Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 110
“I’m home, Melt.”
“Waah! You scared me… Silent, you really have presence, huh.”
“Yeah… I try to act in a way that doesn’t break that image, but honestly, I’m always a bit on edge myself.”
When I got back home, Melt was drying her tail with a bath towel.
Fresh out of the bath—she was a fox girl in all her glory.
“Melt, once your tail’s dry, I’d like to have a bit of a serious talk. Until then, I’ll take a bath myself.”
“A–a serious talk… got it…!”
“Am I… just being meddlesome?”
Soaking in the bath, I gazed out at the night forest beyond the window, and up at the starry sky.
From outside, this side couldn’t be seen—that was the charm of the design. What a luxury.
Stretching out my legs in the wide bath, I thought about what was to come.
“…With the bell’s teleportation, I’ll storm the castle directly. Ideally… I’d cut down everything in order from the gate onward.”
That was the attack plan. Nothing but how to trample and disable them.
Numbers don’t matter. Honestly, I could annihilate the city without even entering, just by unleashing my techniques from outside.
But the casualties among civilians would be too great. So the only choice was for me to strike directly at the castle.
Above all… if I take them down one by one, the last ones waiting will be Isaka and Inami.
The final settlement… won’t be as Silent, but as Shizuma.
“…Even if I capture the king and his aides, the problem is still the ‘collaborators.’”
The ones who tricked Killcrawler, destroyed Underside, and escaped.
The ones who modified and enhanced monsters—and had the technology to do the same to humans.
They even had collaborators in Lindblum, enough organizational strength to build a hideout at the mountain’s peak.
Clearly, a more troublesome existence than Golda itself.
“…They’re probably the ones who found and stole the fragments of the artificial dungeon core too.”
I still don’t know exactly who they are.
But they’re undoubtedly the ones who stirred up this war, who instigated the otherworld summoning.
…At the very least, they’re my clear enemy in this world.
“Time to get out.”
“Since you said it’s a serious talk, I made your drink syrup extra thick this time!”
What she handed me after the bath was a dark-colored cola.
…Don’t you just use any excuse to make it sweeter, Miss?
“Melt… you’ll get fat.”
“I–I won’t get fat…! Ah, but the syrup’s running low, so make me more next time, okay?”
“Hahaha, sure. Anyone can make that stuff, after all.”
Maybe… I don’t need to bear this burden alone.
Melt is strong. Both physically, and mentally.
She once said it herself—
“Revenge is a luxury for those who can afford it.”
She had the resolve to accept protection from the very country she hated, just so she could live.
“Melt. In this war, only I—Silent—will take part. I’ll use the dungeon core from Dreamhill Great Forest to instantly move there, and from there… I’ll destroy the nation.”
“…Right, you already defeated that dungeon master.”
“That forest belongs to no one else. It’ll be ours, just you and me. That okay with you?”
“Hmm… shouldn’t we share it with everyone? Originally, that forest belonged to the whole nation. Before it became a dungeon… merchants traveled through it, hunters came for game. After it turned into a dungeon, the monsters became too strong, so only a few could enter.”
“…Then I’ll at least try to make sure no one enters your old settlement without permission.”
“Yeah, please do that. That place… holds so many memories. Everyone’s gone now, but the memories are still there.”
I wanted to hug her. The way she spoke so casually about something so heavy—I just wanted to hold her close.
“Melt. Is it okay if I destroy Golda?”
“Will you kill a lot of unrelated people too?”
“…I’ll kill the soldiers who serve the country.”
“Will you kill the king too?”
“I’ll capture the upper echelon alive and bring them back here. I want to interrogate them. And of course… if there’s something you want to ask them yourself, you can. If you want… you can even take their lives yourself.”
“Ehh!”
He was saying—he would entrust that choice to her.
The questions, and even the power of life and death.
“Those people alone will be captured. After that, you can do whatever you want. I give you that permission. I’ll leave it in your hands, Melt.”
“…That scares me. I don’t know what I’d do if I stood before the king. That thought terrifies me.”
