Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter Ep

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Epilogue

“Oh, you are back, I see. How was it then?”

Lorraine’s voice was the first thing I heard as I opened the doors to her abode, finally having returned from the Stheno Trading Company.

Lorraine’s voice... I was finally back home. Such was the emotion that had welled up from the bottom of my heart.

I’d crossed a rather precarious bridge this time; even I understood that. Perhaps I’d been a little careless, but it was simply not possible to imagine such a chain of events. I was only heading off to sell some materials. It was as rare as a meteor falling on my head as I walked on the open streets of Maalt.

Even if nothing had happened to me this time, that woman, Nive, had quite the intuition when it came to sniffing out Vampires. We would surely cross paths again someday.

“Quite a few...unexpected things happened. But I’m fine.”

“What...? Have you gotten yourself embroiled in some strange affair again?” Lorraine said, an expression of mild irritation on her face. She did, however, seem willing to listen to what I had to say.

“In any case, come sit down, and speak your mind.”

“...Nive Maris, and a priestess-saint of the Church of Lobelia... Easily individuals you would not want to cross paths with, Rentt, no matter how you think about it.” Lorraine sighed as I finished explaining most of the situation.

I nodded in response. “Honestly. It’s as you say... But Nive had a special technique to detect Vampires, or so she claims. It had no effect on me whatsoever. Perhaps I could say I was lucky this time.”

“Ah, yes. That Holy Fire you had mentioned, no? I have seen a practitioner of it, back in my hometown. At the time, it was seen as a very rare technique, zealously guarded by the churches. As such, the details were hazy to say that least, but it was quite interesting when I set about investigating it. Alas, no one would tell me a thing, even if I did inquire. To begin with, it is said that those who do not have any blessings of divinity are unable to see it, yes? That would mean the practitioner back at my hometown had made it so their flames would be visible... Hmm. I had requested that it be shown to me so I may understand the underlying mechanics of it better, but they would not cooperate, you see.

“On another note, Rentt... That detection technique had no effect on you? Even if you are indeed some sort of Vampire, no?”

Even I couldn’t really answer that question. Nive had confidently claimed she was able to detect and discover Vampires without fail. If I were to accept that truth for what it was, and expand on that train of thought...

“...Maybe I’m not a Vampire at all...?” I muttered, more to myself than to anyone else. Lorraine pondered upon this for a while, too, before offering her opinion.

“Not impossible, I would say. To begin with, Rentt, there is no way for us to affirm that you really are a Vampire. Skeleton, Ghoul, Thrall, Vampire... Visually, you have been evolving from one Undead monster to the next, yes? All we did was assume that you may be some sort of Vampire. You were not very much of a standard Skeleton even back when you were a pile of walking bones. Taking all that into consideration, Rentt, it is hardly impossible.”

Lorraine did have a point, albeit a pointed, difficult one.

As she said, I didn’t know very much about my existence as I was right now, and that was how I’d honestly put it. Was I a monster? Was I not? The lines were vague and ambiguous at best. I really had no idea.

But based on what we’d observed thus far, the likelihood of me being a monster was indeed high. If anything, I was a monster of some kind, if the current line of reasoning was to be believed.

If I were to turn that around and consider what Lorraine had said, though, was I simply a Skeleton-like being, but not actually a Skeleton, since the very beginning? At that rate, no explanations would prove satisfactory. In that case, my predictions for the future would hinge on the progress I’d made up until this point.

Regardless of all that, I’d been evolving this entire time, much like the Existential Evolution of monsters. That much was fine—it would be a reference of sorts, if nothing else.

Lorraine had spent far more time pondering upon that topic as opposed to me.

“It may be a little late for this particular commentary, Rentt, but we already knew from the beginning that you were different than the average monster. You mentioned it just now, no? That divinity has no effect on you. That would be because you are special, Rentt. That is the obvious conclusion. Knowing that much may just be enough at this point. The next most obvious possibility would be the fact that you were blessed with reserves of divinity, unlike the typical Undead. Could that not be the cause?”

“Divinity, huh...”

According to Nive, Vampires were weak to divinity. There was simply no way a Vampire that utilized divine powers existed.

