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nCh. 102: Talking on the Way

nOnce they got the supplies they needed, borrow a donkey to carry their things, report to the guild that they had been nominated for a job, they were ready to go.

nOn the way, Lapis tried to collect the money that Ivy had bid during the bidding war at the training ground, but she got into an argument with her, as she said that it was void because the fight had been cancelled, but nothing much happened.

nThe payment for nominated jobs was negotiated between the client and the adventurer, but Dia didn’t have any money, so she instead offered one of her barrettes as payment.

nIt had elaborate designs made of silver as well as a few gems, and since Lapis appraised it to be around one gold coin at the least, she decided that it was good enough payment.

n“Iron rank adventurer identification tags will be issued to the two of you.”

nThe rank-up exam had been stopped due to Dia interrupting it, so Loren thought that he would have to do it again, but after her argument with Lapis, with the two of them agreeing on Ivy paying half the bidding price, Ivy said to the two of them as she gave the money to Lapis.

n“We haven’t passed it, right?”

n“Strictly speaking, no.”

nIvy told Loren as she gave the tags to him and Lapis.

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nThe tags they received were legitimate iron tags and weren’t fake.

n“Why did we get promoted?”

n“I’m not sure. There seemed to be a word to promote you or something of the sort.”

nAs Loren cocked his head, Ivy did the same as she replied.

nIt was a confusing story, but Loren received it, thinking that if they were going to give it to him there was no reason not to take it, and walked back to where Lapis and Dia were waiting.

nThe meeting place was the south gate of the city.

nWhen Loren gave Lapis, who was waiting there, the iron tag, she narrowed her eyes as she looked at it, then looked at Dia, who was standing by herself.

nUnlike them, Dia was wearing a dress that didn’t look fit for moving outdoors, but when she noticed Lapis looking at her, the corner of her mouth rose.

n“Is this your doing?”

n“Hm? I wonder.”

nAvoiding a direct answer, Dia suggested that if they were ready, they should hurry and depart, so they headed out the gate.

nAt first, Loren and Lapis thought Dia would have a carriage ready due to the way she was dressed, but Dia planned to walk all the way to their destination.

n“There’s no carriage that will satisfy me in a city like this.”

nCarriages’ level of comfort depended on its build and quality.

nThe cheapest ones were not comfortable at all, and carriages that royalty rode were made so that the vibrations from the wheels couldn’t be felt.

nDia, who was an Elder, seemed to have used those top-quality carriages on a daily basis, so she didn’t find any of the ones at Kauffa suitable.

n“Walking is better than using a low-quality carriage.”

n“Wouldn’t not tiring as fast be good enough to ignore the quality?”

n“We don’t feel fatigue, so.”

nUndead didn’t feel fatigue in the first place.

nElders, which were classified as vampires, didn’t feel fatigue as well.

nLoren felt it was strange that someone who didn’t feel fatigue would complain about comfort, but Lapis told him that high class vampires cared about things like that.

n“I don’t need food either. But I might drink with you if you have some.”

n“You’re not old enough to drink…Oh, you aren’t as you seem, right?”

n“Women won’t like you if you talk about age, you know that?”

n“You aren’t old enough to talk about love matters…Oh, you aren’t as you seem, right?”

n“You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you? Aren’t you?”

nThe sight of Dia, who was already wearing clothes that weren’t fit for walking outside, latching onto Loren, who was way taller and wider than her, by his waist and swinging him around, was completely abnormal.

nLoren still had his things in hand, as well as leather armor and black coat, and his great sword on his back, so including the weight of his belongings on top of his own weight, it should’ve been impossible to lift him up.

nAs Lapis watched Dia swing Loren’s body around and around, she thought that if this continued it would gather the attention of people on the road, and weird rumors would start spreading, but er worry dissipated soon enough.

n“I said south of Kauffa, but I never said we’ll be following the road.”

nAs Lapis tugged on the reins of the donkey, prepared to be the center of attention, Dia came to stop her with Loren under her arm, his eyes spinning.

n“We’ll go straight to our destination. This direction to be exact.”

n“…There’s no road.”

n“Don’t worry. I know the direction. I’ll lead.”

nAfter saying that, Dia started walking towards the fields without hesitation, still carrying Loren.

nLapis wondered what she should do, but since Dia had taken Loren, there was no way she could let that pass, and after sighing, she tugged on the reins and followed Dia into the field.

nThere was no one around to see the strange sight of a girl carrying a well build man and a girl chasing after her with a donkey in tow.

