Chapter 57
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door.
Jeong Yushin opened his eyes.
He got out of bed and grabbed the single-edged sword resting by his pillow.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Anne. There’s a guest downstairs.”
“How long was I asleep?”
“You slept from yesterday morning until tonight.”
Had he slept for a full day and a half?
He must have been incredibly tired.
“I’ll be down soon.”
He changed clothes and strapped the single-edged sword to his waist.
A guest this late at night.
Could it be Aldein? Perhaps he had come to get back the single-edged sword he had lent him.
Jeong Yushin checked his clothing and went down to the first floor of the inn.
Ingrid was sitting at a table.
There was a cage on the table, and a white rat inside it.
“Lady Ingrid?”
“Ska.”
Jeong Yushin sat in the chair opposite Ingrid and asked,
“What brings you here?”
“I came to ask a favor.”
“A favor?”
Curiosity appeared on Jeong Yushin’s face as he asked.
“I’ll bring out some food.”
Anticipating that the conversation would be a long one, Anne went into the kitchen.
After Anne disappeared, silence briefly settled between the two of them.
Jeong Yushin watched the white rat with his arms folded.
The white rat was sitting with its back turned, so he could not see its face.
Even so, its plump rear looked familiar.
Where had he seen it before?
Jeong Yushin turned his head to look at Ingrid.
“I don’t know what the favor is, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to grant it.”
Ingrid’s brows curved.
“···Why?”
Why else?
Because she had publicly executed him for being a virgin.
Even so, he could not be petty enough to give such a reason to an important person.
He decided to give a more realistic reason.
“I don’t have any leeway. Running the inn is already difficult enough, and I’m barely scraping by. Besides, I lost all my equipment in that battle and only managed to salvage one dented helmet.”
Clink!!!
Ingrid placed a pouch on the table.
The sound of coins. The happiest sound in the world. A sound that resonated through his soul.
Jeong Yushin’s eyes widened.
“Ten gold coins. That combines the reward for subduing Hans with my goodwill. It’s an excessive amount for a novice explorer. In addition, I’ll exempt you from the night-watch assignment. Of course, it will still count as having completed the assignment.”
“Ten gold coins?”
Jeong Yushin asked again, his voice trembling faintly.
“I’ll also exempt you from the night-watch assignment. But.”
Ingrid tapped the table with her finger as she continued,
“That’s on the condition that you grant my request.”
Jeong Yushin swallowed dryly.
“Wh-what is the favor?”
Could it be some unreasonable request?
Even so, with ten gold coins during a time when he was this hard up, he would gladly carry a bundle of straw into a blazing pit.
Ten gold coins would be enough to cover both the inn’s deficit and the cost of new equipment.
Ingrid pointed at the white rat inside the cage.
“This white rat. My familiar.”
The rat perked up its ears and turned around.
“I see.”
The moment he saw the white rat’s face, he recognized it.
It was the rat that had crawled under his bed.
No wonder it had seemed strangely familiar.
Jeong Yushin nodded, then suddenly opened his eyes wide.
Wait.
A chill ran down his spine.
“Don’t tell me you sent it to spy on me?”
Ingrid gave him a look as though he were a hopeless fool.
“You’re overly self-important. Barbaroi, do you have no sense of your own place?”
The sudden, brutally direct reality check left him dazed.
‘She’s right. I’m not important enough to warrant being watched.’
Heat rose to his face.
Jeong Yushin stammered as he opened his mouth.
“I-I see. Then why did you show me this familiar?”
Ingrid opened the cage.
Creeeak.
The white rat came out of the cage and looked up at Jeong Yushin.
“This little one’s name is Lin. Take care of it.”
So it had a name.
That aside.
“In what way am I supposed to take care of it? You’ll have to clarify this point.”
“I’m not telling you to keep it locked in the cage. When Lin gets tired from wandering around the city and comes to the inn, occasionally provide it with food and a place to sleep. And···”
Ingrid hesitated for a moment and could not continue.
“Please, speak freely.”
“I’d like you to massage it sometimes.”
“Pardon?”
Jeong Yushin’s eyes widened.
This was far too easy.
