Chapter 31

Allen sat hunched in on himself, sweat trickling down his temples. Opposite him stood Lycian, posture rigid, glaring down at him with undisguised pressure.

The murderous aura rolling off him made my heart leap into my throat. I rushed over and wedged myself between them.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“…….”

“N-no, it’s just….”

Lycian stayed silent. The one who answered, fumbling over his words, was Allen. Looking at me with a deeply aggrieved expression, he spoke as if pleading his case.

“I was only talking about the guild I belong to….”

“…?”

A question mark practically popped over my head as I turned to Lycian. If it was about his guild, then maybe—

“Did you have some kind of bad blood with Allen’s guild?”

“…Haa.”

Lycian let out a long sigh and dragged a hand through his hair, pushing back his bangs.

His eyes, when he slowly opened them again, were calm and steady—but the savagery lurking underneath hadn’t faded in the slightest.

“No. It’s just… there’s someone in that guild I’d rather not run into.”

“…….”

So it was someone he had history with. Whoever that might be….

“L-Lycian? I swear, I wasn’t sent by the guild master! I know our guild leader has made a lot of enemies here and there, but I never dreamed you’d be one of them! I swear…!”

As Allen hastily blurted out his explanation, Lycian pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers, frowning like he had a headache.

“It’s not that we’re enemies.”

“Pardon? Then…?”

“It’s worse than that.”

“W-worse? Don’t tell me—are you creditor and debtor?! Did the guild master get into gambling again—?!”

“…No.”

Another sigh. Then Lycian shifted his gaze—not to Allen, but to me.

“We grew up together. A bad influence. I’d rather avoid him if I can.”

“Mm….”

A friend he didn’t get along with. I didn’t know the details, but if Lycian was reacting this strongly… he must really not want to see him.

‘And he’s not just a guild member—he’s the guild master.’

Getting a connection with Allen’s guild was going to be difficult….

In truth, I’d come up with a plan while cooking.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before my abilities became known. And just as Lycian feared, there was a good chance people would try to use me.

So before that happened, I needed to make the first move. Build allies on my own terms.

First, gather information—how large Allen’s guild was, what kind of capabilities they had….

‘If they seemed solid enough to have my back, I was thinking of reaching out.’

After all, the guild master was Lycian’s childhood friend. I had a feeling he had to be exceptionally capable.

But the plan fell apart before I could even attempt it. Not when Lycian was reacting like that.

Still. More important than making new allies was taking care of the ones I already had.

I couldn’t push forward with something Lycian clearly hated. Even so, I should at least ask his opinion.

I clasped his hand tightly and pulled him toward me, then turned to Allen.

“Allen, would you mind waiting a moment? I need to talk to Lycian for a bit.”

“O-of course! Yes, that’s fine! Please, don’t mind me!”

Allen, thoroughly flustered, kept bowing his head and wiping cold sweat from his brow.

I shot him an apologetic look before leading Lycian into the small room and closing the door.

About five minutes later.

After hearing out my plan, Lycian ran a hand over his mouth, his expression complicated.

“…I understand what you’re trying to do, Muriel. It’s actually a fairly solid plan.”

“Oh? Really?”

“The master of that guild—‘Veratis’—is a rare talent. The guild members under him are all high-ranking adventurers as well.”

The adventurer rankings were determined every January in a competition called the Arena.

Participation was open to anyone, but only one hundred advanced to the main tournament.

Out of the thousands of adventurers, only those hundred who passed the preliminaries earned the right to be ranked.

Naturally, the rankings ran from first to one hundredth, and the one who won the final match claimed first place.

“If the guild members are high-ranking adventurers, that means it’s a top-ranked guild, right? That’s incredible.”

“Well… yes. But that adventurer Allen—if I remember correctly, he isn’t ranked.”

If every other guild member was a ranked adventurer except him, it wasn’t strange that Allen might feel pressure.

I considered that for a moment, then asked again.

