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Volume 13 Chapter 1 Part 1

Chapter 61: Library

Character Name:
『Kaga Michio』

Current Levels & Equipment:
Adventurer Lv.41
Hero Lv.49
Mage Lv.37
Wizard Lv.52
Priest Lv.39

Equipment:
Sacred Spear
Alma
Hardened Leather Helmet
Hardened Leather Gloves
Dragon Leather Boots
Earring of Offerings

We had come to report the results of our investigation to Grandma. By Grandma, I mean the elder of the elven clan that Rutina, our newest companion, belongs to. As expected of an aristocratic family they seem to have such a position as an elder, but I don’t know if it’s because they’re some kind of special aristocrats or because all the members of the upper class of society have something like that.

It was wonderful to be able to add such a beautiful aristocratic lady like Rutina to my harem, but I feel like it might be a bit of a hassle in that it also comes with some annoying ties like that. Then again, that’s how bothersome it might be to actually be an aristocrat.

In any case, it’s not like I can just deal with her myself, and that’s why I have Rutina with me. Well, it’s not like I have to support her in everything she does, and so far at least she has not been a hindrance.

 

Basically, our relationship can be summed up as one based on some kind of mutual aid or favors. She seems to want to help Rutina, who was on the verge of losing her place as the possible heiress to the clan after she became my slave as a consequence of her father slacking off with his duties of the Labyrinths subjugation, so I don’t think it’s going to be a bad thing for us. As long as she doesn’t suddenly come to the conclusion that she has to get rid of me in order to help Rutina, that is.

Basically, she’s all about just helping Rutina now that she stumbled a bit on her life’s path, and I don’t see it as a bad thing. It might even be a blessing in disguise. If she doesn’t interfere in our lives too much, I just need to go along with helping her from time to time for a while. However, if she does end up interfering with us too much, I’ll have no choice but to cut my connections to her.

That, or we might just run away as far as possible so that she won’t ever find us.

「Unfortunately, it seems that two of the stopovers on the way to Grineer have been abandoned, and the third one is probably abandoned as well. 」 Rutina reported to Grandma.

The thing that Grandma wanted her to do was to go to a place called Grineer and see if she could obtain any information about what happened to it. As for the request itself, it ended up in a failure, since we couldn’t reach our ultimate destination of Grineer, but we concluded that it should be enough to just report about the stopovers.

「Is that so? Was it impossible after all? 」

Apparently, Runina’s grandmother also knew that she was asking for the impossible.

「Yes. It seems there’s nothing more that can be done about this matter. 」

「I thought that you would be able to reach it since you are such a good Adventurer, but I guess it was too demanding of a task even for someone like you. 」

It should be more than enough for you to know that you won’t be able to reach Grineer, Grandma.

「There’s nothing more we can do about it, grandmother. 」

「Yes, I guess it was impossible for you guys after all. 」

Say whatever you want, but you really asked us for the impossible.

「Yes, it was impossible. 」

Rutina was also putting a strong emphasis on the word 「impossible」. That’s right, Rutina, you tell her!

「It’s a shame, truly. I thought you were a capable Adventurer. 」

「No matter how good of an Adventurer someone might be, the impossible is still impossible. Your judgment of the whole situation was wrong. 」

That’s right! That’s the spirit! Maybe you could also tell her that she’s senile already? In fact, she looks senile, so it wouldn’t be an offense, but stating a simple fact!

「Hmph. It’s still ten years too early for me to be considered senile, girl. 」 the old lady retorted harshly.

As for me, I haven’t said anything yet. It was not the time for me to speak just yet, or at least that’s what I was telling to myself.

Rather, Grandma really said such a cliched line about it being 10 years too early for her to be considered senile, huh? Doesn’t that prove just how senile she really is, though? Or maybe that is her roundabout way of saying that she is going to be the head of the clan for another 10 years? Please spare me that scenario. Please.

「No, grandmother. I didn’t call you senile. I just said that you made a mistake in your judgment. 」

What Rutina said was harsh, but she was essentially right. After all, it’s not a rule that you can make mistakes in judgment only if you’re senile. We all make mistakes, even if we are perfectly calm or of sound mind. Still… she is an old lady, so while it’s not like she couldn’t make a mistake in judgment regarding us, she could definitely do much better than assuming that we’d be able to fulfill her request just because of my reputation.

「I know, but it still sounds inappropriate coming from a girl whose family has a bit of a reputation for having poor judgment in important matters, don’t you think? 」

Rutina is the daughter of Count of Selmar, who had been slacking off with his duty of the Labyrinth subjugation – for which he was punished.

「What I think is that this report is now over. Let’s go home. 」 said Rutina as she ended her conversation with her grandma and turned back to face me.

She must have thought that her parents have nothing to do with this, and was displeased with her grandmother bringing it up. However, in this world, and especially in aristocratic society, it cannot be said that the failures and misgivings of the parents won’t have an impact on their child’s social standing. In such a dog eat dog world, the sins of the parents will often have to be repaid by the children. As the old saying goes: 「The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. 」.

However, it is because the Earl of Selmar was slacking off on the duty of Labyrinth subjugation that Rutina came to me as my slave when the whole raid on his home was over, so I can’t really say anything about it. Yeah, no comment.

As Rutina was about to leave, grandma stopped her by saying,「Oh, that’s right. Before I forget, allow me to give you permission to enter the library in the annex building. 」

「A library? 」I asked.

Rutina seemed to want to go home already, but I didn’t know if it was okay, so I asked that instead.

「Yes. It is an archive for information about the Labyrinths located in the areas our clan has influence over. If you research them there, it might prove useful in your future forays into the Labyrinths. 」

「I see. 」
Information is important, especially in this world where there is no internet, so you can’t just research the things that interest you online. The Imperial Liberation Society’s lodge also has a reference room, but it’s probably the same thing as a library – just named differently.

「You are a disappointing Adventurer who couldn’t even reach Grineer, but it would be remiss of me if I let you go without giving you any reward for your troubles, so you can consider it as a favor from me towards your betterment. 」

「Rutina, we are going back home. 」

This old hag was really rude with her comment just now. It was stupid of me to react to her at all.

「Yes. Let’s go home. 」 Rutina said as she opened the door and tried to leave the old hag’s room…

「Hey, Ryuuto. 」

「Yes, Milady? 」

「I’m giving these two permission to enter the library from now on. Take them to the annex. 」

「Understood. 」

… but she gave instructions to the man outside the room without paying heed to us. Looks like she was really insistent about giving us the right to enter the library.

「Even if it ended in failure, it was still a request I made of you. I believe that even a worthless Adventurer like you should be able to go in and out of the library, and since your little expedition wasn’t a complete waste of time and you worked hard for it, then this much should be fine. But only a little. 」

「O…. kay? 」