Ingrid spoke while casting her gaze into the distance.
“You know, during the last night-watch assignment···.”
“Ah.”
He remembered grabbing the white rat that had barged in while they were eating roasted chicken and casually kneading its body.
“Ahem. Lin said it liked it and asked you to do it again.”
“Squeak?”
The white rat tilted its head.
“This thing can talk too?”
“Not through language, but through ‘feelings’ and ‘emotions.’ To be precise.”
“You must care for Lin a great deal. You’re even asking me to massage it.”
“...”
Ingrid’s face flushed faintly.
He thought it over carefully.
Putting aside the fact that his familiar lived a life of luxury,
these conditions were not bad in exchange for ten gold coins and completion of the night-watch assignment.
Jeong Yushin nodded and continued.
“I understand. But isn’t it dangerous? The city’s security doesn’t seem good enough for such a small rat to wander around Labyrinth City.”
“Lin is intelligent. If danger arises, it can handle the situation itself. Besides, I’ve placed a spell on it as insurance.”
“This one has already been caught by me once.”
“It was because it let its ‘guard down.’ That won’t happen again.”
“Ah, yes.”
Jeong Yushin approached and poked the belly of the rat standing on its hind legs.
“Squeak!”
The white rat, Lin, squirmed and covered its belly with both paws.
Rattle!!!
Ingrid suddenly sprang up from her chair.
“Wh-what?!”
Ingrid’s usually expressionless face was slightly flushed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Don’t mind it.”
Ingrid slowly sat back down.
Her ears had turned red; she seemed thoroughly flustered.
“···Don’t touch it whenever you feel like it. Touch it ‘gently’ and ‘softly’ at the designated ‘time.’”
‘Good grief, she sure asks for a lot.’
“Yes. Understood.”
Jeong Yushin scratched his head and nodded.
Ingrid’s behavior was strange, but it was not all that surprising. He assumed it was one of the odd hobbies important people tended to have.
In any case.
With ten gold coins on the line, he planned to give it as many massages and belly rubs as necessary.
“I accept those conditions. But the reward seems larger than I expected.”
“I’m giving you what you deserve. Unholy Flash is a fairly powerful monster.”
Unholy Flash.
The name of the monster Hans had transformed into.
“Was it really that powerful?”
“To be more precise, Hans’s Imprint made it more troublesome. Besides, if the summoned creatures had spread into the Western District, there could have been civilian casualties. Your help was significant.”
“I don’t think I helped all that much. I believe you could have broken the barrier by yourself, Lady Ingrid.”
“That may be true, but it would have taken time.”
Silence passed between the two of them for a moment.
Ingrid had said otherwise, but thinking about it now, the reward did seem excessive for subduing the monster.
Looking back at the battle objectively, there had been several dangerously close moments.
Without the half-ogre Stonefist’s strength and the frog beastkin priest’s divine magic, they would never have reached Hans.
Furthermore, without Aldein’s single-edged sword and Iron Mask’s gauntlets, they could not have damaged Hans’s non-virgin barrier.
He was certain that if Ingrid had not dealt sufficient damage to Hans’s non-virgin barrier, his own sword strike would not have been decisive.
In short.
This had only been possible because the party’s assistance, good equipment, and outside aid had all fallen perfectly into place.
A question suddenly occurred to him.
“I’m asking because I don’t know much about this. Aren’t Imprints all-powerful?”
Ingrid looked at Jeong Yushin and opened her mouth.
It was a vague question, but Ingrid understood its point perfectly.
“You saw the cracks that appeared in Hans’s non-virgin barrier when I swung my sword. That’s right. Imprints are not all-powerful. Think of it another way. It’s more accurate to consider an Imprint something that grows alongside its owner.”
“Then are you saying that even the same Imprint can have different power depending on the person?”
“That’s right.”
Ingrid’s explanation made perfect sense to him.
He had experienced it himself: as his mana adaptation improved—in other words, as he leveled up—the deployment speed of Sacred Weapon increased, and it felt somewhat sharper.
“I have one more question.”
“Ask.”
“Why do people enter the labyrinth? They might obtain a bad Imprint, and I don’t think the rewards are attractive enough to endure that risk.”
