Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 2 - Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Back-Alley Cliché 
Paladin Ray Starling 
Liliana was the first tian I’d ever spoken to. Her responses had been so natural and she’d seemed so alive that I hadn’t been able to see her as a tian — as nothing more but an NPC. That feeling was still alive, and even though I knew I was in a game, I couldn’t see her as just a game character. 
“It has been a while,” she said. “I didn’t expect to see you here in Gideon.” 
“Well, I’ve only been here for about two days,” I said. 
Probably due to her being my first personal — and physical — contact in this world, my manner of speaking automatically became somewhat courteous. She’d said that it’d been a while since we’d last met, but it had actually only been about eight days. 
Now that I think about it, since I’ve started playing, only ten days have passed in this world and only three in reality, I thought. Man, this world’s days sure are dense. 
“I must ask — why the dog ears?” she asked, looking above my head. 
“Please don’t,” I replied. “Way too much has happened. So, why are you here with such a group?” 
Liliana seemed to be somewhat troubled, so I decided to ask her about what was going on. She was surrounded by knights wearing similar armor, flags and unit symbols. Liliana was a Paladin and the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Royal Guard. From that, I could assume that the people with her were part of the Royal Guard, too. 
“Well, Ray, we—” 
“Lady Grandria!” one of them cut her words short. “We cannot let any outsiders know of this!” 
It was the same man who’d been questioning the shopkeeper. He was glaring at me — or, rather, at the back of my left hand. 
“But Sir Lindos, he is one of us — a Paladin,” said Liliana. 
“He isn’t the same as us just because we share a profession,” retorted the man. “This is something we have to do without relying on Masters.” 
It was clear by now that he was Liliana’s comrade — a Paladin from the Royal Guard. He also seemed to have a dislike for us players — the Masters. 
“It’s only fair for him to hate your kind,” commented Nemesis. 
Indeed. The Kingdom of Altar’s Knights of the Royal Guard had reasons to hate us Masters. Altar’s Masters were the ones who hadn’t helped much during the war, and the Imperium’s Masters were the ones who had done the most damage. 
The king had even been killed by a Master, so it was only natural for him to hate us. 
“But there are things that only they can know,” said Liliana. “We are not in a situation that allows us to choose who we get help from.” 
“...That is reasonable,” he said, giving in. “In that case, please search the way you think is best. We will continue looking for her as we were. However, you should only request assistance from those you trust.” 
“I understand,” she nodded. “Be careful in your search.” 
“Certainly,” he said. “Come, men, we’re continuing this in the fourth district.” 
The man Liliana had called Sir Lindos gave the other knights an order, and they all left the shop. 
The only ones left inside were Nemesis, Liliana, me, and the shopkeeper, who seemed visibly relieved. 
“I see,” said Nemesis. “From how he expressed his dislike for Masters, I thought he was an impulsive sort, but it seems that he’s malleable when he needs to be.” 
Or maybe the situation is just grave enough for a Master-hating knight to accept a Master’s help, I thought. 
“I am sorry, Ray. Sir Lindos isn’t a bad person or anything, but...” said Liliana. 
“No need for that,” I said. “He seemed to be in a hurry.” 
“Yes, about that... there is something I’d like to ask you.” With those words, Liliana took out a single photo. 
It gave me a minor déjà vu, making me remember the first time I’d met her. However, the person on the photo was different this time. 
“Have you seen this girl anywhere?” she asked. 
The person on the photo was a young girl. She looked no older than nine. Her face was a strong contestant for the most good-looking one I’d seen so far here in Infinite Dendrogram. Of course, that was only among females. Rook was incontestably at the top if both genders were considered. 
The girl in the photo had golden hair done into rolls and coils, and striking blue eyes that seemed to express a strength of heart. I also couldn’t help but notice that her clothes were very well-made. I didn’t know much about such apparel, but even I could tell that she wore a high-quality dress. 
Her appearance, combined with the dignified way she was sitting in the chair, made the photo look like one of those formal marriage meeting photos. 
She’s a bit too young for that, though, I thought. 
Anyway, there was no way I could’ve missed a person that stood out this much, so... 
“I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen her,” I said. “So, who is she?” 
From how the knights were panicking, I could only assume that she was the young lady of some important nobles. 
“Eh?! Umm, uhh...” Liliana couldn’t hide her surprise at my question and looked at me with a perplexed expression. It wasn’t because she had trouble talking about the lady in the picture or anything. The bewilderment seemed too strong for that. She was acting as though I asked her something weird, like the answer to one plus one. 
Once she realized that I really didn’t know the girl, Liliana gave me the answer. 
“This is the Kingdom of Altar’s second princess, Elizabeth S. Altar.” 
“Ohhhhh.” It all made sense now. 
“When someone asks you something that’s supposed to be common knowledge, it’s only natural to become perplexed,” commented Nemesis. “I’m not one to talk, though. Since we share most of our memories, I didn’t know the girl, either.” 
