The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

"What's wrong, Ruruk? You look tired."

"Ah, good morning, Master. Don't worry about it, it's nothing serious."

The next morning.

I responded to Roze with a yawn in the restaurant.

On both sides of me, Elen and Saaya were heartily eating breakfast. Both being in their growing years, they had piled their plates high with what looked like meatballs and were stuffing their cheeks.

My lack of sleep was due to these two little girls.

After I secretly brought Saaya back to the room, Elen, who had been waiting, bombarded me with a flurry of questions. It was good that she was satisfied after I explained yesterday's events in detail, but then there was a commotion about sleeping arrangements. There were only two beds, so the little girls argued over who would sleep with me.

When I suggested that the two girls could sleep together, they glared at me with murderous intent, so I could only shrink back and stay quiet.

In the end, we settled on the three of us sleeping together.

That's why I was firmly sandwiched on both sides and couldn't get a good night's sleep. I'm so sleepy.

"More importantly, Master, about yesterday's report..."

Being the model subordinate who never fails to report to my superior, I briefly recounted the commotion at the Schreine house last night.

Roze, seeming indifferent, said:

"Oh, I see. So the contract is still on for today as planned."

"I'll go and make the payment first thing in the afternoon. I'll also pick up Saaya's change of clothes and necessary travel equipment."

"Understood. Then Saaya, here, take this."

"Huh?"

Roze tossed a silver necklace to the new disciple who had looked up with sauce still around her mouth.

Saaya swallowed what was in her mouth and held up the necklace, tilting her head.

"What's this?"

"It's an item box."

"Eh! An item box... isn't that a legendary super-rare item!?"

Saaya's eyes widened.

That's right, the item box is an equipment accessory ranked as "legendary".

This is because space expansion magic is one of the forbidden arts, classified as extreme-level magic.

Naturally, magical devices with such spell formulas incorporated can't be made by ordinary people.

In this era, they can only be obtained as rare drops in dungeons, so the market price is no less than several thousand gold coins. Like an elixir, one of these could buy you a house.

However, there's a reason why such an item can be casually given away. Roze has several, and we have quite a number too.

I whispered to Saaya.

"Actually, if you defeat the boss on the 80th floor of Stoania's dungeon with the first strike, it drops about one in four times. The probability is about 25%."

"What's with that information? It's like you looked at a strategy guide."

"We've run it so many times to test it. It was good practice for Elen's magic."

"...By the way, who's the opponent?"

"An A-rank Marcosias."

The familiar wolf-boy by now.

The A-rank monster that once gave us so much trouble is now just a moderate practice partner for Elen. Senior Elen, who goes to beat up Marcosias whenever she's upset, is seriously amazing.

Well, thanks to that, we've obtained a decent number of item box equipment. Since they're quite valuable, we're keeping them instead of selling them. We can get as many as we want if we return to Stoania, but somehow it feels wasteful to sell them. We have savings, but my mind is still in poverty mode.

By the way, Roze is using the ring-type item box she originally had.

Elen and Saaya have necklace-type item boxes.

"I-I see... Thank you, Roze-san."

"It's an initiation gift. The storage capacity seems to be proportional to your level, so make sure to level up diligently."

"Ugh... I'll do my best."

Despite her excellent talent, she still seems to hesitate when it comes to combat.

Saaya carefully equipped the necklace and resumed eating.

"What's your plan for today, Master?"

"Nothing in particular after gathering information... but I want to choose clothes for Saaya."

Her eyes sparkled.

Since Saaya is a classic beauty, choosing clothes for her must be fun.

"Then shall we go shopping after we return from the Schreine house in the afternoon? Saaya, let's go to the Adventurers' Guild in the morning to register."

"Okay. So I'm finally going to be an adventurer too."

"By the way, Master, how long do you plan to stay in this town?"

"I don't plan to stay long, but we'll leave after investigating a bit more about the 'Destruction Factor'."

Ah, that's right, there was that issue too.

It's the mysterious term that the white-armed demon was searching for.

The word itself sounds quite dangerous, but considering the commotion they caused as a diversion, it must be quite important...

"So there are things even you don't know, Master."

"Of course. I'm just a trivial existence compared to the history of the world."

"You're plenty long-lived."

"...Did you say something?"

"I said you're beautiful as always today, Master."

Oops, my tongue slipped. I need to avoid death flags gracefully.

Anyway, we can't take measures to prevent demon attacks until we figure out what the Destruction Factor is. Even if we leave on our journey, there are many people we want to protect in this town, starting with Viscount Schreine.

Well, information gathering is Roze's daily routine, so I'll leave it to her.

As the little girls who seemed to be finishing their meal, I started thinking about Saaya's future development plan.

"Here is Saaya-san's adventurer card. Please be careful not to lose it."

The now-familiar receptionist handed Saaya a dull-colored card.

Saaya, who was initially reluctant to become an adventurer, now had her eyes sparkling as she finally got the card in her hands.

"Saaya-san, since you're a member of Ruruk-san's group, would you like to register as part of their party?"

"Ah, yes please."

"Understood. Due to the difference in ranks, you won't be able to share points when completing quests. Is that alright?"

"Yes, that's fine."