“But I think… it’s something you need to face. I won’t tell you to decide right now, but I want you to make your choice before the war ends.”
“…Okay. It really was… a serious talk.”
“What did you think it was going to be?”
“…I thought you were going to scold me for turning more of the yard into a pond…”
“Eh!?”
Wait. It was too dark last time for me to check, but… did she actually expand it again?
…At this rate, Melt’s going to end up running a shrimp farm.
The next day, Melt said, “Today I have a promotion exam at the General Guild!” and left the house early in the morning.
Left with nothing to do, I remembered—I was told I still needed to go collect my accumulated rewards from the General Guild.
“It’s been a while since I’ve gone to the guild in this form… guess I’ll head out.”
Now that I think about it, I’d never actually walked around Lindblum’s streets as Silent before.
I always went straight to my destination, never stopped to eat or look around.
As expected, passersby were a little surprised, but in a city full of mercenaries and adventurers, and without the dark circles and terrifying expression I had back then, I wasn’t feared nearly as much.
Finally, I arrived at the General Guild—
“I’m so sorry!!!! If we had contacted the relevant parties sooner, yesterday’s mess wouldn’t have happened! Sir Silent, how can I ever apologize!?”
Sigurd bowed in a perfect ninety-degree angle of desperate apology.
Ah, I see! About yesterday! That’s what this is about! But it’s already fine!
“Don’t worry about that. I even got to see the inside of the gate, which was a rare experience. Plus, I managed to finish my business.”
“You don’t mean… you really stormed the royal palace, did you!?”
“Stormed? Who said stormed? I just had a little talk.”
“A-a talk…?”
He’s definitely misunderstanding something!
“Anyway, I think it’s about time I received the reward payments that have been piling up.”
“Understood. Yes, it’s been several months now, so it might take some time. Would you mind waiting in the lounge?”
“Got it.”
The General Guild, as the name suggests, is truly general. Practically every resident of the city has come here at least once for one reason or another. Because of that, the place is always overflowing with people, even in the morning like now.
Normally at this hour, adventurers and mercenaries would be out on quests outside the city, but as I’d heard recently, they can’t take long-distance expeditions right now—only nearby jobs.
That’s why, over the past few days, it’s become common to see people finishing short tasks before noon, filing reports, then heading straight off to lunch.
Of course, most people still take jobs that last until the evening, but I heard that younger and rookie adventurers usually come back by this time.
“Man, there were so many of them this time! Guess it just means no other rookies were willing to take it.”
“Still, this will probably be the last for the year. The river creatures should be heading up to the mountaintop lakes to overwinter soon. We’ll have to find a different mission tomorrow.”
“Well, thanks to Melt this year, we earned a lot! We might even be promoted to Topaz Rank next year! And lately I’ve been feeling strangely healthy too!”
“Hm… what a coincidence, I’ve been in great condition too. Haven’t been sick at all. Even when I fell into the river the other day, I was fine.”
“Ah, same here! My mom caught a cold, and so did my dad and sister, but for some reason, I’m completely fine!”
While waiting in the lounge, I overheard these voices—and noticed three familiar rookie adventurers returning.
Topaz Rank, huh? That would mean they’re finally graduating from rookie status. That’s good news.
“Silent-san, please come to the reception desk.”
At the receptionist’s call, I headed to the counter. The rookie trio ended up lining up behind me.
“Thank you for waiting. This includes the payment for the investigation request, the security mission, and the follow-up resolution. In addition, here’s the reward for the recent subjugation mission, plus a bonus for serving as captain, as well as your share from the monster parts that have already been sold. Altogether, the total comes to 277 large gold coins.”
“Not bad. As for the monster part sales, weren’t those already distributed evenly to my team members?”
“Yes, of course. Each member has already received 15 large gold coins.”
“…And even after that, this much remains? Must have fetched a pretty good price.”
“Indeed. A trading company that specializes in overseas exports bought them for a high sum. Apparently, the wing membranes of rare dragon species are extremely valuable.”
Hmm… so it was the wing membranes in particular. Must be a special demand for them.
I received the familiar barrel-shaped trunk, stuffed with 277 large gold coins—equivalent to about 14 million yen.
