---

As I opened the door and stepped outside, Skylar was staring at me with sharp golden eyes.

The long staff in his hand… it must be a wizard’s staff, right? After all, wizards don’t just carry around such items for show.

It’s a bit uniquely shaped.

“Time.”

“…Huh?”

“You’re late.”

“Sorry.”

It’s good to apologize when you’ve messed up. After all, in this request, I was the passenger, and he was the bus driver.

If we were to liken it to an RPG game, it means I’m in a position similar to receiving a ‘carry’ from him. I wasn’t such a scumbag to brazenly strut around even in this situation.

But the part about being brazen was only for the ‘when I’m about to be in danger’ scenario.

Wizards are still sensitive to time, huh? No matter how much time passes or how settings change, there are still things that don’t change.

‘It’s oddly comforting.’

I had no particular reason, but it just felt relaxing. This felt like real fantasy… or something like that?

“Let’s depart.”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll take the wagon to a nearby area and walk from the point where the road ends. If we move diligently, it seems we can finish before nightfall.”

“By the way, is it really necessary to keep an eye on the movements of nearby monsters?”

“Excuse me?”

“Can’t we just go and hunt them?”

“Monsters are quite rare. It might have been different during the time of the Demon King’s resurrection or the chaos period, but now they’ve all been hunted down, making it hard to find even one. So some areas have hunting bans and are managed by closing them off.”

“A breeding ground?”

“Yes. You could see it that way.”

“Then why are we going to observe?”

“If their numbers increase too much, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage them. A few watchers aren’t enough. We need to check firsthand how many have increased in the places that aren’t in our line of sight and issue extermination requests.”

“…Is that so?”

“Why?”

“It just seems like there were too many observation requests for that.”

The requests for observation were naturally managed by the guild’s receptionists, but it was certainly possible for us to browse requests of the same rank with our party.

Requests for monitoring monster movements were categorized as low difficulty compared to their fierce names, likely yielding an easily manageable level of difficulty.

In other words, I was able to review requests I could feasibly tackle.

Although I ended up taking this request after flipping to the back since there were none that looked easy… Ugh.

‘Anyway, that’s the point.’

According to Skylar, having this many monster movement observation requests didn’t make sense.

Are they lacking manpower at the breeding ground, asking for temporary workers for just a day? That could happen. But that the rural Adventurer’s Guild has this many observation requests?

‘…Then, how many requests are there in the urban areas?’

As I plunged deep into thought, Skylar let out a loud sigh right in front of my face.

“Sigh… It’s true. Ever since the Mad King’s rebellion, it’s been unimaginable.”

“Mad King?”

“I wish you wouldn’t walk around showing how lacking your basic knowledge is. Where could you possibly find a bard who looks like a noble lady and handles instruments so carelessly? Maybe in the red-light district.”

“Explain it to me.”

“Huh?”

“You pretended you didn’t want to before, yet you explained everything so kindly last time.”

“Uh…”

–
1. [Request]
2. [Question]
3. [Persuasion] (Speech bonus)
4. [Provocation] (Speech bonus)
5. [Charm] (Charm bonus)
–

Oh… choices.

They didn’t show up when I needed them, but now they pop up just because I’m having a normal conversation? It’s a little frustrating, isn’t it?

Using charm on this kid feels a bit much. I wouldn’t even know what effect it would have anyway. Love is an unpredictable emotion.

So, provocation or persuasion it is.

Just asking or requesting would be fine, but honestly, isn’t it a man’s instinct to want to choose an option marked ‘bonus’ in a situation like this?

Hmm, or not.

–
[Provocation]
–

Persuasion could have also worked, but to be honest… every time I talked to this little wizard, I felt ignored and it kinda ticked me off.

Yeah. I was a bit angry.

So I wanted to make this little brat a little mad too—that was all there was to it.

–
[Provocation – 15 or higher]
[7 + 5]
–
[Failure!]
–

“…Huh?”

–
Unfortunately, you failed to combine words that would make your opponent angry. Nothing happened.
–

Wait, why is it suddenly 15 or higher? Is it because the opponent’s stats are higher than mine? Or maybe this kid just has a personality that isn’t easily provoked?

