Protagonist Knows Everything - Chapter 36

Admin Note: Triple chapter today as I forgot to post this week. Don’t forget to read chapter 37 and 38 ???? ~Makarovfey

Come to think of it, this is a phrase that I used frequently in my previous life.

Especially when I was the team leader.

Whenever I tried to hand over the work to the employees they just glanced at each other with eyes begging to not hand them that work.

I used to say that everytime.

“Who can do this?”

‘Some may see this as wrong but it helped distribute the work effectively.’

Sain asks back in embarrassment, “Huh? What are you talking about?”

‘Wait, boss. Am doing something important right now.’

[Would you like to use the unique ability ‘Who can do this?’]

[Nod.]

[Please set the problem you want to solve.]

‘The Secreed curse.’

[We will proceed as directed, please review and approve.]

The draft document popped up before my eyes and without much delay I signed it.

-Kim Ill-do.

[Using unique ability ‘Who can do this?’]

[Browsing…]

[Search completed.]

[Suitable subjects found: 1. Would you like to view the location?]

[Nod.]

[Suitable person: Jariel Juana.]

[Apprentice nun at the Temple of Parmel in the Halo Territory.]

[Distance from subject: 70 km.]

[The location info will keep updating until the first encounter with the subject.]

It was a good service worth all of the 100 points.

I cleared my thoughts and spoke, “Sain. Please lend me the fastest horse you have.”

“Well, that…”

“Time is crucial. Please trust me.”

As always, Sain’s hesitation completely disappeared when I asked her to believe in me.

She said with a serious tone, “Who else will I trust?”

“……”

“Will you depart today?”

I nodded with a firm expression, turned back and said, “I am going home to grab some travel supplies. I’ll be leaving in an hour.”

“Tay!”

Kasha held my arm tightly.  I wondered if she had calmed down a little, but she was still shaking.

In fact, if anyone said all that to me, I’d just laugh it off as random nonsense.  But she was convinced that she was cursed.  It also meant that she believed in me.

“What is it?”

“I’m dying aren’t I?”

“……”

“I don’t want to die yet. There are many things I want to do, eat, sleep, go places. I don’t want to leave Elena alone, the Hagnut Guild… and Tay.”

Despite her young age, she was much more experienced due to her job as an adventurer.  But now she was afraid, like a baby bird that had just left its mother’s nest.

I calmly replied, “Well, you might die, after about 100 more years.”

At my words, Kasha smiled despite her tears.

It was a very contradictory expression, but it looks weirdly well suited.

Sain lent me the express carriage that she got from the Siris.  She got us the horseman that she used for important meetings as well.

Ron lent us the precious horse and carriage for a regular price and sent a message.

“It’s a selfless loan, use it anyway you want.  “I am a merchant after all.”

“Huh?”

“…”

“No. Someone who does things like this is the one we should be most wary of.”

I picked up Kasha first and told Sain, “Please tell Ron. I am grateful for this. Don’t say that you’re going to pay this favour back. Just don’t.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

“Then I’ll be leaving. If things go well, I’ll be back in a few days.”

Sain clenched her fist to her chest and said, “Don’t worry we’ll take care of this place. No need to worry about the work.”

“I didn’t mean that…”

“Mr. Tay and Ms. Kasha always help me. This time I’ll help you two.”

Her face was filled with determination.  After seeing that expression, my worries dissolved away.

“I will explain to Elena that you two went on an emergency quest. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“Yes. I’ll be back soon anyway.”

Sain smiled softly at my answer.  We left the Hagnut Guild like that.

The scenery felt different from all our previous rides.  As for horses and carriage, it seemed that the coachman from the Siris Corporation was not an ordinary coachman.

“Tay. Can I sit here?”

Kasha, who had been silent for a while, suddenly asked.

I replied calmly, “It’s a bit narrow.”

“Oh… is that so….”

“…”

“What is it? ……Come on sit down.”

Kasha stuck her butt next to me.

And leaning back, she said, “This is the first time I am feeling like this.”

