Clear for Discharge
“Fortunately, there are no abnormalities. You’re free to be discharged.”
Seated in the examination room of the Academy’s affiliated hospital, I nodded at the doctor’s words.
Even by my own reckoning, looking at the state of my body now, calling myself a patient felt like a stretch.
Honestly, I could have walked out the moment I opened my eyes yesterday, but I had simply followed the doctor’s advice that it would be better to observe my condition for one more day.
With nothing in particular to pack, I stepped outside with a light heart—and the bright weather greeted me as if it had been waiting.
Dazzling sun. Clean air.
After being cooped up in a hospital room with nothing to do, coming outside finally let me breathe again.
“Congratulations on your discharge. Truly.”
Ah, right. She was here.
At the familiar voice I turned my head, and there stood a beautiful girl with eyes so blue they almost hurt to look at, quietly watching me.
Elizabeth Spencer.
According to the setting, my fiancée.
From what the doctor had told me, she had come every single day to nurse me even while I was unconscious. It was hard to believe she had done so out of love for a politically arranged fiancé, so I figured it was probably a sense of duty as a betrothed.
Diligent, I’ll give her that.
“Do you have any plans afterward?”
Her question made me think carefully about what I needed to do, and I remembered the task I had failed to complete because I had lost consciousness.
“I’m thinking of going to Tirhi.”
I named the small city that sat right beneath the Academy.
“……Would you, by any chance, care to accompany me?”
I hadn’t asked her to come, but an earl’s daughter had visited the hospital every day to look after me. If there was any decent equipment to be found in town, I figured I might as well outfit her, so I asked lightly.
“Then I shall take the liberty of accepting your kind offer.”
Hearing the oddly bright note in her voice, I realized she must have had business in Tirhi herself.
Good—I wasn’t dragging a busy person along after all.
“Alright.”
All’s well that ends well.
With a considerably lighter heart, I set off.
By taking the regularly scheduled carriage that ran between Hero Academy and Tirhi, we reached our destination in no time.
When the coachman opened the door, I stepped down and offered Elizabeth my hand.
“Thank you.”
Once I confirmed she had taken my hand and alighted, I looked around.
A village of distinctly medieval scenery welcomed us—utterly different from the modern atmosphere of the Academy.
The people walking about wore clothing of cloth and leather, the sort one would expect of medieval Europe.
Houses built of wood and stone, carriages and gold coins and other relics of a bygone age… and yet there were vending machines, firearms, even trains. The Academy bathrooms even had bidets installed.
A worldview of pure convenience, all built under the names of mana and talent.
I couldn’t help shaking my head.
“Are you all right?”
“I was only a little tired. Nothing to worry about.”
“Your wounds were severe, so you may not have fully recovered yet. If your schedule allows, how about we have a meal first?”
The concern in Elizabeth’s voice made me feel a touch awkward.
No, I meant this world itself is tiring…
Still, the mention of a meal made me realize I was hungry.
And if we were going to eat, there was one place I had been dying to try.
“Then let’s eat first.”
I took the lead and started walking.
Following the main road, I spotted a familiar alley and turned into it.
Because Tirhi sat directly beneath the Academy, it drew nearly as many nobles as the capital itself.
As a result, even the alleys were neither filthy nor poorly policed—yet they remained dark and narrow all the same.
Hmm. Is this really the sort of place to bring a noble young lady…?
I began to wonder if I had chosen poorly.
No matter how you looked at it, this was not a path a noble would normally take, but every route to our destination was like this, so there was no help for it.
After passing through the alley we arrived at a small restaurant called Begonia.
“Welcome, guests. Thank you for visiting Begonia. Table for two?”
As we stepped inside, a girl in a neat waitress uniform greeted us.
“Yes. Table A-8, please.”
“Of course~ Right this way.”
Following the girl to the designated seats, I took in the interior.
The space was larger than expected, with warm lighting and an elegant interior that stood out.
Despite the building’s somewhat aged appearance, everything was so meticulously kept that it never felt run-down.
I think they call this ‘antique’?
Glancing over the prepared menu, I ordered the dishes I had already decided on, then rose from my seat with a word of apology to Elizabeth across from me.
“Sorry. I have a quick errand. I’ll be back before the food arrives.”
“Yes, of course.”
Begonia was a fairly famous location in the game.
