Chapter 404: A bright star shining silently in a remote region (1/2)

Hmm?

While I was walking around, I detected a strange presence and I stopped my feet.

I -Haku Mokuren- am currently enjoying the feeling of the city I haven’t felt in a while. My comrades are each doing their own job, and you could say that they had at some point in time begun enjoying their everyday life here.

Now then, speaking about me -one of the adventurers that created the first guild- would take a massive amount of time, so it would honestly be a pain to do so.

I am simply one of the many foreigners who have come to the remote city of Tsige which is having dazzling development.

I was humming a certain famous poem of the showa era while wandering around the city.

The adventurers and residents were calling me Haku-san and Mokuren-san amicably as I passed by, and I have now finally grown familiar to this place.

As someone who has taken in both the viewpoint of being a member of this city and the viewpoint of being an adventurer, I was perplexed by the young man that was releasing a strange presence.

He looks around his late 15s or early 20s.

I can see from his face and eyes that he has received proper education and training, and yet, his body was strangely unreliable.

His eyes of surprise and expectation is the usual of people who have come from the outside, but…at the same time, he seemed like he also had some sort of specific objective.

This place has just recently declared itself a country, so you could even say it is newborn.

I can only groan and say that they are doing quite a good job steering the ship despite that being the case, but…it is true that this is also a dangerous time where you don’t know what will happen.

I have taken a decent liking to this place, so the only choice I had was to speak to him.

‘Don’t stick your head in each and every small matter’, are the words of advice from my one and only long companion, but she is currently not here.

In other words, there’s no way to stop me here…

And with that said! GO!

“Heya, is this your first time in Tsige? Wa?!” (Haku)

I am in the dancer business, so I am somewhat confident in closing the distance to people.

But this time around, I was stopped by something.

The young man in front of me disappeared from my very eyes.

*Sniff*…this lingering scent…so he was taken away by someone from the Kuzunoha Company, huh.

Well, if I leave it to them…yeah, they can be hit or miss, so I shouldn’t feel safe with just the mention of their name, huh.

“Uhm…is it here? Oh, it is! It is!” (Haku)

“!”

“…Tch.”

As payback for having lost my talk partner, I used the stealth steps that I learned from my comrade assassin to follow after the trace, and speak to them.

What came back in response was surprise and a click of the tongue.

“Eris-chan, huh. It might have been the right move to come here.” (Haku)

What a skilled girl .

She may look like she is a fool, but she doesn’t show any openings.

But she is the type that prioritizes efficiency, and throws away anything that’s a pain without hesitation.

Also, she seems to have strong loyalty to the Kuzunoha Company and what’s at its back, but feels as if she only sees Tsige as nothing more than a playground.

“It is the style of our place to check as soon as possible whatever it is that’s strange. Is something the matter?” (Eris)

“Hmm, what you are trying to do is to forcefully stop it, right?” (Haku)

“This one is probably something that’s not good for us. As someone loyal, I wouldn’t like Waka to carry unnecessary worries. I want our guest to understand this as well.” (Eris)

“My instinct is telling me that that one might be a problem, you know?” (Haku)

“Your looooooooooooooooong and seasoned instinct, huh. Hmm, leaving aside the worry, I did my job. He won’t become a threat. Now that that’s been resolved, you can go back to your roun—” (Eris)

I could feel the ill intent from her stretching that one part purposely.

But she does show signs of pulling back. Then…

“If you so allow, Haku-san will take over the job.” (Haku)

I show her a small sign that I have no intention of pulling back here.

“My my, I see now that the guest doesn’t want to pull back even after all I said. If you are going to be taking over, I will withdraw~.” (Eris)

Eris-chan, who was poking the young man with a short staff, disappeared like the wind.

Oh my, have I put her a bit on guard here?

She was about to use mind magic there, so I have to show a bit of a dangerous mood or that kind of girl would immediately activate the spell.

“Now then, young man, let’s do this over.” (Haku)

“??”

“Heya there, is this your first time in Tsige? If it is okay with you, I -Haku-san- will be your guide.” (Haku)

“Aah, uhm…”

“First, names!” (Haku)

“?!”

“I am Haku Mokuren. A dancer that arrived here recently. That’s all!” (Haku)

I introduced myself first.

And then, I wait.

With a smile!

“…I am Dio…no, just Dio. I heard that this city had outstanding conditions, so I was thinking that maybe this is a good time to earn some coin.” (Dio)

“…”

“?”

“…”

“That’s how it is, so I don’t think I will be too much of a source of revenue. I thank you for saving me there.” (Dio)

“I see! No need to worry about the money. Despite my looks, I am actually a dancer that knows many things! And so, what do you want to do, Dio-kun? I spoke to you because I thought you are not a regular person looking to rise up in society though.” (Haku)

I slightly change my nuance of suspecting that he is going to cause something, and give him a truthful reply.

I wouldn’t hesitate to mix one or two lies if I am at my wit’s end, but if we can wrap things up in a peaceful manner, I will of course take that option.

Even if it is hard to detect or not, a lie is still a lie.

If found out, you will lose the trust of the other party.

Getting trust back is astonishingly difficult.

If possible, I would like to wrap things up without losing any trust.

“…I came from Aion after all. It had a war with this place, right? That’s why I am probably slightly nervous. I didn’t intend to show it though. How pathetic of me.” (Dio)

“I see, I see. Then…your first request would be the Adventurer Guild and a cheap inn with cheap meals, right?” (Haku)

“! …Yeah, you might be right. I was honestly overwhelmed the moment I entered the city and was lost for a moment there. I want to go to the Adventurer Guild. Please tell me about the cheap meals and cheap inns as well if it is okay with you.” (Dio)