I Didn't Know That (7)

I scanned the guidance windows and reached my conclusion. Recruiting either of them as a party-member NPC was out of the question. On top of that, I had no way to check their levels either.

The latter hardly mattered, and the former wasn’t exactly a crisis. If things went south I could always solo the whole game without a problem.

“Drop any notion of treating me as a companion. If it weren’t for the fact that we need to kill Satan, I never would have shared the same air as the likes of you.”

I had said it before, but it bore repeating: I was so obsessed with role-playing that I had cleared the game more than once without ever using a single companion character.

“Understood?”

With affinity already in the gutter, I saw no point clinging to any lingering hope. I delivered the line with deliberate ferocity.

The answer that came back was this:

“Yes!”

…I just drew a hard line saying I had no intention of making them companions, so why does that reply sound so bright and cheerful? Is she actually Kimchi Mandu? She’s so cute I could die.

Separate from that, I still couldn’t figure out why her eyes were sparkling so brightly. No matter how I looked at it, her affinity didn’t seem low at all.

What exactly had I done to put it in the positive?

I had reattached her neck and tongue, and in a way that counted as mercy. But if anyone asked whether that was enough to raise affinity, I would shake my head a hundred times out of a hundred.

Or maybe—being a complete blank slate with zero prior experience—the first stimulus she encountered had simply hit her too hard. Like the suspension-bridge effect.

Or it could just be forced progression so the player could enter the main story cleanly no matter what chaos they’d caused beforehand.

Yeah. That felt like the most plausible explanation.

“…….”

So what now? Even setting NPC affinity aside for later, the situation that had just dropped into my lap needed resolving right away.

Breakfast had been served, yet I still felt awkward about touching it. Did that mean I was supposed to follow the quest and start a conversation? But how was I supposed to open my mouth without breaking character—

“Found you!”

I tightened my grip on the sword hilt I had been holding the entire time to look threatening. Pure reflex.

“Adventurer!”

I turned my head a fraction and saw the young errand boy from the Adventurer’s Guild—the same kid who had guided me to another inn yesterday.

“What.”

I needed to talk to him, yet something about this reeked of another quest.

The instant the judgment settled, I pivoted my body. My expression remained deliberately savage for the benefit of the two behind me, and the child flinched hard because of it.

“…Th-the person you’re looking for…”

He edged closer in tiny, hesitant steps, then caught sight of the two standing beside me and let out a startled squeak.

The genuinely knight-like plate armor the Inquisitor wore and the Archmage’s race must have frightened him. Outside their native habitats, non-human races—anything other than the ones commonly called humans, known here as “Middles”—were rare sights.

Assuming, of course, that the setting I remembered was still intact.

“Um…”

Seeing the boy’s tension, the Inquisitor offered a light bow while the Archmage smiled with gentle benevolence. The child’s face immediately relaxed.

“Adventurer, the registrar is looking for you…”

…The registrar mentioned here had to be Iseren. I checked the side quest listed under the main one.

It said “speak,” but the real content was simply “come collect your reward.” The same window had stayed up until I received payment even during the people-rescue quest.

“C-could you wait just a little while I bring her…?”

“Guide me.”

“Eh?”

Normally they would have come to me, but given the current situation…

I had accepted their companionship, yet the relationship between those two and my role-play persona was still a complete mess. Having already missed the window for conversation, I doubted they particularly wanted to stay glued to my side. After that line of reasoning I decided to go myself.

“I said guide me.”

Of course, even if I left, the odds that the two of them would simply follow were high. Most games kept a formed party together indefinitely.

But this was a remake of Legend of Heroes, so who knew? I figured I might as well test it. Either outcome was no loss for me.

“May we come along as well? It seems we also have business there.”

Still, a game was a game after all.

I didn’t so much as glance at the two rising from their seats as I urged the boy onward. He looked back and forth between them and me in confusion, then finally called out:

“This way!”

The child hurried ahead with quick little steps—almost a half-run. The difference in stride length meant that even a leisurely walk on my part was enough to keep up without trouble.

“Is it really all right for us to come too?”

“You didn’t refuse, did you?”

“If someone doesn’t refuse, does that count as acceptance?”

“That… depends on the circumstances.”

More importantly, Inquisitor, are you studying social norms right now…? Impressive.

“Registrar!”

The moment we neared the Adventurer’s Guild the boy suddenly shot forward. His target was already visible to me, so I didn’t bother increasing my pace.

“I found the adventurer—ah!”

Registrar Iseren’s face lit up at the sight of the child, then her eyes met mine and her expression stiffened slightly.

“First, I should apologize.”

I had been about to ask after the reward; the abrupt statement made my eyes narrow. Don’t tell me she was going to stiff me on the payment…

“The thief was handed over to the guards. It’s not a place that normally gets thieves…”

Fortunately that wasn’t it. She was simply sorry that an incident had broken out at the inn she had recommended.

“Um, the innkeeper asked if you might give him one more chance…”

“Unnecessary.”

Extra compensation was always welcome, but refusing fit the concept better. I brushed the regret aside with ease and focused on the matter at hand.

“Is that all you wanted?”

“…Ah, well, you’re not injured anywhere, are you? I heard there was a fight.”

“You think something that weak could lay a hand on me?”

My pride had been pricked, so of course I had to bare my fangs.

The registrar immediately flinched at the prickly tone.

“But the Sage of the Magic Tower and the Inquisitor…?”

