h? Since it was later than what I planned due to my shopping, I need to search for the medicinal herbs as quickly as I can. Let’s go with a mindset, if there are monsters, then defeat them.I looked at the map and the gra.s.slands seemed to be a bit closer, so let’s gather the Cat’s Flower Stalk Gra.s.s first!I put on my cloak; it’s been awhile since the last time I activated 『Search』,『Hide』, and 『Protection Membrane』, so after activating them, then I walked at a brisk pace. If I went too slowly, then I wouldn’t be able to return back to the inn on time. Since after the Evening Bell rings, the city gate will be closed.I looked at my surroundings for a moment, and after I ascertained that there were no people, I ran with 『Enhance Physical Ability』 and 『Acceleration』.Yup. This is scary. It’s alright for now since there were no obstacles, but if I’m inside a forest, then I will surely hit a tree. Although my kinetic vision had also been increased by the 『Enhance Physical Ability』 and since I also put on『Protection Membrane』, even if I hit a tree, I will be more or less uninjured. Even so, to be moving at such fast pace like this made the originally no-physical-prowess me shiver from fear.Since it was too scary, in the end, I stopped running after about 10 minutes had pa.s.sed. Even so, I think that I had traveled quite far.After that point, I continued walking at a brisk pace. I hadn’t gotten used to walking for such a long period of time, but I think that my tiredness was less than when I was walking in the Azure Forest. After I thought that I had walked for one hour, I could see the large rock landmark and the carriage road that forked to the north alongside it just like in the map.Thank goodness. If I still travel at high speedsm then I might have missed it. Since this was my first trip, I need to be careful, you see. Next time, I won’t be lost since I have Mapping after all.Then, I soon reached the gra.s.slands.Beside the carriage road, at a place that have a good view of the surrounding, I looked around to confirm that there was no one there and then tried to use teleport magic, that I couldn’t use in the city, once more time. Since there was a possibility that I couldn’t teleport due to barriers that were placed in the city.…… As expected, I still can’t use it.  Perhaps it was just like what was written in the book, s.p.a.ce Attribute could only be used by some of the high ranked Demon Races.Can’t be helped, let’s think about the teleport again next time.The sun had reached overhead, so soon it would be time for lunch. I decided to sit here for a while and eat my lunch.While still placing 『Search』, 『Hide』, and 『Protection Membrane』 in effect, I ascertained that there was nothing inside the search range. Just for caution’s sake, I took out the bento from Item Box while pretending to take it out from my bag. The bento that was made this morning was still puffing hot since it had been placed inside the Item Box.It was Kukru! Kukru! 『Gaia’s Garden』’s version of a Hot Dog. Delicious! If I knew this, then I would have bought a Kecha too. Next time, I will buy it. Drinking Kecha outdoors would surely be amazingly delicious. While drinking black tea, that the Inn had brewed, from the water flask, I bit into the Kukru.While I was in the middle of my meal, the alarm rang. I quickly threw the food into Item Box and then looked around the surroundings ―― There they are! ———————————————————————————————————Poison CatHP                              ：377／377MP                              ：78／78Feline-type Monster.Its bite is poisonous.——————————————————————————————————— It’s Poison Cat. There are already three red markers approaching towards my direction.I’m sorry. But, I still want to live, so… 『Fireball.』 Three fireb.a.l.l.s flew towards the three Poison Cats. Except for a roar, the three cats burned into nothingness. There ought to be no corpses remaining. I didn’t want to see it, but I took a peek at the place where the monsters were.―― There it is. A translucent tinted elliptical stone shaped like a turtle’s scale. So this is the core. I was reluctant to touch it even for a while, but I pretended to put it into the Gathering Box while putting it into Item Box.Yup, it’s not as hard this time than it was in the Azure Forest. Although I wondered what became of people who don’t feel conflicted over killing living beings, even so, even if it was hard and cruel, I will kill. Even if I kill with feelings of guilt or enjoyment , the results will be the same. Let’s not think too much about it. I want to live.There were leftovers from the lunch bento, but as one would expect, I didn’t have any appet.i.te to eat it anymore. After I calm down on the way back, let’s finish it somewhere else. Since I put it into Item Box, it wouldn’t be spoiled after all.Now then, Cat’s Flower Stalk Gra.s.s, right. I opened the book that I bought from the Adventurer Guild. Cat’s Flower Stalk Gra.s.s seems to be used in some kind of condiment. In the picture, its shape looks like that of a green foxtail, so that’s why they call it Cat’s Flower Stalk.