Chapter 87: A Nightmare and Gathering Information
Kazue POV
"As Expected"
Miss Alicia looked at me with a confident smile.
I've thought of this before but basing it on her reaction just now, I think I might be right.
When I was asking miss Alicia for a favor 5 days ago, I have a feeling that she already knew what I was up to.
I am not exactly sure how she was able to deduce it but she did.
5 days ago, I asked Miss Alicia for a favor.
I remember telling her about how I wanted to sneak someone into the city without anyone knowing.
I feel that from that moment on, she knew what I was going to do.
Well... most probably...
Miss Alicia already knew that the saint was missing before I asked her that favor.
Now that I think about it.
It would not be hard for Miss Alicia to guess that the person I was trying to secretly sneak into the city was the saint, Calm Eastertale.
After all, it's not been long since she went missing.
Then all of a sudden a random adventurer wanted to ask an influential lady to help her sneak someone into the city.
Surely, for one to assume that the person I was trying to help was the saint is quite a reach.
But... with miss Alicia's intuition, I think she might have realized that it was the saint whom I want to help.
Plus, the timing was just too perfect.
"So miss Alicia knew that I was helping the saint." <Kazue>
"Not really, I just had a hunch" <Alicia>
"haha... I see." <Kazue>
"Well, it's nice to know that the saint is safe. It's all thanks to you, as expected of my little sister." <Alicia>
"Haha..." <Kazue>
[When did I become your little sister?]
When I was traveling with miss Alicia going to Vestir.
For some reason, miss Alicia wanted me to call her "Onee-sama".
Well, do I refuse to call her One-same all the time.
But even with that, she would still like to claim that I was her little sister.
I wonder if I somehow give off that little sister kind of vibe to others.
I tell this because there was another woman who wanted me to be her sister.
That woman is Miss Lavi.
The two are both strong adventurers.
Anyway.
I assessed the situation where I am right now.
At the moment...
Miss Alicia and Argent-sempai.
These two adventurers are a lot stronger than I am.
I am almost certain by now that neither of these two is trying to harm the saint.
No, I wonder if they even care about Calm's situation.
[So... will I do now?]
What I need to do is to keep Calm safe.
[I know... with the help of these two... surely...]
As I was pondering on what to do...
Miss Alicia called out my name
"So? what is your plan now Kazue." <Alicia>
"Huh?" <Kazue>
[I am planning to ask these two to help me protect the saint, of course.]
"Well... I just need to keep Calm safe for another 10 days so... I wonder if..." <Kazue>
Before I could finish my sentence, miss Alicia interrupted me.
"Ah, if you're planning to ask me to personally protect the saint, then sorry. Sure I will still help you by providing you with this mansion as a shelter. Unfortunately, I need to go somewhere with this man." <Alicia>
Miss Alicia was looking at Argent with a serious look on her face.
It seems that to miss Alicia, the saint's safety has nothing to do with her very much.
I don't think that she's willing to stay with Calm for the next few days.
[I wonder what miss Alicia was up to. She is even willing to leave the saint's matter aside to do her own business.]
Is there something more important than saving the saint's life?
That is what I wanted to say but... It was not for me to decide.
I am sure that many things are happening that miss Alicia could just leave Calm in my care.
To me, the most important thing right now is Calm's safety.
But for miss Alicia, Calm's safety is not on her list of priorities.
"Plus, it was you who save the saint. You should see this through till the end. Well... it's not as if I won't help you from here on. Feel free to keep yourself safe here. I will provide you with the best service possible. Also, I will make sure that no information about the saint being here will be exposed." <Alicia>
"I understand, but can I ask you for one last thing then miss Alicia?" <Kazue>
"Sure, I'm all ears." <Alicia>
"I wonder if there is a way for me to contact Sir. Aaron van Ciel, He is Calm's personal knight." <Kazue>
"Hmnn... I guess I can help you contact him." <Alicia>
Miss Alicia snapped her finger.
Immediately the butler came close to Miss Alicia.
"Yes, Milady." <Butler>
"Try contacting this Aaron for me. You can use my name to try and call him. Make sure that you contact him in secret." <Alicia>
"Understood, Milady." <Butler>
The butler left the room right away.
I guess he will do something to contact Mr. Aaron.
