Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Vampire Hunters and Confirmation

Since Isaac had already agreed to teach us more vampiric skills, we decided it could wait until after we’d reported to the guild. Wolf would undoubtedly get restless if we waited too long.

Maalt had already returned to its daily routine, so perhaps this wasn’t an urgent task, but I wanted to take care of it as soon as possible. We’d already gone over the potential holes in our story, so it would be fine. As for Isaac, we decided he wouldn’t accompany us. Nive was probably still there, and she had an amazing talent for exposing vampires. The moment she ran into Isaac, she’d greet him with Holy Fire.

The same could be said for Rina, but like me, she wasn’t particularly bothered by divinity. For ordinary vampires, divinity wasn’t so bad that it would immediately vaporize them. They would recover from any injury it caused, but it would take longer, and they’d suffer light burns just from the contact. Since Rina hadn’t had any effects of the sort from channeling divinity, it was likely that Nive’s Holy Fire wouldn’t expose her.

It’d be best if Nive didn’t do that at all, but she wasn’t the sort who’d listen even if I were to tell her not to. So long as we were in the city, we couldn’t completely avoid randomly encountering her if she was still around. If that was the case, I needed to be with Rina when we saw her. Whatever ended up happening, we’d be in the situation together.

“All things considered, there’s not as much disorder as I’d thought there’d be,” I said as we headed to the guild.

After what had happened, I assumed that the city’s residents would still be panicked or shocked. However, there was no sign of that, as far as I could see. Their expressions weren’t particularly clouded, and they were behaving like they would after a regular natural disaster like an earthquake or hurricane. They were fixing the buildings and clearing away the debris the monsters, thralls, and adventurers had caused. There was something a little odd about it all.

“Speaking with the city’s people should clear it up for you,” Lorraine suggested.

Her statement had been ambiguous, but I decided to follow her advice and approach one of the passing residents.

“Ah, that. Something about a new dungeon under the city, right? But the monsters don’t come out all that often. Eh, chalk it up to bad luck.”

I asked another resident, and they answered, “Monsters? Sounds like some came flooding out of the dungeon. I know a few people who fell victim to them, but nothing to do about that. Besides, there’ll be aid payments coming from his lordship. That’ll be enough to fix up the shop, so no big deal.”

Yet another said, “The monsters got my husband. But he was fighting to protect us, I’m sure of it. I just gotta remember that and keep living, for his sake. Maaltesian women are tough.”

Everyone I asked made it clear that there had been plenty of damage to the city, but...

“None of them mentioned anything about the city’s people turning into monsters.”

When the dungeon appeared, it had turned a number of Maaltesians into monsters. The adventurers had had no choice but to kill them, but they had done so with pained expressions. Those were the facts. Yet no one from the city mentioned it. Was it just too tragic to talk about?

As I was going over the possibilities in my head, Lorraine added, “Well, that’s the long and short of it. It seems no one remembers that some of their fellow residents turned into monsters. They seem to think that the monsters came flooding out of the dungeon and killed those people.”

“But you and Rentt remember what happened, right?” Rina noted. “That’s so odd. Isaac also remembered.”

She had a point. Lorraine and I could perfectly recollect those events. And yet...

Lorraine continued, “Isaac believes that it’s due to Laura’s efforts as the dungeon master. The residents could deal with the fact that monsters had attacked and they now had a dungeon under their city, but they couldn’t accept that their own families and friends had turned into monsters and attacked them. So Laura made little alterations to their memories. Apparently, powerful dungeon masters can do that. It’s actually a rather frightening revelation, but perhaps it’s for the best this time.”

Since Laura was still unconscious, we couldn’t be certain, but Isaac had probably meant that it was the most likely possibility. I certainly couldn’t think of anyone else who could perform such a feat. It was in character for her, considering how much she cared for the city’s residents. If that was the case, I guessed it was fine. I mean, sure, it wasn’t actually fine that a dungeon master could selectively alter people’s memories. You didn’t need to be a genius to know how impressive and frightening that was. But still, it was one of those things that didn’t bear dwelling on.

Besides, what could we even do about it? Kill her? I couldn’t bring myself to think of that. It was thanks to Laura that Maalt had survived relatively intact. Without her, the city would have ceased to exist, becoming just a giant dungeon. So long as she intended to protect Maalt, I thought it was okay to leave things as they were.

If someday Laura were to change her mind, I wouldn’t face off against her. The only thing I’d be able to do was pray to the gods that such a situation would never occur. I couldn’t even imagine how I’d beat her in battle. She was so much more powerful than any of us. Even if we all banded together and attacked at once, we wouldn’t stand a chance.

“It’s worth asking Laura what a dungeon master can do when she wakes up. Not that it would change anything,” I said to Lorraine.

“It seems that dungeon masters are more powerful than I thought. Or is it something specific to Laura? Perhaps there are limits of some kind. That’s something I’d like to ask her.”

Laura had mentioned something about limitations, but we had no idea what those might actually be. A dungeon master’s great power came at the cost of living with those constraints. But we would have to wait until Laura woke up to find out what they were.

We continued our conversation until we arrived at the guild.

◆◇◆◇◆

The guild was rather busy inside when we arrived. Well, of course it would be, considering what had happened. From paying out bounties for the thralls and the monsters to buying the magic crystals that came from those monsters, the guild had their hands full. The employees behind the counter were hurriedly completing their tasks, sorting through stacks of paper. With just a glance at their faces, you could see that the light had gone out of their eyes. Once this rush was over, they might very well stagger home, collapse into an exhausted stupor on the floor, and sleep for days.

In the middle of that chaos, I heard a voice behind me.

“Rentt! Lorraine and...Rina? I’m glad to see you’re okay.”

When I turned around, there stood Sheila, the guild receptionist who was well aware of our circumstances. Her eyes were dulled by exhaustion, and she looked like she would collapse from the fatigue that practically oozed from her pores.

“Seems you’ve got quite a mess on your hands, Sheila,” I said sympathetically.

Sheila shook her head. “Compared to everyone who actually fought the monsters, this is nothing. Though we could use a few more hands,” she murmured, her voice sounding thin and tired.

There wasn’t really anything I could do to help. It was all guild work, and given how busy they were, they were probably making a mint in the process.

