novelraw Chapter 194: Gaining his Trust
Chapter 194: Gaining his Trust
That really was a tempting offer. Joining Vulcan’s group could give me access to a mountain of information related to the kingdom, not to mention the money that could come my way. I quickly responded to his proposal.
"I’m grateful for the offer, but I’ll have to refuse."
"You decided pretty quickly, huh? If you don’t mind, I’d like to know why."
"I have three reasons for refusing. First, there’s a promise I made to a certain girl that I would take her back home. Second, being under your leadership would mean that Diane, or even the others under my leadership, would have to shape their lives around that decision. I don’t think they’d like that, so I think it’s better not to."
"And the last one?" Vulcan asked, a trace of curiosity audible in his voice.
"I don’t like the idea of being under another man’s leadership," I answered bluntly.
I could hear surprised sounds coming from Falco, Jasmine, also known as Tanya, and even my white-haired Valkyrie. All of them seemed shocked that I had refused Vulcan’s offer so directly.
A deafening silence hung inside the tent for a moment, with Vulcan and me staring at each other with serious looks, until—
"Pfft! Hahahahaha!" Vulcan suddenly burst out laughing. "Looks like we think the same way. I never liked obeying other people’s orders, so I became the leader of my own group. It was difficult at first, but I can’t say it wasn’t worth it for me."
I let out a small laugh at his comment. Despite the initial animosity between us, he didn’t seem like such a bad guy to deal with now. As soon as he finished laughing, Vulcan turned to me, resuming his serious tone.
"Well, I don’t intend to take up too much of your time. I believe I owe you something: the information I obtained from the boy named Leo."
Finally, after so much work in a single night, I could get some answers.
"What I’m about to tell you is something I heard from one of my mercenaries, one of the men stationed in the city," Vulcan said to me. "I believe you’ll find it quite interesting. After all, the woman who asked me to hand you over is the same one who met with that Leo guy."
...
Inside a bar in Greenville, a young blond man was sitting at a table with a beer in front of him and a plate of food that was practically untouched. He had dark circles under his eyes and stared at his beer with a sorrowful look. He took a deep breath, grabbed his glass, and poured the beer down his throat as if trying to silence his emotions with alcohol.
"Cough, cough, cough!" It didn’t take long for him to start coughing because of his own inexperience.
"Oh my, oh my," a worried voice said as someone gave the young man a few pats on the back to help him. "You shouldn’t drink that much in such a short time."
The young woman stayed there for a while to help the young man, simply helping him recover from choking. She was the only one near him at that moment, and no one else was around to assist him.
"Do you feel better?" she asked him.
"Y-Yes, I’m fine," said the young man, still gasping. "Thank you for helping me."
"You’re welcome. Are you alone?" she asked him casually.
"Yes," the young man said with a sad look on his face. "I’ve been traveling alone for a while now."
A smile rippled across the beautiful young woman’s face, a smile that seemed somewhat wicked, but it immediately shaped itself into a friendly smile, one that could very well be the smile of a caring wife.
"What a coincidence," she said with a bright smile. "I’ve been traveling alone for a while too, but honestly, it’s kind of lonely being like that for so long, so..."
The young woman with deep blue hair and pink streaks beneath her locks seemed a little shy as she spoke to the young man. "We could be alone together. At least at this table."
The young woman was beautiful, so the young blond man couldn’t help but blush at such a request coming from such a beautiful girl. It seemed like an innocent invitation from the young woman, and the young swordsman didn’t seem to have any reason to refuse, so he accepted her at his table.
"Aah, that’s right. I forgot to ask your name."
The young woman gave him a gentle smile and said, "My name is Equidna."
"Nice to meet you, Equidna. My name is Leo."
"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Leo." Equidna rested her head on her hands on the table, her gaze fixed on the young man. "Are you a traveler? Could you perhaps be an adventurer?"
"Yes, I’m a Swordsman," the young man said, tapping the sheath fastened to his waist.
"How nice~" The young woman seemed very happy to hear that. "I’m an Awakened too. Although I can’t really call myself an adventurer."
"Really?" Leo seemed a little surprised by the coincidence between the two of them.
Their conversation went on for some time. Most of it was trivial, and as time passed, people gradually left the tavern until only a few remained inside. They might have only met a short while ago, but as if by magic, the young man seemed to answer the young woman as though she had earned his trust.
"But for a man like you walking around, you must surely attract plenty of looks from women, don’t you?" Equidna said to Leo.
The young man seemed a little uncomfortable with the comment, not as if it had offended him, but as if he wanted to avoid the topic.
"Or perhaps there’s already a young woman in your heart?" she continued, her tone lighter after reading his expression.
"It’s an old story," the young man said, somewhat hesitant. "I hope to meet her again one day, despite everything."
"Really? What is she like?" Equidna asked with interest. "I bet you like short, cute women."
"I don’t like touching on that subject. Can we change the topic?" he asked evasively. Although she wanted to know more, Equidna cooperated with him.
"All right, then tell me, what brings you to this city, Leo?" Equidna asked him.
His face closed off in sadness, and he could barely look her in the eyes. "I came here to try to join the Silver Fang."
"Oh, impressive. It’s certainly admirable to join the army."
"But I couldn’t," Leo said to her in embarrassment. "They told me my Rank wasn’t high enough and that they didn’t need an Awakened as weak as me."
"Poor thing~" Equidna said to him, her voice carrying a comforting tone.
"After leaving my old party and leaving my hometown... it was all for nothing."
"There’s no reason to be so sad," Equidna said, a little nervously, trying to make him feel better. "Maybe if you get stronger, you can try again."
"Pfft." Leo gave her a small laugh. "I used to think that too. I spent years trying to get stronger, but even after giving it my all, this is the best I can do. I fought with a friend of mine who was only trying to help me and abandoned my companions without even saying goodbye. I’m a complete idiot."
"Don’t say that!" Equidna stood up from the table abruptly. "I may have only known you for a short time, but I don’t believe you’re a bad man!"
Equidna’s hand rushed to Leo’s, grabbing it. The young man lifted his face towards her.
"I’m sure you’ll become stronger!" Equidna said to him with deep certainty.
They stayed silent for a while in that position, until Leo turned his face away, avoiding her gaze.
"Eh? Waaah!" Equidna was startled when she noticed that her cleavage was in Leo’s view. "I-I’m sorry!"
"It’s no problem," Leo said to her calmly.
"Really, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be so careless around a man." Equidna seemed to have recovered from her sudden shyness as she said to him, "But if your problem is getting into the Silver Fang, maybe I can help you."
"Eh?"
She moved closer to Leo, this time more carefully, as if she wanted to entrust him with a secret. "The thing is, I have some friends in the Silver Fang. They told me they urgently need new recruits, and they asked me to show them any Awakened I found."
Equidna took a silver medallion bearing the Silver Fang’s wolf emblem from one of her bags.
"It’s a... a real medallion!" Leo tried to hold back his surprise.
"Of course it is." Equidna puffed out her cheeks. "Do you think I’d recommend something fishy to you?"
Anyone offered something like that so conveniently would certainly find it suspicious, but the silver medallion seemed quite legitimate. The young man had seemed rather desperate until then, so it wasn’t strange that he felt compelled to accept the offer.
"But first, I’d like to know more about you, to see if I can really make that recommendation," Equidna said, as if she had placed the young man exactly where she wanted him. "Tell me more about your adventures."