Was my recruitnt offer that unexpected?
Alia looked at as if trying to figure out my intentions. However, unable to find any other motive, she spoke in a sowhat bitter voice.
“I’m… a looter.”
“That’s only natural since you’re from Noark. But I know better than anyone that you’re different.”
Indeed, Alia had let and Ainar go back then when we first t.
It was the sa when we t in the sewers.
The dwarf, Rotmiller, Misha, and even Dwarkey.
She had given everyone, not just , the precious ‘Lethe’s Blessing’ and tried to find another way.
Therefore…
“My information is registered with the Explorer’s Guild. The royal family would also know—”
I firmly cut Alia off.
“I can just create a new identity.”
“It’s not that easy. If you’re with , people will definitely try to find out my identity—”
Ugh, she’s so talkative today.
“That’s why I said I would take care of all those restrictions. Then you can join my clan.”
“That’s… impossible, that’s why I’m saying this. It will be troubleso for both of us if you try to force it—”
“Geez, you’re hedging your bets.”
“Hedging…?”
“Whatever, I’ll take care of it, so you just have to answer.”
A binary choice of ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
Alia hesitated for a mont and then sighed as I simplified the situation.
“Ha… why do you always make things difficult for …?”
“So, what’s your answer?”
“Okay. If it’s a situation where there’s no problem with being by your side…”
Alia trailed off and avoided my gaze.
But did she dislike her unconscious action?
Swoosh.
Alia looked at and said,
“Then I’ll beco your companion.”
The quest was accepted.
_________________________
Quest Na: Save My Sister!
Objective: Sister’s Survival (0/1), Resolve Identity Issue (0/1)
Reward: Alia Rainwales (SSR) Recruitnt Ticket
Hmm, I guess that’s the gist of it.
As I was organizing the quest, Alia took the bottle of alcohol from the table and chugged it.
“I thought you didn’t drink because you don’t get drunk?”
“I’m thirsty.”
Oh, I see.
But she sounded very macho, saying that while chugging alcohol.
Thud.
Alia frowned as she put the bottle down.
I couldn’t help but ask,
“Do you not like alcohol?”
“How can this taste good?”
“No, I was just checking. I don’t like alcohol either.”
I heard that it tastes like a sweet drink if you’ve been through a lot of hardship, so I just asked, just in case. I’ve been through enough, but it still tastes the sa.
“…Enough with the nonsense, let’s get to the point.”
Alia sat down across from .
“You said you wanted to hear about Nibels Enche? I’ll tell you. I might be able to think of another way after hearing your opinion.”
“Okay.”
“Ah, and one more thing. I’m telling you this beforehand, but I’ll only beco your companion if you keep all the promises you made. Got it?”
“But I told you to join my clan, not beco my companion.”
“Ah, uh…”
Alia flinched at my words.
“That’s also… right, I see. I, I thought you ant the sa thing. If they’re different, I’ll correct my answer—”
“It’s fine, ‘companion’ sounds better than ‘clan mber’ anyway.”
“…Are you making fun of ?”
She’s perceptive.
“There’s no way.”
Alia looked at suspiciously, but she couldn’t say anything since she didn’t have any proof.
So it was ti to change the subject.
“Just tell . Everything I don’t know, including Nibels Enche.”
Alia dismissed her playful attitude and started talking as we returned to the main topic.
“Nibels Enche was the na of the man who saved my life that day. ‘Iron Mask’ is his nickna in Noark.”
“As expected.”
At least one of my questions was answered.
I’m her lifesaver.
Huhu, no wonder she’s been so soft on since we ca to Noark.
“I’ve been debating whether to tell you this. I ca here to change the past, but it feels like everything is happening as it’s supposed to, no matter how hard I struggle.”
“I see.”
I didn’t have to say much since I had already experienced it.
“But you said you weren’t giving up. Enough, tell . When did we… no, when did you et Nibels Enche again after that?”
“I don’t know the exact date. But if I rember correctly, it was about three weeks from now. The location was…”
I then had a long conversation with Alia and learned everything I needed to know.
Alia didn’t hold back or try to test , she answered all my questions honestly.
It was our first real conversation.
Ah, of course, that didn’t an I imdiately found the answer.
“Anything else you’re curious about?”
“No, I think I’ve heard everything.”
“I see, then…”
“I’m sorry. Honestly, I don’t know yet. I need more ti to think.”
“Is that so…”
Alia seed disappointed when I said I didn’t have any ideas either, but she didn’t say anything.
“Well, it’s not like you would have a solution right away.”
“That sounds like you weren’t expecting anything.”
“…Strange. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have even told you.”
“Hmm, so you trust ?”
“…To so extent.”
“To so extent.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
If it were anyone else, I would have thought it was a sly answer, but I felt a strange sense of accomplishnt because it was Alia.
You know how it is, right?
You just brush off your parents’ complints, but when soone who’s usually prickly praises you, you feel acknowledged.
“Anyway, it’s my turn now since you don’t have any more questions.”
“Huh?”
“What are you surprised about? It’s only natural for to… be curious about you.”
“Ah, right. Go ahead. What are you so curious about?”
I thought she would ask about my world, but she didn’t.
She really has no unnecessary curiosity.
Well, that’s convenient for .
“Actually, everything you might be curious about is what I already told you. But since you’re curious, I’ll tell you from the beginning. When I opened my eyes, I was in a mansion that felt very familiar. Ah, it’s a long story to explain why it felt familiar…”
“It’s fine, tell . We have plenty of ti.”
“Uh… okay.”
I then told her everything that happened in the spiritual world I visited last month.
