Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter SS

Side Story: Vengeance and the Subconscious 

“Oh, Rentt. Sorry, but could you take out the garbage? I left it all at the door. I’ll make breakfast while you do that.” 

It was an ordinary morning. I left my room on the second floor of Lorraine’s house and headed down to the living room, where Lorraine had made this request. She was in the middle of cooking and had her hands full. I was living there for free, so I ought to have been the one to both make breakfast and take out the garbage, but Lorraine was willing to do some of the chores. That was unless she was tired or absorbed in research or something. And we didn’t always divide up roles the same way either. We each did our part as necessary and found that easiest. We’d known each other for ten years, so we knew how to work together without needing to exchange many words. 

“Sure, got it,” I said without complaint. I didn’t even need to ask where to toss it out as I grabbed the trash bag and went outside. 

I walked to the place where the denizens of Maalt dumped their garbage. They accepted different types of trash depending on the day, and today was the day for metal. It was going to be melted down and recycled. It would have been stolen if left out in front of people’s houses, so it was all deposited here. Who collected it depended on the dumping site. 

“Oh, working hard, everyone? There’s a lot here today. Ah, Rentt,” said a priest as he arrived. 

He was Adela, a priest from the Church of Alchemy who collected these metal materials. The Church of Alchemy believed alchemic techniques themselves to be divine and worthy of worship. They were a bit odd. Their god was Dayla, the God of Alchemy. Most of their followers were ordinary people, as with any religion, but their priests were advanced alchemists. That was why they preferred materials instead of monetary donations. Lorraine wasn’t a follower of this religion, but as a fellow alchemist, she would sometimes bring them what she didn’t need. But I was usually the one to haul them to this dump, so I knew Adela better than she did. Adela was a fairly talented alchemist, but I had yet to see him use his talents. 

“Hello, Father Adela,” I said and bowed. 

“Are these all your materials?” he asked. 

“They’re more Lorraine’s than mine.” 

“Right, of course. Thank you as always. You two provide a fair number of highly valuable materials, so our members always fight over them.” 

“I don’t feel like it’s much at all, so thanks for saying so.” 

“From our perspective, this is plenty. Much of this would be hard to get my hands on myself.” 

Lorraine and I had collected a lot of the materials from dungeons or mountains. We had intended to use them ourselves, so we’d picked out only the highest quality, and much of it was better than what was available in stores. Most adventurers wouldn’t even be able to identify some of these materials, and they were hardly in circulation. I understood what Adela was saying. 

“Lorraine and I collect these ourselves, so I’m sure there’s plenty of unusual stuff there.” 

“Yes, but they’re all well-known among alchemists. Unfortunately, there aren’t many adventurers who could identify them.” 

“Adventurers tend to take what’s easiest to identify and collect, yes. It’s hard to remember which materials are seldom used but high in value.” 

“I see. It’s good to hear an adventurer’s opinion. Perhaps we should keep that in mind when we send requests to the guild.” 

We kept chatting as more materials arrived. The crowd eventually started to thin out. 

“It’s about time, Rentt,” Adela said. He was going to take everything to the church. 

“Right, goodbye, then.” 

We parted ways. 

“Oh, you’re back. Breakfast is ready,” Lorraine said and took off her apron when I got home. 

Her apron wasn’t the cute sort that the women around town liked. It was for use in experiments and made of sturdy material that wouldn’t melt or burn from powerful acid. It was, of course, not the least bit alluring, but it fit Lorraine well. It was perfectly functional. The problem was that it would get stained by contaminants from her experiments, but she cleaned it thoroughly before each use. That was mostly because it would interfere with her work if she didn’t. That kind of scrupulousness was crucial for researchers. 

All the food on the table looked delicious. It was seasoned in the perfect way to make me hungry. That was to say that it was seasoned with Lorraine’s blood. I think it would’ve tasted fine either way, but the presence of blood made a big difference. It sated my appetite a lot more too, so in terms of efficiency, I appreciated it. 

