Chapter 155
After Hugson and the people from the Adventurer’s Guild left, the lingering silence did not dissipate.
Of course, it was because of Ellen and I. The patrons, noticing the atmosphere, gradually left their tables and headed up to their rooms.
“It seems like the Saints Point branch of the Adventurers’ Guild is practically his personal property,” I said.
The way the guild officer behaved toward Hugson, as if he were attending to some lord, made it seem pretty clear to me. I had already finished my food and was watching Ellen devour the leftovers.
“... You’re quite cheeky, aren’t you?” I commented.
I was surprised, since I didn’t expect Ellen to speak so boldly about killing and such. It was my first time seeing her speak so harshly to someone. “It’s better to scare them off than to kill them,” she replied.
“... You just made yourself sound even scarier.”
Hugson might have actually lost his temper and brandished his weapon if she’d ignored him any further, which meant she had to be stern.
It was incredible to see how the real weight of the fear of death made people back off. Even though I had witnessed it first hand, it was still hard to believe.
“He must have been threatened, right?” Ellen asked. She seemed to be thinking about Austin, who had been shaking in terror.
“... Probably.”
Austin was, at best, an F-rank newbie. Although he was part of Hugson’s party, he was just a newcomer.
Austi, without knowing how Hugson would act, had probably bragged about the encounter earlier that day as if it were a tale of heroism. How we had nearly been robbed, but had turned the tables on the robbers, beating them up and taking their loot. Of course, he’d have had to explain the sudden appearance of the carriage.
Hugson, having heard that story, would have realized that one of those people was me. A description of our appearances would have been enough for him to make the deduction.
He must have realized that he could flip the situation around and accuse us of being the robbers. He probably threatened Austin that he would accuse him of being the perpetrator of the robbery if he didn’t testify against me and Ellen.
Teaming up with the guild representative, who was a point manager and in collusion with him, they planned to detain us or have us tried for robbery.
However, he hadn’t anticipated that messing with us would lead to serious trouble.
“Damn it. He tried to frame us just because he lost a mage that he was trying to lure into his party.”
“The biggest problem is that it actually almost happened.”
If not for the special items we had, the accusations would have stuck, and we would have no grounds to object. It suddenly felt like we were living outside the realm of law.
Adventurers who were quick to turn to robbers...
The points where a person’s life could be determined by the whims of the powerful...
The behavior of humans outside the reach of the rule of law made me suddenly realize that I was indeed in the Dark Land.
The danger had nothing to do with demons.
“It’s been said that humans are the scariest beings,” Ellen said.
That, too, must have been something her brother had told her.
***
This might have been Ellen’s first brush with adventurers, but thanks to various things she’d heard from Artorius, she was well aware of how adventurers behaved.
It was Ellen who had first caught on to the possibility of being robbed in the carriage, and also Ellen who had stepped forward during the confrontation with Hugson. She always seemed to be aware that the greatest threat wasn’t from demons, but fellow humans.
“... Should I swap rooms with our new recruit?” I asked.
“... No, we can’t trust her.”
Ellen shook her head at my suggestion that she share a room with Eleris. It seemed she wasn’t about to trust someone she’d just met that day.
She judged it better to share a room with me.
However, both of us could neither sit on nor lie down on the bed.
We’d noticed it earlier but had intentionally avoided mentioning it, fearing that even talking about it would become a headache.
It was supposed to be a double room.
Certainly, it was a double room.
“... It seems the owner doesn’t understand the concept of a double room.”
“That seems so.”
“Is it because the bed is big, they think it’s good for two?”
“...”
But instead of two beds, there was one large bed that could accommodate two people.
We saw it, but mentioning it felt like it would complicate things, so we purposely ignored it.
Now that it was time to sleep, we were puzzled about what to do.
“Should someone sleep on the floor?” I suggested.
“There’s no need for you to go through such discomfort...” Ellen murmured softly.
“No, not me. You should sleep on the floor.”
‘Oh, whatever. I don’t care.’
I brazenly sprawled myself on the bed.
“...”
Ellen looked down at me with a chilly expression.
‘You piece of trash,’ her eyes said clearly.
“... Shouldn’t the strong have compassion for the weak?!”
Was I wrong?
‘It’s only right for the strong to have compassion for the weak! And the strong one here is you! So you should be the one sleeping on the floor!’
In response to my stubbornness, Ellen nudged me with her foot while I was lying down.
“Get lost.”
Thump!
“Ouch! You jerk!”
Ellen pushed me towards the edge of the bed and then lay down herself. All the harsh words she’d spoken earlier, and now this... was this her new way of speaking?
“...”
“...”
Any effort to lighten the mood with nonsense was futile.
As we lay side by side, my mind became uneasy.
There was no reason to feel bad about the situation we were in, and we had to set off on a long march the next day. Hence, we needed to sleep. Especially since we’d traveled thousands of kilometers in one day and were incredibly tired.
Even though we had done it via a warp gate...
After some time, unable to fall asleep, I called out to Ellen “... Hey.”
“... Yeah,” she replied. Clearly, she was having trouble falling asleep as well.
“What if those guys from earlier attack us in the middle of the night?”
I was worried that Hugson, given his temperament, might still hold a grudge and decide to come back in the night to attack us.
“Then I’ll really kill them this time,” Ellen said firmly. Clearly, she had given it ample thought, and wasn’t afraid if they did indeed come back.
She sounded ready to kill them. It was gruesome.
One might even get the impression that she had killed numerous people before.
I sensed that being away from the safety of the Temple and in a dangerous borderland had brought about a significant change in Ellen’s attitude.
You could say she was on edge.
Still, it was true that having Ellen and Eleris around diluted my sense of unease significantly.
