kscans

Chapter 86 - Probably Eleanor-san's Fault

After finishing the experiment with the Buff Potion (Defense) and enjoying a relaxed drink together, the next day was completely free, so we spent it going shopping and lazing around at home.

The day after that, I spent the whole day experimenting. I tried all sorts of things, like mixing a Level 1 Healing Potion with a Level 2 Healing Potion to see what would happen. That night, Kaede-chan made fun of me, but it was all for the advancement of Alchemy.

For the record, there were no notable results. Mixing a Level 1 Healing Potion with a Level 2 Healing Potion just gave me two Level 1 Healing Potions, and mixing a TS Potion with an Invisibility Potion just turned it back into plain water.

And then came Friday. The day of our new adventure with Yoshino-san and Lin-san.

Kaede-chan woke me up, and after getting ready, we took a taxi to the guild. Once we arrived, I parted ways with Kaede-chan for a bit and went to the changing room. As expected for a weekday morning, there were no other adventurers.

After I finished changing, I left the changing room and went to the reception desk where Kaede-chan was.

"See you again."

"Yup."

Kaede-chan gave me a cute smile.

"You finish at five today, right? Let’s go home together."

"Let’s do that. I’ll make hot pot tonight. I’m good at it, you know."

All you have to do is cut the ingredients and throw them in the pot, after all.

"It’s gotten cold, hasn’t it."

"It has. Senpai, are you good with Mireille Road?"

"Yeah. I’m going with Yoshino-san and Lin-san."

A rose between two thorns, huh.

"Understood. I don’t think you’ll be in any danger with those two, but you must not provoke or act cocky around them."

Kaede-chan is kind, which is great, but sometimes she acts like my mom.

"It’s fine. Respect is important!"

"Very good. Then, here are your sword and Status Card."

Kaede-chan handed me the sword and Status Card with an enormous smile.

Her smile made me curious, so I looked at my Status Card.

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ Name: Okita Hajime Level: 7 Job: Swordsman Skills: ≪Swordsmanship Lv6≫ ≪Speechcraft Lv1≫ ≪Provocation Lv1≫ ☆≪Alchemy≫ －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

Provocation… Yeah. No wonder she’s acting like my mom.

"It’s fine. Respect is important!"

"Do your best………… Oh, but provoking monsters will help you build hate, so please use it effectively."

Build hate?

"How do I provoke a monster?"

"Just say something random. ‘Come at me!’ or ‘Loser, loser~’ works fine."

Loser, loser~… Should Eleanor-san say that? She’s twenty-six. That’s rough…

"Well, I’ll give it a try."

Setting aside the "loser, loser" part, it seems like a useful skill since I have Nanapon.

"Good luck."

"Got it. Well, I’m off."

I put away my Status Card, took my sword, and headed for the Gate, waving to Kaede-chan. When I reached the Gate, I concentrated on Mireille Road and stepped through.

On the other side of the Gate was a flat plain with grasslands, a river, and trees. And just beyond the Gate, there was a single stone path.

This was the area known as Mireille Road. As its name suggests, Mireille Road is a road, but you can’t follow it indefinitely. A short way down, there’s a "No Entry" sign, and you can’t go any further.

Since it’s called a road, it might lead to a town inhabited by people from Frontier if you were to follow it. But there’s no way to confirm that. It’s not just here; every area has a set explorable range, with "No Entry" signs preventing further progress. And there are also SDF guards stationed there.

If you were to try and force your way through, getting detained would be the best-case scenario. Rumor has it that the SDF personnel will attack without hesitation. So, no adventurer ever goes that far. Well, there’s no reason to, anyway.

I looked around at the adventurers gathered in front of the Gate. They were clearly different from the adventurers I’d seen in Eden Forest and the Kunaar Ruins. First, everyone was in groups of several people; there were no solo adventurers. What’s more, their equipment was proper.