Ingrid smiled bitterly.
Jeong Yushin’s brows rose.
She had maintained an expressionless face ever since he first saw her, so watching her suddenly smile bitterly made his heart lurch.
“The reason people enter the labyrinth··· I’m curious about that myself. Everyone has a different reason. Those seeking to make a fortune overnight. Those who want to change their fate. Those who want to gain great power. Those who want to test their luck. Those who want to revive a dead lover. There are so many reasons. You could say they’ve stepped outside the realm of reason. Ska, why do you enter?”
Jeong Yushin’s body stiffened at Ingrid’s question.
If you wanted to understand someone, you had to understand their desires.
This was not something he had learned from the teachings of the sages. Nor had he learned it from a book.
It was an insight he had gained while living in ordinary society before his transfer.
In truth, it was too grand to call an insight. It was merely a thin thread of understanding he had pulled from his short life.
Ingrid’s question was meant to understand Jeong Yushin.
The problem was how she would react after hearing his answer.
He had no idea.
Besides.
Unlike her calm tone, there was a faint glimmer of wariness in Ingrid’s eyes.
His instincts told him he was in danger.
It could have been paranoia. But he decided to trust his instincts.
“···It’s difficult to say.”
“Why is it difficult to say? Speak freely. Don’t tell me you’re looking for an Imprint that would let you rule the world.”
Ingrid’s casually probing eyes glinted as coldly as ice.
An Imprint for ruling the world?
Could such an absurd Imprint really exist?
He calmed his roiling emotions. An Imprint like that had nothing to do with him.
“It’s nothing like that. I’ll tell you when the time comes.”
“Is that so? Do as you please.”
Ingrid folded her arms and turned her head away. Her eyes looked more exhausted than ever.
Anne brought some snacks from the kitchen.
It was a dish of chicken and vegetables wrapped in thin wheat crepes, covered in sauce, and grilled.
“Bring me a bottle of Dwarf liquor.”
“Yes.”
Anne brought a bottle of liquor and glasses from the cabinet behind the counter.
Food and drinks were placed on the table.
“Would you like a drink?”
“Dwarf liquor. You’re a Barbaroi who knows his liquor.”
“Yes. It’s decent enough.”
‘I only drink it because it’s similar to soju.’
Jeong Yushin tilted the bottle and poured liquor into Ingrid’s glass.
Trickle.
He filled Ingrid’s glass, then.
Glug.
He filled his own glass.
Jeong Yushin asked,
“Shall we make a toast?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Jeong Yushin and Ingrid emptied their glasses at the same time.
Jeong Yushin picked up a wheat crepe with his fingers, put it in his mouth, and chewed.
Ingrid elegantly lifted her fork, brought the wheat crepe to her mouth, and carefully took a bite.
She seemed entirely different from the woman who had once swung a greatsword as tall as she was like a storm.
Could she be called an aristocratic milf steeped in grace and decorum?
“By the way, how is Karin doing?”
At Jeong Yushin’s question, Ingrid covered her mouth and swallowed her food.
“She’s under house arrest for now.”
“Pardon?”
“I heard she caused several disturbances in Labyrinth City by flaunting her status. She deserves to be punished for that behavior. To be honest, I’m so ashamed that I can hardly hold my head up.”
“Karin did have that side to her. She liked throwing her weight around? Yeah, yeah.”
Jeong Yushin spoke his mind.
Ingrid glared at Jeong Yushin.
Jeong Yushin met her gaze without backing down.
“Once she comes to her senses, I plan to send her back to Labyrinth City. This time, I’m going to send her with nothing. The rules must be followed, no matter what.”
The rules?
Was it the rule that children from wealthy families could not receive support from their clans?
His memory was fuzzy, but that must have been it.
“It’s late, so let’s end our conversation here.”
Ingrid said this as she rose from her seat.
“Yes. Let’s.”
Jeong Yushin saw Ingrid out of the inn, then returned to his seat.
Jeong Yushin let out a deep sigh as he watched the white rat munching on a wheat crepe.
“Whew, what was that, a son-in-law interview? Terrifying.”