Dark Fantasy: Super Coward Mode

It was quite pleasant to be in a constant state of relaxation.

This way, I can think comfortably and, since I’m not in a hurry, there’s nothing to stress about.

In a way, I think it might be a higher emotional state than the thrilling fun and enjoyment.

With that feeling, I woke up in the branch in the morning but came out with a heavy heart due to the things I had to do.

Yesterday, I could just let things slide, but now I had to take action.

I fidgeted with the party whistle in my pocket as I thought.

Thinking about the Gardener who stirred up chaos just for a moment made me a bit scared, but I figured it was better to act rather than wait for her to come down herself.

The thought of her sarcasm sent chills down my spine.

Feeling a bit sad, I headed towards the entrance of Rondan when…

“Oh, who do we have here!”

“…?”

Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice from somewhere.

Turning my head towards the direction of the voice…

“…Saint?”

“Yes, that’s right! I didn’t expect to see Sir Tanton here.”

Why are you here?

For a moment of confusion, the saint didn’t just walk past me but approached me directly.

“I happen to have an urgent matter. Do you have a moment?”

“Uh, sure.”

I couldn’t say I had something to do thanks to the phrase “urgent matter.” If I let slip “Where are you going now?”, it could lead to complications later.

Even if the knights acknowledged the tactics using the party whistle, there was no guarantee that regular domain residents would accept it.

“Great. Let’s head to the library right away.”

“Ah.”

I had no choice but to be dragged to the library by the saint.

…If I stay any longer, it feels like the elite outsiders will get angry.

#

Following the saint’s lead, I sat at a library table, and he began to draw something passionately on paper, just like before.

Compared to the previous time, the amount of information was much more extensive, making it hard to read through.

But if I had to summarize the reason for writing this in one sentence, it would be:

“So, the knights discovered something unusual while passing by the gardener’s garden, and it seems there’s something beyond it, so you want to check if there’s any text from the record keeper, right?”

“Exactly. You summarized it well, Sir Tanton.”

It’s not that I summarize well; isn’t it that you’re talking too long?

It didn’t seem necessary to make it that lengthy before.

Is the criteria for selecting people in Agartha based on ‘talkative people’?

Perhaps ‘people who say little’ couldn’t handle Agartha and left.

The ones who stayed must all belong to the same category.

Taking a deep breath, it seemed the saint finished writing and casually tossed his pen onto the table.

“Alright. Seeing that you’ve summarized it, it looks like you’ve already memorized the contents.”

I nodded at the saint’s words.

It’s weird not to understand this since he laid it out clearly.

“Now, I’ll explain the matter briefly.”

He pushed the meticulously written paper aside and propped his chin on his arms on the table.

“Sir Tanton, would you like to investigate that text with us?”

Right, the conclusion was this.

Going outside of Rondan.

If the hunter equipped with the mystic route has the strength, it wouldn’t matter, but at least in my awareness, there was no mystic that strong to remember.

After all, there were quite a few mystics who got beaten by the dragon slayer, as Agartha mentioned in the market.

Then, it’s logical that having security is important, and if that guard can take down outsiders and read, even better.

Perhaps I’m the only one in Rondan who can do that at this moment.

And there’s no reason to refuse this offer.

I was planning to investigate the record keeper anyway, and it wouldn’t hurt to have someone much more knowledgeable about the outsiders with me.

“What’s the current composition of the members?”

“Oh, we’re planning to go with as few people as possible.”

“Oh.”

I liked this even.

In cases like this, it’s much better to have fewer people for missions than for play.

Originally, too many cooks spoil the broth.

So the fewer the better, that would be perfect.

“Currently, if Sir Tanton goes, it’ll be about 4 people including me.”

“Four?”

“They’ll be members you would like.”

I like them?

I couldn’t think of anyone in particular.

“Who?”

“Hehe, pondering who it is would be a fun little game, wouldn’t you agree? So, will you accompany us?”

Hmm.

The way he’s acting makes me a bit suspicious.

Who the heck is it that he’s so excited about?

Well, who in Rondan could I dislike?

If he brought Blacksmith Sintol along and said, “Actually, we’re going with this person,” I’d probably just take it easy.

“Alright. Let’s go together.”

“Great! Then you should come to the entrance of Rondan in about two hours.”

Two hours later, huh?

…If it’s outside of Rondan, I could probably quickly blow the party whistle and come back without my companions noticing.

