Baggage Carrier ⑨
The second floor of the Cidre Tavern.
The VIP Room. I rarely use it.
I never thought I’d end up using it again so soon.
“Hmm. Surprising,” Mineha-san remarked.
She was, as expected, too small to sit properly on the sofa, so she was perched on the edge of the table instead.
Behind her, an array of dishes was lined up. These weren’t for me.
They were the dishes Mineha-san had ordered.
Eight overflowing plates. Mostly meat.
Is she really going to eat all this by herself?
Come to think of it, I remembered she had stacks of plates piled up when we first met too.
Where does it all go in that tiny body?
“Mineha-san. You just ate, didn’t you?”
I glanced at the mountain of plates on her table.
Mineha-san looked at me, feigning ignorance.
“Did I? You should eat too, don’t hold back. You only had drinks earlier, right?”
Our argument had ended with us storming off.
It was true I hadn’t gotten a chance to order food. I was hungry too.
“…So, what did you mean by ‘surprising’?”
“Your connections, getting a room like this as a Hired Pup.”
“I have a good relationship with this place.”
Though I have been using it more frequently lately.
Normally, the VIP Room isn’t somewhere you can just use casually.
However, the owner, Burns-san, readily agrees if it’s for me.
I’m very grateful for that, but honestly, it’s not somewhere I particularly want to use often.
Especially since every time I use it… it involves women or girls.
The staircase to the second floor is somewhat conspicuous inside the tavern, as Ax-san also witnessed.
Besides, while the VIP Room is a place for secret talks, it also has… other uses.
So, well, it’s not really a place for a kid like me to be frequenting.
“Really, you’re full of surprises, Wof.”
“Also, I’m not a Hired Pup.”
“But you’re not a Seeker, are you? How old are you?”
“I’m thirteen.”
“Children below Seeker age are Hired Pups.”
“…That’s not right. Where did you hear that?”
“That’s how it was where I came from.”
“I see.”
So there are towns like that.
“It’s different here, then.”
“Yes. So, what did you want to talk about?”
‘There’s something I want to talk about,’… That’s what she had said back then.
Mineha-san gave a small nod.
“I didn’t intend to fight with them.”
“I suppose not.”
“And I certainly didn’t mean to speak ill of my master’s son. But…”
I felt like Mineha-san swallowed the words that were meant to follow that ‘but’.
I asked,
“What are you going to do about the Dungeon Exploration tomorrow?”
“That, of course. I’ll participate, just as Master said. But still, three guys, and none of them even have Relics? What’s up with that?”
“It’s four people.”
Did she leave me out on purpose?
Mineha-san chuckled at my pointed stare.
“Oh, right.”
“So, do you want me to mediate between you and Ax-san’s group?”
“No. I have no intention of apologizing.”
“You don’t?”
“It’s something I didn’t know. Besides, it seemed like they were annoyed with me too. It’s not like I enjoy being around guys either.”
“Could it be that you have trouble with men? !”
A chill ran down my spine.
Mineha-san was looking at me with eyes that were ice-cold from the very depths of her heart.
“Not ‘trouble with’. I hate them.”
Her words held a clear rejection.
Something had happened. That’s the feeling I got. I let out a small sigh.
“—I’m a boy too, you know.”
“You’re a boy, right? Not an adult man.”
Ah, so that’s what she meant.
Actually, if you count my past life memories, mentally I’m pretty much an adult.
But right now, I’m a child. There’s no doubt about that.
However, one side has trouble with women. The other hates men.
And one side has no Relics. The other has one.
I get the feeling this wouldn’t work out at all if I weren’t here.
In fact, it would probably get worse.
Could it be—that I was factored into this from the start?
If so, I had made a huge mistake.
The one who orchestrated this plan was…
“…So that’s it.”
The Witch.
Emi-san didn’t think of this. The Witch did.
It probably went like this: Emi-san consulted her.
About resolving the flaws and problems of her son and disciple.
Hearing the story, The Witch immediately understood that the parties involved couldn’t solve it themselves.
In that case, bring in a third party—that must have been it.
The sacrificial lamb… no, the chosen one… amounts to the same thing. That third party is Wof (me).
Still, aren’t they relying on me way too much?
Could it be that the exceptional Crescent Vessel was given to me for this purpose too?
Thinking about it that way, I felt like the pieces of the puzzle of my doubts were falling into place.
That Witch.
How dare she calmly drag a complete stranger like me into this family mess.
Mineha-san asked suspiciously.
“What do you mean, ‘so that’s it’?”
“…Actually, Ax-san and the others also have trouble with women.”
“I may be a lady, but I’m a girl.”
“They have trouble with the opposite sex.”
“It feels strange for me to say it, but what a terrible lineup.”
“I can’t deny that.”
“But, I also know I can’t stay like this.”
“Is that so?”
“I can’t advance further if I keep hating men forever. So I want to become at least a little better.”
So she did think her current state wasn’t good enough.
And she even has the will to improve.
“Um, I just thought of something.”
“What is it?”
“Mineha-san, you want to try and meet them halfway, right? Even just a little.”
“Yes, even just a little.”
“In that case, why don’t you stop using your Relic during this Dungeon Exploration? Ax-san and the others possess superb skill, enough to be called model Seekers even without Relics. By not using yours, you could gain experien—”
“No.”
“Eh?”
“I absolutely refuse to not use my Relic.”
She stared straight at me.
Her gaze held an intimidation that allowed no argument.
Persuasion is impossible.
What am I supposed to do now?