Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter 4.5

Intermission: Niedz the Adventurer

My misfortunes began with a simple sentence.

“I saw a real strange-looking guy earlier, Niedz.”

I was at the guild commission board, looking for easy jobs that would make me some fast coin. I was an adventurer, but only in a sense—I was the kind of small fry whose ability had hit a dead end after he’d reached Bronze-class.

Maybe things would’ve been different if I’d kept up my training, but after seeing so many younger adventurers blow past me with ease, at some point along the line I lost any motivation I’d once had.

In the end, adventuring was a profession for those with talent. All guys like me could do was scrape together enough for our daily bread by picking up the drudge work.

Even so, I took my job seriously, in my own way. If I accepted a commission, I shouldered full responsibility for seeing it through to the end—and when I failed, I made sure to report it and apologize to the client.

I figured all that was why the Guild let a half-assed guy like me stick around.

Don’t believe me? Fine. You want the truth? The truth was that I knew they left me alone because I didn’t matter.

Even when I walked up with a commission slip in my hand, the receptionists’ eyes and attitudes were always cold. I knew what those eyes were saying—I’d known for the last two or three years.

Hurry up and retire already.

My job completion rate wasn’t particularly high, and my strength was nothing to boast about either. The Guild didn’t need a guy like me.

I got it, okay?

If I’d been capable of it, I would’ve quit and gone back to my hometown. But I couldn’t even do that. I didn’t have the coin.

Everything I tried to save went to bed and board. I was trapped in a cycle I couldn’t escape, and it gnawed at me every day. But even a guy like me had friends.

Gahedd and Lukas were adventurers in the same position as me. Though they’d been at it for less time than I had, they were the only two people in this city I could truly call my companions.

Gahedd was the tall, slender type, and he always looked like he was unsteady on his feet, but he was passionate, and a good guy too. Whenever I talked about giving up, he’d encourage me, saying that a better future awaited if we just kept working hard.

Lukas was the opposite in appearance, being short and fat, but he was brave and willing to charge into any kind of danger in a pinch.

Their skills as adventurers weren’t all too different from mine, so we partied up as a trio sometimes when certain jobs required it, and that was pretty much the broad strokes of our relationship.

Lukas was the one who’d spoken to me at the message board, but it wasn’t long before Gahedd had walked over to join the conversation.

“Strange how?” I asked.

“He bought a bunch of herbs I’d never seen before from a goatfolk for three gold. It was a total scam—had to be.”

“Herbs you’ve never seen before? That means...”

Lukas knew a fair deal about herbalism. There were some plants out there that fetched outrageous prices, so three gold wasn’t a ridiculous number, but if Lukas didn’t recognize them, the guy must’ve been conned into buying some old weeds.

“The fact he was happy to spend three gold on some herbs means he’s gotta be pretty rich, right?” Gahedd said. “Must be nice...”

I scoffed. “Yeah. Not like us. It’s like gold coins can’t stand the sight of us.”

Gahedd laughed. “You got that right.”

We were just joking around and talking nonsense, but it was carefree times like these I enjoyed the most.

“Anyway, I’d better go get a commission done,” I said.

“Sure thing. See y— Wait.” Lukas’s head looked over at the man who’d just entered the Guild. “Isn’t that man...?”

His strange appearance meant you couldn’t actually tell if he even was a guy under there, but given the way he walked, I thought it was pretty likely. That was further supported by the sound of his voice when he began talking to a receptionist.

“What about him?” I asked, still watching him.

“He’s the guy I was talking about,” Lukas explained.

“Oh, Mr. Three Gold? He doesn’t look that rich...”

A jet black cloak and a mask—the former didn’t look particularly expensive, and the latter actually looked cheap, given how creepy it was. He couldn’t have had that much money on him.

“Yeah, but still...” Lukas’s eyes focused as the man produced his license. “O-Oh. He’s a Bronze-classer? But he has enough gold to drop three on some herbs...”

Bronze-class—meaning he was only as strong as us. But the fact that his financial situation was so much better? That was a bitter pill to swallow.

As I watched him absentmindedly, I noticed that he was hitting it off with the receptionist too. She had a friendly look in her eyes that I knew we’d never be on the receiving end of. An unpleasant feeling settled at the bottom of my stomach.

Life really wasn’t fair.

After a while, the guy left the Guild. I ignored the commission slips, instead heading for the exit after him.

“Huh? Hey, Niedz!” Gahedd called out. “What happened to taking a job?”

“Not today,” I said.

He seemed to get what I meant immediately. “Don’t tell me...you’re planning on following him?”

“Mmm.”

“Why?”

“Three gold’s nothing to him. I bet he won’t mind showing me a little of that generosity.”

“So that’s what you’re after... I’m coming too, then. He’ll be quicker to fork it over if there’s two of us. No, wait—Lukas, you come too. It’ll be even easier with the three of us.”

Despite what he was saying, I knew Gahedd was planning on stopping me. He was probably going to try to persuade me as we walked. He always intervened whenever I tried to do something stupid.

Lukas had realized the same thing I had. He nodded. “Fine. Guess I’ve got no choice.”

The three of us left the Guild together. We spotted the masked guy and began tailing him. As I’d suspected, Gahedd and Lukas tried to talk me out of it along the way.

As I walked, my head cooled. I realized I’d been pissed off and desperate, and I’d let my emotions talk me into trying something stupid. But just as I was about to turn away and leave, the masked guy suddenly stopped.

