Swamp Girl! Chapter 24

Leaving the weapons shop behind us, we killed time until noon by browsing the trade district.

As before, country mouse Aira looked every which way, asking all kinds of questions, while Rupert went along with her and answered all of them properly.
Palmira carried her newly-purchased, cloth-wrapped shortsword in both hands, looking content. At first, she said she would wear at it her hip, but after being persuaded that her dress lacked the necessary features, this was the result.

When I looked up, the sun was just about midway through the sky. Timewise, it’d be fine to go to the guild now, but first, food.
Because it was exactly the right time, delicious smells wafted into the air from down the street.

“Rupert, let’s grab something to eat soon,”

I said to Rupert, who was being dragged ahead by Aira.

“Ah, that time already…? You’re right.”

As if I were interrupting his happy date, Rupert looked suspiciously up into the sky.
You haven’t forgotten about escorting us, have you?
Well, it’s alright.

“You guys have anything you want to eat? Me, I recommend the fish around here.”

“In that case, fish sounds good to me.”

“Me too.”

“Fish it is, then.”

Oi, what about my opinion?
Maybe Rupert already had a place in mind, because he turned around before I could finish my thought.
I’ll go along with fish for now, but he’d better get a good grip on where he stands.

–

–

“After all, it’s not your first time here, is it? First-timers get priority.”

Rupert took us to a stylish restaurant that made me wonder, ‘There was a place like this around here?’ After we took our seats, Rupert responded decisively to my criticism.

…And —

“…how did you know that this wasn’t my first time?”

The waitress came over to take our orders. As Rupert rattled off whatever he felt like, I looked at him warily. I could tell that next to me, Palmira had similarly turned rigid.

“Great, thanks… now. There’s no way I’d miss it. It’s in the way you walk, y’know?”

I thought he was just enjoying a date with Aira, but it appeared that he’d kept his eyes peeled, surprisingly. Sure, now that he’d mentioned it, I might have been walking like I knew where I was going. I was careless.
That said, I knew Telaberan like the back of my hand. Even if I’d put on an act, I probably would’ve been found out in the end. I was lousy at that sort of play-acting to begin with.
But, while some people already knew, I wasn’t too eager to reveal my real ident.i.ty. It might be a good idea to be a little more careful.

“And to start with, nothing’s gonna come out of giving special treatment to a girl who already has a man.”

Before I could finish processing his last statement, Rupert said something I wouldn’t let slide without a fight.

“Huuuh?!”

What the h.e.l.l is he talking about?

I looked at Aira and Palmira. Both of them looked down, unable to say anything. Their eyes glanced over at me from time to time.
What’s with this mood? It’s like I’m the only one in the dark.

“I mean, sure, you are pretty easy on the eyes. Even the boss wants to take you back to the capital.”

“Wait. Are you referring to Leon, maybe?”

There were two people who had the qualifications to be the ‘boss’, but since Leopard seemed way too unlikely, that left just the one. I cut Rupert off to ask.
Now it was Rupert’s turn to gape in disbelief, and he turned to face me.

“Just who else is there?”

‘And don’t throw the boss’s name around,’ he added. Well, didn’t you just call him ‘boss’, all casual-like? What about all the times you called him ‘boss’ earlier? Isn’t he a n.o.ble?
Even so, for some reason I place my hands on the table and lean forward to quietly mount my defense.

“…Why would you think something like that?”

Rupert also put his hands on the table and leaned forward. We were opposing each other face-to-face over the table. What the h.e.l.l is this?

“I mean, everyone in the estate knows about it.”

“What? What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?”

“‘What I’m talking about’ is how the boss goes to your bedroom every day. What’s more, whenever he talks to you, he looks like he’s in a really good mood. Like people didn’t even know he could make that expression.”

…I was left at a loss for words.
Strangely enough, Aira said something almost identical yesterday.
What the h.e.l.l? How did we even get here?

“Thank you for waiting.”

While I was still leaning forward, distressed, the waitress’s voice reached my ears. I couldn’t get out of her way, so I straightened up and prompted her to serve the food.

“Oh my, everyone at this table is so good-looking. Is this your first time in Telaberan?”