Magic crystals from thralls fetched a good price at the market, and the various raw materials harvested from them were also in high demand. There were plenty of raw materials from the other monsters as well that could be used to rebuild the city, so business would be booming at the guild for the foreseeable future. Whether any of that would trickle down to the employees was a different question, a mystery only known to those higher up the chain and maybe the gods themselves. It was all up to Wolf.

“Good luck,” I said to Sheila. “While I’d like to celebrate that we were able to see each other again, we have some information that Wolf should hear about. Do you know where he might be?”

“Oh, that was part of why I came to talk to you. The guildmaster is in his office, so please make your way there.”

I nodded at Sheila and headed to Wolf’s office.

◆◇◆◇◆

The moment I opened the office door, Wolf lifted his head and said, “So, you’ve finally decided to show your ugly mug.”

Though he only had his right eye, his gaze was as sharp as ever. However, it wasn’t intimidating in the least. I supposed that was because we’d already explained various things to him in the past and he considered us one of his flock. Even so, I couldn’t let my guard down. I still intended to leave out anything related to Laura in our report.

Wolf’s desk was piled so high with paperwork that I found myself impressed at the sheer height of the stack. I assumed it all needed the direct signature of the guildmaster. It was at that moment that I swore I would never become a guildmaster myself.

“Yeah. You got a minute?” I asked. “I’ve come to report. You do look pretty busy, though.”

Our news wasn’t urgent, and if he wanted us to come back later, that wasn’t a problem. There didn’t seem to be any immediate threats to the city, so there wouldn’t be any harm if my report was a little late.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Wolf said, “No, this pile can wait. I’ll hear it now. You need to talk to me alone or...?”

His right eye turned toward Lorraine and Rina. It wasn’t that he wanted them gone, but he wanted to make sure it was fine if they listened in on a conversation where my secret might come to light. I’m sure he figured I’d explained some of it to Lorraine, but perhaps he assumed I hadn’t told Rina the whole story.

I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. They both know.”

I emphasized the last word, and Wolf’s single eye widened in surprise. “In that case, they’re free to stay. Make sure you close that door tight, lass,” he said to Rina since she’d entered last.

The door was still a bit ajar, so Rina hurriedly shut the door behind her.

◆◇◆◇◆

Wolf cut directly to the chase. “So, can I assume the monster you mentioned during the whole ruckus is dead?”

“Yeah. We took care of him. Here’s the proof.”

I produced a magic crystal. Shumini had turned almost entirely to ash, but this one had been lying within it. Since Isaac had once been close to Shumini, I had offered it to him, but he’d pressed it back into my hands and told me that I’d need it for proof and he wouldn’t mind if I decided to sell it off after. Shumini was almost like a stalker to him, so he probably didn’t want any of his mementos. Or perhaps I was overthinking things.

Wolf took the magic crystal and said, “Well now. This one’s a big beaut. Ones this size don’t come around that often. Must’ve been a hell of an opponent.” He sounded impressed.

While size wasn’t always the deciding factor in price, a crystal as large as this one rarely appeared on the market. You could also tell that it was high quality based on the color, the clarity, and the amount of mana it contained. Measuring the specific amount of mana required a special tool designed for that purpose, but you could get a general sense of how much was inside after you’d handled a few.

As for the exact size, this one was about two classes bigger than the crystal I’d gotten from the giant skeleton. That one was equivalent to Gold-class, but it was safe to say Shumini’s crystal was equivalent to Platinum-class. Still, given that a giant skeleton’s crystal grew to that size by collecting and compressing mana over years, even decades, the fact that Shumini’s had reached this size just hours after he’d become a monster was proof of just how powerful he had been. That, or the power that had created the dungeon was extraordinarily potent.

Either way, there was no question that this crystal would fetch a high price. Not that I’d brought it here to sell it, but since Isaac had given his blessing to do so...

◆◇◆◇◆

“All right, let’s start with the state of the city.”

Wolf began to explain what had happened after we defeated Shumini—more accurately, what had happened after we defeated Shumini and Laura took the dungeon core out of Rina.

“First, the thralls that were rampaging across the city suddenly became sluggish. It made it a lot easier to kill them. We should have gotten most of them. There might be a few stragglers hiding out, but they’re not much of a risk now. According to Nive, when thralls lose whatever master is controlling them, their intelligence often plummets. I guess that’s what happened when you finished off Shumini.”

Just as I’d expected, Nive was back in town. I’d seen her get as close as the city walls, so it wasn’t exactly a stretch to assume she’d returned now that the barrier surrounding the city was gone.

“What’s Nive doing now?” I asked.

“She’s hunting down the last of the thralls. It’s good she’ll do the work without being asked, but she seemed in a bit of a mood. Something about there being no vampires.”

While thralls were vampires of sorts, Nive was presumably talking about lesser vampires and above. In particular, she meant Shumini’s class and above. She’d said she had a nose for that sort of thing, so she must have instinctively known Shumini was gone. Besides, the city no longer had the tension that had come with Shumini’s presence.

I felt like she’d blame me if I ran into her. I really hoped I wouldn’t meet her.

Wolf continued, “As for the rest, the monsters that appeared in the city, they suddenly disappeared. I’m guessing that was also because of Shumini’s death. It was a bit after the thralls had slowed down, but I can’t think of any other reason. Anything come to mind?”

I shook my head. “No, nothing in particular.”

I had told a white lie. That was triggered not by Shumini’s death, but by the dungeon core. When Laura removed the core from Rina and absorbed it herself, she had made the monsters disappear. It seemed the reason the city’s residents had turned into monsters in the first place was due to the dungeon, so I couldn’t think of any other reason they’d just vanish. Still, since revealing that would cause all sorts of problems, I wasn’t going to mention it.

“Got it. Anyway, the monsters are gone too. The city’s mostly returning to normal. There’s still some lingering damage to the buildings, and there are injured people to care for, but it looks like they’ve got a handle on it. The lord and the council have paid out relief funds, and as for the injured, the churches have sent some priests and priestesses. We’ve also sent out a few people from the guild. Maalt will be back to normal in no time.”

This recent incident had been fairly serious, but the fact that recovery wouldn’t take long was a testament to the residents’ tenacity. Well, that was part of it, but I was sure that Laura’s memory manipulation was the main reason. Even for people as hardy as Maaltesians, it would be hard to stay if you thought your neighbor might turn into a monster at any moment.

If it was just a random monster attack, that could happen anywhere in the world. It wasn’t something you could avoid by moving away. That was why everyone was willing to band together and rally around the community, processing their grief and trying to move forward in spite of their struggles. There was also a dungeon under the city now.

