Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: The Request and the Cookie -2-
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She didn't need anything else from him.
All she had to do was ask the adventurer if he could take the commission.
Killing everyone connected to the black mage she'd encountered that day was up to her.
It was greedy, even by her own standards, but this was something she couldn't yield to anyone.
What she needed right now was her own strength and reliable information.
She had to uncover even a little of what had happened that day—who was involved.
'…'
It was an obvious story, one even a child passing by on the street would know, but for an individual—not the Empire—to unravel something involving a black mage was extremely dangerous.
The one who had orchestrated it.
The dangers of those acting on a commission went without saying.
The person she wanted was someone who could dance on the boundary between life and death.
But coldly speaking, what about her?
She had little money left, no talents to boast of, and her credit and standing as a noble were already completely ruined.
Who would risk their life for someone like that?
Of course, no one.
Yet she still desired it, and the self-loathing welled up at feeling like such a selfish person.
But if it was that man, one of the strongest in the Empire.
Even with rumors of being a womanizer, if he was someone honest with himself.
Wouldn't he at least hear her out, given what she could offer as compensation?
(She's a beauty by my standards. Does that answer it?)
'Clear truth.'
It was the first time she'd felt such vivid emotion.
Like a door in her heart opening wide, as if meant just for her.
-
The moment Rike left the Adventurer's Guild that day, she returned to her dormitory and picked up her sword.
She had no intention of graduating from the academy in the first place.
She maintained a barely passing attendance rate just to stay in the dorms.
The rest of her time was spent holed up in her room, swinging her sword.
Lately, to suppress the endless wave of negative emotions rising within her, she emptied her mind.
Emotions soaring to the heavens tempted her toward self-harm and self-abuse, but she ignored them by exhausting her body.
Once her mind had settled somewhat like that.
I went to the Adventurer's Guild and met him.
The shop he led me to for the commission talk looked like someone's research lab at first glance.
With the client-adventurer relationship clear, I followed without argument.
The interior was so horrific that it was impossible to believe it was a shop, even giving it a hundred concessions.
"The cookies are really amazing, though. Let's talk while eating."
Her appetite had vanished even more than before.
She didn't want to put anything in her stomach.
Maybe she could manage a little warm milk.
"I already had a simple meal, so milk is fine…?"
She tried to refuse indirectly as usual.
But the scent of freshly baked cookies tickled her nose.
'This smell…'
Rike was drawn in like a whirlpool, lost in memories of that day.
Her mother's hobby was baking.
In the past, all she'd done was cling to her mother's skirt while snacks were made, savoring the savory aroma with just her mouth watering.
Her mother was skilled enough to make handmade butter and was passionate about pastries.
The scent of that handmade butter gave cookies a fragrance different from store-bought ones when mixed in.
For some reason, she was sensing that aroma from these shabby-looking cookies.
When she reached out to take one, her hand trembled uncontrollably.
She placed the cookie in her hand into her mouth as carefully as handling a precious treasure.
I completely sealed off the area where we were sitting.
Even among those brothers, there was a mage, so he'd understand what I was doing.
What was Rike thinking right now?
In the event illustration, her mind clears and lightens, ending with her dabbing away a few tears.
But here, after one bite of the cookie, she's frozen like time has stopped, tears streaming down her face.
To the point where it seemed like her tear ducts were broken.
'It means she's been pushed that far mentally.'
It reminded me of the practical class.
Even when her finger was grotesquely bent, she showed no expression.
Cadets try not to show it on their faces, but holding back makes it obvious.
Swallowing hard or curling their toes—telltale signs leak through involuntary biological signals.
But she hadn't endured the pain back then.
-When the mind dies, the body follows.
For Rike, even a single day of living was a black hole sucking in all light.
As her spirit lost its wings and plummeted, her senses were dulling.
'This can't go on any longer; it's dangerous.'
In the game, there was a time attack urging haste, but…
Seeing it in person, it was a mystery how she'd survived even one semester in this state.
Sniffle—
As if snapping out of it, she hurriedly wiped her face with her sleeve.