With that timing, the waitress said something rather excessive. Looking at my unconsciously sullen expression, Aira hurriedly played along with a [Yes, that’s right].

The dishes lined up before my eyes weren’t as polished as those at the estate, but they still looked mouth-watering. While I stared, I turned over Rupert’s words in my mind.
s.h.i.t. It’s all true.

“Woooow, it looks so delicious!”

“Well then, please take your time.”

“Thanks.”

By the time I noticed, the waitress had finished laying out the food, and Rupert was tipping her with a sort of familiarity.

“Well, let’s eat. Even my guys think this place has great food… If you’re not careful, Chris, your face will get stuck that way.”

“Uh — right.”

At his prompting, I picked up my fork with a feeling of contentment. It really did look tasty.
In the center was some kind of fish pie. Followed by grilled fish fillet.1 Piccata. Simmered tomatoes.

“Hey, lend me your plate.”

I pa.s.sed my plate over as instructed, and Rupert deftly cut and served me a slice of pie. Then it was Aira’s turn, followed by Palmira.

“Th-Thank you, Mister Rupert.”

“Thanks.”

“Of course. How is it?”

Taking his own portion last, he started eating. Seeing him, we dug in with our forks too.

“Sooo delicious.”

Immediately, Aira spoke up in admiration, with an expression of heartfelt happiness.
I had the same thought every time, but Aira devoured her meals like they really were delicious. She seemed so carefree, I was envious.
Encouraged by her reaction, I took a mouthful of pie too.
…Oooh yeah, that’s G.o.dd.a.m.n good.

“Oh yeah, and today, the boss stops by my place and says, [Really, it’s a pity that I can’t go, but I need you to show Miss Chris and the others around]. With this look like he’s disappointed from the bottom of his heart, y’know.”

“‘Miss Chris and the others’, was it?”

…Are we still on this topic? Even Aira was talking like there was some deeper meaning.

“Rumor even has it that he’s taking you back to the capital with him so you can make your debut before the wedding. It’s the hottest topic around the estate right now.”

‘No, I refused, so — ‘ …I couldn’t say that. It was pretty complicated business. Not exactly something I could blurt out on the spur of the moment.
But why did the rumors turn out that way? The source was Irene, wasn’t it. Had to be.

“If you didn’t have those kinds of feelings in the first place, all I can say is that the boss is just too pitiful. I won’t come right out and ask you how it happened, but if you haven’t noticed after all that, how heartless are you?”

Rupert said, apparently astounded.
It seemed like the only thing he didn’t know was that I was a man. Even Irene would’ve kept that a secret, I guess.
That was just fine by me, but conversely, wasn’t it because she kept it secret that such rumors got started? Wouldn’t I be better off, maybe, shouting ‘I’m a man!’ from the rooftops?

As I sank into thought, I felt a tug on the hem of my dress.
I saw Palmira, her cheeks stuffed with some kind of food, looking at me and shaking her head.
I could read what she wanted to say in her eyes.
‘It’s hopeless.’

–

–

“Pheeew. I’m full, I’m full.”

“That was delicious, wasn’t it?”

“I’m satisfied.”

Three people, three expressions of satisfaction. Leaving me to my complex feelings and lost appet.i.te, they walked out of the restaurant with content looks on their faces.

In the end, Rupert covered the bill.
[Today, it’ll be~my~treat~], he said. Gross. But for now, I’d make ruthless use of his hospitality.
Let’s have dinner too. On you.

“Well, we’re going back before sunset, y’know?”

Perhaps sensing my thoughts, Rupert made a preemptive strike.

“Once the sun sets, it’ll get quite a bit more dangerous. Much as I’d like to, if something did happen and we returned after staying out all night, the boss’ll beat me to death.”

…Well, I can see that.
‘Much as he’d like to’, huh? Yeah, he did seem like that kind of guy, but it looked like he knew the difference between right and wrong. Though it was common sense.

“Well, let’s go to the guild for now. It’ll empty out before long, won’t it?”

“Probably.”

Walking toward the guild during the exchange, we arrived relatively quickly.
As far as I could tell, the morning chaos had already subsided. From what I could see from the outside, it even seemed kind of deserted. I mean, relatively speaking — there were still several people inside.