Lorraine interjected, “Speaking of the city, about the situation underneath it...”

She wasn’t calling it a “dungeon” because it would raise suspicions. While it seemed most of the city’s residents already knew about its existence, there was no need for us to reveal that we also knew.

“Yep, we’re looking into it now,” Wolf answered. “Though everyone’s pretty much concluded it’s a dungeon. Monsters flooding out of it was what triggered this whole fracas, so everything falls into place if that assumption’s right. We don’t have a clue how one suddenly formed, but all the mechanics behind them are still just theories. Can’t do anything about that. The current assumption is that Shumini started his activities in this city because he had some inkling that the dungeon was forming.”

Wolf wasn’t quite right, but he wasn’t that far off either. The only reason they weren’t considering the possibility that Shumini had created the dungeon was because no one believed that to be possible.

While the appearance of dungeons was a subject of considerable debate, most researchers concluded that they arose naturally. There were several dungeons that backed that theory too. However, based on Laura’s explanation, there were many different types. That meant that some appeared naturally and some were artificially created. I’d need to talk to Laura, though, to get more detailed information.

“We’ve also confirmed that there are monsters wandering around inside it. But when we drove them to the entrance, they showed no signs of leaving. I’m told the monster flood was from the instability inherent in a newly manifested dungeon. You know anything about that?”

“Yes,” Lorraine said, answering Wolf’s question. “But there’s not much more to say about it. While a dungeon is manifesting, its existence is unstable, so various strange events occur in and around it. For example, if it manifests in a city, it may absorb part of the city and completely alter the architecture. If it manifests in a forest or mountain, it will transform the native fauna into monsters. A more unusual example would be— No, I digress. At any rate, I agree that the monsters in Maalt were part of that process.”

I wondered what her unusual example was. Maybe a dungeon had absorbed an entire city. Perhaps she was thinking about that ancient city we’d visited. Of course, that was another thing we couldn’t talk about. I felt like we were piling up secrets we couldn’t reveal to anyone.

It seemed Lorraine’s hesitation hadn’t triggered Wolf’s suspicion for the time being. It was common for her to ramble on about something then suddenly stop mid-sentence.

“Well, I guess that about covers it,” Wolf said. “I’m no scholar, so I don’t know or care about the specifics; I’ll leave that to the experts. But things in Maalt are going to start getting busy. After all, we’ve got a new dungeon.”

◆◇◆◇◆

Why would a new dungeon add to the guild’s workload? For one, there would be an influx of new adventurers. Although dungeons were always generating new materials, there was a limit to the number they could produce. If there were too many adventurers working in the same area, the dungeon might run out of resources for them to gather. That said, it was almost unheard of for one to run out of monsters.

That wasn’t true for the various treasures scattered around the dungeon, however. It wasn’t as though they were easy to find, and the more adventurers there were in a dungeon, the lower your chances of finding anything. Adventurers generally earned their daily bread by hunting monsters and selling their magic crystals and raw materials, but those same adventurers also dreamed of striking it rich by finding a rare magic item and selling it on the market. It was extraordinarily rare to encounter something valuable enough to retire on, but just the hope of finding your fortune was one of the main motivators for adventurers. Obviously, the chances of discovering such treasure fell when throngs of adventurers swarmed a dungeon.

Not to mention, it would be extremely frustrating if a newcomer suddenly made a mint at a dungeon you’d been combing through for ages. In order to keep that sort of thing from happening, the guild usually surreptitiously adjusted the number of adventurers in any given dungeon. But because Maalt now had another dungeon, the city could handle a large influx of adventurers. The guild didn’t have a good idea of its size yet, but depending on the scale, perhaps a few hundred adventurers would be moving to the city.

That was why Wolf had said he was going to be busy. Since a recently formed dungeon was uncharted territory with new treasures and monsters, it was best to hit it early. There would be an initial rush of adventurers, followed by a sharp drop and gradual rise to a steady population. The guild would probably only be busy for the first six months to a year, but still...

“Researchers and scholars will be among the newcomers,” Lorraine noted. “We may be on the fringes of civilization, but newly formed dungeons are a rare phenomenon. I, too, want to do a thorough survey of it.”

Lorraine’s research focused on monsters and dungeons, so I could understand her desire. Plus, she was deeply involved with this dungeon’s creation in a way that no ordinary scholar could have been, even if they had wanted to. No doubt she wanted to go down there, smack Laura out of her sleep, and pelt her with questions. Not that she could actually do that.

Wolf nodded at Lorraine. “Yeah, I’m sure there’ll be folks like that coming. There’s a prestigious Academy and Tower in the royal capital, meaning they’ll be professors and mages from there. But they’re usually sponsored by the state, and I’m sure they’ll have knights and the like to protect them. The guild probably won’t have much to do there. At least, that’s my hunch. I intend to take steps, though, just in case I’m wrong.”

The academy was an institution of higher learning operated by the kingdom. Yaaran’s elite scholars and bureaucrats were among its alumni. All students learned magic, so it was sometimes called the Magic Academy, but its formal name was simply The Academy. Most of the student body was children of noble families and rich merchant houses, but gifted commoners were also allowed to attend. There were no real restrictions in terms of age, but most attendees were young people in their teens.

The Tower, on the other hand, was a research organization for mages. Its name differed depending on the country, and some countries had multiple, competing organizations. The mages in Yaaran were less particular, so The Tower here meant the one in the capital. While technically there were different divisions within its structure—such as research labs dedicated to investigating monsters, various branches of magic, and dungeons—they were all part of a single organization and were broadly referred to as “The Tower.”

In other countries, the empire in particular, the word “tower” referred to multiple and varied organizations, but...that didn’t really affect us.

“I’ve heard that people from The Academy and The Tower are all a bit eccentric,” I said. “I hope that nothing weird happens.”

Wolf furrowed his brow and frowned. “That’s my hope too. But if anything does happen, I’ll be counting on you to deal with it.”

His remark sent a shiver of dread up my spine. The people affiliated with The Academy or The Tower were either influential or had friends in high places. I’d prefer not to deal with them. Still, sometimes that couldn’t be avoided. Yaaran nobles were levelheaded on the whole, and as long as you went through the proper channels, they probably wouldn’t do anything too harsh to you. They weren’t anything to worry about. Or so I hoped.