n“Hey you.”

n“My name is Lapis.”

nOn the way, when Lapis responded as Dia called her, she realized that neither she nor Loren had told Dia their names.

nUsually they would have noticed it earlier, but Lapis guessed that since Dia seemed so uninterested in those things, they couldn’t find a good time to do so.

n“Oh, Lapis, I see. And this one?”

n“Loren. Please give him back. He’s mine.”

nTaking advantage of Loren being unconscious, Lapis said something quite bold, but her face was dead serious, and she snatched Loren from under Dia’s arm as she looked at her surprised and put him on her back.

nIt was mostly because she had regained her physical arms that she was able to carry Loren, who was larger than her, along with the great sword on his back.

nHer former prosthetic arms were quite high performance as well, but since she was worried about the joint where her body and the prosthetics met, she couldn’t use her strength to her content.

n“Lapis, you aren’t an ordinary one, are you?”

n“I am ordinary. It’s not like I have special powers or anything.”

nIf Loren was awake and had been listening, he would’ve complained that there was no way, but to Lapis, she hadn’t said anything wrong.

nShe was indeed ordinary, among the demon kind.

nAlthough among humans, Lapis was a very skilled magician as well as priestess, but in the world of demons, it wasn’t as if she had especially incredible abilities.

nRather, she was sent out of demon territory to gain experience, and although she wasn’t weak, she wasn’t particularly powerful either, so she was indeed ordinary, without any special powers.

nShe didn’t have to point out that it was among a different crowd.

nIf it caused Dia to misunderstand, and continue to misunderstand, it would make it easier for Lapis to move around.

n“You mean at your birthplace, no?”

nAs Dia laughed, seeing right through her, Lapis cursed inside.

nShe had guessed that Dia had most likely realized it, but what she just said confirmed that she knew exactly what Lapis was.

n“Don’t make such a scary face. Your pretty face is all ruined. If your partner Loren saw you right now, even a hundred-year romance could turn sour.”

nAs Dia turned back towards her and said to her teasingly, Lapis looked slightly upset, and then said in a flat voice.

n“You aren’t old enough to talk about love matters…Oh, you aren’t as you seem, is that right?”

n“After being told that these many times, I think it’s fine for me to start getting upset…”

n“You’ll get more wrinkles if you get mad, grandma.”

n“Grand…I mean, it’s true that I’m that sort of age…”

n“How many greats do I have to put before it?”

nDia’s face tightened even further at the additional comments, but since Lapis did have a point, she couldn’t argue strongly.

n“W-well, I did live at least five hundred years. Put as many as you want.”

nWhat Dia said was shocking to Lapis.

nShe knew that DIa had lived for a long time, but she was surprised that the number of years Dia had lived was way more than she had expected.

n“Five hundred…Someone who’s actually experienced the Ancient Kingdom.”

nThe Ancient Kingdom, which once ruled the whole continent and flourished, was said to have been destroyed around three, four hundred years ago.

nEven if it was four hundred years ago, since Dia had lived for five hundred, she should have witnessed what had happened to it.

n“Yes, although it was during its last years.”

nA smile appeared on Dia’s face, one that a young girl which she looked like wouldn’t make.

nLapis unthinkingly slowed down, widening the distance between them, but Dia quickly wiped the smile off, and her face returned to normal.

n“I’ve lived through then, so I’m quite knowledgeable about it. Although, since it wasn’t long since I was born, when the kingdom fell, the older Elders had told me about the things I didn’t know.”

n“Just out of curiosity, how long has the oldest individual been living?”

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nAlthough she knew it was impolite, Lapis asked Dia, knowing that this was he only chance she was going to get.

nAfter thinking for a short moment, with her gaze wandering around, she answered.

n“I don’t know if it’s true or not, but the oldest said that he was born during the age of the gods.”

nIt was said that the gods had descended to create the world.

nThe basic myth that was told throughout the world was during the course of many years, the gods created many different kinds of beings to build out the world, and after judging that the world could be managed by those beings alone, they returned the their own world to look over their creation.

nOf course, this was very long ago, and trying to count the years would be foolish.

nThe years that the gods took to create the world was currently called the age of the gods, and if what Dia said was true, the oldest of the Elders had been living since that time.

n“That’s interesting.”

n“Most of it is what I’ve heard from others, but there should be a lot of time to tell you about some things.”

nAs Lapis’ curiosity started to grow, Dia let out an awkward laugh, and started to distance herself from her as her eyes started shining.

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