Chapter 98

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Ok, I didn’t think I’d get this up tonight…

Another one by the new mystery SH translator.

And seriously, I’m going to bed now, this is the last SH for tonight, don’t party too hard while I’m sleeping.

Bluff

“Well then, ready to go?”\n

“What about my clothes?”\n

“I don’t mind if you stay as you are.”\n

“And the sword?”\n

“There will be no problem if you put it in your Item Box.”

I try to find various excuses, but he rejects all of them.\n

I joined the party of an adventurer of the order of knights, and was taken to the Earl of Selmar’s residence.\n

Via [Field Walk], we arrive at a place that looks like a lobby.\n

Doesn’t it have the same construction as Bode’s castle?

“Six people, including the Duke of Harz, have arrived.”

The knight from our party announces to a knight from the other side.

“I have been waiting for you. Please allow me to be your guide.”

The knight from the other side responds respectfully.\n

It seems there was already an arrangement.\n

It would be troublesome otherwise.\n

It’s great that the one who set up this meeting was Cassia, not the Duke.

“I will be in your care.”\n

“The five people, except the adventurer, please follow me. As for the adventure, please wait here.”

The guide knight heads inside.\n

But I am supposed to be an adventurer as well.

“Let’s go then.”

The Duke nods at me, and goes inside.\n

Do I take that nod as ‘there’s no problem?’

Cassia follows after him.\n

I follow them inside since I can not afford to fall behind.\n

After walking for a while, and then going up stairs, we finally arrive in front of a big door.

“The Earl is waiting inside.”\n

“Mhm, you two wait here.”

The duke entrusts one of the knights in our party with the Orichalcum sword.\n

Only the three of us go inside: the Duke, Cassia and myself.\n

It seems even the Duke is not allowed to carry a weapon beyond this point.\n

I have already put my weapon inside my Item Box, and it seems Cassia didn’t bring any weapon with her.

The knight guiding us opens the door.\n

It isn’t a large room.\n

It is a small, throne room.\n

A plump elf is seated on a chair in the center.

So he is the Earl of Selmar.\n

40-year-old Lv21 Knight.\n

Considering his age, his level is not high.

An elf can be plump?\n

Eventhough he’s plump, he’s good looking, which pisses me off.

A huge curtain is hanging behind the chair.\n

I have seen the pattern on the left before.\n

It is the emblem of the Harz duchy.\n

The Duke walks arrogantly toward that emblem.

“Come inside, Michio dono.”

Cassia calls me.\n

I thought the order would be the Duke > Cassia > me, but it seems to be the Duke > me > Cassia.\n

I bow, and follow after the Duke.

I was instructed to bow my head.\n

This should be fine.\n

The Duke doesn’t bow. I didn’t expect him to bow anyway.

Cassia follows from behind me and lines up next to the Duke.\n

I could smell her perfume when she passed by my side.\n

That’s a relief. I have been hidden by the two people standing in front of me.

“Your excellency, I am glad you came. It’s been a long time, Cassia.”\n

“Yes. I am glad uncle is in good health above everything.”

Cassia replies to the Earl of Selmar.\n

Earlier, Cassia said it was her home, but it was apparently her uncle’s.\n

Let’s continue with the conversation without touching any sentimental topic.

“And that person is?”\n

“This person is Michio dono. He splendidly defeated Heinz the bandit.”

The topic moves to me before long.

“Oh, how fortunate.”\n

“This person defeated Heinz without any trouble. Michio dono is also assisting us with clearing the labyrinths in our territory.”\n

“I am envious as our territory only has the order of knights.”

I am getting a chill down my spine from the Duke’s and the Earl of Selmar’s conversation.\n

This conversation seems strangely hostile.

I am really lucky.\n

That he’s on my side.\n

I didn’t think I would need support here.\n

Is this an appropriate place for such a conversation?

Is it alright for the heads of their terrtories to behave like this?\n

This is not right. It sounds more like kids’ quarral than a meeting.\n

I could even say they are oblate (children) wrapped up as adults.\n

I am not sure if their mental age is as high as their physical age.

“Of course I noticed that. Your knights were useless in capturing Heinz or even clearing the labyrinths.”\n

“Your knights couldn’t defeat Heinz as well.”\n

“Does the Earl of Selmar wish for Michio dono’s assistance?”\n

“It is questionable relying on your knights if they must rely on others.”

It’s reaching new lows with every passing moment.

“Come to think of it, the gang of Heinz were equipped with a ring. Isn’t that right, Michio dono?”\n

“Oh, yes.”

I answer the Duke while bowing.