I, however, was able to wield my divinity just fine. As to why I was still able to use it even after becoming a Vampire-like creature, I had no idea. Perhaps it was a trait carried over as I had used it in life?

At the very least, the sensations and feelings I experienced while using divinity hadn’t changed one bit. Of that I could be sure. Was Lorraine suggesting that merely possessing divinity within oneself made one impervious to it, even if it was used on me by others?

Holy Fire supposedly caused great pain to Vampires, if Nive’s words were to be believed. I hardly felt that way about divinity at all. Was that why it didn’t work...? Because I was some special Vampire-like existence, but not quite a Vampire at all? That did seem easier to believe...

Lorraine continued: “It is the same way for poisons, magic, and the like, no? If an individual has a resistance of some kind, said attacks would be ineffective or nullified. That much is to be understood. Simple, yes? Rentt, from what I recall, your divinity came from you repairing an old shrine back in your hometown, no?”

I’d described to Lorraine a while ago about why I was blessed with divinity in the first place. It wasn’t a big deal, so I had no reason to hide it.

Among the friends I had in life, few individuals knew I was blessed with all three powers. It was incredibly rare, but I was unable to develop my potential. Or perhaps I was simply a jack-of-all-trades. Such was the case in the past.

It was, by all means, quite the accurate description...

“Yes. It was quite run-down... In fact, it had been mostly swallowed up by the trees in the forest. Its existence wasn’t even known to the greater half of the villagers in my hometown. It was a bit of a pity, I thought... So I somehow got rid of the shrubbery around it, cleaned it up, and mended whatever parts that were broken. It took me a while, but this was before I had become an adventurer. I had a great amount of free time.”

“You say it so simply, Rentt. That you fixed a shrine and that was that. Quite some skill was required for that despite what you say, no?”

“A carpenter from the village taught me what I needed to know. I had an eye for detail and precision. I had learned the basics relatively quickly, and the rest was just trial and error. It was good training, to say the least.”

“Capable as ever, I see... Even so, you lacked the capacity to progress as an adventurer, of all things. The gods are cruel, no?”

“I wouldn’t really say so, no. After all, I’m now more than capable of aiming for the top. Perhaps the gods were actually relatively merciful in my case.”

“You are far too positive, Rentt. But alas, that is indeed one of your good traits. But you said it was a shrine, yes? What god was it built in dedication to?”

“Well...” I didn’t really have a concrete answer. “I don’t know. It was a shrine no one visited, after all. Perhaps the village elders would know something about it...”

“Is that right... Well, then, Rentt. Should we make a trip to this village of yours?” Lorraine said, suddenly and without warning.

“Make a trip, you say...? But why, Lorraine?”

“To understand you better, everything that can be investigated should be investigated.” Lorraine’s answer was swift. “That is how I feel about it. Your divinity is especially important with regards to this. It is a crucial element when it comes to understanding what you currently are. At the very least, Rentt, should we not investigate the gods or spirits that bestowed their blessing upon you?”

As usual, Lorraine had a point. However, the possibility of anyone in the village knowing of the shrine was slim. If they did, would they not have sought to repair it themselves? That seemed obvious to me.

“It may be a fruitless trip.”

“Then so be it, if that is indeed the case. But you yourself said it, Rentt, did you not? That the elder may know something about this shrine of yours, yes?”

I did indeed said that, yes...but the possibility was slight. It wasn’t something I’d said out of certainty. Even so, we could just ask.

“I suppose, yes.”

“There is a possibility, no?” Lorraine continued pressing her point. “Then there would be some worth in going. Do you not think so, Rentt?”

“Even then, it’s by no means close to where we are, Lorraine. A return trip would take us about two weeks, in terms of distance...”

My hometown was a rural village. Maalt was a rural township on the border of the Kingdom of Yaaran, but my village, Hathara, was even more rural than that. It was so far that I’d only returned a few times ever since coming to Maalt.

My income before had been precarious. I simply didn’t have enough coin to stop adventuring for two weeks and pay my hometown a visit. I did try to save, with the aim of returning once every year, but...

