Let me know if there are errors
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"…"
"…"
Arnold and Elora sat silently after she came up to the table. Sensing the tension, many of the guests looked their way. Some had lost their appetite and just dug through their food with their forks.
He continued staring at her even as she tried to make herself look smaller.
Even the waiter that came up to them sensed the tension and looked awkwardly between the two as they gave their order.
"...So, is this the real you?" Arnold said after the waiter left their table.
"…" she nodded meekly, "I've… been meaning to tell you for a long time now but never… No, there's no excuse for it."
"Hahaha." She looked up, hearing him laugh, "Why are you so stiff about it? It's not a big deal."
"R-Really? I-I'm such an idiot for overthinking this…"
"I have a feeling I know why you had to do it."
"Eep!" she shrieked when he placed his hand on top of hers.
"It means a lot that you're willing to trust me. Even if you know my past."
"Ah…" she laughed softly, "…The only person I know is the man who gave me a second chance. I don't care about anything else. So, the reason why I did this… Well, boys have a far less difficult time on the road, you know. Being a low-ranking adventurer who could barely get by was hard enough but I was a girl as well and ran into dangerous people through my search for a party." She recounted, her eyes carrying a distant glint, "…There... were a few attempts but I managed to escape or had help. Thinking I couldn't live like that anymore, I cut my hair and wore boy clothes. I had to do anything to survive… for my little sisters' sake."
"Your sisters? Where were your parents?" Elora wasn't mentioned in the story so he wouldn't know what happened to her or what kind of life she had to live. He didn't want to push for her to tell him, as he wants their partnership to stay on good terms as he will need her a lot in the future.
"…We were orphans forced onto the road after a foreign nation's army marched through our land. But the two of them couldn't make it to the empire with me after we escaped with our lives. Even though I went hungry for so many nights so that there was more for them, one sister died from starvation. My youngest sister died from an illness I had no means of curing…" she sniffled with her head down, "…I did everything I could but I lost both of them. What would my parents think, who sacrificed themselves just so that we could escape…? I had to survive so that I could give them a proper burial… That was my sole motivation for coming here—getting a better life was secondary. I couldn't carry their bodies without a carriage so I had to bury them in the… middle of nowhere…"
"…Did you do it in the end? If not, we can take a team to find them."
"…I did. A few months ago, Sylphy and Lucia helped me track their graves down. We had a professional morgue dig them back up and transport them to a cemetery in the empire. We held a private and small funeral there. Both of them… still had their soft brown hair…" her voice croaked but she covered her mouth with her hand to stop it, "…It was a blessing to have met Sylphy and Lucia. It was because of them that I was accepted into their party as a porter even though Crull and Cliff were against having a useless mage, hehehe…"
"Haha, how wrong they were." He said jokingly.
"Yes… Being a porter seemed like the perfect life for someone like me—weak, small and timid to face the world. There were many times where I was left behind because they didn't want me following them on difficult missions, so I vowed to become stronger. The obvious choice was to look for parties on my level. Unfortunately, a magician who can only cast a small fireball wasn't desirable even to F-rankers."
Her averted gaze slowly turned back to him, "…I've always wondered what Sir Nova saw in me… Why did you reach out to me back then…? I-I'm grateful for everything I have now and will stay loyal to the guild but… I just need to know why I deserved a chance to travel with someone as great as you… when others saw nothing special in me…"
Should he beat around the bush or use half-truths? He can't just reveal that he's a player who utilizes a system that can scan the classes of NPCs. He hasn't reached a level of trust where he can tell just Elora about the truth. Aside from Selia, only Ceru knows, which is why he's never restrained himself from using the system even when she can read his mind.
"I… really didn't know much about adventuring so I had no particular reason for choosing you specifically. You just had the air of an experienced adventurer around you."
"I looked experienced to you…?" she blinked.
'How am I going to bullshit my way out of this…' he then recalled all the equipment he noticed hanging outside her bag.
"You had all the equipment an adventurer would need, even if you wouldn't need it as you were a low-class adventurer. Eight-Formation Spiders legs can repel Basilisks, which are only found deeper in swamps, but you were mostly hunting around the outer reaches of the forest as an F-ranker but experienced adventurers know to be prepared for anything. That's how greenhorns die. You might've been that low in rank, but you had more experience with the field than even A-rankers who quickly rise in rank through their potential and teamwork. Unlike you, however, most of the people who were with us in the guild that day probably died in the field. I needed someone like that to teach me the ropes. By watching you, I was able to guide Shaun and Idalia as well during their evaluation quest."
Elora's eyes were sparkling like Luke's always does.
"I-I didn't know Sir Nova valued me that highly even before I awakened my ability…" she averted her eyes with a blush, "I-I don't know what to say… S-Someone I admired thought of me like that… Gehehehe…"
Phew.
