The Named Request

I hesitated, unsure how to respond. "Uh... um..." In the end I thumped my chest. It felt awkward to say out loud, but sticking close to the escort gave me the distinct impression of an uncle dragging his nephew out for the day. Still, knowing how painfully sensitive the third son of Edenberg was about his height, I kept the thought to myself. If I voiced it, Veil's face would probably crumple into something truly pitiful.

Once inside, Veil scanned the room before settling naturally into a chair. His gaze landed on Adela, who was rolling around on the bed.

"Oho. So this is the princess Rohan mentioned? She certainly resembles a human, yet something about her feels... off."

"How can you tell?"

"Look closely and the differences stand out. Call it intuition. Any Northerner would sense it without much trouble."

At Veil's words Adela puffed out her cheeks. She'd gone to the trouble of disguising herself as a person, only to be seen through immediately. The injustice must have stung. While the sulking girl crawled under the blankets and grumbled, I took the seat across from him and bought a cookie set from the shop.

"I'll bring out some cookies, at least."

"Don't mind if I do."

Veil accepted without hesitation, picking up a cookie and popping it into his mouth. He savored it with care, and his expression gradually melted into something gentle.

"These are exceptionally good. Where did you buy them?"

"From a shop run by my Mystery. Not for public sale."

"And they seem to apply a buff when eaten."

"Another effect of the Mystery."

Chocolate cookies slightly raised defense and speed when consumed. The finished products sold in the shop were obscenely expensive, though, so I planned to unlock the common skill Cooking before long. The raw ingredients were fairly cheap. I could always buy seeds and grow them myself.

Veil's eyes sparkled as if he'd spotted real potential in the cookies.

"Any interest in a regular supply contract with the Count's household? I swear, on the name of the Fenrir Merchant Guild, to offer generous terms."

"Not a chance. Four cookies cost one gold."

"Ugh. That's downright filthy expensive."

Veil recoiled at my answer. Four gold was a commoner's household living expenses for an entire month—roughly four million won in my previous life. Spending a quarter of that on four cookies was naturally shocking to someone as money-conscious as him.

"That does make things awkward. Buff potions trade at around one gold on the market, yet the cookies' effect is comparatively weak."

"Once I learn Cooking later, I should be able to make buff foods myself."

"Oh? Truly? Then if I purchase the recipe from you and learn it, could I mass-produce them?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Hard to say. It relies on the power of my Mystery."

"Ah, a shame."

He was eighteen this year, wasn't he? One year younger than me, yet he spoke like a little old man. I watched him with curious eyes. The charisma he'd displayed in the plaza yesterday morning had vanished, replaced by a child pouting because things weren't going his way.

Noticing my stare, Veil gave a crooked grin.

"This isn't an official occasion. No need to maintain the atmosphere. Right now I'm not the regent of Edenberg—I'm simply Veil, an eighteen-year-old."

"True. Keeping up that persona even in private would be exhausting."

My candid reply brought a satisfied look to Veil's face. He seemed pleased that I had the nerve to speak freely even to the third son of a Count.

"As expected, adventurers are easy to talk with. Most knights are far too rigid."

"For someone who says that, the person behind you seems rather witty in his own right."

"He never shows me that side, which is why I'm complaining."

At Veil's words I glanced at the escort. He shook his head with a wronged expression.

"The escort claims he's been wronged?"

"What? You can't say that! Then why does he find fault with everything I do?"

"If you announce that you want to explore ruins from the Genesis Era in person, any escort would refuse."

"It's a ruin from a thousand years ago. From the time when the First Great Warrior still drew breath. What Northerner wouldn't be interested?"

The two bickering men looked remarkably close. They must have grown up together. Veil and the escort traded old stories as they argued, and I watched them while chewing cookies. Northern nobles were peculiar to begin with, but Veil took it to another level. Had I not seen his public face, I would have dismissed him as some precious child from a good family and thought nothing more of it.

Veil, having shown his unguarded side, turned his attention back to me.

"On another note, I've reviewed your accomplishments on paper, but would you tell me the story yourself?"

"Well, if that's what you want."

He was one of the nobles who invested in the adventurers' guild, which essentially made him the owner of the money that flowed in every time I completed a request. His personality was likable and he was practically a heavenly patron, so I accepted readily and unraveled the events that had begun with the escort request.

As the tale progressed, Veil's expression brightened or grew rapt with interest. When I described what happened inside the war ant nest, he clenched his fists in excitement as though he were experiencing it himself. A good audience reaction naturally fueled the storyteller. My voice rose bit by bit as I described things vividly, and Veil, listening with even greater focus, let out a sigh.

"Haa. How nice it would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be if I could become strong like you."

"Mm."

The mutter seemed to have slipped out unintentionally, so I kept silent. Veil Edenberg had been born with heavenly financial fortune, yet he stood far from the path of a warrior. I hadn't heard the details, but rumor said that aside from the Northern Breathing Method he could not accumulate mana by any means. Without that breathing technique, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he supposedly would have died young.

