27. Opportunities Come to Those Who Act
27. Opportunities Come to Those Who Act
"...A subjugation mission to reinforce the garrison?"
"A subjugation mission, but it shouldn't be too dangerous. The truly deadly demon beasts are handled by the high-ranking adventurers under the Hero's command. New recruits just need to focus on scouting and dealing with small fry like goblins."
A mission where numbers mattered more than skill level, drawing in both high-ranked adventurers and rookies alike.
This really was the kind of thing anyone could take on, regardless of level, without too much pressure.
Of course, according to the future Airi had seen, this was the mission where I'd die. But then again, every other quest carried a risk of death too. No matter what I did, the danger wasn't going to magically change, right?
Besides, the whole reason I'd decided to help Marilyn in the first place was to prevent that very future.
If I wanted to minimize variables, then going with her to this place without changing anything might actually be the correct answer.
"Marilyn, what do you think about this request?"
"......."
"...Marilyn?"
"Ah, sorry. I got absorbed in the request form without realizing it."
Marilyn spoke while studying the contents of the document intently.
Then, with her usual bright smile, she gave her answer.
"...Still, I'm not very familiar with these things, so for now, I'll follow your opinion on it, Hyosung."
"Ah, okay. Then I'll fill out the application......"
Her silence bothered me a little, but it was probably nothing.
After filling out the paperwork provided by the receptionist and getting the commission confirmed, I glanced back at her as we left the guild.
"The mission doesn't start until tomorrow, so we've got the day free today... Do you have any plans for later, Marilyn?"
"Originally, I'd be looking for work at taverns and such to earn travel funds......"
She cupped her chin in thought for a moment.
Then, she stole a glance at me and asked cautiously.
"If it's alright, would it be okay for me to watch what you do?"
"Huh? You mean me?"
"Yes. Since we'll be working together from now on, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to spend a little more time together while we have the chance."
Things like party members grabbing drinks or sharing lodgings to build camaraderie before a shared mission.
That sort of thing was common among adventurers, and I'd experienced it plenty of times myself while working as a porter.
If the other person weren't a charming member of the opposite sex, I would've accepted it as no big deal too.
"I don't mind you tagging along, but it probably won't be very fun. I'm just going to the training ground to warm up for tomorrow."
"Hehe. I appreciate your consideration, but you don't need to worry about that either."
Marilyn looked at me with her usual bright smile and clasped her hands demurely at her waist.
"From the moment I felt an interest in meeting you, I've been assigning meaning to every single moment spent with you......."
Interest, and value.
Considering the implications and weight behind those words alone, this wasn't something you said to just anyone.
Since it wasn't something she'd say to just anyone, her words in this moment meant that she thought of me as that special...
"......You're not joking around, right?"
"Hm?"
"Nah, never mind."
Damn it.
This woman is seriously bad for my heart.
****
After class selection, the second benefit offered to adventurers: the training ground, which was free to use under normal circumstances.
You needed money to hire an instructor or use advanced training equipment, but barring that, even rookie adventurers like me could use it with few real restrictions.
Naturally, for someone like me who was looking for a place to test out a new weapon on top of a new class, the chance to use the training ground for free felt like a stroke of luck in itself.
But does luck just shine on its own once it shows up?
If it rolls right up to you, you've got to grab hold of it and put it to use somehow.
So, as I was gripping my spear and swinging it furiously at a training dummy, Marilyn, who had been watching from the side, took a break to ask me a question.
'You're working harder than I thought. It looks like you could take it a bit easier... Is there a reason?'
Working hard, was I......?
I was just doing the best I could, but even that level of effort seemed to strike her as rather unexpected.
In truth, most people who came to the training ground didn't go all-out like me. They just swung their weapons around half-heartedly or only did what a professional trainer told them to do.
'Mm, if I had to pick a reason, it'd be because I've got a compulsion to work hard, I guess.'
'A compulsion, you say?'
'Yeah. See, something happened a long time ago.......'
Adaptability and diligence were my strong suits, but even I hadn't pushed myself this hard back in my old life.
The reason I was working hard enough to draw admiration from an onlooker was probably because of a past experience that had left a deep impression on me.
An experience from when I assisted a Hero sponsored by the Order.
