kscans

Chapter 21 - Wind Blade and Trouble

After parting with Aidan, we headed back to the inn. The sun had already set. I lit a lantern. The darkness felt deep. The light spilling from the windows of houses and the moonlight alone weren't reassuring.

"I'm moving to the Asuka Inn today, too."

"What's this? You want to come to my room? You're more than welcome,"

I said to Mizuki with a smirk.

"Of course we'll have separate rooms! I just thought it would be more convenient to stay at the same inn since we're in the same party."

"Well, you're not wrong, but... you haven't gotten yourself into some kind of trouble, have you?"

Her comment about quitting Wind Blade while talking with Aidan had been bothering me. Just as the Asuka Inn came into view, I noticed a group of people in front of it. It was, of course, Wind Blade. Their leader, Reed. The mage, Cecily. The priestess and Myra's sister, Aira. And another warrior I didn't recognize.

"What a coincidence. Is that warrior a new recruit?"

"This is Beers. It's your first time meeting him too, isn't it, Mizuki?"

Reed replied.

"Y-Yeah..."

Mizuki answered with a strained, uncomfortable reply.

"Hm? I'm pretty sure the last one had the same name."

"Slave names are a hassle. I've decided to just call them all Beers."

"What?"

I hadn't meant to pry anything out of him with that question. But now, the source of the vague eeriness Reed gave off became clear. He didn't treat slaves like human beings. It was possible my senses were skewed and this was just common sense in this world. I glanced at Famu; her expression was grim. In that case, my senses were probably normal. I looked at Beers. He had a tough-looking appearance. The third Beers I'd met since I got here. I heard a female slave warrior cost 100 gold coins. A man would probably cost about the same. That wasn't an amount even a B-rank adventurer could pay so easily. If it were, the slave market would collapse.

"It's not a coincidence that we're here. We were waiting for you, Mizuki."

Mizuki looked down. I was a little surprised, as I'd thought she was the type who wouldn't be intimidated by anyone.

"Mizuki, you said you were feeling unwell and needed to rest. But in reality, you've been joining Mash's party and exploring the dungeon."

"Reed, I want to leave Wind Blade."

From inside the inn, people were peeking out, murmuring, "What's going on? What's happening?"

The possibility of me saying, "This has nothing to do with me, so I'm going in first,"

was rapidly disappearing.

"Let's hear your reason,"

Reed asked.

"Aiming for the deepest part of the dungeon is fine. But I hate your method of always sending the warrior in first as a decoy, then judging the situation to fight or avoid traps. Four people have died."

So this must be the fifth Beers. They prioritized speed of exploration, using their warriors as decoys, which is why they died one after another. What a twisted strategy for a handsome guy. I looked at Cecily and Aira. Didn't they have a problem with exploring like that? It had only been fifteen days since I came to this world. No matter how you looked at it, that was too fast a pace. I couldn't imagine there was a steady supply of slave warriors to keep that up. They must be stuck in their exploration. By now, the drunks who had been in the inn's dining hall had come out and were surrounding us from a distance. "A lovers' quarrel?"

they jeered, enjoying the show. This was the worst. I wanted to hurry back to my room and have some quiet time with Famu.

"I'm in Mash's party now. So I'm not going back to Wind Blade."

"I see. But I can't have you leaving so easily."

"Hold on, how about you stop using the warrior as a decoy? If you do that, Mizuki will come back."

I had planned to stay quiet to avoid getting dragged into this, but the words just slipped out.

"An F-ranker shouldn't be sticking his nose into our business. I don't have time. So I'm going to continue exploring this way."

Reed glared at me. Yep, that was a huge mistake.

"You're right. I just said what I was thinking. Buying slaves costs money, too. It's a strategy we can't afford."

"I'm not going back!"

Mizuki said, cutting me off.

"Then you'll have to face the consequences,"

Reed replied.

"This is ridiculous. If someone wants to leave, just let them leave."

Was this a toxic company? No, a toxic party. He was being way too persistent. The conversation between Mizuki and Reed seemed to be going nowhere, so I interjected again.

"We have our own rules. If you're going to interfere, you'll have to face the consequences as well."

"Oh...?"

"A duel."

Reed said the word. "Uooooh!"

A roar went up from the onlookers.

"Tomorrow at noon, in the arena."

"Hey! I'm not accepting!"

"That's right! This is crazy!"

Mizuki and I yelled.

"Everyone here is a witness. Wind Blade will fight Mash, Mizuki, and that dog-eared girl over there. Just deciding Mizuki's affiliation isn't dramatic enough. The loser will offer their party members to the winner as slaves. Now that'll liven things up, won't it?"

The crowd erupted in cheers.

"No, it won't! You think you're absolutely unbeatable, don't you? You're in for some serious embarrassment!"

"Interesting. An F-ranker thinks he can beat us? I'm looking forward to it."

"Mizuki is a party to this, so she can't be helped. But this has nothing to do with the dog-eared girl. Besides, it's not fair to the other two if you just decide things on your own,"

I said, looking at Cecily and Aira.

"We'll be fine. There's no way we'll lose,"

Cecily answered. A murmur went through the crowd.

"Master, I'll be fine as well. There is no way you will lose."

At those words, the members of Wind Blade burst out laughing. It made sense. Famu was the one who knew best how weak I was. And yet she was declaring victory. Even I wanted to laugh.