“Looks good,” I said. “Should we get eating, then?” 

“Yes, let’s.” 

We sat at the table. As we ate, I brought up what had happened earlier. 

“Father Adela said that?” Lorraine asked. “Hm, he doesn’t have to thank us.” 

“That’s what I said, but he’s a polite guy.” 

“Well, he’s always been like that. He could be more famous than he is with his talent, but he chooses to live in this small town.” 

“Really?” 

“Yes, he could get a job in Vistelya if he were so inclined, or even find work in the empire. Not that he’s any match for me, of course.” 

Lorraine spoke highly of herself, but if he was only a little worse at alchemy than her, then he was still fairly skilled. I didn’t entirely understand why Lorraine lived in Maalt either, considering her abilities. 

“If he’s living in Maalt anyway, maybe it’s because the Church of Alchemy doesn’t like him too much,” I said. 

“Well, that’s the most likely possibility. All of these organizations turn out to be corrupt in the end. The Church of Alchemy claims to prioritize science, so it’s sad that even they have the same inclinations.” 

“Sounds rough.” 

“I suppose, but he could leave the Church of Alchemy and join some research team instead. I presume he stays with them because he wants to, so it’s not our place to comment on his circumstances.” 

“I guess so.” 

Sometimes people in unfavorable circumstances stayed in them for their own reasons. Those reasons could vary, but if Father Adela had one, then there was nothing we could say. 

One day, someone knocked on the door to Lorraine’s house and yelled my name. I opened the door and saw two people, one of whom I knew and one of whom I didn’t. The former was Alize, our apprentice. Next to her was a girl around the age of ten. I could tell from her clothes that she was a commoner, but not one from this city, so she must have traveled here. 

“Alize, who’s she?” I asked. 

“She says her name’s Mimir. She’s lost.” 

“Lost? Why’d you come here anyway?” 

“I thought you’d help find who she’s looking for.” 

“Well, who is she looking for?” It could have been a parent, a friend, or a guard. There were plenty of possibilities. 

“Her dad. She says they came to Maalt together, but she suddenly lost him,” Alize explained. 

“Got it. I’ll help.” 

“Wow, thanks! What’d I tell you, Mimir? Rentt’s gonna find your dad for you.” 

Mimir must have been nervous about that. She’d stayed silent up until then, but now she gave me a relieved look. 

“Thank you, Rentt,” she said. 

“Don’t mention it. I’ve got nothing else to do today anyway. But it won’t help anyone if you get lost again, so you two should wait somewhere. Sound good?” 

“Should we stay in the orphanage?” Alize asked. 

“Yeah. But before that, Mimir, I need to ask you about your dad. Is that all right?” 

“Yes!” 

“Good answer.” 

I let the two girls into Lorraine’s house to question Mimir. Then I saw them off to the orphanage and began my search. If you wanted to know where Lorraine was, she’d left after she got an urgent request from the guild. She probably would have assisted with the search, but unfortunately she had her hands full. I had Edel’s information network, though, so I figured I’d be fine. 

“Alize, I’m here,” I said two hours later when I visited the orphanage. 

“Oh, Rentt! Mimir, Rentt’s here!” 

“Rentt! Did you find my dad?” Mimir asked. 

“I found out where he is, but he seems to be outside the city. It sounds like he’s an adventurer, so I guess that’s typical.” 

Mimir’s father was a Silver-class adventurer visiting from Vistelya, and he was fairly talented. He was exploring the New Moon Dungeon to find materials for a noble and said he wouldn’t be back until night. I thought it was wrong of him to leave Mimir on her own, but he could only stay in Maalt for so long, and the noble was rushing him. He’d put out a search request for Mimir at the guild before heading out of town. I doubt he was happy to do that, but it was a complicated situation. Maalt was a peaceful city anyway, and the chance of any danger befalling Mimir was low, so maybe that influenced his decision. At any rate, Mimir was here now, and we knew where her father was, so they would be able to meet up again at night. 

