Chapter 40: Narupa Diberuper
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 40: Narupa Diberuper
“Land ho!”
Wait, what?
When did I fall asleep?
I was definitely talking to the Captain just a moment ago.
“Aie, Captain, quit being so greedy! If you cast that net one more time, the boat’s gonna sink, I tell ya!”
“Half the Serpent got chewed up! I gotta make up for the loss somehow, don’t I?!”
The voices of the Captain and the crew rang out clearly.
“Lady Rene, I’m definitely charging an extra fee on top of the round-trip fare for this one.”
“Of course! Arasen, you worked so hard too. I’ll make sure you’re well-compensated!”
“Thank youuu~!”
And right beside me, I heard the conversation of my party members.
My head didn’t hurt, so I must have slept quite soundly. I’m usually a sensitive sleeper, but I guess I was just that exhausted.
“Ugh.”
I opened my bleary eyes and stretched my stiff muscles.
“Um…”
“Huh?”
I lowered my hands from rubbing my eyes and saw a girl with light brown hair holding a canteen. Still looking quite young and green, she timidly held it out to me.
“Would you… like some water?”
“Oh? Uh… ah!”
I was momentarily dazed, wondering what was going on, before finally realizing it was a gesture of kindness. It was a very unfamiliar scene for me.
“Thank you. I’ll drink it gladly.”
“Alto! It’s land! We’ve finally arrived!”
“My Lady?”
The Young Lady, who had just burst through the cabin door, paused for a moment when she saw us. However, she quickly grabbed my arm and tried to pull me out.
“Come on, you’ve slept enough. You need some fresh air!”
“My Lady, are you alright to be standing up?”
“The weather is calm, so I’m fine!”
When she starts pulling like this, it’s hard for me to resist. With her monstrous strength—enough to lift my weapon with one hand—the boat would probably break before I could successfully dig my heels in.
I had no choice but to follow her out obediently, which seemed to put her in a good mood. Well, she was escaping seasickness, so it made sense.
As I left the cabin, I gave the girl a brief nod. The girl, who had been looking a bit dejected, beamed brightly at my acknowledgment. I’m glad she’s feeling better.
“Alto! Look ahead!”
“Yes, yes!”
But because the Young Lady dragged me away so suddenly, our brief interaction came to an end.
The Captain had told me to look at people’s eyes. But since I had no experience with such things, it was hard to tell if the emotion in Eris’s eyes was simple kindness or something more.
“Look! It’s land!”
The Young Lady pushed me by the back all the way to the edge of the deck. She seemed to be in a hurry, or maybe it was just my imagination.
“It really is.”
“Is that all?”
The Young Lady pouted at my dry reaction. Why was she so grumpy? Was it because she didn’t get to do much during this quest?
“Look closer.”
“Mmm~.”
To be honest, I didn’t see what was so special, but I knew I’d get scolded if I said that, so I scowled and pretended to look intently.
First, I saw the villagers gathering. At the very front was Luke, waving his arms and shouting something. Judging by his bright expression, he seemed thrilled by the results of the fishing trip.
And then…
“Hmm?”
“You see her, right?”
There was a woman standing even closer to the pier than Luke. A sharp-looking girl with navy-blue hair tied in a ponytail was staring straight at our ship.
For Luke, the village chief’s grandson, to give up the front spot to her… was she another local power player?
“That girl with the navy hair at the very front. That’s Narupa. She’s my friend.”
“Really?!”
Arasen, who had been quiet until now, asked back in great surprise.
Narupa.
It was a name I had heard from Arasen on the way to Hus, and then several times more from Old Man Dakuus and the Young Lady. A genius magitech scholar based in Hus who was single-handedly raising the world’s level of magitech.
Since the Young Lady was barely twenty, she must be incredibly young to have achieved so much.
Or so I thought, but the moment I saw that navy hair—dark like the deep sea—I realized it couldn’t have been any other way.
Because I had fought alongside another Great Mage who possessed that same navy hair.
Bisharen Diberuper.
A Great Mage who could make flames erupt with a flick of his wrist and make the earth tremble with a stomp of his foot. One of the Four Heroes of the Final War.
Seeing her with the same hair color, I knew instantly. Lady Narupa was Bisharen’s daughter.
“Diberuper…”
“Shh!”
At my accidental slip of the tongue, the Young Lady pressed her index finger to her lips.
“You shouldn’t let her surname slip like that. It’ll only cause a lot of unnecessary noise.”
“I’m sorry.”
“But still, you recognized her immediately.”
I caught a glimpse of disappointment in the Young Lady’s eyes as she looked at me. I might not know much about kindness, but I could sense an emotion like that better than anyone, even without looking at her eyes.
* * *
“Narupa!”
“Rene!”
As soon as the anchor was dropped, the Young Lady leaped straight from the deck and landed on the pier. She ran with open arms and threw herself into Lady Narupa’s embrace.
“It was so hard for me.”
“I heard. You caught a Serpent? You even asked Aslet to find a transport carriage to take frozen mackerel back to her.”
Ah, so that’s why the black maid disappeared; she went to ask Lady Narupa to find a refrigerated carriage. The Young Lady certainly knows how to look after her own interests.
“No, I didn’t catch the Serpent.”
“Then what was so hard?”
