Novel Bin Chapter 14: I Didn't Know (7)
Chapter 14: I Didn't Know (7)
「Cooperating and Companions | Some NPCs can cooperate with you: They are either Accompanying NPCs or Companion NPCs.
Accompanying NPCs only follow you until you reach a certain goal. You can either part ways with them earlier or, depending on their favorability, invite them to become your Companion.
Companion NPCs won’t leave you until the player decides to part ways with them. They can gather information, scout locations, etc.
Both Accompanying and Companion NPCs will act at their discretion, but you may be able to give them specific orders depending on their favorability.」
「Favorability | NPCs will react differently according to their favorability. It is not possible to directly check your Favorability level.」
Looking through the information provided by the System Window, I came to two conclusions. First, it was very hard to romance a Companion NPC. Second, I wondered how I could check those two’s levels.
However, the latter wasn’t actually that important, and the former wasn’t anything serious. If necessary, I wouldn't have a problem playing solo, either.
“Banish any thought of treating me as your Companion or the like from your mind. If it weren’t for the sake of killing Satan, I wouldn’t even dream of sharing a single space with you lot.”
To reiterate, I had always been so crazy about roleplaying and sticking to my settings that I often broke games because I wouldn’t take along any Companion characters.
“Do you understand?”
I wasn't all that regretful about favorability I never had, so I just delivered my lines in quite a ferocious manner.
However, the answer I got back was unexpected.
“Yes!"
…I tried to draw a line by saying she shouldn't treat me like a Companion, so why did she answer so brightly? Did her head really turn into a kimchi dumpling? She was still insanely cute, though.
That aside, I had no idea why her eyes were sparkling like that. No matter how hard I thought about it, weren't we supposed to have low favorability with one another?
Just what did I do for her favorability to rise?
I did leave her tongue attached to her mouth, which could be seen as me showing mercy in a way. But if I asked people whether that would raise one's favorability, 100 out of 100 would vehemently shake their heads.
Or what? Was our first meeting, when she was but a blank slate that had just entered society, too stimulating? Was it like the suspension bridge effect?
Or it was just a setting to help the player enter the plot. Something that caused whatever problems the player created before entering the Main Quest to be erased from their minds, making it more comfortable to join these two.
Hmm, well. That was the most likely explanation.
“…”
So what now? Setting the NPCs’ favorability aside, I had to resolve this situation somehow.
While breakfast was served, the atmosphere around us seemed rather ambiguous. Should I just talk to them like the Quest wanted? But how should I go about it without going against my setting—
“Found you!"
I gripped the sword hilt I was holding even tighter to look menacing. It was a reflexive action.
“Adventurer!”
When I turned my head slightly, I saw the errand boy of the Adventurers’ Guild who’d led me to that inn yesterday.
“What is it?”
I had to talk to those two, but that there smelled like a Sidequest.
As soon as I came to a decision, I turned around. Still conscious of the two, my face looked rather grim, so much so that the boy flinched when he saw me.
“…Erm, someone is looking for you…"
When the kid came closer and saw the two people next to me, he tilted his head.
He was probably surprised by the Inquisitor, who wore knight-like armor, and the Archmage, who was of a different race. It was rare to come across races other than humans—called ‘Middle’ here—unless one entered their territories.
Well, assuming that the settings I recalled had also been implemented in the remake.
“Erm…”
The child seemed rather nervous, so the Inquisitor greeted him lightly, and the Archmage smiled kindly at him, which helped him relax immensely.
“Sir Adventurer, the clerk is looking for you…”
…The clerk he was talking about was probably Izren. I checked the info on the Sidequest right beneath the Main Quest in my Quest list.
「❖ Danger in the Northwestern Forest
∎ Talk to Clerk Izren」
Even though it said I just had to talk to her, it more or less meant I should claim my reward. Even that rescue Quest from last time had stayed on my list until I got my reward.
“I-if you can wait, I can also bring her to…”
“Lead the way.”
