CH 56

Episode 56 – Talk of the Past, Explaining the Contract

After we all finished eating, our amazing dinner in the mountain was over. My awakening to the potential of plants made me want to try adding Glutamate Herb to the soup, but I didn’t have the heart to do that. If I did, it would imply that the soup wasn’t delicious, which totally wasn’t true. As I was thinking about secretly steeping some Glutamate Herb in some hot water to drink later, the discussion that we had been putting off had finally begun.

“Okay, sorry for cutting to the chase, but would it be alright to hear why you stopped working at the Healer’s Guild? If it’s unpleasant to remember or you don’t want to tell us, that’s fine too.” (Lyra)

“It’s by no means an interesting story, but I’ll tell you everything… There was no particular reason I stopped working at the Healer’s Guild, I was simply fired. As I said earlier, I was only working there due to my Rare Skill, but they gave me the lowest rank job performance evaluations every time.” (Lewin)

“Eh…? You have such an amazing Skill, but they still gave you the lowest rank job performance evaluations?”

“Amazing or special or whatever, it doesn’t change the fact that I couldn’t do anything other than appraisal. In the five years that I worked there, the only work I did was endlessly appraising the plants that were brought in. Thinking about it now, it was probably better for them to fire me.” (Lewin)

“…….So you had that sort of past, Lewin… If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear in more detail about the time you worked there,” Nina spoke up for the first time. I was a little surprised for a moment, but I immediately nodded in response.

“Eh, it’s alright. Honestly, I didn’t do much else aside from appraising, so it was kind of a waste of five years. It probably won’t be that interesting, but I’ll talk a little bit about it starting from the time I first began working.” (Lewin)

At Nina’s request, I began to summarize my time working at the Healer’s Guild to the members of [Iron Gear]. As I stated many times before, the story was seriously nothing interesting and was an infuriating account of abusive, monotonous tedium in my eyes. But the members of [Iron Gear] didn’t seem to be bored at all and were all listening intently with serious expressions.

“…Well, as for the whole story of how I got fired, that’s about it.” (Lewin)

When I finished speaking, Porta, who had a serious expression on his face the entire time, stood up and walked over to me. Then, when he got closer, he bowed deeply.

“I apologize for earlier. I didn’t know anything about your past or circumstances, so it was really impolite of me to invite you to our party in spite of that.” (Porta)

I was a little dumbfounded as to what the invitation to their party had to do with my past, so I didn’t fully understand the reason for his apology. I told him to raise his head, since it wasn’t really something that had to be apologized for by any means.

“Porta, you don’t have to apologize! I was really happy that you invited me to your party, you know?” (Lewin)

“Huh? You invited Lewin to our party?” (Lyra)

Lyra, who had just learned of the fact that they invited me to their party, spoke up in surprise, but I ignored her for a moment and waited for Porta’s response.

“In regards to the invitation to our party, at the time I invited you mainly because you were a Rare Skill User. In hindsight, inviting you for that reason was definitely rude, especially given your history of being exploited for it.” (Porta)

“No no, I really don’t mind at all. I myself think that all I have going for me is this Rare Skill, but in the end, this Rare Skill will always be a part of me. If anything, thank you for making the decision to invite me to join your party so quickly.” (Lewin)

When I forgave him and thanked him in return, Porta heaved a sigh of relief. Without [Plant Master], I really wouldn’t amount to anything. When I realized such a glaring fault, I was once again reminded of my promise with Ahmed to become stronger. I really didn’t have the time to be worrying about my past.

“…Thanks. It might be a little early to say this, but I’m glad from the bottom of my heart that we signed that contract with you.” (Porta)

“Likewise. We just met not long ago, but, as for everyone from [Iron Gear], your kindness has touched me deeply.” (Lewin)

Trading compliments, Porta and I exchanged a warm smile. Lyra, who we had been ignoring up until now, made her way over to us.

“Hey, hey, don’t ignore me!! What’s this about inviting him to our party? What is this about a contract? Tell me!!” (Lyra)

“Lyra, sorry for telling you all this so late. Actually, earlier today, we from [Iron Gear] signed an exclusive contract with Lewin, which means we’ll be periodically going with him on escort quest commissions in the future.” (Porta)

“Lyra, it’s an amazing contract. Lewin gave us a seriously great offer, so we decided to go through with it on the spot.” (Byrne)

“Huh, an exclusive contract? What’s that? …I don’t really get it, but it sounds interesting!” (Lyra)

“That’s a really great contract! Personally, though, I think it favors our side a little more. Are you sure this is okay, Lewin?” (Lyra)

“Yes. I’m the one who proposed the contract in the first place, so it’s fine with me.” (Lewin)

“I see. That’s good then! We’ll do our best to support you! After hearing your story earlier, I’m even more convinced that you’re a good person, Lewin. Unlike how your relationship was with the Healer’s Guild, let’s do our best to mutually support one another!” (Lyra)

“Of course. I’m looking forward to it!” (Lewin)

Shaking hands with Lyra, our discussion reached a harmonious conclusion. I was grateful that everyone in [Iron Gear] was so nice. Since there were parties out there like [White Feiler], even though it might be a bit too soon to say, I felt that making this contract with them was the right choice.