"Look away."
"But......."
"This is none of your concern. Look away."
Anyone could see she was in a precarious situation at that moment, but even so, she accepted her predicament with a composed face.
That forbearance was enough to make even me, someone with considerable patience, feel genuine respect.
But even so, I still couldn't bring myself to just look away.
"......Um, isn't that dangerous?"
While navigating the dungeon, she had been leading the way with me in tow to find a place to pray, and her lower body had gotten stuck in a trap set in the corridor.
"I'm fine. I can get myself out of something like this at any time."
"Uh, it doesn't really look like you can get out......."
"I am merely composing myself, accepting that this, too, is the Lord's will. Pay it no mind and go do what you must."
This damn nun, stubbornly glaring at me with sharp eyes even in that state.
But it wasn't exactly easy to just follow her order and leave to do my job either.
A good portion of the baggage I was carrying was the equipment needed to set up the 'Portable Altar' for her prayers, and what I was supposed to do before she fell into the trap was to set up that very altar.
"...Shall I go and fetch some people?"
"Did I not say, multiple times, that it was unnecessary?"
"They're right nearby, so if I call them we could pull you out easily......."
"Hah, this is what's wrong with people with no faith."
A person with no faith.
It was the phrase she habitually used whenever she saw someone whose opinion didn't match her own.
No, to be precise, it was a phrase commonly used by the Heroes sponsored by the Order.
On top of the halo of being a Hero, they were granted divine power from the god they served, so they'd developed a tendency to place the utmost importance on faith, above all else.
"You there. Sit down over there for a moment."
"...Huh?"
"I said sit down, as a sermon seems necessary."
Ah, yes. What am I, a dog? Fine, you say sit, I sit.
Sighing in resignation, I put down my baggage and sat facing her. She cleared her throat and continued, her hands clasped neatly in front of her.
"Mr. Porter. What do you think faith is?"
"...It's believing in a god."
"And faith, in turn, is waiting. The heavens bestow miracles upon those who know how to endure, and I, too, am following that teaching by regarding my current state as a trial and accepting it silently."
"Ah, yes. I see."
She sure talked a good game.
When in reality, she was just too embarrassed about falling into a trap to get out right away.
"What is that look on your face? Are you thinking I'm spouting nonsense right now?"
"Ah, no. How could I, unable to even tell up from down, possibly think such a thing? Everything you say is correct, Lady Hero."
"Spare me your nonsense. Right now, your expression is giving me the distinct feeling you're looking down on— Hyaang!?"
Right in the middle of seeing through my insincere excuses and spitting out her irritation, a rough moan leaked from her lips.
Immediately after, her face flushed red. She squirmed, her body jostling inside the pit she was stuck in, and began to stare down at the hole with a troubled frown.
"Ah, aau, eet! Ha-yooo~♡"
"...What's the matter?"
"Something... sticky, like a tentacle, is crawling up my leg....... Ah, heu, aaaht~♥"
Oh no, was a tentacle-type monster approaching from below?
"Let me help you!"
"I-It's fine! Something like this is.... Ee, eek!"
The moment I tried to reach out, she slammed both her hands down on the ground.
The radiance that spread from her hands then soaked into her body. The squirming from before became still, and a look of serenity returned to her face.
"Phew, that's a relief."
"...Did you cast a barrier on your body just now?"
"Yes. As long as the barrier holds, no monster in this underground can defile my pure body."
A barrier.
It was a technique any cleric could create using divine power, but the barriers she used were fundamentally different from those of other clerics.
That was because, through the ability she awakened as a Hero, she could block not only physical attacks but also intangible, 'conceptual' things.
Mental attacks, of course, and even sensory aspects like the body's nerves.
"Of course, any fumbling attempts from outside the barrier will be unpleasant, but I've also cast a spell to block out the senses used in meditation, so I can endure it sufficiently."
"...If you have that kind of power, wouldn't it be better to use it to get out of there?"
"Be quiet. What would you know about faith, to prattle on like that?"
I'd said that hoping she'd use her power efficiently, not talk about faith.
Damn. How much of the dungeon did we have left to clear, and she was wasting her power like this over sheer stubbornness?