As a human being, even though I had come here of my own volition, being in a place where making a wrong move could get one’s head chopped off naturally caused significant anxiety.
“Reinhart.”
“... What is it?”
“Thanks for coming with me,” Ellen said, quietly staring at the ceiling.
“...”
It seemed like Ellen was feeling the same emotions I was.
Being alone would have made both of us much more uneasy, regardless of our strength.
“Are you trying to keep me awake on purpose?”
“... What are you talking about?”
Ellen, as if tired of hearing my nonsense, turned away sharply.
***
Fortunately, Hugson did not concoct any unnecessary schemes in the middle of the night.
The next morning...
I had no idea how I’d fallen asleep, but my face was touching something soft and squishy.
Soft and, somewhat...
‘Uh. Huh?’
“...”
This...
This was bad.
How could such a clichéd situation occur?
Right now, my face was buried in something. Well, not exactly buried in, but brushing against.
It felt like a line hadn’t been crossed, but still!
As I slowly lifted my head, I saw someone’s face.
“...”
The timing of the both of us waking up was too perfect. Ellen was giving me a frosty look, her eyes cool as she stared down at me, my face brushing against her chest.
‘You... What are you doing right now?’ her eyes said.
“N-No... It’s not...”
“...”
“Wait. I don’t know what you’re thinking but... This, uh...”
“It’s fine.”
Ellen adjusted her clothes and tidied her disheveled hair before sitting up on the bed. Then, looking over at me, she briefly said, “Things like this happen.”
Then why was she looking at me like she wanted to kill me?
It’s only natural to move around in your sleep when sharing a bed! Right?!
‘Damn it.’ I knew that no matter what I said, it wouldn’t sound good, so I ended up saying nothing.
Ellen yawned languidly, and the bed creaked as she got up.
“Let’s get ready.”
Rather than moving along a typical otaku plot development and slapping my cheek or screaming in shock, Ellen reacted as if nothing had happened, while looking at me as if I were a piece of trash.
The situation had developed along the lines of a regular otaku plot, but her reaction went totally against it.
It was the perfect moment to feel embarrassed, yet she was not one bit embarrassed.
I felt terribly afraid, as if saying one wrong word could lead to my murder.
***
After making preparations to leave, Ellen and I had breakfast. In time, Eleris came down as well.
“Good morning to you both, I’m all ready to go,” Eleris said.
“You should have some breakfast.”
At Ellen’s words, Eleris smiled and shook her head.
“Ah, I ate a little earlier. I’m ready to leave whenever.”
Eleris wasn’t wearing armor like us. Instead, she wore a robe, not the simple clothes from the day before. It seemed less about showing off her status as a mage and more about protection from the sun. After a simple breakfast, the three of us left the inn.
Reaching Altz Point and investigating what happened there was our goal. Of course, if other adventurers arrived before us and deciphered the situation, it might be a futile effort, but one could not predict what would happen on the way there.
We headed south from Saints Point. The next destination was Klitz Point.
It would be a solid day’s journey.
Eleris seemed to be in some discomfort, even in the early morning sun, but she didn’t show it.
It was clear that the sunlight caused her some pain, but I couldn't tell if it was easily bearable or not.
Noticing my gaze, Eleris caught my eye and smiled.
It seemed like she was telling me not to worry.
—There! Make sure that’s tied properly!
In Saints Point, a scene was unfolding that wasn’t present the day before. Numerous supply caravans were arriving.
“Is that it? The supplies.”
“It has to be.”
At the north entrance of Saints Point, a caravan of wagons was steadily arriving. They had to be the convoy that Hugson was in charge of escorting.
“It’s incredible...”
There were dozens of wagons, and more were arriving in a steady stream. Since a significant force would be required to escort this convoy, it was clear that they would reach Altz Point much later than us.
Seeing this really made one think that magic was outright overpowered.
With just one Mass Teleport spell, all these materials could be transported without the need for such a massive investment of manpower and time. Of course, Mass Teleport was an advanced spell that could only be cast by mages of Eleris’s caliber, and even she would need to invest a considerable amount of time in casting it. There weren’t many mages of that level on the continent.
That was why there were alternatives like warp gates.
In places without access to teleportation or warp gates, supplies still had to be transported in this manner.
Anyway, I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Eleris separately to ask her about it.
I wondered if she could have teleported in alone and found out what had happened at Altz Point. Perhaps she could have looked into it separately.
Now that we were setting off, though, there was no opportunity to discuss this matter with Eleris separately. It seemed there hadn’t been enough time to check.
We passed the chaos of the incoming wagons and headed toward the southern exit.
Along the way, we saw Hugson, who was yelling at the top of his lungs near the Lockhilt Inn.
—Not there! Come this way, you idiot!
He seemed to be quite a character, although I was hardly one to talk.
“ ... Huh?”
Someone who seemed to be hurrying about on an errand spotted us and stopped in their tracks.
“...”
He stared for a bit, then went on his way.
It was Austin.
“Do you know him?” Eleris asked.
Ellen gave her a slight nod. “Well... I’ve met him before.”
Austin had accused us of being robbers because he didn’t want to be accused of being one himself.
Though he had likely done so only after Hugson’s coercion, he’d ended up being an accomplice to someone who’d tried to pin a false accusation on us.
We watched his figure grow smaller as he got further away, as if he were fleeing.
Rather than feeling dislike, I felt a strong sense of pity for him.
“...”
Ellen seemed to be thinking the same thing as she quietly observed Austin’s retreat. Even from behind, he seemed imbued with shame.
“It would be nice if he quit.”
Leaving that ambiguous statement hanging in the air, Ellen headed out, taking the lead.
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