The Incubus Who Controls Water #6
The Incubus Who Controls Water #6
Obviously, I had no intention of just letting it slide that she'd moved.
I was dying to know why Rebecca had ended up lying right beside me.
Isn't curiosity supposed to be humanity's greatest driving force?
If I didn't get an answer, it'd nag at me until I couldn't stand it.
"Rebecca."
I waited until she opened her eyes, then spoke.
Still sitting up from the floor, Rebecca let out a short yawn, apparently not fully awake yet.
"What."
Maybe it was low blood pressure, but her face looked sulkier than usual this early in the morning.
"Why were you sleeping on the floor? You were lying on the bed last night."
"Mind your own business."
"If that's how you felt, you could've just given me the bed. Leaving it empty's a waste. Or wait—is that it? You were longing for the warmth of another person?"
"Sleeping on the floor's just my preference. In the kingdom where I lived, we did floor-style living. We barely used furniture like beds."
"Hooh... ."
Rebecca rattled off excuses like her mouth was greased with oil.
I couldn't stop the grin from spreading across my face as I looked at her.
Anyone with eyes could see she was just making excuses.
If she'd been honest, she probably would've admitted she was lonely and wanted to sleep next to someone.
Didn't know you got that lonely, Rebecca.
"Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh."
She might mistake that for me mocking her.
The moment her brow furrowed, I braced myself, at least a little, for the stream of curses I figured was coming my way.
"......."
But Rebecca said nothing.
She just stood there, clearing her throat awkwardly.
I was wondering why she was suddenly acting so demure. Then I remembered—we'd done mana charging yesterday.
We'd committed the profoundly unreasonable act of pressing our bare skin together while I taught her how to touch herself. There was no way the atmosphere between us wasn't going to be awkward.
Feeling sheepish for no good reason, I scratched my cheek.
This feels exactly like a couple after their wedding night.
Not that I'd know from experience, since I've never dated a woman. But according to my headcanon, this is pretty much the vibe.
Anyway, that's what it's gotta be.
"We agreed to pick up a quest at the Guild today. Let's wash up quick and head out."
"R-right... ."
I left with Rebecca and set off for the Adventurer's Guild.
The moment we got some fresh air, my mood settled, and Rebecca's expression returned to its usual composed state.
As we walked to the Guild, I felt like absolute shit.
Heading back to work after resting for a few days—a full-blown case of otherworld-style Monday blues was wracking my body.
When you're working every day, you just clock in without thinking. But when you've been off this long and then have to go out, there's no avoiding that bone-deep rage.
'Can't believe I have to work.'
I just wanted to U-turn on the work commute and head straight back to the inn.
All I wanted was to hole up in my room and practice magic nonstop.
I let out a sigh and muttered under my breath.
"Why do humans have to work...?"
"You're not human. You're an incubus, Luke."
"I'm an incubus, so I wanna just laze around without working. Waaah. I'm a baby incubus."
"You lunatic. Why are you making baby noises."
Rebecca broke out in a cold sweat and edged slightly away from me.
She was shooting me a look, but I couldn't care less.
I was simply expressing the resentment swelling up inside me through babbling. If I were to be reborn, living forever going wah-wah wouldn't be half bad.
Or maybe as a cat kept by some rich woman.
A short while later, Rebecca and I arrived at the Adventurer's Guild.
The Guild at this hour was, as always, bustling with people.
I planned to look for a quest at the Recruitment Office, same as last time.
The Recruitment Office on the Guild building's second floor.
I found myself hoping another client with deep pockets, like Lili, would show up.
"Are we going to the Recruitment Office again? Not using the reception desk?"
"There's a certain satisfaction in choosing my own quests. If I wanted to move at someone else's command, I'd have become a soldier, not an adventurer."
I definitely thought it was better to pick quests myself.
Besides, I had the specialized qualification of being a mage. I wasn't going to get arbitrarily filtered out.
I was about to head up to the second floor with Rebecca.
Right then, a voice called out from across the room.
"Luke! You're here!"
The person calling my name in that cheerful voice was none other than Wendy.
She'd gotten up from the reception desk and was waving a hand in my direction.
