The Wizard's Story (8)
The Wizard's Story (8)
#
"...I know a few things about what's going to happen in the future."
"What?!"
The place I'd been transported to was unmistakably based on the world of a novel. But calling it a mere novel was a stretch. The people weren't just NPCs mechanically spitting out programmed lines, and the descriptions in the novel didn't always match reality exactly...
No, I could tell instinctively. This place lacked the distinctive gaps found in fictional creations.
All the more so because I didn't think that idiot author was capable of building something like this. If anything, it felt more like parts of another world had been written into a novel.
In other words, knowledge from the novel became information about the future here.
"Really? Then, starting with tomorrow's weather..."
"I don't know whether it'll rain tomorrow."
"What?"
"And I'm not planning on hitting any gambling dens either."
"...Tch."
I cut her off preemptively, and Yuri immediately deflated. What a clichéd, pathetic thing to say. Looking at her stupid face made me grateful that this world had no lottery.
I ignored the idiot and brought out what I'd prepared to say beforehand.
"It's not as convenient an ability as you two think. Reni, I told you last time, did I not? I only know scattered fragments."
"Yes..."
"I know parts of the future, but mostly just roughly when certain events will happen. I don't know why they happen or what I need to do to change them. Take the Goblin Dungeon you and I visited, Yuri. All I knew was that goblins would cause trouble someday. If I hadn't met you, I might have ignored it completely."
"...So isn't that pretty much the same as knowing nothing at all?"
"Right. That's why I call it fragmentary knowledge. Anyway, the wizard I met yesterday will cause some kind of trouble in the north later."
I briefly explained the elf wizard I'd met yesterday and the circumstances surrounding her: that she was likely to cause trouble later, that she seemed bound to that pig of a man, and that we therefore needed to meet her today.
"...I need to hear why that elf ends up causing trouble. And if possible, I want to solve her problem."
"Hmm...."
Yuri looked thoughtful, while Reni mumbled and watched my reaction.
"Y-Yoo-jin. That elf..."
"Hm?"
"Does that elf n-need amplification?"
Reni looked close to tears. W-was that really such an important question? Well, if it proved necessary, I could do it, but if you looked at me like that, I-I...
"W-Well, I don't know. As of right now, I don't know anything."
I couldn't bring myself to lie and say no. Reni's eyes drooped, perhaps because she disliked my answer.
"Hweeng..."
"I-it's fine. That elf seems to own a house, and from what I saw, her problem appears to be money. I probably will not need to follow her around and amplify her."
Ariel was beautiful, but not beautiful enough to justify making Reni cry. Besides, a harem was rather difficult for someone with an ordinary mentality like mine to handle.
"Okaaay...."
Reni lowered her gaze with an expression that was neither convinced nor unconvinced. As I watched her with mixed feelings, Yuri spoke.
"So, anything else to say?"
"Yeah. We should get going..."
"No. I mean, isn't there anything else you're hiding?"
"...Hiding? What would I be hiding?"
"You never mentioned that amplification has stages, and you didn't say anything about knowing the future either. Did you?"
"Hey, that was—I just sort of missed the chance to bring it up, and as for the future stuff, I wasn't sure yet—"
Yuri cut me off.
"And when you were am-amplifying me, you pulled some kind of trick on me, didn't you? You messed up my body, right? S-So that you could turn me into such a complete wreck..."
Urk. Th-this girl was bringing that up here?
But this was unfair. Yuri had already been lewd, even if she was not quite on Reni's level! If her Lewdness had started around 100, all I had done was raise it to roughly 150.
"Wreck?! You liked it too!"
"Since when?!"
Th-this girl. She had clung to me by the end yesterday, yet now she shamelessly pretended otherwise.
"Yesterday, that's when! And I saw all those toys or whatever you brought. A-are you interested in anal too?!"
"...!"
Yuri's face flared crimson like a bomb about to go off.
"Y-You bastard! G-Going through someone else's bag like that...!"
Reni turned her neck with a creak. I could almost hear the grinding sound effect that should not have existed.
"Y-Yoo-jin. Wh-what did you just say...? A... A... Anal..."
I felt a cold sweat run down my back.
#
"Oh my, Yoo-jin. Welco— A-are you all right?"
"Yes..."
Lize looked at my face with an expression of mild horror.
I hadn't looked in a mirror, but I could imagine what my face looked like. It was probably covered in handprints and pinch marks. My natural recovery as a System user would erase them soon, but it would still take some time.
Lize still looked worried.
"I have a potion that works nicely on skin abrasions. Would you perhaps like one?"
Kind Lize. I stole a glance at the two of them, then nodded.
"I've got one starting at 1 Silver..."
"...Never mind."
Phone-saleswoman Lize... She kept business and personal matters strictly separate. But as though she had not finished, Lize leaned over the counter and examined my face. U-um, Lize. Your necktie is hanging down. I can see straight through the opening of your shirt?!
Not stopping there, Lize reached out and started stroking my face with her hand...
"To think you'd get this injured... Under the circumstances, I could exercise a little discretion and let you have it for 90 Copper..."
-Slap.
Yuri knocked Lize's hand away.
"We don't need it. If you leave this guy alone, he heals up fast anyway."
Looking thoroughly disappointed, Lize sat back down.
"Yoo-jin, there are two things I need to tell you today. First... Ariel from the Magic Tower said she would wait for you inside the dungeon."
Lize took out a map and showed me the location. It was slightly beyond the beginner zone, perhaps an hour from the entrance.
"Oh, and you mentioned you met that Witch last time, yes? She's issued a designated quest for you. She's asking you to come see her again as soon as possible."
"She did?"
"As I understand it, that Witch is normally under contract with another clan, so I don't know what's happened..."
