Chapter 99

Chapter 99

99th Episode: Black Street On the white plate placed on the table, there was meat exuding a rich aroma. El knew it was the meat of a Bear Hog, a type of monster. She also knew that, contrary to the prejudice that came from it being a monster, it tasted quite good, and that this restaurant was quite famous in Karaldin’s south gate. “….” However, the conversation that could have continued pleasantly was cut short. Originally, El liked to talk. If she were her usual self, El would have proudly rattled on about what she knew, explaining it to Rutian. But now, she couldn’t bring herself to do so. Doubt, guilt, and embarrassment swirled within her heart. After a moment of silence, what came out of her mouth was not even a sentence, but a single word. “…Eat.” “I will.” Although it was a somewhat forceful command, Rutian calmly replied and skillfully used a knife to cut the meat.

-Scrape, scrape.

The sound of cutting meat echoed above the table, and around the fifth repetition, El finally gathered her thoughts and spoke again. “Why are you here?” “…If you grab me out of the blue and bring me here, what do you expect me to say?” Rutian replied with an exasperated tone, but El did not correct her question. For a while, the sound of cutting meat echoed, and the two exchanged no words. But they couldn’t remain silent forever, and Rutian was the first to speak. “…I ran away. I wanted to clear away the past and start anew, so I stopped by here.” He chuckled hollowly and muttered, then put the cut meat in his mouth. He then picked up another piece of meat with his fork and offered it to El. “Want me to feed you?” “….You haven’t changed. You.” Seeing Rutian’s nonchalant attitude, El let out a hollow laugh. She hesitated for a moment, but eventually opened her closed red lips. As the Bear Hog meat disappeared between her slightly parted red lips, Rutian grinned and retorted. “And neither have you.” It was nothing special, a trivial conversation, but it alone eased the atmosphere between them. No matter what had happened in the meantime, both El and Rutian welcomed their reunion. “Rut. What happened to Blate?” “It completely collapsed. No, I can’t be sure, so maybe it didn’t? Anyway, I don’t know. I gave the kids some pocket money and quickly ran away.” Rutian shrugged his shoulders with a bitter smile. El thought he would still be the boss of Mesatria’s underworld, so she asked back as if she didn’t understand his words. “….Why?” “A big flying bird and its owner died. I think you know what that means.” The death of the griffin and its rider caused a significant loss to the city. The lord would not let that go unnoticed. “Of course, the castle was turned upside down. Looking at the situation, I thought I’d be in big trouble if I stayed still.” Rutian took a sip of the wine next to him and continued. “So I ran away. I didn’t want to be dragged to the castle and tortured.” The whole story could be roughly understood. He had tried to avoid getting involved, but in the end, Rutian was caught up in the accident they had caused, and he had lost everything and escaped. “….” El heard his words and lowered her head. She wanted to prevent him from being harmed, but that was just a vain hope. Blate had collapsed, and Rutian had fled miserably. Looking at him again, guilt welled up in El’s heart. Rutian had lost everything because he had accepted her when she was running away. If only I wasn’t here. El lowered her head again and muttered in a small voice. “I’m sorry. Because of me….” An apology that was probably the umpteenth time. Since the day she harmed the nobleman, she had been constantly causing harm to everyone close to her. She had put her friends from her previous life in danger, and she had almost killed Rutian. To make matters worse, she had recklessly caused an accident that revealed Lyla’s secret to her master. Even El, who was naturally bright, was sufficiently discouraged by the series of events. In the midst of the continued misfortunes, the self-loathing that had sprouted in her heart was gradually growing in size. However, Rutian relieved her guilt with a single light word. “You don’t have to apologize. I don’t really care.” “…Huh?” El tilted her head at Rutian’s overly carefree words. She wondered if he was being generous to comfort her, but he seemed sincere. Rutian took another bite of the meat, swallowed it, and continued, waving his fork. “To be honest, Blate was a bit much. It’s hard for an underworld boss to die of old age, right? Even if it wasn’t you, if I had stayed there, I would have been stabbed sooner or later.” Rutian looked into El’s eyes with a playful smile. The ruby-like red eyes reflected in his eyes were as clouded as when he first met her. Rutian remembered the moment when that beautiful jewel shone. Recalling her red eyes full of life and her childlike joy, Rutian spoke again. “I looked for you for a while before I ran away. Nuke had been nagging me, and when I searched his house, he was planning to kill me. If your blonde friend hadn’t helped me, I would have definitely died.” That was not a lie. Accepting El was just an excuse, and there was already a deep rift between Nuke, the second-in-command of the organization, and Rutian. Even if that hadn’t happened, Blate would have collapsed someday, and Rutian and Blate would have certainly met a bad end in some form. He put down his knife and fork and looked at El, speaking in a serious tone. “Er, I was able to live because of you.” It was El who reached out to him when he was stuck in a quagmire, unable to do anything. She may have thought she had received help, but Rutian was also saved by her existence. “….” El stared at Rutian for a while, then suddenly turned her head. She didn’t want to avoid his gaze, but she felt like she would cry if she kept looking at