A Dry Reaction
After parting with Fecilia, I was wandering around the Dungeon town to look for Mielle.
From what I heard from Ralf, she hadn’t gone back into the dungeon and was waiting for Charlotte and Gautier to return back instead.
But I had no idea of where to even look for her, so I had to basically search the town aimlessly.
It’s painful to have to search like this but, since I had her take the initiative to contact us everytime, I had no way of contacting her from my side.
I’m sure I could find her by asking around but, I’m not that desperate either so after I make one more lap around the town, I’ll give up and return——–the moment I decided that.
I saw a familiar face walking towards me
They recognized me as well, but they pretended to not see me and were trying to walk past by me.
……….it seems like they think that I didn’t notice them.
“Mielle, why are you ignoring me and trying to walk past me?”
“Geh, you really caught me after all huh.”
“of course I did. Do you really disguise yourself whenever you walk around town?”
Right now, Mielle’s appearance was the same as the unshaven old man that she used when we met for the first time.
It was a long time ago but, that was one of the few times I had been attacked and caught off guard so there was no way I was ever going to forget that.
“I mean, it’s annoying to have to dress up everytime after all. If I’m an old man, I can dress however dirtily as I want.”
“Well, whatever. I was actually looking for you so let’s find someplace to sit and talk.”
“Eh, just here is fine right? Can we not stand and talk?”
Since a unshaven old man was talking like a young girl, we were already catching some attention though.
I don’t want to stand out too much so I was hoping to find some store to sit in but, if she says she’s okay talking like this, I guess it’s fine.
“In that case, we can quickly finish our talk here. First, thanks for coming to visit me. And once again, thanks for your help during the expedition.”
“Like I said, it’s fine. I just happened to come to get my payment and found out that you had collapsed that’s all.”
“…………..Hm? But Fecilia said that you have even brought a visiting gift though?”
“I just happened to have an item on my hands okay? So don’t worry about it.”
So she ‘happened’ to be coming to get her reward, and just also ‘happened’ to have a visiting gift on her hands?
The hell is this girl talking about? But, if she says to not think much about it, I’ll do exactly that.
“…………I don’t really get it but regardless, thanks. As for your payment, here, it’s in this bag. You can check.”
“Oh you actually brought it huh.——-10 gold coins eh. Well, it’s good enough I suppose.”
She said that but the corners of her lips rose into a smile the moment Mielle saw the money.
Since she still had the appearance of an old man, it was hardly a nice smile to look at but, unlike Fecilia, I’m glad she was satisfied with just the money.
“That’s about it from me. If you have any question, I’m willing to answer though?”
“Not really. If I get some message from the stupid princess, I’ll call you then.”
“You don’t want to know about the fruit of skill?”
“honestly, I’m not interested. Unlike you Chris, I don’t want power so much that I’d put my life in danger.”
“………..you say that but, didn’t you come and work for the princess to rise in status after getting abandoned by Klaus?”
“Only because my pride wouldn’t allow me to fall into ruin either. Also, I’m not going to die just because I’m working with someone I don’t like.”
“I see. Well, you can always ask me if you get curious later. I’ll answer whatever I can as thanks for the help.”
“Sure. Then, bye.”
I stood there and watched as Mielle juggled the coin bag in her hands and walked away.
……….now then, that’s everything done so I suppose it’s time for me to return to Edestor then.
First, I’ll go an pick up Esta at [Gorush] and then go to the [Magic Cave] together.
Afterwards, I’ll go look for Bors, and make some arrangements with him——–and then finally I can go and test my new skills.
Since it took some time to find Mielle, the sun was already at the peak in the sky so I quickly made my way back to Edestor.
.
After returning to Edestor, I reunited with Esta at [Gorush] who was house sitting with Snow.
Leaving Snow to rest in the room, both of us made our way to [Magic Cave].
Not that much time has actually passed since I was last here but, so much had happened since then that it still felt like it had been a long time since I came here.
Following after Esta, we made our way towards the inner room where the old golem guy usually worked in.
“Has Esta been coming here these days?”
“Yes, after your condition stabilized, I’ve been coming here pretty much every day. After seeing Fecilia-san and Mielle-san’s magic, I’ve had a lot to think about.”
“Oh, I understand Fecilia but, is Mielle’s magic also that amazing?”
“Of course it is. Unlike me who only recently learnt how to use magic, those two have been learning it since they were kids or so I heard. Even when we use the same magic, the level of proficiency they have is on a whole different level.”
“Is that so. From the side, yours looked the same to me though.”
“In my case, having [Mana Regen] allows me to compensate for the lack in quality that’s all. But, I will most certainly surpass them both soon, I can say that precisely because I watched them from closeby. So look forward to that.”
Saying that, Esta gave a somewhat evil sounding laugh.
Looks like the Roza forest expedition ended up being a good bonus for Esta as well.
Feeling excited to see how Esta will grow from here, we reached the old man’s room while chatting.
A suspicious kind of smoke was leaking out of the room as always, and I could easily imagine him working on some new crazy thing as usual.