[1] Yeah, this should be easy to spot.Even though even I had said that, the gra.s.slands are huge. Searching for the Cat’s Flower Stalk Gra.s.s from one spot to another took more time that I had thought. The required number was 10.I encountered Poison Cats several times while searching for the gra.s.s. Search was convenient. Without being fl.u.s.tered, they burned by my flames, and then I retrieved the core each time. When I finished gathering 10 Cat’s Flower Stalk Gra.s.s, I ended up with 8 Poison Cat’s Cores. Since the completion number was 5, I had splendidly cleared this quest, too.Alright! But since this is the first time in life that I had ever searched for herbs, it took quite a lot of time. The day had become considerably late. Since I needed to walk to get back to the city, I need to move faster or else I won’t get there before the evening bell rings.Just when I was thinking about returning back, Search discovered several red markers and a yellow marker behind them.I put myself on guard and looked at the direction where numerous Killer Bees came flying. Behind them, there was a man of the human race. Or rather than manotoko, perhaps it’s more correct to say, a youthShounen? The youth was moving and battling the Killer Bees that were swarming him. So what should I do? Help him?The youth was actively battling them. Hmm, but I don’t know if he is struggling or putting up a good fight.He defeated them one by one and I couldn’t see any wounds on him, the sword that he was using to pursuing and to cut the bees with looked a bit too small.The 『Low Rank Monster and Herbs Ill.u.s.trated Reference』 mentioned that the Killer Bee’s poison stings hard and causes paralysis. So perhaps he might be alright. 「Eei! Just, stop moving around! Sorya!」[2](k.u.mon) I heard him shouting out many kinds of yells. ———————————————————————————————————— k.u.mon[3] —HP                              ：483／551MP                              ：198／246Race                           ：HumanAge                             ：17Job                              ：SwordsmanAttribute                     ：【Fire】Skill                            ：□□□t.i.tle                             ：□□□Current Status          ：□□□——————————————————————————————————— It’s a swordsman. Perhaps he was an adventurer who was gathering materials. Then perhaps he would say, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience” or “Do you intend to steal my kill?” 「Hey.」(k.u.mon) What should I do? The Killer Bees and the youth are gradually approaching me. At this rate, I would get involved. Would it be better if I flee from this place? 「Hey.」(k.u.mon) I-is he calling out to me? Since he kept yelling, 「Sorya!」 or 「Ei!」 , I didn’t notice when he yelled 「Hey」 at me. 「Are you calling me?」(Reene)「No, not, calling. You are obstructing me. Don’t just, stand at a place, like this. Sorya!」(k.u.mon) While his eyes observing and swinging his sword at the Killer Bees, he was addressing me. 「Ah, sorry. Should I help you? Since you seems troubled.」(Reene)「Help? You, an adventurer?」(k.u.mon) At that time 2, no, 3 Killer Bees changed their target to me and approached. 『Freeze.』 Usually I will add 『Shatter』, but in order to leave the stingers intact, I’m only using Freeze. The Killer Bees that turned into ice clumps, then fell from the sky. I could just burn them, but then the stingers would get burned, too. Since this person might desire the materials, he might get angry if his kills ended up being burnt up by someone. I don’t want to cause a fight. 「Oh? You are a magician?」(k.u.mon)「Un.」(Reene)「Then finish these ones, too. It took too much time for me to finish them off.」(k.u.mon)「Can I? Then I will. 『Freeze』」(Reene) Although I had an instinctive repulsion towards insects and wouldn’t get close to them, I felt less guilt about killing them than I did from the cats, rabbits, or dogs, so it felt easier to finish them.The Killer Bees dropped from the sky like rain and the buzzing flying sound in the surroundings suddenly disappeared and became silent once again. 「A Magician is amazing. To finish these kinds of flying enemies without taking too much time…… Ah! I ended up moving so far away. Geez, just how much time will be wasted to retrieve all the stingers?」 