“For my part, I hope you won’t need me,” I added.

“Oh c’mon now. You’re an employee, so you gotta put in some work. But anyway, that’s pretty much it. Anything else you wanted to discuss?”

I didn’t have anything, and it seemed Lorraine didn’t either.

Rina, on the other hand, asked, “Um, what happened to the adventurers they found in the New Moon Dungeon?”

Oh, right. What had happened to Raiz and Lola, the pair that had taken the Bronze-class Ascension Exam with me. They were now in a party with Rina. At the time, I was asleep and we hadn’t sorted out our story. We also had to check out Rina’s new abilities first, so she hadn’t been able to go back to the city yet. She still didn’t know what had happened to the two of them. When I saw them in the dungeon, I’d made sure to help them and double-check that they could move around. I’d asked the veteran adventurers to take them to the city, so they should be somewhere in Maalt.

Wolf, as befitting of a guildmaster, understood immediately. “Ah, them. You’re Rina, right? You wanna know how your party members Raiz and Lola are doing, yeah?”

The precision with which he had responded was impressive. He’d even learned all the newbie parties. Since such parties could easily die, most guildmasters only had a general idea of the rookie parties in their city. Just based on his knowledge of the city’s adventurers, Wolf was a unique and admirable guildmaster.

When Rina nodded, Wolf replied, “Those found at the New Moon Dungeon were sent to guild-operated clinics for treatment, so... One sec, lemme find the list. Here we go. They’re at the Kohm Clinic. Here’s the location,” he said, pointing out the clinic on a map.

◆◇◆◇◆

We decided to head to the Kohm Clinic. When I found Raiz and Lola in the dungeon, I hadn’t gotten the impression that they were badly injured, but they were severely weakened. While healing magic and divinity could heal wounds, they couldn’t fix hunger or exhaustion. The only way to recover from those was food and rest.

No matter how much healing you received, if your body was at its limit, you would still die. Or at least, it was a distinct possibility. That was why it was useless to use a healing spell on someone dying of old age. Since we didn’t know the details of their condition, we were still concerned about Raiz and Lola.

“This is it, right?” Rina asked.

We had arrived at the Kohm Clinic. It was about ten minutes away from the guild on foot and located a bit off the city’s main street, so it was a little removed from the hustle and bustle of the city center. Since the clinic was for the sick and injured, they probably needed it to be relatively peaceful and quiet. But because it usually treated a fairly large number of patients each day, it was still close to the city’s main streets in case they suddenly needed supplies.

Say an adventurer had been poisoned by a monster with an unusual type of venom. While healing spells could handle a fair number of those cases, sometimes they required a skilled herbalist. However, herbalists used raw materials to create their treatments, and a clinic could only keep so much in storage. When they needed a rare ingredient not stored on-site, quick access to the main market district was necessary. It was good to have stores nearby that could supply rare materials in an emergency.

The Kohm Clinic was a single-story building that looked a bit flatter than the ones surrounding it. Most of the buildings were at least two stories, but a few were three. It looked as if the clinic hadn’t used their lot space effectively, but it was likely out of consideration for the patients. Most wouldn’t be able to climb stairs. They could install a magic elevator, like a certain merchant house, but those were extremely rare and expensive. Even if it was a guild-sponsored clinic, that kind of equipment was still out of reach. All in all, this sort of construction was ideal.

“So, shall we— What?!”

As I was about to step into the clinic, I turned to speak to Lorraine and Rina behind me, when I noticed that Rina was on fire. The fire wasn’t consuming her with the usual red flames; it was more like a blue-white flame was gently enveloping her, like an aura. Rina was evidently unaware she was on fire, and she cocked her head as I stared wide-eyed at her.

Did that mean Rina couldn’t see it? That alone told me what was going on. They weren’t ordinary flames. It was Holy fire. And there was only one person in all of Maalt who could wield it.

Lorraine could also see the flames, and she glanced at me and sighed in exasperation. It was clear we’d reached the same conclusion.

As we glanced around, a disappointed voice said, “Huh?! How odd! You’re not a vampire?”

A gray-haired, red-eyed vampire hunter armed to the nines stepped out from behind a corner and walked toward us. It was Nive Maris. She’d obviously survived the battle intact because there were no signs of any injuries on her body.

“That’s a hell of a greeting, Nive,” I said. “Couldn’t you have at least said ‘hi’ before you tried that?”

Nive had been checking for vampires using Holy Fire. As I’d expected, Rina didn’t seem affected by it, but it was still shocking to see one of my companions suddenly burst into blue-white flames.

I told Nive to warn me first, but she shook her head and nonchalantly replied, “If I did that, the vampire would run away. I had no choice. I know, it’s rude to do that out of the blue. But when it comes to risk versus manners, well...”

I understood what she was saying, but I was still irritated. I couldn’t tell if it was because she’d suspected us or because I felt a little guilty that we were, in fact, some sort of pseudo-vampire monster. Considering humanity’s best interests as a whole, I had to admit that Nive had a point. However...

“I get what you’re trying to say. But why are you here anyway? Speaking of which, it’s odd to see you without Myullias.”

Nive didn’t have a single wound on her, so what was she doing at a healing clinic? As for Myullias, I’d always figured they came as a set.

“In spite of everything, Lady Myullias is still a saint,” Nive said. “She’s currently at the Church of Lobelia here, giving a sermon to provide comfort for the people affected by the recent incident. Also, since she’s technically a saint, she’s acting the part, healing and cleansing and the like. I’m afraid we might be in for a sudden rain.”

Nive had made sure to include little barbs like “technically a saint” and the quip about the rain—the sort of things that would have set off Myullias if she was here—but I had to admit she had a point. I’d never actually seen Myullias act like a saint all that much. I figured she’d blow up at me if I ever said that to her, though.

“And, why are you here?” I asked again. “You haven’t explained that.”

“Ah, beg your pardon. There are adventurers here who were captured by vampires, right? I came to check if they are still enthralled by the vampire. If you recall, I was a bit too busy to check at the time. Besides, sometimes they might look fine at a glance, but they end up enthralled after. That’s why I’m here.”

◆◇◆◇◆

Nive hadn’t said anything outrageous, and there were stories of people destroying their own village even after the vampire horde was gone. The vampire hunters had failed to check if any of the villagers had been turned into vampires. It was important to confirm that the supposed victims weren’t secretly enthralled. Still...

