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n“First of all, the girl that you brought back is Shayna Lonbaltear, from the city-state of Hanza.”

nLoren didn’t know about anything Jack just said.

nWhen he looked at Lapis for more information, she immediately provided him with the information he needed.

n“The city-state of Hanza is a small state centered around the city of Hanza, which is a three-day trip by carriage to the south of Kauffa. I have never heard of the name Shayna but the house of Lonbaltear is the head of the state.”

n“You really know your stuff, huh?”

n“Hehehe…You can praise me more, you know?”

nLoren ignored Lapis, who was puffing out her chest proudly, and asked Jack to continue. Jack decided to ignore Lapis as well and continued, looking straight at Loren.

n“Shayna is the head of the state’s only daughter. Her status isn’t too surprisingly high, but that doesn’t mean we can treat her crudely either.”

nLoren agreed that even though the state was small, the daughter of the person who was at the top wasn’t someone they could treat roughly.

nBut helping a small city-state didn’t seem like something the guild would benefit from.

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n

nHe couldn’t help but feel like the whole thing seemed strange, and asked something that was on his mind.

n“I can’t understand why we had restrictions put on us, when the only thing we did was bring her here.”

n“That’s easy. They didn’t want you telling people. Think about it. A lady from a high-status family was left in the woods all alone. People will gossip and spread rumors all over the place.”

nLoren wasn’t sure how that worked, but decided to agree with what Jack said.

nn.o.bles and royalty would often do things that would seem meaningless to the common folk.

nLoren believed that it was smarter not to question anything, because if he kept on questioning everything, the conversation would be at a standstill.

n“Usually when you help a person, there’s some amount of rewards that you would receive, but there are two reasons why you guys didn’t receive anything. One, no one requested for the search. Two, they weren’t able to confirm whether the girl is actually Shayna herself.”

n“It’s been two days, but they still haven’t been able to find out?”

nJack shrugged at Lapis’ exasperated tone.

n“Don’t ask me. The guild says that she’s most likely who she says she is, but the messenger they sent to Hanza hasn’t come back.”

nLoren thought that something was definitely strange.

nLoren and Lapis brought the girl two days ago, and even if the guild sent a messenger to Hanza right after, he would still be on the way to Hanza.

nAs Loren was wondering why the guild would proclaim that the messenger wasn’t coming back, Lapis answered his question.

n“It’s not limited to the adventurer’s guild, but messengers from large organizations carry a magic item that periodically sends a signal that indicates their location. It’s most likely that the signals have disappeared.”

n“Here’s what the adventurer’s guild would think. It’s not something they want to prioritize, but they don’t want to anger the state either. So, they call out to the iron rank adventurers and have a few parties accompany the girl to the city. It means that a quest for taking her back to Hanza is out.”

nJack then added that it wasn’t something silver ranks would do, as he took a gulp of his drink.

nThe girl was high status, but the state didn’t have much of a relationship with the guild.

nIt meant that the rewards weren’t going to be that good, but they would still have to be considerate of the person they were guarding.

nEven if it meant getting a connection to the city-state of Hanza, it wasn’t a good quest for high ranked adventurers either way.

n“It’s not as top secret as I thought.”

n“That’s true, but it’s still about a quest and usually, I wouldn’t talk about it. The reason why the guild didn’t tell you, is because this isn’t something for copper ranks to worry about.”

n“What should we do to b.u.t.t our heads in it then?”

nAs soon as Lapis said those words, Loren and Jack looked at each other.

nJack was exasperated at Lapis and turned towards Loren, and Loren looked towards Jack, knowing that Lapis would say something like that.

n“Is there a specific reason to why she wants to?”

n“No. It’s probably because of curiosity.”

n“Of course, it is. A well-kept girl from a n.o.ble family was left lying alone in the woods, three days away from her city. I can’t help but want to know more.”

nAlthough Lapis emphasized the fact that it couldn’t be helped, Loren had no idea what part of it made it that way.

nBut there was one thing that he did know, and he told it to Lapis.

n“They wouldn’t bother with us, we’re just copper ranks.”

n“I was hoping there would be a loophole somewhere.”

n“There’s no way…”

n“There is one, you know?”

n“Seriously?”

nLoren replied weakly to Jack.

n“It’s a special case, though. If you get recommended by a silver rank adventurer, a copper rank can get treated as an iron rank.”

n“Even if that did happen, we didn’t receive the quest itself.”

n“But we did.”

nLoren narrowed his eyes and looked at Jack.

nJack, while trying to figure out what was behind that glare, continued his explanation.

n“The quest came around to Ritz. If Ritz allowed it, you can squeeze in there with our recommendation.”

n“That sounds wonderful. I’d love it if you could…”

nLoren’s hand covered Lapis’ mouth, preventing her from trying to accept the offer.

nThough Lapis was about to complain, Loren silenced her with a look, and turned to Jack.

nAlthough Jack had brought it up, Loren understood that recommending someone was easier said than done.