“And that friend of yours… the guild master. How strong is he? As strong as you?”

A faint sneer touched Lycian’s lips.

“As if. He doesn’t even come close to my toes.”

“…….”

It was an incredibly arrogant thing to say. And yet, coming from Lycian, it didn’t sound like bluster.

“A-anyway, if you don’t like it, I’ll just drop the plan. There should be other guilds worth cooperating with….”

As I trailed off awkwardly, Lycian let out a deep sigh and looked at me with troubled eyes.

“There’s no need to give it up. Don’t do that because of me. …Veratis is still better than some incompetent guild.”

“Really…?”

“Dante—the guild master of Veratis. He’s at least someone you can trust.”

Sensing a sliver of hope, I perked up. Seeing that, Lycian gave a small smile and continued.

“Let’s do it your way, Muriel. Don’t worry about me.”

When we came back out, Allen was pacing the living room anxiously.

The moment he spotted us, his shoulders jerked like a startled prey animal spotting a predator, his eyes darting around.

Just how badly had Lycian scared him…?

With an awkward smile, I walked over.

“Allen, please don’t be so tense. It’d be terrible if you choked while eating.”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

“…You’re hungry, right? Let’s eat.”

Patting the poor boy on the back, I led him to the kitchen-dining area.

The dishes on the table were still warm. I ladled some potato soup into a bowl and set it in front of him.

“Enjoy~”

“Thank you…!”

He must have been truly hungry. The moment he saw the soup, his eyes sparkled, and he immediately grabbed his spoon.

Smiling, I pulled out my chair and sat down. Lycian took the seat beside me, Allen across from us.

Perhaps because Lycian had reined in his killing intent, the atmosphere at the table wasn’t bad.

Allen devoured the dishes I’d made, showering them with praise the entire time.

“This soup is incredible! How did you prepare it? I’m fairly good at cooking myself, but I don’t know how to achieve this kind of flavor. Is there some secret?”

Or,

“The texture of these eggplants and potatoes is perfect…! Dishes like this require slicing the vegetables to just the right thickness and timing the cooking precisely. You must be highly skilled!”

Like this.

He reminded me of a friendly golden retriever puppy.

Meanwhile, above his head, affection indicators kept popping up without end.

The rabbit and Ninabel’s hearts were pink. Lycian’s was black. And Allen’s was blue.

The different colors probably meant… the type of feelings they held toward me varied.

‘Blue hearts usually mean… friendship?’

I couldn’t remember exactly, but I was pretty sure that was it.

I sneaked a glance at Lycian to check his.

Still the same….

Lycian’s affection toward me had been rising at random intervals lately, but the question marks never turned into numbers.

And the heart remained pitch-black.

“…….”

A chill ran down my spine, and I shivered. Lycian shot me a puzzled look. I pretended nothing was wrong and took another bite of food.

‘Come to think of it, what do Allen’s stats look like?’

Suddenly curious as I watched him happily spoon soup into his mouth, I discreetly summoned his status window.

I scanned through the information glowing on the bluish window with interest.

‘So he’s a healer!’

That explained why he said he played a support role. He possessed the rare divine power of healing—but the rank was low.

‘Healing deep wounds with that level of divine power would be difficult.’

No wonder he was searching for a skilled apothecary.

‘Emotional Support Totem for Troublemakers… what’s that supposed to mean?’

Surely not a literal totem. It had to be metaphorical….

By “troublemakers,” did it mean the adventurers of Veratis?

‘Now that I think about it, Allen did say….’

‘The people in our guild are pretty lacking in social skills….’

…A guild packed with ill-tempered rankers. And the only healer among them.

‘I’ve seen this cliché before…!’

The realization struck like lightning, and I nearly slammed my hand on the table. Thud!

“…?”

Maybe he felt my stare, because Allen tilted his head at me in confusion. I smiled as if it were nothing.

If my guess was right, Allen held far more influence in the Veratis guild than he realized.

‘Though he doesn’t seem aware of it himself.’