TWEM Vol. 1 Chapter 10

Chapter 10  –  Finne

Since I had to wait one more day to retrieve my new card, I joined Barnar and the others walking around town the next morning.

Vaana was famous for its cuisine, so we unanimously agreed that it would be a waste not to go sample the local delicacies.

Our first destination was a recommendation by Bacchus, the town’s central square.

“It’s even larger than expected.”

“So large.”

“Large indeed.”

Barnar and his two comrades were so overwhelmed their comments were pretty much the same.

The central square seemed as large as two soccer fields, more or less. In the center there was a large fountain too.

Street stalls of various shapes and sizes were lined up along the outer edges of the square. There were stalls between the fountain and the outer stalls too, as well as tables for people to eat, so it was rather chaotic.

The square was crowded with locals, merchants and tourists, making it look like a festival was going on.

“Adventurers, look here! Fresh out of the oven! Have a taste, it’s really good!”

We were looking around the stalls and a middle-aged man called out to us.

“What’s that?”

“This is Mouw meat, my man! Top grade stuff!”

The man then handed me meat on a skewer.

Mouw? That sure sounds like beef.

It smells pretty good, so I might as well try…was what I was thinking, but Barnar and the others had already handed the man large bronze coins and started munching on the skewers.

“You guys are fast!!”

After poking fun at their eagerness, I paid a large bronze coin myself to get my meat skewer.

“Here you go!”

We all devoured our skewers on the spot.

“So good!!”

It really tasted like beef, after all.

We would have gladly gone for one more skewer, but since there were lots of other kinds of food available, we ultimately walked away from the stall.

We walked around the square for a while, tasting all sorts of delicious treats.

Suddenly, the quarrelling voices of a young girl and a man reached our ears.

“Please stop it!”

“Don’t say that, just come with me just a little bit, come on.”

I looked in the voices’ direction and found a hooded girl being pestered by four men, probably adventurers.

They weren’t using force on her at the moment, but it looked like they wouldn’t leave her alone.

It was sickening to watch, so I couldn’t help but get in between the hooded girl and the four men.

“Who the hell are you!?”

One of the four men, probably the leader of the group, reacted with clear irritation to my appearance.

I was about to introduce myself, when— 

“Hey Haruto! We’re going ahead!”

“He’s always getting involved in trouble, isn’t he…oh? Look, that stand’s meat looks so good!”

“What!? Haruto! We’re going there next, catch up quick!”

I expected Barnar and the others to help me stop the four men’s unwanted advances, but they ditched me again instead.

“Huh!? Wait!! I want to eat meat too!!”

So I shouted to Barnar and the others as they left, a gesture that the four men didn’t seem to appreciate very much.

“You’re ignoring us now!? You better not underestimate C rankers!!”

The leader, livid with rage, raised his fists at me, and his comrades followed suit.

All four men attacked me at the same time, while the people around us ran away screaming.

“Watch out!”

The girl’s shout reached my ears as I easily dodged the four men’s attacks.

“H-he dodged?”

“Yeah, but any random villager could. Are you guys really rank C? Makes me ashamed to be an adventurer like you.”

I just said what I was thinking, but I ended up enraging them even more.

“Damn you, cheeky brat…!!”

The four men swung their fists again, hitting nothing but air.

After about 10 minutes of such exchanges, they finally gave up.

“Haah…haah…why can’t we…even scratch him…? Are you really…just an adventurer…?”

“I am, look.”

I took out the card in my pocket and showed it to the leader.

“What…? Rank B…?”

“I won’t be for long, though.”

“Huh? What do you…?”

The leader continued, but I activated Intimidation and interrupted him.

“What does have to do with you? Get lost already. You bring shame to adventurers everywhere.”

The four men then forced their shaking legs to move and ran off.

Without even managing to say anything to me as they did…

I sighed as I watched them go, then heard the hooded girl whisper something, in a rather perplexed tone.

“He dodged their attacks like nothing, and even sent them running like that…”

Her tone also contained surprise and respect, so it was honestly pretty nice to hear.

“Are you alright?”

The girl responded by bowing her head.

“Y-yes, thank you very much for helping me. If that is okay with you, please let me offer you something in return.”

Hmm, I honestly wanted to go eat meat, but…

I told the girl that I didn’t need anything in return, but she insisted so much that I agreed to go with her for a bit.

Following the girl’s lead, I entered a cafe near the square.

It’s packed with couples…feels pretty awkward…

So I thought as I looked around, then the girl removed her hood and introduced herself.