How unbecoming of a Paladin, I thought of myself. I really should’ve investigated the ruling structure of the kingdom. 
“So,” I said. “If you’re looking for her, then...” 
“Her Highness went missing while we were visiting Gideon, and we of the Royal Guard are now searching for her,” she explained. 
This seems like some serious trouble, I thought. 
Since I didn’t know anything, Liliana gave me all the details about the disappearance of the princess. 
First of all, she was the daughter of the king who had died in the war with Dryfe. The king had three daughters, but no sons. The missing girl’s elder sister — the first princess — was the acting ruler of the country. 
The Kingdom of Altar had no rule that prevented females from inheriting the throne, but historically, the country had had more kings than queens. 
Due to that, even though a whole six months had passed since the fall of the king, the accession had yet to happen, and Elizabeth was still just “the second princess.” 
She had come here to Gideon to participate in some official event. She had arrived here and begun staying in Count Gideon’s mansion about two days ago. 
Yesterday, she had still been there to talk with the count and participate in the preparations for tomorrow’s event. Today, she’d had plans to talk with some powerful people of this city. However, when one of Elizabeth’s maids had gone to her room this morning, she found no sign of the princess anywhere. 
There had been only a piece of paper — marked with the royal seal — that said “I will be back by evening.” From the handwriting, it was clear that she hadn’t been kidnapped, but had slipped out on her own volition. 
Also, it was well known that the princess had wished to look around Gideon, and had become quite upset when she’d found out that she wasn’t allowed to. 
Additional info: Liliana made sure to be as indirect as possible when saying this, but the princess was whimsical, excessively vigorous, terribly insolent, and so full of curiosity that it was troubling. 
Basically, the princess had slipped out of her roles just so she could go sightseeing in Gideon. 
Of course, the Royal Guard couldn’t just let her walk around the city by herself, so, naturally, they’d begun searching for her. 
If there was one thing I could say to this situation... 
“Don’t you think you should up your security?” I asked. 
I mean, they let this little girl slip past them. That’s clearly not right. 
“You are completely right about that...” she said. 
But it turned out they’d actually had a valid excuse. 
During the time period in which the princess had made her escape, there’d been a certain bit of trouble. 
It had happened in the process of passing the role of protecting the princess from the Third Order of Knights to the Knights of the Royal Guard. It didn’t seem like that could ever be particularly troublesome, but there had been a reason for it being so. 
The princess’ visit to this city had been planned a long time ago. Back then, it had been decided that her protection — from the moment she left the capital until she finished her business in Gideon and was safely back home — would be in the hands of the Royal Guard. 
However, the player killer incident had made them postpone the day they’d left the capital. 
Once the killers had been taken care of, they had finally been able to leave, but there had been a whole new problem. It was the event that — as we’d confirmed with our own eyes — had reduced Noz Forest to cinders. 
Most assumed that the one responsible was King of Destruction the Unknown, but there was no proof of that. 
However, it had to be known, so the role of meeting the King of Destruction and asking him about it had been given to the only one in the kingdom who knew him personally — Liliana. Apparently, everyone else who had been acquainted with him had died in the war. 
Liliana was the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Royal Guard. However, since the Commander’s seat was empty, she was basically the top of the order. 
Since there were some problems with the prospect of the Royal Guard protecting the princess without Liliana’s presence, the role had been hastily given to the Third Order of Knights. It had needed to be done because the princess’ leave had already been belated due to the player killer incident, and they hadn’t been able to afford any more delays. But that was the very cause of the trouble. 

After she had finished questioning the King of Destruction about his role in the Noz Forest incident, Liliana and her Royal Guard had made their way to Gideon and arrived today, early in the morning. Right upon arriving, she had tried to take the role of protecting the princess from the Third Order of Knights. 
During that process, both groups had looked at each others’ documents and found out that there were some inconsistencies. The inconsistencies were so big, in fact, that no one could even believe that they’d actually happened. 
They had all had to compare and adjust the documents they had while occasionally using magic communication tools to contact and confirm certain points with the people in the capital, and that had cost them more than an hour of time. Once they had finished that and mentally prepared themselves to protect Her Highness, they’d found out that the princess had disappeared. 
“...Oh man,” I said. 
She had probably noticed the trouble going on and seen an opportunity to make her escape. 
Sounds like she’s a resourceful girl, I thought. 
“The document trouble might’ve been devised by the princess,” said Nemesis. 
Ha ha ha, as if... I thought. Then I realized, Wait, you know what? You might actually be right. 
Though it was slightly unrelated, Liliana’s exchange with the King of Destruction had gone like so: 
“Were you the one to do it?” 
“YES.” 
“Why?” 
“I was angry, so I just did it. I feel bad about it, though.” 
“I see. By the way, Noz Forest was a kingdom-owned lumbering ground. I would like you to pay to make up for all the wood you have burned. 130,000,000 lir, please. 
“...Take it, you thief!” 
“Oh, but I am an authority.” 
With that, the kingdom had instantly gotten enough money to function despite having lost Noz Forest. Apparently, it had helped them a lot. 
