by Fujino Omori
The fluffy dog tail beneath her long skirt is happily swishing back and forth.
“Thank you, Bell…You’re good; never knew how good.”
“I-it’s nothing…”
“I always believed you could do it if you tried, Bell…”
I shyly scratch the back of my neck, my cheeks on fire, as Nahza gives me compliment after compliment.
She steps up to me and pats my head, almost like a reflex.
“Sorry to interrupt your moment, but shall we trade the goods for the reward?”
Lilly hadn’t said a word since we came into the shop, but she steps in to speed up the process.
Nahza freezes and looks down at her before forming a very innocent smile on her lips.
The two of them have never met before. Nahza must have figured out that Lilly is a member of my battle party because she nods and says, “…Of course,” before making her way behind the back counter.
“Mr. Bell, now is not the time to get sloppy.”
“I-I don’t think I was being sloppy…”
“Remember this well, Mr. Bell. The quest isn’t over until you have the reward in your hands.”
“…Huh?”
I’ve never heard her say something so profound. She didn’t even look at me when she was talking, just kept smiling in Nahza’s direction.
I tilt my head and look at her for a moment before I hear Nahza return with a wooden case in her hands.
“Here’s your reward: two dozen potions.”
“T-two dozen?!”
I normally buy the cheapest potions that Miach Familia has to offer, 500 vals apiece. So twenty-four of those…12,000 vals!
I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for her for adding on extra potions as hazard pay.
Liquid happiness runs through my veins as I look at my first-ever reward from the quest. I’m about to hand the box containing the Blue Papillon Wings over to her, when suddenly—Shoup!
A small hand comes out of nowhere and grabs hold of my wrist.
“L-Lilly…?”
“Please wait a moment, Mr. Bell.”
Keeping her gaze locked squarely on Nahza, Lilly swiftly reaches out toward the box of potions.
She withdraws one of the vials full of blue liquid in the blink of an eye.
“Hope you don’t mind. Lilly will pay you back later.”
“Eh, what are you…?”
Without waiting for permission, Lilly flips open the top of the vial and brings it up to her nose.
A few quick whiffs, and she stares at the color of the liquid. A surprisingly flustered Nahza looks on as Lilly pours a drop of the liquid onto her hand and takes a lick.—The next moment.
“—Fu-fu, is this potion worth five hundred vals? What a lovely business you’re running, enough to make Lilly jealous.”
Lilly sounds absolutely terrifying while wearing the face of an innocent child.
““””
“This potion, it’s been watered down quite a bit, hasn’t it? It’s less than half as potent as it should be. There’re extra ingredients mixed in to give it the right color and sweetness. Yes, this is a common scam.”
Shock rips through my body. Is it true?
Nahza and I stand in silence as Lilly drives her point home with that same innocent smile plastered on her face.
“These potions might be worth two hundred vals. It seems you’ve been drastically overcharged, Mr. Bell.—Of course, this reward is nooooooowhere close to the value of the drop items.”
I can practically see the blood draining from Nahza’s face.
Even with her eyes half closed, sweat is pouring down her cheeks. The tail that was happily swaying back and forth before is now bent at a very awkward angle.
I don’t know what to think anymore.
“So, how do you propose we fix this?”
Lilly narrows her eyes and smiles like a little devil as she takes one step toward Nahza.
“My apologies!!”
Lord Miach forcefully throws his head down in a bow.
The red evening sun shines through the open windows, casting everything in a crimson hue.
Standing next to Lord Miach, with his hand firmly clasped behind her head and forcing her down, is Nahza.
“One of my own has caused you a great deal of trouble, and for that I am deeply sorry, Bell! I will return every val that was taken from you this instant.”
“Eh, um, please, Lord Miach, it’s not a big deal. Raise your head…”
He straightens up little by little. I can see his downtrodden face but he won’t look at me. “My apologies,” he says one more time.
Lord Miach’s build is very tall and lithe. Wearing his aquamarine hair longer than most men, he carries himself like an aristocrat. The fact that his gray robe is in rough shape doesn’t hurt at all; in fact, it adds to his charm.
Nahza’s god looks every bit the part of someone from Deusdia, except that right now Lord Miach’s expression is very dispirited.
“This has caused you problems, too, Hestia. Taking what little money the both of you have available…”
“What’s done is done. Be extra careful that something like this doesn’t happen again and teach her right. You’ve helped me out of a few jams, Miach, so we can let this slide.”
“Yes, it will be done…”
After Lilly had finished grilling Nahza, all of us, including my goddess, Hestia, had gathered at Miach Familia’s home for an apology session of sorts.
Lord Miach had been unaware of Nahza’s shady activities until now, and he has been doing all of the apologizing.
His hand is still firmly placed on the back of Nahza’s head, not allowing her to stand up.
“I must say, Miss Supporter, great job catching this in time. I’m relieved to see that you’re taking such good care of Bell. Thanks.”
“No, no. Lilly is just happy to be of service to Mr. Bell and Lady Hestia.”
T-taking care of…?
I break out in a cold sweat as I watch the goddess nod with a happy smile on her face and Lilly respectfully bow a few times. It almost feels like they’re bound by some kind of contract that I don’t know about…
“…Nahza. Why did you do this?! Answer me!”
