A New Encounter
“Wait, you were the old guy?”
“...I’m not an old guy.”
Wagner blinked his eyes, which looked like those of a sad calf. “I’m... twenty-three.”
“Ah.”
A brief silence hung in the air. Flora and I swallowed our words, feeling a sudden sense of solemnity. There are moments like that—when offering a clumsy word of comfort only makes the atmosphere even more dismal. I mean, even if I tried to be generous and call him thirty-three, or even forty-three, people would believe it...
“Wagner, then can I speak to you casually?”
He nodded. Seeing me treat him with familiarity, his face brightened up significantly. I was relieved. I’d been helped by Wagner before, and he was a decent guy at heart. His massive frame was reliable, too; he was someone I could trust.
We exchanged formal greetings, and Wagner, the human (according to his own claims) warrior, officially joined our party.
“Are your pants fitting well?”
“Yeah. Comfortable.”
Wagner answered shortly, then clamped his mouth shut again, silently staring only at the plate of peanuts on the table. Flora kept stealing glances at him from the corner of her eye, looking slightly intimidated. Well, it’s not every day you see a human that big.
The atmosphere was still a bit awkward. But, well, time would solve that.
“Did you buy new shoes? They’re nice.”
“Really?”
When I offered the compliment, a grin spread across his Moai-like face. Wagner stretched his legs out beside the table to show me his massive shoes, which were the size of aircraft carriers.
“I especially like the color.”
Wagner said with a proud expression. I was glad he liked them, but that wasn’t what I was talking about. There were magic runes carved into Wagner’s shoes.
I carefully examined the shoes, which were as big as my head.
“Wagner, have you had these appraised?”
“Appraised...?”
He looked confused. That was to be expected. There were no professional appraisers in the frontier. Flora, who had been listening to our conversation, turned to me with sparkling eyes.
“Estelle-ssi, if it’s appraisal, didn’t you just—”
“Yeah.”
After returning from the Underground Waterway, Flora and I had each learned a new spell from the Magic Fundamentals. Flora learned Magic Mist. And the spell I learned was Appraisal.
“Perfect timing. We were just about to appraise our gear. I’ll do your shoes, too.”
He grinned, his stone-faced expression breaking into a wide smile as he nodded vigorously. I started by appraising Flora’s Imperial Silk Gloves.
Appraisal
The mana erupting from my hands transformed into a tiny magnifying glass, moving back and forth over the gloves. A moment later...
Successfully appraised Imperial Silk Gloves. Appraisal proficiency has increased.
Discovered the Magic Stone Collection rune embedded in the Imperial Silk Gloves!
Magic Stone Collection — Increases the probability of acquiring magic stones when you or your party members defeat monsters.
A soft green light began to emanate from the magic rune carved inside Flora’s gloves. It wasn’t a bad rune. I wouldn’t necessarily choose to use it myself, but it’s a godsend if a party member has it.
“Wow—the gloves are glowing! They’re pretty—”
“They sure are.”
Flora seemed satisfied just by the fact that the gloves looked nicer, regardless of the magic rune’s performance. She was like a baby given glow-in-the-dark sandals. Anyway, next was my turn to appraise my own gloves.
Appraisal
Discovered the Afterimage rune embedded in the Imperial Silk Gloves.
Congratulations. You have discovered the Clairvoyance rune, which emits a powerful force!
Afterimage — Increases the user’s evasion.
Clairvoyance — Allows the user to see through objects within a certain range. Range and penetration power vary based on mana consumption.
I held my breath. Clairvoyance. Out of the thousands of runes in Nine Stars, it was considered top-tier in terms of utility. It was excellent just for the basic use of detecting enemies through walls, but depending on how you used it, it was a versatile rune that could be applied to everything, not just combat. It was so good it had earned the nickname of one of the "Three Great Auxiliary Runes."
Holy shit. It’s already showing up?
'I have to keep this one with me until the end.'
If it’s like this, I might change the gloves later, but I have to keep Clairvoyance. Transferring magic runes to other equipment costs quite a bit of money, but it’s definitely worth it.
“How is it, Estelle-ssi?” Flora asked, looking at me with expectant eyes.
What should I do? Should I tell her the truth? Sometimes, even if the other person is in your party, there are many cases where you don’t reveal all your capabilities. Even if we’re allies now, who knows if we’ll meet as enemies again? And there’s the saying that seeing something valuable creates greed. There’s no guarantee they won’t get blinded by greed and attack me after seeing such rare equipment.
But... I judged that I could trust Flora. Wagner was the same. Since he had helped me without expecting anything in return, there was no reason to doubt either of their characters.
“It’s huge. I checked, and it’s a Clairvoyance rune.”
“Wow—”
“Congratulations.”
Flora clapped. Wagner followed suit after reading the room.
“But Wagner-ssi, do you know what a Clairvoyance rune is?”
“...Not really.”
“Is it a good thing? Estelle-ssi, show us once. How do you use that rune?”
What’s with these guys? They don’t even know what it is, but they’re congratulating me anyway? They’re so innocent it’s almost like they’re completely out of touch with the world.
