The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

"You've built quite a house. It's even becoming a topic of conversation at the guild."

"Indeed. It's an impressive mansion."

Kemuna and Besmond, upon their arrival, let out voices that seemed both impressed and dumbfounded at the enormous entrance lobby.

"It's more like the Dragon King built it for Seori. It's not my fault."

"The fact that you're saying that means you know this mansion is out of the ordinary too. You've got more common sense than I thought."

"What are you saying? I've known all about common sense and a maiden's heart since I was born. At least more than you, Kemuna-san."

"You're one cheeky brat... Anyway, this is a housewarming gift. Use it well."

Kemuna said that and tossed a small package.

I could see the contents just by untying the ribbon, and to my surprise, it was an "Elixir".

This is an ultra-expensive healing potion that could buy a normal house.

This isn't something you should casually give to others...!

"A-are you sure!?"

"You've been talking about wanting Elixir as a material to make a philosopher's stone for a long time, right? I happened to get it as a rare drop recently, so I'm giving it to you."

"That's true, but! That's not what I mean, such a precious item for just a housewarming gift--"

"Don't worry about it. This is just how Kemuna is."

Besmond patted my shoulder with a wry smile.

"It's true that Elixir is valuable, but because of that, it's difficult to find the right time to use it and it's troublesome to handle. There are those who would hire assassins to steal it. It's not something that adventurers without item boxes can keep on hand."

"That's what I'm saying. It's too much for us, so just accept it quietly."

"...I understand. Thank you very much."

Alright, I've decided. Next time, I'll find a reason to give them an item box.

That's the least I can do to balance things out.

As I made this vow in my heart, I changed the subject.

"So, Kemuna-san, when are you going to introduce us to that beautiful lady over there?"

"Ah. Sorry, Ketsa, we got caught up in talking."

"It's not a problem."

Standing quietly behind Kemuna and Besmond was a tall cat-eared lady.

She was dressed like a light warrior with a lot of exposed skin, a cat-folk woman with muscles so well-defined she looked strong. She was almost as tall as the tall Kemuna, and her whole body was covered in numerous small scars.

She had an atmosphere of a battle-hardened warrior.

"I'm Ketsa. A new cat-folk member of [White Tiger]. Pleased to meet you."

She speaks like a soldier.

Despite her seemingly strict appearance, I respond with my usual polite gentlemanly manner.

"Nice to meet you, beautiful lady. I'm Ruruk. By the way, rest assured, I don't have a girlfriend. Ruruk's heart is open, you know?"

"Don't hit on her, you idiot. The girls will get mad at me for bringing her."

"Hm. Kemuna, wasn't that just the human way of greeting?"

Ketsa frowned slightly, looking a bit confused.

"What kind of social gathering tells you about the presence or absence of a lover in a greeting?"

"I see. However, I'm honored, Lord Ruruk. I don't feel bad being told such things by someone who seems as strong as you. Even as social courtesy, it's pleasing."

Ketsa says this seriously, without changing her expression at all.

As expected of someone who can join an S-rank party, she's a bit unusual.

Well, setting aside whether I seem strong or not, I'll deny it for now.

"It's not just social courtesy. I think Ketsa-san is a very attractive woman. Our party doesn't have any comrades with the adult charm that Ketsa-san has, so I'm very envious of Kemuna-san and the others--"

"I'm sorry for being a child!"

"Ow!"

Span! I was hit on the back of the head with a slipper.

It was Saaya, who had appeared without me noticing. She glares at me fiercely.

I instinctively made an excuse.

"I-it was just social courtesy."

"Oh really? Why don't you read back what you said a few lines ago?"

"...I'm sorry."

As I kowtowed, Saaya ignored me and faced Ketsa.

She completely changed her expression and pinched the edge of her skirt, greeting her in a noble-like manner.

"Once again, welcome everyone, I'm delighted to have you here. And nice to meet you, Ketsa-san. I'm Saaya Schreine. Please allow me to greet you on behalf of our unworthy leader, Ruruk. As fellow S-rank adventurers, I hope we can get along well in the future."

"...Likewise. I'm just an uncouth country bumpkin, but I look forward to our acquaintance."