Every time her arm moved, her chest, on the verge of bursting, shook wildly along with it.
Reflexively, my eyes locked onto Wendy's bust morphing in real time.
Those tits are goddamn massive as always.
Aren't the buttons gonna pop off, shaking 'em like that?
"Haaah... ."
As I stared at the jiggling rack, Rebecca spoke up.
"Hey. Why are you staring at her chest instead of her face?"
"Can't help it. I'm an incubus."
"Haah... ."
Wendy was gesturing for me to come over.
Since it was a request from my assigned receptionist, I figured I ought to go out of a sense of loyalty, if nothing else.
I had no choice. I decided to send Rebecca up first.
"Head to the Recruitment Office. I'll follow you. Looks like Miss Wendy has something to say to me."
"Whatever."
Scoffing, Rebecca headed up to the second floor on her own.
Did she think it was pathetic that I was getting distracted by a woman's chest?
But come on. I can't help it.
How the hell am I supposed to look away when there are huge tits off in the distance?
Grumbling internally, I approached Wendy.
"What's the matter?"
The instant she saw me, Wendy made a fuss.
"I heard about it, Luke! They say you can use magic now?"
Without preamble, Wendy launched right into magic talk.
Had I ever told her I could use magic?
I thought back carefully, but I had no memory of it.
I'd been holed up in the inn for days and hadn't shown my face at the Guild at all.
Yet Wendy was startlingly well-informed about the change I'd undergone.
"How did you know? That I can use magic."
"Oh, come on, how could I not know? You made quite the flashy scene at the Recruitment Office. They say you obliterated a Bronze adventurer with magic."
"Ah, that bastard."
A certain swordsman I'd fought a makgora against a little while ago came to mind.
Was his name something starting with 'Leh'? I don't remember well, but anyway, he's the chump who surrendered his longsword to me.
A sudden unease came over me, and I asked Wendy point-blank.
"By the way, am I in the clear? Having a duel at the Recruitment Office and all. The Guild higher-ups aren't giving me grief for causing a disturbance or something?"
Settling things with a makgora was a custom on the Midgard Continent, sure—but that was mostly a commoner thing.
I got the feeling the higher-ups might have a slightly different perspective on the ruckus I'd caused.
"It's fine. If you were some street ruffian, maybe, but you're a mage, Luke. No warning notice ever came down from above. If it had, I'd have handled it as your assigned receptionist."
"Because I'm a mage?"
"Yes. From the Adventurer's Guild's perspective, mages are valuable personnel. Mages who do adventurer work are rare, and clients have high demand for them too. There are plenty of people who prefer mages even though they don't know the first thing about magic. So there's no way the Guild would treat you carelessly."
"I might use magic, but my skill is abysmal. The number of spells I can cast is pretty small, too."
"Most mages who aren't affiliated with a Magic Tower are like that. They probably learned magic by trial and error without a proper teacher. But even if you can only conjure a little flame, there are loads of clients who'd take you. At least you're better than the common-as-dirt sword-swingers, right?"
"That's true, I guess. I am better than sword-swingers."
I was convinced by Wendy's words.
If I were the client, I'd pick a magic-slinger over a sword-slinger too. Put a sword in a magic-slinger's hand and you've basically got a swordsman anyway.
Swordsmen, with their uselessly huge population, are always locked in fierce competition with other same-spec dealers.
The mage category, on the other hand, was a blue ocean.
So few in number they practically get treated like rare wildlife.
Suddenly, Wendy asked me in a hushed voice.
"But, Luke... when exactly did you start learning magic? Just a few weeks ago, you were miles away from anything magic-related."
"Obviously, I learned recently. I wasn't hiding my strength. An old man in the forest taught me. Thanks to him, I was able to learn at least the basics."
"An old man...? Does that mean you had a fortuitous encounter?"
I told her yes.
The truth is, I learned magic from a book the old man gave me.
But explaining that bizarre book exactly as it was would be difficult.
A Magic Tome that spews out new spells as time passes?
Not only would no one easily believe that, but it'd be a problem if they actually did. Thieves who got their eyes on it might try to swipe the book.
I generally avoided telling others about the book.