“It came as Ring of Determination with Armor Appraisal. Do you have any idea, Earl of Selmar?”\n

“N-No. I don’t.”\n

“I thought so. I will be keeping the ring then. If you say you need it, I am willing to sell it.”

I heard that Heinz stole the Ring of Determination from the Earl of Selmar, but it was apparently not made public.\n

What would happen if this secret is out?\n

Well, if it’s made public that a thief stole from the Earl, he would look foolish.

If an item, which was presented as a betrothal gift, gets stolen from you and the person, who presented the gift, recovers it, wouldn’t you lose face?\n

Did the Duke bring me along for this?\n

He wanted my testimony that Heinz had the Ring of Determination?

“By the way, I heard that Heinz the bandit was defeated by an adventurer. Such a thing is impossible.”

Suddenly, the direction of the conversation changes.

“Him, may be?”\n

“May be not. There was probably some mistake.”\n

“O-Of course not!”

The Duke panics.\n

Is the adventurer job really that useless?\n

The adventurer of the order of knights was also asked to stay at the lobby.

Adventurers can move anywhere using [Field Walk].\n

I guess it is to prevent them from wandering around the castle.\n

Did the Duke know and just ignored it?

“If you brought an adventurer to the throne room inside the castle, there would be suspicion of ill-intention toward the territory of Selmar.”\n

“It would be.”\n

“It is easy to check the Intelligence Card, but to doubt the person that Duke brought alongside him.”

The Earl of Selmar is trying to set him up.\n

I wonder from where did he hear that I was an adventurer.\n

The Earl of Selmar is Cassia’s relative.\n

There is a possibility that it was the maid attending to Cassia.

“So then.”\n

“Apart from that, how can I show my sincerity?”

Prostrate on the ground somewhere if you really feel any sincerity inside you.\n

Sincerity is that tough to show.

“No way, you will not.”\n

“Of course I don’t doubt you, but there still remains a little doubt.”\n

“Then.”\n

“The question still remains unanswered.”

Most likely, the Earl of Selmar is confident that I am an adventurer because of the Duke’s attitude.\n

Does he intended to press this on for some sort of concession?\n

The Duke made me testify that Heinz had the ring. The Earl of Selmar pointed out that I was an adventure and I shouldn’t have been brought along.\n

Are both of them going to pull out as a draw?

“Uncle!?”\n

“There is no doubt, of course, toward neither the Duke nor Cassia.”

The Earl of Selmar rejects Cassia’s objection.\n

The fight between the Duke of Harz and the Earl of Selmar doesn’t matter.\n

The result of their fight doesn’t matter.

But it is unacceptable if it is going to trouble Cassia or make her suffer.\n

I raise my head.

“Okay, I understand. I’ll have my Intelligence Card checked if it will help clear your doubts.”

The knight at the back approaches me.

“But I can’t allow you to insult Michio dono.”\n

“I don’t mind.”\n

“Not only Michio dono, but to insult Cassia whom I have brought along.”

The Duke is enraged.\n

It is not possible for the Duke to know that I am not an adventurer.\n

It is my first time seeing this attitude of his.

In other words, the Duke’s speech was a bluff.\n

I won’t be troubled by having my Intelligence Card checked but the Earl of Selmar will be. He has already taken the bait, all that’s left is raising the latch.\n

Let’s make the Earl of Selmar drop out from the game.

Like the Duke, I guess he is also political personality. After hearing me agreeing to it, he immediately proceeds with it.\n

It seems he is accustomed to political bargaining.

“No, there’s no need to go that far. The Duke and Cassia need to bow and apologize.”\n

“I will not allow the Duke and Cassia sama to bow for my sake. Please go ahead and check.”

As for me, however, I’m not bluffing.\n

I extend my left arm to the knight in front of me.

Cassia anxiously stares at me.\n

The Duke watches me in silence while maintaining a poker face.

“…Do it.”

Did he see through their bluff from the change in their expressions? Did he lose the chance to pull back? Anyways, the Earl gives the order to proceed.\n

The Duke leaves it to heaven.\n

The knight reads my Intelligence Card.

“Michio Kaga Sama. His job is Explorer.”

The knight announces.\n

Of course, there is no way it will show as adventurer.\n

Because I am not an adventurer.\n

The Duke and Cassia have surprised look. The Earl of Selmar has frozen.

“I will inquire you further regarding this matter some other day. For today, allow me to excuse myself.”

The Duke turns and goes toward the exit in large strides.\n

Cassia chases after him as well.\n

The knight, who read my card, hurriedly runs to open the door.\n

The two knights, who were waiting outside, rush immediately to escort the Duke.

