Chapter 17 – Wizard’s Trouble (2)
It’s been two days since the dungeon that occurred in Varmela’s territory completely disappeared.
In that short time, adventurers from other lands, who had heard rumors of the dungeon and flocked here like bees, slipped away to the area where they were originally active, and the scene of this city, which had been very noisy until recently, returned to its usual moderately lively atmosphere.
No… The expression “As usual” Is a bit misleading.
A very hot topic is emerging among adventurers currently active in this city.
It’s a story about a mysterious swordsman who invaded the dungeon alone after only two hours had passed since he entered.
At that time, the nickname of the mysterious swordsman, which was attached because he was covering his head with a rusty helmet, was Rust Helm, and it is commonly called Rust by taking only the front part.
-In the end, what was Rust’s true identity?
-It must be a spy from Altma Kingdom.
-There are also rumors that it is a demon tribe or an elf swordsman who has his face covered.
Not only adventurers, but even the citizens who are chatting while eating in a quiet restaurant are throwing out all sorts of speculations about the mysterious swordsman.
And now, there is a room for three people who want to order a meal in the far corner, and among them, a short-haired woman with her peaked hat on her lap, looking at the scenery outside with a blank expression, is looking for someone in her heart. I am imagining.
‘Ah, the unknown prosecutor…’
“… Rim… As… Are you going to kill me?”
As the woman recalled the swordsman’s eyes, which she had barely seen through the rusty helmet, her cheeks became more and more flushed.
‘… He must have been handsome.’
“Mail… What… Are you?”
Just-! Just-! Just-!!
On the other hand, the woman who had been dazed even after talking to her continued to be unable to come to her senses, so another woman with the same face as hers snapped her fingers several times in front of her eyes.
“Merim! What are you going to do with it?!”
“Ah… “I’m sorry. Make me the same as the two of you.”
“Really! Ever since you got out of there, you’ve been absent-mindedly all the time?”
After a short grumble, Marill called the waitress who was clearing the seat next to her and ordered lunch for the three of them, and shortly thereafter, three portions of bean soup and hard bread were placed on the table.
“What? Did you make this again?”
“It can’t be helped. We’re all on the verge of bankruptcy. We’ll have to live with it for the time being.”
Most of the equipment was destroyed at the bottom of the dungeon, and some of the loot obtained there was lost. The twin sisters and Finn were currently in a financially difficult situation.
“What, it’s money, isn’t it enough to earn it again? If possible, it would have been better if Altaf-san was here with us… Now, we should consider ourselves lucky that we were the only ones who were lucky enough to survive.”
Pin, dressed in casual clothes with crutches draped beside his chair, said a short prayer for his deceased comrades with a solemn expression before lifting his spoon.
“Captain, how is your leg now? Can you get better?”
“Yes. Maybe it was luck, it broke just right, so if you take the lowest level potion once a week and stay calm like this for a month, you will be able to move without any problems.”
If you receive recovery magic or eat a higher-level potion with good efficacy, you can get better in an instant, but as I said before, they are in a financial predicament.
That’s why I chose a method that can be treated relatively cheaply, even if it takes some time, to combine natural and drug healing.
“Thankfully, an official from the orphanage I visited often said that he would give me a place to sleep and a job, so I’m going to spend my time playing with the children and helping with the work there until my broken leg is completely healed.”
“I’m glad I have a place to stay for the time being.”
While talking about her, Marill’s posture as she scooped her soup was a bit awkward, as she was right-handed and was spooning with her remaining left hand instead of her right hand, which was wrapped around her bandages. ．
“Is Miss Marill all right?”
“If you consider that she was originally broken, she’s much better now. Besides, as Mr. Finn said a moment ago, she’s lucky to be alive.”
Marill, who had squeezed her right hand, gently groped her own belly with her hand.
When she thought of the time when she was hit by a reinforced human, she thought she would die without moving, but it was so amazing that her stomach was so fine now.
She said that although Marill’s experiences at the bottom were horrific, the impact was so great that she quickly lost consciousness so it didn’t turn into trauma.
‘… Excluding the two with broken arms and legs, I’m the only one who is fine with my body, so I feel sorry for something.’
As she chewed the bread, Merim thought about it, and while talking moderately with the two people who were eating together, she kept thinking of a swordsman whose name she did not know.
I want to meet you again somehow, but the other person barely uttered a voice, didn’t know his face, and lacked clues.
‘I don’t know about anything else, but it is certain that he is a man. His physique is rather large… And the prosecutor’s information that only I know… ‘
Merim looked at her hand, which had eaten all of her bread, now completely gone, but then she sensed the bitter grassy smell that was still on her hand at the time.
‘I’m not sure because I’m not a dog nose, but that smell… It seems to be similar to the scent that I secretly emanated from the inside whenever I visit Mr. Roden’s shop. No way… That stupid daughter?’
