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“Estert! I made up my mind!”

In the increasingly deepening darkness, two men surrounded a small fire.

One of them was youthful and didn’t appear to be older than 20. He complained to the other man, his face red, most likely from being drunk.

“I got it. I got it, so calm down Astard…”

The other man was maybe ten years older than the young man. He had an odd aura about him, and his two swords were positioned beside him so he could readily grasp them if necessary.

“I’m going to confess! I’m going to tell her that I love her!”
“Oh, go you… To be honest I doubt whether you could really do it, but I’ll cheer you on.”

As he lifted the young man’s arm that had been placed on his shoulders, Estert replied

“Estert! You’re such a nice guy! I… I!”

Estert’s statement, on the other hand, had the opposite effect, encouraging the young drunkard. Estert could see tears welling up in Astard’s eyes. Please spare me…

“Oh, Iriem! You’re the most beautiful person in this world!”
“Do I look like Iriem to you? Go and tell her that when you’re sober!”
“I’m not the same as you or Foldia. I can’t say such embarrassing things to her. Estert! Please, tell her in my place…”
“Are you stupid… God damn it! That’s why I told you not to start drinking so early! Even if there aren’t many Magic Beasts here, it doesn’t mean there aren’t any…”

Estert cursed his remaining companions who had gone out to survey the region as he scratched the back of his head.

“Those b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲s̲. They left me alone with this drunk. ‘We’re going scouting’ my a̲s̲s̲. They just got away.”
“Oh, Iriem! Why did you leave me?!”
“Who would take you with them in this state?! It’d be easier to tie you up, stuff you in a bag and bring you like that.”
“Do… Do you think that Foldia likes Iriem as well? I-I don’t have any chance against him…”
“Good grief. You don’t need to worry about that. He only thinks about his sword, his shield, and battle.”

As soon as Astard heard that, he began to joyously shake his head up and down.

“T-That’s right. He’s in love with his sword. I’m gonna be fine!”
“Although I don’t know how Iriem feels…”
“That’s…”

Astard, who had just barely recovered, broke down at Estert’s following statement. He’s done for…

“Good grief. What an annoying b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲. If you like her that much, then just tell her. You’re traveling together, she probably doesn’t think of you that badly.”
“Estert!”
“What?”
“Y-You like her too, don’t you?”
“Huh?”

As he stated so, Astard’s gaze was razor-sharp. When confronted with that stare, Estert could only shrug his shoulders and look away.

“Haven’t I told you already? I’m not a fan of tiny breasts.”

As soon as she heard footsteps approaching her room, Merc awoke and got out of bed.

Now that was a nostalgic dream…

It had been a while since she’d seen a dream of her past.

At that time, she had mostly fought every single day without having any time to rest. As a result, the time she’d spent with her friends was irreplaceable and significant to her.

Merc recalled being able to casually laugh during conversations about love and other topics. These memories remained her most valuable possession.

“Merc, are you up?”

Merc, who was reminiscing about the good old days, turned to face the door after hearing a couple of knocks.

Totoara, who was staying at the same inn in the City of Logholt as her, had knocked on the door. Because Merc had deduced Totoara’s identity by the sound of her footsteps, she wasn’t surprised when she heard her knock.

“Yea, I’m up. What’s up?”
“Nothing much, I just figured we might go and grab breakfast together.”
“That’s a good idea. You go ahead. I’ll come after getting dressed.”
“Okay.”

Totoara replied in a cheerful manner and left. Merc got up and swiftly changed into clothing that she considered comfortable to fight in.

She then adjusted her wooden stick to her waist and picked up a card which she hadn’t had until yesterday.

“An Adventurer’s License huh…”

In the past there hadn’t been such cards. Back then they had used metal tags as certificates.
　
The tags bore the name of both the Guild and the adventurer, as well as the adventurer’s grade. The tag was usually worn around one’s neck and served as proof that one was an adventurer.

Naturally, faking had been simple, but when adventurers went to pick up or hand off assignments, Guild personnel could see right through them. Which is why not many had bothered to even do it.

Nowadays, however, adventurers were held in high regard. Many people who desired to employ high-ranking adventurers without going through the Guild began to appear, which in turn led to many people being deceived by fake adventurers.

As a result, the Guild had developed a certificate that could not be forged, notably the cards and had spread them throughout the nations. Even if a few individuals were still duped by fake adventurers each year, most of the counterfeiters had vanished owing to the invention of the cards.

Unlike tags, simply possessing this card conferred a plethora of benefits, which made Merc happy. However, if one were to lose it, they would have to wait for a new one to be issued and they would need to pay as well, so one needed to be careful with it.

“I need to be careful not to lose it… Should I make a hole in it and put a string through it?”

Merc pondered. However, she would have to first poke a hole in the card made out of special metal, which would take some time, so she decided to ditch the idea. Merc left the inn’s room after putting on her clothes.