“Could you turn that off now?” I asked Nive as I watched Rina.

With a note of surprise, Nive said, “Oh, that’s right. I didn’t think it would be a problem if she couldn’t see it, so I let it slip my mind. My apologies.”

Nive raised her palm and made a smothering motion. The blue-white flames surrounding Rina slowly shrank until they went out with a puffing noise.

Though she couldn’t see the flames, Rina heard them go out. “Wh-What was that?! What was that!” She said, slightly panicking.

It seemed the Holy Fire hadn’t really affected her, so I guessed it was fine.

“So what made you suspect Rina?” Lorraine asked Nive.

“Because she’s with Rentt, of course. I jest! Don’t glare at me like that. I heard Rina was with you when you came out of the new dungeon, so I figured you’d rescued her after the vampire had abducted her. I felt I needed to set fire to anything suspicious. It’s an occupational hazard, I’m afraid.”

Nive really did have a sharp nose for this sort of thing. Or maybe she just had a remarkable information network. It might be that she’d just happened to hear rumors, but Nive still had this aura of wanting to pry into our business. I suspected that either adventurers or some residents that had seen us leave the house in question had said something. Given that four of us went in but five emerged, I guessed that suspicion had been warranted. Still, most people would have dismissed it as a mild oddity.

Nive’s head, however, was wired to think, “Oh, hey, that might be a vampire.” There was a part of me that wished her thought process was more normal, but since her hunches were stunningly accurate, I couldn’t really complain.

There was also a part of me that wanted to smugly declare that two of us were actually vampires. There was no way I could say that, though. They’d probably try to kill me—“they” being Nive, Laura, and Isaac. If I was being honest, it frightened me that I didn’t stand a chance against any of them in a fight.

I had figured that I’d improved a little bit, but everyone around me was still stronger, including Lorraine. While her physical abilities weren’t anywhere near my level, with her pure firepower as a mage and her ability to protect herself with spells like a shield, she was much stronger. I was pretty sure she could beat me without suffering a scratch. I supposed the path to becoming a great adventurer was still a long, uphill slog for me.

“In that case, can we consider your suspicions allayed?” I asked Nive. If she made that declaration here, it would prevent problems later.

“Oh, yes. No problem at all. My apologies, Miss Rina. Would you like me to pay restitution? When I tried it with Rentt, I paid him twenty platinum pieces.”

“T-Twenty platinum pieces?! That’s... What?”

Rina looked at me as though I were some sort of robber or scam artist, but I hadn’t asked for that.

“Rina, just so we’re clear, I never demanded that amount. Nive just kept piling up the coins.”

She had increased the number so quickly that it’d felt like she was literally trying to drown me in a sea of coins. Technically, she had been buying the tarasque materials from me, so it wasn’t like she had just given me the coins. Even so, it was a ridiculous sum.

“Will you be seeking payment, Miss Rina?” Nive asked.

Rina shook her head. “N-No. I mean, did you do something to me that requires restitution?”

Oh, right. I hadn’t explained it to Rina yet. That was all Nive’s fault, so I looked intently at Nive. Incidentally, I couldn’t help but think she was exceedingly beautiful. Did she really need that beauty? It was a mystery.

Finally, Nive let out a sigh as though she had lost the staring contest. “Without getting into the specifics, I tested to see if you had become a vampire, Miss Rina.”

“Oh. I gathered as much based on the conversation, but how? I didn’t feel anything.”

“Simply put, I set you on fire. Like this.”

Nive directed a stream of Holy Fire at me. She did it slow enough that I could avoid it if I wanted to, probably because I’d complained about her springing it out of nowhere. I supposed that in her book, it wasn’t “out of nowhere” if it was slow enough that I could avoid it. That was some messed-up logic. Well, the Holy Fire wasn’t going to do anything to me anyway, so it wasn’t a problem if it hit me.

The Holy Fire struck and enveloped me, as though my entire body was on fire.

Rina began to shout, “Y-Y-You’re on fire! Water! We need water!”

“No, it’s not hot at all, so it’s fine. I mean, you were like this until a little while ago.”

“Huh?! Whaaat?!”

“This is a special flame created with divinity,” Nive explained. “Ordinary people won’t suffer any injuries or burns from touching it. However, vampires find the heat unbearable, and it burns them as well. Unless they’re extremely weak vampires, they won’t die from these flames, but... That’s not important. The point is that by setting someone on fire with this, I can tell at a glance if they’re a vampire.”

“At a glance? Ah...”

Rina looked like she wanted to comment about that part. I understood what she wanted to say, that there was a vampire-ish person here. She may have even wanted to add that she was the same way. But there was no way she could say that, so she half-heartedly said, “I see,” as though reading from a cue card.

At least put more effort into it! I thought.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Raiz, Lola! Are you all right?!”

Once we entered the clinic, a worker had shown us to one of the treatment wards. The moment Rina caught sight of the two, she had called to them as she ran over. I wondered for a moment if she was being too loud, worried that it would bother the other patients, but while there were several beds in the ward, only two were occupied.

“Oh, Rina!” Raiz exclaimed. “We’re fine, but we were worried about you when we lost touch.”

“Where have you been?! I was worried we’d caused you some trouble by suddenly disappearing,” Lola added.

Vampires had abducted them while they were separated from Rina, so they didn’t know that she had also been kidnapped and had been in much greater danger than either of them.

“That’s my line! But I’m glad you’re all right. The reason you couldn’t reach me was because the vampire had also abducted me. These two, Rentt and Miss Lorraine, rescued me.”

Nive hadn’t been present when we rescued Rina, so she wasn’t part of the introduction. Of course, there were two more people who had been part of that rescue, but since they weren’t here, Rina must have decided to gloss it over for the time being. She’d probably also considered that it would be troublesome if Nive started prying into the details. At the very least, I was sure Rina had realized that Nive was a vampire’s worst enemy. The problem was that Rina wasn’t a particularly good actor. But since she wasn’t actually acting at the moment, hopefully it would be fine.

“Rentt? Oh! Rentt! You rescued Rina?” Raiz asked.

“Rentt, thank you so much,” Lola added. “Not only did you save us, but you saved Rina too.”

They were surprised to see me here, but they weren’t particularly surprised that I had rescued Rina. They knew I’d been going around dealing with the vampires. I couldn’t take too much credit, though. Nive had done the most during that fight. As for Rina, her rescue was due to the efforts of people other than me.