A designated quest.
According to Lize, Iron Tier adventurers did not receive designated quests.
Well, I wouldn't entrust anything to an Iron Tier either. Who on earth would hand a job to a greenhorn who's barely started adventuring?
Most quests available to Iron Tier adventurers involved gathering materials near the beginner zone. Porter work for higher-tier adventurers occasionally appeared, but those jobs generally went to adventurers on the verge of promotion to Bronze Tier.
Adventurers had to complete quests steadily and build their reputation before they could advance to Bronze Tier. Skill alone was not enough. That was only natural.
"I don't know what kind of quest the Witch will commission, but this is a major opportunity! You might even be promoted immediately."
Promotion, huh. That was pretty tempting bait.
According to Lize, about 50% of the people who began at Iron Tier full of confidence packed their bags soon afterward, while another 20% quit only after damaging some part of their bodies. Only about 30% advanced to Bronze Tier. A similar proportion dropped out at each higher tier.
In any case, the Guild rewarded adventurers appropriately when they reached higher tiers. There were several other benefits, but the greatest involved housing.
"But what do you mean, promoted in one go? It can't be that just receiving one designated quest..."
"That Witch has been contracted with us for quite a long time. She may even write you a recommendation. Your physical abilities surpassed Iron Tier long ago, so a recommendation would make promotion quick!"
A recommendation. That subject again. When I first joined the Guild, they had said anyone without a recommendation began at Iron Tier.
"Ah. Mm. Understood."
The Witch Revered by Unicorns. What kind of job did she intend to give me?
But she had been contracted with the Guild for a long time? With that face? Was she not human? If not, how old was she?
...She had lived that long and was still revered by unicorns? They were knockoffs, but still. How long had she gone without sex?
"Hm...."
All right. In any case, let's head inside.
"In any case, understood."
I left Lize's fussing behind and headed for the dungeon.
#
There were three broad categories of work inside a dungeon.
Hunting monsters, discovering stable points, and mining mana-stone veins.
Of course, there were also things like supplying goods to the villages inside dungeons or escorting those supplies, but those weren't jobs for individual adventurers—they were tasks for clans, the Guild, and merchants.
First, monster hunting.
The first was straightforward enough for anyone to understand: hunt dungeon monsters, extract their mana stones, and sell the remaining materials.
The second was discovering stable points—locations where the environment didn't shift and nearby monster respawn rates were low. Veteran adventurers did this while pushing the dungeon's front line forward.
The final category was mining mana-stone veins. Before the dungeon environment changed, they located a promising vein, rapidly established a mine, extracted what they could, and withdrew. Only dwarves could perform that work. Apparently there was something called the Dwarven Mining Association. Non-dwarves like me were assigned to guard the areas around mana-stone mines.
"So I have no idea what kind of work that Witch is actually going to have us do. Monster hunting, most likely?"
"...But we had all that trouble even when we caught that gorilla. My arrows didn't even work on it..."
"Well, we can decide after we hear her out, I guess."
If I was going to visit the Witch, I should avoid touching the Holy Sword for a while. Come to think of it, she had been even quieter than when I gave her candy. Was she completely absorbed in reading?
We chatted idly for a while, and then we spotted Ariel.
"There she is. The elf in gray robes."
"You can see that?"
"Yeah. I've got good eyes."
To me, Ariel looked like nothing more than a gray speck smaller than my little fingernail. Her clothing had stood out somewhat outside the dungeon, but inside it blended into the scenery.
From a distance, you'd have no choice but to mistake her for just a gray boulder. Natural camouflage... Could she have planned it that way?
"You're late."
The moment Reni saw Ariel's face, her body stiffened and she quickly looped her arm through mine.
"Who are these people?"
"My party."
"I see."
Yuri whispered to me in a slightly displeased tone.
"...What's with this elf's way of talking?"
"I don't know."
If you didn't like it, why not tell her yourself? But you probably couldn't. Ariel radiated the aura of a truly fairy-like, mysterious beauty merely from her appearance. Yuri and Reni seemed somewhat intimidated by her.
"Elves are older than they look. If she's a few thousand years old, she might just be like that."
"I am not quite that old, however."
"Ack, I-I'm sorry."
Th-this elf had remarkably sharp hearing. Maybe it was because her ears were so long.
"So, for what reason did you wish to see me? You do not seem to be demanding compensation for the quest. And did you not also lack any reason to go that far for me yesterday? Though I am, of course, indebted to you."
Ariel gave me a sharp look. Right. She wanted me to get to the point. But this was a headache. I didn't know how to begin. I could hardly ask, "Why are you going to raise hell later?"
"Mm. Well, first off..."
"Yoo-jin, wait a sec."
"Hm?"
"Don't you hear something?"
"Hear what?"
"Over there."
Yuri pointed toward one corner of the field. I couldn't see anything... Wait, what was that?
A dust cloud was rising from the field. Before long, the horde causing the dust cloud...
"Aren’t those ostriches? Don’t they look like they’re coming this way?"
"Looks like it."
No. They were charging directly toward us, as though we were their target. This was no joke. How were we supposed to deal with them?
"Umm..."
Ariel groaned. Right, there was no reason to ignore the wizard standing beside me.
"Excuse me, Wizard. I-it looks like we have a problem. Could you deal with those things? Then we can talk..."
"...I don't recall ever stating that I was a wizard."
"What?"
"I cannot use magic."
What the hell? Then why had she acted so impressive at the Magic Tower? I opened Ariel's Status Window.
[Name: Ariel Ionia]
[Class: Wizard]
She was a Wizard, though. Wait. No way.
[Stats: ▼]
[Life Force: 400 / 400]
[Mana: 0 / 1450]
Wh-what? What was wrong with her?