And I ntioned the nas of the big shots.
The captain of Orculus.
The Ruin Scholar, Belvev Ruinjenes.
And the mysterious man called ‘Kagureas’.
“Kagureas? I’ve never heard of that na.”
Unfortunately, even Alia didn’t know anything about him.
Well, the other two were a bit different.
“The captain of Orculus was there… There were rumors that he might be an evil spirit, but I can’t believe it’s true. Then you’re also from the sa place as the captain?”
“No, that’s not it. Not all evil spirits co from the sa dinsion.”
“Is the Ruin Scholar the sa?”
“Probably. People from our world started being summoned around this ti.”
“I see… This is amazing. I’ve never even heard rumors about the Ruin Scholar being an evil spirit.”
“In that sense, can you tell about them?”
“I don’t know much, but if that’s what you want.”
Alia hedged her bets before sharing information again, but her stories were surprisingly useful.
After all, I didn’t know much about them.
There wasn’t much information about the captain or the Ruin Scholar.
There was a difference in our level of common sense since Alia was a Noark native and had interacted with Orculus.
“So, you’re also summoned there every 15th?”
“Probably. He said he would resolve the fairness issue, so I’m a bit curious about what happened. Ah, do you have any questions for him? I can ask him when I go there.”
“…I’ll think about it.”
We disbanded and went to bed since we didn’t have anything else to talk about. It felt like a long day since I had stayed up all night.
But Alia asked another question after we lay down.
“Bjorn, what was your world like?”
She was asking all sorts of questions, unlike usual, and I answered them diligently.
Democracy, science, cars and airplanes, missiles.
The conversation beca longer since I had to explain everything, but it wasn’t boring or annoying.
After all, it was my first ti.
Talking about these things in this body.
Unlike usual, when I had to think carefully about every word because I had to hide the fact that I was an evil spirit, I didn’t have to do that with Alia.
After so ti…
“That was an interesting story. Although I already knew most of it.”
“What? You knew? How?”
“There are many evil spirits in Noark who reveal their identities. You hear all sorts of stories if you live here.”
“I see… Wait a minute, then why did you even ask?”
“That’s…”
Alia trailed off.
And a long silence followed.
“Don’t tell , you fell asleep?”
“…….”
“Don’t pretend to be asleep. I know you only sleep half-way, like a dolphin.”
“…….”
Is this what they call ‘the student surpassing the master’?
I didn’t know she would use one of the two ways to piss soone off on .
“…Are you really asleep?”
“…….”
Damn it, she’s even snoring.
This is ridiculous. Is she acting?
I didn’t know, but I closed my eyes without saying anything.
The reason was simple.
I didn’t want to disturb her if she was really sleeping soundly for the first ti in a while.
“…Goodnight.”
I turned around and lay down, facing the wall, and soon fell asleep.
____________________
Ti passed quickly after that day.
No, was it really fast?
Honestly, it was very boring.
I spent all my ti in the inn, avoiding going out because I didn’t want to create any variables.
Ah, but that didn’t an it was a aningless ti.
“Bjorn, go wash up.”
“Why? We’re not even going out.”
“…You sll.”
We talked all day.
About various things.
My world, Alia and her sister’s mories, and episodes from the labyrinth.
Anyway, I learned more about Alia as we talked.
Well, the biggest gain was finally hearing about her essences.
‘Did she not explore properly? I don’t understand how she only reached the 8th floor with those specs.’
Alia’s specs were much better than I expected.
Honestly, she was probably even stronger than that Dragonslayer bastard if it weren’t for his Arc sword and ‘Dragon Speech’.
‘And she even has the Guide trait.’
She could navigate, and she was a powerful damage dealer who could use Aura to cut down even monsters with high Physical Resistance.
Her only weakness was her frail body…
But I could just tank for her.
“Ah, right. How did it go today?”
“They refused, as expected.”
Alia, who had just co out of the shower, answered as she dried her hair with a towel.
Damn it, as expected.
“Hmm, maybe we offered too little…”
Our attempt to buy the Rainwales sisters from their team failed.
“What about them? Do you think they’ll change their minds if we offer more money?”
“Well, I don’t know. But it’s not a good idea to do that. If they realize we’re obsessed with them, they’ll try to use us.”
“That’s true. Everyone here is cunning.”
“But we succeeded in approaching them naturally. They were actually the ones who showed interest in us.”
“Interest?”
“They asked if we wanted to join their team.”
Although things were going according to plan…
…neither of us looked happy.
It was because all of this had already happened in the past.
“It’s so… predictable that it’s suffocating.”
We also joined that team in the original tiline.
And after experiencing various things, we faced that incident five months later.
“So what are you going to do?”
“…I’ll join the team as planned. It’s a bit frustrating, but it’s the best way to be near them when that incident happens.”
“Really? Then let’s do that.”
I didn’t object.
I didn’t think we could change the past like this, but I didn’t have any better ideas.
I decided to follow Alia’s plan.
At least until I ca up with a better one.
Right, so in that sense…
[23:55]
…I checked the ti again.
Alia spoke as she saw .
“Ah, co to think of it, it’s today.”
“Yeah.”
I drank so water and lay down on the bed.
“Good luck.”
Geez, that’s awkward.
“It’s still five minutes until I have to go. And it’s just a brief mont here anyway.”
“Ah, right.”
We then chatted for a bit.
Could it be because the other person was Auril Gabis?
I was a bit nervous—
Click.
The second hand on the clock ticked, and my vision blurred.
‘That Sprite was delicious.’
I wonder if he’ll give another one if I ask.
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