A CERTAIN ADVENTURER’S NEXT STEPS
I stare at the sword in my hand.
It has no scabbard, so its blade is bare.
The single-edge long sword with a slight curve is a design rarely seen around here, where straight, double-edge blades are the norm.
The gleaming blade looks masterfully wrought, as if there isn’t a thing it couldn’t cut through.
Just holding it in my hand seems to fill me with power.
In fact, according to Sir Ronandt, who gave it to me, it really does have the effect of strengthening its wielder.
On top of that, he said that it can control lightning.
Even compared to other magic swords with special effects, it’s in a class all its own.
I can’t even imagine how much money this single sword must be worth.
If I sold it, I could probably live in luxury for the rest of my days.
Yet, despite how amazing this sword is, my feelings are mixed.
“Ahhh…”
A sigh escapes my lips.
Do I really have any right to wield this sword…?
“‘Don’t interfere with them’? What’s that supposed to mean?”
This was a little while ago, when I went to the guild master’s office.
I was there because I’d received orders from the guild master not to interfere with the group that showed up at the guild a few days ago, the ones who were most likely demons.
“Dunno. But that’s what the Church told us. Seems they’re closely linked with the Church, and they personally guarantee that there won’t be any problems.”
“The Church?”
My voice sounded doubtful, but I don’t think you could blame me for that.
Why would someone working in service of the Word of God religion be supporting such a shady group?
“S’right. So don’t try any funny business, got it?”
“…I don’t like it.”
“Well, it don’t matter if you like it or not. Thanks to that ogre, this town’s lost just about all its adventurers. You wanna pick a fight with the Church in that state? You know the guild took out a huge loan from the Church, yeah?”
I knew what the guild master was getting at.
The Church is no ordinary religious group.
Many adventurers faithfully adhere to the Word of God religion, which believes in honing one’s skills in order to hear the Divine Voice.
As a result, the guild and the Church have a close connection, and they frequently help each other.
What would happen if the guild was to take action against the wishes of the Church?
The other guilds would all shun us, and the Church might even withdraw its financial support.
After the incident with the ogre, that kind of trouble might even bring our guild down entirely.
So the guild would probably prefer to cut off any adventurer who caused trouble like that.
In this case, that means me.
It’s the guild master’s job to protect the guild, so I can’t blame him for prioritizing the Church’s desires over mine.
I understood all that, but it didn’t mean I had to like it.
“Should we talk to the imperial army?”
“If the Church says they’re not a problem, do you really think that’s a good idea?”
“Right.”
If we went to the imperial army about this, it’d be like ignoring what the Church told us.
“Gotou. I don’t know what’s got you all worked up about this, but the Church gave us their word. If they’re that confident about it, I’m sure it’ll be fine. There’s no sense in jumping to conclusions here, okay? If anything does happen, the blame’ll fall on the Church for telling us not to worry when we raised suspicions, not us. We’ll just let the Church handle it, yeah?”
The guild master was right, of course.
But I couldn’t help feeling like if we left that group to their own devices, something terrible was going to happen.
Just then, the door swung open, and two old men entered.
“Pardon the intrusion. Oh, Guild Master, perfect timing.”
It was Sir Ronandt and Sir Nyudoz of the imperial army, who’d been sent out to deal with the ogre.
“You’ve returned safely! That must mean you were able to defeat that ogre, then!”
The guild master looked excited, but Ronandt’s expression was grave.
“Well, about that. Unfortunately, I cannot quite say that we defeated it.”
Sir Ronandt is the world’s strongest mage, and Nyudoz is a master of swordsmanship.
And yet, even with them leading an army, they weren’t able to defeat that ogre.
It’s a bit hard to believe, but Sir Ronandt would have no reason to lie.
“Th-then it got away…?”
“Indeed. But we can discuss the details somewhere quieter.”
“All right. We’ll go to the upstairs room, then.”
The guild master and the old men headed for the stairs.
As they went, the guild master shot me a meaningful glance.
It came out as more of a glare, so he was probably warning me not to say anything reckless.
But in the next moment, Sir Ronandt rendered that look meaningless.