“It’s the first time you’ve been cursed.”

“No. Am not saying that…”

She was a little hesitant to say.

She said, “I was an adventurer and I faced death several times. That’s why, before I was in a dungeon, even when I was trapped alone.”

“……”

“I cried a lot. It’s quite embarrassing.”

“How is that embarrassing?”

She just laughed at that, then she looked straight at me and said, “But now, there are no tears at all.”

“……”

“Why?”

The wagon running at great speed suddenly rattled.  The horses cried out and suddenly stopped.  Inertia made me lean on the other side.

“What happened?”

“That’s weird. The carriage suddenly stopped, did the wheels get caught on something?”

“……”

“Sorry. Please wait a minute.”

The coachman got off his seat.

‘We don’t have much time and the wheel got stuck like that? Now of all times?!’

The coachman’s voice sounded concerned.

“I need to repair this.”

“Please quickly, we don’t don’t have time.”

“Oh are you resting? I won’t make it loud then.”

‘What are you talking about?’

The coachman said that and started working without making much sound.

“Oh, but one thing, Please be careful.”

‘So what are you talking about?’

Then I heard Kasha saying, “Ooh. I want to brush my teeth.”

She looked dizzy.  As I stared, Kasha just giggled, saying it was a joke. But just one look at her eyes and it was clear, she was sleepy.

I said, “I think it will take a while. You should sleep.”

“No way!”

Kasha shook her head while rubbing her eyes several times.

“What if I fall asleep and never wake up again.”

“The only thing you can’t wake up from is the second sleep.”

“I slept last night, wouldn’t that count?”

Probably not. Von broke the stone just this morning, am sure of that much thanks to the records.

“Probably not. You can sleep a little.”

“……”

“Didn’t you say you were sleepy since we started this journey?”

As I said that, Kasha’s face contorted into a weird one which she used to make when she was mad.

But I understood that and calmly said, “Still, you should get some rest.”

“Huh. I don’t want to sleep. Tay’s still awake.”

I knew I couldn’t win so I just lay down on the narrow seat.  However, I had no intention of sleeping.

“Do you know my record of days I went without sleep?”

“Uh?”

“Three days.”

Kasha just smiled, understanding what I meant to say.

“You don’t need to stay awake because of me…”

“Who said anything about staying up for you? I just told you my record.”

“……Thank you. Tay.”

“I can’t sleep, so let’s talk. Where were you and what did you do before you entered the Tower of Eternity?”

Kasha was silent for a few moments, as if she was searching her memory.

“I don’t remember well. I was very young.”

“Hmm.”

“I just remember that I used to be very hungry all the time.”

I laughingly replied, “That’s why you eat so much.”

“Is that a terrible thing? Many people tell me that I eat a lot.”

“I didn’t say it was bad. To work hard, you need to eat a lot.”

“Anyway, then one day….”

We had a hearty conversation after that.

‘How many minutes have passed?’

“The first time I did a Class B quest by myself, Elena cooked a meal all by herself to congratulate me..”

“It’s wonderful.”

“Huh. At that time, her cooking was very clumsy, she cut the potatoes and carrots in strange shapes. But it was delicious.”

“I guess. You’d eat anything that’s even remotely edible.”

“If you say that again…”

Suddenly, her voice went down.  I waited for a while and then jumped up without knowing it.

“Kasha?”

I couldn’t hear her breathing.

At that moment, my back was soaked with cold sweat.

I hastily checked her condition.

“Zzzzz……”

‘She’s sleeping well.’

I felt her breathing as I placed my hand near her nose.  She was sleeping like a soldier exhausted from training, peacefully.

It was the first time I saw her sleeping like that.  Seeing her in that condition I felt relieved.

‘Why am I so relieved!?’

‘……’

‘Of course I am relieved. I thought I lost my precious A plus adventurer.’

But I can’t just feel relieved with that.  Kasha was cursed and had entered the first sleep. Next one wouldn’t take much longer.

