I’d already started the fire—it was probably fine to start cooking something while we talked. If I’d had a normal guest, I would’ve probably put the cooking fire out and welcomed them properly, but with Surena, I found myself taking things nice and easy—in a good way, of course. There was no need to be tense around her.
“Have things settled down?” I asked as I poured water into a pot and placed it over the fire.
“Yes. That said, there wasn’t much of an uproar to begin with...”
“Aah, that makes sense.”
Surena’s absence hadn’t been made public. Those involved in the matter had panicked, but it’d gone unnoticed by the world at large. Ultimately, it was fortunate that it hadn’t turned into big news. It would’ve been a major scandal for a black rank to have gone missing, and even if things hadn’t gone that far, it would’ve had a negative effect on the guild’s reputation. I was really glad things hadn’t ended that way. The fact that I’d been totally and utterly involved was probably something I would have to take with me to the grave. Surena and all those who’d accompanied us weren’t going to blab either.
“Anyway, you’re looking awfully cheerful,” I remarked.
“Is that so? Well...it does feel like a major weight off my mind.”
Her expression really was bright. She’d probably been putting up a tough facade ever since becoming an adventurer, but that veil had vanished here. In short, the way she carried herself right now was different than usual.
Id Invicius had killed Surena’s parents. Taking revenge against it successfully was a big deal. A weight that had continuously been tying her down had been lifted, and that was worth celebrating. Nobody wanted to wield a sword with negative emotions hounding them at all times. Maybe this wasn’t limited only to swordsmanship either—it was normal to want a life free of grief. I didn’t believe her only reason for becoming an adventurer was revenge, but it had definitely been a part of it. If she’d been driven entirely by revenge, she would’ve been more on edge, making it much harder to rise to black rank.
“That’s great,” I said.
“It is...”
There were many emotions behind my short words. Being more verbose would’ve been meaningless. Besides, I wasn’t really good at that stuff. This was more than enough. She’d walked a righteous path and had brought about a positive result. It hadn’t been the shortest path, but she’d never lost heart and had accomplished her goal. That was wonderful, even if said goal was revenge.
I recalled the conversation we’d had some time ago. Mewi had been there too. She’d asked Surena whether she had a goal now that she’d become the highest rank of adventurer. I hadn’t heard the exact details at the time.
“Oh yeah, was defeating Id Invicius the goal you mentioned having a while back?” I asked.
“Yes. I couldn’t track it at all because of its characteristics... But I received very reliable information this time around, which was why I was finally able to find it.”
“I see... It must’ve been hard finding an invisible enemy.”
This sort of thing was definitely difficult to talk about, though my threshold for embarrassment was low, so I found much less troublesome things harder to discuss than she did. At any rate, it must’ve been a lot of work searching for a monster that could vanish. I had no idea how she’d gotten information on it, but since it’d been recognized as a named monster already, its existence had been verified at some point.
The adventurer’s guild was an organization that’d built up great influence across borders. This would be impossible to maintain without significant organizational capacity and martial might. In Liberis, we already had the Liberion Order, the royal garrison, and the magic corps. Despite this, they allowed the guild within their borders, so there must’ve been plenty to gain from having them around. It was simply a good bargain to possess such a vast information network close at hand. There was a major limit to how much information one was capable of gathering as an individual.
Still, that didn’t really change the fact that it was best to never have to rely on such organizations. Even if I did my best not to stick my neck into trouble, it was entirely possible for trouble to find me. I was no longer just a dojo instructor in the sticks but the special instructor for the order—it was unrealistic to avoid trouble completely.
I could get most of the information I wanted from Allucia or Henblitz if I asked about it, but there were things that the order didn’t know about. I could always do some recon and gather information when needed, but wasn’t it better to have connections like those in the guild for that sort of thing? Above all else, I had Surena. If I ever had some concern, it was good to have someone I could ask right away.
“Whoops.”
I’d gotten lost in my thoughts while keeping up the conversation. I started to hear bubbles roiling in the pot in front of me.
Hmm, I can’t exactly start stewing meat or vegetables while my guest waits. I decided to make some tea instead. I’d bought some cheap leaves some time ago—Mewi and I had only tried them once or twice on rare occasions. We had almost zero visitors in our household, after all. Surena actually knew the taste of our tea the best because we’d served it to her when she’d come by. That was how few people dropped in. Still, some hot, inexpensive tea was better than the two choices of cheap wine or hot water offered in Beaden.
“I’ll brew some tea,” I told Surena. “Gimme a sec.”
“There’s no need to—”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I want to make some.”
I’d expected her reaction. She always showed me a strange amount of restraint, so I was able to completely shut out her objection by saying that I wanted tea. While she wasn’t exactly domineering, her usual attitude was rather blunt. Seeing her curl up like a small animal was charming. Maybe this was what people called “meek as a lamb.” I felt like she had a strange commonality with Mewi in that regard, and the thought brought a smile to my face.
“Well, I enjoy it, but I’m not exactly good at making tea,” I added. I didn’t hate or love tea, but I felt like I had to make a disclaimer after declaring that I wanted to make some.
“I’ve enjoyed the tea you’ve made before,” Surena replied. “I’ll gladly have some.”