Even Rebecca, my party member, I hadn't introduced to it yet.
"That's wonderful! It's always a pleasure when an adventurer I'm responsible for grows."
Fortunately, Wendy seemed to take my words at face value without much thought.
"Now that you're a mage, I should be able to introduce you to good requests. There are plenty of clients asking for mages. The days of only recommending garbage requests like before are over. I can finally show you what a proper assigned receptionist looks like!"
"So does that mean you weren't one up until now?"
"It couldn't be helped. Finding work for an incubus adventurer is incredibly demanding. Please don't feel too hurt that I only gave you garbage requests all this time. Those were painstakingly picked out, too."
I didn't hold any particular grudge against Wendy.
I knew full well that she'd put in the effort to look out for me.
Though, every time I took a corpse disposal request, I did mentally curse her—you bitch, you're nothing but a pair of huge tits.
But let's just pretend all that never happened as of today.
She's a beauty of a receptionist with both a big heart and a kind personality.
"Luke! So, I have a quest I want to introduce to you today...!"
"Not doing it."
"Huh?"
"Ah, sorry... had a PTSD flashback for a second there...."
I apologized with an embarrassed look.
The moment she said she had a quest to introduce, my refusal reflexively popped out.
Up until now, every quest Wendy introduced was either a corpse-washing gig or a nauseating sewer cleanup.
But today's gotta be different, right?
I smiled as I looked at her.
"What kind of quest is it?"
"Corpse...."
"I said I'm not doing it, goddammit."
"That was a joke. Sorry if it was unpleasant."
Wendy's face turned serious, and she spoke with a sincere expression.
"It's a caravan escort quest heading to a trade city. The merchant who posted the request was looking for a mage."
"A caravan escort quest? Doesn't that take quite a while? Long-term quests that drag on for months are a bit...."
"It's fine. It's a quest that wraps up in about ten days. Since it's a round trip, you'll be able to return to Yoen-su when the quest is over. That means you won't have to pay separate carriage fees for the return trip."
"Ten days? The timeframe seems all right."
"The pay is a whopping six Silver! That's calculated at a daily wage of sixty Copper, totaling six Silver. They're valuing you higher than other adventurers because you're a mage."
"Six Silver...."
It was a large sum, but I didn't jump at it thoughtlessly.
Isn't there a saying about looking before you leap?
Over the past two years, I'd participated in a caravan escort quest exactly once. One of the few party quest experiences of my life.
Back then, I'd thought an escort request would be a sweet gig where you just zone out and kill time, but experiencing it firsthand was completely different.
Endless marching.
You keep marching until the quest ends. Even as a soldier in my final year of service, I pulled every trick I could to get out of marching. And on top of that, at night you have to stand goddamn night watch. Fucking night watch, the mother of all bullshit.
"Hmm."
I sank into thought for a moment.
In my mind, I weighed six Silver against the caravan escort quest.
But still, six Silver is a ton of money. If I earned it once, I could put it to good use, right?
And Rebecca, my party member, clearly needed money to gear up too.
In the end, my heart leaned toward earning the cash.
"Alright. But is there an extra slot on that quest? I've got a fixed party."
"Of course there is! You're talking about Rebecca, right? I've arranged a spot for her as well."
"I've got experience, but my party member's a first-timer. Is that fine? Experience with caravan escort requests, I mean."
"If she's in a fixed party with a mage, no one's going to care about that."
Before I knew it, the situation had turned into me squeezing Rebecca into the quest.
"I'll give you the wooden tags, so head to the South Gate this afternoon. You should find a merchant company there using a wagon marked with a matching insignia."
Wendy handed over two wooden tags carved with an insignia.
I took the tags and went up to the second floor to find Rebecca. The Recruitment Office was swarming with people, but even in that crowd, Rebecca was easy to spot.
Because she's giving off that distinct scent of a newbie.
"Looking for a Bronze-tier human swordsman party! I'm good with a blade! A-A Mad Burst Dealer who'll slice monsters up like radishes, standing by...!"
What the hell is a Mad Burst Dealer now?
Could it be you're copying my line word-for-word?
"Ahahahahahahahahahaha."