Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Volume 7

by Funa

  “We aren’t going to tell any of the hunters besides the Servants of the Goddess,” Reina declared.

  The other three nodded.

  The Vow, by now, had learned a thing or two—including the fact that, if you spoke on subjects you weren’t good at, no good could ever come of it.

  “So, we were thinking it’s about time for us to move on to the next town…”

  That evening at the guildhall, they caught the Servants of the Goddess, who were just on their way back from doing some daily requests, and led them back to their room at the inn. If they’d had this conversation at the Guild’s dining corner, all eyes and ears in the room would have been on them, so they had little other choice. They couldn’t use a restaurant for a conversation that they intended to be brief, and anyway, talking in a restaurant would be as bad as talking at the guildhall.

  “I see. We’ve learned a lot from you all. Good luck on your journey,” said Telyusia, leader of the Servants, with a smile. The other members offered their parting words one after the other.

  And then, there was Leatoria…

  “Please do your best out there! I look forward to the day when we can meet again, someday, somewhere. Until then, I’ll work had to become a full-fledged hunter, too!”

  Unexpectedly, she was acting like a completely normal person, not trying to chase after them, or even stop them…

  “What was that all about?” asked Mile. “They were so attached to us before. Have we grown apart so quickly?”

  “Maybe they had some—what was that you called it? ‘Character development’?—while we were away?” Reina offered.

  “I doubt that’s the case,” said Mavis.

  As the three of them puzzled over the encounter, Pauline grinned.

  “I thought that something like this might happen, so I made a request to Telyusia a while ago. I thought we should give it our all to put on a bit show for little Leatoria, of hunters on a journey, surprising friends one hadn’t seen in some time and impressing those friends with how much she’s grown in a moving scene of reunion…”

  “Oh!”

  The others understood immediately. This was a narrative pattern often used by up-and-coming young authors. Apparently Reina was not the only lover of these stories.

  “Now then, it’s off to the Aura estate!”

  “It pains me to see you go, but this is something you must do for your own sakes. You really have helped us a great deal. If you ever have the chance, please stop by again someday. And, if you are ever in trouble, please don’t hesitate to call upon the house of Aura. The payment and reward that we’ve given you is not nearly enough to truly repay you for all that you have done.” The Baron continued, “Before you go, might I say one thing?”

  “Yes, of course,” Mavis replied.

  The Baron took a deep breath and then screamed at the top of his lungs, “Why did you have to make being a hunter sound like so much fun?! Being a hunter is a wretched, miserable, garbage excuse for a profession! It’s dangerous, you might die, and you’ll always be hurting for money! How can you all look like you’re having so much fun, always prim and proper, not even a scratch on you?! It’s thanks to your stories that my precious daughter, my precious Leatoria is…!!!”

  “W-welp, gotta go!!!”

  The Crimson Vow ran as fast as they could, leaving behind the Baron and his tear-stained cheeks. Behind him, the rest of the Aura family and their staff bowed their heads and waved farewell to the girls.

  “Boy, that was scary!” said Mile.

  “I guess we got to see the Baron’s true colors. Still, we did mess up, didn’t we?” Mavis lamented.

  Both of them seemed to share a sense of responsibility.

  “None of our business though,” said Reina.

  “It’s his own fault, really,” agreed Pauline.

  Neither of them felt any guilt at all.

  Every man’s problems were his own. Such was a natural philosophy for a hunter and a merchant. However, it was a concept that Mavis, who aimed to be a knight, and Mile, with her peculiar collection of philosophies, were unfamiliar with.

  “Now, all we have to do is say our goodbyes at the inn and head out!”

  That morning, a party of five hunters had set out, and that evening, only three of them had returned.

  Another party had set out on escort duty, leaving their luggage, but their faces had not been seen on the day when they were scheduled to return, nor in the days that had passed afterward.

  Such things were common. So, from a young age, many children of innkeepers developed a peculiar sense of life and death. Little Faleel was just one of those children.

  “Are you all leaving now?”

  “Y-yeah…”

  She’s gonna cry! Mile thought, unthinkingly throwing her arms around the girl. However…

  “Is that so? Thank you for lodging with us. I hope you decide to stay at our inn again next time!”

  “Wh…?”

  Her response was businesslike and abnormally calm for her age. She did not appear to be moved at all.

  “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!” Mile screeched, “Am I just chopped liver to you?! What about all that time we spent together, all those warm nights? Did that mean nothing to youuuuuuu?!”

  “Can you not say things that sound so suspicious?!” the innkeeper shouted.

  Smack!

  Reina joined in on the scolding, chopping Mile right on the crown of her head.

  “Don’t go shouting things that make Faleel sound like damaged goods to everyone within hearing! What’re you gonna do if people start spreading strange rumors about her?!”

  “Huh? But those nights…”

  “Those were the nights when it was too humid to sleep, so you stayed up late telling her bedtime stories, weren’t they?!”

  “B-but those steamy nights…”

  “And it wasn’t just the two of you! All of you were there! And it wasn’t ‘steamy,’ it was ‘humid’!”