Her gaze drifted sideways mid-sentence. Thanks to this god-tier game even implementing the movement of eyeballs, I instantly understood why her words had cut off.

The NPC had finally noticed the two people standing behind me.

“Y-you two are…”

“Haha, it’s been a week.”

Oh, so they already knew each other.

“About the commission…”

The registrar began reading the room even more carefully. After a moment’s thought I felt I had a pretty good idea why.

From her position as intermediary, she hadn’t been able to stop that eccentric old man from double-booking the request.

“Yes, yes. This young fellow here took care of it.”

Still, considering how he had brought up the penalty fee earlier, was there really any need for her to look this uncomfortable? Was it a matter of face? Talking about face with an NPC felt a little ridiculous, but still.

“We were the latecomers, so we won’t take any further payment. The advance will suffice.”

“No, the penalty fee will of course be paid as well. Protecting an adventurer’s rights is the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠guild’s job.”

Even though the Archmage was graciously overlooking the double contract, the registrar shook her head firmly. There was a reason they collected intermediary fees.

“Um, but the three of you…?”

“There was a small misunderstanding yesterday that led to a bit of a scuffle, but as of today the misunderstanding ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠has been cleared up and we have decided to travel together.”

“Ah, so that was it.”

Well, none of my business.

“If you have nothing further for me, I have a question of my own.”

“What is it?”

“When will the reward be paid?”

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had assumed she called me over to hand over the reward, so why hadn’t she brought it up at all? Give me the money. The reward.

“Ah, I dispatched an investigator yesterday, so the results should be in by tomorrow. Please wait just a little longer, Adventurer.”

The registrar beamed as she delivered that thunderbolt. From a gamer’s perspective it felt like getting smacked across the back of the head.

“Tomorrow.”

I echoed the word in a reflexively sinister tone while my thoughts raced.

This… this was a little disconcerting. A game that took more than two days—sixteen hours of real time—to pay out a quest reward?

“Yes. We need to confirm that the danger in the forest has truly been eliminated… Is there a problem?”

She looked at me as if she couldn’t understand what the issue was. Strictly speaking her reaction wasn’t unreasonable. Realistically, going through the proper procedures to tie things up cleanly was the correct way.

But that was reality. Seeing it in a game left me feeling… flustered. Realism was fine, but this was overdoing it.

“Ah, about that. We’ll vouch for it—could you release the payment early?”

Fortunately, before my awkwardness could curdle into pure exasperation and irritation, the Archmage stepped in.

“From what we observed, the only danger in that forest was the medusa. Now that this young man has slain it, and now that we have purified the area ourselves, there should be no further issues.”

“I can vouch for it as well.”

Kimchi Mandu declared the same thing at almost the same moment. The registrar’s expression immediately turned troubled.

“Hmm… If both of you say so…”

“Should any problem arise, simply inform the Magic Tower or the Temple. We will arrange for people to be sent.”

“If you’re willing to go that far… yes. I will mark the commission complete and issue the reward.”

The registrar nodded, then looked our way with the unmistakable air of someone about to hand over payment on the spot. That was a relief, yet I still felt oddly unsettled.

…I understood they were going through all these detours for the sake of realism, but how should I put it? The fact that the process only shortened because those two were present left a strange taste in my mouth.

What were they planning to do when players of other classes came through?

“This way, please.”

Still, there was no reason not to take the money. My rightful one million gal was innocent of any crime.

I followed the registrar.

“So, is your business in this city finished? Or is there more? Perhaps a destination already planned for after this?”

The Archmage casually fell into step beside me. The intent behind the question was all too familiar.

In other words: Let’s sync our schedules.

“If not, and if you don’t mind, I would like to leave this city today. Would that be possible?”

Heading straight to the next village was fine with me so long as I was given time to prepare.

But leaving the starting city of Tatara already? I had assumed that while we might move around a little for hunting grounds the way we had with the northwest forest, changing the base itself this early was premature.

“If there are demons there.”

Either way I decided to answer. I had been having trouble finding a natural way to open a conversation myself, so I was grateful he made the first move.

“Oh, then would departing at nine be acceptable? A caravan whose route partially overlaps with ours happens to leave at exactly nine.”

But they were giving me a time limit like this?

“It is rather sudden, isn’t it? My apologies. We decided on the matter before we even knew of your existence, let alone that you might join us. Of course, if you prefer we can cancel the commission. We can leave the city without necessarily traveling with the caravan.”

My brow twitched. He said postponing was possible if I wished, yet the mere existence of a time limit already felt foreign.

On top of that, the moment the word “cancel” had been uttered, how could I casually push it back?

If I had had my own schedule I might have said something concept-appropriate like “You cancel first,” but that wasn’t the case right now. I hadn’t chosen the concept of a pure pain-in-the-ass who made trouble for no reason. If anything I was the type who got things done out of sheer pride.

Which meant I had no choice but to accept the time limit…

There was no way departure was at nine at night, so it had to be nine in the morning. That didn’t leave much time—what time was it now?

I discreetly looked for a clock. Luckily one hung on the far wall of the building we had just entered.

Roughly 7:10. We would have to move a little briskly, then.

Flutter.

While rapidly calculating the remaining time in my head, I flapped my coat once—signaling assent—and quickened my stride.

The Archmage and Kimchi Mandu hurried after me in a little procession. It felt exactly like being followed by a pair of chicks.