The young swordsman, looked at the road where he came from and scratched his head. There should be Killer Bees corpses scattered along the way, so it would take a lot of time to retrieve them all.Time? …… AH! TIME! If I continue on like this, then I won’t be in time for the evening bell. 「Then, I leave first, kay?」(Reene) I called out to him and then quickly ran away. I needed to run until I couldn’t see the youth anymore before I can activate 『Acceleration』.I could hear him yelling behind me, but I am in a hurry. Sorry, young man. Even if I stayed, I still couldn’t help with retrieving the stingers.I ran until the yellow marker had disappeared and then ran with『Acceleration』 activated. Even though I said that 『Acceleration』 is scary, I am a hundredfold more scared to be shut out outside the city when the gate closes after the evening bell. After all, I don’t have any outdoor sleeping preparations. I continued using 『Acceleration』 until I was close to the city. I felt relieved when I could see Coltea’s walls.There seems to be some time remaining before the evening bell. Thank goodness.Although I thought that it would be better to go to the Adventurer Guild and deliver the materials, I was a bit tired. Mosy of my exhausting came from being terrified from using  『Acceleration』. I unexpectedly strained my strength by using it.Moreover, I needed to return to the Inn before the bell, or else Agnes will be worried. Since today is my first day as an adventurer, you see. She had said multiple times, 「Be careful」, and 「Come back as soon as possible」.That’s why I immediately boarded the stagecoach and headed towards the Middle District, and got off in the East Area and went to the Inn.When I returned to the Inn with a smile like that of a daughter who got 100 on her test, Agnes hugged me. ✦✧✦✧✦ Perhaps it was because I had unexpectedly strained my strength while using『Acceleration』, my whole body was aching the next day. Or perhaps the cause was because I was running with my own power to a place that couldn’t be seen by the young swordsman. Uuu, after all I am nonathletic. How I wished for an athletic body, were my prayers while casting 『Heal』 on myself.What to do for today? Let’s put going to the Adventure Guild off for later, how about going to the river in the south? To gather some Macacari Leaves.Ah, but yesterday’s travel took too much time, right? Is there any way to travel more easily and quickly? I still can’t ride a horse after all.Like flying in the air. Flying. Hmm. Then, a magic carpet?Since a real carpet is heavy and would surely be expensive, then let’s buy a carpet-look-a-like mede from a lighter fabric and turn it into a magic carpet. Since if I can’t think of it as a carpet, then it wouldn’t become a magic carpet.Then, I need to search for a place outside the town that was not visited by other people and then practice flying.Although I might be scared if the speed is too fast like 『Acceleration』. I also want to check to see if I could do Mapping on it, too. It would be bad if it couldn’t display the road while I traveled on the carpet. Also, whether or not Search could display things in the sky and on the surface of the ground. Then, whether or not I could fight flying monsters like birds or Killer Bees while still flying.If I don’t test these points properly, then it might be dangerous if I traveled far with it.After I concluded my thoughts and ate the breakfast meal, I asked the Inn to prepare a bento for me and then went out.Of course, for today, too, I was in my 『Adventure’s Looks』. ✦✧✦✧✦ There was a wide s.p.a.ce a slight distance away from the road that led out from the city. Since there was numerous trees standing near it, it was hard to observe this place from the carriage road.Since if I flew, someone might discover me at a distance further away from my Search’s range. Hence, I chose a place that wouldn’t be within the other’s sight as much as possible.While pretending to take it out from the bag, I took out the cloth that I found after going around the stores in the Middle District not long ago.It was a cloth that looked like a tapestry with profound embroidery that felt like a Persian carpet and had yellow ta.s.sels on its edges. This seemed to be something used to decorate atop the fireplace, but it looked very carpet-ish. It was 5 Silvers, but it’s something that I want to fly in the sky with!I placed the usual enhancement magic on it.Then, so I wouldn’t be injured when I struck something when practicing flying or if I fell from the carpet and hit the ground, I placed layers of strong『Protection Membrane』 over myself once more just for caution’s sake. I prayed that I wouldn’t fall down.Alright! Then, let’s do this! 『Magic Carpet. Levitate.』 Whoa! It’s floating! The carpet slowly floating up. This made me shout「YES!」