〈 Chapter 6 〉 Deal (1)
*
‘Control your expression, you fool.’
<Trait [Absolute Obedience] is activated.>
Suddenly, my expression returned to normal.
It must have looked incredibly unnatural.
Still, I calmly resumed my act as an innkeeper.
No, it wasn’t an act. I am an innkeeper.
‘I am an innkeeper.’
<Trait [Absolute Obedience] is activated.>
‘Right?’
I casually spoke to Gwen.
“Welcome to Basilia Inn. What brings you here?”
“I’m looking for a room to stay for a while.”
“Then let me show you to your room.”
Just as I was smoothly transitioning, a sudden question came.
“Who are you?”
It was an unexpected question.
“I’m Allen Pleuk. I’m an employee at Basilia Inn.”
“Employee? I wouldn’t think the skills you displayed earlier belonged to an innkeeper in such a rural town.”
The timing couldn’t have been worse.
I hadn’t planned to reveal my swordsmanship so soon.
Eventually, she would find out naturally, but I needed to prevent her from being overly suspicious of me right from our first meeting.
“I learned from adventurers. Many adventurers stay at this inn.”
“Is that so?”
Fortunately, she seemed to easily accept my excuse.
In the meantime, we arrived at the room.
“Here it is.”
As I opened the door, Gwen entered and looked around.
Then she spun around once. That light gesture, combined with her small frame, reminded me of a young girl.
Though her tone completely contradicted that.
“Hmm, not a bad room.”
It wasn’t a large room, but it seemed she appreciated how well it was kept tidy.
Watching her, I quickly focused my consciousness. In fact, there was something I wanted to test first when encountering a playable character.
I needed to see if I could view the statuses of other characters.
If my rights as a player had been transferred over, I should be able to see not just Allen’s own status, but also that of other characters.
‘Status’
In response, a status window appeared in front of me just like my own.
‘As expected, I can see it.’
I carefully checked her status window.
<Status Window/>
1. Information
Name: Gwen Reedval
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Stigma: Rose Emblem
Rank: Hero
2. Stats
Health: B
Strength: B
Agility: A+
Magic: E
3. Skills
[Swordsmanship (S)]
[Martial Arts (A)]
[Physical Resistance (A)]
[Mental Resistance (B)]
[Spear Arts (C+)]
[Handicraft (C)]
4. Traits
[Precocious (Major)]
Although she wasn’t perfect, Gwen Reedval was a well-rounded character.
Comparing her to me, her stats were extraordinarily good, like a wall of separation.
Of course, my weakness played a part in that as well, but her trait [Precocious (Major)] was even more significant.
Indeed, her stats were functionally a tier above the average heroes of her age. Especially to raise her swordsmanship to rank S without being a high-ranking hero was something that would just be impossible without the trait [Precocious (Major)].
The trait [Precocious] might seem strange when considering her age of 29, but it didn’t quite mean what one might think.
[Precocious] is an element related to skill growth, and it allowed her to increase her skill proficiency at a much faster rate than others.
That being said, it didn’t come without its risks.
Anyway, thanks to traits like [Precocious] and decent stats, she was indeed a character mainly recommended for beginners.
If the goal was simply to become a hero, there would be no easier character to achieve that than her.
And considering her tendencies as a beginner, there was a high probability she had been referring to an攻略 community.
If she were to cultivate her character according to the攻略 community, I estimated she would visit this town by this autumn.
There were even experienced users like me who raised her to obtain a better stigma, but they were a tiny minority compared to beginners.
“What are you staring at?”
At that, I snapped back to reality.
At the same time, the status window that had been laid out before me vanished in an instant.
“Oh no, just checking if you had any inconveniences.”
“As long as the room protects me from the rain, I’m happy. This is perfect.”
Gwen seemed satisfied with the room.
I smiled back at her and said, “Then I shall leave you to it.”
I carefully closed the door.
Then I took out an item I had prepared for this day.
Just now, her status window and especially our conversation convinced me.
She was indeed the Gwen Reedval I knew.
I slid the item under the door.
*
“What a peaceful village.”
