Chapter Thirteen
Forever & Ever
We made it back to the guild where Stella was ready to wave us over to her line with a bright smile.
“Se-seriously?” Stella asked after we handed over everything for the quests. “You completed all these quests in one day?”
“Yep,” I answered. “The hunting ones were easy, but… Rosie here can be thanked for the wood.”
Rosie’s smug smile came back.
“Woah, you guys are more efficient than the pros,” Stella said. “That’s crazy. Let me go ahead and get everything marked as complete, and then if you’ll take a seat to wait a few minutes, I’d super appreciate that. I won’t be the only one, either.” Stella winked at me.
I wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but I had no problem waiting.
So, we sat down at a table and waited.
The quests all popped up as completed after a few minutes, and the money from them was automatically split up and added to our inventories. We each made around sixty silver and still had all the excess materials to sell plus the reward we’d get from Tabitha. All in all, a pretty good haul.
I looked over at Stella to see if she needed us to do anything, but she held a finger up to tell us to wait another minute. I assumed that was what she meant, anyways.
Then about five minutes later, a young girl came with brown hair tied up in a ponytail with green eyes came running into the guild, panting and out of breath, rushing straight up to Stella. “My—my mom’s sword! Is it here?!”
Ah.
That was why Stella wanted us to wait.
Stella responded in a normal, indoor voice unlike the girl, so I couldn’t hear what was said, but I did see Stella hand the sword over before pointing at our table.
The girl looked shocked to see me, looked at Stella to confirm who nodded in reply, and then took a deep breath before coming over to us.
All of us thought the sight of her nervously approaching was pretty endearing.
Once the girl reached us, she stuttered out, “Th-th-tha-thank—thank you! For—for finding my mom’s sword!”
Rosie smacked my back and said, “This guy couldn’t resist accepting the quest as soon as he saw it.”
Lupa nodded to confirm. “Mm. Thank him.”
The girl was struggling to actually look at me, so maybe that was why the others told her that.
Still, the girl was younger than I thought. She looked like she couldn’t have been past her teens. Were girls that young really going into the dungeons? I mean, I could absolutely respect the commitment to adventuring at such a young age, but still.
“Th… th—thank you,” the girl said, red as a tomato as she tried her best to make eye contact with me. “I… never thought a guy would… do something like that.”
“It’s no big deal,” I said, placing my hand on top of her head while showing her a big smile. “Us adventurers have to look out for each other, right?”
The girl simply stared at me with wide eyes after that.
I might have made a mistake.
That was why I took my hand off her head and cleared my throat.
Halflings were one thing. Girls younger than Rosie were an entirely different issue and I had zero interest whatsoever in giving anyone fuel to accuse me with.
I needed to be a good role model to them, not accidentally give them the wrong signs.
“You were brave to make it all the way to the boss,” I said. “Don’t feel ashamed that you retreated, alright? If you don’t think you can win, there’s no shame in escaping to come back another day.”
The girl looked away after hearing that. “But… I’ll never become a real adventurer like my mom was if I run away. And I don’t want to risk losing her sword again… this is all I have left of her.”
Ah.
It was that kind of story.
She started to tear up, so I placed my hand back on her head to pat her a little just to comfort her. “I’m sure she’s proud of you, and even happier that you’re still alive,” I said. “Tell me, do you want to be an adventurer?”
“I—I do!” The girl, who was tearing up and too nervous to look at me just a moment ago, confidently looked into my eyes. “I want to be one!”
“Then here.” I opened a trade with her.
“This—wh—I—I can’t accept this!”
“I’ll toss that sword back to the boss if you don’t accept it.”
With a gulp, the girl accepted the trade. “Th-thank you…”
It was only fifty silver. One day’s work.
Really, not even a full day’s work since that was from just a few quests in one of the two dungeons for the day, and I still had more money coming in from Tabitha.
“Take that to buy yourself some new gear, potions, and to get a new weapon. I know you might want to use your mom’s sword, but get yourself something that you won’t worry about losing.
Something cheap and replaceable. Actually… what’s your favorite weapon type?”
“U-umm… I—I don’t know. I’ve been using my mom’s sword since it’s all I’ve had, but…”
“You haven’t made enough money from the dungeons to buy something else?”
“I… my—my money… goes to my little sisters… I need to buy them food, so…”
Ah.
It was that kind of story.