.The carpet completely stayed level to the ground as it floated up. I thought about increasing the alt.i.tude a bit more, and it slowly floated upwards. I didn’t feel any jolt at all, so it was comfortable to sit on.While checking the Mapping, I tried to move around. When I went to the forest depths, the Mapping also moved. I tried to move around with more speed, but perhaps since there were no obstacles, I didn’t feel scared like when I was moving on the road with 『Acceleration』.[4]Since I could use other magic while manipulating the carpet, even if an enemy appears, it will be fine.Flying in the sky felt nice. Since there was no jolting, my b.u.t.tocks didn’t feel hurt at all. I also didn’t feel motion sickness.Amazing. Magic carpet is amazing. Since I was so happy, I cutely nicknamed the magic carpet as 「Tan-kun」. It’s Tan from magicmahou carpetjyuutan. It is too simple? Wellm easy is good, and it’s easier to call it 「Tan-kun」 than 「Magic carpet-kun」.I had gotten used to flying and the sky was also nice, so I felt really good, but then suddenly the tension rose. Just as I thought about flying up as I said「Iei!」[5], suddenly 『Search』 rang its alarm. 「Ugyaaa!」(Reene) The event happened so fast.I, who was changing my course to climb up, clashed with a yellow marker that came towards me with an incredible speed from the sky.With a great impact and a loud sound, I fell down from the carpet and then hit the ground.Fortunately, it wasn’t that high and thanks to the strong Protection Membrane, I was mostly fine. However, perhaps due to my breath stopping from the impact on the ground, I pa.s.sed out for awhile.Then, I opened my eyes.I didn’t seemed to be injured even when the impact was tremendous. Though my HP had decreased by half and my body felt ached all over. Even though I was in a crash that was strong and even fell to the ground, I ended up only being injured this much thanks to the strong Protection Membrane.I used 『Heal』 to treat myself and then looked at my surroundings.Just 10 meters in front of me, there was a small black clump that had fallen down to the ground.Although I first thought it was a bird, it actually seemed to be a mammal instead. At a distance, it looked like a dog. But since it was flying in the sky, it wasn’t really a dog, right? Perhaps it was a monster.The black clump didn’t move even a twitch. I thought that perhaps it had died, but the yellow marker remained as it was, so that means it was still alive.What should I do? It might be seriously injured because of me. Because it was a yellow marker, it didn’t have any intention of attacking me.Although I had noticed the yellow marker from 『Search』 approaching me, since it was too fast, the nonathletic me couldn’t evade it. ————————————————————————————————————□□□—HP                              ：456／1182MP                              ：577／684Race                           ：Winged DogAge                             ：15Job                              ：□□□Attribute                     ：【Dark】Skill                            ：□□□t.i.tle                             ：□□□Current Status          ：□□□——————————————————————————————————— Ah, I could see its status. It was 4 digits. Perhaps I could see up to 4 digits. Since I was 3 digits, perhaps I couldn’t see it was 2 digits higher? Or matbe I couldn’t see it if it was above a certain fold of my stats? Or perhaps since its MP was only 3 digits? Its race is winged dog. A monster?If it was a monster, then it would be better for me to defeat it. It should be easy to kill it right now.But, it wansn’t attacking me, or rather, it was my fault this time. So to kill it is……I timidly approached it.The clump really shad the appearance of a puppy. Its fur was glossy black. On its shoulders, there were small wings. The small angel-like wings were also black.It didn’t seem to be injured badly. But because of the great impact, its HP had decreased, but not to the point where it was dying.Seeing its eyes-closed and its motionless small figure, made guilt swell up inside my heart.Perhaps, perhaps after I healed it and it attacked me, what would I do? Its body was small, but its HP was higher than mine and its MP was higher than any other monsters that I had defeated up until now. If it began to act hostile, it might be so strong that I couldn’t best it in a battle. But, I couldn’t attack it no matter what. 『Scan』 Its entire body was blue. It seemed that there were no injuries at all. Then that means that it will be alright to just use 『Heal』.At that time, perhaps because it detected my mana, the puppy opened its eyes and looked at me. It jumped 2-3 meters behind in surprise and put itself on guard menacingly.