“The sword.”

The knight holds out the Orichalcum sword.\n

The Duke receives the sword, and continues onward in a hurry.\n

I follow after him, too.\n

The duke doesn’t say any word until we return to Bode from the lobby.

“I am sorry, Michio dono. The protective cement is used for the Earl of Selmar’s castle but there is an old-fashioned tradition that does not allow adventurers inside. I did not think he will bring that up.”

After arriving, the Duke complains.

“The story of Michio sama being an adventurer, he most likely heard it from one of the maids that I brought with me from my home. I should have forbidden her from mentioning it.”\n

“It is a little late now. I was careless as well.”\n

“I didn’t think the Earl of Selmar will come up with this kind of harassment.”

Cassia shares the same opinion.\n

But I don’t understand what was that sudden accusation toward the Duke and Cassia about.

“Still, I was surprised that Michio dono changed his job to explorer. When your Intelligence Card was being checked, I broke into cold sweat.”\n

“I thought something like that might happen.”\n

“It is not impossible to change job from Adventure to Explorer. And it seems some places still have the old custom of not allowing adventurers inside an aristocrat’s home. But to have foreseen it, well done. As expected of Michio dono. Perhaps that was the reason why you didn’t come into the castle through the wall of the lobby?”

The Duke is making his own assumptions and drawing his own conclusions.\n

I am really glad that I thought of the worst case and came into the castle from outside.

“It turned out fine by chance.”\n

“Well done. By the way, how will you go back home? If necessary, I can send someone with you.”\n

“My friends are waiting outside.”

I properly decline.\n

Normally, in order to change back, I must change job at some adventurers guild.\n

I still don’t know if I can visit any guild, or If i need to visit specific guild to change my job, but I shouldn’t let him know about that.

“As for the ring that I kept the other day, it was undoubtedly the Ring of Determination. I will pay twenty gold coins for it. Is that okay?”\n

“I am grateful.”

“Twenty gold coins?”\n

It is more expensive that I thought.\n

No matter how generous he is, If I think about the prices of the other accessories, the market price for this ring should be about 100,000 Nars.\n

Which means, it’s double the price.

As it was arranged already, another knight brings a drawstring bag (pouch) immediately.\n

The Duke hands it to me.

“Then Michio sama, thank you for your time today.”

When I receive the drawstring bag (pouch), Cassia expresses her gratitude as she heads inside.\n

I am glad that I get to smell her sweet fragrance until the end.

“Then I will take my leave.”\n

“Mhm, thank you for your help today. I hope to see you soon.”

There is no reason to stay here since Cassia has left.\n

I walk until I was out of the Bode castle.\n

In order to make sure that I was not being followed, I walk till Bode’s labyrinth.

“How far has the exploration progressed?”\n

“10th floor.”

I talk with the explorer at the entrance, and then head inside.\n

if I was being followed, they would not know which floor I went to once I entered into the labyrinth.\n

I only go to 1st floor though.\n

From the small room on 1st floor, I immediately go back home.

“Sorry, did I make you wait?”\n

“No, it is alright.”

The preparations for breakfast were already done when I arrived at home.\n

I was planning on coming back after hearing the appointed day.\n

I didn’t think I will be taken there immediately.

These kind of things happen.\n

The duke likes to play tricks.

I sit down on a chair and breathe heavily.\n

I am tired today.\n

Even though it is still morning.\n

It feels like I have lost a few years of my life.

But I am not that tired to take a rest yet, so I enter the labyrinth.\n

By the end of hunting for the day, my jobs increase by two.\n

Once Warrior hits Lv30.

Bounty Hunter Lv1\n

Effects:  Small Increase in Dexterity | Slight Increase in Strength | Slight Increase in MP\n

Skill: Ignore Life and Death

Knight Lv1\n

Effects: Small Increase in Endurance | Slight Increase in Intelligence | Slight Increase in Spirit\n

Skills: Defense | Appointment | Intelligence Card Operation

Bounty Hunter and Knight.\n

Both jobs acquired from leveling up Warrior job?

Had I got the job earlier, I could have set the Knight as first job when they checked my card earlier at the Earl of Selmar’s place.\n

The Duke would have certainly been surprised.

Well, I don’t think I should put myself in danger for only a petty prank.

The condition to acquire Adventurer is to have Explorer Lv50.\n

All the adventurers already possess Explorer job.\n

Because the person he believed to be an adventurer turned out to be an explorer, the Duke didn’t object.\n

If I was knight instead of adventurer, even he would be suspicious.

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