Chapter 3: The Younger Sister of My Former Fiancée
For some reason, the town gatekeeper treated me with extreme trepidation.
He looked at me as if he were seeing a ghost… well, of course he would.
Since the dungeon entrance is in the Guild’s basement, he wouldn’t know I’d returned.
Mentally apologizing to the gatekeeper, I passed straight through.
Outside this town lies a gently rolling hilly area.
It’s already been over half a year, huh…
Various vegetables and fruits are ripening in the fields and orchards.
Before I entered the dungeon, it was the beginning of a still slightly chilly spring. Elanda and I had come on patrol together, praying for an autumn harvest.
Just the two of us, in this place. Even though it had been three years since our engagement, I remember how I walked along, feeling a little embarrassed just to call her name.
And now, half a year later, what came of it was her pregnant with some scumbag’s kid, and I get banished, huh…
“Lax-sama.”
Right, right. Calling me in such an adorable voice… huh?
“Hah, hah… Lax-sama. Thank goodness, I managed to catch up.”
“Shifa?”
The one who called out to me was Elanda’s younger sister, Shifa.
Like Elanda, she had a husky voice that was pleasant to the ear, but Shifa’s was a touch softer.
It seemed she’d run to catch up with me.
Come to think of it, this girl wasn’t good with horses.
To avoid pushing her too hard, I waited for her to draw near.
When Shifa arrived, despite being the feudal lord’s daughter, she was panting, perhaps from the unaccustomed exertion.
If I leave her like this, I’d be a real monster… Then again, her older sister was the one who told me to get out.
Just as I was thinking that, she threw her arms around me.
“Lax-sama, I’m so glad you’re safe!”
I panicked at the suddenness of it all…
Hey, I’m your older sister’s fiancé… well, former fiancé, anyway…
“You finally came back, and now you’re leaving… Why?!”
She continued to fume adorably in my arms.
Well, it’s true I’ve had enough, but I was also told to get out in the first place…
“Because I’ve had enough… I never imagined such lies would be so widespread.”
“So they really are lies, aren’t they? I told them over and over that Jekyll’s story was strange, but no one would listen to me!”
Just as I thought.
So Shifa understood. But no matter what Shifa, who’s still treated like a child, said, I wasn’t around, was I?
Come to think of it, what happened to Claire?
Ah, well, who cares.
It has nothing to do with me anymore, since I’m leaving.
“I was originally a traveling adventurer, anyway.”
“That can’t be… I… and my sister too… we’ll be lonely.”
Yeah, well, the one who told me to get out was your sister…
This girl, questioning me while her cute, shoulder-length platinum blonde hair swayed—she probably hasn’t heard about all the trouble, has she?
“I was told to get out of town because my party and assets were taken, and I don’t have citizenship, you know?”
“Eh?”
That stunned look on her face probably meant she didn’t know.
I can’t imagine Elanda would tell this kid everything honestly.
This girl was attacked by monsters and injured during the Stampede three years ago.
Her injuries were severe, and her hair had also been brutally cut short.
I joined the fray right then and saved her, and she got pretty attached to me after that.
“If Lax-san leaves, this town won’t be able to stand against the dungeon. In fact, for the past six months, exploration has been stuck at the middle floors.”
“Ah, that’s bad.”
What is known about Stampedes:
The trigger for a Stampede is the monsters on the lower floors.
There are differences depending on the dungeon and boss monsters, but if the monsters on the lower floors aren’t thinned out for a certain period, they multiply too much and start moving to the middle floors. Or, powerfully grown ones start moving in search of prey.
Disliking that, the middle floor monsters move to the upper floors, and the upper floor monsters move to the surface, creating a chain reaction of movement.
Once they start moving, the agitated monsters become uncontrollable. Because they’re rampaging, they’re stronger than usual.
Furthermore, the monsters from the lower and middle floors don’t stop midway. Given time, they too will come outside.
In the worst-case scenario, even the middle floor bosses or lower floor bosses will come out.
To suppress it, it’s necessary to thin out the monsters on the lower floors.
There are stories in some places around the world that Stampedes stopped occurring after defeating the lower floor boss, but this hasn’t been proven.
However, from my experience of fleeing, the deep floor monsters didn’t come to the lower floors. I’m sure of this.
That time was a close call.
I found some stairs and dived in, but the deep floor monsters, as if repelled by something, turned right around there and went back.
“But, if I’ve lost my citizenship and been told I’m banished, I can’t stay on my own accord. Sorry.”
“Eeh?”
After all, just entering the town makes me guilty of trespassing and illegal stay.
Of course, if the Adventurer’s Guild vouched for me, I could stay for a certain period, but with the Guildmaster acting like that, it’s impossible.
“So…”
“Please wait a moment!”
“Hm?”
“In the first place, Lax-san, you were treated as ‘estimated death’ because you were missing for half a year, right?”
“That’s what they said. I was explained those regulations when I became an adventurer, so I think that’s how it is.”
All adventurers in this country are managed by the Adventurer’s Guild.
When you register, you get a card, and that serves as a minimum form of identification.
During that registration, they explain the important parts of the regulations, and I certainly remember hearing about it.
“So why is there talk of citizenship then?”
“Hm?”
Certainly… now that she mentions it, it’s strange.
According to what I’ve studied these past three years, citizenship is granted by the feudal lord, and while it’s revoked upon death, wasn’t the revocation for missing persons and the like subject to the lord’s official decision?
Also, personal assets should be lost not at the time of the Guild’s ‘estimated death’ declaration, but upon the official death certification by the lord’s decision…
In the first place, I don’t think my personal assets, having only stayed here for about three years, amount to much, but what happened to them?
“I’ll look into it. So…”
“No, it’s fine. I’m not her fiancé anymore, and I don’t have a party. I don’t feel like coming back.”
“Ah…”
I declared this while gently stroking Shifa’s head.
I’ve truly come to hate being in this town.
I feel bad for this girl who adores me, though.
Shifa, perhaps realizing it was hopeless, released her arms from around me.
“No…”
“Shifa…”
It seems she’s crying.
I’m sorry…
“I won’t give up!”
Shifa shouted through her tears.
A beautiful girl’s tears make my heart waver. But I can’t just take her with me like this…
“Here, take this.”
“Eh?”
It might have been out of guilt.
Still, I wanted to do something for her.
So, I gave her an Omaori Amulet I’d worn for a long time.
It’s an Omaori Amulet with powers of protection and healing; it’s a bit worn since I’ve had it for ages.
I don’t know when I got them, but I had a few, so I’d give one away if there was something to worry about.
I handed one of them to Shifa.
And then, leaving the still-crying Shifa behind, I departed from the town.