Chapter 68 – A Favor to Ask

A Favor to Ask

“Sigh. Another day of coming up empty-handed.”
Grave, a Bronze-rank adventurer in Lonzville, headed towards the alley where his shelter was located, clutching his hungry stomach.

A shabby shack located on the outskirts of the city.
Grave, who once came to Lonzville with the ambition of becoming a famous adventurer and gaining immense wealth and honor, let out a long sigh as he looked at his house.

“…Damn it.”
He, who had been quite powerful in his hometown, thought that someone like him would naturally succeed as an adventurer.
…And it didn’t take long to realize that this was an illusion.

The world was vast, and there were many more strong people.
“Fuck. Those goblin bastards, what did they put on their weapons?”
The wound on his wrist was getting more painful.

Seeing that the wound from a goblin’s stone knife during the last quest had turned blue and festered, he cursed.
With not even enough money for a meal, let alone for a potion or to visit a temple, he roughly bandaged the festering wound.

“Maybe I should go back to the Adventurers’ Guild…”
By now, there might be simple herb gathering quests or sewer cleaning jobs posted.
Until now, he had ignored such jobs out of pride, but he was no longer in a position to be picky.

Although he had bandaged his arm, it was just a temporary measure. If he didn’t get proper treatment, he might never be able to use his arm again.
He trudged back towards the Adventurers’ Guild, dragging his starving body that hadn’t even had a proper meal.

“I’m sorry, but there are no quests suitable for you to take on yet, Mr. Grave. The number of adventurers has increased recently…”
“No, how can that be?! You were looking for people just yesterday. Hey, are you looking down on me because I’m Bronze-rank?!”
…But there was no good news at the Adventurers’ Guild he had managed to visit.

As his emotions flared up, Grave took out his frustration on the innocent guild employee, and eventually, a Silver-rank adventurer who couldn’t stand by intervened.
“Hey, stop making a fuss and get out.”
“What? You son of a…”

Grave, still excited, tried to hurl insults at the adventurer who was restraining him, but couldn’t finish his words when he saw his face.
“What? Finish what you were saying, Grave.”

The Silver-rank adventurer who restrained him was one of the few magicians in Lonzville. Moreover, he was known to be quite skilled.
In other words, he was not someone Grave could hope to contend with.

“…Tch.”
Grave was finally able to leave the place only after swallowing his worthless pride.

——–

“Fuck… Those damn magician bastards…”
Grave hated magicians.
In his mind, there was an image of magicians as a group who looked down on others with their innate talents.

At the same time, he envied them. If he could use magic too, he wouldn’t be groaning in pain from injuries inflicted by mere goblins.
Grave, who had returned to his shelter after coming up empty-handed again. His injured wrist still hurt, and his stomach that hadn’t eaten a single meal was screaming.

“Damn it… Should I go there?”
What he recalled while lamenting his situation was some information that Charles, a fellow bottom-tier adventurer, had told him.
“These days, some weird cult guys are preaching in the back alleys, and if you listen to them, they give out food and sometimes even potions.”

“They just give out potions? That’s nonsense.”
“No, it’s true.”
Thinking that he would just slowly die if he stayed still anyway, Grave moved his feet again towards the back alley Charles had mentioned.

The back alleys of Lonzville are places where the poor and unsavory characters gather, found in any city. A so-called garbage dump.
On the streets, drug addicts and wretches who could only continue their lives by begging were sprawled about haphazardly.

‘What’s with that woman? Where did she get beaten up to be groaning here?’
Just as he was thinking he shouldn’t have come here — a scene caught Grave’s eye.
“Th-Thank you!”

“Don’t mention it. Our Truth Church is always open, so please come visit.”
Where Grave’s gaze was directed, a man wearing a hood was distributing rye bread to an old man with one leg missing.
“The Truth Church, magic, is always open to all of you.”

Afterwards, he continued to approach the people sprawled around, distributing food and saying something to them.
From what he could hear, it seemed like he was doing missionary work for a place called the Truth Church.

‘Damn, should I have gone and received some too?’
After distributing all the bread in his pocket, he vanished into the alley.
Grave, who hadn’t approached the hooded man wondering if there might be something in the food, had a thought cross his mind.

‘That guy… he seems to have quite a bit of money.’
In the first place, if he didn’t have money, he wouldn’t have the luxury to distribute food in a place like this.
Moreover, although he was wearing a hood, he looked quite frail at a glance and didn’t seem like he could use much strength.

Seeing that he didn’t have a staff, he probably wasn’t a magician either.
‘And there aren’t many people around…’

Originally, Grave couldn’t be said to have a good personality, but he wasn’t so far gone as to commit robbery.
But with his arm throbbing more and more due to lack of proper treatment, and the humiliation he received at the Adventurers’ Guild, he wanted to vent his frustrations on someone.

For him, the hooded man he had just seen was a suitable target to vent his frustrations.
…It was truly a petty act befitting his status.

