I've been a Treasure Hunter for nearly five years now—a career of extreme danger.
Having overcome countless hardships, what I've come to recognize as the most essential thing for a Treasure Hunter is having trustworthy, reliable companions.
Most high-level Treasure Hunters operate Solo because their companions can't keep pace with their exceptional talent, or they're simply too strong. But I just can't believe in that.
Don't they get scared adventuring alone? I'm terrified even with a Party and a Barrier Ring to protect me.
The mission had been going so smoothly for the first two days that it almost felt like a mistake. Maybe His Majesty's negative and my negative really were multiplying into a positive.
Our team, "Abyss Stew" (named by me), had established communication, understood each other, and left no opening. The way they mowed down approaching Monsters was flawless—there wasn't a single fault even from the perspective of a coward like me. As usual, I was just playing the role of the final wall beside His Majesty's carriage, cheering them on. But that was only permissible because the strength of "Abyss Stew" was absolutely overwhelming.
In particular, this incarnation of "Abyss Stew" had an unusually high number of Mages. A Mage's offensive magic generally scales with their power in both range and destructive force, and the Mages belonging to this Party were unquestionably first-rate.
Most Monsters were annihilated the moment they entered our line of sight. People always say Mages are weak in close combat, but I'd love to get my hands on whoever says that. How exactly do you plan to close the distance when offensive magic is raining down?
The one who stood out most of all—no, wait, it wasn't Kechachachaka. It was Term's offensive magic.
I suppose you'd say it befits someone with a true title. Seeing Term's offensive magic up close again, even from someone like me who had witnessed all manner of Lucia's magic, it was something entirely different.
It wasn't about higher power or greater scale. Compared to Lucia's magic, Term's offensive magic was… simply too "quiet."
It was impossibly quiet, and on top of that, it possessed exactly the necessary and sufficient power.
He seemed to use the bracers on both wrists to assist activation, but there was virtually no preparation motion. You could call it practical, and it was clearly the result of refinement that deserved praise. But the more I watched that magic, the more terrifying it became.
It was an unthinkable notion, but if he ever took up assassination, he could probably take the Emperor's head with ease. Depending on the situation, he might be even more frightening than that old hag from "Abyss Flame," who used stupidly powerful but stupidly flashy magic. Was there nobody even remotely competent in the "Magic Wand"?!
Despite not having done anything particularly strenuous, I was utterly exhausted again today. I headed to my assigned room.
The schedule was being consumed with extreme efficiency. By tomorrow, we should reach the city with the airship docks. According to Franz, if we kept up this pace, we'd actually have time to spare. The itinerary must have been designed with plenty of margin from the start.
The inn was nice, the food was delicious. This was practically half a vacation. I told myself that, but the mental fatigue was unavoidable.
If only Riiz and the others were here—I'd at least feel a little more at ease. But this time, Citry, whom I always relied on, was absent. If I received a summons, I'd have to handle it myself.
I really wanted to hand over the leadership to Term entirely, but if I overworked him, there was no telling what the "Abyss Flame" lady would say. Save me.
I unlocked the door and entered my room.
Incidentally, when I stay at an inn while traveling, I'm the type who meticulously checks every facility inside the room first. It wasn't exactly about security—it was just my nature.
Opening the nearby closet in my usual manner, there was Riiz inside, smiling and waving at me.
I couldn't help but grin as I shut the closet.
…These days, inns really do put on some nasty little performances.
The closet burst open from the inside with force, and the pink-blond tan girl leaped out. She bounced right into my arms, and still squealing away, she shoved the clueless me onto the king-sized bed.
A sinking, soft sensation received my body. I managed to squeeze out a voice to Riiz, who was piling on top of me.
"Wh-why are you here?!"
"I came! 'Cause I thought Cli-kun might be lonely!"
Riiz's eyes sparkled as she rubbed her head against my chest.
So there was no reason after all… No, I already knew from Citry's signal that she had followed us, but still.
Idly parting Riiz's hair stroke by stroke, I said: "…I'm happy, but this is bad."
Thanks to Term's performance, things had been manageable these past few days. But I still hadn't recovered from my blunder on the first day. Franz's gaze hadn't warmed up either.
If, at this point, Riiz—who was never supposed to be here—was discovered, I could only imagine the looks I'd get. No, I was happy. Really. But still.
The reason Citry and the others were absent was probably because Riiz had come on her own. No one could perfectly control her movements.
If only it were late at night, when everyone was asleep and no one around, I could have at least kept her company a little. But I still had a few things to take care of. They weren't major tasks, but having Riiz here was a problem.
However, Riiz wasn't listening to a single word I said. Like a wolf fawning over its master after a long separation, she rubbed her body against mine. Maybe she had arrived ahead of us and taken a shower—her hair smelled wonderful.
Just then, the door was pounded on violently.
"WEAKLING! Stop dawdling and get a move on, will you! Hurry up and finish today's charge! And after that, it's those nuts again—"
The carpet that had entered the room with me was spinning in exasperation near the door. The fact that a carpet had no mouth was a tremendous relief right about now.
But this was bad. Being seen was bad. Kriss wasn't the type who could do the belly-acting thing, and she certainly had no intention of trying.
Perhaps because there was no malice at all, Riiz showed no panic whatsoever—she was just trembling with excitement.
I pushed Riiz back, got up, and in a reflex grabbed the bed sheet, yanking it off and throwing it over her. Almost simultaneously, the door opened.
It seemed I had forgotten to lock it.