“It just happened that way, and I didn’t really do all that much,” I said. “No need to thank me. At any rate, I’m glad all three of you are okay. So, do you remember Lorraine? She was there when we rescued you two. She’s my...friend. Hope you’ll get along with her.”

Lorraine stepped forward. “I’m Lorraine. I didn’t have time to introduce myself in the New Moon Dungeon, but I’ve heard plenty about the two of you from Rentt. As for me, I am a scholar and a mage. I’m also a Silver-class adventurer. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She then offered her hand to them.

Raiz stared at Lorraine, his eyes wide at the revelation that she was a Silver-class adventurer. Lola, however, examined Lorraine’s face and body before glancing down at her own. I had a pretty good idea of what she was thinking.

“Oh, a mage? A Silver-class one at that? Wow! Um, I’d like to be a Silver-class adventurer someday! I’m still Bronze-class, but...do you have any advice on how to reach Silver-class faster?!”

Raiz was clearly acting differently from how he was with me, and as he shook Lorraine’s hand, he spoke to her respectfully. It was basically hero worship. Was I that lacking in gravitas? I wore a strange mask and a shady-looking robe... Yeah, I didn’t have any. I just looked creepy.

Lorraine gently smiled at Raiz as she turned to shake Lola’s hand. “I’m afraid I don’t have much advice on that matter. I didn’t reach Silver-class from any effort on my part. I just happened to qualify for it while I was pursuing my studies. I had my abilities tested, but that’s about all. If you want to learn how to become a Silver-class adventurer or greater, then I believe she would be a better teacher.”

Lorraine gestured to Nive, who had been watching Raiz and Lola from the back of the room.

While a part of me felt it was out of character for Nive to be so reserved and tactful, it was natural given what she was here for. She was probably trying to observe Raiz and Lola without their knowledge. Nive was a stalker’s stalker, the sort who had closely examined me without my knowledge. She would get mad if I said that, though.

While my impression of Nive was that she was rather high-strung when it came to vampires, she was calm and forgiving in every other situation. For that reason, despite all the things I disliked about her, I still couldn’t bring myself to drive her off.

“Yes, yes, a pleasure to meet you for the first time,” Nive said. “Well, not exactly. But since this is our first proper introduction, I’m Nive Maris. I’m an adventurer, and despite appearances, I’m Gold-class. I’m pleased to meet you both.”

Nive had sounded playful, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. That would be hard to see, though, unless you’d been through a fair number of deadly situations. But she was quite good at hiding her intentions. As proof, neither Raiz nor Lola seemed to suspect anything about her. Raiz was even more excited at hearing “Gold-class,” while Lola appeared to have taken Nive’s excessive beauty as another blow to her self-confidence.

At the very least, they recognized her from the dungeon. That made sense. It was no exaggeration to say that Nive had saved both of them. But since her current demeanor was so much different from when she was fighting vampires, it took them a moment to realize she was the same person.

“Are you the one who was fighting those two vampires?” Raiz asked. “Also, Gold-class?! Holy... At your age?! And you’re a girl to boot!”

Raiz’s comment might have seemed sexist, but he hadn’t meant it that way. Physical strength was important for an adventurer. Even though spells and spirit techniques could enhance your physical abilities, in terms of base strength, men were stronger than women. That was why there were more men than women in the upper ranks of the adventuring community. At least in the guild, female adventurers were often viewed as a class below male adventurers.

In reality, it wasn’t unusual to see a male adventurer get his ass kicked because he had underestimated an accomplished female adventurer. Smart or even just experienced adventurers never judged one another by their gender. However, rookies generally operated based on the social views they’d picked up before becoming adventurers. Their assumption that women were physically weaker than men often held them back. Until they learned to discard their prejudices, they would make a myriad of mistakes.

I didn’t think Raiz fit into either category. He had probably just been looking for a way to compliment Nive for her accomplishments. Besides, he was the only man in his party. He wouldn’t be in a party of mostly women if he felt they were somehow inferior as adventurers.

“I can’t say I’m all that young,” Nive replied, “but I did put in a lot of effort. I worked for a long time as a vampire hunter and steadily built my abilities up through experience.”

◆◇◆◇◆

“Yeah. Hunting vampires doesn’t sound easy,” Raiz murmured to himself. His shoulders slumped.

His reaction was easy to understand. Asking freshly promoted Bronze-class adventurers to hunt vampires was almost as bad as asking them to hunt dragons. Both options were far out of reach. While my standards had been skewed because Nive made it look effortless, vampire hunting was a dangerous job that even high-class adventurers approached with caution. It wasn’t something an ordinary adventurer could casually take on.

Moreover, vampires were extremely good at hiding their existence, and it was basically impossible to find them once they lost themselves in a crowd. Even if you could engage them in a fight, a lesser vampire was at least equal to an average Silver-class adventurer. Plus, they could constantly create thralls if left to their own devices. Assuming you were lucky enough to find one, they could reduce a village or city to a chaotic hellscape if you didn’t approach them with the right tactics. They were a devilishly difficult target, so it wasn’t something that lower-class adventurers could hunt on a whim.

Nive was only able to do it because she had the ability to spot vampires. Also, she understood vampires better than any other living person. She had a terrier-like tenacity and an analytical mind to support her obsessive hunt. Few rookie adventurers had that combination of traits, hence Raiz’s disappointment.

“Raiz, it’s not like you have to rush and put yourself in too much danger,” Lola said, reassuring him. “We should just be patient and climb up one step at a time. Remember what Rentt told us?”

Had I actually said that? I might have said something during a casual conversation, but I didn’t remember it. If I had, I wouldn’t have said it offhandedly. I really did feel that way. After all, I had spent ten years slowly but steadily working my way up.

Even though I’d gotten stronger thanks to some weird, unique events, consistent effort was the most efficient way to improve. It would be different if you had some extraordinary talent or ability, but if you were vaguely expecting talent to give you a boost, you might very well end your career without getting to where you wanted to be.

“Hrm, a good observation. I agree completely, Rentt,” Nive said, unexpectedly praising me. “Of course, if you can hunt vampires, you’d be doing something great for the world and for humanity as a whole. But vampires are my prey, so perhaps it’s better you gain experience in a different way. Find work that is suited to your skill level and steadily complete those jobs. Rinse and repeat. It’s certainly lacking in flair, but it’s the best way to become a well-rounded, skilled adventurer. The greatest obstacle for a new adventurer is meaningless confidence and a desire for fame. The greatest priority is to overcome those things.”

