Ch.13Chapter 13 – Journey with Serin Ekatos (5)

“Hey, Pathos? Don’t you… want to know about our family? I mean, the Ekatos family?”

“No, I mean, I have things I need to do.”

This is the tenth time Serin has asked me if I want to know about her family.

Ever since I repaired her beloved sword Diamant, which broke during our fight with the golem, Serin has been strangely insistent about telling me about her family.

I am curious about the Ekatos family, her noble house.

But watching Serin make these offers, I can tell she’s not just trying to thank me for fixing her sword.

Yes, she reminds me of Manager Kim, my supervisor from the company I worked for in my previous life.

‘Hey, Dongsik? Do you like traveling by car?’

‘Well, I don’t dislike it…’

‘Great! You’re going on the business trip to the provinces! You can leave tomorrow!’

‘What? Wait, what do you mean…?’

‘Have a good trip! I’m heading home now!’

Thinking about it now, Manager Kim was the kind of person even a dog would call “sir.”

What does that mean?

It means he was a complete bastard.

I’m not saying Serin, who keeps approaching me about her family, is on the same level as Manager Kim.

After all, Manager Kim was only competent at office politics and incompetent at actual work, while Serin, from what I’ve observed, is someone who faithfully fulfills her contracts with clients.

I can pretty much guess why she keeps asking if I’m curious about her family.

Serin Ekatos. She wants something from me.

After being tricked by Manager Kim a few times, I can spot these things now.

I wonder what that guy is doing now. I heard the director was planning to crack down on his embezzlement of company supplies. Is he getting destroyed right about now?

“C-come on. Can’t you listen just once?”

‘I’d like to, but I feel like if I do, I’ll get involved in something I can’t handle right now!’

I didn’t want to get entangled in anything related to Serin’s family “at the moment.”

Right now, I’m just “Ordinary Person 1 who seems to have come from the Eastern Continent” with absolutely nothing to my name.

I do have the ability I received from Epitrina as a special perk from my previous life, but even I don’t know the limits of this power.

I was confident that fixing Serin’s sword Diamant wouldn’t cause any problems, but I might have to pay with my life to repair a divine weapon created by gods that only appears in legends or myths.

So I need to visit a temple later to meet Epitrina and ask about the exact limitations of my ability.

And right now, I lack the social foundation that could protect me—wealth, fame, connections.

No, let me correct that. I have none at all.

Could someone like me, with absolutely no social foundation, remain safe after learning the secret history of Serin’s family?

I might physically endanger my life, or perhaps be forced to become a member of Serin’s family as payment for learning their secrets.

I hate that idea. I haven’t even had the chance to travel freely around this world yet, or meet my favorite heroine. Why should I live a life bound to someone else?

I had enough of that in my previous life, being bound to a company.

“Serin.”

“Y-yes? What is it?”

To clearly convey my intentions to Serin, I deliberately dropped honorifics and called her name shortly and firmly.

“I don’t want to live a life bound to someone or somewhere.”

“……”

I looked at Serin and spoke resolutely.

I even used informal speech on purpose, thinking she might keep clinging to me if I remained polite.

After speaking so firmly, surely she wouldn’t continue to persist?

“But, but! You could at least listen to the story, right?”

Wow. She’s still persisting even though I’m speaking informally? What could possibly be behind this?

“…I’m sorry. It’s not that I’m not curious about your story.”

“R-really? Then will you listen…”

“But not now.”

I grabbed Serin’s shoulders and stared into her green eyes as I spoke.

“Right now, I have nothing.”

From this point, I needed to convey my true feelings to her.

“My entire fortune consists of just a few silver coins. I have no social status, no power, no connections.”

I looked into Serin’s eyes and spoke firmly, telling only the truth.

“Do you think someone like me could get involved in a noble family’s secrets and continue living without problems?”

“……”

After hearing my words, Serin seemed to realize something and opened her mouth with an “Ah!”

Not many people know that I’m an ability user.

If it became known that I’m an ability user, I would receive treatment comparable to nobility, but that alone wouldn’t guarantee my complete safety.

In this world, there must be people who would consider my ability a threat to themselves or their organization, family, or country.

If such people started targeting me, the current me could disappear without a trace in some dark alley.

Just because my ability is extraordinary doesn’t mean my body is equally extraordinary.

“And I don’t even know the limits of my ability.”

I summarized my thoughts for Serin.

I told her that I don’t know the limits of my ability and that I might have to pay with my life to repair something truly extraordinary.

“I… I’m sorry… I hadn’t thought about that…”

After hearing me out, Serin apologized with a genuinely remorseful expression.

Seeing her sincere apology, I wondered if I had been too harsh.

They say a beautiful woman’s tears are a powerful weapon, and seeing it firsthand, I felt my resolve waver slightly.

Can’t be helped. Completely cutting ties seems excessive, and if I can accurately understand the limits of my ability and build up some kind of support network…

“Not right now.”

Maybe then it would be okay?

“Huh?”

Serin is the first heroine I’ve met in this world, and I should consider that she belongs to the noble Ekatos family.

So I decided to maintain at least a small connection.

“When my name becomes known worldwide and I feel safe.”

“Then… will you listen to my story at that time?”

“Yes.”

By then, I might be casually repairing divine weapons while picking my nose.

“Can you promise?”

Serin held out her pinky finger as she spoke.

Do they also make promises with pinky fingers here?

I hesitated about whether to link my finger with Serin’s, but then extended my hand and hooked my pinky with hers.

The simple verbal promise was sealed by pressing our thumbs together.

“It’s a promise. Later, when you become famous, you’ll listen to my story. Don’t you dare forget!”

Serin seemed pleased with our verbal agreement and smiled brightly.

And so, the incident between Serin and me seemed to be resolved.

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

After three eventful days of travel, I finally arrived at Belsarem.

“Well, this concludes our escort contract.”

Having entered the city of Belsarem, I informed Serin that our contract was over.

On our way here, Serin and I had agreed to speak informally to each other.

Since we had already dropped formalities, it would have been awkward to revert to formal speech.

“Alright. If you ever need help somewhere, show this and ask for assistance. It should get you help in most situations.”

Now that our contract was over and we should be going our separate ways, Serin handed me something.

It was a silver object with what appeared to be a noble family crest engraved on it.

It was about the size of a credit card, with the thickness of an adult man’s pinky finger joint.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a token that identifies you as someone who has helped our family.”

A token given to those who have helped her family.

“Is it really okay to give me something this valuable?”

Is she trying to maintain a connection with me through this object?

“Yes. You fixed Diamant. That alone qualifies you to receive it.”

I carefully stored the token Serin gave me in an inner pocket of my clothes, not in my sack.

I should keep it within reach in case I need to use it someday.

“Um… well. I’ll be going now. If you ever open a shop, would it be okay for me to visit?”

Serin fidgeted as she waited for my answer.

“As long as you’re not coming to make me listen to your family story, you’re welcome as a customer anytime.”

Only then did Serin smile and walk away from me.

Well, now that I’ve arrived in Belsarem, all that’s left is to find the merchant group, join them, and head to Glesius Academy.

Wait for me, Glesius Academy, here I come!