Chapter 13: After a Few Days Have Passed.

—- One day, Ren had a dream

What he was seeing was a scene from the nostalgic Legend of the Seven Heroes.

It was one of the disturbances in Legend of the Seven Heroes II, in which a huge monster appears off the coast of the harbor in the imperial capital.

The reason for its appearance involves those who wish to revive the Demon King, and players are shown a shocking event immediately after the battle.

Klonoa Highland is called the world’s greatest mage.

In the Great Temple of the Imperial City, she is pierced through the chest by Ren Ashton’s sword.

Players were equally surprised to see this, and at the same time, they had a question.

Klonoa is an absolutely powerful person in the game, comparable to a Sword King.

The question is how in the world did Ren Ashton manage to defeat the dean of the school, Klonoa Highland?

Since there is no evidence of a fight inside the Great Temple, perhaps Ren Ashton acted in an assassination-like manner.

The players could only make this prediction.

Naturally, the answer was not explicitly stated.

Ren Ashton also didn’t give a motive for his crimes, and left the protagonists without revealing anything. He appeared to the protagonists frequently thereafter, but only offered occasional advice, and never said anything else.

There’s only one discomfort that players can identify.

Klonoa, who said she was going to fight too, didn’t even visit the port, but was somehow in the Great Temple, facing Ren Ashton.

Of course, Ren, who is dreaming right now, doesn’t know the answer to that question.

Because he doesn’t know, he has to prevent that future from coming.

“Woah…”

Ren mumbled immediately he woke up.

I’m having bad dreams.

His mood was heavy as he sat up in bed, and he wanted to go back to sleep if he could.

However, he couldn’t go back to sleep if he had to see the continuation of the dream. He felt it wasn’t bad to watch it as a reminder to himself, but he wanted to refrain from doing so today.

(It can’t be helped.)

Approaching the window, Ren opened the curtains and basked in the morning sun to dispel the heavy mood.

He had just moved to the old building a few days ago and was finally getting used to his new bed, but he didn’t expect to be made to feel this way here.

“I’ll just have to do my best….”

Ren slapped his cheek hard and forced himself to get fired up and leave the room.

The room that he’s using in the old building is not too small and not too big, not far from the entrance.

He lives in a room with the bare minimum of furniture and cooks his own meals in the kitchen of the old building.

He didn’t have much experience in cooking, so he can only cook roughly, but he’s not lacking at the moment.

Today, Ren continues to make his own rough-and-ready meals to fill his stomach.

By the time he finished his meal, the depression he had felt after waking up from bed was gone.

After that, Weiss gave him a lesson in imperial swordsmanship, and then he left the grounds of the mansion and headed for the guild with familiar steps.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Ren is the caretaker of the old mansion, so he cleans up without the help of anyone else.

Licia had surprised the servants by offering to help, but Ren had adamantly refused as a matter of course, her cheeks puffing up.

This was until recently, and Ren hadn’t been to the Adventurer’s Guild in a few days because he prioritized that job.

By the time I realized —- it was already the middle of summer.

When I take a deep breath and let the summer’s unique morning air permeate my entire body, I feel my brain feel invigorated and pleasantly refreshed.

(From here, I can see all the way to the horizon.)

This is due to the topography of Clausel.

Even in the townscape, which rises in the mountains toward the center, you can see well out of Clausel from near the old mansion where Ren lives.

“Hey there, good morning!”

“Oh haha, it’s you, hero! You’re so energetic this morning!”

I continued on my way to the Adventurers’ Guild for a while, being accosted by stall owners and townspeople along the way.

The area around the Adventurers’ Guild was bustling with adventurers preparing to go hunting and the food stalls where they ate.

Ren walked alongside them and stepped into the guild with a familiar gait.

He hoped to find some interesting information, but there was nothing on the bulletin board.

It was the same familiar bulletin board as usual.

He feels that today is going to be another familiar day of normal research and incidentally hunting.

Gruu ……

Suddenly, Ren’s stomach let out a pitiful sound.

