Volume 3 - CH 19

Luce and I went to meet up with Celt at a tavern to exchange information.

“What….there was a Wandering Lord again in the Phantasmal Beast Tower!?”

After shouting that out loud, Celt drank down his drink in one go.

Then, he gave a large nod.

“Daamn, my [Sixth Sense] reacted when you invited me, so I had a bad feeling about that one. Boy, am I glad I refused to come along.”

“…..Celt-san?”

Her eyebrows twitching, Luce glared at Celt.

“N-no, it’s not like that! My Skill, [Sixth Sense] is…. well, it’s fairly accurate when detecting danger or treasure nearby, but the vague feelings I get before decisions are not reliable at all! I only had a slight bad feeling about it, so thought I would stay out of that one. You wouldn’t want to stop people solely based on something like that, only for them to grumble about lost opportunities after the fact either, right?”

Celt kept gesturing in a panic as he explained.

“….that happens a lot, you know. To Scout-type Classes like me. It’s the same for [Enhanced Hearing]. I tend to be the only one that has that Skill in parties and it takes some time to assess the situation before I can share it with the others with any confidence. Providing incorrect information before making sure first could lead to the whole party’s defeat. If I say I felt or heard something before confirming it, most of the time it ends up in my detriment.”

“I see….”

That’s something that happened even when this was just a game, despite that information was freely shared there.

This must go doubly so for this world.

“Sometimes they even accuse me of lying so I could lead them where I want.”

Celt said as he looked out the window in melancholy.

I have an inkling now why Celt hasn’t yet joined a party on a permanent basis.

“Celt-san…..I’m sorry.”

Luce apologized.

“….well, there have been times I did do that, actually. Yeah.”

Celt rubbed his nose in embarrassment.

“I immediately regret my apology. I’ll just tell Mabel-san about this.”

“Please don’t. She kept pestering me as it is every time we came across each other after that….”

It’s good to hear they are getting along well.

That’s something I never would’ve guessed based on their first interactions.

“That’s interesting, so that Skill can react to things besides monsters and treasures.”

That’s something that wasn’t in the game.

[Sixth Sense] was a Skill that could ‘detect incoming dangerous monsters and nearby rare items’ and nothing more.

This world is very much like Magic World, but it appears there are some differences after all.

Only, the application of Skills became a bit more broad…. though still within reason.

“…..or was there? A worldbuilding factoid like that.”

If I remember right, in Magic World there was a line from a fishing NPC that said ‘My [Sixth Sense] whispered to me, so I will go home for today’, or something like that.

Most likely, the flavor text was also picked up to create a coherent world in this case.

Depending on circumstances, that could have a huge influence on things.

It’s best to remember this for the future.

But….what is it?

“What’s with you, Elma? You look like you are troubled by something. ….what, are you that mad that I didn’t tell you about it? Man, I said sorry already, but since I know that you are not the type to hold unreasonable grudges, next time I will tell you if I get a feeling beforehand.”

“Ah, it’s not that. It was not all bad either way. We got a bunch of rare items too…. and we managed to make some connections with the Howlod Family as well.”

“What!?”

“We saved the young lady Snow from monsters, which gave us the opportunity to visit her family yesterday.”

“I’m so jealous that you managed to get into the favor of the Howlod Family like that…. Damn, I really should have gone with you. Then I could’ve buttered them up and got them to grant me a position in their private army or at the Guild.”

Celt clicked his tongue in regret.

“Even so, you managed to meet the rumored Snow Howlod. It’s surprising that she took a liking to you, even though people say she’s a cold, ruthless woman who gives off this creepy atmosphere due to her doll-like muteness. I guess she wasn’t dumb enough to throw dirt in your faces after getting saved from monsters.”

Celt laughed out loud.

….a cold, ruthless woman who gives off this creepy atmosphere due to her doll-like muteness….huh.

“Now that you mentioned the Howlod Family…. I heard there will be another Raid Quest called by the Lord soon.”

Hearing Celt’s words, I closed my mouth.

“They say someone found another Dungeon with those gems…..those Mourning Trapezohedrons scattered around in it. The plan is to investigate that one. Apparently Kalos from Black Flame Sword will be the one leading the adventurers again. ….why do you both have that strange expression on your faces?”

“Ah….sorry about that.”

It must be the Raid Quest that was mentioned in Marquee Harden’s future plans.

‘I plan on calling for another Raid Quest that fits the requirements and catch the people responsible. I want to use the fact that their objective is to create a Zork…..and smoke out every fool that thinks that they can do as they please in my domain.’

Marquee Harden plans to take care of the group that’s been working behind the scenes around La Colina with this Raid Quest.

“What do you intend to do for this one, Celt?”

“Nah, I can tell that this Quest is bad news, even without my [Sixth Sense]. There were those creepy items too. Not to mention that this may be some kind of political thing. No matter how you slice this one, it’s better to stay out of it this time. You agree with me there, right, Elma?”

Celt said with a grin.