Of course, the rumors that the food tasted like heaven, that the interior was splendid, and so on were all true—but that was not the main reason for its renown.
The bulk of its fame came from the fact that it was a restaurant operated by the Information Guild.
I caught the eye of the waitress waiting by the counter; she gave a small nod and led me to a hidden basement beside the wine cellar.
Having already visited once before the entrance ceremony to check information on elixirs, I followed her with familiar ease.
The basement she guided me into was structured like a guest reception room one might find in a noble’s mansion.
The girl showed me to a luxurious sofa and then sat opposite me herself.
“Young Master Taylor Winchester, thank you so very much for visiting our branch again.”
Her name was Dahlia Campbell.
The branch manager of this Information Guild outpost.
Her youthful appearance made her look nothing like a branch manager, but her true identity was the daughter of Information Guildmaster Argyle Campbell, running the branch as part of her training to succeed him.
And despite looking so young, I knew her age was roughly the same as mine.
“Guest, both last time and now—how is it that you know the Guild’s contact methods?”
She gazed at me with leisurely curiosity, as if genuinely amazed.
I skipped any answer and went straight to the point.
“……What about the job I commissioned last time?”
“My, straight to business without even answering?”
Even if she asked with such open curiosity, there was nothing I could tell her.
How was I supposed to say, I learned it while playing the game in my previous life?
“The commission?”
“You’re really stubborn, aren’t you? Fine. Here’s the location of the dungeon you requested, plus information on the elixirs that will appear at the next auction.”
She suddenly hiked up her skirt, pulled a small piece of parchment from a holster strapped around her thigh, and held it out.
Wait—why is it coming from there?
The parchment she handed me was oddly warm, which made holding it feel a little unsettling.
“Regarding the dungeon information, we incurred a bit of damage on our end, so you’ll need to pay an additional three gold.”
An Information Guild that lived on its reputation would never lie.
Pretending to reach into my pocket, I pulled a pouch of gold coins from my inventory and handed it over.
“Oh? This is far too much.”
Dahlia weighed the pouch and looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“That includes the advance. I’m placing an additional commission. If you discover any monsters around the Academy that aren’t normally found in this area, report them to me.”
The tutorial was over; it was time to prepare for Episode One.
There was still some time left, but preparing early never hurt.
“How long a period?”
“About a month. You people have agents inside the Academy as well, don’t you? Report immediately.”
“Heh, and how did you know that?”
Dahlia studied me as if examining some curious artifact.
In the game’s story, whenever the protagonist placed a commission, agents would pop up anywhere with a ta-da! and deliver the news, so I had simply assumed they existed and said so.
“Haa. I have no further business, so I’ll be going.”
With nothing I could answer if she kept prying, I stood quickly, eager to leave.
“Oh? Leaving without even having tea this time?”
“I have a companion upstairs, so I’ll pass.”
Dahlia seemed to recall that my companion was waiting above; she nodded, then fixed me with an unreadable, peculiar expression.
“That would be your fiancée, Young Lady Spencer, correct?”
For some reason her staring gaze was a little frightening.
“I don’t believe I’m obligated to answer that.”
“Hmm~”
This brat already knows and is still asking.
As I stepped out the door, Dahlia’s voice followed me.
“The food at our Begonia is first-rate, you know.”
“……Is that so.”
“Fufu. I hope you have a lovely meal.”
After exchanging farewells and climbing back up from the basement, I saw the food arriving at exactly the right moment.
It wasn’t served course by course like a high-end restaurant, but the plating was excellent—there was pleasure just in looking at it.
“This looks splendid. Let’s eat.”
“Yes.”
I sliced a piece of the meat before me and put it in my mouth. I barely chewed before it melted on my tongue.
Delicious!!
I never expected to experience the universe expanding and stars shattering inside my head.
It was every bit as magnificent as the game’s setting had claimed.
Across from me, Elizabeth was dining with measured, elegant grace, yet even her refined palate seemed to find this place the correct answer—the corners of her lips had lifted ever so slightly.
She looked satisfied as well, which was a genuine relief.
Last time I came, I was so pressed for time I couldn’t eat…
In my rush to scrape together ten MP somehow, I had only managed fruit or bread to fill my stomach, and hospital food could hardly be called a proper meal.
This first real meal in this world was more than enough to satisfy me two hundred percent.