CH 147

Episode 147 – [Azurite]

TL Note: Sponsored chapter (1/2)

While I was at a loss for words at this bizarre place, one of the men who had noticed me entering the room spoke to me.

“Oh? Leila, you’re back. You’re alone, which means… Kekeke, looks like Damien, that bastard, lost again, huh?” a spindly, fair-skinned man said in a weird, high-pitched voice. It was hard to tell because he was sitting, but he looked even taller than the large man who was just beaten by Leila in a fist fight. But what was even more eye-catching than this man’s height was his long arms and legs, which seemed disproportionate to the rest of his body… Even though he was sitting on a sofa, he still looked rather cramped.

“Anyway, what’s with the kid behind you? Wasn’t it you that was b*tching about the fact that only party members were allowed in the room?” a man with only one arm asked, interrupting the tall man. This one-armed man seemed to only be a little bit taller than I was, but his body was even more well-built than the large man that had fought with Leila. He only had one arm, but that arm was even thicker than my torso and was twitching like it had a mind of its own.

“Rather than it being off-limits to anyone other than party members, I thought it was just that it was forbidden because Glaus was bringing women here,” a patchwork man with stitches all over his body interjected. Aside from the stitches lacing all over his body, there was a jewel embedded in one of his eyes, which glimmered with a strange light.

Every one of them had their own quirks, but just from the way they talked, the man with the stitches gave me the impression of being the most sensible in the group.

“Just hear me out first… This kid is Lewin. He’s the brat from that time I was forced to clean up after Ahmed’s mess on Mount Cornello,” Leila explained, pointing her thumb at me. The moment Ahmed’s name was mentioned, the carefree air amongst them immediately became tense. The moment Leila finished speaking, the three of them all turned to examine me intensely.

Judging by the contents of their conversation thus far, [Azurite] was probably a party of five, formed by Leila, the large man who got beaten by Leila in the fist fight earlier, and these three men right here. If Ahmed was thrown into this mix on top of that… it surely would have been a scene straight out of hell.

I had heard that Ahmed left [Azurite] after a big fight with their members, but… what in the world did she do? I was hoping to hear about her whereabouts and what sort of dispute they had had, but I was too scared to ask in this atmosphere.

“That time that Ahmed went to Mount Cornello alone that one time to search for someone… this is that kid, right?” (One-armed Man)

“…Kekeke. This is certainly very interesting.” (Tall Man)

“Even though the Adventurer’s Guild wasn’t willing to disclose any precise information… How did you manage to find him, Leila?” (Patchwork Man)

“Hehe, I sniffed him out. My instincts were like… it’s this guy for sure!” Leila boasted happily after seeing each person express their keen interest.

…Hold up, wasn’t I the one who sought you out?

They probably couldn’t find me so easily because I only went to the Adventurer’s Guild a few times a month, and aside from that I was basically either swinging my sword in front of the rundown inn or learning potion brewing at Elf’s Tears. I suddenly regretted calling out to her reflexively. If I didn’t, I could have left Grezesta without them ever finding me.

“Then, let me ask you… What’s your relationship with Ahmed? You’re not blood relatives, are you?” (One-armed Man)

“No, we’re not. We don’t have that deep of a relationship. It’s just that she accepted my escort request once.” (Lewin)

“Hah? Don’t lie to me. If you try to hide something from me… I’ll beat it out of you. Even if you cry for help, no one but us can come in here. You get what I mean, don’t you?” (Leila)

I answered the one-armed man’s question honestly, but Leila immediately denied the truth in my words and threatened me. I came here to get answers from Leila. But before I knew it, I was the one on the receiving end of the questions.

“N-no! I’m not lying, it’s really true! If you ask the Adventurer’s Guild, they’ll also tell you this, but the [Azure Alliance] applied for recruitment on my quest commission, and they only ever went with me that one time. Also… as you mentioned earlier, they did rescue me when I ran into a problem on Mount Cornello.” (Lewin)

I frantically pleaded with them as I looked each of them in the eye, when the tall man nodded.

“Keke, it seems he’s not lying. But even though I know he’s not lying, it doesn’t make any sense.” (Tall Man)

“…That’s exactly right. It’s really hard to believe that Ahmed would go out of her way to help someone after only being with them for one quest commission,” the patchwork man with the stitches immediately agreed with the tall man’s words.

From my point of view, Ahmed was a kind person, but she had a terrible impression among the people with whom she had a dispute. But… it was true that Ahmed didn’t seem like she would get along easily with other people who had strong personalities.

“For now, let’s keep on asking various things. Maybe we’ll find something out.” (One-armed Man)

“I suppose so. We finally found the person we were looking for after all. Let’s keep asking.” (Stitches Man)

After that, while surrounded by the members of [Azurite], I answered every one of their questions. Their questions were basically all related to Ahmed in some way, with some bitter remarks about her mixed in here and there, but it seemed that the four of them didn’t hate her completely.

I thought that Ahmed was kicked out of the party because she was one-sidedly disliked, but after hearing the stories from [Azure Alliance] and the attitude of [Azurite], it seemed to be different. As I answered their questions, I became more convinced of this fact.