Chapter 34
I have to ask a difficult favor.
People who say such things usually come with troublesome requests.
Reinhardt stared intently at Fermil’s face.
He looked very uncomfortable. Like someone who had to borrow money from a friend he hadn't seen in a long time.
“A difficult favor?”
“People will be coming from Paganoa soon. They say it’s to investigate the traces. They are also men who know exactly what you have accomplished.”
“So.”
“They want to grasp the situation more clearly. They want to find and pull out the root of the evil. And as you know, the starting point of the Miller Caravan is……”
“Wait.”
Reinhardt hastily cut Fermil off.
It was obvious what the following content would be.
“If it’s an action you’ll be sorry for, it’s better not to do it in the first place. An apology given after the deed is done has no meaning.”
“……You have a point. Understood.”
Fortunately, Fermil did not pester him further.
It seemed he felt indebted to Reinhardt in his own way.
Reinhardt had to use that sense of debt.
So that the situation would not escalate.
So that after Fermil left Serigel, he could proceed according to his destined fate.
“In about two days, I’ll have to leave this place too. I’ve learned so much from you. I’m sure Evangeline felt the same way.”
“I’m glad it was helpful.”
“Do you have any more advice for me?”
“Advice?”
“You were right. I’ve realized that Sir Pedro’s style doesn’t suit me. If it weren’t for you, it would have taken me 10 years to realize it.”
Fermil, who said so, had a nonchalant expression.
There was no hint of his pride being hurt, or of being ashamed.
‘Has he changed a bit?’
Reinhardt felt a sense of crisis at that fact.
This incident seemed to have been quite a shock to Fermil. Both Reinhardt’s advice and the confrontation with the demon Agrio-s.
“None. I just stated the facts I saw with my own eyes. It’s something anyone could have done, not just me.”
“I wonder. To say that……”
“It’s true.”
“Alright. I won’t ask any more, so relax your expression.”
Reinhardt flinched. It seemed he had unconsciously put on a guarded expression.
Fermil seemed to have a lot on his mind.
After closing his mouth and being quiet for a moment, he looked at Reinhardt again.
“You also know that the creature was Agrio-s, right?”
“I heard.”
“And the fact that the Agrio-s we faced this time was a half-incarnation?”
“I did think it was insignificant for a demon.”
Ppi-bit-
At the familiar sound, Reinhardt shifted his gaze to the side.
His shoulder felt lighter.
Bitdori, which had been dozing off until a moment ago, was right beside him with an expression that seemed to say it was interested.
‘What is it?’
Why is it acting like this again? Reinhardt thought as he observed Bitdori’s state.
For some reason, its eyes seemed to be twinkling.
They were the eyes of a small child who had been told they would be bought candy.
Fortunately, it didn't seem to have any intention of doing anything. It was just looking back and forth between Fermil and Reinhardt.
“The meaning of what he said, do you know it?”
“What he said?”
“He said he would remember you, didn’t he.”
“……He did.”
Reinhardt answered with a bitter taste.
In the first place, it was a line he had never heard during his time playing the game.
To be honest, he hadn't even questioned it much.
‘Wasn't he just saying things?’
He had just thought of it as a cliché line that a villain spits out when retreating.
However, contrary to Reinhardt’s expectation, Fermil brought out a meaningful warning.
“That means that at any time, warlocks who follow him could come after you.”
“No way.”
“It’s true. He said he would remember you. He also said he would remember Serigel. But the words he said to me were a little different.”
Reinhardt hastily retraced his memories.
He recalled what the eye of Agrio-s had said to Fermil when darkness fell upon the world.
“You are in my memory.”
Agrio-s had certainly said that.
He had said he would remember Reinhardt, and he had said he did remember Fermil.
There was a clear difference between the two expressions.
“Exactly. He saw you for the first time, but I had experienced him before.”
Reinhardt’s head began to throb.
So what Fermil was saying now meant that Reinhardt’s name had been written in Agrio-s’s notebook.
It meant that he, along with the city of Serigel, had become a target to be destroyed someday.
‘So I’m on Agrio-s’s hit list…….’
Later on, he would be nothing but an insignificant boss.
But not now.
Even though it wasn't the complete Agrio-s, Reinhardt had been unable to move, like a frog before a snake.
After he had grown enough.
That is, when not only the [Justice] buff, but also Bitdori, had fully matured, the story would be different.
‘In that case, I have no choice but to raise my specs further. I have to build up Justice, finish raising Bitdori, and grow to a level where I can face Agrio-s without difficulty…….’
Having thought that far, Reinhardt’s body flinched.
‘No. What kind of crazy thought am I having.’
It was a thought that had occurred to him without him realizing it.
What did it mean to grow strong enough to face Agrio-s?
It was no different from willingly throwing himself into the main story.
It was a thought that had come to him due to an instinctive sense of crisis, but that path was one that would lead Reinhardt to his death.
“That can never happen.”
