THE next day, I went to class after practicing with everyone early in the morning, but on Friday, I skipped class and went back to the Citadel of Ancient Gods. I was planning on spending the next three days and nights in the dungeon, focusing on delving even deeper.
That Friday night, I received a Message from Eric informing me that all the members of the hero’s party, except for Abel, had disappeared from the royal court in Ishtobal. Eric was one person you could expect to get information quickly.
I’d expected them to make some move now, but there was no guarantee it was me they were after. Even so, I sent a Message to Jessica and the others telling them about what was going on with the hero’s party.
Just past seven o’clock Saturday morning, I received another Message from Eric.
“I know where the hero’s party is going. It’s the jail in Carnell, but they’d already left Ishtobal when I got the info. You should hurry.”
I immediately put a pause on my dungeon dive and went to the Adventurers Guild in Carnell. Extreme-difficulty dungeons were meant to be run in a gauntlet, so there were no shortcuts back to the surface, which meant I had the annoying problem of fighting more than a thousand monsters that respawned on each floor as I went up, but I didn’t need to kill them all.
I sped up to my top speed and blasted my way through the hordes of enemies. I’d fought them countless times before, so their attacks didn’t do anything to me. After rushing to the top in one burst, I used Teleport to move straight to the Adventurers Guild.
Jessica sent me a Message while I was still working my way up, telling me the hero’s party had arrived in the Guild. When I got there, outside appearances didn’t imply anything abnormal was going on, but Scan pinged several targets with high mana. There was no doubt the hero’s party was inside. If they were going to use the same strong-arm tactics as Chris, I needed to neutralize them before people got hurt.
I prepared myself to act instantly if need be while using Scan to confirm the locations of the hero’s party, then opened the door to the Guild, but the atmosphere inside was not what I’d expected.
“We are so sorry for the trouble that jerk Chris caused. Everything’s on us today, so eat and drink as much as you like!”
The adventurers raised their glasses and tankards of alcohol and cheered while the Guild workers bustled about delivering food to tables. It definitely did not feel like a fight was about to break out, but Jessica, Gale, and their parties were remaining vigilant even if they were having a drink.
The person who’d been speaking was a young woman with white hair and gold eyes. She had a cute face, a charming smile, and was pretty petite at just under five feet, but her outfit stood out. It was interesting to hear her speak with a Kansai accent. She wore a robe made of vivid red snakeskin and a necklace with several large gemstones.
Considering the nature of her appearance, I decided this was probably the second-in-command of the party, Alisa Kusunoki.
“Arius…” Jessica noticed me right away, but didn’t move because she was wary of Alisa and the others. I slowly walked over to her, but Alisa got up from her seat and approached me.
“Aren’t you Arius, the youngest-ever SSS-rank adventurer? SSS-rank adventurers do seem to have a completely different air about them. My name is Alisa Kusunoki. I’m the assistant to Prince Abel, the hero. Although…I suppose I should really introduce myself as second-in-command of the hero’s party.”
Alisa gave me a friendly smile. The other four members of her party had been eyeing me cautiously since I set foot in the Guild.
“Arius, I apologize for the trouble that moron Chris caused you. That violent idiot is utterly worthless. Even we have a hard time dealing with him.”
Alisa snapped her fingers, and an opulent treasure chest appeared. It looked like she could use Inventory. She opened the chest to show it was crammed full of gold coins.
“As an apology, I would like you to have this 20,000 gold. Would this let us put this mess of Chris’s behind us? I’ll, of course, provide another sum to the Guild to cover repairs and distress caused.”
The adventurers nearby nearly drooled as they watched. One gold was roughly equivalent to 10,000 yen in my previous life, meaning this was around 200,000,000 yen.
“I don’t need money,” I answered. “If you’re giving gold away, give it to the people whom Chris hurt. Like Allen. If things had gone any worse, he could’ve died.”
“You’re thinking about me at a time like this?” Allen asked, looking moved nearly to tears. It was not the time for that, though.
“If that’s what you want, that’s what I’ll do. I am sorry for the trouble he caused you. You are so forgiving.”
She looked at me with appraising eyes. It was like she wanted to make it out like we’d come to an agreement and put this all behind us.
“Arius, I’m not going to accept any money either. Chris tried to kill you, and I’m not about to forgive him for that,” argued Allen. Jessica nodded in agreement. Gale and his party also didn’t seem interested in accepting money.
“It looks like no one needs your money. More importantly, why are you here?”
I doubted the hero’s party had come all this way just to apologize.
“Oh, Arius, don’t sound like that. I came to apologize as Chris’s superior for him going off and doing what he did. There is one other thing, but it’s just because we happen to be here already.”
In the end, she was trying to make this whole thing entirely Chris’s doing.
“I spoke to the soldiers who’d been with Chris, but I have no proof supporting their claims that he was acting on Abel’s orders. At this point, I have no intention of blaming you for what he did,” I informed her.
“Well, it’s very helpful that you’re so understanding.”
There, I got a glimpse of the cunning Alisa hid behind her friendly smile.
“How about,” she began slowly, “as a sign of our new friendship, we sit down together for a drink and have a nice long chat?”
I sat at a table with the members of the hero’s party. Alisa cast Sound Isolation so the people around us wouldn’t hear our conversation.
“Arius, let’s jump right in with a drink,” Alisa gleefully suggested as she poured a pink sparkling wine into my glass, then into hers. That was the most expensive alcohol in Carnell’s Guild. The rest of the party had drinks of their choice. “There. Here’s to meeting each other.”
I drank what she’d poured for me. Even if it were drugged or poisoned, it wouldn’t work on someone with my stats. She probably knew that.
“You can down a drink. I like a man who can hold his liquor. Let’s have some more!”
As suggested, I drank another. My high stats meant I didn’t get drunk. Alisa was also emptying glass after glass, but she probably didn’t get drunk either for the same reason.
“Arius. You know, I’ve just decided to call you Arius, but seeing as we’ve only just met, would it be better if I addressed you as Master Gilberto?” Alisa asked with a grin. That meant she knew I was Arius Gilberto, the son of the chief minister of Ronaudia. “Oh, that’s right, you prefer not to be called by your surname. I’m so forgetful these days. Please forgive me.”
She obviously said that on purpose to try to shake me.
“Call me whatever you want,” I replied. “You’re not going to get anywhere just by knowing who I am as a bargaining chip. I don’t care if you tell the people here.”
If people found out I was a noble, I’d have to greet the royals and nobles of every country I visited as an adventurer. I only hid my identity because getting pulled into the social sphere was annoying. Still, I never got involved with other countries—other than the occasional visit to Carnell because I was currently taking on its dungeons. If it became a hassle in the future, I could just relinquish my title and be done with it. Jessica, Gale, and the others would learn my identity, but I didn’t think our relationships were fragile enough to break from something like that.
“What a boring reaction. I’m simply curious about you; there was no ulterior motive to that.”
“I have no interest in beating around the bush. Get to the point.”
“Are you in that much of a hurry? Well, at least let me introduce the other members of the hero’s party to you.”
I’d obviously already investigated them. My Evaluate showed their levels, stats, spells, and skill make up already.
The black-haired man with a sharp gaze was Ryo Kisaragi. He was a physical attacker and the highest level in the party after Alisa. His name and appearance were Japanese in style, and he had not a European-style sword but a katana at his waist.
Fawn L’Estella had shoulder-length blonde hair and seemed to be a dual-purpose magic user, both offensive caster and healer. She had a unique set of spells at her disposal.