Nive had offered some really solid advice. I was used to her acting like she had a few screws loose. I could tell Lorraine was thinking something similar based on her expression as she studied Nive. At the same time, there was also a hint of admiration, as though Lorraine was impressed that Nive was a proper high-ranking adventurer.

Raiz and Lola seemed deeply moved by Nive’s words.

“I see. So what Rentt said was true. Let’s put in the work and keep trying, Lola.”

“Mm-hmm. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

Lola was looking at Nive as if she was grateful for what Nive had said. I guessed Raiz tended to push himself too far. Lola must have been relieved to hear advice that might curb the worst of Raiz’s impulsiveness.

Nive continued, “Which brings me to my point. I want you two to continue growing as the next generation of adventurers. However, there’s something I want to confirm.”

Nive was about to explain what she was going to do. That was unexpected. Perhaps it was because the two seemed oblivious, at best. There was a possibility that they would become vampires in time, but right now you couldn’t tell. Neither of them realized that they could end up becoming vampires. If they had become vampires and were aware of it, they would have fled. But since they had no idea... Well, at least Nive was consistent.

“Confirm? What would you like to confirm?” Raiz asked.

“That you two haven’t turned into vampires. You were abducted by vampires, right? There is a slight chance that you were enthralled in the process. I would like to remove any doubt.”

Nive was smiling, and just based on appearances, she was being polite. However, the emotions reflected in her red irises were anything but.

I wouldn’t want to be the subject of that gaze, but it seemed Raiz and Lola couldn’t sense anything amiss. That was a good thing. They would want to run away if they could feel Nive’s veiled hostility.

Neither Raiz nor Lola was aware of the weight of their situation, and they exchanged glances before responding without artifice.

“That’s fine. Lola’s fine with it too, right?”

“Yeah. So long as it doesn’t hurt.”

Nive held out her palm and summoned a blue-white flame. “It won’t hurt if there’s no problem. Since you’ve agreed, pardon me.”

A fireball about the size of a human head danced atop her palm. Raiz and Lola looked curiously at Nive as she turned her palm upward. The blue-white flames engulfed them, as though to consume them, but neither reacted. They felt something was perhaps different and they tilted their heads quizzically, but that was the extent of it. They weren’t in any pain nor were they burning, so everything was fine.

Nive looked a tad crestfallen, but it seemed she had thought the possibility was low to begin with. She nodded, then turned her palm toward the pair again, motioning with her hand to snuff out the flames. The flames let out a soft sizzling noise as they died down.

“Thank you very much,” Nive said to Raiz and Lola. “There were no particular issues. You two should be free from any additional vampiric influence.” She gave them a gentle, serene smile.

◆◇◆◇◆

“You don’t have to look so disappointed,” I said to Nive.

She turned to me and shrugged. “I live to hunt vampires, you know. Of course, I’d be upset if I thought I was about to kill some, only to end up with nothing. Not that I want people to turn into vampires. Better that they don’t, really.”

Nive’s last remark was surprisingly rational. I couldn’t help but think that she wasn’t as bad as people made her out to be. It was just that she had an abnormal obsession with killing vampires.

Currently, Nive, Lorraine, and I were outside of Raiz and Lola’s room at the clinic. Rina was inside with her party members. We’d figured that they had a lot to catch up on, so we had stepped outside. They also had to discuss what they were going to do from here on out. Having outsiders there would make things a little awkward.

Lorraine and I wondered if they’d address Rina’s current state. I knew Raiz and Lola’s personalities pretty well from my interactions with them during the Bronze-class Ascension Exam, but even then, I assumed that Rina would omit that she was now a monster. It might be okay to let them in on the secret at some point. But at the moment, it was just too heavy a burden to place on a pair of Bronze-class adventurers.

Raiz and Lola were also young enough that I’d rather they still enjoy adventuring. Perhaps it would be best to wait until they were as jaded as I was. No, that might actually be worse. They could leak the information to someone for money. At least that was what I would do.

“Oh, speaking of vampires,” Lorraine interjected, addressing Nive, “did you kill the one you ran into in the New Moon Dungeon?”

Oh yeah, we hadn’t bothered to ask Nive about that.

“Yes, I made sure to kill it. Since I wanted to ask it a lot of questions, I stopped my attacks while it could still answer, but I have to hand it to the enemy. It chose death instead and turned itself into ash. Basically, I couldn’t get anything out of it. Unfortunate. That was why I’d set my hopes on the boss in Maalt, but that wall... It was a terrible disappointment.” Her shoulders slumped in a rare display of sadness.

I could understand how that’d be awful for someone in Nive’s position. She’d spent a lot of time and money preparing for the vampire’s appearance, only for us to take the kill in the end. I doubted that Nive cared too much about the credit, but since she so badly wanted to kill vampires, it might as well have been the same thing.

“I can only apologize on that one. We didn’t find out much either,” I replied.

That wasn’t actually a lie. We knew that Shumini had created a dungeon and tried to become its dungeon master, but we didn’t know why he had gone to the trouble of doing so. Was there some special benefit to being a dungeon master? Or was there some other reason? There was no way to know. We could ask Laura, but she was currently getting her beauty rest. We had no idea when she’d wake up. Noble ladies, after all, valued their sleep.

“No, it’s not your fault, Rentt,” Nive said, shaking her head. “I simply misjudged the situation. I should have left the New Moon Dungeon as it was and headed straight to Maalt. However, if I had, adventurers like Raiz and Lola would have ended up as victims. I didn’t get to kill the boss vampire, but you got him in the end, Rentt. It was probably for the best too, so I don’t have any complaints in that regard. But I do regret not getting to kill them myself.”

“Perhaps next time,” I said. “Though I hope there isn’t a next time.”

I’d said it jokingly, but Nive nodded seriously and added, “Yes, no one should be dragged into a vampire’s machinations a second time. This city should be fine for a while, however.”

I wondered how she could be so sure of that. I tilted my head quizzically at her.

Nive picked up on my skepticism and explained, “It’s one thing if it’s just a middle vampire, but when a greater vampire dies somewhere, other vampires tend to avoid that location. No doubt they have some sort of communication network. Ordinarily, you’d think they’d want revenge on the humans who killed their kin, but they’re more intelligent than that. That’s part of what makes them such difficult prey. And it’s also why they’ve been able to lurk in the darkness for as long as they have and survive. So, for the moment anyway, this city is safe.”