“This should do. Why don’t you all come out? It’s the least you could do after I did you the favor of coming all the way to this gloomy place.”

He was speaking to us. There was no turning back now. We stepped out of the shadows and faced him.

◆◇◆◇◆

What happened after...is still pretty hard to believe. I probably don’t have to explain that apparently I am a bad judge of people.

After bailing on our plan ceased to be an option, I demanded money from the guy as I’d initially planned. Everything up until that point had gone smoothly...but part of me couldn’t get over how strange the guy was.

There were three of us and only one of him. Since we were all Bronze-classers, that meant he was facing a threat three times his own ability. And yet, he was completely unbothered.

I started to get madder and madder. I called out to Gahedd and Lukas to join me, then charged him.

I couldn’t make them go first—I mean, I’d basically just dragged them along. If I lost to the masked guy, at least they’d be able to make their escape.

If I was the only one who went down...well, that wouldn’t be too bad. He might chase after them, but I didn’t think he’d be so vindictive. He was just a Bronze-classer, after all—not that I was one to talk, I guess. And who’d bother going to the trouble of tracking down two people in a city as big as Lucaris?

So, I charged.

But the results of that were more pathetic than I imagined. I couldn’t even remember it clearly—my memories cut off around when I was bringing my sword to bear. The masked guy had still been way out of my range, standing there in a casual way that was weirdly difficult to pin down. He had a weapon at his waist, but showed no sign of reaching for it.

Yet, in the span it took me to inhale a single breath, his mask was right in front of my face.

I almost screamed, but no sound came out. The skull mask was exquisitely modeled, and up close it had a strange appeal to it. I had the out-of-place thought that it probably wasn’t as cheap as I’d first assumed it to be.

Come to think of it, that was probably when I instinctively gave up. I could tell my sword would never reach him.

He’d closed the distance in a mere instant. How was a two-bit adventurer like me supposed to beat a guy who could do that?

It had been wrong of me to even consider robbing him in the first place. Maybe my entire way of life until this point had been wrong too.

No, I’d done one thing right: I’d charged at him first. Gahedd and Lukas were still behind me. I didn’t know if they’d be able to make it out, but as long as they ran now and the masked guy didn’t give chase, they’d get away.

They were my only genuine friends in this entire city. Even if I was a goner, I wanted them to live. If they survived, I could go out knowing my life hadn’t been that bad after all.

If I had one regret, it was probably that I hadn’t gotten to go on one last job with them.

No use crying over spilled milk, though. I’d just have to make sure I partied up with them again in my next life.

That was the last thought that went through my mind before everything went black.

◆◇◆◇◆

When I slowly opened my eyes in a dark, quiet room, I was extremely surprised.

I didn’t know what had happened after I’d been knocked out, but I’d been sure I was going to die. The masked bastard had definitely been strong enough to finish me in one strike, and since I’d tried to rob him, he’d had no reason to show me any mercy.

And yet...

Suddenly, a human skull appeared in my field of vision. “Oh, you’re awake,” it said.

I barely managed to stop myself from screaming.

The skull man stepped back, and a beastfolk appeared. “He woke up later than the other two,” he said. “You might’ve put a little too much force into your blow, Rentt.”

The man had a jet-black coat of fur, the kind of glittering eyes only felines had, and a lithe build. He was probably a pantherfolk.

Pantherfolk were pretty rare, and all the ones in Lucaris were relatively well-known among adventurers. He wasn’t an acquaintance by any stretch, but I recognized his name and face.

“You’re...Malga...?” I asked.

“Oh, you know me?” The look in his eyes was sharp as he studied me. “I don’t remember a customer like you ever stopping by...”

I smiled bitterly. “What, is that your idea of a joke? A Bronze-classer like me could never afford anything from your shop.”

Malga considered that for a moment, then turned to Skullface. “Hear that, Bronze-classer?”

“What do you want me to say?” he said. “I get what he means, though. It was only a short while ago that I came into some coin. I’m only as well-off as I am now thanks to a few lucky strokes of fate.”

“Lucky strokes of fate, huh? I guess our meeting counts as one of those.”

“You think...?” Skullface approached me. “Hey. Drink this. I didn’t mean to hit you so hard. Must’ve let my control slip a bit.” He held a cup that smelled of flowers and herbs. The scent reminded me of medicine.

“What is it?” I asked.

“An herbal infusion. It’s effect isn’t that potent, though, so it’s more to calm you down than anything. Better than nothing, though. It’s also a bit of an experiment. Just drink it.”

As he held the cup out, I realized he’d slipped something kinda terrifying in at the end there. I wanted to refuse...but then I remembered how he’d taken me out in one blow.

My body must’ve instinctually realized how meaningless it was to resist him, because I obediently took the cup and brought it to my mouth.

Upon drinking the infusion, I was surprised at how invigorating the taste that spread through my mouth was. The warmth diffused through my body, and I could feel my muscles and joints relaxing. The dull pain in my side that had been throbbing since I’d woken up quickly faded away.

“How is it?” Skullface asked.

“I feel better,” I said. “Dunno why, though. Still...thanks.”

That was how I met Boss Rentt and Brother Diego. At the time, I had no idea what was going to become of me. I thought I’d be handed over to the authorities, be forced into slavery, or even killed. The possibility of anything else didn’t even occur to me.

Instead, that was when it all began—when I started to think that maybe, just maybe, lucky strokes of fate really did exist.