In Eden Forest and the Kunaar Ruins, there were people wearing jerseys like me. But here, no one was dressed like that. To be honest, I must have looked like someone who had come to the wrong place.

I went to an empty spot to wait for Yoshino-san and Lin-san. After waiting for a while, a woman with black hair in a ponytail appeared from the Gate. It was Lin-san, of course. However, it was only Lin-san; Yoshino-san was nowhere in sight.

As I watched Lin-san looking around, our eyes met. She then walked straight towards me.

"Hey, good morning."

Lin-san greeted me with a cheerful wave.

"Good morning! I look forward to working with you today!"

I bowed sharply at a 45-degree angle.

"Okita-kun, are you still going with that?"

I could tell from the tone of her voice that Lin-san was exasperated.

"Actually, I was told over and over not to act cocky. On top of that, when I looked at my Status Card just now, I found I’d gained the Provocation skill. I figured this was a bad sign."

"You can just act normal, you know. And besides, we’re the same age, right? Drop the polite language."

So she’s twenty-six too…

"You think so? Okay, I’ll speak casually then………… Oh, if I start getting cocky or provocative, let me know. I don’t want Kaede-chan to hate me."

"I don’t think it matters. The other adventurers are pretty much the same, and you’re not acting cocky towards Kaede, are you?"

"Of course not."

Kaede-chan is kind. And besides, I wouldn’t act cocky towards a junior girl.

"Then it’s fine, isn’t it? We all get worked up over our ranks. It’s a similar thing, and we taunt each other too, D-rank."

A B-rank just tried to assert dominance.

"If you were a C-rank, I might be a little annoyed, but since you’re a B-rank, it doesn’t really bother me…"

It’s still too far off for me to really care.

"Well, I guess so. Oh, congratulations on making D-rank."

"Thanks. So, where’s Yoshino-san?"

"She’ll be here in a bit. She’s slow at getting ready."

Hmm… Well, girls can take a while, I guess. Between Okita-kun and Eleanor-san, it takes me longer to get ready as Eleanor-san.

"So you use a sword too, Lin-san."

I could see a short sword at Lin-san’s waist, just like Yoshino-san’s.

"Pretty much. Oh, I can use a bit of magic too, for what it’s worth."

I’m jealous…

"Yoshino-san too, but why don’t you use a katana? If you practiced swordsmanship, wouldn’t this be more your style?"

I showed her the katana I was holding.

"Ah… that. We used katanas at first too, but we stopped partway through. There are more high-quality short swords and long swords available."

My katana is worth 500,000, and the ones in the shop go up to about 5 million. But on the other hand, there aren’t any in the 100-million class like Yoshino-san’s…

"Is your short sword worth 100 million too, Lin-san?"

"No, mine is 30 million."

That’s expensive…

"Is there some benefit to it? Is it sharper?"

"The sharpness is good too. And it’s light, and this sword can extend two or three meters."

What is that!?

"The sword extends?"

"Yep. Cool, right?"

It is cool! As expected of a 30 million yen sword!

"Well, you can gradually earn money and buy a better sword too."

Hmm, I could already afford one. But I also have a Magic Wand that can use Air Hammer…

"I’ll think about it."

"You should look at various options. You’ll be tempted by all of them, though."

As we were talking, Yoshino-san came through the Gate.

"Ah, it’s Yoshino-san."

"She’s finally here…"

As Lin-san shook her head with a weary sigh, Yoshino-san ran over to us.

"Sorry. I’m late."

Yoshino-san apologized, but it wasn’t even 9 o’clock yet, our promised meeting time.

"No, it’s fine."

"It’s not time yet, anyway."

Lin-san and I waved our hands dismissively.

"Sorry, sorry. By the way, what were you talking about?"

"We were talking about how Okita-kun got the Provocation skill from being too cocky."

Hey, we talked about that, sure, but there was more to it.

"I knew it. What level? 6?"

This woman is still subtly holding a grudge about the Swordsmanship level comment…