So that was what she’d meant. Shumini had been a greater vampire, so if Nive was right, vampires wouldn’t return to Maalt anytime soon. Still, it was worth being cautious. But Wolf could handle those details, so it wasn’t something I needed to worry about.

“Does that mean you’ll be leaving Maalt, Nive?” I asked.

She basically lived to kill vampires, so I’d assumed that she wouldn’t stick around when there was little chance of running into one. I wasn’t implying that I wanted her out of the city...not really.

Aside from the vampire obsession, Nive was an extremely capable adventurer. I felt guilty for hiding things from her. It would be better if she were gone, but that was just because of my personal circumstances. For the Maaltesians, Nive was useful to have around.

However, Nive replied, “I think it’s time to leave. I’m intrigued by the new dungeon, but most questions about such things go unanswered. I’m no expert, and it’s not as though investigating it will tell me any more about vampires. I intend to quietly leave the city before the people from The Academy and The Tower start flooding in.”

◆◇◆◇◆

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “I was hoping you’d stay for a while longer and make a name for yourself here in Maalt.”

When I said that, Nive gazed intently into my eyes, sighed, and shrugged. “It’s not a total lie, but it’s not what you’re really feeling, Rentt. But that’s fine. I’m a busy woman. There are still many vampires to kill. Don’t miss me too much when I leave. Though, I suppose things will be different if you’re actually a vampire...”

Nive stepped closer to me, stopping with her face just inches from mine, and shook her head. “It really is strange. Why aren’t you a vampire, Rentt?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Exactly what it sounds like. I know we settled this a long time ago, but I was convinced you were one, Rentt.”

“That was because of my suspicious activities and stuff, wasn’t it?”

“That was part of it. But in the end, it was intuition. Not reason, not Holy Fire, but my intuition. It’s never failed me before. Until I met you, that is. That’s why, Rentt, I’ve still got my eye on you.”

She began to move even closer. The clinic room door clicked open, and Rina poked her head out. She looked at Nive and me. Time stopped for a moment.

“Huh? Rentt, you and Miss Nive are...involved?! M-M-Miss Lorraine! Are you okay with that?!” Rina said with a shout. She grabbed Lorraine by the shoulders and began shaking her back and forth.

Lorraine’s expression was difficult to describe as she let Rina shake her. “Fine, or not...I don’t think...it’s what you think...It is...”

“Then what is it?! What else would a man and woman do that close together?! Other than, you know, K-K-Ki—”

“Kiki?”

“K-Kissing...for example...”

“Hmm. I don’t know. Will they? Rina, let’s see if they will,” Lorraine said teasingly.

Nive turned to me. “Mm, shall we, Rentt? I certainly don’t mind.”

“But I would. Step back, please.”

I took Nive by the shoulders and pushed her away. I didn’t know if she’d been kidding or not, but she’d puckered her lips a little, which was all the more unnerving. I felt like if she did kiss me, she’d suck all the life out of me. Seriously. I mean, I should be the one doing the sucking, but... I can’t even imagine doing that to her.

For whatever reason, Rina looked disappointed, while Lorraine chuckled.

“C’mon, don’t do this to me, Lorraine,” I begged.

She quipped back, “Oh, but it was entertaining. Rina knows more about these things than I expected. Were you disappointed?” she asked Rina.

Rina blushed and stammered out, “N-N-Nothing like that! Um, so you two...aren’t in a relationship like that?”

Considering that Rina was still pursuing that question, she really did know more about the subject than I’d given her credit for. That or she was just really curious.

“It certainly wouldn’t bother me if we were,” Nive purred.

“Please stop. It’s hard to tell when you’re kidding, and that scares the hell out of me.”

“You really can’t take a joke, can you, Rentt?” Nive said, shaking her head. “I’ll stop now. There are too many people who’d be mad at me if I pushed it any further. Miss Rina, you just happened to catch us at a moment when I moved closer to him. There’s nothing else to it.”

“Oh, I see...”

Again, I wondered why Rina was so disappointed. If Nive and I were ever in that sort of relationship, conflicting emotions would be the least of our problems. We were simply too different. At least, that’s what I felt. I couldn’t really say with any specificity, though. Let’s just call it my intuition.

“Besides, if we were in that sort of relationship,” Nive continued, “we wouldn’t do it in public. We’d do it quietly and in private. Even kissing in front of Miss Lorraine would be pushing it.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Though I’ve heard some people like that sort of thing,” Rina mused.

“Miss Rina, you aren’t just playing dumb, are you? I’m starting to suspect that’s the case here.”

“No, no, no! That’s not true! At all!”

I supposed Nive and Rina had compatible personalities because they were getting along well right now. Was it just me, or was Nive actually on the defensive here? That was unexpected.

Leaving the two to their banter, Lorraine walked over to me. “And what did you actually feel? She might be a crazy, obsessed vampire hunter, but she’s a world-class beauty. You sure you weren’t happy her face was so close to yours?”

Lorraine had been joking, but I immediately shook my head. “If anything, it felt like a dragon approaching me for a breath attack.”

“Oh, ah, my condolences.”

“Besides, I don’t feel much in that department these days. I won’t say at all, though.”

We exchanged words in a quiet whisper. However, we made sure to keep it vague enough that it wouldn’t matter if Nive heard us.

“Ah, yes, that’s true,” Lorraine agreed. “How interesting that Rina was so fascinated by the subject.”

Lorraine had a good point. Since Rina was a pseudo-vampire like me, I’d assumed that her various emotions and desires would be more muted. Was it because she had just become a vampire? Or was it because Shumini had tried to turn her with the express intent of making her his companion? In my case, I’d started out as a skeleton. Perhaps my feelings were less intense because I’d been cut off from all my living desires and was still dealing with the aftereffects. If so, those various desires might come back eventually, even if somewhat muted.

“Maybe she’s just at that age,” Lorraine suggested. “Her friends are ‘more than friends, less than lovers’ too, remember?”

“Raiz and Lola? I see.”

As we continued our discussion, Nive and Rina finished their conversation.

“Well then, I shall take my leave. I’ll be setting off from the city tomorrow, so you’re more than welcome to come see me off. Farewell.” With that, Nive left the clinic.

I just really didn’t understand her sometimes. See her off? Yeah, I really debated about going.