<A Message from the translator:> Our two characters have their first chat! Back when I read the manga, there were so many little details skipped over here, so enjoy them now~
2: Caught
The place the man calling himself Gil led Lizel was a pub.
The interior design was close to that of a bar, but as you could rarely have proper meals seated at tables in bars, this really was a pub. While there were few patrons due to the sun still in the sky, it would probably soon fill up.
“I’m borrowin’ the room in the back.”
“Aye.”
Gil spoke to the man behind the counter and left several silver coins on the counter. Lizel himself didn’t want to be questioned by others, so he didn’t bother to refuse.
The man who seemed to be the owner glanced in their direction.
“Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“…Aye.”
Lizel and Gil were clearly an unorthodox pairing, but the owner didn’t say anything. As Lizel thought that this was quite a fine establishment to hold a conversation, he followed behind Gil and went through the door next to the counter.
Inside the small yet comfortable room was a table that could seat four.
“Mr. Gil, you’re quite famous.”
“He’s just familiar with me. Owner, alcohol.”
“Ah, I don’t drink, so I’m fine.”
“Ah? Hey, he said he can’t drink alcohol.”
“I heard him.”
As he watched the conversation between Gil and the owner poking his face through the door, Lizel sat in one of the two seats available. Having finally been given the chance to relax after several hours, he exhaled deeply.
Gil immediately returned with glasses in both hands and gave one to Lizel.
“Here.”
“Ah, thank you very much.”
Lizel declined at first because it was already rude enough to come to a pub and not drink, but to his surprise, the glass was courteously filled with some kind of squeezed fruit juice.
He stared at it for a while before gently putting the glass down without drinking any. Gil swirled his own cup, causing the ice to clink inside. His face twisted into a smile as he looked at Lizel.
“Need me to test it for poison?”
“If I doubted you at this point, I wouldn’t have spoken to you in the beginning.”
Lizel showed a gentle smile, but Gil inwardly clicked his tongue.
“(One set until I mentioned that, huh… Can’t get a read on him.)”
Just as Gil expected, Lizel tried his drink after receiving the comment on his hesitation to put the glass to his mouth.
Naturally, Lizel didn’t believe anything underhanded was done, nor did he even think that the owner was conspiring and plotting something. He didn’t think that, but the moment his doubt’s existence became nil, Gil made his comment.
It was possible for a thought he had to also run parallel to the thinking of a third-party person. Lizel was unique to be able to do this, but this man who could pick up on it was also special.
“So, what did you wanna ask?”
“Then, let’s start with introductions.”
“What do you wanna know?”
“I’m not investigating you. I just think it would be nice to discuss something with someone whose name is the only thing I know. Your profession, dating history, or anything else would be nice.”
Lizel evaded the man’s inquiring look and calmly put the drink to his mouth. It was fruit juice as he had expected. His tired body soaked the sweet and sour taste and relaxed.
Lizel wanted to know Gil’s status. To obtain further information, he first needed to understand the other party’s position.
It wouldn’t lead to suspicious info if done incorrectly, but the questions Lizel asked would change. Based on his appearance, Gil was undoubtedly an adventurer, but Lizel wanted confirmation.
Gil sighed in resignation, said that he’ll smoke, and placed a cigarette in his mouth.
“Well, whatever. You’ll find out if you look it up… Solo adventurer. B-rank. Got no particular woman nor do I wanna make one.”
“You don’t have one, but you also aren’t troubled by that?”
“I’ll be honored if you didn’t look at it that way.”
Gil scoffed and lit the cigarette. He didn’t think that Lizel would choose to comment on his dating history over his profession.
Calling Gil a solo and a B-rank adventurer meant that he boasted a high level of fame among the adventurers. One of the reasons was that firstly, soloing could get you up to D-rank at best.
That was not to say that any higher would require forming a party, but primarily, the difficulty of the requests was unreasonable. In such circumstances, it would be stranger if his fame didn’t spread after advancing to a B-rank by himself.
Yet, Lizel didn’t react to that. Even Gil, who was thoroughly composed and could easily bargain against others, couldn’t read this man’s mind.
“(A bigger fish than I thought… Plus, I’ve never seen him before nor heard of him. It’s also weird that he’s wanderin’ around by himself.)”
“You seem clever, so maybe I have confused you.”
For how much Gil couldn’t read Lizel, Lizel had been reading him fairly easily.
Lizel’s immediate response felt somewhat comforting, so Gil took the cigarette out of his mouth and stubbed it out as if he was preparing himself to enjoy his conversation with the man in front of him.
“If I ask, will ya tell me?”
“Do you want to know?”
“I want you to tell me ‘bout your dating history or anything really.”
Gil flipped the topic back to Lizel, so Lizel laughed in amusement.
At this voiceless laughter, Gil undoubtedly expected the answer to be “a nobleman” and reached out to grab his glass.