I was mostly just surprised that people sitting at the top of the ranks could readily part with that much money. 
“But man, he was just ‘angry’...? What a troublesome guy,” I said. 
“Indeed,” Liliana agreed. “Make sure to tell him off the next time you meet him.” 
“Eh? Ah... sure?” I didn’t know how to respond. 
What makes her think I have anything to do with him? I thought. 
After telling me all the circumstances surrounding the princess’ escape, Liliana ran off to search for her again. 
She seemed to spend a lot of her time looking for people. I could only assume that she’d been born under that kind of star. 
“Anyway, though it’s a pretty big deal, the princess merely ran away,” I said. “We just have to make sure to tell Liliana if we ever see the girl.” 
She hadn’t been kidnapped or anything — she was just sightseeing. It didn’t seem like it was something that could leave a bad taste in my mouth. 
“I don’t think you should be saying anything so careless,” said Nemesis. “Try to consider your experiences so far. You seem to be some sort of event magnet. You get into all sorts of happenings, regardless of whether they’re related to tians, monsters, or Masters.” 
...You might be right, I thought. I haven’t played the game for too long, yet I’ve experienced quite a lot. 
“I don’t know how eventful other Masters’ lives are, but don’t you think that you’re far above the average in that regard?” she asked. 
Well, I had been thinking that my days here were pretty dense. 
“If that knight girl was born under a star that led her into a life full of searching for people, you might’ve been born under a star of strife,” said Nemesis. “I cannot recommend talking in a manner that could summon more such events.” 
“You’re right,” I said. “I’ll keep that in mind.” 
All these exchanges had made me a bit hungry. Hunger was the reason we had come to this shop in the first place, so I began talking to the shopkeeper. 
“Excuse me. Can we eat here?” I asked. 
“Yes, certainly,” he said. “We couldn’t do any work until a few moments ago. We have to make up for the time lost.” 
“Oh yeah, you were questioned.” I nodded. “Any specific reasons why?” 
“Our shop is popular among young girls, so they probably assumed they could find a trace of the little lady here,” he answered. 
“Oh?” Nemesis reacted to something. “‘Popular among young girls,’ you say? Does that mean...?” 
“Yes, we have a large selection of sweets,” said the shopkeeper. 
Nemesis’ eyes lit up. “Excellent!” she cheered. “Master! Let’s eat to our heart’s content!” 
“But I just bought some new gear,” I said. “I’m not sure I want to use much more mon—” 
“Two gacha pulls, 200,000 lir,” she cut me off. 
“I’m sorry. Please eat all you want,” I said, giving in.

An hour later, Nemesis left the shop looking wholly satisfied after having eaten tons of sweets, while I walked out with my hands on my head as I despaired at the state of my inventory, which had less than 10,000 lir remaining. 
That’s too much... You ate way too much! 
“And yet it still cost less than your gacha shenanigans,” she said. 
There was nothing I could say back to that. 
“All right, I guess it’s time to go outside and open up the capsule I pulled,” I said. 
“Indeed,” Nemesis agreed. “I hope it’s worth more than 200,000 lir.” 
...Yes, please, oh God almighty, I thought. 
Once again, I went to the Nex Plains, where I’d tested my Miasmaflame Bracers. I distanced myself from Gideon’s walls and stood in the grass several tens of meters away from the main road. 
The capsule said, “Open only in spacious areas.” I didn’t know its standards for “spaciousness,” but the place I was standing at was wide enough for an entire house or a ship to pop out without any problem. 
“After all, I don’t want to spawn something huge only to have it get stuck on the walls, destroy them, and get me into lots of trouble,” I said. 
“Time to open it, then?” asked Nemesis. 
I took out the X capsule, twisted it to make it open, and caused something pop out. It reminded me of that long-running game series where you grow monsters and have them fight other monsters. 
“It’s a...” I muttered. 
I had been steeling myself for the appearance of something as large as a house or a ship, but the thing I’d gotten was nowhere near as big. In fact, it was even smaller than the shop employee’s “carriage” example. 
It wasn’t too far off the mark, though. For what I had gotten was a horse. However, it didn’t seem to be a living creature. 
The horse was made of a silver-looking metal that was reminiscent of well-polished plate mail. Its shape was blatantly equestrian. It had been forged from what seemed to be armor pieces, and it had glimmering white orbs where its eyes were supposed to be. It could only be described as a “robot horse.” 
“So, it’s not a monster?” asked Nemesis. 
I seemed to be its official owner, and its description in my inventory went like so:

Prism Steed, Zephyrus Silver 
Special equipment: Mount 
One of the five Prism Steeds manufactured by Flagman — an artisan from an ancient civilization. 
He who walks inside the wind. 
Details unknown. 

Details unknown? I raised an eyebrow. All the description had told me was that it was rideable and that it had a relation to the wind. With questioning eyes, I looked at both the window with the description and the Prism Steed, Zephyrus Silver — who I chose to call just “Silver.” 