We also registered her as a party member at the same time.

I hadn't thought about it before because we were just a pair, but now that we're a trio, maybe we should think about a party name. An unnamed party doesn't have much impact.

Let's discuss and decide on a name with the three of us. There's no rush.

"Then Saaya-san will start as a G-rank adventurer as usual. As explained earlier, you won't receive points or rewards from quests registered with your affiliated party, so please accept quests individually. Ruruk-san, as the party leader, please make sure to properly educate the newcomer. And please refrain from excessive assistance with quests that Saaya-san accepts individually."

"We understand."

After receiving all the precautions, we moved on to explanations about the Adventurers' Guild system, how to read the quest board, how to accept quests, the point system, and so on.

She was an excellent student back when she was our classmate, so she remembered most things in one go.

Like me, Saaya had been under house arrest, so she had read through encyclopedias and had a decent knowledge of how to identify monsters and medicinal herbs. It seemed like she wouldn't need beginner-level training. Once we prepare weapons, armor, and other equipment, she should be ready to go on quests anytime.

"Ah, Ruruk-san. Perfect timing!"

"Good morning, Branch Manager Tamerik. Is something the matter?"

The intellectual-looking branch manager peeked his face out from the back of the guild.

As he beckoned us, I took Elen and Saaya to the back of the guild.

We were guided to the same room as before and sat face to face with the branch manager.

"Ruruk-san, how did things go after that? I heard you crossed swords with the count's private army."

"Yes, thanks to you, negotiations went smoothly. Thank you very much."

"No, no, that was nothing... By the way, Ruruk-san, I have a reward for you regarding the recent incident, and there's something I'd like to ask of you."

The branch manager spoke, barely giving any preamble.

Apparently, the Guildmaster of the Mataisa Kingdom wanted to give us a special reward for defeating the demons, and additionally, they wanted to consult about whether the guild could retrieve the body of the white-armed demon.

I understood the reward, but I was curious about what they would use the body for, so I asked.

It turns out that the Adventurers' Guild couldn't save face if they just got beaten in this demon attack, so they wanted to prove to the public that they had repelled the demons.

"Of course, we don't expect this for free. While the materials are excluded from purchase, we intend to add another 100 gold coins as a special reward. What do you think?"

"Well..."

To be honest, I don't really care about the reward. Besides, Roze has the body, and we had no intention of handing it over from the start.

I have things I want to say to the demons who indiscriminately attacked the town, but displaying their bodies is a different matter. Besides, the white-armed demon seemed to have a chivalrous spirit.

If we were to kick a corpse, it would be the red-eyed demon's... but we blasted it without a trace. No, I'm not saying Elen was wrong. I was also looking up at the "Explosion" like it was a fireworks display. Ooh, aah.

Seeing that my response wasn't positive, the branch manager's face clouded.

"Is it difficult after all?"

"Well... we intend to return the body to his homeland eventually. No matter if they were enemies, I can't agree to using the dead for the sake of appearance."

"I see... Understood. Then I'll respond to the Guildmaster accordingly."

I'm sorry, Mr. Branch Manager.

It must be tough being caught between us and your superiors, but please endure it as part of your job.

"Changing the subject, when do you plan to leave this town, Ruruk-san?"

"We haven't decided yet, why do you ask?"

"If you're planning to stay for a while, would you be willing to accept some pending quests?"

"That much we can certainly do. We have plans for today, but we'll come to accept them tomorrow."

"Thank you very much!"

Well, at least that much we can do.

Besides, if I remember correctly, the remaining quest was to exterminate an orc settlement, which might be just right for Saaya to observe combat.

"Also, Branch Manager, I have a question from our side... What are your plans for the demon alert status going forward?"

"We received a communication from Count Ketaaru's side, and it seems they've decided to maintain strict vigilance for a while. The Adventurers' Guild intends to align with this policy. However, Ruruk-san, we received a subtle notification from the Count that there's no need to search for the red-eyed demon... Could it be..."

He narrowed his eyes.

Well, it's natural to get such a notification, as it would be a waste of time and effort to search for someone who doesn't need to be found.

Branch Manager Tamerik is an Adventurers' Guild staff member and seems tight-lipped. There's probably no need to deceive him here.

"Yes, actually we've already defeated that one too. However, we blasted it without a trace, so there's no evidence."

"Hah, so it was as I thought... Wait, without a trace? Then, could the mysterious big explosion in the north of the town be..."

Oops, my tongue slipped again.

But there's probably no need to confess that much. As long as we convey that the red-eyed demon is no longer around, there shouldn't be any problems.

"Ruruk-san, just who are you people..."

"It's about time for our next appointment. Well then, Branch Manager, we'll take our leave now."

I indicate with my attitude not to pursue the matter further.

The Branch Manager seemed to read the atmosphere and didn't say anything more.

As I was leaving the room, I remembered something I had forgotten to say.

"Ah, that's right. The red-eyed and white-armed ones are gone, but there seem to be other demons around, so please don't let your guard down. We intend to stay in this town until we figure out the demons' aims, but we don't think we can protect the entire town... so please be extra careful not to be careless."

"Y-yes! Understood!"

The Branch Manager straightened his back, tightening his resolve that had started to loosen.