“This year’s grapes are doing well. Do you remember last year around this time when a wyvern made its nest in the hills near the city and it almost became a problem? But the A-rank adventurer party ‘Iron Fang’ swiftly took care of it, so it didn’t become an issue. If the subjugation had been delayed, the quality might have suffered a bit.”
As I explained this to Elena while holding a bottle of expensive wine that was quite costly for us, she tilted her head cutely.
That gesture from Elena was something I hadn’t seen in the village. Was she hiding it, or had she learned it since coming to the city?
Her expression perfectly concealed the rustic, straightforward innocence characteristic of country folk.
“I haven’t heard that story in the village. Where do you get that kind of information, Ed?”
Rolling the wine, known to be expensive in the city, on my tongue and savoring its taste, I answered Elena’s question.
“In hotels like this one, they usually have newspapers in the dining hall that you can read for free. They even had reviews of the wines there.”
If I were trying to woo an unknown woman, I wouldn’t bother explaining, but since it was Elena, I shared this for her education.
Of course, I didn’t take everything in the newspaper at face value. I read it and then chatted with merchants staying at the same hotel to verify the information.
Elena nodded, looking as if she understood. However, if she started saying things like “That’s impressive,” “I didn’t know that,” “Amazing,” “You have great taste,” or “Is that so?” I would have cut the conversation short immediately.
Those kinds of compliments are enjoyable when given by elite guild receptionists, but when it comes to flirting, I was the one doing the giving and receiving.
Also, since I was paying a decent amount for the lodging, I had access to that service.
If this were a tavern where rookie adventurers tended to stay, they wouldn’t be able to read the newspaper.
It would either end up as scrap paper or be stolen, so they couldn’t leave it lying around.
Moreover, the service itself presupposed the ability to read.
Even for adventurers from villages, this service was only accessible to those with a certain level of education, making it unnecessary for common villagers who had become adventurers through sheer determination.
“The newspaper is quite interesting. It’s worth reading if you’re going to be active in the city.”
As I sliced the roast duck with my knife and mixed it with the fruit sauce, Elena hesitantly began to cut the duck meat into small pieces and eat it with her small mouth, showing the grace of someone who had undergone training.
Had this been back in the village, she would have been eating it messily with her mouth wide open, with no appreciation for the flavor.
As the conversation settled, we enjoyed the meal in silence, but Elena wiped her mouth with a napkin—an ordinary village girl would have used her sleeve—and glanced up at me with hesitation as she asked.
“Ed, you can already beat Blaze, right?”
I raised an eyebrow, naturally intrigued.
“…Why do you think so?”
Silence—yet Elena spoke again, her words infused with some determination.
“Once, you said you wouldn’t operate in the city’s forest unless you were sure you could survive, but now you’re starting to take action, right? Maybe that’s why.”
I had once been close to Elena when her grandmother taught me the basics of how to navigate the forest.
While I didn’t recall sharing such stories during bedtime, it wasn’t entirely absent from my memory… Hmm.
“Elena. Did Blaze send you to probe into my current state?”
After saying that, I internally negated my own words.
Blaze had never used a woman to gather information.
It was possible he had learned that since coming to the city, but if he did want to use someone, it would likely be one of the younger male adventurers he had taken under his wing.
Moreover, he was still in a phase of enjoying women. Back in the village, he had seen all the village women monopolized by me; for him to start thinking of using women for information gathering, he would need a bit more worldly experience.
As evidence of this, Elena quickly replied.
“No, that’s not it. Blaze has nothing to do with this. It’s my own will. If Ed can beat Blaze, then it wouldn’t be a bother for me to join Ed’s party, right?”
“The ‘Wise One’? In my party?”
When I playfully questioned her, Elena looked at me seriously.
“If Ed desires, I’d be willing to become a ‘Maid.'”
There was no doubt in my mind about her saying that. It was well-known that I had pressured Cotton to shift from ‘Saint’ to ‘Maid.’
“Then why didn’t you follow me when I left the party? No, you seemed to be attracted to Blaze.”
“What I had for Blaze was just an act. I didn’t chase after you because I understood that you didn’t want that. If I did something unnecessary and provoked Blaze, it would have become a nuisance for Ed, right?”
“Haha… If only Cotton had that level of perceptiveness.”
And so, once again, there was silence.
I couldn’t read Elena’s thoughts.
Even if I had once held feelings for her, was she really that attached to me?
In my silence, Elena piled on more convincing words.
“Hey, Ed, you have the ‘White Book,’ right?”
“Hmm.”
So she was that determined, was she?
There exists an item known as the “White Book.”
