Chapter 10 – The Restorer of the Shadows (5)
“Looks like you’re quite satisfied? That thing you took last time, I guess you sold it for a pretty good price.”
“Indeed. I can’t deny it since I sold it for quite a hefty sum.”
Ethan, who appeared again after two days, was all smiles. He looked so pleased that he even flashed a big grin at me, who usually saw him with a slightly eerie expression.
I couldn’t wrap my head around how much money he could possibly make from selling a dead smartphone that didn’t even work. He was definitely hiding the real price from me; if I had sold it myself, I would’ve known the exact amount.
However, I had no intention of doing that. As a reward for him doing my chores instead of dealing with annoyance, I didn’t mind giving Ethan a cut.
Honestly, with the wealth of Ethan at my disposal, I didn’t really need that much money right now.
‘It’s nice that my strength increases just by sitting still, but isn’t there a faster way?’
“—.”
Most of my focus was on communicating with the earth spirit to increase my magical powers. Although it was true that my abilities grew just by coming into contact with the earth, I started to feel a bit restless after a few days. I wanted to seek a quicker method.
‘It only comes down to direct training.’
The method that the earth spirit suggested was to familiarize myself with using magical arts in practice. Naturally, that meant combat. However, as I looked around, I scratched my head.
“You, you want to fight? Are you out of your mind?”
“You could say it’s part of the training. Isn’t there no other method?”
Since I couldn’t just provoke anyone, I went to Ethan once again and asked him for help. Given how much wealth I was giving him, it was only natural that I should ask for such things.
“There are adventurers who hunt monsters. Some take paid requests as mercenaries, but there are those who specialize in monster hunting.”
In the end, he gave me an answer. It wasn’t just the descendants of those who had lived here since the distant past who inhabited this world. The monsters that had poured out from the tower had also bred and left descendants in their own way, which are today’s monsters.
Perhaps these monsters could be seen as the arch-enemy of humanity, one that has continued for over ten thousand years. That aspect piqued my interest.
Wasn’t this an opportunity, even if indirectly, to fulfill my past goal of becoming a hero who saves the world by climbing the tower?
“I’ll do it. Adventurer.”
“…”
Ethan’s face turned incredulous at my light-hearted declaration, which sounded like I was saying I would go buy some snacks at the store in front of my house.
But I was serious. Since things had twisted this way, the thought of trying everything I wanted to do still held validity.
“Adventurers must be registered and insured, which ensures they can roam around armed. Not just anyone can do it, and if you do register, you naturally have to make your identity public.”
“Isn’t there a loophole? Isn’t that your specialty? Don’t you want to revive artifacts?”
“Ugh.”
Ethan seemed to want to persuade me not to get into trouble, but I had already made up my mind. When I declared he should find a way, he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Not all party members in an adventurer’s group are adventurers. A top-notch adventurer might carry luggage and even have maid or servant types with them. The issue is, there’s no one who can pass for an adventurer instead of you, who is disguised.”
“You can’t do it yourself, huh?”
Ethan, who was already thinking about how to embezzle from his own organization’s funds without hesitation, quickly thought of a workaround. However, there was a condition.
Only two people knew my true identity at that moment, but one of them, Ethan, was a busy man. He wasn’t free enough to pair up with me.
“We could find someone halfway decent…”
“I’m not interested. I’ll just go with Rina.”
“…What!?”
Ethan suggested I increase my reliable partners, but I wasn’t particularly fond of it, so I pouted.
Instead, I decided to appoint Rina as a stand-in to take action. She had been quietly listening in and suddenly perked up, her ears and tail standing straight.
“It seems like as long as your identity is solid, it shouldn’t be a problem?”
“Y-yes, but this girl is just a capability-less mixed-blood beastkin that her parents abandoned. It could be dangerous… No, I suppose it’s not important to you.”
Ethan, still misunderstanding something about me, was trying to stop me but eventually sighed deeply. I glanced at Rina, who was awkwardly bowing her head.