Silver didn’t seem to care, and only continued to stand in the field. 
Upon further inspection, I noticed that his head didn’t seem to have a mouth. The description said that he was manufactured by an artisan called Flagman, so it was obvious that he was a robot. However, he occasionally released sounds similar to neighs, kicked the ground with his hoof every now and then, and moved his fiber-made tail in a very horse-like manner. 
The way it was impossible to tell which part of the sky he was looking at made him seem somewhat cat-like. 
“How about riding him?” suggested Nemesis. 
Good idea, I thought. Thankfully, Silver already had a saddle and reins, so I wouldn’t have any problems getting on. 
I closed in on him while being wary of kicks or something like that, but he turned out to be very obedient. 
Once I took the reins, he lowered himself in a way that made his stomach partly touch the ground, making it easy for me to get on. 
What a well-trained and friendly horse, I thought. It was strange that he was actually a robot. 
I was quickly growing fond of him. I wanted to get on and speed through these fields on him. 
After I sat down in the saddle, I placed my feet in the stirrups. After I did that, Silver stood up. 
“Wow...” I murmured. 
The view from atop of a horse was slightly moving. My visual point was much higher than when I stood on my own two feet, or when I’d ridden a pony when I was young. 
Silver moved his hooves in a way that made it seem as though he wanted to dash through the fields right now. 
“Be careful,” warned Nemesis. 
Riding together with Nemesis seemed pretty hard, so for now, I had her wait while I tried riding Silver by myself. I’d give her a chance to try after a short run. 
“All right, let’s go,” I said. “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” 
Saying those words I’ve always wanted to say, I threw the reins, and at that moment, the sky and ground were reversed. 
Unable to tell which way was really up, I felt as if I was falling upwards. 
I could see Nemesis, who looked completely taken aback. 
I could hear the sound of Silver running through the fields. 
With my five senses in such a state, I fell to the ground — head first. 
“Good thing it’s just grass,” Nemesis said that while looking down on me. 
With my hand on top of my slightly creaking neck, I used healing magic on myself. 
Silver was looking at me, and I couldn’t tell whether he was worried or didn’t think anything at all. 
“I never would’ve expected you to fall off on the very first step,” said Nemesis. 
Same here, I thought. I’d fallen off the very moment Silver had begun to run. 
“You had a small audience looking at you from the main road,” said Nemesis. “They all made expressions much like mine when they saw what happened.” 
That seemed like an appropriate reaction, honestly. 
“...Why did that happen, though?” I couldn’t help but ask. I hadn’t been riding him in a weird way or anything. The way I’d been thrown off seemed to ignore all laws of physics. 
“It’s a wonder, indeed,” Nemesis agreed. “You’re a Paladin, so you should be able ride horses without any problems.” 
“Exactly, so... hm?” Realizing something, I took a look at Silver’s skills. There was a total of three — Running, Wind Hoof, and one unknown skill that said “????,” just like a skill on the Miasmaflame Bracers. 
I took a look at the details of the “Running” skill. 
Allows running while someone is riding. The rider must have either Horse Riding or Riding skills. 
“Horse Riding... skill?” I read out loud. 
I can’t ride Silver without that skill? I thought. I can only make him walk around? 
“Well, you don’t have the skill,” said Nemesis. “Strange, considering that you’re a Paladin.” 
“There aren’t many skills I can learn from my job,” I said. The only ones I had so far were Paladin’s Aegis and the low-tier healing magic. 
“Strange,” she seemed puzzled. “A Paladin is basically an upgrade to Knight, so you have every reason to have the Horse Riding skill.” 
“Yeah,” I agreed. “...Wait, an upgrade?” 
Wait, Paladins were upgraded Knights. 
The realization of the implications made me break out in a cold sweat. 
“Nemesis, I’m going offline for a second.” 
“Hm? W-Well, if you insist...” 
After logging out, I went on my PC and began doing research on the Horse Riding skill and the relationship between low-rank and high-rank jobs. 
Horse Riding was a skill that practically represented the Knight — the low-rank job that usually came before Paladin. Therefore, anyone who took the normal path and became a Paladin after having been a Knight would naturally have the Horse Riding skill. But, due to some twists of fate, I’d ended up skipping Knight and going straight to Paladin. 
Doing so had given me a great stat growth and a head start over most newbies. However, the number of skills the Paladin job had given me was really lacking. In fact, I only had a mere two — Paladin’s Aegis and First Heal. 
Rook had far more, as a Pimp — a low-rank job. I could only assume that skills from high-rank jobs required the player to learn skills from low-rank jobs of the same grouping. 
According to the walkthrough wiki, Knights had no access to Paladin’s Aegis or any healing spells — they could only be learned after becoming a Paladin. Other skills that could be learned by Paladin were Grand Cross — which was considered to be the job’s ultimate attack — and Purifying Silverlight — which no one really knew how to get. 
All skills except for these four were extensions of skills learned by Knights. That included offensive and other skills... such as Horse Riding. 