  The innkeeper, Faleel’s father, seemed about ready to blow.

  “A-anyway, thank you for everything!”

  “Oh yeah, same here. I can’t thank you enough for rescuing Faleel. If you ever pass through this town again, I hope you’ll decide to stay with us.”

  “Thank you for everything!”

  “See you again someday!”

  “Farewell!”

  And so the five girls each said their words of parting and bid farewell to the inn that they had called home for all those weeks, leaving the humble building behind.

  “Now wait just a minute!” the innkeeper screamed.

  “What is it?”

  “Don’t ‘what’ me! What do you think you’re doing trying to whisk Faleel away like that?!”

  Faleel, who had nearly been led over the threshold, one of each of her hands clasped in Mile’s and Reina’s, looked on blankly.

  ***

  “So, where to next?”

  Mile, who had no understanding of the general layout of their surroundings, had left the route planning to the other three members of the Crimson Vow. Both Mavis and Pauline had a fair bit of knowledge, but in the end they had left the decision-making to Reina, who had actually traveled the countries of this region on foot alongside her father.

  “Stopping through all the little towns and villages takes too much time, and they don’t have a lot of value if we’re trying to promote ourselves. The only time they’re worthwhile is if there’s some interesting job there. Our plan initially was only to travel between the larger towns anyway. The only places we should stop long-term are capitals or cities of comparable size.”

  This was fair. The other three nodded.

  “Anyway, let’s aim for the capital of the next country over. We’ll stop at each of the little towns in between for just one night, check in at the Guild for jobs and information, and if there are no interesting requests, we move on. We’ll plan on spending at least a few days in any larger towns. The length of time we stay will depend on t
he circumstances. We won’t even bother staying in any villages—it’s a waste of money. Instead, we’ll just camp out.”

  With a nod of approval from everyone, it was settled.

  Normally, sleeping outdoors was a far inferior experience to staying at an inn. Even with the latest advancements in outdoor technology on modern-day Earth, a tent that would sleep four would be incredibly cumbersome and heavy. In light of the much less-developed technologies of this world, a comparable tent set would be impossible to transport without a wagon. At most, one might be able to carry a bit of waterproofed canvas, and only one blanket per individual, and even that made it difficult to bring very much other luggage.

  Furthermore, you had to sleep on the hard ground, do without heat, be swarmed by mosquitos and other pests, and worry about monsters. It was not the sort of luxurious stay that allowed you to kick back and relax until you were fully recovered.

  Therefore, even if it was more costly, hunters generally chose to sleep at an inn, when given the opportunity. Letting one’s health and form go to pot simply to save a bit of money, only to die on a job the next day because one was ill-prepared to fight, was a common rookie mistake.

  Even if you were in the tiniest of villages, if it had an inn, you stayed there. If it didn’t have an inn, one might beg to stay at the home of a local; even being given a barn to sleep in would be a big help.

  And then, there was the matter of food.

  Of course, a good night’s sleep was one reason to stay at an inn, but the possibility of enjoying a wholesome meal was another important factor.

  A good meal was one of the few pleasures in a hunter’s brutal life. Out in the field, one had no choice but to eat whatever crude thing was lying around, so when you had the chance to eat something good, you took it. There wasn’t a hunter around who did not feel this way.

  It was for all these reasons that no hunter, except for those particularly hard up for money, would ever choose camping over an inn of their own free will…except in the Crimson Vow.

  They had a large tent, which was already put together. They had more than enough blankets for each of them. They had cleansing magic and sometimes even the chance to bathe in a tub. They had food that Mile and Pauline cooked, with ingredients that were tastier and fresher than anything an inn could provide. They had insect-repelling barriers. They could roam freely in whichever direction they chose without having to worry about heading for towns or villages. They could travel the whole day through, until it was nearly too dark to see, which made them more efficient. And they didn’t have to spend a single copper to get a good night’s rest.

  When, on the job, other hunters decided, “Let’s stay at an inn instead of camping,” to increase their chances of survival, the Crimson Vow might decide to lodge at an inn on the fly simply for the sake of intelligence-gathering, shopping, or sightseeing. There wasn’t the slightest reason for them to stop by little hamlets where they would find no useful information, let alone stay there for the night. If they were going to stop in at all, the town needed to have a guild branch at bare minimum or there was no point.

  “Say, can I ask you one thing?” Mile timidly asked.

  “What’s up?”

  “Why are all of you dressed like that?”

  Just as Mile had pointed out, everyone was dressed in the outfits they had purchased during the bandit-fishing job (on the Guild’s tab, of course). Pauline was in her maid outfit, and Reina and Mavis were in fluttery dresses, which were a bit more chic than the average commoner’s, and which they had purchased without any particular need for them.

  The dresses really did suit the pair, though Mavis, who normally only dressed in boyish clothes and had been forced by Reina and Pauline to buy something a bit more feminine, looked a bit awkward.

  “………”

  The three of them acted as though they had not even heard Mile’s question.