"Be proud that your hard work was what got you to where you are today, not my judgment skills."
"Y-Yeah…!" she nodded with a big smile on her face.
It seems she had a few worries that were resolved now.
"I… I hope we can continue things like this." She said while looking at him, "…Building our own guild… Building a… family together."
"…" he thought about something for a moment.
Together…
This would obviously not be possible. He was even thinking of getting a new guild master to lead in his place. It's not that he doesn't like adventuring but he still has his duties as a city lord.
But no law is in place that requires him to give the city his full attention. They've been doing pretty well so far and he can do all the work Lunaria leaves for him and handle other duties. She's basically his vice-consul who handles most of the work and has never complained once as this was what was required of her for him to continue funding their restoration and feeding their citizens.
"You should know I have my own city to rule, right?"
"…." She nodded.
"At first, my plans were to finish my education to obtain the qualifications to rule a territory and rule my city full-time, even going to live there permanently."
"…" a slight frown formed between her brows, "…As expected…"
"But that's not necessary. While it's nice to live a quiet life while managing my city, I seek adventure." He looked down at his hand, "I didn't go through years of brutal training just to rot away as a city lord. If my city is attacked by powerful adversaries and I'm too rusty to protect what's mine, I only have myself to blame for getting too complacent with a peaceful life."
"Y-You mean… you'll remain the guild master…?"
"…When I graduate, I'll become an adventurer full-time. It won't be my bread and butter but it will be my way of enjoying what I love doing. That's why I became an adventurer in the first place."
And once his guild is strong enough and his party members become stronger, he won't just be going on adventures in this world—they'll go to multiple worlds with his teleportation tech, uncovering dungeons, monsters, artifacts, and many other things that will scratch that itch for adventure.
"I'm looking forward to it!" she smiled dazzlingly, making even Arnold's heart skip a beat.
Just when the conversation died down, the food came to their table. Despite having such a small frame even for someone her age, Elora had ordered several portions of steak, a few sides of salads, loaves of bread, expensive wine, etc…
Arnold obviously had the same food since he left the ordering up to her but…
"Do you… eat like this every time you come here?" he asked as he cut into the meat.
"Mhm!" a large steak already in her mouth, she nodded then chewed with her cheeks full, "S-Sorry for showing you something so unsightly but I can't help myself! One of our sponsors is a shareholder here and offered us a big discount so I can't waste that!"
It's not surprising that she wants to enjoy herself like that. As aforementioned, she always had to choose between going to bed hungry for a few nights or equipment and items that will save her in the field.
One time she got bitten by a large mosquito monster that carries dangerous parasites and became ill as a result. She had to sell most of her stuff just to get treated by an adventurer priest with strong detoxification spells. But she had to endure starvation for days and living on scraps that she had to find in the dumpsters of stores.
But she was now enjoying the food from the same restaurant whose trash she would go through just to eat.
Since this was an opportunity to discuss business, he spoke:
"I was told by Josephine that the sender of that joint quest wanted to meet us. Her last letter was a few days ago. She's taking her time, huh."
"She's been locked in negotiations with the other parties. Some of them want more than what was promised so she has no choice but to negotiate with them to get them on board. Honestly, these S and A-rankers think of themselves too highly to demand more than their worth."
"They're risking their lives so you would understand them to a certain degree but I agree that they're a bit too opportunistic, like vultures that wants more of the corpse the lion is already eating."
You'd think they'd take the "world ending disaster" part and the quest ranking seriously. The fact that they need to be paid at all is just sad. If Ragnarok happens, the entire nine realms are doomed.
"How many parties do we have on board again?"
"Thirty from what we've heard. Her Majesty intends to make the quest public starting next week to possibly attract more."
'Thirty parties. She thinks it's that dangerous that the top adventurers would need support…' This has to be one of the largest adventurer quests in the empire's history. If she makes the quest public, many will turn up to volunteer, even the mercenaries.
Even Arnold was starting to get worried. He's not invincible so it would be best not to be arrogant. His first priority, having mages and priests in the party, was carried out. The next one is having Sylphy enchant Gergois with lots of magic defenses. Speaking of that, he left the armor in her workshop and it's currently the priority task that he gave her.
The Thalivielle Kingdom is notorious for having powerful spirits and other supernatural entities that give even raid parties, consisting of level cap powerhouses, trouble. Who knows what's lurking in the unknown depths of the tree's roots.
"You and Lucia are our only mages, right? Have any others come forward since the last time I checked the list of adventurers joining us? Maybe the Mages Guild?"
She shook her head, "They wouldn't put their lives on the line for just gold. That goes for other mages as well. If you're already at the A-rank, you have little reason to do such dangerous quests as a mage. If there were artifacts and relics being rewarded then maybe."
"Looks like every party will be lacking enough mages, even though the Mages Guild consists of the most powerful magicians. How about we visit the Mages Guild tomorrow after our general meeting?"