Gwen, after resting on the bed for a moment, stepped outside and looked at the village scenery.
Adults busily engaged in their work while children play freely.
It would be impossible to witness such a scene if it weren’t for the geographical features of this village.
Since the destruction caused by ‘Chaos,’ humanity had slowly found some semblance of peace within the barrier. But the period of peace was shorter than the period of destruction.
In the peace within the barrier, war began. The remote villages near the edge of the barrier often encountered peace during wartime.
The only threats in such a village were wild beasts. Occasionally, roaming adventurers might pose a threat, but cases of Chaos Beasts penetrating the barrier were extremely rare.
‘If I could no longer fight someday, spending the rest of my life in a place like this wouldn’t be so bad.’
Though by “rest of my life,” I didn’t mean long.
She let out a bitter smile.
As she blankly gazed at the children playing in front of her.
“Hey, who are you?”
She turned to her right.
There stood a little girl.
She was trying to tiptoe closer, but it was clear that Gwen had already noticed her.
Speaking of which, ‘you’? There’s at least a 12-year gap here.
Still, it wasn’t the first time she had faced such misunderstandings.
Ignoring it was probably the best policy.
“Just a sec. I’ve never seen such a pretty girl in our village before.”
But that actually made her feel good.
Gwen turned back to the girl and said, “It’s natural you haven’t seen me before. I’m an adventurer.”
She hadn’t come here as a hero; it was a personal matter, so it wasn’t a lie.
Anyway, the status of being a hero was not something one could just casually mention.
“An adventurer? Don’t you look about my age? You go adventuring?”
“It’s hard to believe, but I’m actually 29.”
She told the truth, knowing it wouldn’t be believed.
As expected, the girl seemed to think she was joking and laughed heartily.
Indeed, it was a hard fact to believe.
‘Next year, I’ll be thirty.’
Watching the still laughing girl complicated her feelings even more.
“Can you stop laughing for a moment?”
“…Okay, I’ll try.”
Was that a little too much?
She briefly worried about that, but fortunately, the girl began asking her about adventures.
Gwen started sharing various stories with the girl.
As she continued to tell her tales one by one, other children began to gather around as well.
They were captivated by stories they would never experience in such a remote little village.
The pure eyes of those children surrounding her for a moment brought her back to a childlike innocence.
Though it wouldn’t last forever.
She turned her gaze to the setting sun.
“It seems the sun will set soon, so let’s stop here for now.”
At her words, the children expressed their disappointment.
Sorry, but I have other business to attend to.
As the children began to leave one by one, just as she was about to get up from her spot:
“Don’t you want to ask us about the village?”
It was the girl who had spoken to her first.
Somehow, she had begun to refer to Gwen as “older sister.”
“Not particularly…”
Now that she thought about it, there was one thing she wanted to ask.
“Do you know about the boy who works at Basilia Inn?”
“Basilia Inn? Are you talking about Allen?”
That name was indeed right.
“Yeah, that kid.”
Then the girl’s expression darkened a bit.
“That kid… ”
After a moment’s hesitation, the girl leaned over and whispered carefully in Gwen’s ear.
“There’s a rumor that he was bitten by a wolf and became a werewolf. Ever since then, he seldom comes out of the inn, and whenever he does, he seems to be getting bigger.”
Gwen almost burst out laughing.
That was precisely the sort of ridiculous rumor one would expect to hear among children.
There was no way she wouldn’t notice if he were a werewolf.
“Thanks for letting me know, kid.”
“Puh… Pfft… ”
“What’s that about?”
“It’s just that you talk like an old lady.”
Of course, compliments don’t sway her.
She turned to leave.
“Hey?”
She heard a call but ignored it.
“Are you sulking?”
Well, maybe she was.
*
…In reality, she wasn’t that sulky.
She just had a place to go.
“That kid Allen. What a strange little boy.”
The gaze that had looked at her.
The rumors of werewolf that circulated among the children.
And whatever had peeked through the crack in the door.
“Don’t you think so, Divine Seat?”
The Divine Seat didn’t really respond.
That’s how it was for divine beings.
