“You’re asking quite a lot...”
“If you can’t do it, then the deal’s off. We’ll be continuing on our way.”
Hajime stood up for the third time, and Ilwa and Dott held their heads in anguish. The first condition wasn’t a big deal, but the second one would effectively turn a branch chief into a single adventurer’s lackey. Considering his position, it wasn’t a request he could easily acquiesce to.
“What exactly would you ask for using my connections?”
“Don’t look so worried. I’m not going to ask for anything crazy. It’s just we’re a bit... special, I guess, so the Holy Church won’t think too kindly of us if they find out. And they’ll probably find out eventually, so it’d help to have someone on our side when that happens. I just want you to help us out if we ever get stuck in any trouble is all. Basically let us use your facilities and the like even if we become wanted.”
“You’re certain you’ll be wanted by the Holy Church eventually? Hmm, I’m beginning to grow interested in just what secrets you three bear. Since Master Catherine has taken a liking to you I doubt you’re bad people, but... come to think of it, the eyewitness reports did say that Shea-kun over there possessed monstrous strength, and that Yue-kun used some new form of magic. Are the secrets you’re hiding related to that...? And they are the reason you’re so sure the Holy Church will probably try and purge you... Judging by how little pains you seem to be taking to hiding them, you were prepared for a confrontation from the start. If that really is the case, I can see why you’d need my assistance to move freely between cities... hence your request...” I guess he’s not a branch chief just for show. He’s sharp. After contemplating for a while, Ilwa finally came to a decision and turned to Hajime.
“We absolutely cannot support you in any potentially criminal endeavors. I will personally need to hear the particulars of each request and decide then whether or not we will aid you. But I do promise that we will help you in any other way possible... That’s the most I can offer. What do you say?”
“Well, makes sense... That’s fine. As for the reward, we’ll take it once we complete the mission. I just have to bring the kid back, right? Or his remains if he’s dead.”
Hajime’s main goal had just been getting status plates for Yue and Shea. Hajime was getting tired of making up excuses for why they didn’t have any, so it would be more convenient for any future stops in towns if they both got one.
The problem was making sure whoever issued them didn’t cause a fuss when they first saw both of their stats... but Ilwa’s appearance had solved that issue.
Of course, even if Ilwa did promise not to say anything, there was no guarantee he’d keep his word. Eventually their unique traits would become public knowledge, but Hajime preferred to keep them secret for as long as possible. Hence why he had decided to claim his reward once the request was complete. Whether for good or ill, Hajime would give Ilwa closure on the matter that had been tormenting him thus far. Hopefully that would make him feel indebted to Hajime and therefore more likely to keep his mouth shut.
Ilwa had of course guessed Hajime’s aim in offering to wait until he completed the request. He smiled wryly, but internally he was relieved just to have found someone both capable and willing to take on the request.
“I’m growing more curious about your secrets by the minute, but... I suppose I’ll leave it for when you return. As you said, Hajime-kun, all you need to do is find any traces of Will, regardless of whether he’s alive or dead... Hajime-kun, Yue-kun, Shea-kun. Please find him.” With a serious expression, Ilwa bowed his head. The head of a major city’s guild branch, lowering his head to an adventurer. Not a sight you saw every day. It looked like he’d learned proper manners from Catherine too.
Hajime and the others stood up and said casually,
“Sure.”
“Okay.”
“We will.”
They received a token amount of funds to get supplies, a letter of invitation to the guild branch to the nearby lake town that rested at the foot of the mountain, and documents detailing the request the previous adventurer party had taken on from Ilwa, and then left the guild room.
The door closed with a soft thud. Ilwa breathed a long sigh as he stared at the door. Dott, who’d been silent until now, finally spoke, his voice full of concern.
“Was that... really alright, Chief? Agreeing to those conditions?”
“Will’s life is at stake. And there’s no one else we can rely on. I had no other choice. Besides, they agreed to let me ultimately be the one to decide whether or not to assist them for each matter. There’s no problem there. And most importantly, I’m curious about what they’re hiding...”