"I really want to have a chat with you Kazue but I still have a lot to do. For now, you should rest, I can see that you're really tired." <Alicia>
"Ah..." <Kazue>
When Miss Alicia pointed this out, I noticed it.
Maybe it was because I felt relieved.
Most of the tension on my shoulder has been lifted.
All of a sudden, I suddenly felt how tired I am.
"Kazue, I think we should accept miss Alicia's offer." <Calm>
"I guess so." <Kazue>
"Alright, if you need something just ask the butler. I will instruct him to assist you to the best of his ability. I doubt that I would still have time to talk with you later. For now, try to rest." <Calm>
"Okay..." <Kazue>
Calm's voice had a hint of concern.
Miss Alicia did say that she will still provide help for us.
It was just Alicia herself could not be there as she had something to take care of with Argent-sempai.
She is still providing help by making the mansion's servants help us in many ways.
[I guess having their help is already good enough?]
Miss Alicia nods in satisfaction at my answer.
"Good." <Alicia>
Miss Alicia clapped her hands.
Right away, a maidservant came entering the room.
"Lead these girls to a room where they could rest comfortably." <Alicia>
"Yes, Milady." <Maid>
The maids answered in unison and assisted us to a room.
I think it was because I was too exhausted.
I could barely remember what happened next.
I do remember the maids leading us to a room.
They assisted me to have a bath in a tub.
I resisted at first but the maid insisted.
Since I was too tired to resist, I just gave up and let them serve me.
They then led me to the bed and gave me a massage.
Since I was too tired, I ended up allowing them to do their thing.
I think it was there when I started to forget what happened next.
I just remember feeling comfortable from that point on.
I haven't even realized that I fell asleep.
.
.
.
.
In the darkness, I hear a voice.
A voice of a man, I can hear his voice talking to me.
"You think you can protect that woman?" <Man>
[Protect? Who?] <Kazue>
I looked behind me...
There was a beautiful girl who was cowering in fear.
It was Calm Eastertale, the saint of Riles.
If I leave her alone I am sure that this man will kill her.
I clashed swords with the man as he tried to attack Calm.
At first, I thought that the man was someone I did not know.
His face was covered in shadow.
As our swords clashed and exchanged blows.
We ended up locking our blades.
As we did so I was able to see his face clearly.
It was the face of a man whose name I did not know.
But I have seen him somewhere before.
As I remember who this man was.
Blood was oozing out of his mouth and started choking on his own blood.
He began coughing blood and some of the blood sprayed onto me.
I could smell the scent of blood and It almost made me vomit.
"How dare you... How dare you kill me." <Man>
I remembered who the man was.
It was the assassin who ambushed us in the dark alley when we entered Vestir.
"No, you should be dead! I made sure that I killed you!" <Kazue>
Yes, I made sure that I ended the life of this man with my hand.
It was because the last time I hesitated on ending the life of my enemy, it almost cost me my life.
I pushed the man away from me.
When I pushed him away, the man stumbled down and knelt on the floor.
Like a flower petal falling from a withering flower, the man's head fell on the floor.
It rolled in the ground and rolled toward my direction.
The head of the man was staring at me.
The light in his eyes was gone.
"Why! Why did you kill me." <Man>
Out of disgust, I swung my sword at the head trying to keep its mouth shut
"I..." <Kazue>
From there my heart started beating fast.
My breathing became irregular.
"Ka--"
"Kazue!"
"Kazue!!! WAKE UP!"
I hear a familiar lovely voice.
I opened my eyes and saw the gorgeous face of Calm trying so hard to wake me up.
"Kazue! You're having a nightmare." <Calm>
"I..." <Kazue>
"Are you alright?" <Calm>
"Ah..." <Kazue>
I realized that it was a dream.
A nightmare.
I haven't had a nightmare for a very long time.
The last time I had a nightmare was so long ago that I could not even remember when it was or what the dream was all about.
I held my head in my hand and let out a deep breath.
[I need to put myself together.]
I told to myself.
I tried my best to forget about that thing I did yesterday.
"Good morning" <Kazue>
"Ah... oh... fufufu, Kazue it's almost noon." <Calm>
"Is that so? I did not notice." <Kazue>
From the looks of it, I've slept for a very long time.
We arrived at Miss Alicia's mansion mid-noon yesterday.
I must have slept very early in the evening yesterday and yet I woke up late.
Despite having a nightmare as I woke up, I still feel refreshed.
