CH 10

Su, returning with Fikar after his 3-month absence and becoming a resident of the nearby forest, cried out every morning to compete with the birds, and waking up early became a habit for all the residents of the town. While the sun was still only beginning to peek above the hills, I stretched and got dressed, opened the windows, and went downstairs. Putting some firewood and pine needles as tinder in the fireplace/stove, I eyed the pieces of flint placed beside it.

One of the promotion requests to become a 3-star adventurer was to light a fire with only what you could find in the forest. If you can’t do that, you won’t be able to take any of the subsequent promotion requests, and I’d been stumbling over this for a month. I had asked Ludo-san to teach me how to select and assemble firewood, how to build a fire pit, and how to choose the flint, yet still, no fire ignited when I clicked the bits of flint together.

“That’s odd~ Is this even flint? The color’s exactly the same.”

If there were a rabbit on Mount Click-Clack, it must’ve thought I was some sort of rabid raccoon, click-clacking away. Something warm completely covered my back.1 Of course, it was Fikar, hugging me from behind while we were both crouching.

*rub* *rub*

*click* *clack*

*rub* *rub* *click* *clack* *rub* *rub* *rub* *click* *clack* *rub* *rub* *rub* *rub* *click* *clack*

Tired of being ignored, Fikar stopped rubbing his cheeks against me, instead putting his chin on my left shoulder and stealing my flint. Then he clicked the stones together thrice, and the fire pit lit up.

“Aah~ This is frustrating… Again, do it again.”

Unlike when I tried to do it, the flints sparked every time Fikar struck them together. Even when Fikar moved my hands while I held the flint, sparks flew. Nothing happened when I did it myself.

How many times have we done this routine?…

“Enough of this. I’ll practice tonight. I’m going to make breakfast, Fikar, so let go.”

As I slid the flint away and tried to stand up, I was stopped by Fikar’s hug-attack. I tried to move again, but was stopped again. After a while of being stuck, my cheek-stretching started like clockwork. This, too, was becoming a routine.

Even though I tugged rather hard, Fikar never flinched. Doesn’t it hurt? 

I asked, but he just tilted his head to the side. His dark blue eyes, visible through the bangs that hung down to his nose, simply looked straight into mine.

From up close, I could see that Fikar had really long eyelashes. These eyelashes, reasserting themselves with each blink, were iridescent in the bright light, making the blue of his eyes all the more magical. It was a beautiful color that made me think of outer space or the starry sky. How unfair.

On that note, I pressed his cheeks from both sides. It was quite interesting seeing his chiseled face get squashed. Very nice, very nice.

“Today, let’s get the rest of the mushrooms. There’ll be a lot to gather.”

This type of colorful mushroom looked poisonous, but if you tasted one, you’d be pleasantly surprised. There were currently three soup bowls of them, one for Fikar, one for me, and one as an offering for the Star Stone. In the way Gartis-san had taught me, I laid out the wooden spoons, cut the bread, and started breakfast.

If you ate quietly, you could hear the light buzz of the town. It was two weeks after Vernal Equinox Day and many children had arrived, most staying in the town. After the first request, which most of them had completed, was to “team up with an unfamiliar person and collect 15 scales per person”. Today was when the little adventurers could start accepting this new request. Su, who had been on the verge of tears recently, would finally get some peace and quiet.

Su, who followed Fikar around, was a very caring dragon, taking care not to traumatize the children and only running away at the last minute to ensure she was caught. She was also cute and purred happily when she was petted. However, if you hugged her too much, Fikar and Su would start enforcing their hierarchical relationship. It was a bit hard to get comfortable with her, but despite her size, Su was accepted by everyone in Tortea.

I put the few remaining dried salt mushrooms into my handbag, equipped the belt with my light sword, and checked the blade of my knife.

“Fikar, are you coming with us again today? Are you sure you don’t want to do your own work?”

Nodding as if it was obvious, he rummaged around and put something in my palm.

It was a shiny gold coin.

Bartering was not uncommon in the world, but currency was also used in the royal capital, which was about a week away from Tortea. Going from most circulated to most valuable, there were small bronze coins, medium bronze coins, large bronze coins, small silver coins, large silver coins, and gold coins. Each coin was worth 10x more than the previous one, except for the small silver coins, which were 100x more valuable than the large bronze coins. So, 1 gold coin was equivalent to 1,000,000 small bronze coins.

A full meal at a diner might cost around 10 small bronze coins — just 1 medium bronze coin. Even to buy livestock, you’d only need small silver coins. Gold coins were so rare that when Fikar came back from his long trip and took one out, it was the first time I had seen one.

When I took one of them to the Merchant’s Guild to be exchanged, I was met with a look of disbelief, a scowl, and then was guided to a room, where I was recommended to buy a magic-protected safe.

“No, I’m not asking for living expenses…”

Originally, the two of us shared the money we earned, and since I had always bought the household goods and groceries, Fikar had no reservations about handing money over to me. It helped, but it felt like I was taking advantage of him, so I bought two of those incredible safes from the Merchant’s Guild: one for our living expenses and one for Fikar. By the way, I made enough to live a comfortable life on my own.

