Living as an Unemployed in Another World

77 – 3. Two Adventurers (30)

30.

It was already night when I came out. When the moist air from the ground touched our skin, we exhaled helplessly. Thinking of safety, I had to run back to the wagon.

At that time, there was a rustling sound nearby. Carrying her mummy on my back, I put strength on her hand that supported her. Fortunately, it was a squire boy who appeared through a gap in the tree. He swallowed a groan when he saw the rapier glittering in the light of the ring. Chloe drew her sword.

“Mo, adventurers, are you alright!?”

It was still a long way to the wagon, and he wasn’t particularly helpless, but it was an indescribable relief that everyone else besides us was waiting unharmed. Chloe slumped into her seat, and so did Alphonse. I got down on my knees slowly.

“The injured…… There is. Where is the wagon?”

“Oh, yes. In front of you…….”

“Hey Al.”

I didn’t even feel like calling out my full name because my mouth was blocked. Alphonse snapped his chin as I stared at him, and then he struggled to get up and was helped by the squire boy…… To be honest, it looked difficult.

Where a fire was made with a small poker, a carriage, horses, and a coachman were waiting for us. Originally, they were supposed to meet outside the forest, but it seemed strange that they brought them inside a bit. This boy, unexpectedly, might have talent as a knight.

We sat around the fire. To be honest, I still don’t feel like I’ve come out alive. It’s not that I haven’t had such a terrible imagination that the lich will come out of the labyrinth, attack us, and put this area under my control, but if it was, I would have done it right away for 300 years. In the end, it was also the case of defending the crown, and the obsession with the fortress was not limited to the lords. I erased the possibility from my head.

After stroking the bag a few times, still hungry, I put my fingers through the openings of the glass vials and pulled out a few. One handed it to Alphonse without removing the stopper, and the other was unstopped and pressed to Mira’s lips. Breaking into a cold sweat, she drank it with difficulty as I tilted her chin.

It’s an expensive potion bought with all the money received as a down payment, so the effect must be certain. In fact, Alphonse seemed to have recovered his condition with just that, and Mira also became somewhat more comfortable. But since it was pierced by lightning, there must be a burn mark somewhere. If not treated in time, scars will remain. I noticed the squire boy, and he asked Chloe, who turned his head. Holding an oil bottle.

While the two women got into the carriage and looked at each other’s wounds, I sat around the fire with Alphonse, who was half naked, and the squire boy. Anyway, he was dispatched for Alicia’s request. I needed to explain the situation. I was also very curious.

“There was a crown. I failed to take it.”

“Ah… ….”

It was a word with multiple meanings. Alicia’s guess was correct, but the story that we couldn’t recapture the crown from that lich with our own abilities. As he drooled, I mocked myself and poured a bottle of oil on Alphonse’s back.

“There is a rich. It was on the third basement floor.”

“Lee, you mean Rich!?”

“Probably a mage that has existed since the days of the Empire. It was easy to break through the trap that the knights fell into because there were thieves on our side, but we ran into a lich in a large room in the central hallway…… I’m sorry, but I was in a hurry to survive.”

The squire boy contorted his face. In my common sense, I can’t understand how to accept this. If you think like your heart, you understand our position a hundred times, but as a position where you have to post a sad failure report, there will be regret. After all, isn’t there actually a crown?

“Okay. I will report that to the lord as well. I…… You will understand.”

“Yes.”

Then understand. It is surprising that there is a labyrinth in such a border forest, but who would have known that a 300-year-old lich would guard it as a boss? It probably won’t work even if all the knights rush in. It was 4 to 1, but it ended up like this. Before long, Chloe poked her head out of the carriage and murmured briefly.

“It’s done.”

“Yes.”

We ended our story with that. As the coachman yawned and took the reins, the wagon in which we were riding began to struggle. The squire boy, perhaps out of consideration for us, sat in the coachman’s seat unlike when he came, so we were the only ones left in the carriage.

“Jin… ….”

“Yes. I’m here.”

Mira leaned against me and muttered weakly. I silently buried the small head in my chest. Alphonse just closed his eyes to see if he was trying to recover his physical strength, and Chloe…… I grabbed him by the knees and leaned against the side of the carriage.

“…… Sorry.”

“…… What.”

“The crown… ….”

I frowned. It’s a miracle that all four survived. And there was no one who couldn’t do their part in the process. It doesn’t matter if the crown is stolen or not…….

“No.”

But on the other hand, I also understood her feelings. From the point of view of a full-time adventurer, in the end, I couldn’t defeat the enemy, and the request wasn’t successful. Even if the attack was successful at the end according to my instructions, it did not reach Mira or Alphonse’s performance. If you think of trying to act like a senior to us, you must be feeling inadequate.

