Chapter 18: I Received an Apology (Scary)!
“Are you going to collect today too?” The governmental official at the gate asked me.
Recently, I’ve become acquainted with him.
“No, I decided to leave this town.”
“…I see. Well, that’s how adventurers operate, I suppose. Though I think it’s somewhat too early for you… Anyway, be careful out there. You’ve got an appearance like a lovely girl after all.”
…Like a girl? What’s with the like there!?
“…Oh well, whatever. So, do you have a direction you’d recommend.”
“What’s up with that? …Let’s see, if you head in that direction you’ll find a flourishing town called Laer. Its prosperity also means that the guild offers lots of requests.”
“I see. Thanks.”
When I started to walk off, the official called out to me in a hurry, “Hey!! That’s the opposite direction!”
“That’s why. …Doing the opposite of what the people of this world recommend is the correct choice.”
After grinning at him over my shoulder, I walked away without looking back anymore.
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Suddenly my legs froze. It looks like they had magic cast on them. But, I can break something of this level in an instant.
――Just as I thought that, something rolled over at my feet.
“…It was my fault! Please! Forgive me! Please! For heaven’s sake, please! …I’m terribly sorry…!”
I was dumbfounded.
…It seems prostrating yourself on the ground exists in this world as well. Prostrating himself, or rather, clinging to my legs? Moreover…he’s crying, despite being a grown man.
I drew back.
The man timidly lifted his face, and furthermore, clawed his way upwards, kinda like a zombie would crawl up your legs.
Scary.
“I’m very sorry…!”
As I felt a chill run down my spine, I reflexively slapped his mug.
“Disgusting!”
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“…Disgusting! ain’t the first thing you’d say to someone apologizin’ to you, is it?”
“Get away from me since you’re disgusting.”
I tried to draw away from him as far as possible by averting my face, but he was strangely powerfully glued to me, and even when I pushed him away, he remained coiled around me.
“Disgusting.”
“Stop repeating that word all the time! I’ll let go of you if you forgive me!”
“……What am I supposed to forgive you?”
“That’s what I mean…! You misunderstood me, so please let me explain. I didn’t mean to betray your trust! I had absolutely no intention to discard you or anythin’ after coming to town! It’s just, even if a newbie adventurer like you were to party up with an S-Rank like me, you wouldn’t be able to learn the basics of adventurin’!”
“Aahh, you were a self-alleged 『Bigshot』, weren’t you?”
“It ain’t self-alleged! Don’t say it like I’m scum! You might not know what an S-Rank is, but…”
“As far as I can imagine, it’s a rank you obtain after having your abilities and achievements approved as an A-Rank. Something like that?”
“That! It’s just as you say!”
Humph, so S-Ranks exist after all, huh?
“…That’s why I took measures allowin’ you to learn what bein’ an adventurer is ’bout by partyin’ with folk close in rank to you. I’ve got a friendly relationship with the guild master in this town, so I’d be able to inconvenience him to an extent. I’ve been just layin’ the groundwork!”
――According to him:
Bring me to this place -> have me temporarily separate from Sword and form a party with girls close to me in age, who were recommended by the guild -> do requests while repeatedly piling up mistakes as normal for beginners and having a good time with the girls -> party up with Sword again after accumulating some experience.
That was apparently the plan he’d set up.
“…Besides, you’re somehow precocious and you weirdly act like a grown-up because you were always surrounded by adults, right? You don’t have any friends your age, so I thought you’d make some friends on this occasion!”
……I wonder how I should answer this?
“…First of all, I’d like to straighten out some things. You don’t make friends by having them assigned to you. People 『become』 your friends naturally. You don’t get it because you’re a loner without any friends yourself, but even if you have some random people assigned to you, it’s not said that you’ll get along with them. And as a matter of fact, it didn’t look like I’d ever become friends with my little sister as we didn’t get along at all.”
“I don’t want to be called 『Loner』 by you as well!!”
Oh, it sounds like someone already told him.
“Now on to the main issue. Considering all that, why didn’t you tell me? What you did was not only to bring a young noble lady, who had never visited a town, to a completely unknown place instead of someplace in her family’s territory, but you also discarded her right there. In such a case, it’d have been better for me to turn down your invitation, investigate a nearby city over the next two years, and leave home by myself after getting everything in perfect order. Since I thought you’d act as my guide, I left two years earlier than planned while being ill-prepared, and yet I was abandoned by you without having been taught anything. So what did you think would happen after doing all that?”
“That’s why I’m regrettin’ for havin’ made a mistake. I’m entirely to blame here! I’m sorry!”
I see, so that’s why he started to talk about “Forgive me” and “I’m regretting.” Or rather, what did he expect me to do while not knowing all that?
“…I’ve now understood why the guild master said 『Please forgive him』 and why the receptionist, who welcomed me at first, said 『There’s a party I’d like to introduce to you』. ――But that’s the point. Why didn’t you personally tell me, 『We’ll go to a guild where my friend works as guild master. First learn the basics of adventuring over there by forming a party with girls who I’m going to introduce to you. It’ll be okay since I’ve properly talked it over with the other parties. They’re all girls close to you in age, so it might be possible for you to befriend them as well』?”
He was at a loss for words.
“…I panicked!”
Haaah?
…Immediately following, he stood up and hugged me.
“…You see, I’ve gotten to like you quite a bit! Damn it, don’t make me say it! …Why would you have to enter some low level party just to learn the basics of the basics!? Even without knowin’ all that, you’ve already got strength rivalin’ an S-Rank, so wouldn’t it be just fine for you to always party with me!? But, since the guild master complained that you’d need to be able to handle things on your own for the time when I’d be gone, I put on that act earlier. It couldn’t be helped! And then I didn’t know how to bring it up with you, freaked out, and said some weird shit!”
What the heck? I didn’t understand a thing. Maybe the translation of the otherworld language is malfunctioning?
“…Anyway, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll keep lookin’ after you myself.”
“From the start, no one has looked after me.”
“Up until now I did, didn’t I!? I’m your teacher, no!?”
“Haah? What are you blabbing? I’ve told you to show me various things as part of a deal we struck, but I don’t remember having ever asked you to take me as your pupil. To begin with, what kind of teacher are you supposed to be? My martial and magic arts are all self-taught, you know? I had you show me your stances and spells, but not once did I ask you to teach me anything, nor did I imitate you. I mean, honestly, what you showed me didn’t even serve as a reference because our methods are way too different.”
“You’re terrible!!” He kept hugging me even tighter while saying so.
This middle-aged dude is…a child, huh?
“Okay, okay, I get it, I get it. You had a proper reason and you didn’t abandon me. Since your plan didn’t go well, you’ll act as my guide. That’s what you’re saying, right?”
“…Yes.”
“I’ve understood the reason now, so it’d be alright for me to enter that girl party or whatever, and have them teach me the ropes while enjoying my time. Even if they might have selfish characters, I’d be more willing to overlook it for them than some middle-aged guy since they’re still children.”
“You’re terrible!!”
He told me once more.