I sat at my PC and silently processed the facts. 
I didn’t have a single offensive Paladin skill. My level was in the mid-20s. I definitely should’ve had one by now. But I didn’t, which meant that my assumption was correct. 
Most Paladin skills required the player to learn the skills from the low-rank job of the same grouping — Knight. 
Why didn’t my brother warn me about this? I thought. ...Oh, I guess he just didn’t know anyone who’d started with a high-rank job, so my case was a first to him. 
I had a feeling that — like Rook’s Lost Heart — many high-rank jobs required the person to have reached the max level on low-rank jobs of the same grouping. Even Paladin requirements weren’t ones that could be fulfilled by your standard level 0 newbies, so it was natural for him not to know about this. 
“...I see,” I muttered. It all made sense now. I couldn’t learn the skill and ride Silver without switching to the low-rank job, Knight. 
I didn’t care much about the offensive skills. I had Nemesis with me, and I’d recently gotten my hands on the Miasmaflame Bracers. However, to ride Silver, I had to find a way to learn the Horse Riding skill. 
I searched around for a way to learn it without switching to Knight, and it didn’t take long for me to find it. 
There was an accessory called “Amulet of the Equestrian Tribe,” which gave a +1 to the Horse Riding skill. That was the only thing I would need to be able to ride Silver. 
That wasn’t all. Jobs which had the aptitude for skills acquired through accessory effects could actually master those skills and make them their own. Since Paladin was an upgrade to Knight, it was obvious that I had the aptitude for Horse Riding. 
“Yes! This is it!” I exclaimed. 
Quickly concluding that I had to go to Gideon’s marketplace and buy one of those accessories, I took a look at how much they went for. 
Amulet of the Equestrian Tribe — Market Price: 100,000 lir. 
I fell to the ground. 
 
“We have to find ways to get money.” I logged back in and stated our next course of action. 
“Well, we have less than 10,000 lir left,” Nemesis nodded. “We would’ve had to get money even if we didn’t have this problem with Silver.” 
She was right. We were nearly broke, so we had to do something about it regardless. 
I seem to have a knack for getting big money and quickly losing it all, I thought. Strange, considering that I’m not actually wasting it. 
“Gacha,” said Nemesis. 
A-Again, I-I’m not actually wasting it. 
“By the way, unlike the first Permit, the second one wasn’t signed, right?” she said. “Why did you just give it to Rook instead of selling it? I can’t be sure if you would’ve gotten the 100,000 lir you spent on it, but you could’ve received at least half of that, no?” 
“...Ah,” I said. She had a point. 
“You...” Nemesis couldn’t find the words to express what she felt. 
“No, it’s fine,” I said. “I already gave it to Rook. A man does not go back on his word. We’ll find other ways to make money.” 
“That’s easy to say,” she said. “However, Rook is currently offline and asleep, while Miss Sunglasses has her hands full with some other business. There’s a limit to how much we can do just by ourselves.” 
“Yep, that’s a bit of a problem,” I agreed. I could go and accept some quest, but since I was solo, my choices were limited to the ones with low difficulty and thus low rewards. 
There was also the meeting we had planned for tomorrow afternoon, so I couldn’t take any quests that would last too long. 
“Perhaps we should hunt for a bounty? Like that demon?” suggested Nemesis. 
“That’ll get us a death penalty if we fail, though,” I said. “We wouldn’t make it for tomorrow’s arrangement.” 
“I see this world just isn’t nice enough to give us a means of getting 100,000 lir in a short amount of time,” she said. 
Time wasn’t a big problem — I’d have had tons of it after the surprise Marie had in store for us tomorrow. However, I wanted to ride Silver as soon as possible. 
“What about the arena, then?” asked Nemesis. “It allows fighting without the risk of death penalty and rewards the victor, no?” 
“Yeah, well, I looked it up and found out that you can only participate when your total level is above 51,” I answered. 
During the testing this morning, my level had gone up to 26. I still had a way to go before the arena was open to me. 
“Oh, yeah!” Something came to me. “I can still bet on the fighters! I’ll put my money on who I think will win and—” 
“Don’t,” Nemesis cut me off. “Fortune might favor you when it really counts, but most of the time, you’re just plain unlucky.” 
...You’re not wrong there, I thought. 
“Guess I’ll have to give up on getting the Amulet of the Equestrian Tribe by today or tomorrow and just do some basic money-making instead,” I sighed. 
“Good idea,” Nemesis agreed. “With that in mind, let’s make our way to the Adventurers’ Guild.” 
Nemesis and I began walking towards Gideon’s first district, where the guild building was. 
“By the way,” Nemesis spoke up again. “I know that borrowing from Rook isn’t an option, but what about Brother Bear?” 
“Having him lend me money would make me feel like a loser,” I said. 
“Hmm...” she pondered. “What about your old equipme—” 
“Already sold it,” I answered before she could finish. And all the earnings I got from it have disappeared into your endless stomach, I thought. 
