#021 Caution
#021 Caution
Exposure is defense, they say.
"Back in my day, women wore chainmail so they wouldn't get hit by goblin paralyzing needles, you know?"
Putting something over your body for safety is common sense.
And all the more so for women, whose stamina is on average weaker than men's—they had to wrap themselves up tight just to survive.
"The end times, I tell you. The end times."
If someone from five hundred years ago were somehow still alive today, I might form an incredible bond of mutual understanding with them.
"Don't you think so, Lucius?"
"I wouldn't know."
"What do you mean, you wouldn't know? Think about it, Lucius. You're sleeping by a campfire. And the women next to you are sleeping in their underwear, saying they need to receive the Azure Moon Goddess's Divine Power. How would that make you feel?"
"I think I'd just let it be."
"......."
Lucius meant it.
Which made it all the more baffling.
"Are you even a man?"
"...Master. That's not what we were talking about."
"What do you mean, not what we were talking about? If a truly beautiful, pretty woman were next to you in nothing but her underwear, wouldn't your insides just boil?"
"A pretty woman depends on the pretty woman."
Lucius shook his head with a resolute face.
"Since I am a man, I suppose such thoughts could occur to me. But that would only be due to instinct as a man, and I would never secretly steal glances or stare with lewd intent."
"So, depending on the person, it could be different?"
"...I'm only human, so isn't that only natural?"
He seemed sulky.
"Who? Your childhood friend? Or the Saintess?"
"Droniel is just a friend. Saintess Yan Diere is also just someone who treated me kindly out of goodwill."
"I don't think so."
"Ha, are you saying the two of them have feelings for me?"
"Of course. Don't they?"
"......."
Lucius's expression stiffened.
Depending on what answer came out here, I'd be able to tell for certain what kind of disposition Lucius had.
"...There's no way. There's no way someone as pretty as the Saintess would fall for me, or that Droniel would like me."
"Why?"
"Why would people that pretty like a guy like me?"
"......?"
This kid—was this some new form of deception?
"I'm just an ordinary village youth. Just an ordinary-looking, ordinary guy."
"Hmm...."
He was a man with remarkably low self-esteem.
I imagined the situations he must have gone through growing up in the village.
"By any chance, did you have trouble getting along with friends from a young age?"
"Friends...."
Lucius's expression grew even darker.
"Friends... I'm not sure. In the village, I was always alone, and the other kids, including Nertio, always ostracized me."
Ah.
"They always mocked me, saying I was 'an ugly thing getting above itself.' Droniel comforted me, but they tormented me wherever Droniel wasn't around."
"Did you never think of using force?"
"Even if I fought and won, their leader was the village chief's son. ...Unless I was prepared to leave the village...."
Fighting would be meaningless.
From a young age, Lucius had accepted unreasonable treatment from his environment far too easily.
"Still, thanks to you, Master, I've gained confidence. Now that I have strength, I have confidence that I can be of help to the world."
"Still...."
I did feel a little sorry for him.
If he'd been born into a good home, or into a noble family and raised as an aristocrat, he'd probably be a famous playboy in high society by now, dating a different noble young lady every week.
Growing up in a backwater village like this without even realizing what kind of man he was—it was just too pitiful.
Honestly, if I were this kid, I'd have gone straight to the city, gotten a job as a butler for some noble house, seduced the noble young lady, and secured myself at least a viscount's title....
"Haah."
A genuine sigh escaped me.
"What's the point of being handsome and fit? When the inside is so ho—...oh, good grief."
"......."
Lucius froze.
He suddenly stood bolt upright, and I tensed up too, wondering if an enemy that the Holy Sword reacted to had appeared.
'An enemy of the Holy Sword that I can't detect?'
No way.
If the Holy Sword detected danger, I should detect it too.
If that wasn't happening, then maybe I'd become too weak....
"Master. Could you say that one more time?"
"Say what?"
"That I'm handsome."
"...You little shit."
Men will be men, after all.
"Does hearing you're handsome make you that happy?"
I smoothed down my startled chest with effort and kicked Lucius in the shin.
"No."
I'd said it once; that should've been enough. Why did he want to hear it again?
"Just follow me inside, you idiot!"
Leaving Lucius standing there like a fool, I opened the door to the Adventurers' Guild.
The prelude to revenge for Zepar would begin in this small Adventurers' Guild.
* * *
Hora Morgen, a receptionist at the Normance Adventurers' Guild, quickly scanned the woman who opened the door and walked in.