The “White Book” is an item used for class reset and level reset that also existed in the game. By using it, one can revert to level 1 as a “Jobless” character.
“Jobless”—this isn’t merely a blank state of unassigned classes; it is the profession where level 1 is the maximum without the divine favor of the gods.
(While this isn’t the profession I want to be in reality, I’ve done a “Jobless” run before, utilizing status-altering weapons and items to progress.)
The “White Book” is reviled among the populace of this world, akin to a venomous serpent, but it has also been acknowledged as a necessary evil by the state and the church for its role in stripping criminals of their professions, allowing for its limited production.
“How do you know about that? Or did you think I was preparing it for a class change from ‘Bounty Hunter’?”
“No,” Elena replied, shaking her head slightly.
That said, I had, under the pretense of those reasons, received one copy of the “White Book” that had been stored by the village priest.
Naturally, it wouldn’t usually be given away since it’s used when a criminal appears in the village, but I had gained a reputation in the village as a prodigy.
Thanks to that, the priest was lenient with me and kindly passed it along.
“I thought you might prepare it for Cotton… Since there’s no woman beside you, you were waiting for her, right?”
I didn’t respond, merely wetting my lips with the wine in my glass.
Then I took the “White Book” from my Item Box and placed it on the table.
After staring at it for a while, I smoothly pushed the book towards Elena.
“Elena, I didn’t think you’d want this.”
“I’ve given up on Cotton…”
At Elena’s words, I returned a confused look.
“Ed. I’ve given up on Cotton.”
She repeated the same words again.
I slowly processed what she said.
“—So, that’s how it is. I see.”
The words fell into my chest like a stone.
Was it me who got turned down?
(Ah, I knew it, after all, it didn’t work out.)
The obsession I had for Cotton, which had clung to me so fiercely, began to fade from my heart.
No, I still had feelings. But I felt a sense of closure, like it had settled in its rightful place.
We had never meshed well together. Neither had I with Cotton.
“I see. You’ve given up then.”
I let out a sigh, easing my expression. The vigilance I held towards Elena dissipated.
I didn’t know why.
Perhaps it felt foolish to negotiate with a woman after being rejected by one, or maybe being turned down by Cotton made everything else insignificant.
But it was a feeling of acceptance.
I had probably anticipated this outcome.
—Cotton and I were simply not suited for each other as human beings.
“Ed. Cotton is—”
Elena began to tell me about Cotton’s current situation, mentioning that she had become Blaze’s mistress.
Cotton was forced to engage in sexual activities at will while observing Blaze parade numerous rookie female adventurers, serving him like a slave.
From the perspective of a typical relationship in my previous life, this was hardly a desirable state.
However, in this world’s agrarian society, which is steeped in male superiority, Cotton was not necessarily unhappy from that viewpoint.
If she were to marry Blaze, their future married life would likely resemble that.
Moreover, with Blaze, a man who was certain to succeed, Cotton could be considered among the winning women.
So she wasn’t unhappy, and if I were to meddle now, it would only complicate things and lead to her unhappiness.
Additionally, even if I were to help her, our personalities clashed. I wouldn’t be able to take care of her to the end.
(I was the one who got rejected, after all.)
It would likely be a nuisance for a past lover to come calling.
There was nothing I could really do for her.
(Maybe I could offer some money, but I bet Cotton would refuse that too.)
After all, she was a “Saint.” With the church’s permission, she could run a business with healing magic, and wouldn’t need to go on adventures to make a living.
Sensing my state, Elena offered me some advice.
“Well… Cotton is also a farmer’s daughter. She’s in the process of getting accustomed to Blaze, like wheat that bends under a passing storm while waiting for the grains to grow. If you intervene now, Cotton’s heart will become troubled, so Ed, you’d be better off not meeting her until she has a child.”
A child… a child, huh.
(A child, huh…)
I suppressed the urge to slouch back in my chair.
If enough time has passed for a child to be born, I probably wouldn’t be in this town anymore. It would mean I would never see her again.
“I see. What about Asha?”
If Elena was coming to me, then what about Asha, the “Sword Saint,” who was also a party member? When I asked, Elena made a complicated expression.
What kind of face is that?
“Asha is fine with Blaze.”
“Fine with Blaze? What does that mean?”
“It means Ed is too amazing for her to understand, so as a simple village girl, she prefers the clearer role of a ‘Hero.'”
“You can’t understand, huh?”
While that feeling was unclear to me—no, it wasn’t that I couldn’t understand. It likely referred to the parts I had given up explaining to Cotton, which a villager wouldn’t grasp, perhaps.
That was what Asha was saying when she claimed she couldn’t understand.