Unless it was a situation where an important decision needed to be made, personal communication was nearly impossible.
Especially with an ordinary boy like Allen, the Divine Seat showed almost no interest.
[The Divine Seat approves.]
‘Huh?’
The Divine Seat, who ought to remain silent, reacted.
If that was the case, it only indicated one thing.
‘As expected…’
She pulled out an envelope.
It was what had slipped in through the gap when she closed the door.
[Please come to the clearing west of the village after sunset.]
This was certainly not a romantic love letter.
Because there was more than just a note inside the envelope.
She pulled out a small sculpture.
It was a rose made of thin wire twisted this way and that.
‘Rose Emblem.’
The boy surely knew about her.
As Gwen reached the clearing in the west, she stood and gazed at the boy waiting there.
‘Who are you?’
*
Fortunately, Gwen showed up.
With that, the conditions were met.
Why go through such a roundabout way to summon her?
Information disparity.
I know about Gwen, and she knows nothing about me.
I just made sure that Gwen recognized that.
It seemed trivial, but it was my only means to stand in a position of advantage, given that my only asset was [Swordsmanship (B)].
Perhaps because the character named Allen wasn’t particularly famous, it was a method I could utilize.
As Gwen slowly approached, she eventually came to a stop a short distance away.
Her eyes seemed to be on guard.
It was certainly different from when I first saw her at the inn.
She was, in a sense, a just and righteous figure.
Moreover, since she had the strength to back it up, she wouldn’t easily turn hostile toward someone she had just met.
But now was different. She clearly was on guard against me.
To be honest, I was scared.
Perhaps even more than when facing the wolf.
But then again, unlike that time, I had a plan this time.
‘Don’t freeze up.’
<Skill [Absolute Obedience] is activated.>
Immediately, I felt my previously stiff body relax.
Noticing this, I could see Gwen’s eyebrows slightly twitch.
She quickly directed a question at me.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Allen Pleuk. Just a worthless kid.”
“A worthless kid knows my identity?”
“With your reputation, you must be quite famous among the heroes, right?”
If the player had cultivated her according to the攻略, it would be true.
And her status window indicated that she had indeed been raised accordingly.
There were no unusual traits; it was a well-rounded status.
“…That might be true. But how do you explain this note?”
She pointed to the sculpted object I had given her.
It was a rose-shaped sculpture made of wire.
I had referenced the rose emblem, which occupies a corner of my insignia, but upon seeing it now, there were crooked parts that stood out.
Not that it mattered too much.
“What do you mean by ‘explain’?”
“I didn’t see you making such a wire sculpture while I was showing you to your room. If that’s true… it means you could have predicted that I would come to this village, right?”
Yeah, there was no denying that one.
The fact that I merely knew about her could be justified through rumors, but preparing such a sculpture in advance was impossible unless I had known she would come.
But that was also my intent.
“That’s right. I already knew you were coming here.”
And so I acknowledged it confidently.
The rose sculpture was a simple proof that would make her believe I knew something she didn’t.
Then Gwen narrowed her eyes.
“You’re not denying it? How did you know?”
“Well, that’s a trade secret, so it’s difficult to tell you.”
“A trade secret?”
“Actually, I called you here because I wanted to make a deal with you.”
Waiting for her in this village.
And leaving her the letter to show the information gap.
Everything that happened in between was for this one proposal.
“What do you want?”
“It’s not that complicated. Just take me to the trial of the relic.”
“The trial? Is that so? So, you knew about this trial too?”
“You came here to face the trial as well, so it wouldn’t be a wasted trip.”
“What on earth…”
After staring at me for a moment, she shook her head.
“Let’s finish what you were saying first. A deal would mean there should also be a reward, right?”
“Of course.”
I raised my hand, showing her my index finger.
Then I said,
“If you take me to the trial, I’ll answer one of your questions.”
“A question? What do you mean?”
Her tone seemed to imply, “Is that all?”
I had to let her know it was more than it seemed.
“It could be the location of the relic you’re looking for.”
At that, for the first time, Gwen’s expression, which had been indifferent, changed.
*