“Hrm. If I may?”
With that, Sir Ronandt turned his gaze toward me, and I suddenly felt a strange sensation assail my body.
I’m not too familiar with it, but I could still tell it was the feeling of being Appraised.
“Oh-ho. Rather impressive. Come along with us, then.”
Sir Ronandt must have approved of my Appraisal results, because he invited me along.
The guild master and I both stared, dumbfounded, but the two elders went on ahead as if it was perfectly natural.
You never can tell what these big shots are thinking.
Thus, I got a rare glimpse inside the guild master’s room, and Sir Ronandt allowed me to listen in on the tale of their battle with the ogre.
As the man himself said, it seemed as if both sides suffered losses.
What would have happened if the ogre had stayed and fought instead of fleeing?
Honestly, I’m not so sure anymore.
And it seems that Sir Ronandt and the others couldn’t tell, either.
Which was probably why he decided to entrust it to the servant of the Church who appeared directly afterward.
When I heard that, my first thought was: The Church again?
Until now, I’d never paid much mind to the Church, but now I’m beginning to find it highly suspicious.
“They certainly have their secrets, but I have faith in their abilities if nothing else. If they say that they will take care of it, then there is no need to worry about the ogre any longer.”
As an important person who has supported the empire for countless years, it seems that Sir Ronandt has his share of experience with the Church.
If Ronandt says it is so, then we should assume that the ogre is as good as dealt with.
“And as far as the group that the Church told you not to interfere with that you were discussing before, I believe it best to trust them on that count as well.”
“…You heard all of that?”
“I might not look it, but I’ve got a good pair of ears. Think you can keep up, youngster?”
In contrast to the guild master’s grim expression, Sir Ronandt wore a mischievous grin.
He and the other elder were outside while we had that conversation inside the guild.
How good must his ears be if he could hear through walls?
“At any rate, we shall not be making any further moves. In fact, we cannot. We must take measures to make up for the adventurers who were lost in this incident. Starting with setting up a patrol of soldiers in and around this town. The guild is short on manpower, is it not?”
True enough, since the ogre defeated us so handily, we lost a great deal of adventurers.
That meant it had gotten harder to fend off monsters, defend travelers going from town to town, securing supplies, and so on.
Worse, it wasn’t just this town’s adventurers who were wiped out by the ogre—there were many losses among the adventurers from neighboring towns and villages as well.
Which meant this whole region was currently short on adventurers.
If the imperial army was going to help shoulder that burden, it’d be a big help.
“So you understand this means we have no time to waste getting mixed up with a group of travelers who may or may not be dangerous. I wouldn’t mind investigating personally, but the Word of God religion has been displeased with me since the hero incident. If I anger them any further, it will likely lead to more than just a demotion for me. I am sorry.”
So the rumors that he took on the young hero as an apprentice and nearly killed him in the name of “training” are true.
I doubt the Church would make an enemy of the peerless mage Ronandt unless they had a serious reason for doing so.
“Thus, you see, there is nothing we can do. If anything happens, you shall simply have to complain to the Church.”
It wasn’t exactly reassuring, but there was nothing else to be done.
I’d have to do my best to accept it, even if it still bothered me.
But then Sir Ronandt added a new concern to my list of troubles.
“Nyudoz. Give it here.”
“Hrmmm?! Can I speak now?!”
“Not yet. You’re too loud. Just give me that thing we talked about and stay quiet.”
“Hrmmmph!”
Grumbling, Sir Nyudoz lapsed back into silence.
Just as Sir Ronandt said, his voice was painfully loud, so it was probably for the best.
He may be an amazing swordsman and all, but still.
“Here. You can have this.”
Sir Ronandt handed me the object that Sir Nyudoz had passed to him: a magic sword.
And now that same sword is in my hand.
It’s one of the magic swords that the ogre had wielded.
When it fought Sir Ronandt and company, it seems the ogre left behind one of its swords as it fled.
The imperial army took it back with them as the spoils of war, but for some reason, Sir Ronandt saw fit to give it to me.