“You mean the information their status plates would reveal, the stuff they would find ‘inconvenient’ if it was publicly known?”
“Mhmm. Dott-kun. Did you hear about how the heroes summoned in the Heiligh Kingdom all had ridiculous stats?”
Dott suddenly opened his eyes wide.
“Chief, do you mean to suggest that he’s one of the heroes summoned by god? But he sounded as if he was practically at war with the Holy Church. I thought the heroes were all under the Holy Church’s supervision?”
“Indeed they are. However... I heard that around four months ago, one member of their party died within the Orcus Labyrinth. Or more specifically that he fell to its depths along with a fearsome monster.”
“...Do you mean to suggest that perhaps he survived? Four months ago even the hero’s party was still inexperienced when it came to combat. I’m not sure what kind of place the bottom of Orcus is like, but I can’t imagine a kid surviving through all that.”
Dott shook his head in disbelief. However Ilwa continued staring at the door Hajime had left through, an amused expression on his face.
“True. But, if that really did happen... why wouldn’t he return to his comrades? Why embark on a separate journey? What did he see at the bottom of the abyss? What did he learn in that bottomless darkness?”
“You mean... perhaps...”
“Yes. Whatever it was, it seems to have convinced him to oppose the Holy Church. That is to say, oppose this world itself. His goal is worth that much.”
“The world itself...”
“Personally, I would like to be on the side of someone like that. Even if that means pitting myself against the Holy Church or the royal kingdom. I have no doubt my master noticed the same thing, which is why she gave him that letter.”
“Chief... just make sure you don’t get in too deep, okay?”
“I’ll be careful.”
They were talking about events on a scale they could scarcely imagine, but Dott still had the presence of mind to warn his boss not to bite off more than he could chew. However, Ilwa was deep in thought and only gave an absentminded reply.
Running straight through the middle of a vast plain was a road that ran due north.
Though it was called a road, it was more a path that had been paved into a highway by centuries of footfalls. As the carriages of this world didn’t have any suspensions, travelers often found themselves nursing sore bottoms by the end of their trip.
And yet, a single silhouette was rushing down this rugged road at a speed unthinkable for how poorly maintained it was. A black frame with two wheels, and three passengers sitting atop it.
Hajime, Yue, and Shea. They were pounding down the uneven road at a speed many times faster than when they had been traveling through Reisen Gorge. Hajime was easily doing eighty kilometers an hour. Without anything to inhibit his mana, Hajime was able to power Steiff to its full speed.
They were sitting in the same formation as always. Yue on Hajime’s lap, with Shea sitting behind him. Shea’s bunny ears were rippling in the wind.
The sky was clear and the sun warm upon their backs. Yue had even lessened the force of the wind pressure, making the ride quite pleasant. Yue and Shea were fully enjoying the weather, basking in the sun’s warm glow and the gentle breez
e that flew past.
“Haau, it feels great. Yue-saaaan. Can we switch spots on the way back?”
“No. This is my spot.”
“Come on, don’t be stingy. Let’s swap. It’s pretty nice back here too you know.”
It was clear from Shea’s relaxed tone that she didn’t really care if she got to switch or not. Hajime turned around and answered in Yue’s place.
“You know there’s no way you’d be able to fit here, right? You’d get in the way of my driving. Those rabbit ears especially. They’d keep flopping around in the wind and hitting my eyes.”
“Oh yeah, you’re riiiiiight.”
“She actually fell asleep.”
It appeared the weather was so pleasant that Shea had dozed off. Her head drooped forward, landing on Hajime’s shoulder. The rest of her body weight was pressed against his back. She’d already been half-asleep when she’d called out to Yue.
