After my daily morning training, I washed off my sweat in the shower and just as I was returning to my room, there was a knock on my door.
Noel, I've co to pick you up
My visitor was Alma. I didn't have anything in particular planned for today, so I promised Alma that I would show her around the imperial capital. Alma called it a date, but of course, I didn't think of it in that way.
I was going to show her only the places that were useful for Seekers. I had told her in advance that she should find sightseeing and recreational spots by herself.
Opening the door, I saw Alma standing at the entrance with a raised right fist.
Good morning
Good morning. Here, co in
Alma entered the room and looked around with great interest.
It's a good room after all. I wanted to live here too
In truth, the plan was for Alma to also rent a room here at the Stardrop inn. But as there were no available rooms, she had no choice but to choose another inn.
What about your inn? Are you used to it yet?
For the most part. It's also a good inn, though not as good as this one
It's good as long as you're comfortable. But aren't you here too early? It's only a little past nine. None of the stores are open yet
In the first place, Alma was the one who said that she would co and pick up. I had said that it would have been fine to et up at an appropriate spot, but there was soone who had no patience for that and said that she would expressly co and pick up.
I could understand her feelings of being excited after having just arrived in the imperial capital. As soone who had been in her shoes, I could let it pass, but even so, I wished she would do sothing about her timing.
Even though you're happy that you got to see big sister earlier. Noel isn't being honest
Shut up. I've said it countless tis, but you're not my big sister. Or rather, if you were going to co early anyway, then join for training
Impossible. I can't get up at 5 am
......What a half-cocked person. You're going to get fat instantly if you reduce your exercise regi so drastically
It's fine. All maidens have a maiden combustion engine, so they won't get fat
What on earth is a maiden combustion engine......
Alma ignored my exasperated glare and flopped onto my bed.
Haa, I'm bored. Noel, tell sothing interesting
Drop dead. I'm not your clown. Read this if you're so bored
I handed Alma a book that had been on my table.
What's this, Noel's autobiography?
You were close. It's not an autobiography, but a record of the battles thus far. Every battle from when Blue Beyond was ford till the battle with the bandits the other day is detailed here
That's amazing. Give it here
Alma laid prone on the bed and began to read while flapping her feet.
Hmpt! There's no love scene between Noel and !? This is a fake record!
Such history does not exist. Read silently. Also, if you add sothing strange without permission, I'm going to smack you again, got it?
......tsk
Why did you click your tongue? Don't tell you really intended to add stuff? ......What an unbelievable idiot. The fact that she is five years older than leaves tongue-tied in shock.
While Alma was reading the battle records, I sat on a chair and opened a technical book on organization theory. Naturally, I hadn't given up on establishing a clan. I would learn the knowledge that I would probably need while I continued my work as a Seeker.
My plan was to establish a clan once I got one more excellent ally.
I would end up paying most of the money that would be needed out of my pocket, but I didn't mind. Unlike before, there was no reason to be stingy with the money so long as I was the leader.Thanksto Lloyd and Tania, I had plenty of money as well. If I wanted, I could establish the clan anyti I wished.
But there was no point in establishing the clan when we were unable to go into Abysses. To establish the clan, the presence of a new ally was an indispensable requirent after all.
For the ti being, we were still doing the recruitnt in the central square. I was also thinking of submitting requests to publish recruitnt advertisents in the imperial capital's newspapers. It would be great if excellent applicants appeared, but if none appeared, I would probably have no choice but to switch to headhunting.
The preparations to recruit the one I wanted most as an ally, the Puppeteer Hugo, would still take so ti. Which ant that I would need to find other people to headhunt, but I wouldn't be having so much trouble if they were easy to find.
Isn't there so miraculous encounter that had fallen on the side of the road?
I was having such a hard ti finding new allies that I was starting to think such incomprehensible things......
......I got bored of it
Around 10 minutes later, Alma closed the battle records that she had been reading.
Isn't that a little too quick?
That's not true. If you keep reading books all the ti, you will turn into a book-worm
Looking at what you said from another angle, aren't you admitting that you don't even have the brains of a worm?