I clapped my hands together, stood up, and said, “Alright! Let’s go out to eat. I know a place you and your sisters will love.”
The girl started looking around in confusion. “E-eh? But—what—"
“It’s the duty of adults to make sure kids don’t go hungry.”
“But you’re not—I’m not…”
“Your parent?”
The girl nodded.
“Where I’m from, we have this saying, ‘it takes a village.’ Us adults have to work together to take care of kids, even if they’re not ours.
No kid deserves to go hungry.” It was time to take advantage of my growing celebrity status from…
being a man. “I’ve got no respect for adults who see kids suffer without stepping in to help.
” Just as I figured, most of the girls standing around watching looked away when they heard that.
Hopefully, that encouraged at least a couple of them to help out in the future.
The girl couldn’t hold back her tears any longer.
She tossed her arms around me for a tight hug as she sobbed against my abdomen.
I wasn’t completely sure what the right thing to do was, but I did know what I could do to make her feel better if she was anything like I was back then.
“It’s alright,” I told her, stroking my fingers through the hair on the back of her head while resting my other hand on her shoulder. “Me and my friends here will get you and your sisters fed.”
The girl nodded against me before letting go. “S-sorry. I didn’t… mean to get my tears on you.”
I reached down and wiped the back of my finger under her eyes to wipe away the remaining tears.
“That’s alright. It’s better that you don’t hold your tears in.
If you want to cry, cry. Adventurers have to be brave, and it takes a lot of courage to be honest with your emotions.
But at the same time, it’s an adult’s responsibility to make it so kids have nothing to cry about. Close your eyes, alright?”
The girl sniffled, nodded, and closed her eyes.
I went into my inventory. “Here, open your hands.” She opened her hands and, once she did, I said, “You can open your eyes.”
She opened her eyes and looked at what I gave her.
If I thought she looked shocked before when she found out I helped her and then I gave her the money, that was nothing compared to how she looked now. “This—this is—isn’t this a legendary?! And—and—and—with a really low drop rate?!”
Everyone in the guild was paying attention at that point. “You’ve got a good eye,” I said.
“I can’t accept this! This is—”
“You want me to toss your mom’s sword back into the dungeon?”
She hugged the plushie to her chest while shaking her head.
“Then keep this plushie. Whenever you feel like crying and you don’t have anyone to wipe your tears, you can count on this little guy.”
“H-how… how am I supposed to repay you?”
“By not. Kids don’t owe anything to adults. Actually, scratch that. If you want to repay me, take care of this plushie for me, alright?”
“I—I will! I promise! I’ll cherish it for the rest of my life…”
“That’s all I can ask for in return. Alright, let’s go grab your sisters and go out for dinner! I got enough spare meat from those hogs in there that we can order the extra good stuff for all of you.”
“Your—your name. Umm, what’s… your name?”
“Ah, right. Sorry, I should have introduced myself sooner. I’m Sev.
And the two super cute girls with me are Rosie and Lupa.
” Rosie and Lupa waved after I introduced them.
It was the first time I looked back at them since talking to this girl, and…
I wasn’t sure how to describe their expressions. Soft? Proud? I wasn’t sure.
“Sev… Sev,” the girl repeated to herself with a smile. “I’m—I’m Elma!”
“It’s nice to meet you, Elma.”
Following a pleased giggle, she reached one hand out to me while her other hand kept the plushie held to her chest. “I—I can take you to my sisters. If—if you’re sure about this…”
“Of course I am.” I took Elma’s hand. Mine dwarfed hers by comparison, but she still tightly gripped onto it, refusing to let go.
“Alright, we live close by, so let’s—let’s go.”
“Lead the way.”
While Elma was quick to drag me toward the exit, I looked back to wave to Stella with my free hand. She had the same, mysterious expression that Rosie and Lupa had, but she did wave back.
Elma took me and the others to her home.
Fortunately, it looked like a pretty nice house.
It was intact, clean, and not in a shady neighborhood or anything.
However… there were five kids inside. All girls, of course, since that was the way the world worked.
Even if there were ten kids, the chance of one being a boy was slim.
They were all amazed to meet me.
They were even more amazed when Elma explained to them that I was taking them out to dinner.
And, of course, where better to take them than Fredericka’s?
Fredericka was overjoyed to have so many kids in her restaurant at once. And once she found out what the situation was, she refused to let me pay a single copper.