CH 81

After that, we made it to the nearby town without the attack I had feared. As we passed through the gate and into the bustle of the town, Toby spoke to …. us, pointing …. towards Tia.

“Well then, let’s get a place to stay for the time being.  As for me, I’d like to stock up on various necessary tools after this and leave town around noon tomorrow, is that okay with Tia-san and you?”

“Ara, you’re in such a hurry. Well, we’re fine. Hey, Ed?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

If we had just finished a long journey, we would probably want to rest for a couple of days, but we were not tired at all since we had just arrived in this world. I understand Toby’s urgency as he was carrying something important, so I had no reason to object.

“I understand. How about we split up after we get our accommodations, and I thank you for what you just did over dinner?”

“I understand. Then let’s find a place to stay quickly.”

I nodded back at Toby’s words and we walked down the main street. We got a room at the same expensive, but secure, place as Toby’s, and we spent our time buying extra snacks and such, and the appointed time came quickly.

“Well then, to our meeting!”

“”Cheers!””

In a corner of an ordinary bar, we toasted each other by slamming our wooden mugs together with a thud. The impact caused a little of the overflowing amber to spill onto the table, and Toby and I hurriedly sipped from our mugs.

“Ha, delicious! Especially when it’s free!”

“Haha, don’t hesitate to drink. You really helped me out during the day.”

“Speaking of which, who were those people?”

Tia, who was the only one drinking fruit wine instead of ale, asked this question casually as she moistened her mouth and snacked on her food. This was a question asked out of pure curiosity, as I dare not tell Tia, who was not very good at acting, anything.

“Those people are … in one word, bandits. I’m carrying a package at the request of a certain someone, but I feel like I’ve been spotted because of it.”

“Hmmm. I shouldn’t ask … what you’re carrying, right?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

Toby lightly bowed his head, but Tia gently tilted her head and continued her words.

“Hmmm, but does that make sense?”

“What? Meaning?”

“Yeah. I don’t mean to go around blabbing about it, but we already have the information that ‘Toby is carrying something valuable’, don’t we? On the contrary, the people who attacked Toby probably have more information about what Toby is carrying, don’t they? I’m just wondering how much sense it makes to keep the details from us in that situation.”

(T/N: Tia…you smart)

“Ugh!? That’s certainly ……?”

Ah, that’s certainly a good point of view. Toby folded his arms and made a difficult face when asked such a question which I would not have thought of, knowing what was behind “I don’t know the details of the luggage”. (T/N: Meaning he knows whats the package)

“Mmmm … no, but still ……”

“Ah, you really don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to, okay? But if those people are going to attack again in the future, I think it’s a good idea to have guards, and if that’s the case, why not ask us, who are already involved in it to protect the secret? And I just thought that if we’re going to protect it, it would be easier to do it if we knew what it was that we were protecting, that’s all. And I’m not going to force you to go with me if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t like that!. I would be very happy to travel with Tia-san, but … guards, guards, huh. I didn’t think about it, but I didn’t expect to be spotted by such a big name so early. … uggghhhh.”

“Now, now! Don’t think so hard! For now, why don’t we just have a nice meal and a few drinks, and then we can come to a conclusion, right? For now, we were just talking about going with you to the next town. Here, drink, drink!”

I slapped a distressed Toby on the shoulder and took his mug and brought it close to his mouth. If it were an emergency, I could have pushed him into a corner and made him come to a conclusion, but there was no need to do that now. Rather, it would be better to let him open up in this way and slowly let his caution fade away.

“Thank you, Ed-san. …… You don’t look any different from me, but you seem to be very used to it. What is your adventurer rank?”

“Hmm? Ah, like this.”

In response to Toby’s question, I pulled out a deep green metallic slab from the bag on my waist and showed it to him. On the metal plate was a crystal carved into an oval shape, on which four faint lights were shining.

“Areh, only four? I thought you’d be at least six or seven if you could drive those guys back.”

“Hahaha, I’m flattered to hear that. We think we have some ability, but we don’t have any achievements… By the way, I’m 20 years old, and Tia…”

“I’m 21! I’m older than you”

“A-Ah, yes. Tia’s older.”

I chuckled mildly at Tia’s vigorous intrusion into our conversation. I didn’t know why Tia was so obsessed with being older …… elven minds.

Nevertheless, Toby nodded his head in agreement with our words.

“I see. It is certainly difficult to move up the ranks at that age. People look down on you just because you are young.”

“That’s right. Well, There’s no point in being in a hurry about this, we’ll take our time.”

“Yeah.”

Toby didn’t pursue the matter any further as I gulped down my drink.

The Adventurers’ Guild card was actually a counterfeit. We, who came to this world today, would not have any ID card in this world.

As soon as we left Toby, we showed up at the guild and completed registration, but there would be no trust or shit if we told him that someone like us were apprentices who had just registered today. So I copied the card of a random adventurer nearby with my banishment skill [Copy and Fake].

Of course, it was a counterfeit, so if looked at properly, one would notice the discrepancy, and even the Adventurers’ Guild could not use it ……, or rather, they will arrest us the moment we try to use it, but one doesn’t look at the card seriously at a bar, and if for some reason we received a request, we could just show the real card we just registered, so we decided this was enough for a temporary measure.

We were deceiving.. or rather deceiving him to the fullest, So I felt bad for Toby, but if you put it that way, our existence was like a bunch of basic lies.

“But it’s not a bad idea to raise your ranks to add some prestige. I’m open to tough requests, you know? I can get you a contract for a lot cheaper than the market price.” Toby said,

“I understand. I’ll give it some serious thought.”

“Okay!”

“Fufu, I’d be very happy to travel with you.”

“……Yes, yes. I’ll think about it very seriously.”

When it was me, He just nodded normally, but when Toby was told by Tia, his cheeks blushed and nodded deeply, in a different way from getting drunk. Hmmm, Toby’s reaction was easy to understand.

“Hey Toby. By any chance, if that young lady over there grabbed your hand and begged you ‘give me your package,’ you wouldn’t hand it over, would you?”

“Ue!? T-that’s not true…?”

“Why are you so hesitant… I didn’t mean to be too persistent, but Toby, you should really hire us, y’know?”

“I-I’ll think about it. … Yeah, really.”

Toby gulped down his drink, trying to suppress his inner turmoil. I couldn’t help but chuckle at a side of the Hero Toby I hadn’t noticed during the first round.

(Chapter 86(locked) will be up later this day)