It's just your imagination. Rather than that, I'm bored again. Noel, I have a favor to ask of you
I'll at least listen to what it is. But, choose your words wisely
Let touch your body
That's you choosing your words wisely!?
To throw sexually harassing comnts straight like a fastball despite what I just said, just how much of a muscle-brain is this idiot woman? Even the sexually harassing old n at the bars use their heads more than this.
Then, I'm going to start touching, alright?
Wait! I don't allow it!
It seed like she had no intention of respecting my wishes from the start. Alma, who had gotten up from the bed, reached out to grope my body. But I wasn't going to let her touch so easily. I grabbed Alma's hands just before they reached and I used all my strength to push them back.
Stop it! Don't touch !
Impossible, just give up and let big sister touch your nice body
Like I said, you're not my big sister......Guarghh, st, strong!
What arm strength! Despite her small, thin arms, she is putting out the sa or more strength as my full strength. What's more, that refreshing expression is proof that she isn't even using half her strength.
Fufufu, it's impossible. A little brother that is superior to their big sister does not exist
Stop ssing around, idiot!!!
I ground my teeth and tried to push Alma back, but as expected, she didn't even budge. Despite her small body, it felt almost like I was going up against a huge boulder.
......Desperate Noel is also cute. Can I give you a kiss?
Huh!? Obviously not!!
I'm going to kiss you~~
No, stop it!! Idiot, stop!!!
Alma was getting closer with her puckered lips. At this rate, my lips were in danger from this useless-boobies-idiot-woman. But just when I thought that it was all over for , the door swung open forcefully.
Mister Noel! What's all the racket!?
The one who had entered the room was Mary, the poster girl of the Stardrop inn. She widened her eyes when she saw us wrestling with each other and dropped the laundry basket that she was holding.
N, no way...... To think that Mister Noel is going to kiss with a woman......
No, no, it's against my will! Rather than that, help pull this idiot off ! I'll give you more pocket money!
However, it seed like my words had not reached Mary, who started trembling all over.
Why...... why aren't you kissing with other n!? You can't kiss with a woman!!! Handso n have to kiss with other handso n!!! Uwaa, Mister Noel, you traitor!!!!
Mary, crying due to a reason that was totally impossible to understand, ran off.
Wh, what is that bizarre creature?
It was such an abrupt event that even Alma was left stunned with her mouth agape. Using that opening, I released my hold on Alma's hand and gave her a knifehand to the top of her head.
Guu!
Alma lost consciousness with a single blow. I was released from her evil clutches and could finally breathe. But my heart was still dark and heavy.
Why aren't there any normal won around ......
The unconscious Alma woke up imdiately after. Apparently, she seed to have lost her mory of what happened after she had entered my room, and when I said that she had probably fallen asleep, she didn't doubt .
Thus, my chastity was protected.
Where are you showing first?
Quite a bit of ti had passed during our slapstick routine so Alma and headed out. The imperial capital was as lively as ever and a wide variety of races and carriages flowed like a large river.
First, let's start with the arms shop that I'm on good terms with. This is a shop where the owner is a dwarf craftsn who obviously has good skills, but also charges reasonably. He may have a bit of a difficult personality, but he is a nice guy once he opens up to you
For Seekers, who made their living through fighting, nothing was more important than equipnt. Alma seed to have excellent weapons and armor, but if she didn't maintain them properly, they would quickly beco unusable. An arms shop that could be relied on at any ti was sothing that was indispensable.
After the arms shop is the item shop. I know that this is also a shop can be trusted, so you should get to know the shop owner
Various combat items, including potions made by alchemists, were necessities that were essential for Seeker activities. Because they also made magic bullets, I was a frequent custor because of my Silver Fla.
It's a shop that deals not only with finished products, but also with materials, so it should definitely be useful for Alma, who is a Scout. Don't Scouts have Skills that make poison and dicine from their blood? The effects of those Skills change depending on what is eaten by the user imdiately before, so you need all sorts of poisons and herbs, right?
