Arifureta Vol 6 Chapter 4 (2/2)

What Hajime implied was they wouldn’t accept it because they didn’t have the required strength.

“Didn’t you instant-kill a “Black” called Leganid? Also… … for someone who easily searched around inside the Raisen Grand Canyon, do I need to say more ?”

” ! How did… … the letter? But, I didn’t say anything…”

No one had heard the story of Hajime and his party searching around the Raisen Grand Canyon. Therefore, unless it was from the letter, there was no way for Ilwa to know about that. But, he was doubtful about how Catherine learn of this. While Hajime puzzled it over in his head, s.h.i.+a timidly raised her hand.

Hajime turned towards s.h.i.+a with a suspicious look.

“What is it, s.h.i.+a?”

“U~mm, I inadvertently told her when we talked… … Teehee?”

“… … I’ll punish you later.”

” !? Y-Yue-san said it too!”

“… … s.h.i.+a, you traitor.”

“I’ll punish both of you later.”

Apparently, the culprits were Yue and s.h.i.+a. Hajime declared to punish them, and the two were pa.s.sively drenched in cold sweat. Looking at their appearances with a wry smile, Ilwa continued his talk.

“Although the probability of them being alive is low, it’s not zero. Because the Count is my friend, I want you to begin as soon as possible. What do you think? There’s no one but you here. Will you accept it?”

Ilwa’s att.i.tude was as if he was begging him, the guild was simply responsible for the commission, but he included more emotion in this. For him to be a friend of the Count, it’s possible he’s acquainted with the missing Will. So he personally felt anxious for his safety.

“Even if you say that, we already have a destination for our journey. We are only here because it’s along the way. We won’t go to the northern mountain range area. So, allow me to refuse.”

Hajime, even though it’s a matter of the life and death for a n.o.ble’s third son, unhesitantly refused him. However, maybe he foresaw that, Ilwa immediately proposed a reward faster than Hajime could stand up from his seat.

“I can increase the reward, you know? Although the reward listed in the application is in the form of cash, let me add more appeal to you.. I’ll promote your guild rank. If it’s your abilities then becoming “Black” is okay.”

“Well, I don’t care about money and rank, that’s why…”

“Then, in the future, when you have some trouble related to the guild, I can be your support, how is that? To have the guild head of Fhuren branch’s support, you’ll have influence inside the guild you can brag about, you know? You and trouble are pretty close after all. So, isn’t it good as a reward?”

“That’s a big treat for me. Aren’t you putting in too much effort for a friend’s son?”

Toward Hajime’s words, Ilwa’s expression crumbled. It became an expression full of regret.

“He… … Will accepted the request after I recommended it. I was also the one who pa.s.sed the talk about the investigation request to the party. Even if you said there’d be an accident in the investigation, I thought there’d be no problem if he was with a party that had the required strength. I meant no harm. Will was not suited to be a n.o.ble, and he had yearned to be an adventurer for the longest time… … but, he didn’t have the disposition. Therefore, if he were with strong adventurers, then he could go to dangerous places. I only wanted him to realize that it was impossible for him to be an adventurer. He was already attached to me at a young age…. … that’s why, even though I wanted him to give up after this request…”

While he heard Ilwa’s monologue, Hajime thought about it slightly. It seemed there was a thicker relations.h.i.+p between Ilwa and Will than Hajime thought. Although he had said that with a clarifying face, internally, Ilwa must be clinging to the last straw of hope. Will’s odds of survival would become closer to zero as time pa.s.sed. Having proposed such unreasonable rewards showed that Ilwa was in a hurry.

Hajime was also fed up with making excuses for Yue and s.h.i.+a’s identification every time they came near a town. That’s why it’d be convenient to use this person’s name in order to access a town’s facilities from now on. Moreover, he had zero intention of catering to the Church of Saints or the Kingdom, and someday he might be labelled as a heretic. If that happens, it’d become extremely difficult for them to stay inside a town. That’s why it was a nice thing to have a personal connection that could clear that hurdle.

So, Hajime thought that if he wanted the support of a big city guild’s branch head, in this case, they must tell him their circ.u.mstances and forbid him to speak of it, so they could use him in times of inconvenience. Because he seemed extremely intimate with that Will person, if they brought him back alive, Ilwa couldn’t be ungrateful to them.

“Although there’s no need to think about it because you already said that much… … I have conditions.”

“Conditions?”

“Aa, they are not something difficult. I want you to give status plates to Yue and s.h.i.+a. After that, promise me you won’t tell anyone about what’s written there. Furthermore, even if it isn’t related to the guild, I will use all of your connections, for our convenience. These two.”

“That’s too…”

“If you can’t, then pretend we never talked about this. We are going.”

Because of Hajime who tried to stand up from his seat, Ilwa and Datt displayed expressions filled with impatience and agony. Although the first condition was not a problem, his second condition essentially meant that he wanted the Fhuren guild branch’s head to be the limbs of a single adventurer. Because he had his own responsibilities, he couldn’t immediately accept it.

“Can I ask why you demand that?”