  “You really like them, don’t you?”

  “………”

  Silence persisted until Mile announced, “All right then, let’s head into the next town like this!”

  “What?” the other three asked.

  “Well, it’s a small town, so there probably won’t be very many jobs, right? We will need to at least stop in and check the job board, but why don’t we spend the day as a pair of rich sisters, their maid, and the rookie hunter hired to guard them? It’ll be a bit of role-playing.”

  “Th-that does sound kind of fun…”

  Every little girl dreamt of being a princess. Even Reina, technically an adult at the age of sixteen, was still a young maiden. Of course, she would still harbor these dreams as well.

  “I guess I better change then,” said Mavis. “There’s no way a guard would ever go around wearing clothes like these.”

  Mile stopped her.

  “No, stay as you are, Mavis. I’m going to be the guard this time, so you should play the role of the older sister.”

  “What?!” Mavis, certain that her role had already been cast, cried out in surprise.

  “I mean, you did already bother to put on those cute clothes…and I got to be the noble maiden last time, so this time it’s your and Reina’s turns. As for Pauline…”

  “I’m fine with this, actually,” replied Pauline. “Rather than playing the young maiden, it’s more fun to tease the maiden and stir up trouble around her. I’m more than happy to play the maid again.”

  “Pauline, I swear…” Reina sighed.

  And so, the plan was now in order. When they arrived at the next town, the curtain would rise on the one-day run of Reina and Mavis’s make-believe maiden show.

  Wait, wasn’t Mavis already a highborn maiden?

  Technically, while she was the daughter of a count, she had been raised as a precious jewel, hidden away in the inner rooms of their estate with no one besides her own family, their staff, or her tutors to talk to. Beyond the various attendees at family parties, she had only ever had contact with the outside world as a rookie hunter, aspiring to be a knight. This was the very first time that she would ever be out in the world having interactions with townsfolk as a normal girl. Suddenly, the pressure on Mavis felt incredibly high.

  The four girls then discussed the details of their charade.

  “This time, we’re just looking to have a bit of fun, so if anyone else happens to get involved, try not to let things get out of hand.”

  Nod nod.

  “Lying about one’s status is incredibly inappropriate, so we mustn’t ever lie outright. We’ll just explain things away in a way that doesn’t require us to lie. And if it seems like that sleight of hand won’t work, we give up the act and admit the truth.”

  Nod nod.

  “No matter what, we all have to endeavor not to break our roles until we set out for the next town.”

  Nod nod.

  No one found anything objectionable in Mile’s instructions.

  Then Mavis raised her hand. “Um… It’ll feel weird not to have my sword on me.”

  Unlike Reina and Pauline, who could still use their magic even without their staves, Mavis’s battle potential dropped exponentially without her sword. It was natural that she would feel uneasy, thinking of the small chance that something might occur.

  “Umm, well then, how about just keeping your knife on you? We’ll say that, even if you don’t know about blades, you still like to have a weapon for self-defense. You only have the one guard, after all, and you worry for your maid and your little sister.”

  “Ah, yes. I would feel better like that. With this dagger, at least I have something I can stake my life on!”

  As Mavis spoke, Mile felt as though she saw the dagger trembling, but Mavis did not appear to notice this at all.

  Finally, they arrived in the next town, which was just barely big enough to have its own guild branch.

  “All right, let’s head in!” Mile said, pushing open the door of the guildhall, the other members of the Crimson Vow following behind her.

&nbs
p; Ka-cling!

  There was the familiar chime of the doorbell, and the familiar feeling of the hunters’ gazes focusing on them. Some of those gazes lingered with interest, while… Actually, none of the gazes wandered back to where they originally were. Without exception, every eye that had turned toward them remained there, unwavering, as a look of dread spread across the hunters’ faces. A single guild employee stood quickly from his seat and ran up the stairs.

  The Crimson Vow was dreadfully perplexed, but there was no use in them just standing around staring. They moved over to check the information board, each of them leaning into their respective roles.

  “Now then, miladies,” said Mile, “I’m going to check the information board, so you two might look over the job boards or such to kill some time while you wait.”

  “All right then, thank you,” Reina replied, heading over to the job board with Mavis and Pauline.

  Meanwhile, the guild employees and other hunters continued to stare at them, silently.

  Th-this is creepyyyyyyy!!!

  Before Mile could finish looking the board over, a dignified gentleman who seemed to be the guild master descended from the second floor, shouting over to the Crimson Vow, “Just what the heck kind of job did you all come here on?! There are no bandit infiltrators in this Guild!!!”

  The secret’s out!!!

  Indeed, there was no way that word of something that was such a huge incident for the Guild would not have already spread to the Guilds of neighboring towns…along with information about the girls who had played such a central role in it.

  ***

  “Well, that was a huge failure…”

  Even as the sun began to set and it grew dimmer outside, the Crimson Vow continued to move down the highway. Obviously, there was no way that they could remain in town after the huge embarrassment that was having their plans foiled immediately, so they decided to head back out right away.