Come to think of it, the physiques are pretty much the same.
I thought for a moment that Roden and the prosecutor might be the same person, but I shook my head, judging that it was too soon to conclude based on her smell alone.
If you get caught up in her preconceived notions, she will keep her thoughts inclined only to the side she is comfortable with.
Even now, it was at the level of putting it together with the idea that it was similar to the faint smell of grass and the smell of the store.
Furthermore, assuming that what she imagined was correct, as long as she answered that she was not herself, she could not dig further, so I had to gather some more information about her.
… Shortly after the meal was over, Finn got up and put on his crutches with the help of his twin sister.
The twin sister offered to help her on her way to the orphanage, but Finn politely declined.
“Aww! I appreciate your words, but since it’s not too far away, I’m fine with myself. Let’s see each other in good health next time.”
“Go back carefully, Captain.”
“See you next time.”
The twin sisters, separated from Finn, headed towards the outskirts of the city, toward the shop run by Roden.
* * *
“Welcome!”
Roxia’s clear voice greeted her twin sister with the ringing of a bell as soon as she opened the store door.
“… I’m glad you came back safely. Sit comfortably.”
After trying to greet them calmly, Roden gave her seat to Loxia and went inside her shop to make her tea as usual.
Maril tried to go inside with the words “Excuse me,” But the appearance of her older sister next to her was strange.
“Merim, why are you blowing your nose like that?”
“Huh? Ah, ahaha! I just thought it must be a nostalgic smell because it felt like I hadn’t been back in a very long time.”
“Anyway… ! Please stop embarrassing yourself with the same face.”
As soon as they entered, Roxia approached them at her guest table and returned her old book, which she was clutching with both hands, to Marill.
“I really enjoyed reading it. Thank you for lending it to me. Marill.”
“I’m glad that Loxia enjoyed reading the book we enjoyed reading. Which part did you enjoy the most?”
“That’s it. It’s the scene in the middle of the book where I first met Philia, a fairy knight…”
With a grin, Marill put the book into her rucksack and began talking frantically about Loxia and the contents of her book until Roden returned.
“Heung, heung…”
‘Kkeu~ After coming in here, the smell seems to match… I’m not quite sure.’
Normally, Merim would have talked the most out of the three, but now she didn’t say much because she was concentrating on her sense of smell as much as possible so that Roxia and her sister next to her wouldn’t notice.
Not long after, Roden returned with her freshly brewed teacup and studied the bandage on Marill’s right hand.
‘It seems that the damage to the abdomen was so serious that the arms were not fully recovered. Is that the limit for advanced levels? .’
ㅡ Moon angle.
Setting the teacup down on the table, Marill, one of her twin sisters who had been watching Roden ever since he returned, bowed her head.
“Mr. Roden. Thank you very much.”
“To the extent of handing over the tea, to what extent…”
“Oh, no, I’m grateful for the tea, but it’s different now. The intermediate potion Mr. Roden gave us the day before we entered the dungeon, right? Thanks to that potion, I was able to come back.”
“If it hadn’t been for that, Marill would have surely died there. For letting my brother live. Thank you very much, Uncle Roden.”
Like Marill, Merim bowed her head toward Roden, met her brother’s eyes, nodded her head together, and took out five silver coins from her purse.
This is the regular price of an intermediate potion based on Roden’s shop.
What… Actually, what Roden gave me is an advanced potion with a regular price of 50 silver coins. The twins don’t know that, so let’s move on.
“On the day I just came out of the dungeon, I was busy with various things, and yesterday it took me all day to sell the loot at the best possible price, so I came today… ,I think paying the price is the right thing to do. So please accept it.”
“… Don’t you remember what I said then? You said it was in return for the apple head, right? It’s okay, so put it back.”
After that, the twins and Roden had a short scuffle, asking each other to take the money or to leave it alone.
‘Whoa, with all the shit stubbornness…’
Roden, exhausted in the middle, had no choice but to think about whether to take the money for now, but while looking at Roxia in the seat next to him and the cone-shaped hat Merim was wearing, her eyes flashed.
Then, with her hand on Loxia’s head, she brought out her proposal.
“If you want to reciprocate, how about this instead? Merim, you teach this child some magic. If the results are good, I will take care of the tutoring expenses separately.”
“It doesn’t matter if you like it, but… Mr. Roden, you know that you can learn magic only when you have an aptitude, right? When I checked on the first day, even if I didn’t have the aptitude, I’ll take it for a day.”
“No problem.”
“Then… Okay.”
She pretended to be troubled, and while covering her mouth with her hand, Merim nodded her head, and the corners of her mouth went up.
‘What kind of rice cake is this?! You’re saying that you can naturally come in and out of here while teaching that child magic!’
As Merim taught her magic, she decided to find out if Roden and her benefactor, nicknamed Lust, were the same person.