‘Why is it taking so long?’

In frustration, I opened the carriage door and went out.  When I went to check on the coachman, I was surprised.  Apparently, the coachman who should be passionately repairing the wheel, was lying on the floor.

I hurried up to him to check his condition.

He wasn’t dead.  He was just asleep, no he was unconscious. As if he had fainted outside.

“Is it narcolepsy?”

At the same time as I said that, I heard a voice from somewhere.

“That’s not it. I just stunned him for a moment.”

“……”

“I want to talk to you in private.”

The sound was coming from inside the carriage.  Honestly, I was incredibly surprised, but thanks to my experience, I was able to answer calmly.

“This wagon was chartered by us. Did you pay? Or are you just a stowaway”

“Are you Taylor Mason?”

“Who are you?”

“I am a person named Nortel Rhime.”

This time, I was surprised out of my wits.

‘Nortel. Nortel Rhime!’

‘Father to both Sain and Von, the monster who tricked Celia and changed the magic circle, endangering so many lives.’

‘Did he just show up here? What should I say first?’

‘Of course, this is how it goes.’

“It is an honor to meet the famous Nortel Rhime.”

‘Now show me your face.’

“You shouldn’t have known my name.”

“No way. You’re the person who went all the way to the Eternal Tower right before facing Dame.”

“How do you know that?”,  Nortel asked without any signs of bewilderment in his voice.

But I still couldn’t see his face.  Needless to say, I didn’t answer his question, but Nortel opened his mouth as if he got the answer himself.

“I recently lost contact with Celia. She said she didn’t want to meet me anymore.”

“……”

“It looks like you’ve an useless wind on her as well.”

“I just brought her back to reality.”

Then Nortel burst out into laughter.

“Reality?”

“You told her she could be a great sage, you lied to her.”

“Why do you think it’s a lie? Celia obviously had the talent of a high sage. If she tried hard she could surely become a great sage.”

“……”

“You have trampled the sprouts of great talent. Are you aware of what you’ve done?”

‘Is this guy hidden talents in front of me?’

Hundreds of words came to my mind to refute him.

But I swallowed them all.

“Let’s get to the point. Why did you stow our ride?”

“Actually, I went to the Hagnut Guild first. To see my daughter. Needless to say, she knows everything.”

“……”

“By the way, that child is no longer interested in her father she last met 8 years ago. Something urgent happened to the guild, so she told me to come back sometime later”

‘My boss is so cool.’

I am glad my boss isn’t the kind of person who’d ditch work just for a relative.

“I got a rough understanding of the situation. It looks like there’s an adventurer under the curse of Secreed.

“How did you know that again?”

“Don’t get excited. My daughter didn’t tell me about it. I have an intelligence network of my own.”

This time, he was discussing intelligence in front of me.  I took a peek at him and said.

“Oh, I guess you heard it from your son.”

“……!”

“He must be the one who used the Secreed stone. Your son is very…young, unlike your daughter.”

Nortel’s silhouette looked stiff.

After a while he spoke.

“I heard that you were the one behind Hagnut Guild’s abnormal growth.”

“……”

“I thought it was a lie or at least an exaggeration.”

“I’m asking again. Why did you stow our ride?”

Nortel burst into laughter, “As you said, my son did something stupid. I just asked him whom he had cursed.”

“Keep speaking.”

“But looking in the direction of the wagon, I realized that my help wasn’t needed. Are you going to the Halo estate?”

I nodded.

Nortel glanced up and down with pure admiration and said, “Then you must have known. The fact that there are talents of the saintly class resides in the Halo estate.”

‘This is a little surprising.’

‘Did he also know about the person named Jariel.’

I replied pretending to be a bit surprised.

“What?!…. I knew a little bit.”

“Hahaha, well she’s quite famous, it’d be surprising if you didn’t know about her.”

“……”

“So Lorelie’s name has already reached Kelk”

‘Okay. Okay. Jerial’s rumors…’

‘Eh? Lorelie?’

‘Who is that?’