“You say that, Rentt, but surely it is not as removed from civilization as the Great Forest of Ramuze? Or the Floating Ruins of Hohel?”

Lorraine’s questions were exasperating. I sighed, responding in an adequately annoyed fashion.

“Of all the things to say, Lorraine. Such comparisons are a little too extreme, no? It is a rural village, but traveling merchants do visit from time to time. We have roads, you know.”

The two examples Lorraine had raised were places of mystery. People couldn’t get to them even if they wished to do so, and they really shouldn’t be going there in the first place. So severe were the restrictions that licenses and permits were required to enter, depending on the season and range of exploration.

My hometown, Hathara, was nothing like that. At the very least, anyone could enter freely. It was a response made in frustration. But Lorraine...

“See? Then it is fine, is it not? In addition, Rentt, you have not returned for several years now. It is a good time. There are no longer any financial restrictions either, yes? At the very least, you would not have to limit your expenses terribly and live off wild flora that you find naturally growing around these parts, like you did in the past.”

When she put it that way...

For some reason, I felt like this had all gone according to Lorraine’s plan. No...it wasn’t just a feeling. Lorraine had most likely wanted to lead me to this point from the start.

The way we thought was simply too different. Perhaps I never really had a say in the direction of the conversation to begin with.

“Well...I guess so...”

“And there is the fact that Nive Maris is currently in Maalt. Some distance between you and her is not exactly a bad thing, no?”

That was a point I could readily agree on. Nive was most likely here in search of a Vampire that wasn’t me, and she’d most likely continue her search. That, in turn, may cause my identity to be revealed.

I’d been bathed in Holy Fire and wasn’t worse for wear, hence I wasn’t a Vampire. That much was fine, but Nive didn’t seem like the type to completely let her guard down just because of that. So long as I stayed in this town, I’d surely cross paths with her at some point.

With that in mind, I could easily use this chance to leave Maalt, and eventually return when things were a little calmer. While it may seem suspicious of me to leave the town after being questioned by Nive, all I had to do was inform someone of the date of my return. There’d be little incentive for Nive to simply leave Maalt behind to chase after me, especially if she still thought there may be a Vampire lurking in the town.

But there was still one problem.

“It’s not a bad suggestion, Lorraine. But I do have an ongoing request. Unless my client agrees with what I have to say, this trip will be impossible.”

The ongoing request in question came from none other than Laura, in which I had to regularly pick Dragon-Blood Blossoms.

“Yes, I am aware.” Lorraine seemed to have already anticipated this... “You would have to discuss this with your client, Rentt. If it really is impossible, I will set out on this trip alone. There is one more thing I—well, you, too, Rentt—would have to put on hold: Alize’s training. We would have to inform her that she would be taking a short break, yes?”

Ah, there was that, as well.

Alize’s training periods were irregular. She had quite a few duties at the orphanage, after all, and she only attended sessions when her schedule permitted it. Plus, the goal wasn’t to have Alize become an adventurer right away. Lorraine and I thought about in the long term. When Alize came of age to register as an adventurer, she would already have some degree of knowledge and capability. She had the time to train slowly, so a break or two wouldn’t be too bad.

“There are some other matters here and there, nothing difficult to settle by any means. More importantly, Rentt, who exactly would you be going as?”

Lorraine was most likely asking if I would be going as Rentt Vivie or Rentt Faina. That was a troublesome question. However, considering I had to speak at length with the elders and reveal the fact that I was the one who’d repaired that shrine, I had no choice but to go as myself in this particular case.

There was the ever-present worry that I may inadvertently cause my false identity to unravel, but at this point, I no longer cared if my false identity was uncovered. I now looked the same as I did in life. I had a mask on now, but a single look at the top or bottom half of my face would surely allow them to remember.

As for me registering twice at the guild... If the guild really wanted to nitpick, yes, it would be a violation of the rules. Even so, the punishment, if any, would most likely not be severe. The most severe punishment doled out by the guild would be removing an adventurer’s name from its ranks, in addition to a worldwide ban at all the guilds across the lands. Such punishments were only delivered when an adventurer had caused great harm to the guild, committed genocide or other serious crimes, or had plotted against their kingdom or country. Punishment for registering twice would be light by comparison. In the worst-case scenario, it would be a fine of a few gold coins.

