3. It’s About How You Live
As Ranta was wandering around in the market, he happened to spot Yume and Shihoru. He could have called out to them, but after thinking about it a bit, he decided he’d rather not.
“...Bah. I dunno why, but they look like they’re having fun. Darn Tiny Tits and Secretly Stacked.”
He did an about-face, and scratched his head with a sigh.
“Can they really get along with such a difference in boobage? I don’t get women. With us guys, that big a size difference would make things awkward. Even if we kept up appearances on the surface, deep down, I’d be thinking, ‘But, man, you’ve got a small one... Pfft!’ Well, not that we have that dramatic a difference in the size of our members...”
As he mumbled to himself, he glanced at the ingredients lining the shelves of the shops and stalls.
In general, perishables were expensive, while things that kept were priced more cheaply.
“What’ll I do? Hmm. Cooking. Cooking... Hold on, how did I end up in a cooking battle with Moguzo again...?”
He stopped, crossed his arms, and thought about it.
“The heat of the moment...?”
Well, that was important. It was the same when he became a dread knight, too.
“Okay, so we’re agreed that you’ll be the warrior, Ranta.”
When Manato had said that, before they all joined their respective guilds, Ranta had been in full agreement. He especially liked that the warrior was the centerpiece of the whole party.
You know. They’re gonna need me. They won’t be able to do anything without me. Right, right, right? So, I’m gonna be Ranta-sama to them. Yep, yep.
That was how he thought about it, and he was pretty satisfied.
Why did he not join the warriors’ guild?
At the time, Ranta was in the southern district of Alterna, heading towards the warriors’ guild near the craftsmen’s town. He was over the moon about it.
A warrior, huh? Me, a warrior? A warrior. Warrior. Warriors are cool. I mean, they’re warriors. I bet I’ll be a hit with the ladies. Here comes my time to be popular. There’s no way it’s not coming.
While he was thinking that, humming to himself as he walked, suddenly Manato’s words came back to him.
“In addition to warriors, I heard there are two similar jobs, dread knights and paladins, but my thinking is that we should really—”
Dread knight? Paladin?
Oh? Oh, ho, ho, ho? Hmm? Hum, hum, hum? Hold on...
Maybe being one of those would be even more awesome...?
The moment that thought crossed his mind, the option of being a warrior was gone without a trace. Dread knight, or paladin? Which should I be? Those were the two choices he was left with.
Do I choose the darkness?
Or maybe the light?
The obvious answer is darkness... Yeah?
I thought so.
Ranta still remembered saying it to himself.
“Dread knight, Ranta. Ranta, dread knight. The dread knight Ranta. The dread knight to end all dread knights, Ranta. Ranta was meant to be a dread knight. The true dread knight is Ranta. Dread Knight Ranta...”
It fit perfectly. Maybe he was born to be a dread knight? Yes. That had to be it.
And so, Dread Knight Ranta was born.
His seven days of dark instruction at the dread knights’ guild was harsh, and difficult, but he overcame it, because, uh, if he didn’t, he’d be dead, and now he didn’t really remember what was involved, but he’d cleared the trials marvelously, and brilliantly, so he had no regrets.
“The heat of the moment... That’s important.”
Ranta grunted and made a fist.
“In the end, life’s all about intuition and the heat of the moment. That means this competition was meant to be. This event was unevitable. Yeah. Unevitable? Or is it inevitable? Meh, whichever. I like it. Because no matter which it is, what I say is always right. Still, though...”
He looked restlessly around the area.
“What do I make...? Moguzo’s a good cook. That’s all he’s good for, though. If I’m gonna beat him at cooking, it’s gonna be hard work. I mean, being me, there’s no way I can’t win, but I’ve got to pick my methods carefully. Hmmm. Nggh...”
Walking as he pondered, he came all the way to the craftsmen’s town in the southern district.
In the area near the craftsmen’s town, there was a village of stalls, mainly busy with craftspeople. The volunteer soldier lodging house was a stone’s throw away, and there were plenty of places to eat and drink here, so Ranta and the others frequently came to fill their stomachs. He knew the place like the back of his hand.
“Ping!”
I’ve got it, he thought, and took off at a run. He rushed towards the village of stalls. He was starting to smell something tasty.
“It’s here! The hint I need! It must be! It has to be...!”
As he ran through the village of stalls, he looked this way, he looked that way. He looked at one thing, he looked at another. All while sniffing with his nose. In the end, Ranta came to a sudden stop in front of one stall.
“This is it...! No doubt about it! The key to my victory’s buried right here! That’s what my instincts are telling me! So! Ru! Zo!
“Wh-What...?”
Inside the stall, the master of the soruzo stand—who had been stirring a pot—was deeply unnerved.
Ranta laughed.
“Heheheheheh... Gwahahahaha...! Don’t be so scared! Even if you can’t help but fear the Dread Knight Ranta-sama! I’m not going to eat you or anything!”
“...Are you all right, buddy?”
The master of the soruzo stand had salt-and-pepper hair, and was probably in his fifties. The man had the drum-like belly that you might expect from a lover of soruzo, which was exactly how a soruzo chef should look. It was, incidentally, not meal time right now, so he had no customers. The master had been hard at work preparing.
Ranta cleared his throat and thrust out his chest.
“Of course I’m all right!”
“O-Okay. That’s good, then. ...You’ve been here before a number of times. To my place.”
“Sure have! Because I’m a volunteer soldier! Though I’m just a trainee!”
“You act awfully self-important for a trainee...”
“Heh... You think so, old man? Well, there’s a reason for that. ...It’s probably because I actually am important! It just oozes from my every pore, doesn’t it? I’ve got that sort of aura!”
“...I don’t know. I don’t care if you’re important or not, so could you beat it already? I’m busy here.”
“There’s a condition.”
“Y-You’re giving me conditions? Just to go away...?”
“Don’t you worry. You are, of course, free to accept or decline.”
“If I wasn’t, it’d just be a threat, wouldn’t it? No, even with that freedom, it still feels like a threat...”
“It’s nothing major.”
“Let me guess, you’re the type that doesn’t listen to a thing people say to you...”
“Bingo!”
“But you were listening to that?!”
“Well, yeah. —Now, about that condition. Teach me about soruzo. You do that, and I won’t mind leaving. Simple, right?”
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