"S-Sorry. For showing such an ugly side…"
"When you're worn out, it's better to cry it all out. Bottling it up just makes you sick."
"…"
"We have plenty of time today. Let's talk slowly once you're calm."
I picked up one memory cookie that tasted like snacks from my past life and slurped my coffee.
I slid the remaining cookies toward Rike.
With teary eyes, she steadily emptied them.
There were only a few I'd prepared for her to eat now, but she savored each one slowly, a faint spark of life in her eyes.
The fragile flame rising from her, on the verge of flickering out.
But that meager fire had a tenacious persistence, refusing to die despite seeming ready to.
This flame had no fixed form, and no one could define its shape.
Yet I, and the whole world, recognized and knew this intangible existence.
We call it 'will'.
-
Tear stains remained, and her eyes were puffy, but that sight alone was precious to me.
As long as she didn't stray from etiquette, she didn't seem to care much about her appearance and didn't hide her face.
A moment later, once calmed, she glanced around the sealed space and spoke first.
"…Adventurer, do you know about the Skadi Marquis family?"
"More than most people… a bit."
Even without 'Akarite' knowledge.
An enormous amount of information flows to Platinum adventurers.
The Adventurer's Guild shares it almost for free.
Nobles and low-rank adventurers send gossip gratis just to curry favor.
Among the nobles' gossip was talk of the Skadi Marquis.
In high volume, too.
That not only the officially announced spouse family of Marquis Skadi, but perhaps the marquis himself was involved in black magic.
Such content was too dangerous to handle, always anonymous.
"The day my family fell—… correction. From the day I lost my mother, I've carried several unsolved mysteries."
"What doubts?"
"Why the family head accepted the injustice without protest. The fact that the Empire's Third Knight came to execute based on mere anonymous reports. And…"
"And?"
Habitually, she brushed her eye area with her hand.
To explain everything, she'd have to start from her eyes to some absurd tale, so she must be pondering how.
"Adventurer. I'm not sure if you'll believe me, but… sometimes I unintentionally see strange things."
I already knew, of course, so I leaned forward and listened.
"This is something I've kept to myself…"
As if remembering something, she bit her lip hard enough to nearly tear it.
After several slow deep breaths, she pulled a small memo pad from her chest.
"Hoo… I lack eloquence, so I've written down what I need to convey."
I took the square memo pad and flipped through page by page.
Dense, round handwriting filled it, pressed firmly.
[…I saw the same thing in the knights who came to execute the marquis family, and in whatever was used on my mother, who couldn't even resist…]
[…At the time, my knowledge was shallow, so I didn't know what it was. But later, at the public execution of a black mage, I realized. What those people that day were…]
The story had too many holes, but I knew the whole truth.
She waited as calmly as possible, but her uncontrollable pupils shook, and her whole body trembled.
At a glance, it might seem like fear fitting her actions, but she was quivering with overflowing rage.
I finished the multi-page memo and returned it to Rike.
"I read it all. Summarizing the content… the Third Knight who went as representative was connected to black mages, or was one."
"Yes."
"And the knights who went to the Skadi Marquis family for the execution weren't clean either—suspicious ties to black mages?"
"Exactly…"
Only after hearing it from my mouth did she realize her tale sounded like absurd delusion, her voice shrinking.
It was something that couldn't be laughed off if made public.
"So, what do you want to commission?"
"…You'll believe me?"
Believing out of the blue would seem odd, so I didn't answer that.
"Just think it's plausible overall. Some black mages are good at deception. Like this— an old man with half his face in rags."
"…!!"
Rike's mouth gaped, and she reached out with both hands, gripping my sleeve tightly.
She realized something she'd searched for endlessly without a trace was right in my grasp.
'Tomorrow, straight to the library to retrieve the item… after class ends…'
"I already suspect those guys. Come to the Adventurer's Guild after academy tomorrow. And this— I was gonna eat it, but suddenly craved meat, so it's yours."
I said my piece, shoved the cookie box into Rike's arms, and left the shop.
Then I remembered.
"Oh? I didn't mention the commission fee."