The Two-Month Bet
On the way back from the market after buying supplies, I was feeling immensely relieved inside.
Thank goodness.
It really was a relief.
Judging by Erinn’s reaction, it seemed I’d somehow managed to get through it. Who would’ve thought she’d notice I was thinking of leaving the party back there.
Thank goodness… I was worried I’d get kicked out before I’d even properly obtained anything.
But I couldn’t completely relax. I’d have to be careful how I talked about the magic power.
Sure enough, Erinn asked about the source of the magic power she hadn’t questioned earlier.
“So where did the magic power come from? I won’t get mad, so just tell me~.”
“……Something I realized while clearing this dungeon.”
“Hmm~?”
“I think our party needs a mage.”
“Why~? We’ve got Letisia. Isn’t that enough~?”
It didn’t feel like she was rejecting what I’d said so much as she was simply curious about the reason.
“Normally, sure. But there are monsters like that lizardman shaman we ran into this time—ones that wield weird powers over spirits. In those cases, Letisia can’t fill the mage’s role. Even just accounting for situations like that, I think we need a proper mage.”
“Hmm.”
Surprisingly, this mesgaki brat seemed to be listening carefully. Thanks to that, I could make my excuse with a bit more confidence.
“That’s why. This magic power came from an artifact I found in the dungeon this time. I never had any magic power to begin with, right?”
“There’s no way a loser like you would have magic power~♡”
“……Yeah.”
“So loser, you want to take on the mage role… is that what this is about~?”
That was exactly it.
“I can’t do it right now, but if I keep looking around for more things…”
“What a surprisingly good idea for you~?”
“Haha…”
“It’s pretty admirable that a loser like you is even thinking about it, but from now on, no~♡”
“What?”
For a second I was just dumbfounded.
What do you mean no, you little brat. Who are you to stop me from finding and using things I know about…
“That thing you found—you know it belonged to the Demon King’s army, right~?”
“……For real?”
I pretended to be surprised, but I’d already known. The golem had activated because I’d stolen the jewel, after all.
But how did she know…?
Erinn spoke.
“If you’re planning to go looking for more stuff like that, stop. It’s reeeally dangerous for a loser like you♡ What are you gonna do if you grab something else and it turns out to be another Demon King’s army item~?”
This… left me with nothing to say.
If she’d been blocking me with some ridiculous made-up reason, I could’ve pushed back. But here she was telling me to stop because it was dangerous for me, and I couldn’t even argue with that.
Wanting to stop a party member from doing something dangerous was the right call, and her reason wasn’t wrong either. So what was I supposed to say…
But… I need the hidden pieces.
Without them, this was how my life would stay. Getting stressed out by these lunatic girls’ behavior, unable to even blow off steam, just stuck doing the grunt work forever.
If I was going to end up adventuring whether I liked it or not, I’d rather take the lead myself. Not just clean up after everyone else.
…Time to make an excuse. A really convincing one.
“Got it~? I’ll let this one slide, so don’t do anything like that again~.”
“…I want to be useful too.”
“What…?”
Erinn looked at me. I didn’t know if this act would work, but I poured as much feeling into it as I could.
“I don’t want to just sit around doing nothing every time. I want to fight alongside you and help you guys. Not just watch you fight every single time.”
“…Loser, still haven’t come to your senses~?”
“What?”
“Even if you start trying from now on, it’s not like anything’s going to come of it♡ People each have their limits, and they live according to those limits. And those limits are…”
Erinn trudged over to me. Then she suddenly gave my chest a light shove. Her action was nothing more than a casual push, but the force behind it…
Crash-bang-thud!!!
“Guh…!”
My body went tumbling and rolling across the ground.
“That’s how big the gap between people can be.”
“…Ugh, Erinn…, you……”
I lifted my head to demand what the hell she thought she was doing—and froze for a second.
The look Erinn was giving me was a little cold. The usual mischievous smile was gone. This serious, calm expression on her face was the first time I’d seen it since possessing this body.
Caught off guard by that unfamiliar look, I couldn’t even get the words out. Erinn spoke first.
“You get it? Someone as small as me can send a big guy like you sprawling just by giving you a light push. What do you call a gap like that?”
“……Talent.”
