“My lady and I heard about your discovery, and it made us think, ‘Wow, adventurers are incredible! So cool!’ That’s why we came to this establishment in the first place. So, we were wondering if you could share some stories about your adventure in the sewers.”
“Ohh, sure, sure! What do you wanna hear about? I bet it’s the cave gators, huh? Those bastards sneak up on you from the murky water, and you don’t even realize they’re there until they’re already leaping at you.” Despite having just lost a bet moments ago, Waine was already grinning and chatting away. He seemed to have forgotten all about it. I had suspected it before, but now I was certain: He was not a very bright man.
Meanwhile, the mage sitting in the center of the group was, well, unsettling. Ever since she had taken her seat, she hadn’t uttered a single word. She sat upright with perfect posture and silently sipped her drink. I could tell it was a strong distilled spirit from the sharp scent wafting through the air, yet her expression remained completely unchanged. That only made her more unnerving.
And then there was the third adventurer. The small scout sitting across from Kiri rested her chin on her hand and watched Yune and me with an amused expression. Her lips curled into a knowing smirk, and her sharp gaze made me feel as if our every movement were under scrutiny. I had heard that halflings possessed keener senses than humans, but having all of that awareness directed at us was an uncomfortable experience.
Meanwhile, Kiri sat stiffly beside me. I could tell he was uneasy, and the look on his face clearly said, Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
Well, whether I liked these three or not, they were indeed the adventurers who had discovered the new section of the sewers. Kiri had done nothing wrong by introducing us to them, so he had no reason to feel guilty.
With a quiet clunk, someone set a wooden cup down on the table. “The sewer map is off-limits.” It was Sheya, the mage. Though she spoke in a calm tone, her words carried enough weight to silence even the warrior’s loud chatter.
I had to admit, I was impressed. “Why?” I asked.
It was the first thing I said since we had all sat down. Or, rather, the question had just slipped out. I would need to reflect on that later. Asking why was just like admitting, “Yes, that’s exactly what we’re after.” I had allowed myself to be influenced by their casual demeanor and ended up letting my guard down.
“We already sold it to the lord,” replied the halfling scout, Chikka. She lifted her chin from her hand with a weary sigh.
I turned my attention from Sheya to her neighbor. Chikka’s answer made sense, and from a business perspective, it was something I had to respect.
“To be precise, we sold the map to the guild leader first,” she clarified. “If Barque handled it properly, it should’ve made its way to the lord already. So right now, the only ones who know the full map of the new sewer area are the lord, Barque, and us, the ones who actually explored it. That’s why we were able to sell it for such a high price. Leaking that information and devaluing the map wouldn’t just hurt us. It’d ruin the guild’s reputation too. I’d rather not get knocked flat by Barque’s iron fist over something that stupid.”
Hmm. The reasoning was a bit rough, but I had to admit that they seemed to understand the importance of confidentiality. Even among adventurers, there were those who conducted themselves with grace.
I decided to test the waters. “What if we offered to pay for it?”
“We’d still refuse, of course,” Chikka replied flatly. “For an adventurer, trust is everything. Without it, you have no one to rely on, and no one will rely on you when it really counts. If you’re that desperate, go hire some other adventurers to explore it for you. Though I doubt you’ll be able to use the job board in this guild.”
“I see,” I told her. “That was a good conversation. Thank you.”
I chuckled, unable to help myself. To my surprise, the common sense of merchants seemed to apply to the adventurer’s guild as well. Adventurers upheld their confidentiality more than I had expected, and the guild wouldn’t accept requests that undermined the interests of their clients. Even if I managed to find an adventurer outside the guild, it was far too late for hiring someone else to explore the sewers.
“Uh, what was so good about that conversation?” Kiri asked.
Well, I supposed that question was to be expected. After all, I hadn’t obtained a map of the sewers. He was a bright boy, but a country bumpkin wouldn’t be able to grasp the implications of what we had discussed.
“If you know the general location of the newly discovered sewer section, it could lead to a major business opportunity,” I explained. “For example, if you buy up land in the area before anyone else found out about it, the price would skyrocket in just a few days.”
Kiri looked surprised. “Buy land? The ground has a price?”
Oh. That’s where he’s starting from? Kiri really was ignorant of the ways of the world.
“Well, it’s too late for that. But if you know which area is about to become more active, there are still ways to get ahead of the competition. Except it looks like that’s not possible this time. Too bad.” I shrugged.
“You don’t seem that disappointed,” Chikka remarked, watching me closely. She was sharp.
I would have been disappointed if the sewer map had been easy to obtain. It would have meant that these adventurers lacked basic trustworthiness and were unfit to do business with. But Sheya and Chikka, at least, seemed like people worth talking to. The only one who was completely lost, with his eyes darting around in confusion, was the warrior.
“Well, I’ve got a good idea of why you’re here now. Looks like the sea salt guild is looking to expand its business,” Chikka ventured.
“Huh?” Yune blurted.
I was startled too. Not as much as Yune was—it wasn’t as though we had been keeping it a secret—but I might have let it show on my face a little.
“How did you know that we came from the sea salt guild?” Yune tilted her head slightly as she asked.
As a halfling, Chikka was even smaller than Kiri. Still, she gave a smug smile and rested her chin on her hand again. “I asked Kiri. You’re Liluetta Magnan, aren’t you? There’s no one in this town who doesn’t know the name Magnan.”
“Wait, I didn’t say— Ow!” Kiri started to speak but was abruptly cut off. Judging by the way he flinched, someone must have kicked him under the table.
I pressed my thumb against my lips in thought. Kiri hadn’t told them our names, which meant they had either picked up rumors or taken the trouble to investigate us.
How diligent. It proves that, in the eyes of the adventurers in this guild, we stand out as something unusual.
Still, I was a little disappointed by the clumsy way she had tried to hide the truth. When you got someone as honest as Kiri involved, a lie like that was bound to be exposed immediately. Did adventurers really not understand something so simple?
“I see,” I murmured under my breath.
Then I caught sight of Chikka’s smug grin and understood. That lie was never meant to hold up in the first place. She hadn’t been trying to test us. She’d been watching Kiri’s reaction. If I had used a false name, his response would have been different.