 「I’m sorry for injuring you. You must be surprised, right? Do you feel any pain?」 Should I run, perhaps it would attack me from anger, or so I thought, but the puppy only stared closely at me.It was like a Chow Chow puppy, or rather it resembled a Komainu or Shisa.[6]Perhaps because its physical appearance strongly resembled a toy dog, it looked extremely cute. Even a beast’s pup will look cute.Its intellectual black eyes that didn’t match its cute appearance were looking straight at me. 「It’s my fault. I am truly sorry. Etto. Winged Dog, -kun?」(Reene) Since its name in the status was 「□□□」, perhaps it didn’t have a name yet, or maybe I just couldn’t read it.Since I didn’t know what to call it, for now, I tried to call it with the name of its race. Perhaps because of my words, the puppy tilted its head.Cu-cute‼ What to do. It’s so cute. 「Do you understand my words?」(Reene) The puppy-kun didn’t seem to be able to speak, but it seems that it properly understood my words. It changed from on an guard-like posture into a “Sit!” pose.Ho-how cute!! But, it’s not really a “Sit!” position, since it was just sitting and facing my direction. It’s not a pet dog after all, so this couldn’t be considered a “Sit” position. But……. So cute. Darn, the cuteness is overwhelming!Wait-wait! Even if it’s cute, it’s still a 4-digits monster. Its race is Winged Dog too. 「Do you understand my words?」(Reene) The puppy had extremely calm and intellectual eyes 「Etto. If it is a yes, then move your head up and down. If it is a no, then move your head left and right. Do you understand?」(Reene) I tried to ask it and then it nodded. Amazing. We can understand each other. 「Are you a monster?」(Reene) Immediately, its eyes indicated that it was disgusted. It appears that it hates monsters. 「Then, a Magic Race?」(Reene) It nodded and puffed its chest up. I see. So it’s a Magic Race. “Eh? Why do you believe it just like that? “ was what I thought. But you see, I had never heard a monster that could reach mutual understanding with humans.Furthermore, I believed this child. Yeah, there was no guarantee. But for some reason I believed in it.To make matters worse, it’s so darn cute that I couldn’t help it. I thought that it might be a 『Charm』-type magic, but since I had Protection Membrane with me, there shouldn’t be a problem. So perhaps this was my gut intuition instead.It won’t be a problem to heal it if it’s a capable-of-reasoning Magic Race. Perhaps it could be considered an act of mercy to help another person, or rather, a dog in this case. Even Gangr-san had said that there are Magic Races with animal forms, which is not the same with monsters.Surely it will be alright. When I thought that it would be alright to help this pseudo-komainu with clever-looking eyes, I felt more at ease.After all, if it was a monster, then it might trouble other people because I had thoughtlessly helped it. 「I will treat your injuries, okay? About the repayment…… Well, if you are healed, then can you swear to not attack people?」(Reene) The puppy-kun nodded in a dignified manner.For some reason, its gesture was awfully proud-looking. It was similar to the gesture of the n.o.bles that came to the Clinic.…… n.o.ble? 「I-is this…… Perhaps a Meeting Event?」(Reene) Because I suddenly yelled, the puppy-kun looked up at me with a dumbfounded face. 「It’s that, right? You are actually a Magic Race that can a.s.sume a human shape. Surely after I have healed you, then you will transform into a transcendentally handsome man. Then you will say 『This is a fateful meeting, you are worthy to become my wife.』 or similar words, it will be a “kyaa!” situation, and then become “aaa~”…… W-what? What’s with that? Those eyes are staring at me as if looking at a disappointing child……  How can a komainu’s face make such a disappointed expression like that?」[7](Reene) This kind of meeting is the usual pattern of a meeting with a transcendentally handsome man, or so was what I said, but I might have read too many fantasy novels? No-no-no, it’s not like I would really believe in it, but I only wanted to say it for a while. Don’t make such a 「good grief」 kind of face.That’s the same face of the Saint Bernard that I had when I was still a child. It came to my house when I had just entered elementary school and died from old age on the spring when I started college. The Saint Bernard, Noel. We weer close friends, and I had thought Noel as my lackey, but Noel thought me as its imouto-like protégée. When Noel had became an adult and I asked it to play like we did in childhood, it would look at me with a face as if saying, you will always act like a child. The same face that the puppy-kun made.Ah, Noel. 『Noel.』 I unconsciously called out its name.Then suddenly, a large mana was released from puppy-kun.