“Only thanks to you. Well, it looks like with how things shook out, I can keep adventuring for a little while longer, at least. By the way, I told Haru exactly what you wanted me to, as promised.”
“Oh, you did?! Really?!”
“Of course. Just who do you think you’re talking to, anyway? Blade the adventurer never goes back on his word!” He thumped his chest with pride.
“You know, Blade, you really are a hero. You’re cool, reliable, and strong. I bet the receptionist lady was thrilled to see you come back, huh?”
“Well, she was...until she dumped me after she found out I spent all my reward money at Shunrai! I couldn’t tell her it was to treat you, of course, so I couldn’t say anything to defend myself either.” He slumped down on the counter, looking dejected.
“Oh... You don’t say? Er, I guess that’s my fault. Sorry.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. If you hadn’t helped out, I would’ve died anyway, so just pretend like the confession never happened and we’ll call it even.”
“All right. But I still feel bad, so let me at least buy you a round. Keep at it, hero. One day you’ll find your princess.”
Master patted him on the shoulder consolingly. Master...don’t you think you’re being a little too nice to him?
“Come to think of it, where are Shildon and Sekko?”
“They’re still at the inn and totally immobile. I’m the party leader, so I can’t just lie around—I’ve got to look alive. If I wasn’t the leader, I’d probably still be in bed too, ’cause, man, everything hurts.” As he twisted his neck and rolled his shoulders, his body made cracking noises.
“Oh, right, I probably should’ve given you one of my potions, huh? Well, better late than never. Here.”
“Oh, nice! This’ll really help... Huh, that’s the first time I’ve seen a yellow potion. Is it really okay to drink this?”
Master had handed Blade a yellow potion. Huh? Wait, don’t tell me that’s the legendary ambrosia? I get the feeling it’s the concentrate from the mountain of fruits stored back at the base...
“I made this potion myself. I didn’t put anything inedible in there, so you should be fine. I think.”
“Whoa now, hold up! You think?! What’s that mean?!”
“At any rate, it expires after today, so just drink it. And no reselling it either, okay?”
“Do I look like I’d sell things on the black market? I’m not one to refuse a drink, so thanks.”
“Glad to hear it! Then see you later, Blade! I’m going to Shunrai right this instant!”
“No, you’re not; it’s still daytime. You’ll have to wait until tonight.”
“Oh, right. Then I’ll go as soon as it gets dark! See ya!”
Master grabbed my shoulders and led me toward the exit. Then, once we were out of the guild, she whispered in my ear. “Heh heh, that ‘potion’ I gave him was actually one of the fragrances I made. He’ll be a walking air freshener before long! But I made it just like I make my potions, so it shouldn’t hurt him.”
Oh, impressive, master! So this is your way of handing out divine punishment! Then I won’t say anything else about the matter. I could hear Blade behind us shouting, “Hey Karina, what gives?!” so he must’ve drunk the fragrance, but if he was feeling good enough to yell like that, he was probably fine. Serves you right, you shameless cur.
After that, master and I bought some skewered meat, soup, and honey juice from a food stand on the main road to enjoy while we walked around town. Outside of those purchases, she bought out nearly every food stand with the rest of her reward money, saying she planned to donate it all to Shunrai. It was enough food that I seriously worried she wouldn’t be able to carry it all, let alone eat it, but apparently her backpack was somehow linked to her storage room, so my worries were unfounded.
“Still, I didn’t expect to get such a hefty reward,” she said. “It was enough that I could even go on this shopping spree.”
“Meaning you really were indispensable in the battle yesterday, as I thought.”
“Mmm, well, not officially, since all I did was fire attack magic from the top of the wall...but unofficially, I suppose so.”
“In other words, the ones who need to know know. I understand, master.” That’s my master—her accomplishments were so outstanding that not even that trio could steal all her glory!
Looking down at the orc meat skewer in her hand, master suddenly spoke up. “Hey, Aishia, those orc assassins are a superior breed of orc, but apparently food stands like these don’t sell their meat because it tastes worse than regular orc. Did you know that?”
“No, master, I didn’t! How interesting! You sure are well-informed!”
“No, I didn’t know either. Blade told me. If you didn’t know, I guess it wasn’t common knowledge.” She paused. “Aishia, I still have a whole lot to learn about this world, so please teach me all sorts of things in the future, okay?”
Oh, is that so? I’d already guessed that might be the case, since strong people like her tended to be muscleheads, but it seemed master really did lack worldliness—or rather, she was unfamiliar with the world around her.
“Oh, but you know, there’s a superstition out there that says eating the meat of stronger beings will make you stronger in turn,” I said.
“Oh, is there? Interesting. Then maybe there’s a region somewhere where they serve dragon meat too?” she muttered to herself.
It’s said that dragons are so strong that should you ever meet one, you might as well consider your life over, yet the first thing that comes to her mind is eating them, huh? As I thought, master must be ridiculously strong.