CH 197

A day had passed since we left the house, and we were relaxing in our room at the inn. Basleigh-sensei hadn’t returned, so Makina and I were taking it easy.

“Hmm …… Relax, huh …… I’ve been on a journey, but I haven’t fought any monsters, and my body might slow down. Hey, do you want to have a mock battle somewhere?”

“That sounds fun, but I think it would be more refreshing to kill the Treants.”

“What?”

I look out the window and see Conrad walking towards the inn, a smile on his face. It seems that the discussion is settled, I think?

“I’ll go talk to them. Makina, wait here.”

“I’m coming with you?”

“I think it’s best if we’re not seen right now. I can, you know, just disappear.”

“Hmm, okay. If Lars says so, I’ll wait.”

I left the room and headed downstairs to Conrad’s, blushing at Makina’s smiling face …… However, such a pretty girl is my girlfriend …… I’m so happy, really.

I left the inn somewhat light-footed and immediately used Invisible to disappear. I approached Conrad, who was coming up the hill, and called out to him.

“Good morning, Conrad. Are you going to talk to me and Mackna?”

“Woah!? Is that voice Lars-kun’s ……? Where–“

“Shh, let’s go someplace private. This way.”

“Oh, I’m being dragged ……”

I pulled the flustered Conrad into a nearby alley and continued talking. By the way, Conrad is not wearing any gear and is wearing plain clothes.

“And?”

“So you’ll stay disappeared ……. Well, okay, first of all, the reason I didn’t come here yesterday was because I decided it was a bad idea to come straight here. Please keep that in mind. Please keep that in mind.”

“Of course. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if Conrad and the others were being staked out. I think it’s great that you’ve come here alone. Have you talked to the Guildmaster?”

“We’ve talked, and two days later, we’re going to form a strike force. The members will be chosen by us, so Lars-kun and the others will not be able to join.”

“I knew that would happen, so it’s no problem. What else?”

When I asked, Conrad fell silent for a moment and then lowered his voice.

“I noticed that Guildmaster …… Kelbrem looked a little strange when we were talking. He seemed angry and upset.”

“Are you suspicious of him?”

“…… Right now, not really. If I was suspicious, I have no clue how to find out …… No, that’s not it. I guess I don’t want to be too suspicious because I know them well. Borzov and the others don’t know, but we used to be in a party together. “

Former comrades, huh. So you don’t want to believe it even if you suspect them. It’s shocking to think that someone like Ryuuze would suddenly betray us.

“Ok, so it’s two days from now. We’ll secretly follow you then. “

“Please. I’ve heard that Kelbrem won’t be coming, but if Lars-kun and the others are there, it will be reassuring. They’re going to the source, after all. I’ll go now then. Please tell it Basleigh-san too”.

Conrad left the place while paying attention to his surroundings. I also made sure that no one was around, and then I released the invisible.

“Phew …… I’ve been able to disappear for much longer than I used to, but it’s still exhausting. But the guild master’s suspiciousness was something I thought was strange when he decided to leave the guild unattended while the Treant outbreak was occurring, so I think he might be right? I’ll have to check in with the guild before I go to Basleigh-sensei …….”

If Hauzen-san hears that the number of monsters has increased, he will come forward on his own. I don’t know about other guild masters, but I think they should go to help if there is a threat to their town or village.

“Oh, welcome back. That’s quick, isn’t it? Did you get a chance to talk?”

“Yes. So, Makina, about what you said earlier, shall we go to the guild to see what requests they have.”

“Yeah! Let’s go♪ …… but, is it alright?”

“It seems that it will be in two days before the extermination of the Treants is decided. I just want to see how the guild is doing. If it’s just the two of us, don’t you think it’s just right if we go as new adventurers?”

“…… I see. What about our equipment?”

“Let’s just put our Sarge equipment in the bag and buy something random at the local store.”

“Yes!”

We left the inn early and went to the equipment store. Well, there was an equipment shop in the town of Gust, but we never went there because we had Sarge equipment. I’m looking forward to it a little.

“Hello!”

“Welcome. Oh, you’re a cute customer. The boy has a nice look too.”

“Oh, thank you very much, grandma! May I see your equipment?”

“Haha, thank you, Grandma.”

The old lady in the easy chair greeted us with a smile.

(T/N: The easy chair is like the rocking chair.)

It sounds like she’s teasing me, but I know she’s joking because she’s just like the old lady in the candy store in the other world. The old lady laughs as she slowly stands up.

“Well, it’s a store that sells equipment, so you need to take a look. Take your time …… Have you two just become adventurers?”

“Yes, we’ve graduated from the academy and have done a little training. So we’re about to head to the guild now.”

“…… It’s a dream to be an adventurer because you can get rich, but you have to take care of your life, okay? There’s no shame in running away, don’t overdo it. There have been plenty of times when energetic kids like you didn’t come back–“

The old lady said with concern. There have been stories of people who were so excited to buy equipment that the next time they came back, all they had was the equipment, and another person came to sell it.

When we were in the town of Gust, there were always teachers on hand to guide us, and the adventurers of the guild were always ready to kill dangerous monsters, so we never had to face any danger.

When you think about it, we’ve been in a pretty peaceful territory. But in the same country, is it really that different ……?

“Lars, I’ll take this breastplate, knuckle guard, and sword.”

“Wouldn’t you rather have something that covered your upper body?”

“The armor on the shoulders gets in the way of arm rotation, and that’s why Sarge’s is designed that way.”

“I see. But I’m still worried, so take this and this too.”

“Ehhh, you don’t have to ……”

Makina was so concerned about me paying for it that she only chose the bare minimum of equipment, so I bought her something that would protect her and not restrict her movements. 

I also bought some orthodox iron armor, and a sword, to make it complete.

“Ho-ho-ho, your boyfriend is right, because he doesn’t want you to die. But that’ll cost a lot, you know? You’re new, so I can give you a little extra …… about this much, I guess.”

“The price tag is pretty low, is that okay?”

“Wow, isn’t that too much of an extra!?”

The total cost is fifty-four thousand beryl, which is quite cheap for equipment for two people. You can live for a month with 100,000 Beryl, so if you think that the equipment alone is enough for half a month, it is expensive, but looking at the price tag, it should be over 70,000 …….

“Yeah, yeah, but let me see your safe face again in return.”

“Okay. All right, then.”

“Hmm, to easily pay it …… Are you some young master somewhere?”

“Haha, I’ve been saving up for the journey. I’ll take good care of it.”

As we walked out of the nice old lady’s store towards the guild, Makina opened her mouth, clenching her fists and feeling them.

“Yep, I guess it’s good to use normal equipment sometimes.”

“I’ll keep this for now, since Tigre-sensei said not to rely too much on Sarge equipment.”

“Right. But you have to buy a big bag. Do you think there’s a bag that’s easy to carry?”

“Do you want me to ask Leor-san to make one for you? I’m sure he’ll be willing to listen.”

“Ahaha, he’s going to use it for business again!”

Makina laughs as she takes my hand and walks away. Isn’t there some kind of bag in this world that can hold everything? …… I guess there’s no way, I’ve never heard of it too.

With this in mind, I arrived at the guild with Makina. Now, I wonder if that Kelbrem is here?

Can Conrad’s intentions and Lars’ movements be used to flush him out ……?

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“Common sense equipment!”

Sarge is so pitiful, so please stop it ……

“A mere big lizard!”

“Something appeared!?”