Grave vanished somewhere. Even with those injuries, if he can manipulate Mana like the people of this world, he should be able to survive, just like I did.
If he used Cure to regenerate his body, he might be able to regrow his lost arm, but it would take half a year to regrow the entire arm, and another year to be able to use it properly.
To be honest, I wanted to kill Grave here, but I wasn’t prepared enough.
If it had been the Grave from before, Viro and Samantha could have defeated him together. But Grave didn’t become complacent; he continued to train himself, acquired even more power, and even prepared himself for fighting multiple enemies.
But it’s the same for me. I’m still growing, and I’ll become much stronger by the time I face Grave again.
“Grrr…”
“…Kuaal.”
Kuaal, who was a little distance away from me, growled in dissatisfaction at letting Grave escape.
“What will you do? Will you chase him? Or…”
Will you settle things with me?
As I circulated Mana throughout my body as if asking that question, I could feel the tension from Viro and Samantha, who were warily watching Kuaal.
I think they intend to fight with me, but even if I’m alone, if Kuaal wants to fight, I’ll accept.
“…”
Kuaal quietly stared at me with his crimson eyes, and small sparks of electricity scattered from the two antennae extending from his ears.
–You–
–Name–
My name… you want to know that?
“Aria.”
“…”
–I–
–Name–
Kuaal’s name…? At that moment, not the meaning of the words, but the image itself was conveyed to me from Kuaal.
Deep in the dark forest… a black strongman living in solitude without companions.
He had been alone since he came into existence. No one was close to him, and everyone else was either an enemy or a weakling.
In that instant, in the memories he showed me, a glimpse of my figure looking at him with cold eyes flashed by.
A black destroyer. A jet-black beast howling alone, looking up at the moon rising in the black sky—
“…Nero…?”
–Understood–
The word spilled from my mouth, and understanding its meaning and acknowledging it as his ‘name,’ he turned his back and disappeared into the forest, leaving behind a “word.”
–Meet Again–
–Moon (Aria)–
“…Nero…”
“Moon” refers to me?
He—Nero—acknowledged me as an equal? “Meet again.” If Nero says so, then we may meet again.
“…Aria?”
Viro called out to me as I stared intently in the direction Nero disappeared.
“Hmm?”
“What happened to that Mystic Beast…? It looked like you were talking… How did you even manage to fight alongside a Mystic Beast in the first place?”
It’s only natural that they wouldn’t understand with just that. Judging from Viro and Samantha’s expressions, I seem to have worried them quite a bit.
“There’s no problem. He just wanted to kill Grave, who tried to use him. Now that Grave has escaped, I don’t think he’ll come back here.”
When I explained it simply, Viro pondered for a moment and let out a light sigh.
“Well, whatever. We managed to prevent the Duke’s assassination, and the Duke’s subjugation squad will be wasting their time, but that’s none of our business.”
Grave was targeting the Duke of the Aristocratic Faction, who is an enemy of the Royal Family, but Viro’s client is also from the Royalist Faction, so if they can prevent the Duke’s assassination, they have no further obligations.
The Duke was trying to subjugate Kuaal to gain popularity, but although it would be politically troublesome if the Duke were killed, we don’t need him to succeed in gaining popularity.
That’s why Viro says there’s no problem.
“But Grave escaped. Isn’t assassinating him our job?”
“As for that, I’ll have to report everything, including Grave and you. For now, if we show them his arm and weapon, they’ll be somewhat convinced.”
Since they failed to capture him, they won’t get a reward beyond the advance payment, but since Grave declared that he would target me and the Princess, Viro will negotiate including that.
“We could have defeated him if he hadn’t used that weird smokescreen. I’ve never seen a smokescreen that releases smoke over such a wide area and is also poisonous.”
“You’re not well-informed enough, boy!!”
Samantha suddenly interrupted in a loud voice, as if talking to someone on the other side of the street.
“That’s a Dungeon-made ‘Poison Orb’! It’s the first time I’ve seen one so small.”
“Huh!? That’s a ‘Poison Orb’? Isn’t that a Guild-designated hazardous material!? The one I saw before was much bigger, but there are ones like that too?”
“The way the smoke comes out is unique. It was the same as when I used it before. Hehehe.”
“You used it, old woman…?”
“Dungeons” are monsters formed when creatures similar to ancient hermit crabs turn caves and labyrinths into their “shells.”
Dungeons, being monsters, feed on the life force and Mana of people and monsters, and even read the lingering thoughts of the dead to lure people inside, using minerals from the area to create “things that people like.”
Most of the things are worthless junk, but sometimes there are gold and silver nuggets, and in rare cases, they can create famous swords that cannot be made by human hands, or special Magic Tools.
The “Poison Orb” that Samantha mentioned is one of those, and if used carelessly, it can cause hundreds of casualties, so the laws of the Kingdom of Claydale state that if one is found, it must be submitted to the Adventurer’s Guild, and the country will buy it.
I don’t know what the country that buys it uses it for… but Samantha used it?
“That was probably stolen by Grave’s brat from the country’s storage, and he modified it somehow to work on beasts too. Thanks to that, the toxicity wasn’t very high!”
“I see…”
So that’s why even Nero couldn’t pursue him.