“Hm? What did you say?”
“Nothing, I was just talking to myself.”
He must not get swept up in the situation and forget his real goal.
Reinhardt’s ideal was in the safe rear.
Strength and fame had to be nothing more than preparations for that.
‘By the way.’
Reinhardt looked at Bitdori, who was nodding its head beside him.
‘Why is it doing that. Does it actually understand what’s being said?’
Bitdori does not understand human language.
That is, until recently, that had certainly been the case.
But what was this attitude it was showing now?
As if it were listening intently to the conversation between Fermil and Reinhardt, and even adding nods of agreement from time to time.
“What about your attendant? Wasn’t he always by your side?”
The attendant who had always kept in step with Fermil was nowhere to be seen.
At that, Fermil scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“He’s away on some business for a while. As I said before, no, anyway, I have something I need to do. He should be looking for a place for me to stay in Lockfort.”
“I see.”
It seemed better to change the subject…… It was the moment Reinhardt had thought that far.
“Ppit. Ppit? Ppi-bit!”
Bitdori suddenly flew to Reinhardt and began to make all sorts of gestures.
It pulled on Reinhardt’s sleeve and pointed at Fermil.
Then it even nodded its head quickly.
‘What?’
In the absurd situation, Reinhardt could not react properly.
Bitdori’s gestures continued.
It pulled on Reinhardt’s sleeve and pointed at Fermil.
And then it nodded.
‘Is it telling me to follow him?’
Reinhardt was so dumbfounded that he could only stare at Bitdori.
It repeated the action several times, and now it was even whimpering and pulling on Reinhardt’s finger with both hands.
And then, a change occurred.
The mission message that had been floating in the air became blurry.
[Injustice has been detected.]
*Track down the evil.
It was a message that remained without even specifying a concrete objective.
Because of that, the [Justice] buff was also still being maintained.
However, the letters blurred, and in their place, completely different content was filled in.
[Injustice has been detected.]
*Visit Lockfort with Knight Fermil.
*Track down the evil and pull it out by its roots.
*If you ignore the injustice, the effect of [Justice] will decrease.
Reinhardt stared intently at the new message.
Visit the city of Lockfort with Knight Fermil.
Track down the evil and pull it out by its roots.
Compared to before, it had become much more intuitive.
But the reason for the sudden change in content was.
‘……Because Bitdori wanted it to be so.’
However, unlike the message, there was no particular change felt from Bitdori at the moment.
It just continued to pull on Reinhardt’s sleeve.
Like a small child throwing a tantrum for a toy.
“Reinhardt? Are you alright?”
“Of course, I’m fine. Finish what you were about to say earlier.”
“What I was about to say?”
“The favor. You said you had to ask a difficult favor.”
Fermil’s puzzled expression changed as if he finally understood.
However, he shook his head with a resigned look.
“Ah, right. But it’s better not to bring it up. You’re right. It’s wise not to even start an action you might be sorry for……”
“No, you have to. Ask me. Now.”
Unless it was a matter of life and death, the mission had to be carried out.
As if sensing that, Fermil nodded reluctantly.
“Is that so? Alright. If you say so…… could you accompany me to the city of Lockfort? If you help me, it will be a great strength to me.”
“Can I consider that a request from the Paganoa Knights?”
“It is. I didn't want to drag you into this.”
“What is the role you want to entrust to me?”
“Your, in Paganoa, they expressed it that way. They said they wanted to borrow your intuition.”
Intuition, huh.
It seemed that the words Reinhardt had used as an excuse had been passed on to the higher-ups of the knightly order.
I just did what had to be done.
I was just able to do so.
If one were to take those words at face value, it was more than enough to be misunderstood as a ‘person with sharp senses’.
“Ppit! Ppit!”
Only then did Bitdori seem pleased with Reinhardt’s attitude.
It let go of the sleeve it had been pulling and was now doing a strange dance in the air.
It was clearly something like a dance of joy.
“Alright, what’s the specific objective?”
“What objective are you talking about?”
“The mission’s objective. Exactly up to what point, when the mission ends. There must be something like that, right?”
The incident had already occurred anyway.
But he couldn't be dragged around indefinitely.
He had to set a clear objective so that he could pull out and run back to Serigel as soon as it was achieved.
“It’s not a particularly special mission. We just need to check if Avara, the warlock who was the leader of the Miller Caravan…… left anything behind.”
“And if she didn't leave anything behind?”
“At that point, the mission is concluded.”
“And if she did?”
“In that case as well, the mission is concluded. The subsequent matters will be handled by other personnel from Paganoa.”
In that case, the conditions were not bad at all.
The ambiguous conditions had become more clear, and at the very least, the scale of the matter would not get any bigger than it was now.
It meant that they would search moderately, and whether they found something or not, Reinhardt’s role would end there.
“Let’s get ready.”
At Reinhardt’s answer, Fermil’s expression brightened up.
And, so did Bitdori’s.