged so far they looked ready to pop out. Ah, right. I hadn’t explained it to her.
“I ended up fighting an ogre too. The examiner died to the thing, so the promotion test procedure got a little weird. Still, I passed, so that’s what matters. I’ll give you the full details later when I explain the business trip.”
I spoke to reassure her, but it didn’t seem to work.
─Twitch!
Larilura reached toward my body as if worried about a sick family member, then stopped. She probably thought that as a married man, I shouldn’t be touched by an unrelated woman. Larilura was the type who pretended otherwise but was surprisingly strict about such things.
“…You won without getting hurt, right? If you came back all messed up and got healed by Dana before meeting me, I might cry, you know?”
“I didn’t get hurt. I won easily thanks to the Puppetry you enchanted onto my spear.”
It wasn’t really thanks to that—strictly speaking the ones who dealt the heavy damage were Tirsi and Veronica—but I said it anyway.
It’s not a complete lie, after all.
If I hadn’t been able to retrieve the spear with Puppetry, I wouldn’t have been able to throw it so freely. It had changed the flow of battle, so it had certainly helped.
“…Is that so? I did struggle quite a bit carving that.”
At my words Larilura fidgeted with her lips, hiding her joy. This girl would never be able to lie to anyone until the day she died.
“Ahem.”
The receptionist cleared his throat to regain our attention.
“On that note, Nord. The guild master also wishes to apologize for the insufficient investigation and asked me to give you this letter—”
We apologize for the insufficient preliminary investigation. Please accept our sincere condolences for the examiner’s death.
After listening to the unnecessary extra information, I collected the money and promotion certificate and finished the business. It felt like Tirsi had handled all the annoying parts in advance, but Carlyle had apparently contacted them separately. At the guild’s mail counter I wrote a reply. While I was at it, I added that I would be leaving for a while and that Larilura wanted to register as Tirsi’s disciple. I naturally started the letter with congratulations on the promotion. The letter for Tirsi I stamped and sent; the one for Carlyle I handed to the receptionist.
That wraps up the Adventurer Guild business.
There was still about a week left before departure. I considered taking a request, but that would be insane. With the ogre subjugation credit added on top, the gap between me and the rest of the party had widened even further. Until Franc and Larilura reached Silver Class, I would focus on self-improvement.
I wiped the ink from my fingertips with a handkerchief and spoke.
“Once you two promote we’ll celebrate properly. Like we did for the housewarming.”
“I’m still far from promotion, though?”
“Don’t worry. The research director of Sargadis is going to officially request us as helpers for a ruin exploration expedition. It’ll be easy to stack up achievements, right?”
“Dana? I’d love that, but is it really okay? Won’t you and sister get in trouble?”
“Heh. No one’s losing anything, so why would we get in trouble? If we don’t use connections at times like this, when would we ever use them?”
In the 21st century, if a married couple used their connections to farm achievements it would make the news. Frankly this wasn’t all that different from corruption. But this was another world. The Adventurer Guild got their commission cut and could record “affiliated adventurer completed exploration of such-and-such ruins” in their ledger. Pure profit. The only ones who lost out were the adventurers who would be relatively disadvantaged in the promotion exams! And anyway, promotion tests had no limit on participants and used absolute evaluation. Those who had the skill would rise on their own. Got a problem? Then go back to Earth. I can even teach you protest methods. Come back and teach me too.
“Still, the Adventurer Guild puts heavy restrictions above Gold Class so outside personnel can’t monopolize the upper ranks with loopholes. They’re probably just turning a blind eye this time.”
It was the same thing I had heard when I first met Tirsi. I had learned the details from Dana, of course.
“Then won’t it be hard for you to promote too, senior?”
“I don’t know about after Gold Class. But I just got Silver, remember? Why worry about things that far ahead?”
I had heard that starting from Gold Class the tests were held regularly by the Adventurer Guild Union. I wondered how that would go.
I don’t even particularly want a high adventurer rank anymore.
Somehow it had turned out that way. I had become a field adventurer to get my doctorate quickly, but now I had a wife who already held the titles of doctor and research director! The situation was completely different from my pathetic master’s-degree days. Since I had revealed all my secrets, Dana would actively help with my dimension-travel research. Rather than me becoming a professor while holding a master’s, it would be much faster for Dana to open her own research institute… Huh?
…Now that I think about it, wouldn’t it be way faster if I just pushed Dana into a professorship?
As the old saying goes, husband and wife are one body. Then wasn’t Dana’s work also my work?
Even without the joke, this actually sounds like a damn good idea?
I jotted the thought down in my notebook. The method reminded me of being a kept man, which gave me some resistance, but if that was the case I just had to become an insanely impressive pillar! I would become a thick, sturdy palace beam like my dick and support Dana. Problem solved.
I should discuss it after seeing the results from the next ruin.
─Snap.
With that thought I closed the notebook. Realizations really do come when you least expect them.
“What did you suddenly write down~? Did you think of what furniture to buy?”
Larilura tilted her head. Walking while taking notes probably looked strange.
“Ah. Now that I think about it, I never asked what kind of furniture you and the sisters need? Weren’t you all going to Germania soon anyway after buying furniture?”
“Yeah. It’s furniture for a freeloader who’ll be staying at our house until we leave for Germania.”
“A freeloader? Until you leave for Germania?”
─Twitch.
Larilura’s ears perked up. Seeing expectation fill her face, I hurriedly opened my mouth. I felt bad for getting her hopes up.
“That’s right. Her name’s Veronica. You know her too. I’ll introduce you when we get home.”
“…Yes?”
Larilura stared blankly for a moment, then her eyes suddenly curved into crescent moons. It was the exact face of a middle-school girl on her birthday who received a gift fifty thousand won cheaper than her little sister’s.
“Hmmm…… Veronica…… Hmmm—?”
Larilura, who had been repeating the name of the Germania-born non-virgin radar, pouted her lips and said,
“It’s a woman’s name♥?”