Thinking about it, there were quite a few people who registered twice. If anything, the guild may simply overlook my transgressions. Most adventurers were people with a checkered past, with certain individuals unable to reveal any details about their previous lives. Some individuals simply didn’t wish to operate under the name they’d used before. Taking all these factors into consideration, registering twice wasn’t a rare occurrence.

The guild, of course, knew about all this, it just chose to keep quiet about it in most cases. As a result, I could hardly imagine that I would be dealt with harshly.

I would cross that bridge when I came to it, but even then there would surely be avenues for negotiation. The guild was neither a strictly good nor bad organization, so it should be fine.

Shelving my thoughts, I looked straight at Lorraine before finally answering her question.

“I will go as Rentt Faina. I could simply change my equipment and change the look of my mask. It should work out...I think.”

“Ah, Mister Rentt! What brings you here today?”

The person who called out to me was none other than the Latuule family’s gate guard. His name was... Ah. I’d never asked. It seemed Laura or Isaac had informed him of my name in my stead.

“I have certain matters to discuss in regards to a request. Could you please ask for Isaac?”

“Of course... Hmm? Mister Rentt... You seem to be speaking much smoother today,” the man said, nodding as he manipulated some sort of magical tool he’d withdrawn from his pocket.

I nodded in response. “Yes. I was injured before and couldn’t speak properly. But I’ve since recovered, as you can hear.”

The man seemed convinced. “Haha, know a good healer or two, Mister Rentt? Whatever the case, that’s good to hear. Master Isaac will be here soon. Please wait for a little while.”

The man looked at the magical tool in his hands, then back up at me.

Soon enough, the living hedges of the Latuule family’s magical maze reshaped and parted, revealing Isaac coming our way.

It was always a strange sight—plants that had been still just before rustling here and there, rearranging themselves until a door-like passageway was formed. The spectacle before me almost made me feel like Jyulapus Ents weren’t all that mysterious. Maybe that wasn’t a fair comparison, since Ents were monsters. Monsters were somewhat removed from the normal ecology of normal flora and fauna to begin with. It really did seem pointless to think too much about them at times.

Despite this, it was true that monsters obeyed certain basic tenets and laws that governed their existence. That was precisely what scholars like Lorraine investigated. The fruits of their labor greatly benefited adventurers such as ourselves. One should really be grateful to these scholars and their research.

“Well met, Mister Rentt. I see you are not here to deliver Dragon-Blood Blossoms today. Are you perhaps here to address another matter...?”

Isaac looked the same as ever, with his silver hair and pale skin.

“Yes,” I answered his query. “In truth, recent events require me to undertake a journey of sorts. There is the matter of our agreement that I’d like to discuss, if possible...”

“I see. Perhaps it would be best to speak with my master directly then. Please. This way.”

With that, Isaac began walking. I’d surely become lost in this garden if I lost sight of him, so I quickly followed after.

“Mister Rentt, did you have something to discuss?” Laura asked after we exchanged the relevant pleasantries.

I was now in the guest parlor of the Latuule manor, having been led here by Isaac earlier. Laura’s dress today was different than the one she’d worn before. It was pure-white, for starters. The amount of fanciful frills on her being remained the same, though. Did Laura have multiple dresses like this one...? I felt the wealth of the Latuule family just by gazing at the garment.

“Yes. It has come to be that I must make a journey of sorts. It is, however, somewhat far away. If I had to place an estimate on the period of my absence, it would be about two weeks.”

“I see. So you wish to terminate the request then? In that case, we could simply suspend it instead. There will be no problems on our end once you continue doing as you have done after returning to Maalt.”

Laura’s response was unexpected, to say the least. It was a scenario I’d thought of, but more often than not, a terminated request would lead to the client simply searching for another adventurer to take the previous one’s place. But Laura did no such thing, and was instead suggesting that I resume my duties once I returned to Maalt. It was something to be appreciative of.

