It took a little time for Editing and right now that I’m writing this rant section of chapter the disease called as sleep after fatigue is knocking at the door of my eyes. Be happy with this Part, I will post the Part 2 a little later (after some hours. i need to sleep, duh)…..???? Anyhow, This chapter has just toooo much ‘Anyhow’, ‘But’ and ‘Then’
Chapter 12 – Abnormal Situation Part 1
Dawn of the next morning.
I wake up at 6 o’clock, all due to the habit from childhood.
When I was in the western-style house, I woke up early in the morning and after doing the morning training, I had my breakfast.
I can go outside the city for morning practice, but I’m not confident whether I will be able to return back……
It’s alright, from now on the morning practice will be when I have time.
My living environment has changed, so I can’t keep the daily life routine as same.
I should adapt myself here.
And I’m going to Guild with Elk today to sell the raw materials. I will at that time leave the city and if I didn’t come back, then I’m sorry.
But there is not much change in my free time, so I decide to do some normal warm-up.
While remembering the lyrics of that song that played on the radio in the morning at 6 o’clock.
……No good. I forgot it!
It’s natural. The last time I head it was when i was working at a part-time job in the neighbourhood association during my second year of junior high……it’s already 20 years.
☆☆☆
I somehow kill 1 hour and at 7 am which is also the breakfast time, I head into the dining hall and an unexpected situation was waiting for me.
“Eh, Elk left already?”
“Yea, early in the morning. Ah, she said me to hand over a letter to you.”
When I enter the dining hall, Tanya-chan came running to me and informed about the situation.
I take the letter. Er, so what is written here……what?
“ ‘You see, today I promised some of my adventurer friends to go to a dungeon. They came early in morning and now it’s too late to reject them.’ and as such is written in letter and after writing the letter she also said that ‘it feels awkward to wake up the sleeping Minato-san.’”
“Yeah, I see. Thank you Tanya-chan for explaining it to me in simple language.”
But, now I don’t even need to read the letter.
Still let’s read it,
Looks like she had plans to go to a dungeon with those ‘adventurer friends’ before noon.
But one of those friends said something like ‘I found a great information. So let’s go to the dungeon right now’, and in a hurry she left with them.
That’s why, she wants me to do the selling of raw materials today or postpone it till tomorrow.
Just how early did she wake up.
And Tanya-chan too who heard that message and also took the letter.
“Fufufu, though I look like this, I’m pretty strong in morning. And it’s natural to go to market for buying ingredients at 4 o’clock. That is one of the secrets for the good quality of the food in this inn.”
I see, so for getting the fresh and good quality ingredients, she does a lot of work. She is young but she is really dependable.
I though she only had the character of girl full of spirit, but now my opinion about her improved.
While being impressed, I eat the breakfast compiled of Bread and Soup and Bacon and eggs.
It’s not much but it’s good.
“Well that aside. Minato-san? Did you have any fun last night?”
“Wh, hey, a girl shouldn’t say something like that.”
Tanya-chan asks such a thing with a grin on her face.
No, I didn’t had any fun.
So this is her true character after all.
Unfortunate for you, I didn’t get out of room after I went in.
“Hmm~, People like Minato-san are rare nowadays who are serious and mostly uninterested in things.”
“Is that so? I think it’s normal”
“It’s not like that. Generally the male adventurers are violent and egoistic. Sometimes, they even do sexual harassment while I’m working. Well, now I’m used to it.”
Now that I think about it, there are many people like them as adventurers even in Web Novels I have read.
In fact, it might be natural for them to do what they want to in the night as they spend their whole day in dungeons fighting the demons. Though, I have doubts whether the sexual harassment is also needed.
“In worst cases, there are also people who say ‘I’ll pay you, give me some nighttime service’. Geez, If they want to have fun with women, it’s good if they go to the red-light district. Ah, would Minato-san want me to give you pleasure at night?”
“Haha, no-no, you’re charming and beautiful, but that is just too much.”
I do uphold my morals. And her outward appearance also is a major factor.
She is good-looking and is in her growth period……but spreading my son in front of a girl who looks like middle school student is a little……
Anyhow, so this place has a ‘Red-light district’ here……
I did had hunch that it might be here.
“……(*grin*)”
“…………What!”
“Um, Minato-san, have you been told that you’re too easy to read.”
“……Well many people I’ve met have told me.”
Including the previous life.
I got scared seeing Tanya-chan’s face which looked like a child who just got an interesting toy. But if I pay heed to it and start explaining it, it won’t be like putting oil in fire but it will be like putting gasoline in fire and so I won’t pay any heed to it.
“Fufufu, well Minato-san is also a man? Ah, but Minato-san is sometimes too much obedient, that’s why don’t get involved with nasty people when you go there? recently there also rumours about kidnapping.”
“Hmm…, Is that so? What sort of rumour is it?”
“This is just what I’ve heard? They pretend to faint in the street and act like as if the person who saved them had met them due to a coincidence. Then they lead their saviour to the trap where the other kidnappers are waiting. They then take all the valuables and in the end also sell off the person. Really Scary~”
……Hmm, now this truly is scary.
I eat the breakfast while talking with her and slowly the dining hall starts to get crowded. Looks like other adventurers woke up.
And then Tanya-chan returns to work. Talking time finished.
Well then, shall I sell the raw materials by myself. It isn’t much amount that I can’t carry.