“I have no job. I have nothing to prove my identity, so I’m not different from someone in the slums. My dating history is a secret.”
Gil’s hand reaching for his glass nearly knocked it over, but he quickly caught it and escaped disaster. He shot a sharp scowl at this unpredictable man as if swearing that he would expose everything about him.
Even though this look would frighten any normal person it targeted and make them spill everything, Lizel’s easygoing demeanor remained unchanged.
“…Looks like you ain’t lyin’, but aren’tcha kind for givin’ me that info after seein’ me confused.”
“Do you believe that I am not lying?”
“By sayin’ you don’t wanna reveal your datin’ history, you’re pretty much sayin’ that you don’t wanna lie and won’t tell me. Don’t test me on every little thing.”
Lizel narrowed his eyes in delight. He had originally intended to choose someone who could hold a decent conversation, but his amusement increased, seeing how this man understood him to this degree.
He fully witnessed Gil about to knock over his glass before, but it didn’t show on his face.
“I see. Then, if I was going to make an appropriate lie, I would say that I’ve broken the hearts of a hundred women, right?”
“Now you’re too full of yourself.”
Gil’s mouth broke into an amused smirk, but Lizel nodded as if this was nothing, placed both elbows on the table, and put his hands together.
“Now that we’re done with introductions, let’s get down to business.”
“I don’t know a single thing ‘bout you, y’know.”
“That’s because your questions were bad.”
Gil returned a disagreeable look to Lizel’s gentle smile.
There was no doubt that there was something Lizel didn’t want to be asked. If Lizel had read ahead this much in their first conversation, exactly how many moves ahead should Gil read?
“(Well, I’ll only give as much info as I’m paid this time.)”
Gil didn’t hear anything about one-upping each other, so he gave completely safe information for the payment before. Moreover, at a huge profit.
It was possible without knowing anything about the other party. Though, it was another story if you asked Gil if he disliked it.
“So, what did you wanna ask?”
“Let’s see. How about we start with the local state of affairs?”
This was an uncomplicated question for an adventurer who often crosses national borders.
“Did ya just come here?”
“Yes, I just arrived here today.”
Gil attempted to prod nonchalantly, but Lizel answered unperturbed.
For someone who described themselves as no different from someone in the slums, who exactly was this man who claimed to have now come from outside?
“…I haven’t heard anythin’ suspicious recently. They’ve settled down.”
“Recently?”
“Yeah, the mercantile country and the magic ore country had a dispute some time ago, but now, they’ve calmed down. Well, they were countries that often had little fights, so no one really cared.”
Nodding at this given information, Lizel recalled the map he saw at the curio shop. The neighboring countries were drawn roughly, and as only the large international road was drawn, it was easy to memorize and thus unnecessary to buy.
The map in the castle in his original world was detailed, but this was probably how maps sold in markets were like.
“(Mercantile country… It’s probably that country to the south connected to many roads and at the center of the circuit. And the magicfacturing? Magicfacturing country, was it? If they would purposely fight against the mercantile country, then based on location, the magic ore country is most likely located southwest of the mercantile country. They also overlook a large mountain range, which is where their name of “ore” most likely originated from. Since it’s commonplace for manufacturers and sellers to quarrel, I shouldn’t need to worry about this.)”
“Another?”
“No, but thank you. However, this country is large. Would I be able to cover the entire area?”
Gil peered in from the other side of the door and returned with a new cup of alcohol in hand.
Seeing as his complexion remained the same, it appeared that Gil had high alcohol tolerance. Lizel envied that.
“If you’re thinkin’ about goin’ around to the mercantile country, the magic ore country, or any of the others, one month ain’t enough. Even if you were to ride in a carriage, it’ll take too much time.”
“I thought so.”
Seeing how the names of other countries were contained and consolidated in this country, the surrounding countries must be vassal states or something. Lizel had surmised such given that the country he was currently in was in the middle of the map, but it was most likely that the several countries (or possibly cities) belonged to one nation.
It was hard to get a sense of distance from the map, but when he compared the information given by Gil with the map, it appeared that the territory was quite large.
Lizel recalled the letters written on the map. Strangely enough, the letters were practically the same as his original world.
There was the mercantile country “Marcade”, the magic ore country “Cavana”, and the country he landed in.
“What do you think of ‘Parteda’?”
“About this country? What a vague question.”
“I don’t mind if it’s something simple.”
Unable to grasp the meaning behind the question, Gil looked puzzled at Lizel, but Lizel smiled without minding.
Gil let out a heavy sigh at Lizel’s behavior and swirled his glass of alcohol in resignation.
“Ain’t much. It’s just a spot where I can earn some money. As long as there’s a good inn, delicious meals, and fairly good requests, that’s enough for me.”
“I see. That is very useful information.”