“My name is Finne, I am an adventurer. Thank you so much for helping me back there.”

The girl bowed slightly, and when she raised her head again I felt my heart skip a beat.

Fair skin that seemed almost transparent, silver hair, beautifully clear eyes the color of the sky, lovely features.

“……..”

“Ehm, is anything the matter?”

Charmed by her beauty, I was rendered speechless, so Finne looked at me with wonder.

“Ah, no, nothing, nothing at all, ma’am!”

“M-ma’am!?”

“Ah, sorry, forget it.”

“I-is that so…”

Gods in heaven, I never saw a girl so pretty…

I hurriedly introduced myself to Finne.

“My name’s Haruto, I’m an adventurer. Don’t worry about what happened in the square. If a girl is in trouble, it’s natural to help, right? I’m glad I could protect a girl as cute as you.”

“Is it really natural? Most people pretend not to notice, I think…”

When I called her “cute”, Finne blushed a little and started fidgeting.

Aww…! So cute…! Is she an angel or what!?

“So Ms. Finne, you’re an adventurer too? May I ask what rank you are?”

“Just call me Finne, please. My rank is C…sir Haruto, you said that yours was…”

“OK Finne, no need to use sir with me either. My rank is B, as I showed them earlier. Only until today, though.”

“I’m sorry, it feels too shameful not to…let me call you sir Haruto.”

Finne smiled while she said this, then she looked slightly puzzled.

“I meant to ask, but…what do you mean by “only until today”?”

“Oh, that.”

I told Finne that I was going to receive my rank A card the next day.

“Eh!? You will be promoted to rank A tomorrow!?”

Finne was so surprised that she couldn’t help but raise her voice, so she attracted the attention of the whole cafe.

“Finne, be more quiet.”

I told her while holding my index finger in front of my mouth. Finne looked around a bit, then went completely red until the tip of her ears and looked down.

What a cute little thing…!!

“Aah, s-sorry…”

“Don’t worry.”

Since we got to know each other and all, we talked about various things.

Eventually, we reached the topics of what magic we could use.

“I can use water magic and ice magic.”

“So you can use two elements, Finne. That’s pretty amazing.”

A rank C adventurer with two magic elements at their disposal was likely to have a bright future ahead.

“Oh? You don’t seem very surprised, though.”

“Well, my situation is kind of similar, actually.”

“I see! I rarely ever met other multiple element wielders, so I feel real affinity with you!”

Ooh, that’s very nice.

In terms of wielding multiple elements, the “Master of Magic Arts” title I had was apparently given to those who gained mastery of all nine elements – fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, ice, darkness, light, recovery – and raised each one’s skill level to 10…I wonder if anyone else ever attained this title?

~

After talking a bit more, we eventually parted ways.

To prevent Finne from being harassed again, I accompanied her to the inn she was staying at, which was close to the central square.

“Thank you very much for today. I had a lot of fun.”

“Same here, see you again.”

“Yes, may we meet again.”

I shook hands with Finne and went back to the central square.

Again, I quickly found Barnar and the others, so I activated Conceal Presence and Stealth and snuck up to them.

“Haruto sure is late…this is the third stall we visit after splitting up…”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“…he’s going to appear out of the blue like yesterday, isn’t he…”

Oorde’s words caused all three to turn around to look.

I was still invisible, though.

“Phew…hey Oorde, don’t scare us like that.”

After Barnar spoke, they all looked in front again — to find me sitting there.

“What are you eating after ditching me again, boys?”

“GWAAAAHHHH!!!”

My sudden appearance shocked about as much as the previous day.

“W-w-w-w-when did you!? W-we simply went around gathering information about delicious food to report to you, we absolutely are not relishing in the local specialties by ourselves…no sir!”

“Y-yes, that’s exactly right! Sir!”

“W-we found all sorts of delicious food! Sir!”

Really now…?

“Actually, there is one thing I haven’t told you three yet…I have the power to see through lies.”

All thanks to God Eye.

As soon as I said it, the three adventurers started sweating profusely.

Barnar then asked a probing question.

“I-is that really true?”

“Yes, of course it is.”

I replied in a completely serious tone and all three swiftly prostrated on the ground. Their coordination was really impressive.

“We are terribly sorry!!!”

They were so loud the surrounding people’s attention was focused on us again.

The people around us probably thought they were whispering, but I could hear everything they said…wait, who just called me a mugger?

“Haah…raise your heads already, everyone’s looking.”

I sighed and told Barnar and the others to get up.