I shrugged and focused my mana into the gloves. It’s better to show them once than to say a hundred words.
Clairvoyance
The mana that drained out like an ebb tide was sucked into the gloves.
“Oh—”
My vision expanded into the surroundings. If my usual vision was limited to the forward field of view, now I could see 360 degrees—up, down, left, right, and behind—like a chameleon. It was a bizarre sensation, as if I had left my body and was looking down at the space from the air. Moreover, it didn’t stop at just widening my field of view. I could see through the walls, watching the chef shaking a frying pan inside the kitchen. I could even see an adventurer in the restroom behind the partition unzipping his pants.
“How is it, Estelle-ssi? Can you see things well?”
“...A customer is about to come in. He’s old, has a thick brown beard... and he’s missing his left arm.”
At my words, Flora and Wagner turned their gazes toward the entrance. A moment later.
“Welcome—”
“Heh heh, the weather is shitty again today—Owner, first, give me a cold beer!”
An adventurer whose left sleeve was fluttering in the wind opened the door and walked in.
“Wow.”
“...!”
Flora and Wagner looked at each other. It was too early to be surprised. I furrowed my brows and concentrated. The vision that had been covering the entire tavern narrowed again. But this time, as it narrowed, the penetration power focused on one spot.
I looked at Wagner. Thick leather armor. Looking through it, I saw his bursting pectorals and shaggy chest hair... ah, shit.
“Ugh!”
As I gagged, Flora and Wagner, who didn’t know why, tilted their heads. I made a mistake. I saw something I absolutely didn’t want to see. I had to purify my tainted eyes. This time, I looked at Flora. Her skin looked firm like freshly pounded rice cake, clear and white. Her underwear was white, both top and bottom. White, huh... nice. Hmm. I felt like I was doing something I shouldn’t be doing.
“Are you okay? Your face is red.”
Wagner patted my shoulder with a worried look. I deactivated Clairvoyance at this point. If I wanted to, I could see more than just underwear, but... not only was my mana almost bottomed out after using it for just a few seconds, but I didn’t feel like it. Honestly, this is an invasion of privacy. I should refrain from using it unless it’s absolutely necessary.
I whispered into Flora’s ear.
“Senior, you’re wearing white underwear right now, aren’t you?”
“Oh, wow—how did you know? That’s amazing—”
“That’s the ability. I can see it if I use Clairvoyance.”
At my words, Flora’s eyes went wide. I’ll leave the ability explanation at that. Finally, I appraised Wagner’s shoes...
Discovered the Dancing Fever rune embedded in the shoes.
Dancing Fever — Become a master of social dance.
Of all the intermediate runes, it had to be a piece of trash. Wagner must have terrible luck. I hesitated to tell him the result, but Wagner was unexpectedly satisfied.
“Cool.”
I should learn that positive attitude from him. Wagner really seemed to like the shoes, as he started tapping his feet while sitting in his chair.
Tap tap, tap-tap—
Is it just my imagination? It was just a simple step of tapping the floor with his feet, but perhaps because of the Dancing Fever rune’s effect, I could feel an extraordinary sense of rhythm.
“Anyway, why isn’t the other person here yet?”
The appointment time had long passed. Mitchell, the elf martial artist. Where is this girl and what is she doing?
“Wagner-ssi, did you happen to see an elf on your way here?”
He shook his head. Wagner shook his head and went back to being absorbed in his own rhythm. Tap-tap-tap—
“What should we do? Could she have gotten into some trouble?” Flora asked, her eyebrows twitching with worry.
“Then it can’t be helped.”
“Pardon?”
“We don’t have the luxury of worrying about her personal affairs. If it comes to it, we’ll just have to do it with the three of us.”
No matter what happens, you have to keep your promises. That’s the basic rule for an adventurer. It’s a cold thing to say, but if an adventurer can’t even manage the simple task of getting to a tavern by the promised time, there’s no need to accept them as a party member. We aren’t here to play house like children. It’s a shame, but I guess Mitchell wasn’t meant to be with us.
...Just as I was thinking that.
“You fucking scammers—!”
Crash—
The table next to us flew into the air. Bottles of alcohol, cards, and gold coins spilled everywhere. The tavern was instantly engulfed in chaos.
“Didn’t you learn that if you get caught trying to pull a fast one, you lose a hand?”
A woman with red hair tied back like a ponytail raised her voice viciously.
“Crazy bitch. Who said we scammed you?”
“Isn’t that girl a total psycho?”
The men who had been gambling spat and drew their weapons. Gleaming blades, bloodshot eyes. Moreover, it was a one-versus-many situation. Most people would have been intimidated, but the woman looked like a fish in water, even appearing excited.
“Fine, bring it on.”
What kind of mess is this? I thought it would be better to get out of the way and stood up, but suddenly, the woman’s face caught my eye. A beauty with a fierce impression like a female leopard. Fiery red hair. And long, pointed ears.
“I’ll beat you until you’re dead.”
The red-haired elf curled her fists and grinned.