We opened the door and entered.

Just like the weapons shop, it was a nostalgic place for me.
The tables and counters in the sprawling hall. At a glance, it even looked a bit like a tavern, but there was hardly any foot traffic in the afternoon. Later in the day, it actually did do business as a tavern.
At the moment, a few men — adventurers, looks like — were sitting at a table. Perhaps failing to find work, they were day-drinking and rolling themselves some smokes. Though it seemed that those men were now staring at us, these out-of-place intruders who just suddenly appeared.

On the other side, it wasn’t a bartender behind the counter, but a single clerk.
It was for adventurers coming back after finishing their commissions. The clerk handled the business end of things afterward.
On the opposite wall hung a large board, a few slips of paper pinned to it.
Requests. When you wanted to take on a request, you would take the paper for the commission you’ve chosen and bring it to the counter, and a contract would be made. Right now, because it was already the afternoon, there were few papers left. All the valuable jobs had already been taken.
Of the ones that were left, they either had a deadly high level of difficulty, or offered too little in compensation.

Of course, I hadn’t come here to accept requests, so they had nothing to do with me.
Today, I’d wanted to come for a different reason.

“h.e.l.lo.”

“Ahh? Ahh.”

I hailed the old man behind the counter, who was working on something business-related task.
Maybe he’d been concentrating very hard. The pen in his hand stopped as he looked at me a second time. Then, he adjusted his gla.s.ses, which were slightly askew, and turned to face me.

“What is it?”

“I want to register. These two behind me, too.”

I pointed at Aira and Palmira, who were standing behind me, as I spoke.
With the abrupt shift in attention, the two of them went [Eh–?]

“Hmmm. Age?”

“I’m eighteen. Behind me, nineteen, and the small one’s twenty, believe it or not.”

“Oh?”

The old man pushed up his gla.s.ses, scrutinizing us.

“Do you know the guild regulations?”

“Yeah, no problem. Everything’s at your own risk. Right?”

Of course, there were a bunch of other rules. But the most fundamental one was being responsible for yourself.

As I said before, the guild operated as a work listing and information broker.
But the ones who chose the work listed were the adventurers themselves.
So if you got hurt doing the commission you chose, or if you suffered losses because you relied on false information, it would all be on you. It was the principle of self-accountability.
In short, the guild itself ducked any responsibility, but if not, things wouldn’t work. So everyone had no choice but to agree.

“If you understand, that’s fine. Three iron for three people.”

“Here.”

I immediately tossed the three coins on the counter.
It was to emphasize my familiarity. If I really did know my way around, I wouldn’t bother him with unnecessary conversation.

“…Hm.”

After checking the coins’ authenticity, the old man took three small leather-bound books from near his feet and sets them in a pile on the counter. Then, he pulled out one more book, this one large and thick. Placing it on the counter as well, he flipped through its pages with a rustling sound. On the pages was an endless stream of names — it was the register.

“Write your name here. Then here too.”

Finally, I called Aira and Palmira over. Without me noticing, Rupert had moved to stand by the wall, watching us with a disappointed look.

“We’re putting our names down here.”

In a bit of a rush, I pa.s.sed one of the pens handed to me over to Aira. One to Palmira, too.
Palmira, not hesitant at all, wrote her name down on the notebook and the register.

“Um, that’s, I — ”

But Aira looked fl.u.s.tered with the pen in her hand.

“It’s okay, just hurry up.”

“…I can’t write.”

Aira’s voice spilled out on the brink of tears.
At that moment, suddenly the sound of laughter echoed around us. Those drunks.
I could predict this happening. That was why I wanted to get this over with quickly.

“Ahahaha, I thought we got a couple weird ones in, but you can’t even write?”

“Hey, liddle laaaady. If it were me, I’d’ve got it done quick even if I didn’t know my letters.”

Vulgar jeering came from all around the room. The target of their malice, Aira hung her head as if she were trying to endure something. What that something was, went without saying.
Seeing her like that, I hurriedly turned to the old man and took the pen.

“Oi! I can write it for her, right?!”

“Ah, yeah.”

I quickly filled Aira’s name in on the notebook and the register. Then, my name … I hesitated a little, but I wrote ‘Chris’.

