Chapter 6
A Troublesome Situation
Translator : PolterGlast
"So this is Elma
Street. It looks like a pretty lawless place."
From the name, I kind
of thought it would be a bustling street, but it's a gloomy place with a lot of
shady-looking people. The area looked unsafe even before I entered this street,
so I want to find the tavern where Ginia works as quickly as possible.
I place my hand where
I can draw my katana instantly, just in case something happens. If I had both
hands, I wouldn't need to be this cautious, but with only one, a moment's delay
can be a matter of life and death.
Walking cautiously, I
decided to check the taverns on Elma Street one by one. And so, starting from
the end of the street, at the third establishment...
A young, beautiful,
blonde female employee, who didn't seem to fit the atmosphere of the place, was
frantically scrubbing the floor. The first two places were completely empty, so
this seemed to be my first chance to ask someone.
"Ah, welcome! I'm
sorry to say, especially since you came all this way, but we're not open for
business yet."
"No, I didn't
come for a drink. I'm actually looking for someone named Ginia, do you know
anything about—"
The moment I said
that, the young woman who was cleaning the floor inexplicably lunged at me. She
threw aside the mop, pulled a dagger from her pocket, and moved to stab me.
Her friendly demeanor
had completely changed, and I didn't know why I was about to be stabbed with a
dagger, but I figured it was best to subdue her first. Fortunately, her
movements were slow, and it looked like I could handle her without even using
my katana.
I dodged the woman's
straightforward stabbing attack by taking a step back and deflecting it. As I
did, I stuck out my leg, and the woman tripped over it, falling hard.
I kicked away the
dagger she dropped when she fell, grabbed her arm, and successfully restrained
her. She was still struggling, trying to do something, but I had her in a
perfect joint lock, so she couldn't move.
"Ugh, gh! Let go,
let go of me!"
"Calm down a bit.
Why did you suddenly try to stab me?"
"I don't want to
die ye—huh? Geezer, you didn't come here to capture me?"
"Capture you? Why
would I be capturing you?"
"Because you said
you came looking for Ginia! So I thought you'd come to capture me..."
"So that means,
you're Ginia."
For some reason, I had
an image of adventurers being men, but the name Ginia is indeed feminine. And I
never imagined she would be this young and beautiful. I can't imagine she'd
ever form a party with someone like me, but the receptionist must have
introduced us thinking there was a chance, so I'll at least try asking.
...But before that,
what was all that talk about being captured or killed? Before I invite her to a
party, I want to ask who she mistook me for when she tried to stab me.
"W-who are
you?"
"My name is
Graham, and I'm an adventurer. I heard about Ginia at the Adventurer's Guild
and came looking... But again, who did you mistake me for when you tried to
stab me?"
"O-oh, so that
was it. I made a terrible mistake...! I am so, so sorry!"
As soon as I let her
go, she started bowing her head over and over with incredible speed. It's fine
since I wasn't hurt, but I still want to hear the reason she tried to stab me.
"You don't need
to apologize. I'm well aware I have a suspicious appearance. More importantly,
tell me why you tried to stab me."
"......Do I have
to tell you?"
"Being nearly
stabbed without knowing the reason doesn't exactly sit well with me."
"I understand.
This might take a little while, but please listen."
Then, Ginia explained
to me from the beginning why she had tried to stab me. To summarize her
explanation, it all started about a month ago when she bumped into a man at a
corner. The vase the man was holding fell and broke, and he demanded she pay
for it.
The vase was
apparently eyeball-poppingly expensive, and though she tried her best to pay it
back, she couldn't complete any adventurer quests, and her part-time job here
was just a drop in the bucket. And today was apparently the deadline to pay for
the vase, so when I showed up at that exact moment, she mistook me for a debt
collector.
"I see. So that's
why you tried to stab me to death."
"The one thing
I'd never do is prostitution, but I didn't have the money to pay... so I
thought my only choice was to kill him. And instead, I attacked a complete
stranger... I'm so sorry."
Tears were overflowing
from Ginia's eyes, and I could tell from her pained expression that she had
resorted to the extreme idea of killing him because she was at her mental
breaking point. I only came here to recruit her, but it seems I've gotten
wrapped up in something troublesome.
"I'm fine, so you
don't have to apologize. More importantly... from what I've heard, your story
is full of suspicious points. Was that vase really so expensive?"
Listening to Ginia's
story, that was the part that really stuck with me. I'd only just met her, and
I'm practically a stranger, so I wondered if I should be sticking my nose in
her business, but I just couldn't shake the feeling that she was being scammed.
"I don't know
about that. He insisted it was expensive, and the vase itself was shattered to
pieces."
"I think it's
suspicious, and from what you said, he's the one who jumped out, right? If so,
it's strange that you're the only one being blamed."
If the vase were truly
expensive, you'd think he'd be careful with it, and I can't imagine he'd carry
it around unprotected. She said he came running out, and the whole thing is
just full of strange details.
"In my heart, I
also thought it was suspici—"
The moment Ginia said
that, the tavern door opened, and someone came in.
"Ah, excuse me.
The shop is still getting ready—wait, you're...!"
"Yo, sorry to
barge in! Today's the repayment deadline! Don't tell me you forgot! Ten
platinum coins. We expect you to pay back every last bit."
From Ginia's reaction,
I knew that the man who had just entered the shop was the one from her story.
But his voice sounded familiar... in fact, I had just been mocked by the owner
of this voice a little while ago. --That's right. It was the trio who had made
fun of me at the entrance to the Adventurer's Guild.
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