Chapter 2
Chapter 2
“Oh, so that’s the setting?”
While I was still in shock over the fine, the two measuring devices arrived.
“Miss Yuna, could you place your hand here?”
Yuna nodded and placed her hand on the device.
A moment later, the receptionist, Aira, widened her eyes.
“Uh… you really don’t have a profession?”
…She really didn’t?
Yuna looked curious about something.
But she neither asked nor answered anything.
Aira continued.
“May I check your aptitude as well?”
That was usually pretty sensitive information, but Yuna nodded without hesitation.
Following Aira’s instructions, Yuna placed her hand on the aptitude measuring device too.
Then Aira frowned and muttered something strange.
“A Scholar… that’s one thing, but… a Necromancer?”
A necromancer?
What nonsense was that?
That was a profession only high-ranking undead could have.
Then what, were there humans walking around carrying their heads separately like Dullahans?
No, wait. That was a race, not a profession.
Aira thought for a moment, then opened the water bottle beside her.
“Yah!”
With a cheerful sound effect coming out of her own mouth, she splashed the water directly onto Yuna.
What the hell?!
Yuna blinked her wide eyes in shock.
Startled by Aira’s bizarre behavior, I shouted,
“What are you doing?!”
I’d spent good money on those clothes!
But Aira slowly observed Yuna’s soaked body, then picked up her pen again with a businesslike expression.
“So, not undead…”
She said that, then held out three silver coins to Yuna.
“Take this. Compensation for being splashed with holy water.”
Oh, that was holy water?
So she suspected Yuna was undead.
Yuna accepted the money with an awkward expression.
…That much?
Please splash me too!
After that, Yuna and Aira continued talking.
And in the end, Yuna officially changed her profession into Necromancer.
Living without a profession was a waste, sure…
But Necromancer?
That was a little much.
Well, if she got another aptitude later, she could always change it.
Then Aira turned to me.
“Oh, Luca.”
“Yes?”
“By the way, are you planning to continue your adventurer activities?”
“I have to. It’s not like I have any other talents…”
“…Calling adventuring a talent feels a little generous.”
Excuse me?
“Ah, that’s not what I meant. You know the regulations say you need a healing-capable profession in your party to continue adventuring, right?”
“Well… I’ll have to find one.”
Honestly, that was my biggest problem too.
Where was I supposed to find a healer?
And even if I did, why would they join up with a mediocre warrior like me?
That was when Aira pointed at Yuna.
“How about forming a party with Miss Yuna here?”
“With her?”
Aira blinked at me.
“Uh… are you really in a position to be picky?”
That was too harsh!
True, but harsh.
“But Necromancers aren’t healing classes.”
“Necromancers have a skill called Undead Recovery.”
…So?
“I’m not undead.”
“It’s still technically a healing skill, so it meets the regulations. It’s difficult to obtain, but you could always drink an Undead Transformation Elixir.”
Even if I found one, I’d never drink that.
At that moment, Yuna, who had been quiet until now, spoke up.
“Wait. If by party, you mean going with this person to hunt monsters… right?”
“Of course. You understand it well.”
Yuna thought for a moment.
Then suddenly, she pointed at the floor and murmured,
“Awaken and heed my command.”
At that exact moment, a Skeleton suddenly appeared in the middle of the Adventurers’ Guild.
What the hell is this?!
Even Yuna seemed shocked by summoning it and fell backward onto her butt.
“Mother of—?!”
“Ahhh! You can’t use skills in here!”
What a mess!
There weren’t even any other adventurers around at this hour.
What do we do?
…It’s just me, huh.
No helping it!
I drew my sword and charged at the Skeleton.
…
To put it simply—
I lost to the Skeleton.
To put it more accurately—
I got absolutely crushed.
What the hell was with that strength?
Were Skeletons normally that strong?
I’d never explored a dungeon before, so I had no idea.
Thankfully, the Skeleton only blocked my attacks and didn’t make any aggressive moves.
If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have jumped in like an idiot.
I asked Yuna as we walked out of the Guild together.
“Why did you do that?”
“Sorry… I was just curious if I could really use skills.”
No…
Normally, when you change professions, you naturally understand the basics of your skills.
How to activate them, what they do—it just comes to you.
But Yuna seemed completely unable to understand that obvious fact.
