Trying to Build Friendship with a Hometown Acquaintance?
“What? Ten Ether Gems?”
“That’s right. Bottom-rung mercenaries like you have to pay that much.”
When I returned to the mercenary guild and explained the full story of what had happened, the response I received was a demand for money.
The guild employee explained that in disputes like this, they sometimes called in a practitioner specialized in magic. That practitioner, acting as an arbiter, would use True Spell to quickly verify the truth, after which appropriate punishment would be decided.
I gritted my teeth.
Separate from the recent incident, I had submitted the quest evidence and received my reward. The problem was that the quest reward had been clearly listed at four Ether Gems per person, so the twelve gems from those three men had vanished into thin air. There was simply no way I could pay.
“If their crimes are proven, couldn’t they compensate me instead…?”
“That’s something for the parties involved to settle among themselves. What we do is decide whether to revoke their mercenary qualifications or, depending on the severity, hand them over to the kingdom’s defense forces.”
“Th-that’s…”
“If you can provide a guarantor from a trustworthy noble house or a skilled practitioner, you won’t have to pay the fee.”
“………………….”
“Though if you had connections like that, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
I did have one.
Isabel, the priestess of the Malion Sect of the Asteros Church.
She never flaunted it, but she was clearly a person of considerable ability. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to ask for her help. If she learned that my very first quest had ended in a crisis like this, her doting nature would surely lead her to keep me confined to the house as much as possible.
I couldn’t become that useless.
Honestly, it stung my pride, and more than anything, I wanted to show her that I could overcome this and adapt on my own.
Fine. I’d forget about it.
I’d heard the city’s rules were strict anyway, so I just needed to be careful about running into them outside. If I’d known this would happen, I would have stripped those three of their Ether Pockets while I had the chance. It was a perfect opportunity to legally take them.
Another lesson about the mercenary world learned today.
“By the way… what exactly were those three planning to do to me?”
At my question, the middle-aged employee glanced at me, then quickly looked me up and down. He continued filling out the paperwork in his hands as he spoke.
“From what you described, they were probably going to sell you off and flee to another city. Typical thinking for those pathetic little rats at the bottom.”
“S-sell me?”
“Well, you’re quite good-looking, aren’t you?”
“………You mean I’d be sold to a woman?”
“Could be a man. Who knows?”
“Hiiik……”
I recoiled in horror at the chilling possibility.
To think my appearance would cause problems. Come to think of it, Kant had been strangely persistent about asking for my exact physical specs. He must have been gathering information to use when selling me.
I’d been fairly average-looking as a child, but strangely, as I grew, I had become… well, handsome enough that I could say so without it sounding completely ridiculous. Even saying it myself felt embarrassing.
“B-but I’ve never heard of a slave market or anything like that in Pletur…”
“You’re right. There isn’t one. It’s a border city at the edge of the Graphel Kingdom, so they’re strict about it. But the world works the same everywhere.”
The employee set down the paperwork he’d been writing on and gave me a crooked smile.
“If a high-realm practitioner secretly kidnaps you and uses mental techniques to turn you into a sex slave, we wouldn’t have anything to say about it. There’s no reason for us to make an enemy of that practitioner for the sake of someone with no background like you. We’d just think, ‘Oh, guess that’s what happened,’ and move on. In the end, it’s all about power.”
“……………………………….”
I remained silent, turning his words over in my mind.
During that silence, the employee’s tone grew subtly suggestive.
“Rowen, right? From the looks of it, the mercenary life doesn’t seem like the path for you… Shall I introduce you to a few connections? I know some people…”
“……What do you mean?”
“Well, you see…”
After listening to the employee, I fell silent once more.
He said he could arrange a meeting with the daughter of a rather wealthy practitioner family. If things went well and it led to marriage, the cost of training elixirs to raise my realm would become much more manageable.
He also suggested entering as a guest retainer for a merchant family that wasn’t involved in cultivation. While there would be no particular advantages among practitioners, he tempted me by saying someone like me could end up with dozens of young wives and live as if in paradise on earth.
I see. So this was how he padded his pockets while playing mediator. There didn’t seem to be any deeper hidden motive.
I sighed and declined.
“Thank you for the offer, but I must refuse. I have personal circumstances.”
The employee’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t expected rejection, but after observing my firm attitude, he simply nodded quietly with a look that said, ‘Well, the choice is yours.’
I left the guild building with heavy steps.
Outside was just as crowded with mercenaries as the interior had been. The setting sun, now beginning to dip low, wrapped around me with a faint melancholy.
One thing had become clear from this incident.
In the end, finding trustworthy people was what mattered most!
.
.
That day, I didn’t mention the kidnapping attempt to Priestess Isabel. I didn’t want to worry her. I simply told her with a bright smile that everything had gone well.
Over the next few days, I completed several more quests. Unfortunately, I still hadn’t found any decent permanent party members. Maybe my first experience had left me with trust issues toward people.
For the record, I never saw the three who had tried to kidnap me again. Maybe they had fled far away, or perhaps someone had gotten to them while they were unconscious. If it was the latter… there was no need for me to feel guilty about it. Nope.
.
.
Today, I left the mansion early in the morning.
I had kept my expression under control, but I couldn’t help the slight pounding in my chest. It was because I had the hopeful expectation that I might finally solve the problem of finding trustworthy companions that had been troubling me for so long.
Alex.