“Thank goodness,” Mimir said. “Then I just have to wait at the guild?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Mimir, why not wait here?” Alize suggested. “This place is nothing fancy, but we should have something to eat before you go!” 

“Oh, I don’t know.” Mimir didn’t seem to want to bother the orphanage any more than she had. 

“It’s fine! This orphanage hasn’t been hurting for food lately! Sister Lillian even hunts monsters sometimes!” Alize said. 

I knew that her disease had been cured, but I’d never considered that she was healthy enough for that. Well, she had divinity, so she could probably do the work of the average adventurer if she were so inclined. 

“Okay!” Mimir said. “Rentt, I think I’ll wait here after all.” 

“In that case, I’ll tell the guild about it,” I replied. 

“Thank you. See you later, then.” 

I returned to the guild again. I had time on my hands, so I figured I would wait for Mimir’s father myself. 

It was night and time for adventurers to return to the guild and deliver their reports. Most of them gave their reports, accepted their rewards, and left like usual, but I saw one group enter the guild in a panic. Lorraine was among them, so I was especially curious. I didn’t want to bother her right away, though, so I waited for her to finish her report and notice me. 

“Did something happen?” I asked Lorraine. 

“Yes. A special monster appeared and petrified a member of our party. No ordinary healing spells or divinity could cure him, so we had to come back and get materials for the medicine. Now we need to mix them together.” 

Petrification could be caused by monster breath, magic, or curses, but that was relatively easy to cure. This situation must have been an exception. But while they were in a panic, Lorraine hadn’t said that curing him was impossible, so they must have had something in mind already. 

“I see, then I’ll help,” I said. “I’m sure I’ll be good for something.” 

“You’re well-educated, so you’ll be good for plenty. Shall we go?” 

Lorraine ran on ahead, and I followed. I wanted to wait for Mimir’s father, but this was urgent. I had already told the guild where Mimir was, so there was nothing to worry about there. 

“We’ve got a problem with the materials,” Lorraine muttered during the final stages of mixing the medicine. She’d noticed that we didn’t have quite enough. 

“This is something we just gave away, isn’t it?” I asked. 

“Yes, unfortunately.” 

“Well, why don’t we go visit the Church of Alchemy to ask them about it? We help them, so why wouldn’t they help us?” 

“I suppose,” Lorraine muttered. “It would be hard to collect this naturally or buy it at a store at the moment, so I see no other option.” 

We came to an agreement and went to the church. Father Adela greeted us. 

“By all means, use it,” he said. “And the adventurer in question is Fazira, isn’t it? He was taken to our house of healing.” 

“I knew he’d been taken to a house of healing, but I didn’t know you ran it,” Lorraine said. “That’s perfect.” 

Adela provided the materials, and Lorraine began the final steps for mixing the medicine right away. 

As she worked, Lorraine looked at the materials. “This wasn’t processed when we gave it away, but I see that’s been done now. Did you do it, Father Adela?” she asked. 

“Yes. It’s easier to preserve that way. Is it not to your satisfaction?” 

“No, it’s perfect. I should be able to finish mixing this in no time. In fact, I just did. Let’s head to the house of healing.” 

Lorraine stood up and rushed away. I followed behind her, and Father Adela bowed to us as we left. 

“Man, I thought I was a goner this time!” Fazira said with a hearty laugh as he lay in a bed in the house of healing. 

He was Mimir’s father. Mimir was sitting next to the bed, delighted to see that her father was safe. By the time Lorraine and I had arrived, he was already petrified all the way up to the neck. We got him the medicine just in time, and now he had fully recovered. But he would have to stay in the hospital for the next couple days to ensure that his body was in working order. He’d already found what he needed for his job and wasn’t in any rush, so he’d accepted it. 

“Dad, stop getting yourself in danger already,” Mimir said. 

Fazira looked perturbed. “Well, that’s what adventurers do,” he said and scratched his head. 

We had nothing more to do here, so Lorraine and I got up and left. When we exited, we encountered Father Adela. Presumably he was here to check on the Church of Alchemy’s house of healing, or maybe he was just curious about Fazira. We bowed and passed by him. 