nIf the ones recommended failed or didn’t live up to the expectation in any way, it meant that the reputation of the ones who recommended them would fall as well.

n“I don’t think it would be a problem. Ritz would probably say the same thing.”

n“But still…”

n“I won’t force you. You can decide if you want to take the quest or not, I’m just saying it’s possible to. But…”

nJack stopped talking and gazed over Loren’s body.

nLoren didn’t understand what he was trying to say, so Jack told him apologetically.

n“But you know, I’d prefer it if you’d get a weapon first.”

nJack was there when Loren’s weapon broke.

nThat’s why he knew that Loren didn’t have one, and although he had faith in Loren’s strength and skill, he was hesitant about recommending someone without a weapon.

nLoren then realized that if he couldn’t secure one, he might not have to take part in this quest.

nHe was about to say that he didn’t have the money to buy a new weapon, but faltered as he saw Lapis staring at him with half-open eyes.

n“Uh, but…this…is…”

n“Come on Lapis. You know what kind of situation I’m in, right…?”

n“Hey, Jack. I’ll do something about my equipment by tomorrow. Can you go ahead and give us the recommendation?”

nIn the end, Loren lost to the pressure of Lapis’ silence.

n“Man, you’ve got nothing on her. She’s walking all over you.”

n“Shut up, I don’t need you to remind me.”

n“Well, it’s you we’re talking about, so I’m sure you’ll have something ready by tomorrow. I’ll go talk to Ritz about this. Well, there’s not going to be any silver ranks going on that quest, so you’ll get in no problem with our recommendation.”

n“Thanks, man. So… Lapis.”

n“Hmm?”

nSince the conversation was going the way she wanted it to, the pressure that Lapis was emitting just a moment ago had vanished without a trace. Loren willed his mind to say the words that he really didn’t want to say.

n“Lend me some money.”

nIncreasing his debt wasn’t good at all.

nBut if he couldn’t prepare equipment, he wouldn’t be able to take better quests and would have to use his fists to fight instead.

nSo, he decided to take this opportunity to borrow what money he could to buy equipment.

n“Equipment? You’re going to buy some?”

n“If I don’t, I’ll be causing trouble for Jack.”

n“Hmmm…”

nLapis started thinking for a while and then asked Jack a question.

n“About the quest. What will the departure time be?”

n“I’m not sure about the details, but they have to make sure Shayna is healthy enough to move, so they said in three days at the earliest.”

nAfter Lapis heard Jack’s reply, she started counting her fingers, seemed to come to a conclusion, then faced Loren.

n“I’m sorry Loren. I can lend you the money no problem, but is it possible that you can wait one day?”

n“Well…I’m the one borrowing, so if you want me to wait, I’ll wait.”

n“Since it’s equipment, that means you want to buy a weapon like a greatsword, right? If that’s the case, I feel like the money that I have right now isn’t going to be enough, so I’ll go get more money.”

nLoren’s feelings darkened slightly, as he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get a weapon like the one he had before to have right away.

nIt was hard to believe that a weapon of that size and weight would be sold at an ordinary store.

nHe was planning on finding something similar, but that was going to be difficult as well, so he was going to have to compromise.

n“Well then, I’ve got things to do, so I’ll be on my way.”

nShe slowly and smoothly stood up, and quickly walked out of the bar.

nAfter watching her go, Loren decided to leave as well, but Jack stopped him as he was about to stand up, so he sat back down.

n“You’re not in a hurry, right? Join me for a bit.”

n“Well, I don’t mind…”

nEven if he wanted to go look at some equipment, he wasn’t sure how much Lapis was going to be able to lend him.

nHe decided that he had some free time to spend with Jack, and took a gulp from his cup, but almost spewed it all over at Jack’s next words.

n“We’ve both got it pretty rough, having fallen in love with odd girls.”

n“…How did we get to this topic again?”

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n

nIt was so sudden that Loren couldn’t put any emotion into his comment, while Jack was nodding like he understood how Loren felt.

n“I know I know. I understand. I’m getting walked all over by Nim as well, but I guess this is what the weakness called love brings us.”

nLoren, as he wiped the ale from his mouth, had already guessed their relationship during the first time they were together, but it was kind of awkward coming from Jack’s own lips.

n“But you know, I’m starting to think that getting sat on by that thin b.u.t.t of hers isn’t that bad.”

n“Hey, if she hears that you’ll become a beehive on the spot.”

nConversations like these were bound to go around one way or another.

nHe was giving a warning as well as some advice, but the alcohol had already worked up to Jack’s head and didn’t reach him.

n“Her touchiness is also part of her charm.”

n“You drunk…and you’re talking fondly of the girl you love at the same time. What am I supposed to do about this….”

nLoren decided that he was going to need more alcohol to deal with Jack’s drunk behavior, hugging himself and squirming as he kept talking about Nim, and ordered another cup from a pa.s.sing waitress.

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