The only property I owned currently was the gear I was wearing and the less than 10,000 lir I had remaining. 
“Oh, this talk about equipment reminds me...” said Nemesis. “Why are you so averse to glasses?” 
“...What?” I asked. 
“I’ve been wondering about it since our exchange with the penguin,” she continued. “I tried looking through your memories, but I couldn’t do it because it’s in the deepest, most private section of all. Honestly, the defenses on it are way too strong, and I can’t help but wonder why.” 
...That seems like a strong sign that I don’t want to talk about it and that you shouldn’t be asking me this, I thought. But okay, I’ll talk. Nemesis and I were basically one and the same, so there should be no harm in telling her. 
“Back when I was a kid,” I said, “my eyesight was very poor. When I got into year 4 of elementary school, I happened to be the only kid in class who wore glasses.” 
“Well, things like that happen every now and then,” Nemesis commented. 
“My nickname instantly became ‘Noby,’ like the character from Doraemon,” I continued. 
“...Hm?” she raised an eyebrow. 
“My classmates used ‘Noby’ more than my real name,” I went on. “They often pressed me to say his trademark Doraemon phrase, even though I didn’t sound much like the character. Not only that, but the theme of the school’s arts festival somehow became Doraemon, and, of course, I was given the role of Noby.” 
It wasn’t like I had been bullied. Nor had I been some sort of outcast. In fact, I’d had a lot of friends. My classmates at that time had clearly had no ill will, and had only given me the nickname because we were somewhat close. However, the lack of a proper outlet had made a certain sentiment grow within me. 
It could basically be summed up with the words “Who are you calling ‘Noby’?” Or, “I love Doraemon and all, but this is a completely different matter.” 
Nemesis was silently staring at me. 
“What wrong, Nemesis?” I asked her. 
“The reason is just so trifling that I don’t know how to react,” she answered. 
“...Well, even I know that it’s not such a big deal,” I admitted. My big sister had reacted the same way when I’d told her about it. 
“You said you had poor eyesight,” Nemesis spoke again. “Do you still wear glasses in real life?” 
“No,” I answered. “My vision was corrected over the course of the five years after the school’s arts festival.” 
I had eaten things that were good for my eyes and trained them by looking far ahead and by moving my eyeballs daily. It’d been hard work. 
“I admire your tenacity, but wouldn’t it have been better to just get contact lenses?” she asked. 
“The idea of putting things in my eyes scares me,” I answered. 
“Master, you...” She was completely out of things to say. 
“Naturally, laser eye surgery scared me, too, so I had to fix my eyesight with steady training and... Hm?” 
As Nemesis and I were walking through the streets and chatting, I suddenly heard some unpleasant sounds coming from a nearby back alley. 
They made me curious, so I went towards their source. 
A short distance away from the main road, between the buildings, there was a slightly larger area where I saw five men encircling a single girl. 
The men looked like the most stereotypical, run-of-the-mill, boorish punks. The sight reminded me of what Liliana had told me about the princess who’d run away, which had made me picture a generic scenario where I encountered her being harassed by a bunch of evil bastards. Thinking that it couldn’t be the case, I took a better look at the scene, and... it actually wasn’t. 
The damsel in distress had a decent appearance, but her facial features were definitely those of a commoner. She wouldn’t have seemed out of place if I’d seen her standing outside a restaurant and attracting customers. The girl definitely wasn’t the princess, but that didn’t matter, considering how much trouble she was in. 
The contents of their exchange could be summed up like so: 
The girl had a little brother who had been kidnapped yesterday. 
These men had blackmailed her, saying that she had to prepare 200,000 lir if she wanted him back. They had also added that her brother would be killed if she told anything to the knights. 
The girl had run around, borrowing money and selling their family’s possessions until she’d barely managed to gather the 200,000 lir. She had then brought the ransom money to the place the kidnappers had named — this back alley — and given it to them. 
The men had readily accepted the money, but they’d had absolutely no intention of giving her little brother back. Not only that — they were about to take the girl herself as an extra. 
Well, damn, I thought. They’re scumbags to the core. 
They were tians, not monsters — at least not in the game sense — but it was clear that kicking their asses wouldn’t give me any pangs of conscience. 
And letting it slide would leave a bad taste in my mouth. 
With that thought, I stood up and showed myself to the scumbags. 
“Stop right there!” I exclaimed and instantly realized that my voice was doubled for some reason. 
“...Hm?” I said in surprise, and it happened once again. 
Okay, what the hell? I thought. 
I’d done nothing special — I’d merely jumped out and said something — but my voice had come out as if it was in-sync with another one. 
A moment later, I noticed the cause. There was another person standing behind the scumbags and the girl — at the other side of the back alley. 
It was a young man who looked about as old as I was and had donned some strangely-designed clothing that seemed to be a mix of a military uniform and a rider suit. The gloves he wore exposed the backs of his hands, and the left one had a crest which made it obvious that he was a Master. 
“It matters not,” he said. “Back away from that fair lady, you vile scoundrels.” 