Or maybe she was the type who enjoyed doubting obvious things.
I’d seen her registration earlier.
She was the same age as me.
Wasn’t she a little old for that kind of phase?
I didn’t really have a choice, but it felt like I’d taken on a troublesome problem.
“Do you have somewhere to stay?”
Yuna shook her head.
Well, judging by her appearance, she didn’t look homeless.
She probably just didn’t want to say where she lived.
“Then should I introduce you to the inn where I stay? It’s cheap, so with those silver coins you just got, you can live there for a while.”
“Really? Then I’d appreciate that.”
Looking at Yuna’s face, she seemed deep in thought.
Well, that made sense.
Whether she’d run away from home or whatever, she suddenly found herself living as an adventurer in a strange place.
Anyway, I had no intention of prying.
I needed Yuna if I wanted to keep being an adventurer.
And even if I forced the issue…
She was stronger than me.
I didn’t want to provoke a strong woman with questionable mental stability.
So I brought Yuna to the place where I was staying.
When I opened the inn’s door, the landlady was there cleaning.
Not that cleaning made much difference.
The place was so old and worn down that it all looked the same anyway.
She glanced at me and kept sweeping.
“No mixed rooms.”
“No… it’s not like that. She’s a new party member. She said she had nowhere to stay, so I brought her to introduce the place.”
The landlady lit up and approached Yuna.
“Oh! Really? Twenty copper coins a day. One silver coin gets you six days.”
“Okay.”
After that short reply, Yuna pulled out two silver coins and handed them over.
The landlady accepted the money with a bright smile.
“Twelve days? No, I’ll make it thirteen.”
“No. Please cover this person’s too.”
Yuna said that while pointing at me.
Stunned, I looked at her.
“Really?!”
“It’s not enough to repay you, but… I don’t have much else.”
Not enough?
It’s more than enough!
I can eat now!
So good deeds really do get rewarded.
Priest! I believed in you!
…
Back in my room, I blankly reviewed everything that had happened.
First, my original party had fallen apart.
But somehow, I’d gained a new party member.
And not just any party member—
One much stronger than me.
The problem was, I had no confidence in controlling her.
To be honest, she scared me.
She seemed like a good person…
But mentally, she seemed a little unstable.
And except for when we first met, Yuna had spent the entire day walking around with dead eyes.
Was that one of the conditions for gaining Necromancer aptitude?
Should I try it too?
While practicing my dead-eyed stare, someone knocked on my door.
“You there?”
Ah.
The voice of my new party member.
I opened the door and found Yuna standing there with a serious expression.
She looked a little more alive now, but still far from normal.
“What is it?”
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
Why was she hesitating like that?
“Uh… if it’s a long story, come in first.”
Yuna nodded and entered my room.
She sat down on the floor, hesitated, then spoke.
“I… came from another world.”
For a moment, I had to work hard to come up with the right response.
How was I supposed to react to that?
“I see. That sounds like it’s been very difficult for you.”
Yuna looked up at me, clearly displeased.
“You don’t believe me?”
Ah, damn it.
This is bad.
She’s scary.
“No, no! I believe you! You know… another village, another kingdom, another world! Something like that!”
“I understand why you can’t believe it, but it’s true.”
Gathering my courage, I asked,
“…Why do you think that?”
Think about it logically.
If you woke up in an unfamiliar place, what would your first thought be?
Not, I’m in another world!
But, I’m in a place I don’t know.
But Yuna’s reasoning was, in its own way, convincing.
And ridiculous.
“In the world I came from, there were no professions or skills. Things like that only existed in games.”
What kind of nonsense was that?
Then what—
Did farmers there just plant and harvest crops without farming skills?
With their bare hands?
“Then how did you kill monsters?”
“There weren’t any monsters in my world.”
“What about animals?”
“There were animals like dogs and pigs.”
What kind of convenient world was that?
Everything just worked however it wanted.
“Then how did you end up here from another world?”
“…I don’t know either.”
Alright, enough.
Things outside the established setting always got answered with I don’t know anyway.
For example, even distant regions used very different vocabularies.
If she really came from another world, communication should’ve been nearly impossible.
If I asked, If you’re from another world, why do we understand each other so well?
A Skeleton might appear in my room.
Thankfully, Yuna gave up trying to drag me into her worldview and returned to her room not long after.
What a crazy woman.