“Well at this rate I’d say we’ve got about half a day’s travel left. We’ll be driving nonstop, so might as well let her rest while she can.” As Hajime had said, they were about half a day’s ride out from the lakeside village that sat at the foot of the mountain range. If they kept this pace they’d arrive by evening. Hajime’s plan was to spend the night in town and begin searching the next morning.
The reason he was in such a rush was because the longer he took, the more likely it was that Will and his party might be dead. Yue looked up at him questioningly. It was unusual for Hajime to take such a vested interest in the life of someone he didn’t care about.
Hajime met her inquisitive gaze and smiled wryly at her.
“...Why the rush?”
“Well, better we find him alive right? That way Ilwa will feel even more indebted to us. From here on out I’m sure we’re going to get into a lot more fights with the Heiligh Kingdom and the Holy Church. So the more allies we have the better. It’d be a pain to have to fight every time we want to go anywhere.”
“I see.”
That being said, Hajime wasn’t sure how useful Ilwa would prove as an ally. In fact, he thought it was more likely Ilwa wouldn’t be of much help at all. But it never hurt to have extra assistance. Especially considering how little effort it would take to recruit Ilwa to their cause.
“Oh yeah, I heard the village we’re going to sits next to a lake, so they have a lot of water available. Apparently thanks to that they’ve become the largest cultivator of rice on the continent.”
“Rice?”
“Yep, rice. You know, that white grain. It’s my homeland’s staple crop. I haven’t had a single chance to eat it since coming here. I’m not sure if the rice here is the same as the one from home, but I want to try it.”
“...Mmm. I want to try it now too... What’s the town’s name?”
Yue smiled as she watched Hajime reminisce fondly about his hometown. Her question brought Hajime back to the present, and he replied in a somewhat embarrassed tone.
“The lakeside town of Ur,” he said, not knowing what troubles were already brewing there...
“Haah, no clues today either. Where could you have gone, Shimizu-kun...” Walking dejectedly down the main street of Ur was none other than the summoned teacher, Aiko Hatayama. Her normally cheerful demeanor was nowhere to be seen. Right now she just looked tortured with worry. Even the street lamps somehow seemed dimmer than usual.
“Ai-chan-sensei, don’t look so down. We still don’t know what might have happened. His room didn’t look like it had been ransacked, so it’s possible he just left somewhere on his own. So don’t worry about stuff that might not even have happened.”
“That’s right, Aiko. Don’t just keep brooding over the worst case scenario. All that does is make you less focused on what you should be doing right now. Besides, Yukitoshi is a skilled magician. Even if he did run into something dangerous, he wouldn’t be beaten that easily. You’re his teacher, Aiko. If you won’t believe in your students, who will?”
Yuka and David both tried to cheer Aiko up. The other hunk knights and the rest of the students were standing nearby. They too expressed their concern for Aiko.
Two weeks had passed since one of Aiko’s escorts, Yukitoshi Shimizu, had gone missing. Aiko and the others had expended every effort to search for him, but they hadn’t been able to find a single clue. No one in town had seen him disappear, nor had anyone from the nearby villages when they’d sent people to go and ask.
At first people had been worried he might have been caught up in some kind of incident. However, when they examined his room, they’d found it undisturbed. Shimizu was a powerful black mage, skilled at using dark magic, and reasonably proficient with the other elements as well, so he wouldn’t have had any problems dealing with regular thugs or the weak monsters in the immediate area. Furthermore, he had vanished multiple times before without telling anyone, so his disappearances weren’t anything new.
Shimizu was by nature an introvert, and didn’t really mingle with most of the other guards. He didn’t have any close friends among his classmates either, and they’d actually been surprised when he’d volunteered to join the Ai-chan defense force.
Which is why most of the students were more concerned for Aiko, who was worrying herself sick, than Shimizu.
They had already reported this to the Holy Church, who had organized a search squad and dispatched them already. They were slated to arrive soon. Shimizu had one of the highest aptitudes for magic among the summoned heroes, so unlike with Hajime, they had a vested interest in confirming his safety. At their current pace, the search squad would arrive in a few more days.