“Huh?”
I usually would have asked him to bring her here, but the situation didn’t allow that right now.
Even though I agreed to accompany them, the relationship between those two and my character was still a mess, and I doubted my character would want to meet Izren with them after missing the time to share a proper conversation. As such, I decided to go there myself.
“I said, lead the way.”
Of course, there was a high probability that those two would follow me even if I went to the Adventurers’ Guild. Usually, after characters had joined your party, they would always follow after you.
However, I didn’t know if it was also like that in the Legend of Heroes remake, so I wanted to try it. No matter what happened, at least it wouldn’t be a loss to me.
“May I go with you? I have some business over there as well.”
Well, a game was still a game in the end.
I urged the boy to go ahead, not giving the other two a single glance as they stood. The puzzled child looked at the two others and me before energetically shouting.
“Follow after me!”The most uptodat𝓮 n𝒐vels are published on n0velbjn((.))com
The child took the lead, his steps seeming quite cheerful. His walk was actually closer to running, but it wasn’t that hard to catch up, given the different lengths of our strides.
“Why are you coming along?”
“You didn’t refuse when I asked.”
“So if I didn’t refuse, does that immediately mean I agreed?”
“It… It depends.”
Rather than that, did the Inquisitor study a bit about society…? I felt a little proud of her.
* * *
* * *
“Miss Clerk!"
When we reached the vicinity of the Adventurers’ Guild, the boy suddenly rushed forward. I had already reached my destination, so I didn’t bother hurrying after him.
“I found Sir Adventurer—Ah!”
When she saw the boy, the cheerful Clerk Izren made eye contact with me next. Her face stiffened a bit when she saw me.
“First, allow me to apologize to you.”
I was about to ask for my reward, but at her sudden remark, my eye twitched slightly. Don’t tell me they docked my reward…
“The thief has been handed over to the guards. Thieves don’t usually appear around those parts…”
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. She seemed apologetic that something like this happened to me in a place she had recommended.
“P-please give the inn another chance…”
“There’s no need.”
While I usually always welcomed additional compensation, I believed it would only be right to refuse that offer considering my character setting. I quickly managed to shake off any regret I might have felt and completely focused on the current situation.
“Is that all you have to say?”
“…Well, erm, are you hurt? I heard there was a fight.”
“Do you really think I would be harmed by someone as weak as that?
She had scratched my pride, so, of course, I would react like that.
The clerk was instantly taken aback by my fierce attitude.
“However, the Sage of the Magic Tower and the Inquisitor…?”
The clerk’s gaze, which had been on me as she spoke, shifted slightly. As this godly game perfectly simulated the natural movements of a person’s eye, I could immediately tell why she suddenly stopped.
The NPC finally noticed the two behind me.
“Y-you two…”
“Haha, it’s been a week.”
Oh, they had met before.
“The request…”
The clerk began to notice even more things. After thinking about her reaction a bit more, I had an inkling of what was happening.
As the middleman, she had been unable to stop that cranky old man from contracting another person for this request.
“Yes, yes. That guy caught it."
Still, they shouldn't feel too troubled about it, considering the aforementioned penalty fee. Was it because their image had been damaged? Although, it was a bit weird discussing image and pride when speaking about NPCs.
“We were the ones who were too slow to catch it, so it's alright that we don't receive any reimbursement. We are fine with just the advance payment."
“No, of course, you will be reimbursed for the trouble. It's our Guild's duty to protect the adventurer's rights, after all."
The clerk strictly shook her head at the remark of the Archmage, who reacted rather leniently to the matter. They didn't take a broker's fee for no reason, after all.
“But, why are you three…?"
“We got into a bit of an argument yesterday due to a misunderstanding yesterday, but we managed to resolve it and even decided to become a party as of today."
“Ah, so it's like that."
Well, that was none of my business, though.
“If you have no other business, let me ask you something."
“What is it?"
“When are you going to pay me?"
