Chapter 8: Megane-kun, Mystery of the Numbers Deepens

Now that they’ve even come to my inn, I can’t very well ignore them anymore.
But wait a second.

“I can imagine why Lorobel-san is here, but you I can’t.”

It’s not that I’ve forgotten my promise.
It did bother me a bit.
Since I did promise to exchange information with Lorobel.

But this red-haired girl I don’t get.
We’re not involved in any way.

“I told you, didn’t I?! That I have business with you! I’m begging you already so would you hear me out already?!”

…… Well, they even know where I’m staying.
Guess I don’t have much of a choice.

“Once again, I get it with Lorobel-san, but how did you figure out where I’m staying?”

“Because of the same reason, I’d think.”

Ah, is that so.
In other words, everybody brought to the royal capital because of their Ceremony of Determination results are made to stay here.
And they both knew that.

“I’ve never met an adventurer as shameless as you, so I thought that you’re probably somebody from the countryside brought here because of the Ceremony of Determination.
Since you didn’t know about me either.”

I’m not an adventurer and I have no intention of becoming an adventurer and I am not shameless, but…… oh well, let’s leave it.

“Give me a moment.
I have to first do the paperwork to extend my stay.”

I no longer have any reason to escape, so let’s listen to them properly.
Since I did promise Lorobel.
As for the girl, well, if it’s not something troublesome, then let’s just listen for what it’s worth.

After completing the paperwork, I bring both of them to my room.

Though it’s just a tiny room with nothing but a bed, obviously meant for sleeping and nothing else.
It doesn’t even come with food, but it has a bath, so……

…… Ahh, now that I’m thinking about it calmly, I can see how this is an inn specialized for those who’ve been brought over because of the Ceremony of Determination.

It’d be a problem for kids to show up all dirty, so the bath is for them to at least clean themselves up a bit before heading to the castle.

Baths are a huge luxury.
In the village, we only had a small public one for everyone to use.
I did spot several public baths in the city, so I suppose it’s not like every household here has one either.

When such a small inn that doesn’t even provide food does provide a bath, then it’s just too obvious.
There can’t be any other reason than to make sure that dirty little brats and dirty little lasses coming from the countryside make themselves presentable.

For the time being, I invite the two to sit on my bed, while I stand up and lean against the wall.

Naturally, it’s so that I can dash away at the first sign of anything fishy or dangerous.
Redhead I think I can handle somehow, but Blond Mushroom is bad.

——And, well, there’s that too.

The moment Lorobel enters my room, a number appears above her head again.
This time it’s 31.
I remember it being 52 when I saw her in the Adventurer’s Guild.
But now it’s 31.
What is with these numbers?

No, wait a second.

Is it me that is seeing it, or is Lorobel projecting it?

I did look around quite a bit during the morning, but I didn’t spot anyone with a number like Lorobel has.
In other words, it’s only over Lorobel that I can see a number.

………… I don’t get it.

Redhead next to her doesn’t have it, so could it be that it’s not something with me but it’s her that’s doing something?
Wait, what about the possibility that Redhead is also seeing Lorobel’s number? It could actually be something well-known in the adventurers’ world and I’m the only one ignorant about it.

I don’t get how it would work, but could it be that she’s got a Talent for Numbers like I have a Talent for Megane? Though I really don’t get how that would work.

At first, I’d thought it to be age, but there’s just too much difference between 52 and 31.
And from her appearance she really does look like she’s in her twenties.

………… I really don’t get it.

Just like that time in the Guild, let’s just pretend that I don’t see anything.
If it turns out that it really is Lorobel projecting that number, I have no obligation to let her know that I can even see it.

“Lorobel-san, let me apologize first.
I’m sorry for running away.”

“Don’t worry about it.
I understand why you did that.
I’m sorry too for almost getting you involved in my problems.”

Great.
It seems she didn’t misunderstand.

The reason why I ran away that time is because it seemed I was about to get caught up in Lorobel-san’s quarrel.
There was nothing else that I could have done.

“But still, your feet sure are fast.
Not a single person managed to catch with you.
Then again, nobody imagined that someone would dine-and-dash at the Adventurer’s Guild.”

That’s the sort of thing that everybody jumps on board with in hopes of a reward, she continues with jovial laughter.