It must be because of how long I slept.
"How are you feeling?" <Kazue>
"Me? I'm fine." <Calm>
"What about miss Alicia and Argent-sempai?" <Kazue>
"Oh, it seems that they left soon as they finished talking to us yesterday." <Calm>
"Is that so?" <Kazue>
Calm nods.
[So they are not here anymore...]
"The butler said that if we have some questions or if there is something we need, we can just inform him and he'll do something about it to the best of his ability." <Butler>
That is right...
Miss Alicia and Argent-senpai left the mansion yesterday.
No one in the mansion knew where they were.
[Well, I am sure they are doing something important.]
The servants served us food and it tasted great.
Thanks to this I was able to keep my mind at peace.
I can think straight and forget about the man I killed yesterday.
As I was thinking of what to do next, I realized that I need more information on what was happening outside.
To do that, I thought of going out and seeing what is happening in the adventurer's guild.
I also hope to hear details about Calm.
And so I decided to leave the mansion and look around.
"Kazue, are you going out." <Calm>
"Ah, Yes... I'll look around for more info. I think it is safer if you stay here." <Kazue>
"Oh... okay..." <Calm>
It looks like Calm had something to say.
Maybe she wants to go with me.
[Is she trying to be considerate with me? I am sure she noticed that I was off yesterday.]
"Don't worry about me, I'm okay now." <Kazue>
She stares at my face.
She seems to be observing my reactions.
I did not notice this earlier but ever since then, Calm seems to be very concerned about me.
I am sure she's trying her best not to pressure me more.
I would love to say that she doesn't have to do that but...
Yeah... I don't think I can handle more of the pressure.
And so I left it as is.
As I got out of miss Alicia's mansion Calm waved at me with a smile.
"Take care Kazue." <Calm>
[I really appreciate this action of hers. I can see it more clearly now. Calm Eastertale really is a saint.]
And so I went out and went to the guild.
I was on the alert of my surrounding more than usual.
I usually ask my familiar, Hayate to survey the surrounding since he had better senses than I have.
Unfortunately, I thought of leaving my pets with Calm.
I know that if those kids are with her, Calm will feel safer.
Plus, those kids are very reliable.
They will protect Calm in my stead while I am out.
Walking for several minutes, I reached the guild.
Like before, the guild had a very heavy atmosphere.
This time, even I had an expression similar to those adventurers in the guild.
I walked nonchalantly toward the guild's receptionist.
"Hello." <Kazue>
I talked to the receptionist like I usually do.
"Oh, miss adventurer." <Receptionist>
It was the same receptionist I met before.
It was the same female cat-eared receptionist.
"Great! I've been waiting for you." <Receptionist>
"Oh..." <Kazue>
I was surprised to find that the receptionist was looking for me.
"Why?" <Kazue>
I asked.
I was very nervous.
Many possibilities came to my mind.
[Were the assassin able to find out about me?]
[Is it about Sir Aaron?]
[Is this about the saint?]
Those thoughts came into my mind.
"Actually, a few days ago, a female adventurer had been passing here looking for you. I think she is your acquaintance." <Receptionist>
[Is it miss Alicia? No... No, I don't think so. Don't tell me I got found by the enemy already?!]
"A female adventurer?" <Kazue>
"Yes, she said her name was Rio. Do you know her?" <Receptionist>
"Ri...o, RIO! REALLY?! RIO IS HERE?!" <Kazue>
All of a sudden after hearing the name of the person looking for me, I became excited.
[Rio is here?! How? Why? This place is countries away from Artesia! No way.]
I forgot about the things on my mind after hearing this.
"Where is she now?" <Kazue>
"Oh! Well, she's been passing here in the guild every day asking about you. She will probably come soon." <Receptionist>
"Really! That is great!" <Kazue>
"I'm happy to hear that miss Adventurer. I hope you reunite with that friend of yours." <Receptionist>
"Thank you! Thank you very much." <Kazue>
I had been looking for people whom I can trust.
There is no doubt in my mind that Rio is one of those people.
There is no way in hell that Rio would aim for Calm's life.
I can ask her to help me!
I don't know why Rio was here but, I do not care.
It's perfect timing to meet her here.
Aside from Chiho, Mizuko, and Aeko who are all with Hano in his quest of defeating the Demon Lord.