"As I've said time and again, those without faith fail to grasp the necessity of waiting. To those who prove their patience through prayer, the Lord shall one day bestow a miracle......"
After that, this damn nun kept on rambling, going on about how we had to wait for a miracle to come, like some kind of rain dance.
Even normally, she was the type to not cast the barriers she was supposed to while others were fighting, and instead went on boring, blood-boiling sermons nitpicking over what others did at totally random times.
I was just a porter watching from a distance, but seeing her deliver a sermon in that hideous state with only her lower body trapped, I could feel my blood pressure rising in real time...
"I'll say it once more: waiting is a virtue necessary for people. The more harsh and trying the world, the more those like you — those who lack faith and have failed to awaken a proper power — must feel the need for patience."
This damn nun, completely lacking self-awareness, kept repeating boring words that felt like getting clocked by a Dempsey roll of a headmaster's moral lectures.
However, it was impossible for a lowly Foreign Worker like me to defy a Hero blessed by God.
If I didn't like it, I just had to hurry up and earn money to start my own adventure.
I just agreed with her and let it slide while stewing inside. But at some point, I noticed her face beginning to turn a pale color.
"Therefore, always keep this in your heart. If you pray to the Lord, it shall be done. Then you shall receive the power to overcome any danger in this harsh world....... Urgh!"
"Are you alright?"
"I said I'm f-fine! How many times must I say... Blerrgh!"
She complained of a feeling of nausea, as if something were rising up from inside her.
But I couldn't identify the cause right away. Since she'd blocked off her senses with her ability, she couldn't tell exactly where the problem was or what was wrong either.
"So-something's... weird. The Lord's sacred protection should be keeping my body safe, so why......."
When even she, who had been giving a sermon moments before, couldn't overlook the problem and waved her hand, a status window for herself appeared in front of her.
She could probably check the state of the barrier she had cast, linked to her ability, there.
And then......
"Huh, wha? The barrier... broke?"
Her flustered cry burst out reflexively.
Right after, her face, as she looked down into the hole, flushed with a violent rage that chased away the pallor.
"Th-that's absurd! Then, right now, my body is....... Aaah!! You unclean fiends! How dare you defile this pure body offered to the Lord!!"
"...Is the situation that serious?"
"Can't you see it is!? What are you doing! Don't just stand there, call for people this instant...... Ugh, cough!"
God damn it, if it was going to be like this, she should've let me call them sooner!
In my haste, I threw down my baggage and ran to get the people at base camp. Not sensing the severity of the situation, they followed me with slow footsteps.
After all, it was routine for her to invest hours in prayer at a time.
So everyone probably thought it was no big deal, even if I was making a fuss. But...
"E, egh, ugh......."
When we actually arrived, all that appeared was the usually imposing upper half of her body slumped over in defeat.
Unable to escape the hole, she had collapsed her torso onto the ground, whimpering; a sight anyone would find serious.
"Over here! Dig this ground up, quickly!"
"Damn, what the hell happened!?"
Finally grasping the severity, her party members began frantically digging up the ground around where she was buried.
And before long, sand cascaded down below with a rumble.
The moment that eerily vast empty space revealed itself, the mouths of everyone, including me, dropped open.
Right. Because what should have been there... wasn't.
"H-huh?"
That sight was also witnessed by the person in question, who confirmed it at the same time.
She opened her mouth, which was leaking blood, and spoke with great effort.
"My... my lower half... where did it go......."
A sob steeped in despair.
Immediately after— SPLURT! A thicket of tentacles erupted from the ground, coiled around her remaining upper body, and yanked it down into the earth.
And then, a crunching sound echoed out.
"Aaaargh! It's a flesh-eating monster that blocks your senses!"
I turned tail and ran from that spot without looking back.
***
"...And so, I came to think that if I just wait around expecting the heavens to do everything for me, like that nun, I could end up getting devoured without even knowing it. So when a chance to act comes, I have to go at it seriously... That's the reason, basically."
"Uhm, erm. I see."
When I finished explaining the reason for my diligent training by reminiscing about the past, Marilyn, who had been listening beside me, stared at me with a blank expression.
That's strange. Knowing her personality, I'd have expected her to toss out a couple of jokes.
Wasn't this kind of story pretty common in this world?