(Didn’t I eat enough breakfast?)

It seems that his still-growing body was still in search of nourishment.

It would have been embarrassing if anyone had heard.

Ren was relieved that there were no people on either side of him.

“Haha, that’s a cute sound.”

He was about to go to a table where he could eat when he heard a woman’s voice behind him.

When he turned toward the voice, he saw someone sitting nearby looking at him and smiling.

(I haven’t seen her around here before.)

Having been coming to the Adventurers’ Guild here for a while, I thought I had memorized the faces of the adventurers who also frequented the guild.

But I’d never seen her before.

I couldn’t see her face to begin with.

A pure white robe covered her body.

Her face was hidden by the deep hood, and only her mouth could be seen.

The only other feature I could make out was her blonde hair, which reminded me of silk, peeking out slightly.

Her voice is a strange, processed sound, and it’s only slightly recognizable as a woman’s. She must be using magic tools or something to change her voice.

“Come here. Would you like to have dinner with me?”

“….um…”

“Ah… of course it’s my treat, so don’t hold back.”

Ren thought.

Maybe she thought he had no money with him.

But it’s not unreasonable to think so.

The only thing a boy like Ren does at the Adventurers’ Guild are the simple jobs he does to help his family make ends meet.

It’s no wonder she thinks that, but Ren smiles.

“You don’t have to worry. I’ve got the money.”

“Huh? Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Seeing that she nodded, Ren left the board and sat down beside her.

He then called an waiter to finish the order with a familiar gesture.

The woman saw this and peeked out of the corner of her hood with a stunned mouth.

“Are you a regular, by any chance?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Wow…… no wonder you’re so mature and used to it.”

“I’m just getting used to it, that’s all.”

“Hahaha! You’re mature even in what you say.”

As we were talking, the food was brought to the woman first.

She didn’t touch it until my food arrived, and only when it arrived did she finally touch the dishes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make a new acquaintance wait.”

“No, I just wanted to wait for you. So don’t worry about it”

As he was finishing his breakfast, Ren wondered why she was so interested in him.

“Why are you talking to me?”

“Hmmm….. I don’t know. If I had to say, I heard your cute little belly and wondered what kind of boy you were, so I talked to you.”

“—- So, what did you think when you talked to me?”

“I was just thinking about how I was going to kidnap you.”

Ren was so shocked by the words that he was absolutely speechless.

Kakin! He dropped the fork in his hand.

The woman saw this and laughed happily.

“I’m just kidding! If I do that, I’ll get caught by the knights!”

“So… that’s how it was…”

I decided not to get too deep into it.

But the woman seems to be a small eater and quickly finishes the small breakfast she ordered.

She then looked at Ren with amusement.

(What is she enjoying?)

Ren tried not to pay attention to the woman, but he couldn’t help but pay attention to her slightly.

The woman noticed this.

“If you care about me, will you come with me to the imperial capital?”

Surprised, Ren reopened his eyes and turned to the woman, saying without hesitation.

“I definitely won’t go.”

“Achaa….. it’s so hurtful to get an immediate answer…..”

The woman then abruptly got up from her seat.

With regret, she turns her back on Ren and heads out of the Adventurers’ Guild.

The last time he saw her, her face was still hidden behind her hood. Of course, so was her voice.

“I really wanted to talk to you a little longer, but I have some business to attend to, so I have to go.”

But she turned around one last time and said.

“I hope to see you again.”

“Yes, if I get a chance.”

“Yes! Then, please tell me about your mysterious power.”

She left meaningful words and went out with light steps.

On the other hand, Ren dropped his fork once more on his plate.

“…. why?”

That woman had indeed said ‘your mysterious power’.

It would be perfectly natural to assume that she was referring to the magic sword summoning technique.

Ren hurriedly got up from his seat and thought about following the woman. But when he went outside the Adventurers’ Guild and looked around, he couldn’t see the woman in robes.

“Why?!”

Instead, Ren let out a startled cry, attracting the attention of the adventurers on the road.

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