You’re making me look like a villain here…

The three raised their heads a little, peeking at me. I could hear a faint “will you forgive us…?”

“Sure, sure, let’s go eat already. You guys are paying, of course.”

“…so this is how it ends…”

“Naturally. It’s important to know when to give up and accept reality.”

Barnar, Norkas and Oorde’s shoulders dropped as they nodded.

I walked away without waiting for them and they hurried after me.

We then ate at various food stalls they guided me to, visited some famous local spots, and before we realized it the sun already set.

After enjoying the town of Vaana in this way, we returned to our lodging.

I ate dinner with Barnar’s party, chatting and joking; it was late night when we went back to our rooms.

I lay down on my bed and started thinking about what to do next.

“Tomorrow, after I get my rank A card, I might head towards the kingdom of Perdis…I need a lot more power to take my revenge on this country, besides the heroes are probably still in the capital. So I guess it’s goodbye with Barnar and the others tomorrow…though I feel like I’ll meet them and Bacchus again somewhere.”

After thinking out loud, I had a sudden idea to check my status.

I haven’t checked it at all lately…

NAME                  :	Yuki Haruto
LEVEL                 :	120
AGE                     :	17
SPECIES             :	Human (Otherworlder)
UNIQUE SKILLS :	All Creation God Eye Max Skill Growth Experience Boost
SKILLS                :	Martial Unification Magic Unification Language Comprehension Parallel Thought Accelerated Thought
TITLES                :	Human (Otherworlder) Unique Skill User Master of Martial Arts Master of Magic Arts
<Martial Unification>	Sword Arts Spear Arts Shield Arts Bow Arts Axe Arts Barehanded Arts Ground Shrink Detect Presence Intimidation Harden Hold Back Night Vision Roar Leap Accelerate Quickdraw Arts Conceal Presence
<Magic Unification>	Fire Magic Water Magic Wind Magic Earth Magic Lightning Magic Ice Magic Light Magic Darkness Magic Recovery Magic Time-Space Magic No Chant Physical Boost Disguise Enchant Mental Fortitude Magic Power Manipulation Molding Barrier Magic Stealth

Ooh, my level went up a lot, after all…but damn, I didn’t know I had so many skills already.

I have to keep this up so I don’t lose to my “Hero” classmates…

~

The following morning, I headed to the adventurers’ guild by myself, in order to pick up my new rank A card.

I mentioned my business at the reception counter and was quickly led to the guildmaster office. 

Ballard was already sitting at his desk in the office.

“I was waiting for you, Haruto. This is your new card…as before, please shed a few drops of blood here. Oh, and let me take your old card off you.”

The card Ballard gave me was a shiny gold color. The rank B card was silver, so I felt like I stepped up in the luxury department.

I let a few drops of blood on the card, as I was told, to lock its ownership, then gave Ballard the old card.

“Thank you. About the payment for the two beasts…it’s eight white gold coins. It’s too large of a sum to just give it to you in cash, so I had it deposited in an account you can use in any guild throughout the land. Withdraw the money from it whenever you need it.”

White gold coins were the unit superior to large gold coins, so the payment was… eight million gould!?

“Whoa whoa!? Isn’t that too much!?”

“On the contrary, it isn’t much at all. The standard payment would be more than one black gold coin.”

“They’re worth so much money…?”

“You didn’t even know the worth of a disaster class…?”

Ballard sighed helplessly at my reaction, but it was inevitable, I thought.

“Anyway, I have my card and the money, so I’m off.”

I was ready to leave the office and be on my way, but I was stopped in my tracks.

“Wait a moment.”

“What is it?”

“Can you tell me what you plan to do now?”

I answered Ballard by saying that I planned to cross to the kingdom of Perdis, as I had decided the night before.

“…I see. But if you go to Perdis’ royal capital, you better watch out from the guild there.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, you’ll see when you get there.”

Why do you make me worry if you won’t tell me what to worry about!?

I glared a little at Ballard, but he just smiled and pretended not to notice.

I gave up on pressing him for information and left the office, then headed to the reception counter to ask about any escort requests to the Perdis kingdom.

“Please wait a moment — yes, a group set to depart for the Perdis royal capital in the afternoon has requested an escort. What will you do?”

Pretty sudden, but it worked just fine for me.

“I’ll take it.”

I handed over my adventurer card and the receptionist took care of the necessary procedures.

“…here you are, procedures complete. It takes about six days from here to the Perdis kingdom. May good fortune aid you in battle.”

The receptionist gave me back my card with such words, then I left the guild.

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