However, isn’t Elk trusting me just too much. I met her yesterday only. Did she never thought that I will run off with the money I will get from the selling of raw materials.
Well then, I will sell the raw materials after I finish eating.
☆☆☆
(POV Changes to Elk)
When I woke up in the morning, all of a sudden an acquaintance adventurer came and invited me saying ‘I found a great information. So let’s go to the dungeon right now’’.
And so, I left early in the morning without eating any breakfast.
I don’t know about the credibility of the information but it is about some sort of ‘Treasure’.
The ones who find the ‘treasure room’ and ‘treasure’ first, it belongs to them. Time is essential. It’s no wonder everyone is in a hurry for finding them.
Even I at this moment am feeling restless.
In truth, I wanted to invite Minato too after seeing his battle prowess yesterday, but it somehow felt awkward to wake him up at 5 o’clock in morning. And I didn’t even have a promise to go with him.
I was worried whether I should go with them for searching the treasure room or go with Minato.
It’s uncertain whether there is a treasure room, but if the information is right, then I get a jackpot. Even if we all split it equally, I will still be able to get quite an amount of money.
If I go with Minato, I’ll be able to certainly get considerable amount of demons raw materials. I won’t be able to gain that much amount of war spoils even if I go with other adventurers. But that profit can never catch up with the profit I’ll gain if I find a treasure room.
And in the end, I chose the former option.
It’s also because of the reason that I couldn’t ask him yesterday to come with me to the labyrinth today. If I had asked him, then maybe my choice would’ve been different.
Anyhow, I entrusted the letter to Tanya and decided to leave alone.
She made a simple bentou and handed it to me, frankly it saved me. If she always showed the good part of her then it will save me a lot.
And right now, I’m in front of the entrance to ‘Labyrinth of Naga’
The people coming with me are acquaintances which I can trust.
Well, they have bad behaviour, anyhow, they aren’t like the pervert from yesterday.
Well we don’t have that much good friendship, so it’s not like they will put their lives at risk for protecting me.
By the way, my rank as an adventurer is E.
Other members are also E except for one who is rank D.
It depends on a person’s ability, but generally Rank E means promotion from being a beginner and rank C means that, that person is a good adventurer. At the same time, it is said that rank C is the limit for a person with no talents.
It isn’t just based on strength as there are many strong people within the same rank so the rank promotion is based on taking the researching skills and knowledge into consideration.
In truth, I have mostly the abilities and knowledge not related to fight, though I learnt it from mom. In terms of fighting I’m quite low.
……Just what might be the level of fighting ability of Minato.
He has just registered at Guild, so his rank is still ‘F’. From what I saw yesterday, he is quite, no, really powerful.
After all, there isn’t any person who will fight against demons bare-handed. Even if there are, it is limited to those races with a lot of physical power like dwarf.
That’s why when yesterday he said ‘I will fight empty-handed’, I thought it was impossible……but a little later he really did defeat the demons bare-handed. Seeing that I was considerably shocked.
I did think he is strong from the time he defeated the bandits, but it was outside my expectations that he is that much strong.
Though Minato is not like a flower’s stem but just from where that power comes from inside that slender body.
While I am thinking like that,
“Now that I think about it, Elk you’re recently desperate to raise money?”
The swordsman (Rank D. He is 23 years old and the oldest.) I am accompanying, asks me.
“……Not really, just some circumstances.”
“Hmm, Well, I’m sorry but we can’t help with you with your circumstances.”
“I am not even expecting that you will ever help.”
“You’re cold. Well if you want money that much, shall I help you?”
And so the girl who is a thief (It’s not like she does stealing or so. It’s just that she is skilled in exploring dungeons and search treasure) asks me.
She earns money as an adventurer and as a prostitute. With just that much, she is the most rich person within our group.
In reality only she is using weapons and equipments better than mine and the other three. Doing those works does give a lot of money.
In truth, even I have been invited to work as a prostitute. She said she would introduce me to the brothel she is working at. Though I always reject her offer.
But this time,
“……I will think about it.”
“Eh? Elk, you really? Do you have a fever?”
“What, you surprised that I didn’t reject the offer this time?”
“When you really want to become a prostitute, do tell me? I will contribute in the sales.”
“What, weren’t you going to help me?”
“This and that are different! Just like how a man is different below from above!”
Other guys who heard our talk start talking.
Do they want to embrace me that much? Someone as plain like me?
“You even accepting the offer, you’re that desperate? By any chance, you got stuck in a debt cycle?”
“Impossible, that won’t happen! It’s Elk after all”
“Yeah, that can’t be to her who doesn’t spend even a little and always manages her budget more sincerely than other people.”
“……Well she must have a lot going on. A lot. Though it all might be personal.”
Their words. Stab my heart.
Right now I’m standing at the point where if I let the feelings take control over me, I would get depressed really easily.
And as a result, I can’t say anything to them……Even yesterday, I got involved with something that I can’t tell other people.
In the end, it only ended up as a plan failure……I can’t believe that I even went that low just to get money. Really disgusting.
A little later, after experiencing that guy’s innocent kindness, I now think that doing something like that wasn’t needed.
And I thought.
That I won’t do something like that ever again.
Anyhow, there is no time to talk about useless things.
I need to, find that treasure room or what, and along the way collect the raw materials of demons and earn a lot!
……So that I don’t have to something like that ever again.