Saying this, Ketsa unexpectedly bent her knee and bowed her head.

Seeing this, Kemuna's eyes widened.

"Hey Ketsa, what's with that reaction!?"

"Ah. Lady Saaya, you seem stronger than anyone I've ever met before."

"Uh, well... I'm still just an inexperienced novice, you know?"

"Don't be modest. I can tell."

Ketsa says with certainty. Saaya looks like an ordinary 11-year-old girl, so what's going on?

As I was tilting my head in confusion, Besmond explained in a low voice.

"Apparently, Ketsa can see other people's 'physical strength and weaknesses' in colors as a racial skill. Miss Saaya, did your status increase again without us noticing?"

Ah, that's right, the cat-folk racial skill was visual-based.

Indeed, Saaya has been diligently leveling up for the past half year and is already at level 24. All her additional stats are at 4800. All her stats far surpass those of S-rank adventurers.

Saaya, caught off guard by being revered by the seemingly strong beast-person lady, was flustered but quickly volunteered to guide them around the mansion. Or rather, she changed the subject to escape.

We all followed Saaya in a line.

I might as well play the role of an assistant guide explaining the facilities we pass by.

"Please look to your left. What you see there is a dragon-race maid cleaning."

"Dragon-race!? H-hey Ruruk, don't tell me..."

"Yes. All the maids in this mansion are dragon-race. Each one is as strong as an S-rank adventurer."

"This mansion is too much of a demon's den. I'm glad I didn't bring Hotaru..."

"Speaking of which, where is Hotaru-san?"

"Come on, we're not so ill-mannered as to bring familiars to someone else's house."

Kemuna says as if it's obvious.

Come to think of it, Hotaru was a monster. Indeed, even if it's a familiar, bringing a monster without permission would be a breach of manners.

"But we're close friends, aren't we?"

"There's etiquette even among close friends, idiot. You don't take Punisuke anywhere but the guild either, right?"

"Well, that's true."

Well, Punisuke obviously looks like a monster. If we insisted Hotaru was a fox-folk, it probably wouldn't be found out... well, it would be immediately obvious if someone used magic sight.

Anyway, today's gathering is without Hotaru.

"...So this is another reason for Lakirala-san's good mood, huh."

"Huh? What about Lakirala?"

"It's nothing. Come on everyone, we've arrived."

We entered the dining room next to the living room.

Of course, the dining room is also spacious, with a table that can seat 20 people and expensive-looking chairs lined up. Since it's directly connected to the living room and kitchen, this is also Punisuke's domain.

The table was already set with a tablecloth, and Elenora was drinking an aperitif while swinging her legs. She was munching on a lot of prosciutto as a snack. As a snack, indeed.

"Ah! Elenora is drinking an aperitif again! Remember, it's only one glass a day, don't drink too much!"

"Your nagging is annoying."

"I'll be as annoying as I need to be. Your health is the most important thing!"

As a rule in our house, alcohol is only for adults, but we allow one glass of aperitif per day.

It might seem a bit lenient, but if we didn't allow at least that much, they might explode from frustration... or rather, I was once directly confronted by everyone to allow at least that much.

I reluctantly nodded, with the condition that it's only allowed inside the house. By the way, I'm careful not to even drink aperitifs. I always stick to non-alcoholic drinks even at the tavern we usually go to.

"You're as serious as ever, Ruruk."

"I don't want to hear that from you, Kemuna-san."

While exchanging such light banter, we took our seats.

Lakirala, Seori, and the others joined us from the living room, and everyone was seated. Then Punisuke brought drinks for everyone simultaneously from the kitchen.

"S-so a slime really is serving us..."

Ketsa was surprised, even though she had apparently heard about it.

He's not just a server, but also the head chef.

As drinks were distributed to everyone, they all looked at me.

It's not exactly a completion celebration party, but it's the leader's role to welcome fellow adventurers we're close with. I should at least give a greeting.

"Ahem. So once again, everyone from [White Tiger], and my dear comrades from [Rozewill]. To celebrate that we can hold this dinner party in this new mansion, I'd like to propose a toast first. Come to think of it, it's been a long journey to get here. Meeting Seori, defeating the secretly active demon race, and although we initially clashed with everyone from [White Tiger], we still--"

"Mm, too long. Cheers."

