Try again? - Chapter 43

” Do you really need to go? ” said a certain brown-haired girl as we were about to leave the shop.

” Erin, don’t bother Miss Elizabeth. She and Fiona need to do their job just like we have to do ours. ” said a certain mother toward her daughter as both of them came to say goodbye to us before we could part ourselves.

The only missing person was the younger brother but since he was probably still sleeping we didn’t wake him up just for that.

It was somehow heartwarming to have a place where you could return even in this strange world. It didn’t matter that we stay here just temporary. The feeling was still there.

” Do not worry, Erin. When we came back I will treat you again with that kebab from yesterday. You and Fio seem to like it quite a lot. ” I said and patted her gently on her head. For an unrelated party, it may look rather weird since I didn’t look much older than her on the outside. I was just a bit taller but that was all.

” Okay… I’ll wait. ”

” Anyway, we are going to leave now. I’d say goodbye but we’ll be back in several days anyway, Sara. ”

” Do not worry about it. Just take care of yourself on the journey. The same goes for you too, Fiona. Take care and came back safely. ”

” Mm. ”

We waved at them and started to head to the east gate. We already got to the guild first thing in the morning to accept the quest and retrieve our tags.

Unfortunately, the receptionist girl from that time wasn’t here but we didn’t encounter any difficulty. The whole thing moved smoothly since all we had to do was to give the piece of paper we received yesterday as confirmation and they gave us the tags.

We received some information about the wasps too so it wasn’t that bad in the end.

The tag was quite simple. All of then were made from cheap metal for the lower F, E, and D ranks. For the higher ones, the tags were made from the three precious metals like copper for C rank, silver for B rank and gold for A rank.

On the front was engraved my name and rank and on the back was the guild branch name. Apparently, I was part of Adventurer’s Guild Arian City Branch.

They didn’t bother to explain further since it was a waste of time. Even if there was something higher than that, the chances to encounter someone like that were pitifully low anyway.

At least, in this way, we know with who to not mess around by just looking at their tag.

*yawn*

” Are you sure you are alright, Lizza? You yawned the whole morning. ”

” I’m fine, I’m fine… You know that I’m bad at waking up early. ”

” Mm. But this time is even worse than usual. It’s because you stayed too much last night. ”

” Ugh… It’s fine, it’s fine… We won’t be able to arrive there today anyway. We’ll have to camp at the forest border tonight so all is good. I’ll get some rest then. ”

” Mm. ”

I could not deny that I crossed the line just a little last night. Since we decided to use copper instead of silver for the rest of the equation, I suddenly got a lot more options.

It wasn’t as good as something enchanted with silver but not worse by much. Since the ratio of silver/copper was around 1:80 I could enchant 80 objects instead of just one.

[Common Iron Sword]

[Common Iron Dagger]

…

We could deal with the drop in quality for the moment. At least we got a lot more enchanted equipment and I got some training as well. When my [Apprentice Enchanter] was updated to level 5 I got excited and tried to experiment further.

I used the sword we got from Ron since it was better than the one Fiona was using but somehow I failed to put a stat on it so we let it like that. I enchanted my old bows as well. I tried with an arrow but my skill wasn’t high enough so I failed and I continued like that till almost morning.

” Hold up. ”

A guard raised his hand as we were about to leave the city. I saw that they didn’t bother with the ones who were leaving so we just walked like the rest.

” Is there a problem? ”

” Where are you two going? This is the east gate. ” he said and pointed his finger at a group of bulky men who just passed around us. One of them just nodded to the guard and walked outside shortly afterward.

’Maybe they were acquaintances…’

” This gate is mainly used for adventurers these days. Where are two young girls going since there’s nothing but these giant insects in that direction? ”

If I were to look at the people who were exiting through this gate, they all were looking like adventurers. They were all wearing various pieces of armor and carried with them weapons.

Besides our complete lack of any kind of armor, our weapons we’re deposited in my ring as well. We were looking like anything but adventurers.

Was he worried about us? Probably not… Maybe he was just curious.

” We know. We are adventurers too. ”

I had to point my finger at the metallic tag that was hanging around my neck for him to notice it.

” Oh… Seriously? I didn’t notice at all. You don’t look like one. I thought that the guild suspended all the quest besides the emergency one. Didn’t you know? It’s very dangerous out there at the moment. ”

” Ah… Yes, we know. We are going for that one after all. ”

” Huh? Are you serious? Are you seriously going to… ”

” Uaah… Just let them go already. If these girls want to die that badly, just let them be. ” the other guard that was lazily resting with his back on the wall intervened in the conversation for the first time. He was quite rude a well.