Perhaps Laura had picked up on my feelings on the matter, saying, “Of course, I do trust you, Mister Rentt. Adventurers willing to go to the Swamp of Tarasque once every week are relatively rare. In addition, even fewer of such adventurers capable enough to do so know how to properly harvest Dragon-Blood Blossoms. As such, I do not have much of a choice other than to rely on you, Mister Rentt.”

Laura finished.

She did have a point. It was under these circumstances that I was hired to deal with this request in the first place. But Laura could probably find a Gold-class adventurer somewhere for her needs. The fact she didn’t do this, and instead selected me for the venture, was indeed something to be grateful for.

“I appreciate your kind understanding. I will immediately contact you upon my return. On another note, perhaps I am simply being nosy, but what will you do in my absence...?”

“I will leave it to Isaac, just like I had before. As such, it would be highly appreciated if you could return at your earliest convenience... Of course, you do not have to expedite your journey on my account. Come to think of it, where are you travelling to? Hmm... No. If you would not like to mention it, I have no intentions of forcing you to tell me,” Laura said, suddenly aware of my undisclosed destination.

“I am headed to Hathara village.”

A village in the middle of nowhere—a rural village. I assumed Laura wouldn’t even know of its existence, but her appearance belied her wisdom and knowledge.

She immediately nodded.

“I see you are going quite far away indeed. Why are you visiting, if I may ask?”

I hesitated at her question. Should I answer her honestly? If I did answer, just how much should I reveal? It was a difficult decision.

Laura would immediately see through a shoddy, half-baked lie. That wouldn’t be good for the relationship of trust built between client and adventurer.

With those thoughts in mind, I decided not to reveal the entire truth to Laura, but instead give her a limited, but reasonably truthful explanation.

“To tell the truth, there is a small shrine in that village. I am traveling with the intent of visiting it.”

“Shrine...? Why though?”

“I have been blessed with great reserves of divinity, you see. That blessing had been granted to me by whatever gods or spirits that inhabit the shrine. As to what sort of gods or spirits they may be...I’m not certain. That is why I am travelling there, to discover the identity of my divine patron, so to speak.”

Laura nodded plainly at this, without the slightest hint of surprise. I’d told Isaac I possessed divinity when I first crossed paths with him in the swamp, so it wouldn’t be strange that Laura, being his employer and master, would know of this as well.

“Divinity... I see. A somewhat rare talent you have, especially since you are an adventurer. But... Hmm. I see... So that is what this is about. I understand. It is said that the blessing of gods and spirits intensifies in power once the blessed individual becomes aware of the identity of their patron.”

This was the first time I’d ever heard of that.

“Is that true? I am but a mere amateur when it comes to the applications of divinity. I don’t know very much at all when it comes to the more intricate details.”

“Most individuals gain an understanding of the basic applications of divinity the moment they are blessed. Of those who are blessed with divinity, over half would stop at this point of mastery. It is, however, one of the three great powers, alongside mana and spirit. As such, the proper use of divinity does have quite the long history behind it, along with many techniques to utilize it, most of which are kept secret by the numerous churches and religious bodies across the land.”

That did seem true. I had no idea how to reproduce the Holy Fire I’d recently observed. Even if one were to not go to such extreme applications, divinity probably had many other uses beyond strengthening one’s equipment, body, or basic healing and cleansing.

But there were no avenues of learning when it came to divinity. It’d be absurd for me to go knocking on some religious organization’s doors as I was now and undergo training to become some sort of priest. I wanted to become a Mithril-class adventurer, not the priest of fertilizers.

Laura continued, having even more good news for me.

“If you are going to investigate the origins of your divinity, Mister Rentt, why not take some tomes from the Latuule family’s collection? Tomes on divinity, of course. Recorded within are several techniques and methodologies for mastering certain applications of divinity, collected from a few churches here and there.”

...And just how did she come into possession of such tomes to begin with? Were they not zealously guarded secrets by churches and the like? Inquisitors would surely come knocking if such a thing was brought to light.

But I couldn’t deny that it’d be unmistakably helpful in a variety of ways. Not to mention that if I refused on the grounds of fearing a hypothetical inquisition, Lorraine would surely lose her temper at the wasted opportunity.