“…You know surprisingly well, loser. It’s not something you can overcome with half-assed effort. I’m not just bragging about myself. Is it only me? No—every single one of our party members is someone who shines with talent in their own field.”
Erinn trudged over to where I’d been sent flying. The racket I’d made tumbling over had drawn curious looks from people nearby, but they quickly realized it was the Hero’s business and looked away again.
Even a damn brat was still the Hero, I guess… Everyone was too busy reading her mood. Since we were close, even the adventurers who looked annoyed kept their mouths shut.
…It was a completely different atmosphere from when I’d been with Theif earlier.
Erinn looked down at me and spoke.
“You’re only just standing at the starting line. No matter how hard you try, do you really think you can catch up to us when our starting lines are already completely different?”
Erinn cut it off cleanly.
“No. You can’t. So don’t even think about doing anything dangerous—just stay the way you usually are.”
Erinn poked my chest with a finger. Poke.
“You’re good at that, Allen. Just staying quietly by my side.”
Erinn was warning me. As if she wouldn’t let it slide if I didn’t listen.
“Just do what you’re good at. Don’t do anything dangerous.”
I looked at Erinn quietly for a moment. Unless you were a complete idiot, unless you had zero ability to read a room… you could roughly sense the feelings of someone saying something like this.
There was no contempt in those eyes. No scorn either. The eyes of someone who felt those things looked completely different.
Instead, there was worry. Even while saying things that seemed to crush my will, she kept warning me not to do anything dangerous, over and over.
I understood what she was worried about. The rough way she expressed it was just how this damn mesgaki brat always was, so I could accept that much.
But.
“…Erinn.”
I had no intention of giving up.
I planted my hands on the ground and stood up. The corner of Erinn’s eye twitched slightly at the sight.
“Those words… are you sure you won’t regret them?”
“…What?”
“That I can’t do it.”
“It’s obvious. Some guy who only ever farmed, suddenly doing magic…”
“You were just an ordinary country girl too.”
“That’s true, but I was chosen as the Hero. You don’t get that it’s a completely different story from yours?”
“Then how about a bet.”
I said it.
“I don’t think I can catch up to your talent right away with nothing but effort, just like you said.”
“…You know that and you’re still going to be stubborn?”
“That’s why we bet. If I—”
I stood straight in front of Erinn. Opposite of when I’d fallen, now I was looking down at her, and she was looking up at me.
“If I at least reach a level where I can support you guys, then what?”
I said it firmly. I worried a little that it might have sounded arrogant, but even so, I didn’t feel cowed.
We stared at each other like that for a long while. Erinn just looked at me in silence too.
“…Hmm.”
Then Erinn let out a little snicker. In an instant the serious, calm expression vanished, and only that mischievous smile remained.
“You’re serious, huh. First time I’ve seen a loser who always slacks off show this much will~♡”
“…When have I ever been like that.”
“Pfft♡ When? You’ve always been like that and you don’t even remember~?”
Erinn giggled and looked at me.
“You said a bet, right~?”
“…Yeah.”
“Then let’s do it like this.”
Erinn made her proposal.
“Two months. For these two months, I’ll turn a blind eye to whatever you do. So we’ll watch your growth over these two months.”
“…Isn’t two months way too short?”
“Hmm, is it? Not confident? You were talking so big earlier. But I can’t look the other way any longer than that~? I don’t think I can just sit back and watch you do dangerous things like an idiot for more than two months~♡”
“…Fine, two months. If I lose, I obviously have to give up what I’ve been doing—so what are you putting up?”
Erinn seemed to think for a second, then smirked.
“The thing I was supposed to give you that day.”
“What?”
“The thing I couldn’t give you back then—if you win, this time I’ll definitely give it to you♡”
With that, Erinn spun around and walked off.
The thing she was supposed to give me?
What on earth was that, and what did she mean she couldn’t give it… I had no memories from before possessing this body, so I had no idea.
I was tilting my head with a puzzled look when Erinn urged me on.
“Hurry up and pick up the stuff you dropped and let’s go, loser~♡ The others are gonna complain that we’re late~?”
“…Got it.”
The next day, we were preparing to set out early in the morning. I was even busier than usual sorting the things I’d bought with the mesgaki Hero the day before.