In the end, due to the failure of my option, I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut and stare at the little wizard.

My body wouldn’t move freely.

“…What are you looking at?”

“…”

“Oh, I got it. You want me to explain!”

“Ultimately, you’re just going to explain it anyway, so why the suspense?”

“For a wizard and a merchant, information is always money. Chit-chatting like this without getting anything in return feels like a loss to me.”

“Is that so?”

“Are you curious about the Mad King?”

“Yeah.”

Then Skylar opened his mouth and began to speak.

But then, he immediately closed it again.

A clattering sound could be heard from behind.

The wagon Skylar had called for me had just arrived. The wagon drew close to the Adventurer’s Guild entrance to pick us up.

“Let’s talk later. This story is a bit sensitive, everyone.”

“Eh?”

“It’s political.”

I promptly closed my mouth. I understood.

Discussing the Mad King inside a wagon… is as dangerous as bringing up politics in a taxi.

Once again, I gained knowledge today.

*

How much time passed inside the rattling wagon?

With nothing to do, I eventually couldn’t help but speak first as boredom took over.

In a dull journey, nothing is harder to endure than silence. I had been sitting on this hard wooden bench for several hours now. It was even rattling!

I wanted to forget this awful sensation in my backside by talking about anything.

“Hey…”

“Yeah?”

“Are you a wizard?”

“Calling me a wizard is a bit vague.”

“Eh?”

“I’m a scroll-user, you see.”

The classification of wizards in the previous work wasn’t very specialized. There were constant debates in the community, and descriptions were ambiguous.

But… scroll-user? I’d never heard that term before and tilted my head in confusion.

“…”

“Seriously.”

Skylar looked at me with disbelief.

“Hey, I could not know that.”

“That’s not an excuse.”

“Ugh.”

“You lack basic knowledge. Asking a wizard, ‘What is that?’ is incredibly rude.”

“Well, you could just tell me.”

“Could you please stop treating me like a convenient magic crystal? To be honest, I don’t want to get involved.”

“Eh?”

“…Let’s talk about it later in the forest.”

“Got it.”

Honestly, I wanted to ask right now, but it would be foolish to chitchat loudly in front of ears that might be listening.

Some topics are ones you don’t want others to overhear, and some cause trouble if others do.

After that awkward atmosphere continued… a while longer passed.

The rattling wagon finally stopped, and by now my backside had gone numb enough that I hardly felt any pain.

“This is the entrance.”

“Yeah. Please bill me later. That’s okay?”

“Sure, no problem. You’re an honorary member, so there shouldn’t be any risk of dying on this quest.”

“Even if I die, you’d just take it from the guild anyway.”

“Haha.”

The wagon driver was an elderly man, and I got the feeling he was quite adept at hiding his genuine feelings behind a friendly smile.

He continued to cheerfully attend to us with a smile as the wagon turned around and headed back.

Only after he disappeared over the ridge did Skylar finally speak.

“Shall we go back to the conversation we were having earlier?”

“Sure.”

“First, I’ll explain about scroll-users. You have no idea about the types of wizards, do you?”

“Thanks.”

“The request fee will be 70:30. That’s the cost of the information.”

I thought for a moment, but I could shell out that amount.

After all, I hadn’t even considered splitting it 50:50.

I didn’t have much I could do, and he needed to handle two shares in this request.

“Alright!”

“…Fine. Scroll-users are people who can’t configure complex circuits or formulas with magic. They’re those who wanted to become wizards but couldn’t make it.”

“So… they can’t use magic?”

“Correct. They just let their magic flow into circuits and formulas pre-drawn on paper by someone else. Then the scroll burns, and the magic is used.”

“And then?”

“About the different types of wizards?”

“Yeah.”

“In the mental line, there’s the enchanter; if they have innate talent, they’re called sorcerers; if it’s a learned talent, they’re wizards… No need to know the rest. It’s just sub-classifications.”

“I see.”

And there was a brief silence.

Skylar paused for a moment and then began to speak.

“Lastly, let me explain why I don’t want to get involved with you—”