“My seasickness…”
“Get away from me, you smell like vomit.”
“Eeeeeeek—!!!”
They seemed to have a very pleasant relationship. Almost like sisters. If we were on better terms, would we be able to banter like that?
What?
Shut up?
Haha, you damn bastard. What could I possibly expect from you?
“And who is this?”
Lady Narupa turned her gaze toward me. There was a hint of wariness in her eyes. Not a bad thing. One should always be wary of strangers.
“This is Alto, a member of our party. He’s the one who sliced up the Serpent all by himself!”
“I didn’t slice it. I don’t even have the strength for that.”
“Hmph.”
The magitech scholar narrowed her eyes. I could feel her sizing me up.
“He caught a Serpent? A man?”
“Alto is a man who gets things done when it counts. Right, Arasen?”
“Of course! He fought by stabbing the Serpent all over its body using nothing but two massive daggers!”
The Young Lady and Arasen were busy spreading the tale of my heroics to the villagers with grand gestures.
“H-Hmph! Catchin’ a Serpent is one thing, but talkin’ like he did it with just two daggers is a load of hot air!”
“A~ha? That’s because Mr. Alto is a Gold-rank adventurer.”
“G-Gold?!”
Luke tried to pick a fight for no reason, but Arasen provoked him further by selling more of my information. Luke’s jaw dropped at the mention of ‘Gold-rank,’ but he didn’t stay quiet for long.
“No matter how you slice it, he’s just a man! How’s that even possible?!”
“…I saw it with my own eyes.”
At that moment, Eris, who had been quiet, raised her hand. As everyone’s attention shifted to her, she spoke her mind despite her hesitation.
“I was tangled in the net and gettin’ dragged away by that Serpent, but Mr. Alto, he gave that thing a smack right across the face with his fist! It went flyin’, and then he scooped me up and brought me back to the boat.”
“Oh my, oh my! Mr. Adventurer? Eris, you’re gonna have to marry him!”
“Eris is a bit too good for him, though…”
“Dammit, he saved her life, didn’t he? What’s there to weigh? You should just stick to his side and call him ‘Husband’ right now.”
“N-No, it’s not like that…”
As the village women made a fuss, Eris lowered her head with a beet-red face, and I was left feeling utterly flustered.
“Hmph? Must be nice, Alto. Getting yourself a bride.”
“It’s not like that, My Lady.”
“You say that, but your face looks awfully relaxed.”
This was getting troublesome. I wasn’t actually making any particular expression, but the Young Lady was insisting on it. I had no idea why she was doing this or how to smooth things over, so I felt completely lost.
So, I decided to just tell the truth.
“Up until now, there hasn’t been a single woman who said she liked me.”
But as soon as I said those words, the atmosphere turned cold, as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over us.
“Why… would you say that?”
“Just… well, I know what I look like…”
“People don’t just look at appearances.”
“I suppose… that’s true?”
“And what’s wrong with your face anyway?”
Uh…
I felt like the way everyone was looking at the Young Lady and me right now was answer enough. The Young Lady glared at me with a frown.
“You even caught a Serpent by yourself. Why are you like this?”
“Like what?”
“Why do you always act so insecure? At first, I just thought you were a nice guy, but at this point, it’s a disease.”
And those words stung my heart.
“Yes, you’re right. It is a disease. The ‘ugly’ disease.”
“Alto!”
I wanted her to stop. Everyone was holding their breath and watching us. And don’t look at me like that. Do you have any idea what it feels like to have everything you’ve worked so hard for dismissed as nothing more than the desperate struggles of an ugly loser just because of your face?!
“Now, now, Rene. Calm down. Like you said, it’s a good day since you successfully caught a Serpent. Why are you being so sharp with each other?”
Unable to watch any longer, Lady Narupa stepped between us. Lady Airune let out a sigh, fanning herself with her hand. Seeing her turn her body away sharply, she was clearly making it known that she was offended.
Well, so was I.
“Rene, you need to cool off. And Alto?”
“Yes.”
“You seem to lack confidence in your looks. Fine, that can happen. But regardless of how someone looks, isn’t that separate from their actual capabilities? I don’t think it’s right to judge your entire self based on just one part of you.”
“……”
She was right. Because I lived in a world where my face was considered so ugly, I had developed a personality that couldn’t accept anything normally or at face value.
Moved by her mature advice, I let out a sigh and was about to approach Lady Airune.
Until Lady Narupa said this:
“Besides, your face is exactly my type. It’s not bad at all.”
“…?!”
“You look diligent, like you wouldn’t play tricks, and you seem likable. I’m not saying you’re incredibly handsome, but… I’m interested.”
Ah.
It came back to me. My first meeting with Bisharen Diberuper.
‘Greetings! Sergeant Alto of the Bertrand Unit, reporting for—’
‘Hey.’
‘Yes?’
‘You’re quite handsome, aren’t you? I’d almost want you as a son-in-law.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘You really are good-looking. Want to see a portrait of my daughter?’
Even after that, the Great Mage Bisharen would constantly tell me I was handsome and promise to arrange a blind date for me if I made it back alive.
“Stop staring. It’s embarrassing. I guess he knows his face works on some people.”
Lady Narupa, acting sly while unable to even meet my eyes properly.
Blood,
Is indeed thicker than water.
Much thicker.