I thought it was insane to lure a Mystic Beast into a village alone, but Grave was preparing for that.
Still, since he lost an arm and suffered serious injuries, Grave shouldn’t be able to move for a while, so our job is done here.
“More importantly, Aria. About your reward…”
“We couldn’t assassinate Grave, right? I don’t really mind.”
The “reward” that Viro offered me was a deterrent against the Assassin Guild and Thieves’ Guild that still attack me—in other words, my personal safety.
I accepted it because it was becoming a bit of a hassle to deal with ordinary people, but my goal was Grave himself, so I had almost forgotten about it until he mentioned it.
Besides, if I were really concerned, destroying the Central West Branch of the belligerent Assassin Guild would be a much better deterrent.
“…”
I wonder if I can destroy it when my Dagger Arts reaches Level 4…
“…You’re thinking about something dangerous, aren’t you? No, your reward was something I was planning to talk to you about separately from this incident, once I determined that you had a certain level of skill.”
“Skill?”
What does giving me a reward have to do with skill?
“Hyahahaha!! The little girl has no problem with skill! After all, she’s about to catch up to her useless master’s combat power!”
“What!!”
Viro was shocked by Samantha’s words and “looked” at me.
Viro appraised me, his eyes widening, and then he took out an Appraisal Orb from his pocket and appraised me again. He sighed and clutched his head in dismay, looking up at the sky.
“Rank 4… How did you manage to get there in such a short time…”
“In my case, it’s only the Magic skills. I haven’t caught up to Viro in close combat yet.”
“Thanks…”
I was being serious, but it seemed to sound like a consolation to Viro, and he drooped his shoulders as if dejected. But he quickly changed his mood, raised his face with a flourish, and made a smile that was far from “refreshing.”
“Alright, you’re going to learn all the Adventurer skills I have in a few years. For now, I’ll get you to the point where you can ‘use’ them to some extent in about a year. First, you need to acquire the missing skills and be able to move around in the lower levels of the Dungeon.”
“…What do you mean?”
I gave Viro, who suddenly started talking about Adventurers and Dungeons, a suspicious look, and he grinned at me as he continued.
“Well, wait. This is related to your ‘reward,’ and it will also be a new job request. As the latest information I obtained before meeting up with you, I’ve been asked to provide guards for nobles who are diving into a Dungeon. They’ll bring their own guards, but not many. So, the more people with scouting skills, the better, and you can use Light Magic, so you’re perfect. What do you say?”
“Let them go on their own and die on their own.”
I answered that without a moment’s hesitation after hearing the word “noble.”
They are called “Adventurers” precisely because they have the skills to dive into dangerous places like Dungeons. I have no intention of protecting people who enter Dungeons, which only Adventurers can enter, for the sake of nobles’ amusement.
Viro was speechless at my blunt refusal.
“Is that the end of the story? Then, see you later.”
“Wait, wait, wait, hold on a second, Aria! Listen to the end of the story!”
Viro, who had regained his senses, hurriedly stopped me as I tried to leave quickly, saying I didn’t need the job or the reward.
“You’re too quick to make decisions about everything! What a manly woman! Listen, Aria. I’m telling you this because it’s you, but the ‘First Princess’ is involved in this matter. Do you understand? That Princess you know.”
“…Tell me the details.”
It was supposed to be top-secret information, but according to Viro, a young member of the royal family and their fiancé needed a high-ranked Adventurer as a vanguard to secretly enter a Dungeon.
Why does Elena, who is physically weak, have to enter the Dungeon? Viro didn’t tell me what they were going to do in the Dungeon, but he said that the Shadow Unit had requested Viro and the others to ensure their safety.
“…………”
“You want to protect the Princess, right? If you report Grave’s matter to the Shadow Unit, I think they’ll talk to you about it, but are you going to refuse that too?”
“…I understand. I will protect Elena. But how does that connect to my ‘reward’ this time?”
Could it be that the Shadow Unit will intervene?
It’s not much to say, but the Shadow Unit is feared by the Underworld, but as hounds who obey the nobles, they are seen as “enemies” by the Underworld.
Even if I’m protected by an enemy organization, it’s doubtful whether that will be a deterrent.
As I stared at him with half-closed eyes, filled with such thoughts, Viro finally realized my question and uttered an unexpected word.
“What are you talking about? You’re joining our ‘Rainbow Sword’ party, replacing the retiring old woman.”
…What did you say?
Kuaal’s name has been decided as “Nero.”
I decided in five seconds (laughs), but my image is directly reflected in the name.
Aria and Nero’s relationship is “equal.” For Nero, Aria is the “moon” itself that he couldn’t reach in his loneliness, I think.
It’s not a master-servant relationship from taming, nor a friendship, nor one protecting the other, nor being captivated by a strange power, but standing next to Aria with his own will.
What do you call this kind of relationship? I kind of admire it.
Aria has been invited to join the Rank 5 Adventurer party “Rainbow Sword.”
It certainly would be a deterrent, but I wonder if she can do group activities. Even if she joins, I have a feeling she’ll be acting individually most of the time.
Next time, Rainbow Sword.
Next update is scheduled for Sunday, and if I can, I’ll update on Saturday as well.
Thank you as always.