When the mood grew heavy, Veil realized his mistake and smiled awkwardly.

"Ah. I've slipped up. It was merely a soliloquy, so pay it no mind."

"It's fine. Your acting was obvious anyway."

At my words, the sad expression on Veil's face froze. After a few seconds he composed himself as if the sorrow had never existed and returned to a casual face.

"It showed?"

"Quite a lot?"

Veil scratched his head at my answer.

"I pride myself on decent acting, yet I can't hide anything in front of you."

"How could I pretend ignorance when you openly mention ruins from the Genesis Era?"

The escort's shoulders twitched. He was probably rolling his eyes, wondering if he'd been caught because of what he'd said. Veil gave a small chuckle.

"It's fine. Even if the acting had been perfect, it would have been discovered quickly anyway."

"Still, I have no excuse."

Veil casually accepted the escort's apology and looked at me with serious eyes.

"Even so, my interest in you is genuine. Reaching Bronze without even awakening your aura and becoming a central figure in the subjugation force is no ordinary feat."

I didn't consider that a lie either. Otherwise there would be no explaining why he'd listened to my story with such fascination. If even that had been an act, I would lose all trust in people.

"For now, read the named request I'm sending you."

Oh. A named request. The fact that a commission normally reserved for high-ranking adventurers had come to me made me grin from ear to ear as I checked the contents.

A thousand years ago, during the Genesis Era when the First Great Warrior still lived, all sorts of things had existed. Monsters had been far more numerous than now, so the environments influenced by them had been wildly diverse and vicious. Rare materials had been scattered everywhere. It was also an era of countless heroes shaped by the First Great Warrior's influence, making it historically vital. Most of all, equipment from that time often retained its power through the influence of Mysteries, and some pieces even carried the deeds of heroes, granting effects beyond imagination.

The heroes of that era had apparently known this, because a trend emerged of hiding their personal equipment and wealth, then leaving trials for their descendants.

"Our ancestor did the same."

"Lord Edenberg?"

"Yes. He was so enamored with the trend that he hid most of the inheritance and left a will telling his children to find it themselves."

Thanks to that, the ancestors' diaries were more entertaining than most novels. Except for the fact that a third of the content was cursing the founder, that is.

"......?"

I had unintentionally learned a dark family secret of the Edenberg household. Judging by the escort's stare from behind that seemed to ask why he was revealing even that, Veil had apparently disclosed it on his own.

He looked ready to spill even more information, so I hurriedly changed the subject.

"More importantly, please focus on the request."

"Hm? The next part is the really interesting bit."

"If I hear it twice I might end up forcibly enlisted in the Count's household."

"Would they really enlist you over something like that?"

But when he saw the sincerity in my eyes, Veil realized I wasn't joking and scratched his head.

"If that's what you want, I suppose it can't be helped. As you've seen, the dungeon the Count's household will be attacking this time is one of the ones our founder hid."

"Is it all right for someone like me to go there?"

It was, after all, a place an ancestor had left for his descendants. Shouldn't it be cleared in secret? When I asked, just in case, Veil shrugged.

"Why not? Looking doesn't wear it out. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'm actually considering using this as an opportunity to designate it a tourist zone and develop related industries."

His bold way of thinking drew an involuntary gasp of admiration from me. As expected of the Count's son. He'd inherited that straightforward personality perfectly. At this point I found myself wanting to see Count Edenberg's face on the front lines.

"Looking at the participant list, I noticed a few familiar names. How did Neon end up getting dragged into this?"

"That black mage? He's more competent than expected, so I thought I'd put him to use."

At Veil's words I recalled the dungeon's characteristics. Because it contained the accumulated deeds of heroes, Mysteries gathered there, and most of the time monsters drawn by those Mysteries built nests inside. The interior was already complicated, and the trials and monsters transformed by the Mysteries were lethally dangerous, so anyone attempting to clear it would naturally start cursing. But if a black mage appeared?

With a single click, they could witness the miracle of every monster in the dungeon rushing out at once. I was impressed by Veil's idea of using a living biological lure, and he put on a sly expression.

"Don't worry. I have no intention of using him as a disposable pawn. Since he's a black mage trying to repent, this request should also help prove his innocence."

"Why would you use such a dirty, petty disposable pawn? There are warriors everywhere who would be thrilled to kill a single monster in the time it takes to set that up, because it would help them grow."

"That is true."

It would be sad news for Neon, who was probably regaling people with his adventure stories at the adventurers' guild right about now. Still, leaving a good impression on the Edenberg Count's household would help him gain the church's recognition. Most of all, Neon no longer needed to worry about dying in the North. Warriors would never waste someone with the greatest talent for drawing monsters. As long as he stayed alive, monsters would come to him, so they couldn't let him die. Besides, telling honor-loving Northerners to use someone as a disposable pawn would be the greatest insult of all.