Yup, this helps. Gathering herbs is fun, but it's better if I can buy them in bulk. I still haven't fully grasped the distribution and locations of herbs in this area after all
Scouts could create poisons and dicines from their blood. Most of the effects could also be replicated by alchemists, but the important thing was the fact that they didn't have to carry anything cumberso.
For Scouts, whose agility was their biggest weapon, there was no skill more useful, even considering the cost in blood. It was truly the Scout's signature Skill because it allowed Scouts to handle every type of situation without having to carry a single item.
After the item shop is the Appraiser Guild. As you know, it's a place where you can appraise and rank up Jobs. You can also browse the information on each Job, so you can consider your rank up destination based on this information. There is a viewing fee, but it's a necessary expense, so I'll pay for it
Got it. Is that all the places we're going?
No, I've saved the best for last. The last place we'll go is the Skill-book Alley
Through training, when a person beca able to learn a new Job Skill and the necessary elents were in place, as if a new function had been discovered inside the brain, the new Skill would beco usable. For that reason, Seekers described this Skill learning process as aFlashof inspiration.
A Skill-book was what encouraged thisFlashexternally. The learning of Skills required lengthy training originally, but through the power of a special book made from Beast materials, the knowledge and sensation of the Skill would be directly implanted into the brain of the reader, forcibly causing theFlash.
For Seekers, Skill-books were a dream item. Although they were very expensive due to their high production cost, many Skill-books were in circulation due to high demand.
In the imperial capital, most of the Skill-books are gathered in the Skill-book Alley. We should each buy a Skill-book there and strengthen our fighting ability
Is that also a necessary expense?
Of course. The money will be paid by , who is managing the party funds
Wow, you're so generous
The expense for that was large, but the returns were correspondingly big as well. Considering our future activities, it was definitely a no-loss investnt. What I paid would be recovered in no ti.
Do you understand today's schedule? Well then, don't get separated and follow properly
Understood
We visited each place in turn.
At the arms shop and the item shop, there was no particular plan to buy anything, so we left after simply introducing Alma to the shop owners. Both of them rated Alma highly, and it seed like Alma could expect special discounts from them in future.
Exceptional rookies were welcod simply for being what they were, but in addition to that, Alma was a young, good-looking woman. And she had big breasts. It was natural for her to be well-received by old n.
At the Appraiser Guild, I looked into the destinations for Alma's rank up.
For , I would like her to beco a rearguard attacker, but I also couldn't ignore Alma's own intentions and values. She should get a rank up that she wouldn't regret after basing it on ample knowledge.
There were four Jobs that Alma could rank up into. The vanguard attacker Jobs were Assassin and Torturer, and the rearguard attacker Jobs were Chaser and Bandit.
After browsing the information on each of those Jobs, Torturer and Bandit were excluded because they were not suitable for Alma, and Alma was left wavering between Assassin and Chaser.
Emotionally, the Job she used to aim for, Assassin, probably won out slightly over Chaser. However, she didn't seem to have an obsession with it, so it appeared that she would stick to the original plan of deciding between Assassin or Chaser according to our future party composition.
When we left after finishing what we ca to do at the Appraiser Guild, it was past noon.
I'm hungry~. Noel, let's go eat
You're right. For the ti being, let's take a lunch break
We could go to Skill-book Alley after we had eaten.
As I searched for a place to eat, sothing suddenly jumped into view that gave pause.
......Alma, I'm sorry, but go ahead and eat by yourself first. I have a small matter to attend to
Eh? What happened all of a sudden?
I have many things of my own to deal with. Once I'm done, I'll send you a communication via Link, so tell which store you went to. See you, I'm heading out
Ah, wait! Noel!
From behind , I heard Alma calling for to stop, but I ignored her and ran.
Alma back to her usual antics. But knowing what we know now, she probably doesnt know the proper boundaries because of her childhood.
Poor Noel, he was lucky Mary ca to his rescue.
Start of a long arc, and it looks like sothing happened at the end there. Stay tuned!
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