There was no time to make a sound. Kriss stepped inside with a sullen expression, saw me, saw the wriggling lump of sheets beside me, and her eyes went wide.
"??????"
"G-go on, I've done my part. Come on—back to where you belong."
Fortunately, it seemed a certain level of satisfaction had already been achieved.
Sheet-Riiz nodded obediently, wriggled her way to the window, and with the sheet still draped over her, deftly unlocked it. Without a single word to the speechless Kriss, she gracefully dropped out of the window. We were on the third floor, but jumping out a window wrapped in a sheet wasn't going to cause injury at this point.
I closed the window, locked it firmly, and took a deep breath.
Turning to face Kriss, who was standing frozen, I smiled as though nothing had happened.
"Sorry, sorry—charge, right?"
"Wh-what was that just now? ……will you."
"I didn't use much today, so just the carpet and a shirt, maybe. Then the nuts, the nuts. But seriously, are you okay? You looked pretty rough earlier."
It seemed her letting slip that she could use them for training had been the problem. Hunters really were an incorrigibly competitive lot.
I pulled out a bag and nibbled on some myself. Whether from anxiety or what, I couldn't taste a thing.
Kriss stomped over to me, furrowed her brows, grabbed me by the collar, and shook me back and forth.
"Haaah?! Are you making fun of me, will you?! Do you think you can brush me off, will you?! I'm asking you—what the hell was that! Answer me properly, will you!"
"Aha, ahahaha… L-look, it's, you know… Don't you know? ……It's a sheet ghost."
"…! You—you—WEAKLING, do you actually think you can say that to the Emperor?! Will you!"
It was so on-the-nose that I couldn't even muster a grunt of protest. No, I didn't think I could brush it off! Truly!
But I had nothing I could say. Praying the Barrier Ring wouldn't activate, I was being shaken with no recourse, when Term and the others, having heard the commotion, burst into the room.
"What happened?!"
Seeing Kriss closing in on me, their expressions hardened for an instant and arms raised. But by then, Kriss was already screaming in a shrill voice.
"Term! The Weakling was talking to some weird person! He's definitely doing something without telling us, will you!"
"……"
"We're the Party members this time, so the Weakling has an obligation to explain! At the very least, acting selfishly during a bodyguard mission is out of line, will you!"
"I see…"
My ears hurt. I might have been able to talk Kriss around, but there was no chance with Term or Kechachachaka. What could I do…
Kriss finally released me and, her face completely red, explained the situation.
Term directed a probing gaze toward me. I could even sense Kechachachaka was somewhat exasperated.
There was nothing to defend… or rather, wouldn't it be nice if Kriss defended me for the sake of our clan bond…
"Hmm… I understand the situation."
After hearing everything, Term said with a solemn expression: "That is… well… y-yes. It is undoubtedly a sheet ghost."
I stared in wide-eyed surprise at the unexpected covering fire. Term was wearing an expression I'd never seen before. In short, he looked incredibly uncomfortable.
Kriss blinked once, then immediately raised her eyebrows and went after Term.
"Haaaaaah?! Have you lost your mind, will you?! How can you得出that conclusion after hearing what just happened, will you!?"
"Calm down, Kriss. In the city, there are—truly, truly extremely rare cases, but… those kinds of spirits do appear. It cannot be denied as a possibility. Ah, Kecha agrees with me, don't you? Kecha."
"K-k-k… heh heh…"
Kechachachaka slowly nodded at Term's sudden pivot. As expected, he was my number-one ranking for suspicious people with a knack for cooperation.
Kriss stomped her foot and screamed. At the corners of her beautifully shaped eyes, tears were forming.
"What is with you people?! Are you all making fun of me, will you?! Do you seriously believe that sheet ghosts appear at low probability in high-end inn guest rooms, will you?! If you actually believe that, then go report it to the head of the escort unit, will you!"
"O-of course it's true, right, Thousand Transformations?"
"Huh, well…"
Term and Kechachachaka, I'm sorry, but that's a bit too much of a stretch. If I said that to Franz, I'd get smacked.
I crossed my arms, nodded with a serious air, and came up with a new excuse.
"To tell you the truth… that was a spirit I've been summoning. Just in case, I'd asked it to patrol the city."
"A spirit?! Weakling, are you actually a Mage despite having so little magic, will you?"
For now, I just needed to get through this moment. I fed some random lie to Kriss, who was eyeing me with a mix of suspicion and belief.
"I'm sorry for making it seem suspicious, but it's a secret from everyone. I wouldn't call myself a Mage, but there are a few unusual spells I can use."
It was probably more convincing than the sheet ghost story. (According to Citry, she was easy to fool.) Kriss furrowed her brow and asked in a voice somewhat less angry than before: "If that was a spirit, what kind of spirit is it?"
"……A spirit of sheets?"
"…! That's—you've got to be—"
So it was no good after all. No, of course it wasn't. Nobody has a spirit like that normally. I was completely out of options.
This Spiritfolk wasn't affected by high-level intimidation.
Kriss was about to raise her shrill voice again.
Just then, unexpectedly, a call came from outside the room.
It was Franz's voice. Some shred of reason remained—arguing in front of the client would be bad—and Kriss fell silent.
It felt as though a hand of salvation had been extended from heaven. Sighing with relief inwardly, I watched as Franz entered.
The air grew tense.
Franz looked extremely displeased. If I brought up sheet ghosts or sheet spirits, he might actually draw his sword.
Glaring at me with an expression taut with fury, Franz spoke faster than usual: "His Majesty requests your presence. He wishes to speak with you all. That's not a problem, is it?"
No……