"Cheers!"

Hey, I'm in the middle of the leader's speech!

Ignoring my astonishment, everyone except me started chatting amicably. What is this, I'm supposed to be the master of the house, but this feeling of being left out... even the maids standing by are chuckling a bit.

Well, I'm used to being treated like this, it's always been this way.

Punisuke soon brought out the food.

Appetizers, soup, and four types of meat dishes... it's turning out to be a more luxurious menu than I had imagined. Of course, everything is deliciously mouth-watering. It's only natural since our head chef is a genius slime.

"Lord Ruruk, have you ever been to the Inwander Beast Kingdom?"

"No, I haven't. I only know that it's a country of beast-folk, but if there are beautiful kemomimi people like Ketsa-san there, I'd love to visit."

I answer honestly as Ketsa addressed me.

"Kemomimi...?"

"Excuse me. It's the highest form of honorific for beast-folk used in my homeland."

It's not a lie.

I'll say it again, it's not a lie.

"Are you from Inwander, Ketsa-san?"

"Yes, Inwander is a country for beast-folk. Of course, it's not just limited to us cat-folk, all sorts of beast-folk live there. ...Well, I've never seen sheep-folk though. I don't even know of any settlements."

"Oh. So sheep-folk were that rare?"

Ketsa was staring intently at Elenora.

Indeed, I've never met anyone who has encountered sheep-folk other than Elenora.

Maybe they're endangered...?

"Elenora, do you know any other sheep-folk?"

"Mm, don't know."

"That's to be expected. Sheep-folk are rare even among us beast-folk. Their settlements are probably all hidden. There are many even among beast-folk who desire sheep-folk."

"Ah. Is this what they call the dark side of history?"

The worldwide major incident where sheep-folk settlements everywhere were hunted to extinction.

Since then, only sheep-folk have been forbidden from entering into servitude contracts worldwide.

Their adorable appearance is one reason, but the biggest reason is that their racial skill is healing-based. Having powerful healing abilities can give an advantage in wars.

To prevent escalation of conflicts between countries, using sheep-folk was defined as evil in itself.

It's really a deep darkness.

"Sheep-folk are especially exceptional, but there are many other rare beast-folk in my homeland. Elephants, crocodiles, birds... Kemuna's eyes were shining."

"I'm sure it was like heaven for Kemuna-san. By the way, did you know Kemuna-san from before?"

"Yes. We met when I was working as a mercenary. It was when he came to Inwander for a quest."

Apparently, when Kemuna and the others were still A-rank adventurers, they traveled to Inwander on a request to escort a beast-folk merchant.

There was an incident involving thieves and mercenary groups, and they met during that process.

After that, Ketsa quit being a mercenary and became an adventurer, and when her rank rose to A, she left the beast kingdom to visit Bargia to see other countries.

Then, they hit it off at their reunion after a long time, and she was immediately invited to join the S-rank party, which she did without hesitation.

"Therefore, I haven't been out of my homeland for long. I'm not familiar with human etiquette, so please forgive any rudeness."

"Of course. There's no fault in not knowing something."

"I appreciate that."

Having heard this much, I can understand what Ketsa wants to say.

Basically, she doesn't know table manners, so she's asking us not to be offended.

Indeed, our mansion is huge, the dining room is fit for nobility, and the food is better than a duke's household.

While [White Tiger], who have been treated as honorary nobles for over 5 years as S-rank adventurers, might be used to it, it must be intimidating for an adventurer who used to be a mercenary.

Come to think of it, this is the first time I've had a proper conversation about mercenaries.

"Hey Ruruk, what's the difference between mercenaries and adventurers?"

"I was wondering about that too. What's the difference, Ketsa-san?"

"The basics are in the field of work. While the Adventurers' Guild takes on a wide range of jobs like 'gathering', 'escorting', 'subjugation', and 'management', the Mercenary Guild mostly deals with jobs assuming combat against humans, like 'VIP protection', 'conflict suppression', and 'warfare'."