“Whoa, this is the transcendentally handsome guy pattern after all”, as I thought this line, the pressure from the wind (or mana?) was unendurable so I closed my eyes. The protection membrane that protected my body was shaking and rattling.When the wind pressure finally subsided, I slowly opened my eyes and ―― 「…… A~re?」(Reene) There weren’t any transcendentally handsome guys, just the usual normal puppy-kun sitting there. There wasn’t any change? Or so I had thought, but its name in the status had became 「Noel」. ――Noel――Name―― The puppy-kun’s thoughts seems to be immediately heard in my mind. Name? ――Noel――Name――Happy――  Name. Ah, the name! Had I inadvertently given a name to it? I am sorry. ――You――Name―― My name? My name is Reene. Wait, a~re? Even though I was not speak out loud, how could I converse with it? ――Understood――Reene―― It seemed that our minds were connected to each other somehow.The words that I wanted to say weer heard by Noel.Although Noel couldn’t say any words, its feelings were properly conveyed to me. 「Name is really an important thing, right? Since it’s the cliché in another world. Sorry. I have inadvertently given you a name, will this not be a problem?」(Reene) Since what had arrived in my mind were only single words, images, and Noel’s feelings, by joining those three together, I could understand Noel’s situation to some degree.Noel is still a child and lacks a name, so he was searching for someone to give him a a name.A Winged Dog that had been given a name by a Dark attribute Magic Race’s『Master』, could exhibit their true power. Noel had been searching for someone who gave a name that he liked for a long time. He had searched in the Magic Realm, but since he didn’t discover anyone, he was wandering to many places, and in one of such trip, he entered the human country.Thenn since he liked the name that I had called out, Noel became 『Noel』. 「What happens after I gave you a name?」(Reene) ――Reene――Together―― So you mean we will be together? But you are a Magic Race, right? Will it be fine if you don’t return to the Magic Race’s Country? ――Together――Always―― Oh my, I am tremendously happy. What to do with this? I got a mofumofu that my heart’s desired. Can we become a friend? ――Reene――Friend?―― Un! Friend.Can I mofumofu a bit? When I said this, he transmitted a delightful thought and then I softly hugged him up. While healing him with 『Heal』, I gently hugged him. Noel’s bushy tails were wagging left and light. 「So cute, Noel is tremendously cute. Let’s get along from now on.」(Reene) Although the only one who was extremely ecstatic from this meeting was me.Then, when I calmed down and was able to reason again, I thought, what should I do? What happen to Noel if I returned to j.a.pan?I absolutely will return to j.a.pan. I don’t know when and I don’t really know if I can actually go back, but if I can return, then I will absolutely do it. At that time, I mustn’t bring the Magic Race Noel back with me. That’s why we might be together only for a short time.Even so, even though it’s really important, I ended up giving him a name.I ended up doing something that can’t be undone to Noel. 「I am sorry. Even though I can’t always be with you, I have ended up giving you a name. I am really sorry.」(Reene) Noel was looking at my troubled face. Then, he straightened his small back and then pressed the tip of his nose to my chin. ――Reene――Important――Always――Together―― Awww. I’m really sorry. I couldn’t forsake a child this cute. I like Noel very much! I hugged him even closer. 「I understand. Then, let’s get along from now on, although it might be an amazingly short time.」(Reene) ――Reene――Important―― 「Un. Noel is also important to me.」(Reene) Ah, that’s right. Can I stay together with a dog in the Inn? If returned with him, then Agnes might say, 「Throw it away」.[8] Ah, but I want to live together and sleep together. Perhaps, rather than an inn, I should rent a room like an apartment? Can I find one this soon? So I was troubled. ――Neol――Home―― When Noel said this, he jumped from my hand and slowly got down onto the ground.Then…… He disappeared into my shadow.Eh‼ J-just now, a subs.p.a.ce? Eh? s.p.a.ce attribute? Isn’t this a s.p.a.ce attribute magic? Since it create a subs.p.a.ce, then it’s a s.p.a.ce Magic right? ――Reene――Shadow―― From Noel’s explanation, this was a Dark attribute magic. He entered the shadow of a Dark attribute Magic Race that he obeyed. Noel is a Dark attribute Magic Race and I am someone with the Dark attribute, so this was possible.From now on, he will live using my mana as nourishment. The magic that filled my shadow will nurture Noel, so there was no need for me to offer my own mana for him to eat. If I called him, then he would appear.I could properly sense Noel’s existence inside my shadow. Amazing. So this is why he said always together? Ah, but I couldn’t mention this to anyone. If Noel came out from my shadow, then the fact that I had the Dark attribute will be exposed. Aw, the number of my secrets increased again.Then, to all appearances, rather than a Magic Race, Noel was like a monster, right? Although from a distance, he looks like a puppy, but his wings will immediately get found out. If this happens, then the city might be in an uproar.That’s why, I decided to keep this as a secret for this moment. 