“It was quite early in the morning, so perhaps everybody was still sleepy.”

Shishou told me before that when we completely erase our presence, animals have difficulty seeing us with their eyes.
But in exchange, there is smell and hearing and the feeling of vibrations in the air and ground that could give us away.
That’s the way it is for animals, but humans rely very heavily on sight, so I’m sure they had quite a hard time finding me indeed.

In actual fact, Shishou is amazing at erasing his presence.
Despite being big as a bear, the moment he does it, his presence becomes unbelievably thin.
When we go out on hunts together, ‘oh wait, what, he’s there?’ happens quite often.

But then those in around that realm have honed all their senses aside from sight.
Such as Shishou.
Such as Lorobel.
Me? I am so-so.

“Well, let’s just leave it at that, then.”

“I will properly go back to pay the money.”

“There’s no need.
I paid for it already.”

“Debts and favors have a tendency to increase in value over time.
I’ll pay you back.”

“What is this? You don’t have to be so reserved, you know?”

No, it seems I definitely need to be reserved.
Otherwise I feel like I might get roped into doing a job in exchange for the cost of a mere meal.

After accepting the money for breakfast that I hand over, Lorobel says, “Alright then, onto the main topic.”

Right, my glasses.
That was the reason she called out to me in the first place.

“I have an acquaintance who has bad eyes.
Even the glasses that she’s using right now, apparently they aren’t of much help.
More like, the way I see it, the quality of her lens is bad.
From the very start it’s already kind of blurred or murky, I guess you could say?
Which brings us to, your glasses.
Those lens that seem as clear as water, with not a single trace of murkiness in it…… I’ve never seen anything so beautiful before.
I want a pair.”

Hmm.
That does sound quite reasonable.

“Would you tell me where you got yours from?”

The right answer to that question would be, I made it myself.
But I don’t want my personal information to leak out.
Leaving aside its practicality, I understand now that it’s a very rare Talent.
If it becomes known, then I might get roped up into troublesome matters.

…… I don’t want to get roped in, but I did promise Lorobel that I’d answer her.

Which means that I have to do so in a way that doesn’t touch on my Talent.

“I have a spare, so I’ll give it to you.
The source is a secret.
That was the condition on which I got these.”

“You’re willing to just give them to me? I can pay you for them.”

“Consider that the hush money.
So don’t tell anyone.”

Then I turn to stick a hand into my luggage as if it really is in there, make a pair in my hand, then take it out for her to see.

…… That’s the second pair today.
That’s my limit for today.

“Here you go.”

“Ohhh, thank you! This would be a great help!”

I think I can probably alter the lens.
The curvature is supposed to match the user personally, so it’s probably better that I do so.
But of course I’m not going to reveal that I can do that.

The pair that I handed the important girl at the castle this morning, and also the pair that I just handed Lorobel, both of them are made based on me as the standard.
There is a part of me that wants to hand over a pair with curvature that properly fits them, but revealing my Talent is completely out of the question.
Not that I even had the time to talk to the girl at the castle properly.

By the way.

“Why are you putting them on yourself?”

For some reason, Lorobel has nonchalantly put them on herself.
Didn’t you want it for your acquaintance? …… Uwah, it makes her look really smart.
Blond mushroom hair and glasses.
It needs not be said that this combination gives off an almost needlessly high sense of intelligence.

“Nah, it’s just that it’s my first time getting my hands on something like this…… Indeed, it really does completely change what I see.”

“So it’s actually Lorobel-san who needs them?” (Redhead)

“Nah, these really are for my acquaintance.
I just wanted to try them on for a bit.”

After saying that, Lorobel passes the glasses to Redhead, who’s sitting next to her.

“Eh? What is, why?”

“Cus you looked like you wanted to try them on too.”

Yep.
The entire time ever since the beginning of the conversation about glasses.
She was keeping quiet to not interrupt our conversation but it was so obvious to see from her face.

“N-, no, I’m fine, really.
Rather than that, can I talk now?”

No you may not.
I have no reason to listen.
But it’d be troublesome if she follows me around even more persistently, so let’s just hear it and be done with it.

——Nevertheless, when I noticed it, the number has changed again.
Now it’s 74.
That number above Lorobel’s head really does bothers me.