“I won’t do anything dangerous. I’m not trying to become a famous adventurer or anything; I just want to experience a bit.”
I smiled and held Rina’s hand to reassure her.
The nearly sole advantage I gained from this petite and delicate appearance was that I could gently sway the feelings of others like this.
If I had looked like my past self, Rina would have been surprised and reflexively pulled her hand away. However, the current Rina was nodding her head and smiling unconsciously.
In fact, she was even playing with my hand instead.
“Do as you please. Hah.”
Ethan shook his head as if there was no way to stop Rina from accepting my proposal.
Grinning, I then began to prepare to become an adventurer.
“You look good. Is it thanks to that agile physique typical of beastkin?”
The first preparation was to adorn my appearance. Beastkin, who require more energy than humans, possess superior physical abilities, and their bodies, whether male or female, naturally have better balance and developed muscles without needing special training.
They are specialized in physical activities. The beastkin I knew in the past had that remarkable physical prowess.
“I-I’ve never worn clothes like this before.”
Rina seemed awkward, her tail swaying and her body fidgeting. The outfit she was wearing now was neither the short skirt nor the off-shoulder maid outfit she usually wore, but skin-tight pants and boots made from monster leather, paired with a practical shirt and jacket.
Wearing various leather armor pieces and a belt while carrying a sword, she really resembled a typical beastkin female swordswoman one might see on the street.
“The only knife I know how to wield is a kitchen knife…”
“You don’t have to worry. There shouldn’t be many occasions for you to draw your sword.”
Though she didn’t even know how to hold a sword, I didn’t mind. After all, the fighting was meant for me. If an enemy were strong enough that I couldn’t face them on my own, I planned to take Rina and run away without hesitation.
“And besides, you’re asking me to take Iriliana as my maid.”
“It’s a disguise. Let’s stick to the concept, or rather, the setting. But don’t treat her like a real maid. It’ll end once we get home.”
Unlike Rina, I was wearing a maid outfit. It wasn’t as extravagant as the one she wore; it was a neat black dress with long sleeves, a skirt that came up to my thighs, and white knee-high socks, making it a rather modest choice.
After tying my voluminous hair into a single braid and donning a hooded travel cape to cover my ears, the girl I saw in the mirror looked like an ordinary silver-haired maid.
‘Now, this feels like a real girl.’
I felt a rush of pleasure as I heard Rina clapping her hands, saying it looked pretty good on me, but suddenly, I felt a jolt.
It hadn’t been long since I had transformed into this body, yet it felt oddly familiar, as if I had been like this for a long time.
It was a peculiar feeling. Would it make sense to feel this familiarity even though I still vividly remembered my past self?
“Everything’s ready, so let’s get going. You memorized your background, right? You’re a traveling beastkin adventurer.”
“Yes, I’ve memorized everything.”
I took my bag and led the still-deep-breathing Rina through the secret passageway Ethan had told us about, sneaking out of the mansion.
Immediately, I headed towards the branch of the Adventurers’ Guild located in this city, with Rina in front.
The city scenery, which I had seen a few times before, appeared slightly different now. This feeling was certainly because, even though I was merely playing a role, I was no longer an “outsider” but a part of this world.
‘Whatever I do is better than just sinking into obscurity.’
I found this feeling more pleasant than I expected.
Having survived that great disaster and witnessing the unfolding of a new future, I felt as if I too could find a new path, transformed into a specter of the past.
“There it is, Iriliana, ah, no, Irilia.”
“Indeed, there are many other adventurers around.”
Coming out to the main street where a delivery knight statue stood proudly, I quickly spotted our destination. Confirming our objective, I subtly grasped Rina’s tail, which was still flailing around eye level.
The tip of the beastkin pants peeping out and swaying at my eye level honestly made me want to touch it so much since the beginning.
The texture felt incredibly smooth, warm, and addictively wiggled in my grasp, just as I had imagined.
“Eeek!?”
…However, her reaction was more intense than I had anticipated.
Being startled and standing on end with her fur all ruffled up suggested that this particular area was much more sensitive than a regular cat.
