After much deliberation, Allen finally decided to head over to Noel and the others for the time being. He figured it was better to let them know as soon as possible.
Leaving Vanessa’s place, he made his way straight to the familiar mansion where Noel and the others lived. The one thing that nagged at him, though, was that he had already visited once today. There was a chance they might become suspicious and turn him away at the gate. If that happened...maybe dropping Vanessa’s name would smooth things over.
But as it turned out, such worries were entirely unnecessary. When he arrived at the mansion and explained he had business there, he was let inside without question. In fact, he was admitted so easily that it almost made him worry for the opposite reason.
“Isn’t this just a little careless?” he asked Noel.
“You seem to have forgotten, but you’re the one who saved our lives. Sure, technically we’ve already repaid that debt, but that fact hasn’t changed. If you say you have business with us, there’s no reason we’d refuse to hear it,” Noel replied.
“If you were serious about forcing your way in, there’d be nothing we could do to stop you. It’s not carelessness...just cutting out the futile effort,” Mylène chimed in.
“At least try to soften your words a little.” Noel said, letting out a sigh, but the fact that she didn’t deny it meant she likely agreed.
Allen had no intention of denying it either. It was true that he could if he wanted to. Not that he’d ever actually think of doing such a thing, but words were cheap. And in any case, the women here knew full well he would never do it. Even so, this was likely their way of slipping in a mild warning.
“Anyway, fine. So? What exactly is it you came here for?” Noel asked.
“Ah, yeah. About that...”
How should he explain it? He’d have to give them some context, but there was a lot Allen himself didn’t understand, so being direct was probably the fastest route.
“You know a person named Vanessa, right?”
The moment he said the name, Noel visibly reacted. Not the sort of reaction born from shock, but more like she was unsure how she ought to respond. Certain now that something had happened between them, Allen kept going without commenting on it.
“Actually, she put in a request at the Adventurer’s Guild, and I ended up taking it.”
“Vanessa?”
A voice cut in, interrupting him. It was Mylène, tilting her head in puzzlement. Allen frowned for a moment before realizing what was going on. Mylène likely wasn’t playing dumb; she truly had no idea who that was. Which meant Noel had never told her the woman’s name. Whatever Noel’s reasoning, she must have judged there was no need to share it.
It seemed inconvenient—if Mylène didn’t know the name, she couldn’t find the person—but then Allen remembered the first time he visited this mansion. Back then, only Mylène had been home. Noel had arrived later, which suggested she alone had gone to see Vanessa. From the start, Noel probably hadn’t intended for Mylène to be involved. If the explanation she’d given Mylène was as brief as the one she’d given Allen, that would make sense. Which meant Allen couldn’t just go spilling everything.
As he was debating how to phrase things, Noel glanced at him briefly before letting out a sigh. It was probably her way of saying she realized he understood and that she couldn’t keep silent any longer. With a resigned air, she spoke.
“Vanessa is the name of the person who saved my life. She’s why I came to this place.”
“I see.” Mylène’s gaze sharpened at once as she turned to Allen. “And you took on a request from her. Just a coincidence?”
Allen gave a wry smile. That was a natural assumption. It was far too convenient to call it chance. But that was exactly what it was, so there was nothing he could do about it.
“I get why you’d be suspicious, but it really was a coincidence. If you check with the guild, you’ll see I took the request simply because it had the highest reward listed. I didn’t even know who the client was when I accepted it.”
“You didn’t know the client’s name? Is that normal?” asked Noel.
“That’s pretty careless, ” sniffed Mylène.
“Not really. The Adventurer’s Guild’s reputation depends on it, so they’re careful about those things.”
“Hmm... Fine. So? What exactly does you taking Vanessa’s request have to do with us?” asked Noel.
“That’s the thing. I’m not exactly sure myself. The request was to retrieve a sword buried in a mountain somewhere.”
“A mountain...and a specific sword?” Noel frowned, her expression unreadable. Whether she recognized it or not was unclear.
Either way, Allen figured they’d find out if he kept talking. “Yeah. She called it her life’s greatest masterpiece.”
“Sounds impressive,” said Mylène.
“Not just sounds impressive. Without a doubt, it is. Vanessa’s a master blacksmith, the sort whose skills were sought after even when she shut herself away in some remote mountain. If she’s calling something her greatest work, it might very well turn out to be a national treasure.”
“Ah, I see. That’s how valuable it is.”
Which could also explain why the reward was so high. Not only was the item itself valuable, but offering a large reward would also discourage anyone from trying to take it for themselves. While Allen was considering this, it seemed Noel was starting to piece things together too. A look of dawning realization—tinged with dread—came over her face.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” she muttered.
“I think you’re probably right. And that’s where my reason for being here comes in. Vanessa said she doesn’t actually know where the mountain is. So she told me to get a High Elf in this city to guide me there.”
“A High Elf? The only High Elf here right now is Noel. Meaning...?” Mylène asked.
“Meaning she essentially named me directly.” Noel sighed again and shot Allen a glare.
Honestly, all Allen could do was feel awkward under her stare.
“And I’m just supposed to accept this? I don’t see any benefit to me... Unless you’re offering payment?”
“I feel the same way, but no, she didn’t mention anything like that,” he answered. “She did say, though, that once you heard the details, you’d definitely accept.”
“I don’t get it,” Noel replied.
“Neither do I.”
Mylène voiced her confusion, while Noel seemed lost in thought. After a moment with her head bowed, she let out yet another sigh.
“I don’t like this situation one bit, but Vanessa’s right. If she tells me to do something, I can’t really refuse. Still, there’s one problem. One huge, critical problem.”
“A problem?” Allen asked.
“Yes. If she wants me to guide you, then that mountain must be the one where she and I lived. But it’s impossible.”
“Impossible? You mean you don’t want to go?”
“No, it’s simpler than that. I don’t actually know how to get there.”
“Huh?”
Allen had assumed Noel knew the way and could guide him, but apparently not. So why had Vanessa said what she had?
“After I left that mountain, I traveled by carriage. I even fell asleep along the way, so I never learned the route.”
“I see. That explains it.”
It was entirely possible Vanessa had simply been mistaken. She couldn’t have known those details and had likely just assumed Noel would remember.
“But that doesn’t mean we can’t go,” Noel continued.
“And what does that...? Ah, I get it,” said Allen.
“Get what? Are you planning to teleport us or something?”
“I don’t know anyone who could do that. I just mean, if I came and went by carriage before, we can do the same thing again.”
It was perfectly reasonable. Elves would know the way, but that still left one question. If that was the case, what exactly was this ‘critical problem’?
“The problem is that to do this, we have to go to the empire. And while that’s fine for us, you can’t enter, can you?”
“Can’t? Why not?”
“The empire’s restricting entry right now. People who’ve left can return easily enough, but it’s hard for outsiders to get in.”
“You’d need some pretty serious connections,” Mylène added.
“So that’s how it is...”
Indeed, that would be a critical problem. And it wasn’t as if he could just send Noel and the others in his place. He could probably sneak in if he had to, but that would be a last resort.
“Hmm... You two can enter the empire normally, right? Couldn’t you use that connection to get me in?”
“No. Like I said, you’d need serious connections.”
“Being connected to the Elven Queen sounds pretty serious to me.”
“Elves have low status in the empire. That kind of connection won’t help.”
“I see.”
Which meant they’d have to come up with some other plan. As Allen thought about what to do, he let out a long sigh.