'A mage.'
A somewhat plain, colorless outfit.
Unlike most adventurers, her upper body was wrapped up tightly in clothing, but for a mage, that was perfectly plausible.
The power a mage needs is mana, not a goddess's Divine Power.
'The top is a bit concerning, but the lower half passes.'
What an adventurer absolutely needs is preparation for danger—in other words, safety.
Rather than clumsily wrapping the body in armor and the like, wearing bikini armor to preserve agility while gaining defense from divine power led to more people coming back alive, on average.
Covering the top, though....
'I can understand.'
Morgen lowered her head.
Then she placed a hand on her own chest and nodded heavily.
'It's not your fault.'
Right, Morgen had done nothing wrong.
If anyone was at fault, it was the mage walking around with those vicious weapons hidden inside her body.
"What brings you here today?"
Still, Morgen was a professional.
Having started working as an Adventurers' Guild receptionist before even reaching adulthood, she had met countless people and learned to deal with them in a businesslike manner without showing her emotions.
So....
Murmur, murmur.
At the commotion behind her, Morgen unconsciously turned to look.
It wasn't as if a Diamond Rank adventurer had appeared, so why all the fuss—
'His face is diamond.'
The blond man who opened the door and entered was handsome.
The man, who had a rather sharp impression as if on guard against his surroundings, silently approached the reception desk.
"Ah, um...."
"Master."
'What's with that voice?'
Morgen unconsciously clenched her fist.
At the low voice that seemed to tickle her ears, saliva slowly began to pool in Morgen's mouth.
'But, Master?'
"Oh, right. Perfect timing. Excuse me, this guy wants to register as an adventurer."
"A-an adventurer?"
"Yes. A complete rookie, a newbie."
"Ah...."
Morgen quickly looked back and forth between the two, assessing them.
A red-haired witch and a handsome blond young man.
Judging by the fact that he called her Master, the witch must have come to register the young man as an adventurer.
"W-well, for adventurer registration, you need to fill out separate paperwork. Would you come this way?"
Normally, first-time adventurer registrants just fill out the paperwork on the spot and that's the end of it.
But if she left these two standing there, the guild would be thrown into chaos by the murmuring adventurers in the back.
"It's this room in the back."
It was a private reception room for adventurers of Gold Rank or higher, but anyone would understand Morgen's decision.
If the Guild Master came, he'd probably kick Morgen out and handle the adventurer registration himself.
'No way.'
This was a ray of light that had suddenly appeared in her dreary guild employee life.
Morgen brought the two inside in order to enjoy the man's face more—no, to maintain order in the guild.
"Hmm...."
The witch sat down hesitantly.
She tugged at her skirt with her hand, looking extremely uncomfortable, and Morgen found the behavior utterly ridiculous.
'If you're going to be embarrassed even while wearing undershorts, why wear a skirt?'
She might as well just walk around naked.
Morgen thought to herself.
That was clearly....
"Master, here."
"...Thank you."
'I knew it!'
The man took off his white coat and handed it to the woman.
He didn't even need to take it off, but he did, and the witch used the coat to cover her thighs.
'You minx.'
She clearly had him call her Master while planning to make history with him in some secluded spot at night.
Morgen's insides twisted, but she forced herself to maintain a smile and held out the adventurer registration form to the man.
"First, you know that everyone starts at Bronze regardless of skill, right?"
"Bronze?"
"The Copper Rank. Promotion evaluations are conducted based on accepted requests and achievements."
You don't even know that?
She swallowed the words that would have followed.
The moment she treated the witch poorly here, that man would treat her poorly too.
"I see. Should I register too?"
"Master?"
"Why not? It'd be fun to start from Bronze together. And the pay would be double with two of us."
"W-well, that's true...."
'He smiled!'
The man scratched his cheek and smiled.
The man who had been utterly cold just moments ago now acted like an innocent puppy, and Morgen bit her lip.
"Then can we register as adventurers and immediately accept Bronze requests?"
"Yes. They're only simple requests regardless of skill, so you might be disappointed, but the guild does have its procedures."
"Procedures are important."
"Still, Master, Bronze is...."
"Think of it positively, Lucius."
The witch patted the man—Lucius—on the shoulder and smiled.
"Right now we have nothing, but we can fill it in together, one by one. Isn't that right?"
"......."
"You and me. Let's climb up together. How about it?"
"...Yes, Master."
Morgen left a small note in the remarks column of the witch's adventurer registration form.
Caution, minx.