If this was a country where an adventurer who roams to different places stays, then it wouldn’t be strange for someone like Lizel who didn’t have any identification to stay. However, while he wasn’t familiar with what happens when entering and leaving the country, he should be able to avoid the worst situation of being convicted of trespassing.
In that case, there shouldn’t be any problem with him freely moving around. He had no objections to making this country surrounding the castle his base. Whether to return to or to stay in, he would be stuck in this world for some time.
Lizel grinned that there were also people who seemed reliable here.
“I thought I would end with just the question, but can I request something from you?”
“…Well, it’s true that just givin’ information doesn’t really fit. So, what do you want? Give you a tour of the country, join you as a bodyguard in the future, or accompany you as a chaperon when you start adventurin’?”
“All of it.”
Lizel confirmed so casually to Gil’s teasing tone that Gil looked at him with astonished and resigned eyes.
He had expected Lizel to take the first two options, but the joke of a third option was casually accepted. It was completely impossible now for him to control the flow of the conversation.
“Quite shameless, aren’t ya?”
“I wouldn’t say so. It’s wonderful that you can sense such without having it mentioned in conversation.”
“You’re makin’ me sense it.”
Gil brought the glass to his mouth and drained it. He exhaled a short breath and returned the glass to the table in a quick motion.
The man before him showed no signs of surprise at the loud thud echoing nor any signs of terror at his glare.
“You don’t got any knowledge ‘bout here. Your background ain’t normal. And, you got the idea to probe me for info without even knowin’ me. You wanted our exchange to end this way, didn’t ya?”
This time, Lizel didn’t confirm. He simply smiled in silence. But, Gil was convinced that his assumption was true.
He thought he was getting involved with a troublesome person, but he realized that he regretted his choice less than he imagined.
Gil didn’t enter the back alley and call out to Lizel out of goodwill. He had been in the “care” of those “thugs” in the back alley once. That was the only reason.
Lizel had denied it, but no matter how Gil looked at him, he was a nobleman. So, if such a man were to be harmed in such a place, the whole area would be in an uproar. He owed nothing to Lizel and could even ignore him, but he called out to the noble on a whim.
And, thus, it produced his current situation.
There would probably be no issue if Gil declined the request. He could easily take the two gold coins and go home. It went without saying that things would end with “an unexpected reward being fortunate.”
“Contents.”
“It’s not different from what you have mentioned, Mr. Gil. For the first few days, you will accompany me and inform me of various things, but after that, you will only need to accompany me during the necessary occasions.”
“Period.”
“One month for the time being. How about I extend the period monthly if necessary?”
Nevertheless, Gil involuntarily asked about the contents of the request. You could say that it was due to the intuition he cultivated up until now as an adventurer to not let his target escape.
As the man in front of him listed the details, Gil immediately burst out laughing at that thought. He wondered if even his reaction was predicted as Lizel’s chuckles reverberated in his throat in delight.
Lizel predicting that such a mature man would move simply because of curiosity and its reality.
“How much are you gonna pay me?”
“How much do your services cost?”
“Hah! Do you know who you’re talkin’ to?”
Gil had only met Lizel today. He held no interest in every single person he had ever met.
That was why Lizel forced Gil’s interest to be directed towards him. While Gil was treated cordially by the gentleman in front of him, he didn’t feel humiliated. Rather, this was a fan to the flames of his curiosity that he had never felt until now.
Lizel must have stimulated this quality that Gil himself hadn’t noticed, thus earning Gil’s honest admiration. In the first place, Gil wasn’t childish enough to become angry and deny it.
He had done nothing but fulfill the guild’s requests and hadn’t taken any new ones. There was no reason at all for him to refuse.
“I’ll take the job and empty your wallet in a month. I don’t need an advance. You’ll pay me at the end of the month after you see my work.”
“How unorthodox. It’s very favorable for me to see you very confident.”
Lizel was still unfamiliar with Gil’s reputation, but he nodded and would deal with it at the end of the month.
They clinked their glasses, sealing the deal.
“This is a bit sudden, but can you direct me to an inn?”
“It’ll be better for the both of us if you stay at my place.”
“That’s true. When we arrive at the inn, shall I explain many of the things you are wondering about?”
“Can’t wait.”
Lizel watched Gil leave the room first to lead the way and nodded to himself. It was ideal to deal with someone motivated by profit, but it was a different story if they were moving together.
Lizel’s goal was naturally easy to fulfill if the person thought about benefits, but the determining factor here was that everything else was favorable. Someone who solely acts on profit would only work for what benefited them. If another delicious offer came, they would go that way.
He chose Gil out of curiosity, but it certainly wasn’t a mistake. From the way he described himself as a “solo B-rank,” he was powerful, and he was ideal for Lizel’s request.
Lizel was satisfied with his results and left the small room.
Towards the Sky 
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