Chapter 282


(282) Swear to the mirror stone


Translator: Tseirp


“Doxco, you’re still drinking?”


“Let us join in too . Since we’re already here, we’ve got to drink before leaving . We’ll drink the tavern dry today!”


“Yeah you’re totally right . I’ll have a lager . ”


This time, a trio of hume men entered the tavern and we caught each other’s gazes .


“Ah!”


“““Ah!”””


The trio and I exclaimed at the same time .


It was because we were acquainted .


“It’s been a long time, brother!”


“It’s been a long time! What are you doing at a place like this?”


“Is this meeting fated or guidance from G.o.d?”


The trio were middle-aged Lumberjack-san, Mr . Cut-in-line, and Veteran-san whom I took the mercenary exam with .


“I’m the one who wants to ask what you guys are doing here . Unlike me who failed the exam, didn’t the three of you become mercenaries?”


“Ah, about that . Firstly, the three of us formed a party . ”


Middle-aged Lumberjack-san replied as the representative .


It seemed that the middle-aged man was the leader of the team .


“The three of us went to protest after we heard that we pa.s.sed the mercenary exam but you failed . There was no way we could accept such an outcome . ”


Mr . Cut-in-line continued with an unexpected sentence .


So these guys did something like that for me .


Although there’s a saying that even touching sleeves is fate from another existence, we were only in the same examination group .


“Apparently you were disqualified because you were given a special mission . We were convinced after we heard that . ”


As usual, Veteran-san spoke in a manner that didn’t match his appearance .


Even though they call it a secret mission, it was just a fake mission to distance Shumei from the war .


After that, the three of them went to drink to make fun of me and unexpectedly hit it off .


They prepared to go to war but it ended in no time .


In the end, the three of them chose to take on other jobs as mercenaries .


“Hey, don’t tell me you guys are the ones escorting the special cargo”


“Ah, yeah . Wait, then the skilled Quasi-Baron-sama the guard was talking about is you, brother!?”


Middle-aged Lumberjack-san raised his voice in shock .


“Yeah, that’s true . ”


“But, why would brother – – sorry for my impoliteness . Why would Quasi-Baron-sama from Shiraraki Kingdom take a mercenary exam in Nicplan Kingdom … no, wait . The secret mission and the sudden end to the war – – was it all due to Quasi-Baron-sama … !?”


“Please don’t tell anyone that . And please talk casually as before . I certainly accepted the Quasi-Baron rank but I received it through the course of events and only use it because it is convenient . I’m not anybody great . ”


“As expected … I will respect Ichinojo-san for my whole life . ”


Mr . Cut-in-line looked at me with a look of admiration .


“Yup, I could sense that you were not an ordinary person when I first saw you at the exams . ”


Veteran-san’s words matched his appearance this time .


“Oh, so Ichinojo is a Quasi-Baron?”


Doxco said with a red face . It seemed that he was starting to get drunk .


“Yeah . Sorry, Doxco . For keeping quiet about it . ”


“I don’t mind but do you still have refined sake? Everyone drank it all . ”


“It’s already finished!?”


A barrel of refined sake was downed in the blink of the eye .


After that, the banquet continued with the three mercenaries .


Well, I drank in moderation and focused more on conversing .


Since I would probably get drunk if I matched their pace .


Mr . Cut-in-line boasted that he would drink the tavern dry but after just one cup of lager and one cup of refined sake, he started crying and making a racket before falling asleep .


“Shark sashimi . Do you want to eat?”


I tried making sashimi from the fatty meat portion of the shark .


“You can’t eat that raw . ”


“It’s okay, I used Clean so you don’t have to worry about parasites . It’s nice, you know?”


Clean is truly all-purpose .


I tried adding some salt .


“I’ll have some then … hn – it’s chewy and I don’t really like it . ”


“Is that so? I like it but I guess it doesn’t fit the people’s taste here . In that case, I’ll try frying it . ”


When in Rome, do as the Romans do . I didn’t try to push for j.a.pan cuisine and tried making a dish that the people here liked .


“Oil Creation!”


After creating oil, I coated the thickly-cut shark meat with beaten egg, flour and bread crumbs and fried them .


“Shark cutlet is served!”


“Ichinojo, you can use Oil Create? Could you make oil used for maintaining equipment later? Of course, I’ll pay you . ”


“Ah, I have plenty of oil cans so I’ll sell you those . ”


“That’s a great help – hn! This fry is delicious! By the way, what is this white sauce? It’s so delicious . ”


“It’s called Tartar sauce . I’ll teach you the way to make it . ”


Tartar sauce made with eggs and pickles goes well with fried salmon after all .


“Ichinojo is seriously capable of everything . How about it? Would you like to stay in this village after you are done with your business? I’ll even give you the village leader position . ”


“No thanks, being the village leader is nothing but trouble . ”


“Yeah, it’s really troublesome . Ichinojo, follow me for a bit . ”


” … ? Ah, all right . ”


Doxco asked and I followed him out of the tavern . We drank for quite a long time .


It was already dark outside .


“This way, follow me . ”


Doxco led me to the end of the village — to what was probably a cemetery .


There were a few ornate stones lined up with names carved on them .


We stopped in front of the newest and largest grave .


It was probably a mirror stone but it was polished exquisitely so it reflected the moonlight beautifully .


However, strangely there was no name carved on the grave .


“Is this a grave?”


“Yeah . The grave of my friends . ”


Doxco said and poured refined sake on the grave .


It was friends, in plural .


In addition, it was new and there were no names carved on the tombstone .


I could speculate whose grave it was from those facts .


“Is this perhaps the grave for the Dark-Elves?”


” … Yeah, they came to this village as well . They deserved better . ”


Doxco said and looked toward me .


“Ichinojo . That necklace — belongs to Rarael?”


Doxco asked as he stared at the amber necklace around my neck .


He was right . It was the necklace I received from Rarael .


Doxco continued before I could answer .


“At first, I suspected that you killed Rarael and the others and s.n.a.t.c.hed it . However, I knew I was wrong after talking with you for a while . ”


“Yeah, I received this from Rarael . As proof of our friendship . ”


“I see … that was the first necklace I made when I was an apprentice handicraftsman . She truly treasured it so she probably let go of it after realizing that she was about to die . If she was going to be killed and have it s.n.a.t.c.hed away, she would rather give it to Ichinojo … she probably thought of it that way . ”


” … Perhaps . ”


I looked up into the night sky as I replied to Doxco .


The crescent moon was shining .


I truly wanted to tell him that Rarael and the others were still alive . However, I decided not to . Doxco was probably trustworthy but it was better to have as little risk as possible .


If I told him that the Dark-Elves were still alive, I would have to talk about how they are continuing to protect the Golden Tree .


So I could only reply with that .


“There were no bodies found in the forest, right?”


“Yeah, the forest was burnt down by the mysterious fire monster that the Dark-Elves summoned . The extreme temperatures didn’t leave any dead bodies of animals or monsters . ”


“In that case, there is a possibility that they are still alive . ”


” … Ah, that would be great . Then, this isn’t a grave . It is a mark for where the Dark-Elves can return to . ”


Doxco laughed and drank the remaining wine .


That’s right, if the Dark-Elves ever get accepted back into this world, I’ll invite all of them to drink alcohol here .


I swore to the mirror stone .



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