” You just shut up, Arnold. How can I let two young girls go and die? They probably don’t know how dangerous these insects really are. It’s not like gathering some herbs or killing a goblin or two. ” he said and smiled at us. Maybe my intuition was wrong this time and he was a good person in the end… Albeit less but there must be good people too.

Sara or even Albert were good people. I was just unlucky to meet bad ones at the beginning.

” Ohh… Come on, not that again. Seeing a pretty face and instantly changing in the chivalrous type. Just let them go already… ”

” Arnold, I’ll swear to kill you later. Lying like that just to make me look bad. ”

”…”

*Cough*  *Cough*

” Anyway, I still don’t think that is appropriate for two young ladies to go to such a dangerous place. ”

’No, no, no. Don’t tell me you are going to pretend even after he betrayed you.’

Bad person. Very bad person. Somehow, he managed to climb to the highest peak on my list of bad people. I don’t want to deal with someone like that.

” Thank you for the concern but we know what we are doing. If that is all we will leave since we have a long way to go. ”

” Ah… Is that so? Then I wish you good luck. ” he said with a disappointed expression. Maybe my dead stare akin to someone who was looking at living garbage was the reason but I didn’t care at all anymore.

” Thanks. ” I said and started to depart from there without wasting not even a second more.

As we took enough distance for a normal human to not hear anymore, things like ’That’s your fault, bastard’ and ’Shut the hell up, you horny pervert’ started to flood in my ears.

Unfortunately for them, my hearing was a lot better that one might think and I was able to listen to their conversation even from such a distance if I concentrate a little.

*Sigh*

” Fio, are all the gate guards around there perverts? If I think about it, the guard from that village said something similar… ”

” Per… verts!? ” she said with a curious voice like she didn’t quite understand what I mean.

”…”

” What do you mean, Lizza? Is something wrong? ”

’Ohhh no… This can’t be… How can she not be able to recognize… Hmm… No, no… Wait a minute…’

For her maybe that was the norm. Since she was born where she was born maybe people like that should be the norm for her.

Poor Fiona. To be exposed to such bad influences from a small age.

Since there exist legal slavery or bandits plundering and killing people around there, a pervert dude trying to get a young girl must be the last concern for the authorities.

Since the legal marriage age must be lower than my world standard, maybe what this guard was trying to do was actually legal…

” Lizza… Was there something wrong with him? ”

” Of course there was. He’s a pervert trying to hit on two young girls. ”

” A pervert trying to hit us? ” she said with yet another confused expression.

” I don’t think I understand, Lizza… ”

” How can you not understand what he really wanted… huh!? ”

Actually, that might be the case. Since nobody should be willing to look at her back then due to their horrible racist view about her origin, this is only natural for her to not understand the more subtle allusions.

” Fio, you… ”

” I-Is something wrong with me, Lizza? ” she said while slightly dropping her ears in anxiety. She was looking like someone on the verge of tearing in the next moment.

” Do not worry, Fio. There’s nothing wrong with you. I will protect you from any pervert from now on. ”

” Lizza will protect me? ” the light in her eyes seemed to return as she heard my reply. She was so adorable I hardly restrained myself from petting her head.

” Yes. ”

I had to protect Fiona’s innocence at all costs.

” Then, I’ll protect Lizza too… ” she said with a resolute expression on her face. The urge to hug her was growing even bigger and I had to turn around to control myself.

” Lizza? ”

” Nothing… It’s nothing. ”

” Mm. ”

” Anyway… Listen here, Fio. We must be wary of that kind of men from now on. ”

” Mm, but how? ”

” Ehh… For example, if any of them is trying to approach you or is trying to give you things while being kind to you for no reason, there must be something off with that. ”

” I-Is that so? ”

” Yes, is very possible for them to be perverts. You must be wary of them from now on. ”

” Mm. I understand. I will protect Lizza from them too. ”

” Aaawwww… I can’t resist anymore. Come here! ”

FDSIO

Hello, o/ !!! I’m still alive apparently. Sorry about the late release. I had some trouble IRL so I had to take a little pause from writing.

Long story short, I managed to resolve the problem but not entirely. I’m still quite busy so yeah… What I want to say is that for the next 2-3 weeks I can’t say with certainty if a chapter will be posted as it was scheduled.

That didn’t mean that I’ll stop posting for the next 2-3 weeks. What I mean is that the chapter might come a day or two later or maybe earlier depending on how busy I am.  Since that is the case, in this period of time, I can’t announce on my profile when the next chapter will come out since I’m not sure either. I will still announce when it is out but I can’t say for sure when the next one will come, unfortunately.