Her students’ words of comfort did nothing to easy Aiko’s mental anguish. In fact, they made it worse. Regardless of whether he’d been caught up in some kind of incident or chosen to vanish on his own, Aiko was still worried.
But she shouldn’t have let that worry show. Because she had, now she’d made the remaining students even more concerned for her. How could she still call herself an educator if she was the one constantly being looked after? Aiko sucked in a deep breath and lightly slapped her cheeks.
“Everyone, I’m sorry for worrying you. You’re right. Sitting here wringing my hands won’t achieve anything. Shimizu-kun is a skilled mage. I’m sure he’s fine. We just have to keep believing he’s safe, and do all we can to find him. But first, we need dinner! We can’t search for him on an empty stomach after all!” It was obvious she was just forcing herself to sound cheerful, but her students still meekly went along with her suggestion. David and the other knights watched with a smile on their faces.
A bell clanged loudly as Aiko opened the door to the inn they were staying at. It was the poshest inn in Ur, the Water Sprite Inn. The name seemed to be a throwback to the time a water sprite couple from the Urdea Lake had stayed there.
Urdea Lake itself was quite famous too, as it was the continent’s largest lake. In terms of size, it was easily four times as large as Biwa Lake in Japan. Ur had grown up around it.
The first floor of the inn served as a pub, and it served some of the best rice dishes, Ur’s specialty, around. While the interior wasn’t exactly ostentatious, it was evident that a great amount of attention to detail had gone into the decorating, and the magnificent tables and bar counter gave the room a dignified atmosphere. There was a modest yet tasteful chandelier hanging from the ceiling, adding a slightly elegant touch to the room.
If one were to sum it up in a single phrase, it was an inn with a longstanding history.
At first, Aiko and the other students had protested against staying in such a fancy inn, claiming they wouldn’t be able to sleep easily surrounded by such opulence. However, David and the others couldn’t afford to let the Holy Church’s reputation suffer by letting “god’s messengers” or the “fertility goddess” stay anywhere less than the best, and eventually they managed to convince the students.
As they’d already spent some time resting in the royal palace, the students found they were more at hom
e surrounded by such luxury than they’d thought, and they quickly took a liking to the inn. They had come to look forward to the rice dinners the inn served after a hard day of improving the town’s agriculture or searching for Shimizu.
They all headed to the table in the back, the one reserved for VIP customers, and eagerly settled into their meal.
“Man, their food always smells so goood. I never thought I’d be able to eat curry in a world like this.”
“Though it looks more like stew than curry, really... Wait, isn’t there that white curry thing they eat in some places?”
The students all sang the praises of this otherworldly curry. Noboru pointed rudely with his chopsticks as he gave his own impressions of his own dish, an aromatic bowl of rice topped with deep-fried meat and vegetables and slathered in rich sauce.
“Man, their rice bowls are great too. Like this sauce is amazing. Hell, I don’t even think Japan’s got bowls this good.”
“You just never had good rice bowls in Japan, Aikawa-kun. The ones from convenience stores aren’t going to match up obviously.”
“This fried rice is the only thing for me. I don’t think I can go back to eating anything else.”
“Their dumplings are amazing too. I swear, whoever runs this place has to be Japanese.”
The boy who contradicted Noboru retorted with a smile, while Akito stuffed himself full of fried rice. Next to him, Nana was eating her dumplings with relish.
Yuka and the others were overjoyed to be eating Japanese-style food every night.
While it didn’t taste exactly the same, the core ingredients that went into the dishes were quite similar. Part of the reason Ur’s cooking was so renowned was because of the abundance of fresh produce they had access to. Not only did they grow all of their rice, their fish came fresh from the lake, and they were able to harvest various herbs and spices from the nearby mountains.
An elderly man looking to be in his sixties and sporting a magnificent mustache came up to their table with a smile.
“How is everyone finding their meal? If there’s anything at all you require, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 3 Page 7
