Chapter 7: Shy
Tap—!
I spun mid-air and landed lightly on the floor.
At first, I’d been crashing headfirst, but after several drops, I’d gotten the hang of it.
“Hey, I’m here.”
“…”
As always, Tana looked at me blankly.
Compared to the first time, though, there was a slight difference.
Her eyes seemed a bit livelier.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but still.
“…Phew, Tana, guess what happened today?”
“…?”
“There’s this rare peach sold only in El Nath, right? And it’s just 2000 mesos per kilo. So I went to buy some.”
“…”
“But even though I only put two peaches in the basket, it weighed over 3 kilos. Know why?”
“…Why?”
“They stuffed iron weights in the basket so I wouldn’t notice. The basket alone was over 2 kilos. No wonder they wouldn’t let me hold it—sneaky bastards.”
I almost flipped the stall over right then.
The merchant’s blatant scam, acting all innocent, was enough to drive me nuts.
Sure, I didn’t have my sword, but treating me like a total sucker?
Anyway, it violated Critias’s Food Industry Promotion Law.
When I made a move to report them to the guards, they begged me to let it slide and handed over the peaches for free.
“…So, the point is…”
I held out one of the “bribed” peaches to her.
“Have a peach.”
Tana blinked.
I brought the peach to her lips.
Since her limbs were bound, I had to feed her.
“Come on, say ‘ah.’”
“…Ah.”
She took a bite and chewed.
For the record, these were soft peaches.
Who’d pick hard ones?
“How is it? Tasty, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“See? These are pricey.”
“But… it’s soft. Kinda… weird.”
“…What?”
“If it was harder, it might’ve been better…”
“…You’re saying what now?”
Hard peaches? Better?
I couldn’t believe such blasphemy came out of her mouth.
…Well, I guess I should respect her unique tastes.
I pulled out the fairy tale book we’d been reading.
“Where’d we leave off last time?”
“The princess was trapped in a castle by a spell… and she was lonely.”
“You know what lonely means?”
“Yeah… you told me before.”
It had been over a month since we started meeting.
The job advancement quest showed no signs of ending.
At this point, it felt like the status window had no intention of letting me advance.
But I didn’t really care.
At some point, coming here was less about the fourth job advancement and more about seeing her.
I don’t know why.
Am I getting sucked into Jang’s storyline or something?
“The princess wanted to leave the castle. But the wizard’s spell was too strong.”
Tana loved when I read her fairy tales.
She didn’t exactly say so, but I could tell she listened intently.
“The princess was very lonely…”
Then.
“She could never leave the castle alone—”
“…”
“—and…”
“…?”
“…”
I stopped reading mid-sentence.
Tana looked at me, puzzled.
I quietly closed the book.
Now wasn’t the time for reading.
“…”
I turned and stared behind me.
“…Wait here a sec.”
Tap—!
I dashed toward the sound I’d heard, a pillar in the distance.
I’d felt a presence there for a moment.
And.
“Hey.”
“Eek—!”
“Who are you?”
Reaching the pillar, I found a suspicious figure.
“Please, spare me! I’m sorry!”
“Shut up and answer. Who are you?”
“I’m sorry! I won’t tell anyone! Please, spare—!”
Thud!
This noisy bastard.
I quickly clamped his mouth shut.
“Keep your mouth shut if you don’t want to die. Trying to call your buddies?”
“Mmph! Mmph—! Mmph!”
“Open your mouth, and you’re dead. Nod if you understand.”
Nod, nod.
He nodded frantically.
I let go.
“Phew—! Cough, cough—!”
He coughed like he’d been suffocating.
Judging by his clothes, he looked like a researcher here… but who?
“What’s your name?”
“…”
“You can talk now. Speak.”
“…Sh-Shai…”
Hearing that, my eyes widened.
Did I hear that right?
“…What? Say it again.”
“Sh-Shai…!”
Shai?
Why the hell is Shai here?
Shai was Jang’s ally.
A researcher here who showed Jang the secret passage to Tana and looked the other way.
In Moras, the player takes Shai’s role.
Shai being here was unexpected.
Since Jang wasn’t around, I assumed Shai wouldn’t show up either.
“Hey.”
“Y-Yes!”
“How long have you been watching?”
“W-What?”
“When did you notice I was coming here?”
“…From the first time you came. I didn’t mean to, but… it just happened…”
“…Damn.”
Crap.
That was close.
If he wasn’t Shai, I’d have been caught already.
My mistake for not noticing sooner.
“You haven’t told anyone?”
“No.”
“…Good, that’s a relief.”
“Um… can I ask something?”
“What?”
“Why do you keep visiting Tana? Every day…”
“Well…”
“…?”
“…I owe her.”
“Owe her?”
“She saved me during the anti-magic stone explosion a few months ago.”
“Oh… So you come every day because you’re grateful?”
“…”
His question shut me up.
I didn’t have a clear answer.
The fourth job advancement quest to stay by Tana’s side for 10 minutes?
I’d completed that long ago but kept staying longer.
I couldn’t pinpoint why.
Was it just gratitude?
Or something built up from visiting her?
Or maybe…
“…”
I didn’t know yet.
“Shai.”
“Yes?”
“Can you do me a favor?”
“A favor? Like what?”
“Nothing big. Just let me know if anything unusual happens during Tana’s rituals or if a new lab director gets appointed. Can you do that?”
“Oh, that? No problem. I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks. You know I come here every day at 1 a.m., right? Tell me then.”
“Got it.”
“See you later.”
I sent Shai off and returned to Tana.
“Sorry, took a while.”
“…What happened?”
“No big deal. Don’t worry. I’m heading out now.”
“…Okay.”
“See you tomorrow.”
I jumped toward the ceiling, back into the vent.
There wasn’t any special reason for asking Shai that favor.
Just a vague sense of unease.
A bad feeling that something was coming.
…And not long after, that feeling proved right.
Hekaton Year 53.
A new lab director was appointed in Critias.
His name was Akairum.
He arrived much earlier than the expected Year 54.