Chapter 348: Chapter 348: Seclusion (3)

Everyone has a plan.

It's not guaranteed to work, but…

Amelia was no exception.

“…There was an organization I had my eye on. They were smuggling opium disguised as a relief effort and selling it for a high price on the black market… My original plan was to rob them.”

“And?”

“…The Security Bureau raided them while I was tracking them.”

I was speechless.

It was typical of her…

But at least it was better than robbing a bank, right?

I chuckled, and Amelia apologized sheepishly.

“…This was my mistake, so I’ll figure something out.”

What is she talking about?

I said firmly,

“It’s fine. Why would you solve it alone?”

In the first place, it would have been lost if she hadn’t extended the vault’s time limit, and Amelia had a 50% stake in it.

After all, we were on a party hunt when it dropped.

And besides, it was ridiculous to hold her accountable for this when she had already gotten the money for the Vol-Herchan essence.

“We’ll solve the money problem together. Got it?”

“…Because we’re companions?”

Wow, she’s actually saying that.

“Yes, because we’re companions. When there’s a problem, we don’t blame each other, we find a solution together.”

“…Okay.”

And so, we discussed a plan.

It was a difficult amount to raise in two months through normal means, but it wasn’t impossible.

The stocks she had bought two years and six months ago had skyrocketed.

“Borrowing money from that fairy… It’s possible, considering her wealth. But is it okay?”

“Huh? Is it okay?”

“That fairy is also your companion.”

“Ahem…”

Damn it, she’s hitting me where it hurts.

“Amelia, you’ve been alone for so long that you don’t understand. Companions help each other when they’re in need. Got it?”

“Is that… how you treat your companions?”

No, who said it was a one-sided deal?

We could just pay her back with interest.

“Anyway, that’s enough about that. Let’s talk about something else.”

“You’ve judged the situation to be unfavorable.”

“…Huh?”

“Isn’t that right? You usually change the subject when things are uncomfortable.”

Uh…

She was right.

“…….”

But was she always this playful?

Why do I feel like she’s teasing me?

“Just tell me what you wanted to say, Yandel.”

She didn’t even give me a chance to protest, so it seemed like she was intentionally teasing me…

But I just let it slide since I only had circumstantial evidence.

There was a more pressing matter.

“Ah, it’s nothing special. I was just thinking about how to introduce you to Erwen.”

I didn’t want to witness a team kill.

____________________

Tap, tap, tap.

Amelia clicked her tongue as I nervously tapped my fingers on the table.

“That’s annoying, so calm down.”

“…….”

“Are you that scared of her?”

“Wh, who’s scared? Erwen listens to me very well.”

I was just a bit nervous.

I had told Erwen that Amelia would be joining us, but human impulses aren’t always controllable.

I didn’t want to see Amelia explode again.

Especially not her real body.

Tick, tock.

That’s when, as time passed and I started to feel hungry…

Click.

…I heard the gate closing.

Erwen was back.

She was probably carrying bags of food for me.

Thud, thud.

Her light footsteps, characteristic of fairies, were approaching.

And…

Thud.

…they stopped in front of the door.

That was strange.

I clearly heard the doorknob turning, but why wasn’t she opening the door? And why did her humming stop?

“The door is open.”

Erwen muttered.

“…I smell a woman.”

I immediately jumped up and ran towards the door.

I had a bad feeling that things would go wrong if I just went ahead with the surprise event I had prepared.

“…Er, Erwen! You’re back!”

Erwen ignored my greeting and scanned the house as soon as I opened the door.

And then she fixed her gaze on Amelia.

“Amelia Rainwales.”

“It’s been a while, Blood Spirit Marquis. Is this your first time seeing me in the city?”

“…What are you doing here?”

“I followed you after you left the bank. Your stealth magic has improved, but it seems like you don’t use it much in real life. You should be more careful. You’re not the only one who lives here.”

Erwen muttered at Amelia’s answer,

“…Should I kill her?”

“Erwen…?”

“Ah, sorry. I was just thinking out loud.”

“Uh… that, that’s okay. It happens. Let’s… sit down. We can’t be awkward with each other, right? We’re going to be working together.”

“Okay.”

Erwen calmed down surprisingly quickly and sat down at the table. And she spoke in a casual tone,

“So I just have to get along with this woman?”

“It’s not ‘this woman’, call her by her name.”

“Then I’ll call her by her last name. Rainwales, right?”

“That’s right. You can call me Tersia.”

“Okay.”

The conversation ended there after Erwen’s curt response.

It was my turn to step in.