"The quest giver hasn't listed magic items a magician would want, as a reward. The payment would come out of our pocket, Sir Nova…"
"That's alright. So long as we have more mages, I'll go to auctions to look for magic items."
He said that but his actual plan is going to undiscovered ruins and dungeons and collecting all their magic items. There were many he had in mind that will only be discovered years from now. There were also many unknown relic tombs in the country that he knew the locations to so he doesn't need to leave the country just for that reason.
"Are other mages that important?" she pouted for some reason.
"We will most likely need to split up to cover more ground. Remember, this quest has two parts: reconnaissance and elimination. The first part is actually looking for the threat. We can't move in large groups as that will waste too much time. We won't split up for long durations, only a few hours a day. There are magic items that can lead us back to predetermined locations so we won't have to worry about getting lost."
Plus, he'll have the Virgin's Blood ring to teleport to anyone in danger. All they really have to do is avoid fighting.
To face the threats, they need lots of strong mages to dish out elemental damage and protect them from spiritual attacks.
"Oh, that makes sense. I spoke with the others about this and Lucia mentioned the same thing."
"Now that the preparations are completed, looking for mages is the next step."
"And the magic items problem? Will auctions really have what we need?"
"Let me worry about that. I have lots of free time now."
Besides relic hunting and auctioneering, he also has Selia who has the item shop. Speaking of the Star Shop, he still hasn't unlocked his.
Maybe if he begged the system, it will include that in the rewards for helping Freya?
'System?'
Unsurprisingly, it's not a chatbot so he can't just ask it.
Selia will have to do as his item seller. Since she's already received the financial support for her nation, he's technically not robbing her.
The two of them finished their dinner in silence but had casual conversation here and there. Despite revealing her true self, she hasn't changed a bit—she was still respectful and honest. Even after the life she had to endure, she still had this innocence about her that makes him want to lead her on the right path.
There will be plenty of time for that as they build up Misteltein to become the strongest guild in the world.
**
"That food tasted so good, especially after I was able to come clean about everything." Said Elora from beside him as she giggled, "We stayed for longer than I thought we would…"
They were now walking back to the guild house instead of taking a carriage. She's been going home this way for a while now apparently. This girl has no fear now that she's the most powerful magician in the empire, second only to Freya York.
'If you eat like that every night, how are you still so skinny…' he checked out her slender back and waist. Thought she's close to him in age, her body looked no different than a body that's still growing.
Maybe it's her upbringing that led to this.
Besides that, do all the calories burn away when she's studying?
"We spent more time talking about the guild matters than… about ourselves." They turned a corner, walking into the main road filled with countless bright magic lamps illuminating the street. "We haven't gotten to know each other at all. It's a bit weird despite having been together since we were just three adventurers going on quests." She continued, "I don't even know how you prefer your coffee or tea."
"Black coffee and milk tea. Bitter and sweetened respectively." He answered curtly.
"Hmm I'll remember that"
The city gradually became quieter as they wandered into one of the entertainment districts.
'I don't know the area very well but I was sure we were just a few blocks away from the guild house. How did we end up here?'
"There are many ways to get to know a person." She said suddenly as her steps slowed down.
Lanterns shifted from elegant white to warmer crimson and gold. Storefronts became more extravagant, displaying heart motifs and playful decorations.
He spotted high-class prostitutes in suggestive outfits lining the streets and advertising adult shops. The stink of perfume and sex filled this street, the kind of place fitting for the rich and powerful.
"Oh? What would that be?"
"Sitting around a campfire telling stories, writing letters every day to each other, chatting over beers. But we can't do all those things since we just don't have the time…"
Only then did Elora slow to a stop.
Arnold nearly walked past her.
"Hm?"
She wasn't looking at the buildings.
She was looking at him, the innocence in her eyes vanishing, and replaced by something deeper than he had ever seen in her eyes. It was the glint you wouldn't expect in someone like her. Her face was flustered, whoever, she made no attempts at looking away.
His gaze went upward after breaking eye contact with her.
—His and Her Desires~—
The ornate sign hung above an expensive-looking establishment, decorated with glowing hearts that pulsed gently with magic.
A love hotel.
Arnold's eyes widened.
"...Elora?"
She took a slow step closer, grabbing his hand.
"I told you there are many ways to get to know someone."
Her smile was still there...
...but it no longer resembled the bright, innocent smile of the timid mage who had once nervously introduced herself to a stranger at the Adventurers' Guild, hopeful of the opportunity he had given her.
There was confidence in her eyes now.
Resolve.
A quiet hunger that she wanted him to see tonight.
"But..." she said softly, never looking away from him, "...what I want is more than simply getting to know you, Sir Nova."
Arnold and Elora entered the establishment, an air of innocence surrounding them, and an expectation deep in the maiden's heart for what was going to happen.