“Lorraine,” I said. 

“Yes, I sensed something a little strange. Very strange, actually.” 

“What should we do?” 

“Let’s wait and see what happens for a bit. He’s probably here to see Fazira.” 

“Then I’ll be the best for that job.” 

“Right.” 

We confirmed that we’d both noticed something suspicious, then split up to do our parts. 

The room was pitch black when a hand slowly reached out toward the person on the bed. It was gripping a sharp knife, and anyone could guess that it was about to do something nefarious with it. 

“Stop right there,” someone said before that could happen, and the knife did stop. 

The bearer of the knife noticed someone in the room aside from his target. It was a strange man with a black robe and a skull mask. In other words, it was me. 

“Oh, Rentt. Why are you here?” 

“That’s what I want to ask you, Father Adela.” 

Yes, it was Father Adela, and Fazira was lying in the bed. 

“It’s simple,” Adela said, sneering. “I bear a grudge against Fazira, so I was hoping to take his life.” 

“I thought you were a better man than that, Adela. Why would you do this?” 

“Do you want to know?” 

“If you’ll give this up after you tell me, sure.” 

“I don’t have much choice but to give up now regardless. The reason, you see, is that I was once an adventurer. I was in a party with Fazira here, but one day, he said I was being removed from the party.” 

“What, did you get into a fight?” 

“No. He said they had no need for an alchemist. He said I was useless. I was certainly a novice at the time and lacked much skill, but I was getting better by the day, you know. But he was more than happy to abandon me. I had no place to go for a while, but in the end, the Church of Alchemy took me in and gave me some way to make a living. Fazira, however, managed to become an adventurer in the capital in the time since, while I’ve been forced to come to Maalt instead.” 

“Oh, I see.” 

Stories of party members being forced out of their parties were common, and grudges in such situations were understandable. Despite that, Adela had managed to put aside his desire for vengeance...until today. Some encounters could be good, but some could be devastating. If Fazira hadn’t come here, this wouldn’t have happened. 

“Even I know it’s laughable, but the moment I saw his face, I couldn’t control my hatred,” he said. “You aren’t going to let me kill him, are you?” 

With a twisted smile, Adela swung the knife. I closed in on him and grabbed his arm. 

“Stop.” 

“Why protect him?” Adela asked. 

“That’s what I want to ask.” 

“What?” 

“If you had wanted to kill him, you could have just not given us those materials. But you did. Is that because you’re a proper priest now?” 

Only now did Adela notice that contradiction. Tears began to stream from his eyes. “It’s true, I didn’t question what I did there. It was simply what I had to do. I’m sorry, Rentt.” 

“I’m glad you regret what you’ve done,” I said. 

“I feel like I never could have done it. I must face the consequences for this.” 

“That’s not necessary. Not like you did anything to me,” Fazira said. I’d noticed him wake up a while ago, but he didn’t react in any way, so I thought he might have still been half asleep. Apparently he was quite conscious. 

Adela hadn’t seemed to notice it. “Fazira, I thought you were asleep,” he said. 

“I was up till a bit ago. But when I heard what you had to say, I thought, hey, maybe I deserve to die. So I kept quiet.” 

“You did?” Adela asked, surprised. 

“Adela, I know it’s too late now, but sorry about what happened. I was young. I know that’s no excuse, but I didn’t know much about alchemists. You even saved my life today. I was a moron.” 

“Oh, it’s fine. I’ve given up on killing you. I have to face the consequences now.” 

“I’m telling you that’s not necessary,” Fazira insisted. “Not like you actually killed me.” 

“Are you serious?” 

“Considering what I did to you, it’s nothing. Besides, you kind of saved my daughter’s future too.” 

“Mimir? She’s a good girl. I nearly took someone’s father away as well.” 

“Come on, stop hating on yourself.” 

It sounded like there were no more problems between the two of them, so I left the room. It wasn’t clear if they had fully made up, but they were gradually moving past their conflict.