And no matter how much Chloe blamed herself, I couldn’t afford to be angry with her.

Alicia trusted me and entrusted her with this request, but she failed. Her encounter with the lich was unexpected, but with a little more thought, she could have solved it in a better way. …… It’s all my fault

The wagon rattled and rode on the road through the hills. I slowly closed my eyes. In the dark, the scenery of the mansion unfolds before my eyes without fail…….

※

Three days after that. A letter came to me while I was staying at an inn.

“Jin, are you there?”

It was Celine holding a broom that brought the letter. After she confessed to me, she no longer slammed the door open like before, but always knocked in front. Of course, I didn’t have the right to reject it, and it can be understood that it just happened to come in and out like that.

I put the piece of wood I had cut off her stump and her carving knife on her table and turned to look at her. Celine placed one hand on her slim waist, leaned her broom against the wall, and handed me an envelope with a luxurious seal on it.

“A little while ago, a delivery man came and told me your name. That, the lord’s agent, is a letter from him.”

Celine looked a little timid as she spoke. Well, she’s just a smart girl to me, but from her point of view, she’s still a tough opponent to call by name. I said thank you and accepted the envelope.

She didn’t go out as if she was curious about the contents. She entered my room and sat down on the bed. She didn’t dare to look into the letter together, but deep down she wanted me to read it and organize the contents. Sitting on the bed and waving his legs, it reminded me of my childhood, so it felt a little cute.

The little girl is asking for it, so you have to listen. I gently peeled off the seal with my thumb and pulled out the luxurious stationery from the envelope. To be honest, while reading the elegant handwriting, I had no choice but to narrow my eyebrows somewhat. Two-thirds of the letter was about my safety and well-being. And the remaining third…… It was about the labyrinth.

I want to tell you through this letter that Jin-nim came back safely from the labyrinth with great luck. Now that I’ve confirmed the existence of the crown and the terrifying lich, I’m planning to gather talented priests from the capital and launch a full-scale attack on the labyrinth. Since Kunt’s territory is watching my movements, it’s no longer a problem that can be solved with diplomacy alone. As long as we obtain the crown, we will be able to restore the honor of our family, and the future of the territory will surely be brighter than now. A release will probably be made within this week.

P.S. Apart from the down payment, I sent a separate check to the letter. It’s a reasonable reward according to your performance, so I think you should distribute it with your colleagues to receive it. Thank you again. As expected, entrusting this task to Jin was the correct answer. Then, I look forward to the day we meet again. May you stay healthy. Your Alicia.”

I frowned again. Alicia·Fon·Luber, where are you going? Celine would be terrified if she saw it. I hurriedly folded the letter and crumpled it into an envelope, took out the check inside…… I took it out and put it back in. How much did you pay? It’s several times the amount of exploration requests I know of.

As I closed the road envelope, Celine gave me a urging look. I struggled with how to explain this. Actually, going to the dungeon this time wasn’t too dangerous, and I was evasive, saying that nothing special happened, but the story of the lich and all was too stimulating.

At that time, someone knocked on my door again. Celine is here, who is she? As I answered, a woman appeared. She was a mummy

“…… Why?”

I ignored the two women staring at each other and asked quietly. Mira said plainly, pointing outside, without scratching her Celine or cracking a joke at me.

“Jin, I think I need to come out for a while.”

“Huh?”

Celine puffed out her cheeks, but I stood up first, holding her envelope in her hand. As she followed her towards her stairway, the hall, unlike usual, was crowded. In front of the swing door, there are a lot of adventurers at the entrance…… Those two are oddly familiar.

“Oh, Jin.”

Chloe recognized me coming down and shook her hand. Beside her, Alphonse is twitching his chin. It must have been a commotion when half-elves and half-orcs entered the inn side by side. When she sees me, the adventurers turn her head in an instant to glare at me. Why, what If you seduce me, do you all seduce me to have the same party? I ignored them and strode along with Mira.

“What are you doing here? What… ….”

Since I’m still staying on the East Side, I was going to hand over the reward from my side anyway. When I asked with a puzzled expression, Chloe looked around and gestured for me to put her ear to her, then whispered. Mira’s expression is not so good. Her pale green hair tickled my ear.

“It’s a bit embarrassing to say it here, but a request came in. All together.”

“…… Also?”

I was genuinely curious. How long has she been surviving from that labyrinth? Nothing was written in Alicia’s letter. Then Chloe told me a shocking story in her oriole voice.

“I came from the guild. It’s a rescue request. …… A rescue request from an adventurer party who entered that labyrinth without permission.”

…… What?