“Estire Kingdom, huh…”
This time our destination wasn’t the Dern Empire where we currently were, but the neighboring Estire Kingdom. The northeastern part of Estire Kingdom was a massive wheat-producing region, and it was also the main source of the wheat imported into this country—the Dern Empire.
A monster wave had opened up there. In Dungeon in Evil, it was the event that triggered right after clearing the Lizardman Lord’s dungeon. It was a relief that the major routes and events seemed to be following the original game.
Since it’s not a dungeon, there’s nothing much worth obtaining there.
Still, with monsters pouring in, it seemed like a good place to experiment with ways to use my magic power. I could try things secretly while everyone else was busy fighting.
“But isn’t it kind of far?”
Estire Kingdom might be the next country over, but the Dern Empire’s territory was considerably vast, and the kingdom lay to the east of the empire. In other words, to reach the northeastern part of Estire Kingdom, we’d basically have to travel three or four times the distance from here to the kingdom’s border.
Even by carriage, it’d take a week, right?
I worried the monster wave might sweep everything away in the meantime. But since we were setting out, I quickly finished packing and headed down to the first floor.
“Loser, you’re late~♡”
Of course I’m late when there’s this much to pack, you brat.
“Haha, don’t be too hard on him, Erinn!”
“Everyone’s here, so let’s head out.”
“What are we riding?”
“We’re walking~♡”
“Huh?”
What?
“We’re. Walk.ing.~♡”
“……You’re joking, right?”
I’ve got this much luggage, and you want me to walk all the way to the northeastern part of Estire Kingdom?
“I’m serious~ We only got fifty silver as activity funds this time~♡ Once we arrive the kingdom might lend us horses, but at least as far as the border, we have to walk~.”
“What? Why?”
Fifty silver wasn’t a small amount of money, but as activity funds for the Hero’s party—especially considering the cost of getting to Estire Kingdom—it felt short. It wasn’t just the Hero moving alone; including her and me, there were six of us.
Just the lodging costs to get to the northeastern part of the kingdom… even staying at cheap inns, you’d need about four silver per person, or more comfortably five or six. And it wasn’t like we wouldn’t eat or bathe. Other supplies cost money too.
Taking everything into account, it felt woefully insufficient. There was no way the imperial court—especially the finance ministry that only handled money—would’ve failed to account for that when setting the budget.
But unlike me, who couldn’t understand it, the other party members didn’t look confused at all. Letisia sighed and answered my unspoken question.
“That woman is checking Erinn again, no doubt. She never gets tired of it, does she.”
“If she weren’t someone so high up, I’d want to punch her one!”
“You shouldn’t hit people… but I understand the feeling.”
Checking…?
So someone in the empire was checking Erinn, and that was why this had happened?
I still didn’t fully understand what that meant. But separate from that, having no money at all made no sense.
“…But the support funds only just came in, didn’t they?”
“I already gave away the gold coin last time, so we’re broke~♡”
“…Huh?”
Gold coin…
“Hey, that was your entire fortune!? Then why did you give it away!!”
Apparently the gold coin Erinn had so cheerfully handed over to the tavern owner when I’d been getting discriminated against had been the support funds that had just come in. And that had been all the money she had on hand.
I was so dumbfounded I asked, and Erinn averted her eyes slightly as she answered.
“I just got mad~?”
“……”
What a completely hopeless girl……
“But when support funds come in, everyone usually splits a little as emergency money, right? If we pool that, it should be enough?”
Obviously. There were times we moved separately, so one person couldn’t hold all the money. Plus, when you needed weapons or armor, you had to look at them and buy them yourself rather than having someone else buy them for you.
So if Erinn was out of money, we could just gather the emergency funds the others had, use those, and then take a bigger cut from the next support funds to pay them back.
But somehow…
“Money…”
“Umm…”
“Ahem…”
Everyone averted their eyes.
“Don’t tell me none of you have any…”
When I said that in disbelief, they each started spitting out excuses.
“Puhaha, arrows have been kinda expensive lately…!”
“I used what I’d saved up to buy a new robe after the last one got torn… I-I usually save it, though.”
“I sent it as a donation to the temple for taking care of the children…”
They were making plausible-sounding excuses, but in the end it meant they’d all spent everything on personal things. I was so floored I looked around at these damn girls one by one. So I really have to carry all this and walk to the border?