Apparently, he was just a guy who’d happened to be thinking the exact same thing I had been thinking at the exact same time. 
“P-Please, help!” pled the girl. 
“Heh,” he grinned. “Why, certainly. All beauteous flowers have thorns. And it is my mission in life to be the thorn for ladies as lovely as yourself and to sting any ruffians trying to harm you.” 
Though we seemed to be alike in some ways, I wasn’t nearly as pompous as him. The aura around him almost made me imagine roses and unnatural rays of light like in some manga aimed at young girls or a Takarazuka Revue performance. 
“Who the hell are you two?” demanded one of the scumbags. 
Another got excited. “Huh? Ya wanna go? Let’s do this!” 
“Hyahaah!” one just cheered in a discomforting way. 
“There’s five of us, ya dumb shits!” spoke yet another. 
“That’s two times more than you!” the last one added. 
That’s not two times, you numbskull, I thought. It’s 2.5 times. 
“Heh,” the pompous Master grinned. “Indeed, there are more of you, but what are your levels?” 
“Huh?!” One of them got scared. 
“From what I can tell, you are all on your first low-rank job,” said the pompous weirdo. “My total level, however, is 126.” 
“W-What?!” They all freaked out in unison. 
“Heh,” he grinned yet again. “Now, bear witness to my power. I’ll just summon my Garage and...” 
“Get him before he does anything!” shouted one of the scumbags. The other four let out a battle cry and charged at him. 
“What?!” the guy was surprised. “Wait, I need to get in my Magingear and... No matter! I will do this with my bare hands if I must!” 
I felt as though I was reading a delinquent manga. All five of the hoodlums ran towards the guy in the military uniform with their fists ready to strike. 
And so, due to just how much the weirdo was standing out, I was being completely ignored. 
“Oh well,” I sighed. The timing was good, so I spoke to the girl. “You should run away now.” 
“Th-Thank you very much!” She thanked me with palpable fear in her voice and ran to the street behind me. 
“Okay, that’s done,” I said. “And the battle is... wait, what?” 
I looked to the other side and — to my surprise — saw the guy in the uniform getting beaten to a pulp. The five hoodlums weren’t unharmed or anything, but it was still safe to say that the battle was completely one-sided. 
Seems like there are too many of them for him to take on by himself, I thought. But wait, his total level is 126, so how... Oh, I see. 
“Having a high total level doesn’t mean that you have high stats, as well,” I said aloud. He was probably like Rook, who — due to being a Pimp — had half of most of my stats despite his level being two times greater than mine. 
Nonetheless, 126 was a formidable level. If the five scumbags were taking care of him that easily, it was entirely possible that I wouldn’t fare so well, either. 
As that thought went through my head, one of the five raised his fist and charged towards me. “You’re next!” 
I hastily evaded his attack and countered with a punch directed straight into his face. 
The next moment, the man got blasted away to the other side of the alley. 
“...Eh?” The other four hoodlums were shocked. 
“...Why?” I asked, as perplexed as the scumbags. 
Thinking that Nemesis had done something, I turned around and looked at her. She responded by heaving a light sigh and pointing at the back of her hand. That action made me look at the backs of my own hands and reminded me of a certain fact. 
I was wearing the Miasmaflame Bracers. 
While testing them today, I had focused mainly on their ability to release fire and gas, but those weren’t the only features they had. The item could also be used for defense and gave a bonus to my stats. Specifically, it increased my STR by 100%. 
Back when I had been level 0, my STR had been somewhere around 10. I hadn’t had any problems moving my body back then, so I could only assume that that amount was representative of a standard adult male’s strength. I’d leveled up and increased my stats since then, and with the bonus from Miasmaflame Bracers, my STR was now over 400. That meant that I’d just punched a hoodlum in the face with the strength of more than 40 average adult males. 
“Is he dead?” Slightly worried, I took a look at the guy, who was lying on the other side of the alley. 
He was twitching, so it was safe to assume that he’d survived. I heaved a sigh of relief. It was pretty obvious that their jobs were combat-oriented, so they were probably tougher than the average Joe. 
“It’s all good, then,” I said as I closed in on them while bashing my bracers together. 
The results wouldn’t have been pretty if I’d used Nemesis, so I chose to settle it with the bad boys on my hands. 
“Who’s next?” I asked. 
“Eee!” one of them shrieked like a little girl. 
I probably looked a bit too menacing, since they quickly turned pale, whirled around, and ran away like roaches. 
“D-Damn it!” one of them shouted. “Don’t get cocky, you shits! We still have that bitch’s brother!” With that, they disappeared into the main road. 
Man, what a generic set of scumbags, I thought. 
“Are you okay?” I asked. “First Heal.” 
I walked over to the uniformed guy they’d beaten up and cast my healing spell on him. 
His wounds weren’t deep by any stretch of the imagination, and my basic healing magic quickly closed them all. 
“Heh, thank you,” he said gratefully. “Hm? Those ears are...” He looked up at the things on my head — the dog ears I’d grown because of the mad penguin. 