I felt like I could create some gap somehow.

“Oh, and.”

“Yes?”

As I added one last thing, the saint lifted his head with a smile.

Thinking about the reaction from Nutricha suddenly came to mind. I was about to wrap up the discussion but decided to just ask.

“What does it mean to call names, rather than blessing from the outsiders…?”

“Puhuh!”

It seemed he had pressed his lips together to create a powerful expression; he made a strange noise and started coughing, perhaps choking.

“Are you alright?!”

“Cough, cough. Phew… Surely you haven’t told the elite outsiders the names I mentioned, right?!”

The saint leaned in with a pale expression and said.

Well, I haven’t told the elite outsiders yet, but…

“No, I haven’t.”

“Phew, thank goodness. That’s something you shouldn’t do.”

The saint spoke with a very serious look.

“I believed that Sir Tanton wouldn’t do such a thing, which is why I mentioned it, but calling the name of an elite outsider in front of the person is like a kind of ‘contract’.”

“…Oh.”

“It doesn’t have a huge impact up to the domain-level outsiders. But if it reaches the elite outsiders, it becomes a crisis. This way of explaining is easier to grasp.”

The saint took out a new piece of paper and started scribbling on it to explain.

“Now, for example, let’s say there’s a commoner and a noble in front of Sir Tanton.”

A commoner and a noble.

Considering that besides the knights’ executives and the princess, there aren’t really any nobles in this world seems a bit off.

“If you told the commoner, ‘I admire you,’ it wouldn’t be a big deal. They would either accept the confession or reject it outright. That’s domain-level outsiders.”

Wait.

Why is a confession being used as a metaphor?

Feeling a bit uneasy, I continued listening to the saint’s explanation.

“Now, what if it were a noble? This could go either way. If the noble has no feelings for Sir Tanton, they might shout ‘This blasphemer! Crush him!’ and stomp on Sir Tanton right there. But if the noble likes Sir Tanton?”

After that, the saint pressed his finger down and began wildly drawing circles around the illustration representing me and the noble.

It reminded me of a rope.

“Nobles are very possessive. They wouldn’t care about the person’s status and would go to any lengths to make Sir Tanton theirs. In other words, it means that Sir Tanton becomes affiliated with the noble. Even if, later on, Sir Tanton says he doesn’t like it, the noble would show excessive obsession toward him and wouldn’t let him escape.”

Whoa.

Damn.

I was already feeling cold at the description, and feeling dizzy.

“But this is only true from a human perspective. Do you think elite outsiders can even be compared to nobles? If you make a mistake, you might be dragged into a strange space and live bound for life. This process is extremely unfair, with no way to return, and it’s terrifying.”

So that’s why Nutricha was saying that.

…Should I be thankful that Nutricha was a domain-level outsider?

Wait a minute.

But why did Nutricha accept it so easily and move on?

Suddenly feeling confused, the saint’s continued explanations snapped my thoughts.

“Elite outsiders are known for their strong possessiveness. Just look at the Giant of the Snow Mountain, who has taken root in the human realm for years and hasn’t moved since.”

What was I thinking before?

Anyway.

The clarity that came from relating it to the Giant of the Snow Mountain sped up my understanding.

Well, it could indeed be considered possessive.

Oh, but now that I think about it, I already mentioned a name in front of the someone once.

“Does… saying the name in front of the person count too?”

“I’m not sure about that, but whatever you directly ‘call’ starts the count. Just talking casually and mentioning someone wouldn’t draw the elite outsiders’ attention, I guess.”

Something like that?

…That was a close call.

I almost had a big problem, didn’t I?

“…Sir Tanton? Your expression isn’t good.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just listening to you gives me chills.”

“Exactly, right? It’s definitely a chilling story just to hear it.”

If I hadn’t listened to the saint, I would probably rank pretty high on the list of how to die stupidly.

I didn’t die, but a fate worse than death could very well make it onto that list.

“Anyway, I need to prepare, so let’s meet again in two hours, Sir Tanton.”

“Yes, see you in a bit.”

After bowing to the saint and stepping out of the library, I wondered.

Who the heck is coming that has him so worked up?

#

Two hours later.

Finally, I could see who the elite members the saint mentioned were, and I met them with a slight surprise.

“I’m late.”

“Puhahah! Sir Tanton, why does your face look like that?”

The members of that party were indeed Agartha and the Hunter.

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