Lord Miach’s voice thunders.
The moment he releases his hold on Nahza, she turns her back on him.
The half of her hair that isn’t tied back floats on air as her head flicks around to look at the wall.
“Our Familia’s bank account—it’s always moments away from collapse…And the clueless rabbit was a sitting duck.”
My eyes go wide at the same time as Lord Miach’s. What did she mean by rabbit and duck…?
She doesn’t look or sound any different than usual, monotone voice with droopy eyes, but…her bushy tail is shuddering beneath her skirt.
“You fool! What happens when you rob people blind?! This world moves on honesty and trust, especially the business world. You’ve risked the trust of a valued customer for spare change?!
“How foolish can you be?!” he continues with a glare strong enough to make the bravest of people crumble to their knees.
Nahza casually looks over her shoulder, clicks her tongue, and stares down Lord Miach’s gaze with her own.
So she can show emotion.
“How can you say that, Lord Miach, when you give out free potions to anyone and everyone? That’s why we never have any money. And on top of that, girl after girl is drawn to you like a moth to the flame and you give them the wrong idea…If I had a val for every time I’ve covered for you…!”
“What…what are you talking about?! I don’t draw in anyone, nor do I try to deceive anyone!”
Lord Miach seems to have been caught off guard by Nahza’s retort. The goddess’s and Lilly’s gazes have gone cold.
I’m sure Lord Miach has stolen many hearts with that smile and the way he carries himself like royalty…but I guess he doesn’t realize it, otherwise he wouldn’t be so confused right
now.
“I have wronged Bell…but at this rate, it will be impossible to pay back the loan and it’ll only get worse…!”
Eh? That gets my attention.
I take a look around to see if other people heard that, too. The goddess has a very serious look on her face.
Loan…?
Lord Miach is looking more and more uncomfortable by the moment. Between him and the painful look on Nahza’s face, I get the feeling something suspicious is going on. Something that Lord Miach doesn’t want to talk about…
In that moment—
“FU-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA, I’m coming in!!”
The room shakes with a roar of laughter, and again as the door gets kicked off its hinges.
“?!”
“You got my money for this month, Mii-ahh-chhh?”
A middle-age god with graying hair and a beard appears in the doorway.
I can tell he’s quite a bit older than the gods and goddesses I know, but he still has that perfectly chiseled face they all share…But at the same time, his aura is completely different. All that handsomeness is wasted on him.
His cheeks peel back in a sickening grin as he looks around the room like he owns the place. He’s wearing an extravagant gold robe with intricate embroidery. Did he choose his wardrobe today just to rub it in Lord Miach’s face…?
“Dian…!”
“I dragged myself all the way out here ’cause you never showed up. Be grateful, you ruined beggar, bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
…I think I have a pretty good idea what this god is like.
“I see your shop is just as dusty as always! Gotta make this a quick visit, being here too long’s gonna make me sick. Oh, I see misery loves company! Hosting some more beggars so you won’t get lonely?”
Nahza’s eyes are burning like this god is her father’s sworn enemy. Lord Miach turns to face the intruder with a very sour look on his face. “Huh?” Lady Hestia’s voice rings out as if trying to get out of the way of an explosion of sparks.
“He’s Lord Dian Cecht.”
“Lilly…”
“He’s the head of a Familia that is well respected by adventurers and makes healing items and medicine. Since Lord Miach sells healing potions…they’re business rivals.”
I nod as Lilly whispers information into my ear. That explains Lord Miach’s and Nahza’s reactions, as well as Lord Dian Cecht’s taunting tone. There’s got to be a deep connection between these two, and it’s not a friendly one.
“Well, Miach, where’s my money?”
“Well, it’s…!”
“Fu-fu-fu, do you have it or do you not have it? Gu-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!”
—chit chit chit. I can hear Lord Miach’s and Nahza’s teeth rattling from over here.
“I’ve given you extension after extension out of the goodness of my heart, but I’ve had it with your unpredictability. If you don’t have this month’s payment by tomorrow, I’ll run you out of this place and sell your home to cover your debt! You might as well kiss this place good-bye!”
Lord Dian Cecht laughs so hard that spit flies everywhere.
“FU-HA-HA-HA-HA!! We’re leaving, Amid!”
“Yes, sir.”
A little girl standing behind Lord Dian Cecht moves out of the way as her god heads for the door. She must’ve been standing behind him the whole time.
The girl is rather short and looks more like a doll than a person. Amid bows to us as her god walks briskly through the broken door, she turns and rushes to keep up with him.
The storm having blown through, the five of us sit in silence.
“Dian Cecht and I have never seen eye to eye, even in Tenkai……”
Lord Miach begins to tell his life story bit by bit.
After what just happened, I couldn’t exactly just go home and pretend everything’s okay. So we stuck around to find out about what’s been going on inside Miach Familia.
“Once we came down to this world, we butted heads at every turn. Our rivalry extended to the children we took under our wing when we got into the same business…”
“I broke that cycle to pieces.”
Nahza jumps into Lord Miach’s story when his words begin trailing off.