「Then, should we return? Together. You can come out again when we return to my room.」 Ha! The carpet! I looked around and it had fallen down not far from me. I picked it up and checked its condition, but it seemed that there were no tears and it wasn’t especially dirtied. Thank goodness. For a moment, I thought that my 5 Silvers were wasted.I also picked up the bag that fallen down, too and lightly cleaned it. Then I picked up the rolled up 「Tan-kun」 and pretended to put it inside the bag while storing it in my Item Box.I would have really liked to return back to the Inn and have a mofumofu with Noel. But I need to go to the Adventurer Guild and report the completion of yesterday’s quests. If I go to the Guild right now, then I could return to the Inn before the evening bell.I cheered to myself, 「Alright!」 and returned to the city. ✦✧✦✧✦ I entered the Guild and immediately went to the Quest Completion Counter. I pretended to take the Gathering Box and Monster’s Cores from my back (I took them out from my Item Box). Ten 「Cat’s Flower Stalk Gra.s.ses」 and eight「Poison Cat’s Cores」. Since 5 cores will fulfill the quest, the leftover 3 cores will be for the next time.I received 5 Silvers for the 「Poison Cat’s Core」 and 1 Silver for the 「Cat’s Flower Stalk Gra.s.ses」. Then I asked about my intention to repeat the quest,「Can I repeat this quest?」One day’s work was 6 Silvers. Adventurer was a dangerous occupation, but it paod well. Of course, there wouldn’t be rewards every day and the amount they earned depends on their effort and luck.The usual work of the people in the city paid much more cheaply. The average wage of a citizen in popular occupations like shop employees, seamstresses, or house maids, was 35 to 40 Coppers per day. Since there were 26 workdays in a month, their wages in a month would be about 10 Silvers. It would be spent up just for paying the monthly rent in the 「Red Long Boots Inn」.The people in lower cla.s.ses would even received less than that from their work.Working as a Healer in the Clinic earned me 12 Silvers in a day. Anise-san said that this amount of money was the starting line for a Healer.A Healer that worked in the Castle like Jin-san would obtain more money. The Healer that worked in the Temple will receive even more money.But if I am asked whether or not I want to work in the Castle or the Temple, I will answer, 「Sorry, but not a chance」 . I don’t want to approach anymore people with authority higher than the ones I had already met right now.After all, Adventurer and Healer were occupations with exceptionally high earnings for a commoner.I received the 6 Silvers and just when I had walked outside. 「Hey, you!」 Since I had never talked to any other people in the Adventurer Guild up until now, I was surprised and so I looked in the direction the voice came from. It was the youth I saw yesterday. 「Why did you return so quickly yesterday?」(k.u.mon)「Since, I was in hurry to be on time before the gate is closed.」(Reene)「Well, whatever…… Come with me for a bit.」(k.u.mon) The youth said these words and led me to the table, and then ordered two portions of black tea for us.Was he angry because I defeated the Killer Bee yesterday for some reason? But he had said, 「Finish Them」. If he didn’t want me to, he would have said, “No, thank you”, right?Perhaps he had noticed my worries, as Noel asked 「Alright?」 in worry from my shadow. Maybe Noel was asking this while tilting his head just like what I saw not long ago. While imagining it, my heart became warmer.I’m alright, keep waiting there, ‘kay? 「You are an adventurer, right?」(k.u.mon)「Yes, I am. So?」(Reene)「Then you need to properly collect the materials from the monsters you defeated.」(k.u.mon)「But weren’t those bees your target?」(Reene)「Like I would steal a prey that the other had killed.」(k.u.mon) The youth seemed to be indignant. It’s a bit cute. It was so youth-like.While saying, 「Here」, he placed copper coins that were clinking in front of me. 「It’s your share. 50 Coppers. You defeated 12 bees. One stinger is 20 coppers, but since the one who retrieved them is me, I took a cut as my labor payment. Sorry, but the quest points were taken by me.」