"So does that mean you specialize in combat against humans, Ketsa-san?"

"Not necessarily. It depends on the characteristics of each mercenary group, but the unit I was in mainly dealt with conflict suppression. There are many monsters in conflict zones, and I was actually more skilled against monsters."

That's probably why she was able to become an adventurer.

"But as a mercenary, I can do things like this."

Ketsa picked up two unshelled nuts from a plate, lightly tossed one up, and quickly flicked the other with her fingertip to hit it directly.

Both shells cracked, and the contents fell out.

Ketsa caught them with one hand.

"Ooh!"

Clap clap clap.

Saaya and I applauded.

"Can all mercenaries do that?"

"Skilled ones probably can. Adventurers mainly fight against monsters, so they don't need such small tricks, but in conflict zones, fights can break out anywhere. Using nuts for a surprise attack is an essential skill."

"The difference is in who you fight against... I see."

It's like they're always on the battlefield. As expected, Ketsa seems strong.

As we were nodding in understanding, Kemuna, sitting next to Ketsa, interjected.

"By the way, the mercenary group Ketsa was in was [Blood-Stained Forest]. Don't take what she just said at face value."

"Eh, you mean THE [Blood-Stained Forest]!?"

I was surprised to hear a name I actually recognized.

[Blood-Stained Forest], the strongest mercenary corps composed of beast-folk. I've often heard the name in taverns, even if only as rumors.

Saaya tilted her head.

"Is it famous?"

"Super famous. If there was internet and you googled 'mercenary group', it would be the first result, that's how big they are."

"Wow. Sounds like Greil's son might be there."

"He really might be."

"Yeah~"

"Ruruk, Saaya, stop with the inside jokes."

Nagi scolded us.

Everyone else was looking confused, sorry about that.

Anyway,

"I've heard rumors that [Blood-Stained Forest] has a legendary mercenary called the 'Crimson Calamity'. Do you know about them, Ketsa-san?"

"Of course. She's like an older sister to me."

"Oh, it's a woman?"

I had assumed it was a man.

The strongest mercenary who single-handedly defeated thousands. I know about her because bards often sing about her in taverns.

"If Crimson is like an older sister to you, does that mean you were pretty central in the mercenary group?"

"That's right. I was also a member of the first unit."

"...I see."

Well, indeed, it does seem unlikely that the nut-flicking trick is something any mercenary can do. Let's just assume it's an essential skill for the strongest mercenary group.

Well, she still quit being a mercenary though.

I won't ask what happened because it's a private matter.

But still, a cat-folk big sister who was a core member of the world's largest mercenary group, huh.

Damn you, Kemuna, finding such a great big sister...!

Perhaps sensing something unpleasant in my gaze, Ketsa moved her body slightly away and said,

"Let me tell you, I'm not a magician like Crimson. I'm a warrior specializing in the front lines. It would be troublesome if you expect something else."

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that."

"Then what kind of gaze was that?"

"It's because Ketsa-san is beautiful, so I was captivat-- Ow!?"

I was hit on the back of the head from both sides.

Saaya and Nagi are glaring at me. Can't you at least let me finish?

"...Hey Kemuna, is Lord Ruruk always like this?"

"Pretty much. It's like a set pattern that ends with him being scolded by the girls."

"I don't need that kind of set pattern!?"

I want the right to freely flirt with older women too.

Not that I'm flirting.

"I've been thinking lately, why don't you say those kinds of compliments to us? Are you the type who doesn't feed fish you've already caught?"

"As expected of the worst scum."

"No, wait! I don't say those things to minors in the first place!?"

"Nagi has been 18 for a while now, you know?"

"Ugh."

Well, if you only look at age, that's true.

But it's different. You guys look young.

Even in this world, if you hit on loli girls, your social status would be threatened! It's not something that can be brushed off as a joke!

"Hmm. So Ruruk judges women only by their appearance..."

"Insidious bastard."

"Nagi-chan, isn't your language too harsh!?"

No matter what I say, I end up being nagged at.

The party that day continued enjoyably until dawn.

Except for me, who was made to sit in seiza and lectured thoroughly.