I thought she called me here to give me my payment, so why did she bring up something unrelated? Just give me my reward already. My reward.
“Ah, I sent an investigator yesterday, so the investigation results will be here tomorrow. I want to ask you to wait until then, Adventurer."
However, the clerk only provided this shocking news to me with a bright smile on her face. To a gamer, that answer felt like a slap in the face.
“Tomorrow."
As I fell into thoughts, I reflexively answered in a dismayed voice.
Th-that was a bit surprising, a game that took more than two days—sixteen hours in real-time—to give out rewards for a Quest.
“Yes. We need to be sure that the forest is really free of any danger… Is there a problem?"
The clerk even acted like there was nothing wrong with that. In hindsight, her reaction wasn't that unreasonable. Realistically speaking, it was only proper to go through these procedures and ensure it was safe.
But that was only true if this was reality. For something like that to happen in a game… was rather unexpected. It was good and all that it was realistic, but I felt like this was just too much.
“Ah, about that. We can guarantee it, so perhaps could you pay him in advance?”
Fortunately, the Archmage spoke up before my puzzlement was replaced with irritation.
“From what we saw, the only dangerous entity in the forest was the Medusa. As this young man has killed it, and we took care of the purification, there shouldn’t be any problem.”
“I can vouch for him as well!”
The kimchi dumpling also declared her intention to vouch for me. The clerk’s face immediately filled with bafflement.
“Umm… even if you two say that…”
“If there’s any problem because of this, just let the Tower or the Temple know. They’ll send someone to take care of this matter.”
“If you’re going that far, alright. I shall comply with your request and hand out your payment.”
The clerk turned toward me. It seemed I would receive my reward right away. I felt relieved, very relieved. I had been very nervous.
…I knew things turned out this way in an attempt to make it seem more realistic, but what could I say? It strangely felt like I only managed to shorten the time because I was with these two.
I wondered how they would have reacted had I chosen a different class.
“Please come this way.”
However, there was no reason for me not to take the reward because I deserved that one million Gal.
I followed after the clerk.
“Will your business in this city be over after this? Or do you have more to do here? Or do you already have your next destination in mind?"
The Archmage also sneakily followed me. I was all too familiar with the intent behind that question.
It was to get our schedules matched up.
“If you don't have any other plans, I'd like to leave this city by today, if you don't mind. Would that be possible?"
They were planning on going to the next city straight away. I didn't mind, so long as they gave me time to prepare.
However, we were leaving Tatara already? I thought it was still too early to completely change my base, though I didn't really mind moving to different hunting grounds like the Northwestern Forest.
“As long as there are Demons."
Nevertheless, I decided to give him an answer. I was still hesitant to initiate a conversation with him, so I felt grateful that he always started it.
“Oh, in that case, would it be alright if we left at 9? The group of merchants we were escorting for part of the way is leaving then."
There was a time limit?
“Is it too sudden? My apologies. We made that appointment before knowing you were here, let alone before you joined us. Of course, we can just cancel that request. We don't necessarily have to escort that merchant group to leave the town."
I twitched my eyebrows. It would seem I could postpone our departure, but the mere existence of that time limit felt strange to me.
Moreover, they would have to cancel a request to postpone it, so how could I?
If I had any other plans, I would have told them to just cancel it, but I didn't. I didn't set up this character to twist the truth for no reason. Honestly, he was the type to fulfill a request simply out of pride.
So, I had no choice but to accept that time limit…
The departure time probably wasn't 9 p.m., so it should be 9 a.m. Then, I likely hadn’t much time left. What time was it now?
I covertly scanned the area for a clock. Fortunately, one was at the front of the building we had just entered.
It was about 7:10 am. Then, I would have to move a bit faster.
Flutter.
As I busily calculated the time, the hem of my clothes fluttered as I picked up the pace to indicate that I agreed to their plans.
The Archmage and the kimchi dumpling followed after me. I felt like a mother hen with two chicks following behind.