“Erwen, like I said before, Amelia will be working with us from now on.”

“What about her identity?”

“Don’t worry about that. Yandel prepared something while waiting for you to return.”

“…Why didn’t you tell me he was alive?”

“That’s a stupid question. How could I possibly tell you that?”

“We only spent six months together.”

“Hmm, I believe you spent even less time exploring the labyrinth with Yandel.”

Hey, why are they talking without me again?

“Alright, alright, calm down.”

I quickly intervened.

“I don’t know what happened between you two, but it was all just a misunderstanding, so why don’t we clear things up?”

I glanced at Amelia, signaling her to back down.

But…

“Well, I don’t have any grudges. I almost died on the 6th floor after losing both my legs and having to cling to a plank for three days because of her, but I survived.”

Right, so she had a reason to be prickly.

“…To think you were able to escape on a boat in that state.”

“Erwen.”

“…Don’t worry, I don’t have a huge grudge against her either. I just had the corpse of a Noark explorer I worked hard to kill stolen from me. Ah, and I also got my arm cut, but I guess that’s nothing.”

“But I didn’t kill you.”

“Are you saying you could have? You ran away as soon as our backup arrived.”

“Well… I achieved my goal. Thanks to selling his equipment, I was able to buy this dagger.”

Okay, let’s give up on trying to make them friends.

Companions don’t have to be friendly with each other.

I tried to smile and end the conversation.

“Haha, you’re fighting over such a trivial matter! Come on, shake hands and make up.”

A leader should always be smiling.

______________________

I moved on to the next topic after Erwen and Amelia awkwardly shook hands.

Straightforwardly, like a true barbarian warrior.

“Erwen, can you lend me some money?”

“Money? Why…?”

I told her about the Demon Crusher, and Erwen’s face hardened.

“So you want me to use my money to cover the cost of the essence this woman bought?”

“You could say that…?”

“…I’m sorry, but that’s a bit difficult.”

“…Huh?”

“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not because I don’t want to.”

Then why not?

Erwen muttered sheepishly, as if she was guilty.

“I don’t… have much money anymore… Really.”

Ah, right…

Come to think of it, she said she barely managed to buy this house after blackmailing the chieftain.

But I still had to ask.

“Then what about taking out a loan using this house as collateral?”

I felt like a scumbag, but I had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

“…Th, this house? It’s filled with memories…”

“You can just pay it back.”

“Yandel, you really—”

“Don’t scold mister. This is all because of you. How shameless.”

“What…?”

“So, okay? Don’t feel bad, mister. We can… just buy a new house… later…”

Her hands were trembling…

“…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say that! I’m doing this for you, mister.”

Anyway, it was decided that we would retrieve the Demon Crusher by using the house as collateral.

So it was time to make our next plan.

“We need to secure funds first, no matter what we do.”

“Yes. You’ll need new equipment and everything if you want to go back to the labyrinth. And we can… keep this house if we have money…”

“Wait, the labyrinth? We should be focusing on clearing your name first.”

Ah, right…

“I’m planning to postpone it because there are some suspicious aspects.”

Amelia nodded as I shared my concerns.

It seemed like she was also uneasy about it.

“Anyway, Amelia, I need you to find a new identity.”

“It’s not difficult to find one, but it will be impossible to completely hide your identity. There are still many people who remember you, even though it’s been over two years.”

In other words, it meant that a helmet wouldn’t be enough.

This wasn’t the past where I had no connections.

If I used [Gigantification], people would immediately think of Bjorn Yandel.

“Hmm, I think it’ll be fine if I’m just careful in the labyrinth…”

“It might work for a month or two, but someone will eventually recognize you—”

“What about absorbing an essence?”

Erwen interrupted.

“Essence?”

“Like what Ainar did. There are essences that shrink your height, right? If you shrink your height and introduce yourself as a human, no one would notice.”

Erwen looked at Amelia, as if wary of her reaction.

But…

“It’s definitely much safer than a helmet if you’re planning to hide your identity for a long time.”

…Amelia surprisingly agreed with Erwen’s idea and even praised her.

But could it be that she found it strange?

“That’s a good idea.”

“…It’s because it’s about mister.”

Erwen turned her head away coldly.

It was a heartwarming sight, but I had to intervene.

“Um…”

I’m sorry to say this, but…

“I don’t have any slots left for essences.”

I was still far from level 7.

And I didn’t have any essences I could remove.

Amelia chuckled after I explained my situation.

“Manticore.”

“…?”

“You said it was an essence you would have to remove eventually.”

…She’s taking away my jump key?