“What about them?” I asked. 
“...Oh, nothing,” he answered. “It’s a nice accessory.” 
“Find a penguin and you can get your own pair,” I said. 
“Heh.” He grinned yet again. “I will keep that in mind.” 
The man stood up and dusted his clothes. Even that action seemed a bit pompous. 
“I feel that this meeting is fated,” he said. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Hugo Lesseps. I am a Master and my job is High Pilot.” 
“I’m Ray Starling,” I responded. “I’m a Master and a Paladin. And this is my Embryo, Nemesis.” 
“I see... Embryos of the Maiden type are quite a rarity,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to meet such a lovely mademoiselle.” 
“Pleased to meet you, too,” said Nemesis. 
I found it interesting that he could tell that Nemesis was a Maiden and not a Guardian just by looking at her. 
But man, the way he talks sounds like it belongs in a play or something, I thought. I wonder where he’s from. If his name is anything to go by, then he’s probably French. 
“By the way, why did they beat you up so easily?” I asked. “Is your job not battle-oriented or something?” They’d been pretty weak when I’d fought them, so I would’ve assumed that someone with a total level of 126 could’ve handled them easily. 
“Heh.” There was that grin again. “I am a level 50 Pilot, level 50 Mechanic, and level 26 High Pilot. Leveling with these jobs only raises my HP, MP, SP, and DEX, so all my other stats are about what they were when I started out!” 
That didn’t seem like something to be proud of. Also, I couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of jobs they were to have such a biased stat growth. 
Does he drive a car or something? I thought. Is he like a character from Metal Max or something? 
“U-Umm...” I said. 
As I pondered the nature of Hugo’s job, someone called out to me. 
I turned around to see the girl we’d helped out. Apparently, she’d chosen to stay nearby instead of running away completely. 
“Th-Thank you very much for helping me!” she cried. 
“Oh, no need for that,” I said. “I did it because I felt like it.” Also, it would’ve left a bad taste in my mouth if I hadn’t. 
“Heh.” Hugo grinned again. "I feel the same way. I don’t know if I could sleep at night after having ignored a lady in distress.” 
Isn’t that much like my go-to phrase for these situations? I thought. 
“U-Umm... Are you Masters?” the girl ventured. 
“Why, yes,” said Hugo. “Myself and Ray here are both Masters.” 
The girl dropped to the ground before us and pushed her head against it. 
“Lady...” Hugo didn’t seem sure how to react. “Please raise your head.” 
“Please... Please save my little brother!” she pled. “I beg of you!” 
Oh, yeah, the scumbags said something about that while running away, I thought. 
“Save him? As in, from those hoodlums?” I asked. 
“Y-Yes!” she said. “They’re the Gouz-Maise Gang... They kidnap children, and if they don’t get the ransom for them, the boys and girls get killed and e-eate— ohhh...” 
Her words made me turn silent. 
Killing and eating children? I thought in disbelief. Ohhh, man... 
“They kidnapped my little brother, so please, save him!” she exclaimed. “I can give you this money! And if that’s not enough, I’ll do whatever you want...” 
She extended the bag with the ransom towards us and begged while crying her eyes out. 
I knew the circumstances from the eavesdropping I’d done before jumping out to help her. As things were, her brother would’ve been killed and eaten sooner rather than later. To prevent that result from becoming reality, one had to act fast, and the only ones who could do that were Hugo and me. 
Honestly, I had a feeling it would come to this the moment I showed myself to the scumbags, I thought. That’s why I’m fully prepared to face the risks. 
“I’m down for it,” I said. “I don’t need any compensation, though.” 
“B-But...” 
“You went through great lengths to gather this ransom money, right?” I said. “I can’t take it.” I had a feeling that I would’ve done something about it even if she hadn’t asked me to. If I’d ignored it, the aftertaste in my mouth would’ve been downright foul. 
“What about you, Hugo?” I asked. 
“Heh,” he grinned. “A foolish question. Of course I’m doing it. And I don’t need any money, either.” 
Hugo went down on one of his knees, gently placed his left hand on her chin, and made her look upwards. He then gently wiped her tears away with the thumb of his right hand. 
“Lady,” he said gently. “We shall stop your tears.” And so — as if acting out a scene from a play — Hugo smiled at her. “I promise that you will greet tomorrow’s morning with a smile on your face.”

[The quest “Rescue Roddie Lancarse, Difficulty Level 8” has started] 
[Please see the quest window for further details] 

A message directed to my ears announced the beginning of an event quest. Apparently, the same thing had happened to Hugo. 
“Let us go, Ray,” he said. “The mission awaits.” 
“Okay,” I sighed. “I can dance to this tune of yours.” Our target quest was the difficulty level 8 “Rescue Roddie Lancarse.” Our destination was the hideout of man-eaters and kidnappers — the Gouz-Maise Gang. 
Our goal... was a morning of smiles. 
And so, we began our quest.