CH 70

Chapter 70 - Explanation and Omission

Souya gave a brief account of the events of the day he received the request, from morning until night.

Seeing off Mia and Merylou, visiting the weapon shop, resolving the problem with the thief Jackal, a letter of introduction from Charlotte, the second receptionist of the Adventurer’s Guild, a reunion with his old acquaintance Doga the blacksmith, a visit from Seran and Louise, and then the attack of the robbers and the request to repel them.

I wasn’t sure if I should mention me being an old acquaintance with Doga, but I was seen being present by Jackal and the rest of the thieves guild who captured the robbers. The information would eventually be passed on to the adventurers in Ilstadt, and I decided that there was no need to hide it from the two of them who could be considered my friends.

“…… So a robber came to the workshop of Souya’s friend and was requested to fight them off and even lent you a mithril weapon …… You’re getting lucky.”

“Yes. It’s a good thing that the receptionist, Louise-san, was there to help. That’s why we were able to make it a request from the Adventurer’s Guild.  Thanks to that, I’m one step closer to being promoted to Silver-class.”

As Merylou said, there was no doubt that he was lucky. The time spent working on the request was only about three minutes. It was the shortest of all the requests Souya had experienced.

The only work that Souya did was to throw darts and cut down a robber who seemed to be the leader of the group with a single stroke of the Mithril Saber. So, 20 gold pieces. It’s not often that you find a job that is so efficient.

“…… I’m sorry about that, Mia-kun. It ended like I’m getting a head start. And also, I have to pay back the money I borrowed soon. “

I was able to borrow the Mithril Saber from Doga, so I wouldn’t need a lot of money for the time being. Souya tried to take his wallet out of his pocket to return the money to Mia.

“No way. I’m glad to hear that Souya’s promotion will be quicker …… If it’s about the money, it’s alright if you don’t pay for it yet, Souya-san.”

“…… I can afford to pay it back now. I don’t want Mia-kun to think of me as an adult who is sloppy with money.”

“I don’t think that way anymore.”

Mia said firmly and closed her eyes as if to let her thoughts take over. 

“…… But Souya-san helped me in the meadow, and I lent him money. I wanted to keep the relationship that was created in that way intact …… In other words, it’s a good luck jinx.”

When Mia finished, she opened her eyes and smiled softly.

I couldn’t tell if it was because of the doctrine of the Earth Mother Goddess Mikaela, or if it was her personal idea, but in this world, even the strongest of personal prayers and thoughts can bear fruit in the form of something. It would be better not to disparage it, Souya thought.

“I see, a good luck jinx …… Then, you want me to stay owing you. Is it alright if I interpret it like that?”

“Yes. I’m not trying to make you owe me or anything like that at all …… I’m going to forget about the loan for a while.”

If I interpret Mia’s words, it would mean that I don’t have to repay the money for a long time.

However, it seemed too convenient for me to think that way, so I decided to keep in mind that I would pay it back someday, not that I would not have to pay it anymore.

“So, I’m going to borrow it for the time being. And, as I said, I’ll buy you dinner tonight. If you want, I can do it tomorrow or the day after too. That’s how big the extra income was.”

“It’s true that 20 gold coins is a lot …… Then I won’t hesitate and have Souya buy me a drink. How many plates of chicken am I allowed to eat today?”

“…… As many as you like. In return, I would like you to refrain from drinking for a while. Merylou-kun. You’re not as strong a drinker as you think you are.”

When Souya clearly pointed out, Merylou reflexively stared at Souya, but when she looked back at him with a straight face, she remembered how drunk she was at the party, and she was embarrassed to face him.

“…… Well, it was certainly my fault for getting carried away the other day …… I’ll refrain from drinking for a while. I can ask for orange juice, right?”

“If you could do that. I’m not going to go along with you, but I’m going to start drinking less today. When we complete the next request, let’s lift the ban together …… I’ll go to the tavern and make a reservation for the three of us.”

Souya was about to touch the doorknob to get out of the private room when he heard a knock on the door from outside.

“…… Who is it?”

“Hello. It’s Charlotte. Souya-sama, so you’re here.”

(…… Charlotte? Why did she visit to my private room?)

Souya felt their gaze and looked back, with Mia and Merylou looking straight at him.

“Souya-sama, she said …… You, what kind of ……”

With a dumbfounded expression, Merylou pointed at Souya, who was probably rejecting Charlotte’s catnip voice, giving her goosebumps.

Mia remained silent and smiled, but it looked a little awkward.

“…… Oh. I’ve been through a lot. No, it’s not a big deal. Anyway, I’ll explain later.”

When Souya put his hand on the doorknob and opened the door, Charlotte was standing in front of him, smiling.

She had a blonde bob cut, a neat white long-sleeved blouse, and a knee-length black skirt. She was dressed like a young lady, but the design emphasized her large breasts, and Souya’s reflex was to look at her breasts, but he thought it was a bad idea and quickly turned his gaze away.

(This is poison for the eyes …… But still, what a bad timing.)

When I explained the day’s activities earlier, I had omitted the story about the procurement of magic stones handled by the Magicians’ Guild because it had nothing to do with the main story of Doga’s request and was too troublesome to explain.

I was worried that the two people behind me might think that I was hiding something.

“Hey, Charlotte-kun.”

“Oh, my. I see that Mia-chan and Merylou-chan were also with you …… So, I’ll just be brief.”

[The Cat in the Box]

When Charlotte activated the Dimension Box, she took out a magic stone and a piece of folded parchment and carefully puts it to Souya’s hand.

“I’m sorry I didn’t make an appointment. But I know you’ll need it for your adventure, so I wanted to get it to you as soon as possible …… Souya-sama. Please don’t forget your promise of tutoring lessons.”

“…… Thank you for coming all this way. As for the tutoring lessons, I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and I’m not involved in the Magicians’ Guild, so I’m not in a good position to be tutoring you …… I’ll pay for the magic stone and the labor involved, so can we pretend it never happened?”

In response to Souya’s explanation, Charlotte shook her head and put her finger to her lips, looking somewhat amused.

“…… Souya-sama. It would be bad in itself if anyone found out that I’m handing over the goods from the Magicians’ Guild. It’s unfair to use that just argument about the magic teaching lessons.”

Souya could not think of a good way to respond to Charlotte’s argument.

If you ask me, handing over goods from the Magicians’ Guild seems to be a much worse thing to do. 

“…… You’re hitting a sore spot. What should I do then?”

“As promised …… The point is, it’s okay as long as we’re not seen. Please look through the parchment. I’m not in a hurry. I’ll be waiting for you any time.”

After finishing her seductive whisper, Charlotte stepped back, smiled, and waved to the three people in the room with a graceful gait.

Souya opened the parchment that had been handed to her along with the magic stone, and saw a map drawn in careful handwriting. It seemed to be Charlotte’s home. It’s true that if it’s a private home, it won’t be seen by anyone, and it won’t be discovered.

Souya sighed heavily and held his forehead. He could only think that he had made a troublesome promise.

It didn’t seem like a good idea to go back on his promise now, considering the trouble and risk he’d taken in procuring her, his position in the adventurer’s guild, and so on.

“…… Hey, Souya-sama. Aren’t you intimately acquainted with Charlotte? It didn’t seem like a relationship with a person who just wrote a letter of introduction for you.”

Merylou made a sarcastic remark about Souya’s name.