chapter 8

My awareness slowly but surely came back.

After the battle with Seira Grundt, I probably… lost consciousness.

Once I woke up, I made the mistake of getting up briskly.

Since she was worried about me, Meryl was looking right at me, and as I got up, our foreheads crashed into each other.

I couldn’t deal with the pain, and I fell back down on the bed writhing in agony. Meryl’s eyes welled up as well, and she held her forehead down.

The pain got worse. First off…

“What the hell are you doing, you useless goddess!?”

“Gyaaaaaa!”

I used Iron Claw on Meryl’s head, and she screamed in an unladylike fashion.

I held her like that for a moment, and when I let go, she wobbled her head, as though she had taken lots of damage.

“…jeez, what were you doing as soon as I woke up?”

I sighed, dumbfounded. Then, the door burst open, and Garuna came in.

“What was that scream!? Wait, Aruto-kun!? You’re awake?”

“Oh, good morning!”

Garuna realized I was awake, and with tears in her eyes, grabbed my shoulders with force.

“Are you okay!? Is there anything wrong with your body?”

“A-Ah! It’s nothing, so please calm down.”

“That’s good.”

The fiery Garuna calmed down. With that, she calmly looked at Meryl, and tilted her head.

“By the way… Meryl, why are you avoiding eye contact?”

“I gave her a little punishment.”

Garuna gave me a glare that screamed, ‘what did you do to her.’ I looked away and surveyed the room we were in.

“By the way, where are we?”

“This is the Adventurers’ Guild Infirmary!”

Lulu-san came into the room and answered my question.

Did I make her worry too…?

My gaze, however, moved to the person behind Lulu. The green-haired man… he saved me while I fell unconscious, I think…

“Your body looks fine, brave classless adventurer Asou Aruto-kun.”

“And you are?”

“My apologies. I’m Veig Crus, commander of the third squadron of the Phoenix Knight Corps. Pleased to meet you.”

Veig smiled and extended his hand out to me. I shake it.

“What’s the commander of the third squadron of the Phoenix Knight Corps doing at the Adventurers’ Guild?”

“Wait, Aruto-kun! That guy’s a knight, you know!?”

Veig’s standing was definitely higher than mine. Since I spoke so casually to such a person, Garuna fussily warned me.

Veig didn’t seem bothered by this and answered.

Whoa, what a big-hearted guy.

“Actually, I came here in search of Seira Grundt, who you defeated. And so I came to the Adventurers’ Guild, where I could easily find information. Following that, I saw a classless man inside, trying to become an adventurer. I was so curious that I ended up forgetting about the mission.”

Veig laughed, amazed at me.

Isn’t that enough, knight commander-san?

“And acting on the information I got that Seira Grundt was in Fielin Forest, I went on over there and saw that you guys had already beat her.”

“Still, you dealt the finishing blow, didn’t you?”

“Nah. You weakened her to the brink of death, and that allowed us to capture her smoothly. Of course, we captured her crew too.”

Hearing the news relieved me greatly. It wouldn’t have been great to hear that I went through all that pain for nothing.

The silence was broken by the rumbling of a stomach.

“…Oi, Meryl.”

As I called Meryl, she hastily came back and denied it.

“I-it’s not me!”

“…crap, that means it’s me.”

Tch, I couldn’t shirk the blame.

“Don’t shirk the blame on me next time!”

“My bad!”

I apologized to Meryl, whose cheeks were puffed in anger. Veig chuckles and made a suggestion.

“So, wanna eat something? It’ll be on me, of course.”

“Eh!? B-being treated by a member of the Phoenix Knights…!?”

“Garuna-san, don’t sweat it. I said that because I wanted to treat them.”

“But…” said Meryl and Garuna with apologetic faces. Not willing to let the conversation drag on, I answered apologetically too.

“Well, I’ll have to take you up on that.”

“Then, let’s go.”

We left the Adventurers’ Guild and went into a restaurant. Lulu accompanied us as well, saying it was time for lunch.

We sat down, eating the meal Veig had ordered.

When Meryl and I were in town, we came to this restaurant—all of their food was excellent.

“By the way, can I ask something?”

Veig stopped eating, and asked, his curiosity obviously piqued.

“What’s up?”

My hands stopped.

“Seira Grundt was level 30… the difference in level between you and her was clear. How were you able to beat her?”

“Ah, that. Our levels indeed had a huge difference. However, I was blessed with physical strength.”

Well, I guess it’s thanks to the goddess’ blessing.

“Taking advantage of that, if I could read my opponent’s moves, little by little, I’d be able to fight them.”

