Nameless was fiddling with the bump on my head, pouting his lips.
“Huh?”
What on earth made him look like such an unfair victim?
Nameless, who was pulling a sulky expression without recalling his mistake, left me flabbergasted, so I poked him in the side.
“Ugh?!”
“Why the long face? Didn’t you mess up first?!”
“…Yes, that’s true.”
I felt a twinge of guilt about the bump on his head, but seeing Nameless reluctantly acknowledge it made my blood boil.
‘No way!’
Is there any disciple who boasts about their height to their master if they have nothing else to brag about?
And besides.
I’m pretty sure I only said nice things to Nameless as a good master, yet he not only ruined the warm atmosphere but also touched my sore spot.
‘I told you not to mention height…!’
Having already been short in my previous life, I’ve become even shorter as a woman.
Of course I wouldn’t like discussing my height.
I also pouted my lips like Nameless. No matter how I thought about it, this was all his fault.
After a while of both of us pouting and walking, an awkward silence settled, and Nameless seemed to think this wasn’t good. He cautiously stepped closer to me and tapped my shoulder.
‘I was going to ignore him for a while…’
But I’m supposed to be an adult, right?
He mustered up the courage to approach, and turning him away coldly wouldn’t be very mature of me.
I had already forgiven him.
Trying my best to appear benevolent, I faced Nameless who was tapping my shoulder.
“…What do you want?”
“Master, we’ll soon be leaving this village, so how about we decide on our next destination?”
“Hmm, the next destination…”
Wait, was he not trying to break the awkward silence but rather just bringing up business?
I turned my head away from Nameless to hide my reddening cheeks, having misunderstood for no good reason.
But still, the destination is definitely important.
The world beyond the mountain where Nameless and I lived together must be much larger, full of new sights.
And once we choose our destination, we could gather information about the area, like spotting particularly beautiful tourist spots or local specialties, right?
My mouth watered.
Even though my body technically shouldn’t be able to eat, thanks to Nameless constantly cooking delicious food, I developed a new hobby.
‘Food is important.’
I nodded vigorously.
“So are we getting a map now?”
“Master, how about we visit the Adventurer’s Guild first?”
“Guild?”
If it’s the adventurer’s guild I know, they’re basically like mercenaries who take on requests, but why does he want to go there?
Wondering about Nameless’s intentions, as I tilted my head, he immediately grabbed my wrist and turned to walk away.
We were in the middle of a busy street, so there were a lot of people around.
Of course, they weren’t paying much attention to us, but to say they weren’t interested at all would be a lie.
It probably had something to do with our unusual clothing, but unlike everyone else, I looked completely East Asian. I must have seemed quite fascinating to them.
Anyway, in the midst of this not-so-inconsiderable attention, Nameless was pulling me along.
‘Hmm, isn’t he embarrassed at all?’
A grown man holding his master’s hand like a child while walking down the street…
I wouldn’t even have dared to attempt that.
I wasn’t particularly fond of the situation, but I couldn’t help but smile a little.
“…Why are you smiling like that?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Really, nothing at all.
‘He’s still a kid.’
Just seeing him rely on me without caring about the people’s gazes was kind of cute, so I smiled.
Nameless and I headed to the Adventurer’s Guild to decide on our next destination.
It was definitely more eye-catching than I had imagined.
Unlike Nameless and me, the people had hair in all sorts of vibrant colors, and it was refreshing to see muscular men and women in robes, each holding various weapons gathered in one place.
However, setting aside the freshness, I couldn’t think of a valid reason why Nameless specifically wanted to come here.
If I had to think about it, it might be to take on requests, but knowing my personality, Nameless wouldn’t want to take requests either.
Still holding my wrist, Nameless moved toward a corner of the guild.
“Hmm, is it possible to get helpful information in a place like this?”
“Yes, Master, you’ll find out soon.”
As I was led to where he was going, I came across a bulletin board.
The board had tightly glued fresh papers mixed with well-worn ones, but each of those papers shared one common theme.
“…Request forms?”
It looked like they documented tasks to request along with their corresponding rewards at the bottom. The more detailed ones showed the required personnel and the requested rank, so it definitely looked like request forms.
‘Well, this is a place for adventurers to gather, so it makes sense.’
It was only natural for them to be here.
But was Nameless really planning to take a request?
I looked at him with a puzzled expression, and he let go of my wrist, pulling out one of the request forms and holding it up in front of my face to read easily.
“Yes, the request forms posted at the Adventurer’s Guild are not only for this town but also nationwide.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Yes, just like the one you’re looking at now.”
I looked more closely at the request form.
[Request Details: The orcs near North Ellen are about to go into heat, so we urge you to eliminate them.]
[Reward: 2 silver per orc]
[Requester: Rian Lionheart]
There’s a lion stamp next to the requester’s name.
My eyebrows furrowed as I read the request form.
‘Orcs going into heat, huh?’
Did I imagine things for no good reason? I felt my body tremble.
“Eww… now that I see this, I definitely don’t want to go to the north.”
“Yes, while looking at a map can help find locations, if we only look at a map, there’s no way we would know what’s happening there, right?”
“Indeed…”
Now I understood why Nameless suggested coming to the Adventurer’s Guild.
Orcs and goblins, and such, were just… biologically unpleasant to look at.
Nameless took the request form back and stuck it back to the wall.
“Hmm, so we’re just going to avoid all the unpleasant places?”
But we can’t just refuse to go somewhere just because we dislike it.
Sure, being in a safe location is good for our travel goals, but if we search for the fundamental reasons as to why Nameless and I decided to travel, it’s for training.
A safe place would be great for tourism, but some level of adversity is necessary for training.
With that thought in mind, I looked up at Nameless, and he slowly shook his head.
“At least, let’s avoid such unpleasant places.”
‘Sure.’
Even if adversity is necessary, feeling weird about going to a place infested with orcs in heat is still pretty off.
I nodded and went to sit on the nearest empty chair.
“Well then, find a place you like.”
“Yes?”
“Huh? What did you say? Am I getting old? My hearing isn’t what it used to be lately.”
“…I understand.”
Ignoring Nameless’s frown, I placed my bag on the ground, pulled out a strawberry, and took a bite.
‘You should find it when I tell you to.’
I still remember exactly what Nameless said to me.
“Do the chores yourself and behave shamelessly.”
A master who listens to and remembers his disciple’s words—Nameless is truly a fortunate disciple.
I smiled proudly to myself.
Before long, Nameless came back with his lips still puckered.
From his expression, he seemed a bit dissatisfied, but I didn’t really care.
“Did you find a decent place?”
“What did you do? Did you enjoy the strawberry first before speaking?”
gulp
“Did you find a good place?”
“…Yes.”
I threw my bag at Nameless, who was still pouting and wearing an ominous expression.
“Then let’s go.”
“…?”
“What are you doing?”
“…Nothing. But aren’t you curious about where the destination is?”
I stopped exiting the guild and turned back to Nameless with a puzzled expression.
It’s not that I thought it was odd; I just genuinely wondered why he wasn’t asking about it.
I smiled and opened my mouth.
“Did you choose a weird place or something?”
“No, not at all.”
“Well then, it’s fine! You’re my disciple, so you must’ve done well.”
I patted his shoulder meaningfully to show my trust.
“And isn’t not knowing where the destination is part of the fun?”
Upon hearing my words, Nameless blankly blinked for a moment before smiling back at me.
“Yes.”
“Well then, let’s go!”
Excited that a destination was decided, I walked down the street with my arms wide open.
“Master, you’re going to fall.”
“Do I look that clumsy…?”
“…”
“Nameless? Aren’t you going to answer?”
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