him, so she couldn’t meet his eyes. “…Damn it.” El muttered a small curse and murmured inwardly. Just a man, a man. She tried to calm her wavering heart and answered curtly. No, she tried to answer curtly. “….Thank you.” This wasn’t it. “You’re welcome.” El was embarrassed inside, but she couldn’t take back the spilled water. She couldn’t take back her words now that Rutian had already replied. After that, it was a continuation of eating and talking. Taking advantage of the improved atmosphere, El asked Rutian. “So, why was the former boss of the organization there?” “I have to make a living.” That wasn’t wrong. No matter how much of a former underworld boss he was, he needed money to live. Penniless and without any connections, the only things he could do here were business or returning to crime. However, if there was a question, “….But, why apples of all things?” There seemed to be quite a distance between the boss of an underworld organization and a fruit vendor. At El’s question, Rutian gave a bitter smile that seemed to come from a deep emotion. “I didn’t decide that. When I stopped by Krudion, Shanste bought them on a whim, saying the fruit was cheap. I clearly tried to stop him, saying what kind of crazy thing he was doing, but he wouldn’t listen.” “Ugh, Shanste is here too?” “Why would I follow you so willingly? I had something to rely on. Even though he looks cold, he’s my right-hand man. If it weren’t for Shanste, I would have become slime food a long time ago.” As much as they were happy to be reunited, the two had a lot to talk about. Before they knew it, a bright smile had spread across El’s face. // After the meal, the two walked together through the streets of Karaldin. They had often walked together like this in Mesatria, but at that time, their relationship was that of a boss of a small to medium-sized criminal organization and a wandering fighter. Now that there was nothing to protect and no one to fight, their steps were light and empty. “What are you going to do in the future?” “Well, I’ll have to sell fruit for a while.” “….” “Just kidding. I was originally thinking of going south and becoming a mercenary….” Rutian stopped talking and shrugged his shoulders. “But I think someone would be sad if I did that, so I guess I should stop.” “….Just get lost.” She said that, but El didn’t want Rutian to leave either. She had finally met a friend like this, and she would be sad to see him go again. Whether it was the sadness of letting go of a friend was another matter. “How about an adventurer?” El asked Rutian hesitantly. Maybe, just maybe, it would be okay if he became an adventurer. She thought so and looked forward to Rutian’s answer. But what came back was a rejection that was so natural. “Honestly, that’s not something a person should do. Are you trying to kill me?” “….” El tried to argue that she wasn’t, but stopped halfway. Looking back, it didn’t seem like his words were wrong. In her head, she saw an axolotl with its head cut off and only two legs left, hopping around, and a troll whose torso was burned and regenerated in less than two days. “That’s right. It’s definitely not something a person should do.” She simply acknowledged that fact and continued. “For your information, I’m an adventurer.” “A noble profession that hunts monsters and protects people. It suits you well.” “….I was worried if you could sell fruit well, but it seems like you’ll be able to do it well.” Of course, she couldn’t keep selling fruit forever. El wanted to keep Rutian in Karaldin somehow. He was the first friend she had met when she was having a hard time, and maybe the first man…. “…..” The moment her thoughts reached that point, El unconsciously thought of Lyla. What would she advise here? Surely her advice would be helpful. She regretted that she wasn’t here now. …She had become a bit sexually problematic in the time she hadn’t seen her. “About your blonde friend.” “U, uh?” El was startled and asked back when Rutian mentioned Lyla. It wasn’t something to be surprised about, but she was surprised because Rutian mentioned her while she was thinking about Lyla. Just as El was worried that her thoughts had been discovered, Rutian continued. “You might have to be careful.” His voice was quite low and serious. It was a (former) boss of the underworld-like attitude. El unconsciously tensed up and asked back. “….What do you mean?” “Before I left Mesatria, I drank some alcohol with a retired soldier who I was close to, just to check the situation one last time. He’s always been a talkative guy, so he’s helped me a lot, and that guy told me that his junior in the Central Guard was….no, let’s skip this, anyway, they’re looking for a blonde woman.” That was ominous information. El pondered Rutian’s words with a serious expression. And then, she realized something strange. “….Wait, a blonde woman?” “Yeah.” “Then what other information is there? Name, status….” “No. Maybe it’s different on your side, but that guy said there doesn’t seem to be any.”

While radiant blonde hair like Layla’s is rare, it’s not nonexistent. If you were determined to find it in the city, you could find at least dozens of people with blonde hair. “…So, in the end, you don’t know.” Elle grumbled with a sigh, but Rutian playfully advised her. “Still, it means to be careful. If you meet her again, advise her to dye her hair or something.” “…Okay. Thanks for telling me.” Elle nodded, offering a bitter smile filled with complex meaning. Still, as Rutian said, it was right to take at least minimal precautions. The fact that the information about the blonde hair had leaked meant that someone had seen Layla. ———= Author’s Note ———= It was cut off ambiguously, so I was late because I had to write another chapter. Regarding the Pung Yu Hwan… you don’t have to worry too much. The story is already set.