Rio is one of the few people whom I can fully trust.
Being drowned with positive thoughts after hearing about my friend.
The receptionist asked me about the purpose of my visit here in the Guild.
"So, miss adventurer what can I help you with today?" <Receptionist>
"Oh... Right... why am I here again?" <Kazue>
"Fufufu, I guess you were so happy that you forgot about your business for today." <Receptionist>
"Oh! right, I am here to confirm the completion of the quest I took last time." <Kazue>
"Ah... as expected you managed to finish these quests already?" <Receptionist>
"Yeah." <Kazue>
I took an item from my bag and passed it to the receptionist as it was a part of the quest.
The receptionist took those items and proceeded to check on the quest I finished.
I wait for a while.
"Here is your reward. 839,000 DAL" <Receptionist>
"Thank you very much." <Kazue>
Normally I would be happy to receive another batch of rewards.
The debt I have looks so superficial in front of the task I have at hand.
At the moment, I am more excited about meeting Rio.
"Also..." <Receptionist>
"?" <Kazue>
The receptionist handed me something.
She took my hand and placed a small item on it.
It was a Ring.
"This is..." <Kazue>
"Congratulation on becoming a D-rank Adventurer! That is your new adventurer's ring." <Receptionist>
"Oh..." <Kazue>
Seeing this I look at the old wooden adventurer's ring I was wearing on my right-hand ring finger.
I then remembered.
I was promoted to D-rank adventurer just before I met Calm.
Now that I think about it, I only came out that day because I doing a quest to earn more money.
Who would have expected me to meet with a problematic girl?
I replaced the old wooding ring with this new Iron ring.
"What will I do to this wooden ring now?" <Kazue>
"Oh, you can keep it." <Receptionist>
"Really." <Kazue>
I thought for a while about what to do next.
I was thinking of asking the guild receptionist for more information about what was happening in the city.
In the end, I did not.
I thought that asking for those things right now is a bit dangerous.
I decided to just ask for a small amount of food and ate at the dining area inside the guild.
I just decided to listen to the talks of the adventurers.
I also decided to wait for Rio here just in case.
As I was eating I was listening to the whispers of the adventurers around me.
"Hey, Have you heard about that incident yesterday?" <Random Adventurer A>
"Incident?" <Random Adventurer B>
"A man was found dead in an alley a few blocks from here." <Random Adventurer A>
"Oh..." <Random Adventurer B>
"I've heard that the man was a member of the Assassin's guild." <Random Adventurer A>
"Oh..." <Random Adventurer B>
[The incident they're talking about... could it possibly be... that?]
I had a hunch that the incident they were talking about was about the man I killed yesterday.
"I also heard that he was a noble who came from Artesia."
"Eh? A noble and a member of the Assassins Order. I knew those nobles are really wicked people. Assassin's Order, how lowly cowards."
The adventurer said in anger.
[Assassin's Order]
These must be the people looking for Calm.
Well from the way the group is called, they must be a group of assassins.
Alright, at the very least I think I know whom I am against.
I whispered to myself.
"Assassin's Order huh... that sounds dangerous". <Kazue>
I continued to listen to the people around me.
They proceeded on talking about the man I killed yesterday.
The more details they talked about the matter, the more I was reminded of what I did.
As for the man I killed yesterday.
He was found by a civilian and was reported to the guards.
After that, they investigated the identity of the man.
They found out that he was carrying a black card with him.
That card is an item that only the member of the Assassin's Order had.
He was also a noble from Artesia.
The person who killed him was not been found yet, rather... no one cared.
No, they are even complimenting the one who killed that man.
After all...
In this world, killing an assassin is labeled the same as killing a bandit.
There is no such thing as the Police in this world.
Most of the law and order in the city is under the king's power.
Law may vary in which place you are.
The law may change depending on what the king thinks.
Riles is similar to most countries in this world.
In managing the law and order in Riles, the soldier of the city will deal with the offender.
They could even ask for help from the adventurer's guild to capture such people.
They will capture them and deal with them with an appropriate punishment.
Then again, the punishment will be decided by the authority.
For murder, the punishment is either slavery or death.
As for the man that I killed yesterday.
He was a member of the Assassin's Order.
The members of the Assassin's Oder can be classified as monsters, the same as how they treat Bandits.
Killing a member of the Assassin's order had a reward.
A bounty.