“There’s no need to be that negative. They aren’t unreasonable demands, you know? It’s just that our existences are peculiar, that’s why when marked by the church… … No, from now on, I am sure we’ll be marked, so at that time I only want to use you to make it easier for us. It’s also good if you just become our allies in times of trouble. For example, not refusing us to use the facilities when we become wanted…”

“Is it certain you’ll become wanted people? Fumu, personally, your secrets make me anxious. Although Catherine-sensei said you’re not bad people… … now that you mention it, s.h.i.+a-kun over there has marvelous physical strength, and although I didn’t see it, from the report Yue-kun has conjured a never before seen magic spell… … your secrets must be along those lines… … following that, you said that you’ll sooner or later be marked by the church… … you also didn’t try to hide it, and it looks like you are already prepared for that… … it’ll surely be hard to move into towns when that happens… … that’s why to make it easier for you…”

As expected of a big city’s guild branch head. He quickly thought inside his head. Ilwa thought about it for a while, then he matched his gaze to Hajime’s having decided what to do.

“I absolutely can’t support you when you ask for help for doing a crime because of ethics. So, I’ll hear the details of your request first, only then I’ll judge what to do. But, I promise I’ll at least be your ally… … I can’t concede more than this. What do you think?”

“Well, if it’s like… … I’ll accept it. Also, it’s okay for the reward to be given after the request is finished. I’ll bring back the young master dead or alive, is that okay?”

For Hajime, it was his first priority to obtain the status plates for Yue and s.h.i.+a. It’s unnatural for them to not have status plates because it’s somehow always being requested to be shown, this was his first reason, and ultimately to make an excuse every time they came to a town was troublesome.

The only problem was that the person who prepared the status plates at the beginning would make a commotion, so he wanted to avoid it, but Ilwa’s existence solved this problem. However, even if he made a verbal promise as the condition, there are still doubts. Sooner or later, the peculiarity of Hajime and his party might come to light, so it was not preferable because he might change sides immediately. That’s why Hajime said to give the status plates as a reward after the request was completed. Whatever Will’s shape was, Hajime would gain the answer from his afflicted heart, and he could calculate if Ilwa was good or not.

Ilwa was also able to guess Hajime’s intentions. With a bitter smile, he felt relieved finding someone who could accept the search request.

“Truthfully, although your secrets make me anxious… … that’s, I’ll wait for you to finish the request. Just as Hajime-kun said, no matter what shape he is in, I want you to find traces of Will and the other… … Hajime-kun, Yue-kun, and s.h.i.+a-kun… … Please take care of it.”

Lastly, Ilwa looked at Hajime and his party with earnest eyes, then bowed his head. A big city guild branch’s head bowing his head to adventurers. It wasn’t something usual. It was because he was Catherine’s pupil that his goodness as a person oozed out.

Having seen Ilwa’s appearance, Hajime and his party stood up and without any eagerness, they lightly answered him.

“Kay.”

“… … Nn.”

“Yes.”

Afterwards, they were given the downpayment, and a letter of introduction for the lakeside town at the foot of the mountain range area. They also received information about the investigation request that was given to the adventurers, and finally Hajime and his party left the room. Batan, the door was closed with a slam. Ilwa stared at the door for a while, then, “Fuu~”, let out a big sigh. Inside the room, no one spoke a word, then Datt anxiously spoke to Ilwa.

“Branch head… … Is that okay? Such rewards are…”

“… … Will’s life hangs in their hands. I can’t ask anyone besides them. So, it can’t be helped. Furthermore, they already agreed that I can judge first whether to lend them my power or not. There’ll be no problem. Also, their secrets…”

“What’s displayed in the status plates will be an “inconvenience”, is it…”

“Fumu, Datt-kun. Did you know? Herrlich kingdom’s Hero party, it seems all of them have unexpected statuses, you know?”

Datt opened his narrowed eyes wide because of Ilwa’s sudden story.

” ! Branch head, the summoned ones… … you mean one of them is “G.o.d’s Apostle”? But, from their tone it seems they are opposing the church, isn’t the Hero’s party managed by the Church of Saints?”

“Aa, it’s just as you said. But… … around four months ago, it seems one of them died inside the Orcus dungeon. He fell into the Abyss along with a demonic beast.”

“… … don’t tell me, that person’s still alive? If you said four months ago, isn’t the Hero’s party still full of novices? Although I don’t know what it’s like at the bottom of Orcus, to survive that…”

Datt couldn’t believe it as he shook his head, and denied Ilwa’s guess. However, Ilwa who somehow gave out an interested expression and once again glanced at the door from which Hajime and his party had left.

“That is true. But, if that’s so… … there must be a reason why he didn’t rejoin with his companions and even went on a journey, right? Just what did he see in the bottom of the darkness, just what did he obtain?”

“Just what… … that is huh…”

“Aa, no matter what it is, surely, it’s something worth making him decide to oppose the church. To put it frankly, he’s determined to even oppose the world.”

“The world…”

“For me, I want to make connections with such a peculiar man by all means. For example, even if they are chased by the church and the kingdom, right. Rather, Sensei might have guessed that, that’s why she purposely gave them this letter.”

“Branch head… … please be sure to know when to quit, okay?”

“Of course I will.”

Towards the story on such a large scale, Datt became dizzy, even so, as Ilwa’s head of secretary, he didn’t forget to advise him. However, Ilwa was deeply in thought when he heard Datt’s advice only replied in half absent-mindedness.

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