"We heard from the guards that you gave up on clearing the third floor of the dungeon and went home today,"

Cecily said, and the people around us started laughing too.

"Mmph."

Famu looked like she was about to argue back, but I shot her a look, trying to signal her to stay quiet, even though I knew it probably wouldn't work. To my surprise, she seemed to understand and held her tongue.

"Then it's settled."

Reed was already smiling, as if he'd already won. He clapped a hand on my shoulder. Reed and his party left, bathed in the cheers of the drunken crowd.

We were in the inn's dining hall.

"Somehow, the discussion between Reed-san and Mizuki became a discussion between Reed-san and you, Master..."

"Sorry, Famu. When I see a handsome guy, I just can't help myself."

"I'm sorry. It's my fault."

"It is. I just wanted to live a quiet life."

"Ugh... I'm sorry. If we're going to fight, I'll tell you how Reed's party fights. If we're going to run, I'll follow you. I'll protect you."

Mizuki hung her head. That's right, she's the one who brought this trouble on us.

"Mizuki, wasn't Reed hitting on you or something? The loser becomes a slave, that's just insane. Is that common sense in this world?"

"Mmph... He's older than me, and not someone I'd date, and not my type, so I kept turning him down, but..."

So he was trying to get his hands on her all at once with this. I was probably much older than Reed. Though I knew it, was I also not a potential love interest? I felt a pang of hurt, all on my own.

"I've never seen a duel before, so I don't know what the normal conditions are,"

Famu said.

"I see... Famu, I'll give you all my money. Can you run away by yourself? You can rely on Aidan."

"No. I will stay with you, Master."

I knew she'd say that. Worst case, I'd wrap her up in a mat and dump her in Aidan's workshop garden.

"Does Reed have a special skill?"

"I've never seen it. He might be hiding it."

"He's the type to prioritize clearing the dungeon. If he had one, he'd use it."

"You're right."

Mizuki agreed. The worry of him suddenly unleashing a skill like Aidan's [Siege] was gone. Mizuki was probably the only one who could have blocked that.

"I can imagine their strategy. They'll send Beers in, and while we're dealing with him, they'll hit us with magic and skills to finish the fight. Worst case, they'll take us down along with Beers. They probably don't consider anyone but Mizuki a real threat."

"Reed's level is 49, Cecily's is 27, and Aira's is 28. In a straight fight, our levels are no match for them."

"Do you know their ages?"

"Reed is 28, Cecily is 25, and Aira is 26."

I see, so Myra-san is over 26.

"Do you know when Reed became an adventurer?"

"He said he's the son of a noble from a western city and is exploring dungeons to build his reputation. He also said he started about five years ago."

The general rule is that it takes twelve years to reach level 50, or six for someone with talent. For magic-users, it takes twice as long. If he became an adventurer when he started exploring dungeons, then he's talented. No, if he's a noble, he probably already has a swordsman-type class. In that case, adventurer would be his second class, allowing him to fight stronger enemies for more experience and level up faster. It seemed difficult to gauge his true strength from his level alone. And the reason he could buy slaves one after another was because he was a noble. Famu was stronger than me, but it would be difficult for her to overcome the level gap. Mizuki had a skill to evade fatal blows and another that had a chance to deal a fatal blow.

"Well, Mizuki and I should be able to handle it somehow."

I returned to my room. I was alone with Famu. She didn't seem very tense. She genuinely seemed to think I would win. She was looking at the nude photo of herself I'd taken earlier on my phone.

"This is really me, isn't it? It's so strange."

In my old world, this would have caused a huge uproar with demands to "Delete it!"

but it didn't seem to feel real to her.

"Aren't you embarrassed?"

"No, I mean, it has an erotic feel to it, so it's very embarrassing."

She was also looking at the photos I took in my old world. Those were mostly landscapes.

"So this is the world you came from, Master. This picture with the white cotton spread all over the ground is interesting."

"Ah, that's a picture I took when I climbed a mountain called Mount Fuji. What looks like white cotton is actually clouds."

"The clouds in the sky?"

"That's right. That mountain is over 3,000 meters high, so sometimes you can see the clouds below you. It's called a sea of clouds."

"I want to go there..."

"You should be able to see it in this world, too, if you climb a high mountain. It doesn't have to be 3,000 meters high. Let's go sometime."

"Yes."

Famu handed my phone back. Our hands touched as I took it. When I moved my face closer, Famu closed her eyes. I kissed her.

"After the duel. Either way, we won't be able to stay in this town. It's sooner than planned, but let's head for Miglutt."

"Yes. I will follow you,"

Famu nodded.

"I've dragged you into this. I regret it. Are you scared, Famu?"

"When we saved the village that was overrun by goblins, I wanted to help, but I didn't know what to do. But you, Master, even though you were against it, created a situation where we could fight, and in the end, you saved the village."

"Aidan and you saved the village, Famu. I was so bored by the end that I fell asleep."

Famu laughed.

"That's right. This time, I am scared, too. But I believe you will win, Master. It's to save Mizuki and Beers-san, isn't it?"

I had a plan. But there was no guarantee of victory. And for some reason, I was being painted as a good person, when really, I was just pissed off at a handsome guy.

"I see. I'm scared, too."

I pulled Famu into a hug. I kissed her again. I never want to let go of this warmth.