“We’re all done here, right? No need to explain the numbers.”

While mockery filled the hall, I showed the old man our three signed notebooks.
The old man compared them to the register by eye, then nodded.
Alright, that’s the end of that.
I whirled violently towards those drunk s.h.i.ts and

Thud–!

That yelling a.s.shole just had his face slammed into the floor.

“…shut up, you sacks of s.h.i.t.”

As I thought, it was Rupert.
And at the same time, I saw him holding down a man by the back of the head, pressing his face into the floor. It was probably the one who’d been hurling the vilest insults.
He wasn’t wearing the irresponsible grin he’d had until now, but rather an expression so filled with rage that I unconsciously went rigid.
…If I had to pick a single word, it would be ‘demonic’.
Confronted with this figure, a radical change from the side of him that we knew, neither Aira, nor I, nor even Palmira, could make a sound.

“What are you doing, b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”

“I’m gonna beat the s.h.i.t outta you!”

Given a moment to process the situation, the other drunk adventurers stood up one after another. One of them even had his sword drawn.

Even so, I didn’t worry about Rupert, nor did I feel like backing him up.
Rather, I couldn’t even move.
Rupert slowly drew his hand away from the head of the unfortunate man on the floor. The grin on his face was so gruesome that it gave me chills.

–

–

“Look, Airi, it’s okay — ”

The main thoroughfare, dusk. As Aira trudged along, it was also Rupert who was joking around with her to cheer her up.
Palmira and I were there, unable to say a thing.

The truth is, this man is terrifying.
That was my honest impression of him.
As if it were perfectly reasonable, Rupert gleefully beat every one of the drunks half-dead in the blink of an eye. Barehanded.
If asked about the words ‘Know your place’, he would easily and thoroughly explain the feeling with a hands-on demonstration.
Rupert’s strength was in a league of its own. Even with my former body, I probably would have been finished in an instant.
What’s more, after he literally annihilated all of them with extreme ease, he said something about feeling amazingly refreshed, as if nothing had happened.
The guild itself was wrecked, but Rupert probably paid the old man some hush money. How much, I didn’t know.

“Oiii, Chris. You say something too.”

Then, just now, he spoke to me with his idiotic expression completely unchanged. His reaction made it seem like what happened earlier was a lie. Rather than comforting, that made the disparity more terrifying.

However.
It was a fact that Rupert saved us. And the fault for that, in a certain sense, lay with me.

“…No, sorry. It would’ve been better if I had explained things properly earlier.”

Since that was my objective, I handed Aira one of the notebooks I was carrying.
12-68776. It was written on the notebook’s front cover. Palmira was 68775. I was 68777.

“…This is?”

“Well… It’s like insurance. In the future, if you can’t get into town, as long as you remember this number, it’ll act as a subst.i.tute for your social standing.”

That was based on my prior experiences of being unable to enter the city. Right now, being at Leon’s side certainly guaranteed our social status. But I didn’t know how long that guarantee would last. So, as insurance, I had us register with the guild. Even Aira.
It really was just insurance. It might not have much meaning in terms of results. But I just wanted to do what I could right now.
However, I ended up getting Aira hurt. Because I didn’t put enough thought into it.

When I did something, it would come after a discussion. I failed, and now I simply regretted it. 2

“That’s true.”

Hearing me, Rupert looked as if he’d figured something out.

It seemed like Rupert, seeing me suddenly register the three of us as adventurers, was wondering if I had plans to run away.
Only now it occurred to me — was that why he was disappointed earlier? Should I have explained things properly to him too?
Well, say I did explain. The results wouldn’t have been much different, I think.

“……”

Staring at the notebook, Aira seemed to be thinking about something.
It was unlike the usual Aira. When I thought about it being my fault, I couldn’t help but feel concerned.

But there was hardly anything I could say to her about it.
Coward. Nothing else came to me.
In the end, the atmosphere heavy, we continued to climb up the hill to the estate.

Footnotes
1. I don’t know the katakana here: ムニ……エルだったか、焼いた切り身 ↵
2. My translation of these lines doesn’t make sense to me: 何かするときは、相談してから。失敗したと、今はかなり後悔するばかりだ ↵

Oh, Aira…