(k.u.mon) Ah, I see. He wanted to say that he brought the share of reward for the ones I defeated.But, even if I was there, I wouldn’t retrieve the materials. I felt bad about receiving the money. 「It’s fine. Since I was gathering Poison Cat’s Cores and Cat’s Flower Stalk Gra.s.s.」(Reene)「It’s not, ‘It’s fine’. Since the points ended up with me, I would feel bad if I got the entire money, too.」 But I also wanted to say. At any rate if the Killer Bees attacked me, then I would have burnt them into ashes.…… If I said these, would I be deemed as mocking him? It didn’t seem that the people at the other table were looking at our conversation at this table, but just for caution’s sake, I bent forward and began to talk to him with a low voice. 「You see.」(Reene)「What?」(k.u.mon) The youth, also did the same and replied in a low voice. 「I won’t touch monsters, so I can’t collect the materials.」(Reene)「You won’t touch them, is it a disease? A curse?」(k.u.mon)「I don’t want to touch them.」(Reene)「Haaah?」(k.u.mon) His voice had became loud, so I glared at him and he lowered his voice again. 「You don’t want to touch them. Are you really an adventurer?」(k.u.mon)「I am an adventurer…… But only since 2 days ago.」(Reene)「Wha-」 with such reaction, he briskly scratched his head as if to say.「I understand, I don’t understand.」「Where in the world will you find an adventurer that won’t touch a monster? Geez.」(k.u.mon)「Isn’t there one here?」(Reene)「Then, what did you with the Poison Cats? How could you retrieve the cores if you don’t touch them?」(k.u.mon)「I burnt them to ashes.」(Reene)「Wha-?」(k.u.mon)「Like I say, I burnt them to ashes. After they had been completely incinerated, the core remained. That way I won’t need to touch the Poison Cats.」(Reene) With that as starting point, we talked about many things.The youth introduced himself as 「k.u.mon」, so I also introduced myself as「Reene」. When I called him 「k.u.mon-kun」, he said, 「No need to put the –kun, it feels weird.」, so I will just call him 「k.u.mon」. He is younger than me after all.Last time, after I had left after dealing with the bees, the corpses would be a waste if they was just left as is, so k.u.mon collected everything.「 Did you make it in time for the bell?」 I asked him this and he replied that he returned with a horse. The corpses that he didn’t have enough time to remove the stingers before his return, were put into a bag and then he worked on them after returning to Coltea.Then, since he didn’t know my ident.i.ty, he just went to the guild to report his quest completion.Since the points from completing a quest will increase an adventurers’s rank, it seemed that he was greatly bothered that the points from the monsters that I defeated were given to him. That’s why I said that I didn’t mind the points, so it’s not a problem. I also wanted to reject the money, but since it would cause undue worry to k.u.mon, I gratefully accepted it. The 50 Coppers went to my purse.It seemed that k.u.mon had just become an adventurer not too long ago.I said to him that since there weren’t many F–ranked quests, we might meet again from now on, perhaps, if the circ.u.mstances permit, we could go together, or so we decided.Of course, next time I will collect the points from the monsters I defeated. Then, since I couldn’t retrieve the monster materials, I could ask k.u.mon to retrieve them and then paid him for his services.If I went with k.u.mon, then I wouldn’t be able to use the magic carpet, but since I could ride a horse, I am grateful.If it was k.u.mon, then we could become a good adventurer partnernakamas. ☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽  [1] Green foxtail or Setaria viridis looks like a cat’s lure toy.[2] You can’t be possibly hope for me to translate the battle cry, right?[3] クモンk.u.mon. Can’t think a good European-like name for him… Kmont?[E/N: What about “Konnen”? It’s German.] Hmm, but it didn’t sounds like k.u.mon……[4] Unlike on the ground, we cant gauge our speed properly in the air, since there was no object of reference around our proximity where we could measure relative speed from. This is also the reason why we felt that we go faster inside the city downtown than a highway even when we traveled in the same speed. In the city we could gauge relative speed from shops, pedestrians, or other landmark. While in highway that relatively void of anything, we couldn’t gauge our speed. This is called Optical Flow. [5] A shout like when you are riding a horse.[6] Komainu is j.a.panese guardian dog statues that you can see in temples.Shisa is traditional Okinawan guardian dog statue.[7] It seems that, Reene plays too many otome games…[8] The commonly seen j.a.panese phrase in manga, said by mothers when the children bring back animals.