“…Allen, here.”
“Hm?”
“…Ah, I always need money to buy throwing knives, so… I don’t have much left either, but I’ll give you this at least…”
What Theif held out was a small coin pouch. I took it and felt even more dumbfounded. Not because the amount was small.
As she’d said, given the nature of the thief class, lockpicking tools and throwing weapons were all consumables—once they broke or you threw them, you had to buy new ones every time.
So her fund consumption was inevitably the heaviest. Especially small daggers used a lot of iron, and poisons, gunpowder, and other throwing weapons were generally expensive.
Archers similarly always had to buy arrows, but from what I could see, Ser-Aria’s problem was the price of booze more than arrows. Arrows used relatively less iron and more wood, so the price per shot was cheaper than throwing weapons.
And yet Theif had managed to put this much forward, while the others had nothing left at all—that was what left me speechless. Especially what?
“You donated it to the temple…?”
“W-well, Erinn always manages the party funds, so I didn’t think there’d ever be a shortage…!”
“…No, that’s embezzlement! How can you put party activity funds into temple donations!?”
“E-embezzlement?!”
It is embezzlement, you girl.
It was true the funds had been given for personal use when needed, but strictly speaking they weren’t Freya’s personal property—they were the party’s operating funds. She’d put them into donations for the temple she belonged to, so of course it was embezzlement.
Ser-Aria drinking was something that alcoholic needed in order to fight… and if Letisia’s robe was torn, she needed to buy a new one, so those were necessary expenses.
…Of course, it seemed like she drank way more than necessary and bought an excessively expensive robe… but at least those didn’t go against the purpose of the Hero party’s activity funds.
But donating to the temple had nothing to do with the party’s activities at all. The purpose itself was noble, sure, but…
“…Don’t ever use it like that again. If you don’t need the support funds, you should put them toward buying things the others need—not turn them into donations.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Freya seemed to realize she’d done wrong and hung her head deeply. Which meant the cleavage of her wide-open top was fully on display, so I had to look away.
I’m going crazy.
For now I checked the money Theif had handed over. There was about ten silver and ninety copper left.
“…Thief, just use this to buy your throwing knives.”
“…Huh? But…”
“Anyway, this isn’t enough to take a carriage to the border.”
“…I-I’m sorry. I should’ve saved more carefully, but I couldn’t even do that… I’m such a pathetic person…”
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re the only one who managed to save anything in the first place…”
At my words, the party members looked this way and that. Even Erinn was quiet for once.
Fortunately, Theif didn’t cry at being told she wasn’t at fault. She looked at me and asked,
“…Then are you planning to walk to the border carrying all that?”
She was pointing at the luggage bag that was stuffed full thanks to Theif stocking supplies yesterday.
She was asking something ridiculous. It was already heavy enough to kill me—how was I supposed to carry this that far on foot.
“…We’re taking a carriage. Why would we walk.”
“…Huh?”
“I’ve got some money.”
“……!”
“…Really?”
“Yeah.”
Even as a porter, they nominally handed out personal funds. Since a porter didn’t need to buy weapons, it was money for clothes, shoes, and a little recreation.
But even before I possessed this body, he apparently hadn’t been the type to go out and play much, so a considerable amount of personal funds was left. Of course, I didn’t like gambling either, so there hadn’t been much to spend it on.
That was why, when the tavern owner had demanded money, I’d been able to casually hand over more than twenty silver—a decent sum.
“You’re talking about money left after buying supplies, right, loser~?”
“It’s personal funds. Don’t ask the obvious.”
“Heeh, how admirable~ Then…”
Erinn handed me the fifty silver she’d received as activity funds this time.
“Pool it all and manage it well. I was getting tired of handling the money anyway~♡”
“…It’s not that you were tired of it—it’s that without my money we couldn’t even take a carriage.”
“…Men who talk too much are the worst~♡”
This girl was just spouting nonsense because she had nothing left to say.
“Then Allen…”
“…Y-you’ll give us a ride too, right? This Noonim will tell you some fun stories!”
“Could we ask just this once…?”
A Hero’s party gathered from nothing but outstanding talent.
And among them, the one who should have had the least money—me—had become the party’s hope.