I did my best to refuse, insisting that I couldn’t accept it, but he forced it on me anyway.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
I stare at the sword, at a loss.
I didn’t accomplish anything in the battle with that ogre.
Do I really have any right to receive this sword?
No, I don’t think so.
Maybe I should go return it after all.
Besides, I was already thinking about quitting the adventurer business.
I ran away from the ogre, and Regg and my other adventurer friends are all dead.
I’ve lost my confidence and drive.
So I figured once things settled down, I’d retire from adventuring and spend the rest of my days at my leisure.
But if I quit now that there are so few adventurers left already, this guild might actually be done for.
I planned to just keep at it half-heartedly until the guild pulled itself together, but now that I’ve been given this fancy sword, I feel like I have no choice but to work like a dog.
Reaping the rewards even though I was no help at all in the fight against the ogre would make everyone think less of me.
Especially the friends and family of the adventurers who were lost.
If I toss them aside and accept this gift, I wouldn’t blame them for hating me.
The only way to avoid being subjected to all that resentment would be to work hard to contribute to our town’s recovery.
“Ugh. What am I gonna do?”
As I grumble to myself, the door of the guild opens.
“Ah, Mr. Gotou.”
Turning around, I see Rukusso enter.
He was severely wounded in the ogre battle, but he got treated just in time to survive.
If the healing had happened any later, he’d probably be dead.
Although Regg gave up his own life to buy enough time for me to get him to a healer…
“Rukusso, eh? What is it?”
Rukusso is dressed in casual clothes.
They’re the clothes of a civilian, not an adventurer.
That’s not how people dress to go to the adventurers’ guild.
“Mr. Gotou… I think I’m going to quit being an adventurer.”
“I see.”
I kind of suspected that was what he would say.
There are probably quite a few adventurers like me who are thinking about quitting after everything that happened.
Rukusso is just one more of that number.
“And I’m probably going to leave town, too.”
“I see.”
This isn’t too surprising, either.
This town is full of memories of his time spent adventuring with his friends.
It’d probably be tough to stay here, constantly being reminded of all that.
“D’you know where you’re gonna go?”
“Yes. I intend to go back home to my family. My parents are farmers, but I ran away to become an adventurer because I didn’t want to take over the farm. I’m going to go back, apologize to my parents, and start over.”
Many adventurers tend to be outcasts.
In a profession that so many people have joined because they have no other options, Rukusso is one of the lucky few who has somewhere to go back to.
“Gotcha. Well, you’ll be missed.”
“Thank you. I wanted to make sure I spoke to you before I left, Mr. Gotou, since you’ve done so much for me. I only wish that I could give my thanks to Mr. Regg, too.”
The man who died protecting Rukusso.
I’m sure that’s a heavy burden on the young man’s heart.
“C’mon now. You knew him. I’m sure he’d just yell at you not to look so gloomy.”
“Ha-ha. I suppose you’re right.”
“He saved your life. So the least you can do for him is be more positive like he was and lead a long, happy life, yeah? That way he’ll know it was worth laying down his own life.”
That’s the kind of man Regg was.
He wouldn’t hesitate. He’d be proud to die protecting his comrades.
“Right. I will!”
Rukusso nods tearfully.
“Take care of yourself, kid.”
“Yes, sir. Mr. Gotou, I always looked up to you and Mr. Regg. I wasn’t able to become an amazing adventurer like you two, but you both saved my life, so I’ll treasure it forever!”
“Good. Find yourself a pretty wife or something, have some kids and grandkids. Just make sure you’ll be able to say it was a good life in the end.”
“Yes, sir! I guess I’d better start looking for lovers, then.”
“That’s the way!”
Both of us chuckle, and I stick out my hand.
Rukusso grasps it and gives me a firm handshake.
“Take care.”
“You too, Mr. Gotou. Do your best out there.”
Rukusso smiles warmly as he leaves.
Do my best, huh?
I’m sure he didn’t mean it that way, but the timing is pretty pointed.
“…I guess I’ll try to do my best a little longer.”
Since Regg saved his life and all, it wouldn’t hurt to try to be the kind of man who Rukusso would continue to look up to.
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