“A-aside from that… what you did that time really surprised me!”

“What’d he do that time?”

What Meryl was referring to was probably when I got impaled by Seira’s glaive on purpose.

Veig and Lulu-san, who weren’t there, tilted their heads.

“Aruto-kun… actually got hit with Seira’s weapon on purpose and took it from her when he saw an opening.”

“Eh!?”

“…you really put yourself in danger there.

Lulu-san was shocked at Garuna’s explanation, while Veig exhaled in admiration.

“That was the only way to beat her, so it couldn’t be helped.”

“But, as it turned out, Garuna-san dealt the blow instead…”

Meryl, you idiot, you’re saying too much!

“No, Aruto-kun gave me an opening for me to hit her.”

“So, in other words, it was a team effort!”

We all nodded to Lulu-san’s words.

Indeed, I had not done all the work by myself. Without Meryl, Garuna’s paralysis wouldn’t have been cured, and without Garuna, I would be dead meat.

“Team effort… those are my favorite words. Now then, Aruto-kun, I have a proposal.”

“A proposal?”

“Are you interested in joining the knight corps?”

The unexpected scouting surprises everyone but Veig.

From what I’ve heard, in order to join the corps, you have to be a rank A adventurer. I wasn’t even an adventurer yet, and my level wasn’t that high.

“Are you serious? Even if I don’t have an adventurer rank?”

“No, a man of your caliber would do well in the corps.”

It looks like he’s overestimating me.

“I see…”

I guess I had the knight commander’s approval…

“T-that’s amazing, Aruto-san!”

“That’s right! You aren’t even an adventurer, yet you’ve been recruited by the knight commander!”

Lulu-san and Garuna look at me excitedly.

…but I’ve already made up my mind.

“As much as I appreciate it, I think I’ll pass.”

My answer surprised everyone else. Veig coolly inquired as to why.

“A-Aruto-san!?”

“Can you hear me out?”

“I’m glad that the knight commander himself personally scouted me out. However, I’m not cut out for such a hard job like being in the corps.”

My basic answer left everyone but me speechless, and after a while, Veig burst out into a massive fit of laughter.

“Oh, I see! You’re really funny!”

No, what’s funny about that…?

“Sorry, Veig-san. Even though you asked me to join you…”

“It’s alright. It’s your choice, after all. By the way, just call me Veig if you want.”

“Then, just call me Aruto as well.”

Veig and I laughed together. After a while, he stood up.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Thanks for everything! Also, thanks for the meal.”

“Ah, by the way, tomorrow you’ll receive the reward money for beating Seira Grundt. Please wait for it.”

That’s good news.

“We’ll meet again.”

Leaving us with those words, Veig left the restaurant. Lulu stood up following him.

“Now, time to return to my work!”

Following this, Meryl and I both stood up.

“We’ll head back to the inn, too.”

“Right. Garuna, what’ll you do?”

I looked at Garuna, who was still in her seat, and she turned to me.

“I’ll drink coffee just for a bit more, then leave.”

“Alright. Okay then, see ya!”

We left the restaurant…

Then when we got back to the inn that night…

Meryl said she would be taking a bath in her own room, so I was on my side of the bed.

“Hm, it’s been a long time since I sacrificed myself…”

I rubbed the spot where I was impaled by the glaive, and my brain replayed the horrible memory of the event.

My life… nearly lost through sacrifice…

Just as I shook my head to forget about that horrible memory, I heard a knock on my door.

“Yes?”

“Aruto-kun, it’s Garuna.”

Garuna? What are you doing here at this time?

I opened the door and saw her.

“What are you doing at this hour?”

“Uh, by the way… I forgot to thank you. Thanks, Aruto… you’re the reason I’m still here.”

I chuckled at Garuna, who was blushing red, thanking me, and I replied while giggling.

“I told you, didn’t I? It was a team effort from all of us. Garuna, you’re the reason I’m still alive right now. Thank you.”

I said thank you as well.

As she heard that, Garuna smiled.

“You too, brave classless kid. ♪”

Oi, oi.

“Are you complimenting or teasing me…?”

My words were cut off by Garuna doing something.

That something being… her swooping in and kissing me on the right cheek.

I couldn’t make heads or tails of that.

“W-what are you doing?”

“O-okay. See ya, Aruto-kun!”

Her faced flushed red. Garuna walked away almost as if she was trying to run.

After seeing that, I sighed.

Jeez. Well, it seems like this world’s going to be quite a nice ride.

But at the time, I didn’t know what sort of trouble I would eventually encounter in the future…