Tap tap tap.
After finishing his calculations in his head, he followed the man who had disappeared into the alley.
“Fuck. Where did he go?”

Soon after entering the alley where the hooded man had gone… his figure was nowhere to be seen.
“Kyahah. Heleon. Don’t tell me you didn’t even notice this rat following you?”
“…I left him on purpose. You crazy woman. And my name is Helion.”

“Crazy woman! My name is Milene… right? Whatever.”
Just as Grave was about to turn back, giving up on following the man, two people blocked his path.
“Wh-What?!”

One was the hooded man he had just seen, and the other was a girl with purple hair a head shorter than Grave.
Startled by the sudden appearance of the two, Grave pulled out a mace from his waist.

“Oh my. Are you going to hit us with that? Me and Heleon? Until your head cracks, blood flows, brains splatter, and face gets mushed? Until all the bones in your body twist, flesh tears, and you scream? You know what? The human body is tougher than you think.”
Far from being intimidated by the mace, Grave felt a chill seeing the girl spouting incomprehensible words.

“Milene. Calm down.”
“Calm? I’m super calm though? Ah. Sniff. Sob. I-I’m scared. P-Please put that away!”
“…Your madness seems to be getting worse as time goes by.”

He instinctively tried to move his body to get away from the girl, but his legs wouldn’t move as if caught by tough vines.
In the end, all he could do was wildly swing the mace in his hand like a child.
“Hiiieek!!!!”

“That’s not how you swing a mace. See, it’s crumpling right away.”
“…Have you ever swung a mace?”
“Nope.”

Grave, whose last means of defense, the mace, crumpled like a piece of paper at the girl’s single gesture, closed his eyes in terror, hoping this moment was just a dream.

———

“I wondered why you were following me… just a maggot. By the way, didn’t your clothes get dirty?”
“Should I use a bleaching spell?”
“…Unless you’re planning to whiten my skin again, please don’t.”

Helion frowned as he appreciated Milene’s work.
It had become something that could hardly be thought to have been human.
Milene, who took his words as a joke, spoke to Helion as if she had just remembered something.

“Kyahah. That’s right, Heleon. I’m supposed to go somewhere with Lord Erdas. I’ll be away from this Magic Church? for a while.”
“…It’s not Magic Church, it’s Truth Church. Didn’t Lord Erdas name it himself? Try to remember.”
“Was that so?”

“And also, where are you going that you look so excited?”
At Helion’s question, Milene made an expression that showed she could barely contain her excitement.
“To catch a huge lizard!”

“Crybaby unni.”
“Stop it…”
“Crybaby Ariel unni.”
“Hmzmlrgu…”

After that night walk, Pfel returned to her usual self.
Of course, it’s not something that can be easily forgotten, so she might be forcing herself to act fine… but it’s clear that Pfel’s mood has improved.
Even now, she’s mercilessly teasing me about crying that day.

‘Back then, I really thought she was going to make a bad choice…’
It was a situation anyone would misunderstand. Really.
“Crybaby, cutie, Ariel unni.”

“Stop it…”
“Sha? Is Ariel a crybaby?”
‘People can cry sometimes…!’

My face is burning with embarrassment. But if I blush again, Pfel will tease me more.
Of course, I’m not upset. I know this is Pfel’s way of showing affection…
“Unni is a cutie. A shy person. A sister-obsessed.”

…I’ll get my revenge later for sure.
While I was being mercilessly teased by Pfel, Cherni, who was watching us with a pleased expression, said to me,
“Oh, Ariel-nim. Someone is coming near the house.”

“Now?”
“Yes. Ah, it’s Riste-nim.”
‘Riste?’

I approached the front door slowly, feeling puzzled.
“Ariel. Can I come in?”
As I reached the front door, Riste’s gentle voice could be heard.

…Of course, there’s no reason why she can’t come into our house.
“Of course.”
As soon as I opened the front door, Riste came into view, smiling with her hood on as usual when she comes to our house.

Riste’s face with her snow-white skin and long eyelashes, beautiful as always.
…Seeing her appearance, my heart started pounding as I involuntarily remembered what happened last time.

‘Get a grip, Ariel.’
I barely took my gaze off her face and asked Riste out of pure curiosity, without any other intention.
“What brings you here?”

“…Can’t I come without a reason? I came because I wanted to see Ariel. Sniff.”
Saying that, she started pretending to wipe away tears a bit exaggeratedly.
While I was at a loss for words at her behavior, the children who were standing behind me suddenly started jeering at me.

“Boo. Ariel made her cry.”
“Unni was mean.”
“Ba-Bad.”
…I feel like I’m going to cry now, kids.

The kids seem to have taken a liking to teasing me, but I’ll get my revenge for sure. Someday.
After letting Riste into the house, I brewed some tea and handed it to her.
“…Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Anyway, what really brings you here? Is it your day off today?”
Riste slowly shook her head at my question.
Then, with a rather serious expression, she said to me,

“Actually, I came because I have a favor to ask of you, Ariel.”