Chapter 18
Chapter 18
This Is Pretty Rough
Tanya stood there, eyes brimming with tears.
At her feet, something wriggled.
Then it started growing.
“Huh?”
Tanya instantly wiped away her expression and stared at it with sharp killing intent.
The thing grew in an instant.
And then…
it turned into Melraim.
“What the hell?!”
Melraim answered calmly.
“What’s the problem?”
Seriously shameless.
“Wait, you could do something like this? More importantly, were you listening the whole time?”
“Do you think I was only listening? I also saw you staring at Tanya with those suspicious eyes.”
I’m so embarrassed I could die.
Wait a second.
“Don’t tell me… you watch me all the time too?!”
Melraim frowned.
“What joy would there be in watching a man’s daily life?”
“Then why now…?”
“There was no way I was going to let Tanya walk into your room and leave it unchecked.”
I guess that made sense.
Well, I knew she was worried about me, but still…
Melraim looked at me and continued.
“Anyway, you seem less pathetic than before.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Yuna told me. She said your confidence has taken a serious blow.”
A different kind of embarrassment made me grit my teeth.
Melraim looked confused by my reaction and kept speaking.
“Is there even a reason for that? Haven’t you accomplished something remarkable?”
“If this is supposed to comfort me, forget it. I know I didn’t do anything.”
Melraim snorted.
“What nonsense. Without you, that girl Prelia would certainly have died.”
“She would’ve been fine even without me.”
But Melraim answered firmly.
“No. Without you, the Count would have lost his daughter.”
“What are you talking about? Even if it had only been the three of you there, you could’ve saved Prelia.”
Melraim nodded.
“That part is true. But who saved Yuna when she fell into the lake?”
“Huh?”
How did Melraim know about that?
Ah, Yuna must have told her.
The three of them had been spending a lot of time together lately.
“And who was it that chose not to kill Tanya when she was in my hands, but instead brought her into the party?”
“That’s…”
No, you said you’d tear her apart in midair if I didn’t accept her.
Melraim continued.
“I may have guided your decision a little, but if you had chosen to kill Tanya, I would have done it. You spared the one who stabbed through your heart. And because of that, that little girl survived the hands of the bandits.”
Something about that logic feels off…
“You may not have saved her with your sword. But there’s no doubt you saved her through your choices.”
Beside her, Tanya nodded enthusiastically.
“Mhm!”
But I frowned.
Melraim’s words didn’t comfort me at all.
If Yuna and Tanya surviving brought misfortune to someone else, that wouldn’t be my fault.
And by the same logic, even if Yuna and Tanya saved someone, that wasn’t because of me either.
I was about to argue back.
But Melraim spoke first.
“Anyway, tomorrow we’re going to the Count’s castle. Be prepared. Tanya, make sure our party leader gets some sleep so he stops overthinking. He hasn’t been sleeping at all lately.”
“Should I?”
“What?”
Put me to sleep?
What’s that supposed to mean?
And how did she even know I hadn’t been sleeping?
Tanya smiled brightly and walked toward me.
I swallowed hard.
And then Tanya disappeared from my sight.
A dull pain hit the back of my neck.
Wait… this isn’t sleeping—
…
“Get up already!”
Wh-what?!
When I opened my eyes, I was slung over Melraim’s shoulder.
Where am I?!
“Looks like you were more tired than you thought.”
In front of me stood a middle-aged man with brown hair and a warm smile.
Count Kite.
“Hey—wait—!”
“Stop making pathetic noises.”
Melraim dropped me onto the floor.
I ended up sitting there awkwardly.
What is happening?
Melraim ignored me and spoke to the Count.
“Is everything prepared?”
“Of course. Nothing is hidden, so feel free to choose.”
The Count handed Melraim a sheet of paper.
After glancing at it, Melraim nodded and passed it to me.
“Go ahead. Choose.”
Knight
Flame Mage
Duelist
Spear Fighter
Spirit Master (Talent Verification Required)
Sniper
Beast Tamer
Geomancer
And many other job classes were listed.
I looked at Melraim.
“What is this?”
“The Count’s debt has been repaid with this. Choose the class you want.”
Then the Count added,
“Of course, even after obtaining the talent, sharing the method of acquiring it with others would be troublesome. You understand, don’t you?”
I looked over the paper again.
Wait…
Don’t tell me—
I asked the Count,
“Is this… the secret manual of House Kite?”
The Count shook his head.