“A-a-amazing… I’ve never seen so much money change hands before…”
“M-me neither…”
“Wow… what’s he going to do with it all…”
The rookie trio behind me reacted honestly, so I couldn’t resist teasing them a little.
“Heh, what do you think? Maybe I’m secretly plotting to overthrow the kingdom and stockpiling weapons.”
“Eek! I-I’m sorry!!”
“S-sorry for eavesdropping on your deal!”
“Forgive us…”
“Don’t worry, it was a joke.”
…Um, excuse me, Receptionist-san? Why do you look so pale while muttering ‘I knew it…!’ under your breath? That was just a Silent-style violence joke!
“Ah! Kash! Rikka! Grant! And for some reason, Silent too!”
At that moment, a cheerful voice came from the guild’s second floor—Melt, happily hurrying down.
Well, by now the higher-ups must have figured out that Melt and I know each other, since we’ve been on subjugation missions together.
Might as well make it public then—our connection.
“Ah, Melt! Why were you upstairs?”
“Hm, did they call you for something?”
“Um… are you two acquainted?”
“Yup, we are!”
Melt bounded down the stairs, smiling brightly as she came closer.
“Silent is Same’s friend, and a highly skilled adventurer who belongs to the same brigade! He’s even a Sapphire Rank!”
“No way!? Sapphire, the rank of a hero!?”
“R-Really!?”
“I see… then that would explain his earnings just now…”
Well, that’s fine. It’s probably better if people start knowing about me—otherwise tragedies like yesterday will just keep happening.
“I wouldn’t call myself a hero, but I’ve tried to contribute in my own way. Right, you knew Melt, didn’t you?”
“Yep! He taught me about how parties work and how quests are handled.”
“I see. So, Melt, since you came down from upstairs, does that mean you finished your promotion exam?”
“I finished the written part! There’s supposed to be a practical exam too, but I got an exemption!”
“Oh… well, that makes sense.”
“Apparently, a lot of people recommended me!”
Hmm… yeah, Melt really doesn’t need to take a test. She’s strong.
“So then, do you already have the results?”
Melt smirked smugly with a “hmph” and brushed past us toward the counter.
“Miss, miss! Please give me my new guild tag!”
“Fufu, here you go, Melt-chan. Congratulations—this makes you Ruby Rank. You’re officially among the first-class adventurers now.”
“Yay! Now I’m on the same level as Same!”
Oh, she passed!
“Well now, that’s worth celebrating. If Same were here, he’d probably treat you to a meal.”
“Silent could do it instead, you know?”
Melt’s eyes seemed to be saying, ‘Come on, celebrate with me!’
…Yeah, why not? Even if it’s not Same, a celebration’s still a celebration.
“Whoa! Melt, you’re already Ruby Rank!?”
“As expected… the prodigy who was recommended straight to Emerald Rank the moment she joined.”
“Oh yeah, that did happen… I tend to forget though.”
Right? Easy to forget, isn’t it.
“…This is perfect timing. I just came into a good amount of money. Melt, I’ll treat you to dinner—order whatever you want. And you three rookies, you come too. It’s a friend’s celebration, after all—no problem, right?”
“R-Really!?”
“Uh, umm… thank you for inviting us.”
“It’s a generous offer, but… are you sure?”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s just some quick cash. Let’s go somewhere with a wide menu—eat whatever you like.”
“Awesome! That’s Sapphire Rank for you—what a big heart!”
Once in a while, this kind of thing is good. I haven’t been to an adventurers’ den in ages anyway.
And besides… I already know the war will begin soon. That’s why I should at least enjoy myself while I can.
“Silent, thank you!”
“Yeah. I’m in the mood to splurge at a tavern again. Let’s eat plenty, Melt.”
“Uh-huh! Winter’s almost here, so it’s goodbye to fatty cuts of meat. Let’s eat lots today!”
Somewhere deep inside, I felt a gentle warmth.
That must’ve been Silent’s feelings.
And so, I spent the last calm moratorium before the war—quietly awaiting the declaration of war.