If I am to claim that bounty they would gladly give me rewards.
But... I will not do so.
There is a high possibility that the Assassin's Order will get their eyes on me.
If that were to happen, they will discover my connection with Calm.
Our enemies will most likely discover that I am protecting the Saint.
As such, I concluded that it would be better to not claim the bounty.
Also, I have this guilty sensation for killing that man.
Since I already heard about the things I need to hear, I decided to stop eavesdropping on that topic and focused on other conversations around me.
The other conversations that the adventurers were talking about silently were mostly about the war rumors with the Empire of Ecclesia and the noble's summit that happened a few days ago.
[Nothing about Calm huh...]
It appears that the information about the Saint's disappearance was still being kept secret.
It was really hard to move when things are like this.
It's like I am moving blindly in a forest full of dangers.
A wrong step and I might end up in a difficult situation.
[I need to be careful. I should not rush looking for information.]
I finished eating and was only waiting for Rio to come into the guild.
I decided to inform the receptionist that I would be reading some stuff in the library of the guild while waiting for Rio.
She confirmed and said that she will tell Rio to look for me there once she arrives.
As I was in the guild Library located on the upper floor of the guild building.
I sat on a table and rest my body.
I stopped myself and sat with my head resting on the table.
Right as I relaxed my body.
I stretched my arm and saw the new ring on my right ring finger.
I replace the old wooden ring with this one as soon as I received it.
I was looking at the new Iron ring I got earlier.
[I wonder if there is a new feature about this ring?]
I thought.
I stood up and looked for a book related to this Ring.
I found one as the books in the library were fixed in a way that it is easy to find the books you are looking for.
They were sorted in a way that books are pilled together depending on the topic within the book.
I found a book named.
[Adventurer Guide Book]
A book that seems to have all of the information on would need involving being an adventurer.
Obviously, the information about the adventurer's ring was written there too.
I skimmed the book and looked for the information about my new ring.
As expected, the Iron ring I had had a new feature.
That new feature...
It can store an item within it.
Just like a dimensional bag, this ring can store a single item.
"Oh!!!" <Kazue>
I found this feature to be amusing.
I thought of something to store in the ring.
I thought about lots of things, Potion, Magic Crystal, a piece of equipment.
If I ever had something very valuable, I would store that item in this but I am poor, and I don't have such an Item.
After some thought, I decided to just use this ring to store my weapon.
"Okay, how do I use this?" <Kazue>
I looked at the book and looked for a way to use the ring's storage.
Written there, to use the ring's storage.
The owner of the ring should say the word, "Storage".
I then followed what was written in the book and said Storage.
"Storage." <Kazue>
The Iron Ring gave off a weak glow.
"Oh, I think it worked? Now how can I store something in this?" <Kazue>
I read the book again for reference.
To store things in the ring, the owner of the ring must say "Store" and touch the item that I want to store against the ring.
And so I held my sword with my right hand wearing the ring.
Immediately after that, they glowed the same way as the ring.
In a blink of an eye, as if sucking the sword into an empty space the sword disappeared.
"OH!!!" <Kazue>
Just like what was written in the book.
The sword is now within the ring.
"Now, how to take it out?" <Kazue>
Then again, I read the book again for reference.
To get things out of the ring, the owner of the ring must say "Take" while thinking of the thing I want to get from the ring's storage.
I tried doing this.
I held my open hand forward and thought about the sword within the ring's storage.
Just then, the sword appeared in front of my hands and fell.
"Ohhh!!" <Kazue>
I spent my time playing around with the ring like a kid.
I found a new amusing toy.
I practiced taking my sword out of the storage in a cool way.
Not realizing the time.
Time passed.
.
.
.
[It's perfect]
I thought to myself.
"SOOOOO COOL!!!" <Kazue>
I yelled and jumped out of excitement.
"Kazue?"
I hear a cute reserved voice calling me out.
I turned around and saw Rio and a few other people looking at me in a weird way.
"Mizusawa-san?"
I saw familiar people looking at me like I am some weirdo.
Realizing the reason why they are looking at me in such a way...
My face turned red.
[OH SH*T, I got too excited.]
Author Note:
Hi there~
I forgot to set the automatic release for this chapter correctly.
I thought It was out and I checked only to find out that It was still unpublished.
Anyway! New chapter!
The next one is in 5 days~