“Of course not. It’s simply a list of the classes recorded in the secret manual.”
Ah, I see.
That explained it.
The methods for acquiring them weren’t written down.
The meaning of this situation was obvious.
If I chose one, they would tell me how to obtain it.
In other words, how to acquire the talent.
Naturally, the rarer the class, the more expensive that information was.
At minimum, it was worth as much as the estate we’d bought.
No—
probably even more.
But this reward was for me alone.
Meaning most of the reward for defeating the bandits had become mine.
I looked at my three party members.
“No… but that reward should go to you guys…”
“We already discussed it among ourselves,” Melraim said. “If you want to refuse, that’s your choice. But the Count’s debt was repaid the moment you were given the chance to choose. Even if you refuse, nothing changes.”
“But…”
Melraim stepped forward and smacked me on the head.
“Enough already! Stop whining about a decision that’s already been made!”
For some reason, my vision blurred.
Damn it… is it raining?
The Count watched us with satisfaction and spoke.
“You have truly wonderful companions.”
No.
They’re weird companions.
I rubbed my eyes with my sleeve and looked at the list again.
This was a chance to change my life.
But my hesitation didn’t last long.
“Then… this one.”
Melraim leaned in to see what I pointed at and grinned.
“I knew you’d pick that.”
The class I chose was Duelist.
It was such a famous class that even I knew its traits.
A Duelist received tremendous enhancement effects in one-on-one combat.
Objectively speaking…
it wasn’t the best class for an adventurer.
Adventurers usually fought groups of monsters.
Even against boss monsters, they usually had teammates.
But I still chose it.
Because it was the class of the legendary adventurer Edwin.
The Count looked troubled after seeing my choice.
“Hm…”
Melraim frowned.
“You’re not going to tell us it’s impossible now, are you?”
The Count shook his head.
“Of course not. I can tell you the method of acquiring it. But it’s extremely dangerous.”
“More dangerous than beheading hundreds of bandits inside a fortress?”
The Count laughed.
“You’re right. That was unnecessary to say.”
I didn’t do that, though.
Ignoring my thoughts, the Count continued.
“Very well. The method to acquire the Duelist talent… is to defeat a dungeon boss alone.”
…What?
Alone?
I forced a smile and asked,
“Then why do I need my party members’ help?”
“Well, entering a dungeon requires at least four people, does it not? But since you must enter the boss room alone, your party members need to know.”
Ah…
I’m screwed.
I should’ve picked something else.
…
According to the Count, I couldn’t even receive buffs from others before entering the boss room.
The only thing I could use was enhancement potions.
I did have some from the Pow Dungeon.
But even then, this was insane.
I can’t even beat a single skeleton!
No wonder nobody had ever obtained Edwin’s class.
Even commoner adventurers sometimes had rare class talents.
But most of them didn’t even know how they got them.
When they checked their talents, they simply discovered them without knowing when or how they had acquired them.
I’d checked my own talents several times too.
Hoping.
But there was nothing.
Anyway, obtaining a rare class talent usually required luck.
But Duelist?
That one was almost impossible to obtain by chance.
The Adventurers’ Guild required a minimum of four people to enter a dungeon.
Who would enter with four people, then send only one into the boss room?
It made no sense.
Even if your party died and you were the last one left,
you’d retreat, not challenge the boss.
If your entire party died before the boss room, there was no way you’d defeat the boss alone.
So how in the world did Edwin get this class?
On the way back to the inn, Yuna spoke to me.
“Oh right, Luca.”
“Hm?”
“I couldn’t bring it up earlier because of the mood, but… remember when Pow said he wanted to see you?”
Did she mention that?
Ah, right.
She had said it while imitating a turtle.
“Yeah. Come to think of it, I still haven’t met him.”
Well, aside from seeing him slaughter bandits from a distance.
“Perfect timing,” Yuna said. “Pow said he’d train you.”
“…Me?”
“Yeah. He said you’re way too weak.”
Tch…
Now that I think about it, when I attacked Pow before, he’d looked shocked.
I’d guessed what it meant.
But I guess it really was,
“What is this? Why are you so weak?”
Still…
maybe this was a good thing.
At that moment, Tanya joined in.
“I can teach you a few things too.”
Tanya’s techniques…
They might actually help.
Yeah.
Let’s do it.
I nodded firmly.
“Okay!”
Yuna smiled, clearly pleased with my answer.
“Then let’s start once we move into the estate. The yard is big enough.”