“Is that how it is…” I said. “In that case, I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but would you help me vacate the inn? I also want to talk to Ralf about the money I owe him, face to face, so if you see him somewhere, I’d appreciate it if you told him I was searching for him. I still haven’t familiarized myself with the city enough to look for him myself.”
I wanted to stop my debt from increasing any further as much as possible—and if I could get rid of the lodging fees from today onwards, that would help considerably.
While Miss Hitstan listened to me talk, she kept stuffing her face with bread, and her puffed cheeks made her look like an adorable squirrel. In an attempt to answer me, she covered her mouth with one hand before giving up trying to talk almost immediately, instead opting just to make an “okay” sign with her fingers. Then she picked up her cup, washed down some of the food, and grinned at me.
“Then it’s settled,” she declared. “I’m satisfied if this means I can pester Ralf even a little. And now that that’s done, tell me more about yourself. Why do you want to be an adventurer, and so on?”
Conversing with women wasn’t one of my fortes, but I at least had enough social grace to know I couldn’t just leave with a “Well, thanks in advance”—not with everything she was about to do for me. I didn’t have much to tell her since I’d only been at the inn for a day, but maybe I could come up with something that might satisfy her curiosity.
Before I started talking, I downed a few gulps of the mysterious drink in my cup. It tasted slightly bitter and smelled like alcohol. The scent was nice, but I wasn’t so sure about the flavor.
“Good grief,” Miss Hitstan said, bursting out laughing when I grimaced. “You shouldn’t expect anything more than watered-down wine at a cheap canteen like this! What kind of fancy stuff do you normally drink?”
During the seminar, she had seemed serious and mature, but talking to her one-on-one like this, she acted just like any other young woman.
Once I started telling her the backstory I’d invented, she listened, occasionally responding with a hum. She expressed sympathy for my amnesiac state and did her best to provide some guesses about where I came from. Simply put, she continued to be kind to me.
I’d been really lucky with my encounters since arriving in this world.
By the time it had started to get dark out, we were on a first-name basis. Maybe it was embarrassing at my age, but I couldn’t have been happier to have made a friend. And then, right around the time we decided to leave the canteen, Ellie gave me some advice.
“Haruka, you were using lots of magic in the training ground earlier, weren’t you?” she asked, even though she probably knew the answer. “You know, if you don’t want to stand out, you should probably stop doing that.”
“Was I really that conspicuous?”
“Yes,” Ellie said. “In fact, there’s already a rumor going around about a beautiful woman who fired off spells dozens of times without getting exhausted. I actually went over to the training ground myself after hearing it. It was beginner magic, but even I would have grown tired and needed a break after doing that many spells in a row.”
“…I’ll be more careful from now on.”
“Well, with that face and figure, you’re going to stand out anyway.”
The topic of my appearance had come up several times in our conversation. When I’d first seen my reflection in the lake, I had thought I was beautiful. But apparently my beauty was really exceptional. I had never given much thought to looks, so it was difficult for me to judge the different levels of beautiful. Personally, I thought Ellie and Corinne were both lovely young women. Past a certain point, the distinctions among beauty become meaningless. To me, beautiful people were simply beautiful people.
However, after having my looks pointed out to me so many times, I was starting to realize that I needed to be more careful. I made a note to myself that I should buy some hooded clothes as soon as possible so I could live my life without exposing my face so much. I wanted to avoid unnecessary attention.
During a comfortable lull in the conversation, Ellie stood up, taking her dishes with her. “I’ll take you to the Guild’s housing. Follow me.”
I did as she asked and rose from my chair, trailing after her like a baby duckling. Or a duckling that was rather long in the tooth. It’s sort of funny how pathetic I am.
We kept on chatting when we got back out into the corridor and walked in the apparent direction of the Guild dormitory.
“Hey, Haruka,” Ellie said suddenly. “If you’re really serious about becoming an adventurer, would you like to join my clan? It’s all women, so I think you’d have an easy time of it, you know.”
That sounded awful, actually. As a middle-aged man, I knew I’d have a hard time deciding where to look if I were surrounded by women all the time. Plus, I didn’t think I’d be able to fit in. I couldn’t say anything like that to Ellie, though. I didn’t want to open that Pandora’s box.
“Well, I was planning to just work somewhere like a normal person…” As I answered, I thought back to Corinne and Albert’s invitation to join their party.
“Even though you can use magic?” Ellie questioned. “But wait, you’re using the past tense, so does that mean you’ve changed your mind?”
“Well, yes and no,” I hedged. “The other kids in the seminar today asked me to go adventuring with them. Honestly, I thought they were fascinating. They don’t know the first thing about me, though.”
“Hmmm,” Ellie hummed, pursing her lips. She continued after a brief thoughtful pause. “All right, all right, I understand. You’re more intrigued by their invitation, right?” Then she pouted. “No fair that their idea gets you looking so excited all of a sudden.”
“O-Oh, was I that obvious? I’m sorry if I offended you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ellie said with another wave of her hand. “It was probably fate that you met them first. From my perspective, you four do seem like you’d make a well-balanced party, so why not join them?”
In response, I awkwardly scratched at my cheek. But one of Ellie’s best features was apparently that her domineering attitude didn’t come across as nasty at all. So I decided to open up a bit more to this veteran who just so happened to be younger than me.
“You say that, but another thing that concerns me is…won’t it be a burden for them to have someone they hardly know join them? What do you think?”
Maybe I asked because I wanted someone to give me a final push. My current looks, gender, and age were not the real me. So wouldn’t I be deceiving the rest of the party if I accepted their invitation? I didn’t have dreams or goals like they did, so should I even be allowed to join them with such a dried-up old spirit? If I become a part of their group, it would be like staining a clean sheet of white paper with a drop of ink.
So far, in my life, most of the things I had willingly decided to do hadn’t worked out. Starting something new was a terrifying prospect, and I just wasn’t a strong enough person to be capable of making snap decisions. I must have asked Ellie for advice because I wanted to dispel those fears.
Ellie stopped walking and turned to stare at me. I flinched a little when she suddenly jabbed a finger in my face. Then she gave me her answer, her tone admonishing.
“What are you saying?” she said, and it sounded like an accusation. “They invited you, right? Haruka, you’re a stunning woman, you can use magic competently, and you’re polite and mature. I firmly believe that the others should be doing their best to make sure they’re good enough for you. I don’t know why you have such little confidence in yourself, but why not just try working with them once?” she suggested. “Oh, one thing though—be careful not to die. Because I’ve taken quite a shine to you myself, you know. I wasn’t trying to recruit you to my team as a joke either, so keep that in mind too. Got it?”
Overwhelmed by her enthusiasm, I could only give her a small nod. Ellie nodded back, satisfied by my reaction, before resuming her walk down the corridor a step ahead of me.
I really was lucky to have met everyone I had since coming to this world.