He was a senior from my hometown, eight years older than me. Back home, his friendly personality had earned him thick trust from everyone. He had shown talent early and awakened as a practitioner, and I’d heard he left our hometown a few years ago to settle in Pletur.
When I asked the guild employee for information, I hadn’t expected to find him so quickly. But to my surprise, when the employee asked if I meant “Alex of Lucarion” and compared descriptions of his appearance, he immediately knew the location.
What? Was he fairly well-known in this city?
Pletur wasn’t just home to the mercenary guild and the kingdom’s defense forces. I’d heard that various mid-sized organizations formed their own factions, operating independently, sometimes cooperating and sometimes opposing one another in complex ways.
I had been so focused on the mercenary guild that I hadn’t known, but it seemed this Lucarion Raid Team was one of those independent factions.
With those thoughts in mind, I walked northwest for about thirty minutes until my destination came into view.
So this is the Lucarion District… It’s even more impressive than I imagined…
The Lucarion District occupied the entire northeastern hill of Pletur’s central area. The white castle walls shining on the hill were visible from any direction in the city, and as I drew closer, the abundant flow of ether energy made me instinctively feel that just living here would raise one’s realm.
There was clearly an ether vein running beneath the ground. The area was also quite vast; visiting a noble family with a medium-sized estate probably felt like this.
With nervous steps, I approached the main gate and spoke to the gatekeeper. I gave Alex’s name and stated that I was an acquaintance requesting a visit.
The gatekeeper’s already chilly gaze turned even more suspicious. He told me to wait a moment.
After about five minutes, a male member with a friendly face came out to greet me.
“You’re acquainted with Alex?”
“Ah, yes! We knew each other back in our hometown. He was like an older brother to me…”
After I explained briefly, the man smiled lightly and told me to follow him. I somehow obtained a temporary visitor’s pass and entered. In the center stood a grand building.
That must be the raid team’s headquarters.
Passing the enormous headquarters building, I arrived at an open training ground where several members were training. On one side of the training ground, I spotted a familiar-looking man with short black hair resting.
I immediately walked over quickly and greeted him in a bright voice.
“Alex! It’s been so long. It’s me, Rowen.”
His sharp 180-centimeter frame, the expensive-looking light plate armor, and the rapier hanging at his side. His appearance had changed so much that I had almost failed to recognize him.
“………………?”
Did he not remember me?
He looked me over once, then narrowed his eyes.
“So it’s you. Rowen.”
“Ah! You remember? Brother, our house…”
“I never imagined the patient suffering from an incurable disease would become a practitioner and make it all the way here. How fascinating. Truly fascinating.”
His voice, cutting off my words, was sharp and emotionless.
I was taken aback.
“……I-I haven’t fully recovered yet, but I’ve become capable enough to pull my own weight.”
“Initial Stage of the 1st Realm… And with a body that looks like its ether could go unstable and fluctuate at any moment?”
I swallowed dryly in silence.
It seemed his skill was high enough to sense the state of my ether with a single glance.
“Yes. So why have you come looking for me? Are you trying to build friendship with a hometown acquaintance?”
“Um. W-well, you see…”
I tried to lighten the mood by casually bringing up old stories, but he didn’t seem interested at all. More than that, the way he openly displayed his expression was disconcerting.
Was this really the Alex I knew? He looked nothing like the friendly, popular brother from my memories back home.
Thinking that far, I began to doubt my own actions. Had coming to visit so abruptly been that shameless…?
I could feel my own voice growing smaller and more timid.
“Brother, my skills really aren’t bad. My strength is quite good too. So if possible, I was wondering if I could join the raid team you’re in, or if there might be any missions you could assign me…”
“Enough.”
Alex lightly tapped the handle of his rapier, cutting me off.
“It seems you came without knowing, but only those with exceptional talent are allowed into Lucarion. There’s no place here for someone who merely claims their skills ‘aren’t bad.’”
Alex looked at me for a moment, then took out a handful of Ether Gems from his pocket and placed them on a nearby shelf.
“That should be about 100 gems. Now leave.”
My heart sank with a thud.
I understood without him saying more. This was payment for me to stop bothering him.
The amount I had managed to save after several quests without spending anything was only about 15 gems. Yet here he was, casually offering 100 as if it were nothing.
It felt like alms thrown to a beggar…
I clenched my teeth and shook my head.
“I won’t take it. I didn’t come here to beg.”
His eyebrows rose slightly, but he said nothing.
I also turned away without another word.
Only then did I notice that the gazes around me were filled with mockery. The friendly-looking man who had guided me earlier was the same.
He laughed as he spoke to me.
“Heh heh. Your stomach must have been calling. So, is life treating you well?”
“…………………….”
I lowered my head slightly and quickly left the Lucarion District with hurried steps.
It felt as if cold, contemptuous gazes were stabbing into my back.
I didn’t look around and ignored every stare I felt.
“………….”
I walked on in quiet silence.
I kept walking.
How long had I walked?
When I came to my senses, I was already back at the mansion.
There was no sign of anyone when I stepped inside. It seemed Priestess Isabel had already left for the church.
I trudged up to the second floor, opened the door to my room, and stared blankly at the bed.
Then I collapsed onto it, burying my face in the pillow.
I should have just taken the money.
Neither one thing nor the other. What a pathetic fool.
“Hah… Damn……”
I really hadn’t felt like crying at all, yet tears gradually welled up in my eyes.