Fikar cocked his head. For him, work was just a way to make money. So he, who had earned enough gold coins in three months to buy plenty of jewelry, was enjoying the profession of following after me.

I returned the gold coin, since I still had some of the last gold coin left in my safe, and I hung the slightly worn-out basket on Fikar’s back before we headed for the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Sumireee!”

In front of the guild branch, packed with adventurers about to leave, there was Marth with his fluffy red hair, waving excitedly. Next to him, Liliana was also bouncing, her dress shaking about. Leonardo was as calm as always, holding a book in his arms.

The three childhood friends were regular teammates and it was normal for me to be their leader when I had the time.

“You’re late! Let’s get going!”

“Quickly~”

“A few adventurers have already departed.”

“Ahh, sorry…”

I apologized to the three of them, who had only just become adventurers, and went inside to register for the request. All you had to do for that was hold your card and the request paper over some magical thingy, the guild would be notified automatically, and the magical thingy would make a “bi-bi” and an “ohhhn” to let you know it was done. Also, only you could register a quest for yourself or change your registration information. It was a high-performance touch-and-go system, constantly changing and collecting records.

“Sumire, you came at a good time. Can you take this child along with you today?”

My colleague, Tarina-san, an onee-san receptionist with green hair and pigtails, brought a boy.

With neatly combed light blue hair and strong blue eyes, he had comfortable clothing and durable leather pants and boots that were all beautifully designed and embroidered. He looked like a well-off little boy.

“Okay~ Hello, I’m Sumire.”

“I am the third son of Tartas, who’s the leader of the Phoenix Knights in Dorga, Lukitas Marshmallow2!”

“Err, is that so… I look forward to working with you today.”

“Hmph. Looks like it’s useless to say that in the countryside. You lot know nothing.”

This kid’s so cheeky… in a different way from Marth…

Ignoring my outstretched hand, he puffed out his chest while staring at me and said, “You look pretty unreliable, but I’ll put up with you.” 

My hand was shaken by Fikar instead.

Tarina came up to me and curled her hand over her mouth, whispering, “He’s the young master of a family from a famous knight’s order. They’re not genuine nobles, but they rule a county on the frontier, so they have some status. And look, he even has a personal attendant~ Though I told him to stay behind because he was going to get in the way of the request.”

“Ehhh? You can do that?”

“Well, our branch decides importance based on star-rank and not status, so it should also be fine for you to act normal. He’s a damn infuriating brat, though, so watch out~.”

I leave the rest to you! And Tarina-san left with a wink. To make Tarina-san, a receptionist with enough experience to fill a thousand seas and a thousand mountains, annoyed, he must’ve had quite the strong personality.

The man Tarina-san pointed to stood upright and immovable next to the wall, dressed as a knight and staring at me intimidatingly. I’d seen him before. There was a rumor going around the guild’s clerical staff that he was like some sort of over-demanding parent that gave loud and obnoxious orders. He seemed like a hassle, so I ignored him.

Accompanied by Lukitas and his air of superiority, I returned to the three children.

“Who’s that guy?!”

“Ah~, it’s the boy who came to get tailored clothes the other day.”

“… Sumire, is Lukitas coming too?”

“Oi! How dare you be rude to me! Aren’t you the daughter from the cheap clothing store? And Glasses, you’re the useless guy from last time.”

“What’s it with this guy?!” 

You’re not being any less rude than Marth. Liliana’s family’s shop is a celebrity destination, you know? Also, don’t call people “Glasses”.

I scolded him gently, but all he said was “Don’t act like you’re in control here!” The three kids were booing. Among the adventurer eggs, there were some children with strong personalities, but Lukitas probably ranked highly among them. He’ll have a difficult road ahead.

“Alright. Let’s get a move on!”

“What with that shout?! I couldn’t feel the pride of a warrior!”

“Ah~ I’ve never felt that, sorrrrry~”

Lukitas, with his pompous tone, was probably only imitating the adults around him, but he shut up real quick when we came across Su at the edge of the forest.

Su always perched on a thick branch in a big tree at the entrance to the forest, waiting for Fikar. She was a big girl, so she stood out even up high in the tree. When she caught a glimpse of him, her tail would wag happily and the surrounding branches would rain down, and when we approached, she jumped down. Since her scales were red, it looked like a big fireball was falling.

“Today’s a first, Su~ You were so quiet~ Such a good girl~”

On her first night here, Su cried. And when Fikar went out in the morning, she made a rather loud noise. It wasn’t like she was a nuisance to the neighbors, but still, she was learning to live in harmony with humans through Fikar’s educational guidance. On a side note, I still heard her this morning, but the volume was decreased by a lot.

While I was patting Su’s head (and as she let out a “gao~”), Lukitas barked at me.

“What’s with that attitude?! That’s a dragon! Even if you’re the person it’s serving…!”

“Well, I’m not its owner.”

“Don’t be so familiar when you’re not the owner! And who is it?!”

I pointed next to me, and Su went “gao~” again.

“This guy who’s been following me around like a ghost?!”

“He’s Fikar.”

Fikar nodded. Lukitas stared at him for a bit.

“At least move your mouth!!”

He’s got a point.