“I used to be an adventurer.”
“Eh…”
“I used to crawl the Dungeon like you do, Bell, saving up money…But one day, I screwed everything up. Got thoroughly wrecked by a monster, and it ate my right arm.”
She tells me before I could even ask.
Nahza looks down at her strangely uneven-sleeved shirt and starts rolling up the wrist-length right sleeve.
All the breath in my body leaves me a moment later.
“A silver arm…?!”
“Lord Miach got it for me after I lost my real one…it’s from that Dian Cecht Familia. He practically begged them.”
I can hear the shock in Lilly’s voice.
Just as she said, Nahza’s right arm is completely made of a silver metal.
It’s as smooth and shiny as a freshly polished sword. While looking almost exactly like a human arm, it’s easy to see the gems embedded in the joints of the appendage.
Once she takes off her glove, I can see that her right hand is constructed with exactly the same silver metal.
“Dian Cecht Familia makes medicines and other things. Besides selling potions, they also take custom orders from adventurers and make special items to suit. This airgetlám, or ‘silver arm,’ is one of them.”
Click click. Nahza extends and flexes her arm, showing us how it works.
“Lord Miach took out a loan so he could buy this arm for me. The other members of our Familia turned their back on Lord Miach when they found out…and left, everyone.”
…She says that Miach Familia used to be in the middle of the pack in terms of rank. At that time, it was strong enough to compete with Dian Cecht Familia on the open market selling potions.
Then after Nahza’s accident, everything fell to pieces almost overnight.
“All that stayed with Lord Miach was a useless former adventurer and a colossal loan,” she says with fire still burning in her eyes.
“The way I am now, fighting monsters is impossible. I was able to change jobs and become a chemist only because my former compatriots taught me the tricks of the trade…But I can’t make enough money to make a dent in the loan. I’m utterly useless.”
“Nahza.”
“I’m the reason we have to pay anything to that abomination. It’s all my fault—me!”
“Nahza, that’s enough. Stop there.”
Nahza looks like she wants to say something more on the subject, but Lord Miach convinces her to close her mouth with his quiet voice.
A heavy silence descends over all of us.
I can’t find any words. Nahza used to be an adventurer, her arm is fake, and everything else is too much to handle at once. Lady Hestia must not have heard that Lord Miach had been demoted as well. She’s just sitting there, arms folded across her chest and her eyes closed. Meanwhile, Lilly’s calmly looking at Nahza.
Nahza may have scammed me out of some money recently…but if I were in her shoes, I might have done exactly the same thing.
I would’ve done anything to try to support the one god who didn’t abandon me, the one who always extended a helping hand when I needed it most.
That has to be the most difficult thing in the world.
So hard that I’d want to scream out every day.
“…Well, then, what are you going to do? We know what happened, but right now we need to focus on what’s in front of you. Dian’s threatening to sell your home, isn’t he?”
The goddess broke the silence and asks if there’s any way they could have the money ready by the end of tomorrow.
Lord Miach scrunches up his face and looks toward Nahza from the corner of his eye.
She meets his gaze for a moment and slowly nods.
“There is one way…”
Nahza’s voice is so soft, it’s
like it could be snuffed out at any moment.
“But with just me…and Lord Miach, it’s impossible…”
The last of the evening light comes through the window glass, making the room glow red.
We’re a good distance away from Main Street, but I can still hear the din of many voices and footsteps mixing together on the stone road.
Nahza’s body droops as she avoids eye contact. I wonder if she feels like she doesn’t have the right to look us in the face. The very words “help us” must feel so far away after everything she’s put us through.
The silence is making me uneasy. I glance at everyone around the table in turn before looking at the goddess as if she’s our last hope.
She looks back at me with a mysterious blue warmth in her eyes. She tilts her head to the side as if to say, Well?
In other words, she’s asking me to decide what to do about this. At least that’s the sense I’m getting from her.
Her eyes, it’s like she’s looking at her own son…So many emotions are welling up inside me, but I take a deep breath and go for it.
My mind scrambles to find the right words. Now all I have to do is speak loudly enough to break through this dark silence.
“Ah, ahhh…Lilly. Back to what you were talking about before, couldn’t we take up another quest? The last one wasn’t enough…and I still have a lot to learn.”
My acting skills need a lot of work. At the very least, the topic will change one way or another.
Lilly’s eyes pop open. Then she must’ve realized what I was trying to do because she grimaces for a moment and hides a chuckle. She jumps into my “act” a moment later.
“Lilly agrees, Mr. Bell. But where in the world is there a client willing to bestow a quest onto hardworking people such as ourselves?”
Lord Miach and Nahza look on in surprise as Lilly takes my side with an almost giddy smile on her face.
Lady Hestia’s lips perk up in a grin. She turns her head to face Lord Miach.
“So how about it, Miach? Do you have any work for these two? Think of it as helping them out. Their energy has to go somewhere. They’ll do anything if you ask, including helping you pay back that loan.”
“Hestia, are you really…No, my apologies. You have my gratitude.”
Nahza looks at me with embarrassment—or is that shame?—from beside Lord Miach as he thanks us over and over.