My Name Is Albrecht Part 7

By killing the merchant, I became able to harm living beings. Still, when it came to attacking, it was more reliable to leave that role to Gonz.

I fought defensively and manipulated the situation so that Gonz could fight one on one as much as possible. It was a style that naturally took shape after we fought together many times.

Once our battles became stable, we were able to earn money without constantly feeling danger. At that point, I began to feel tired of wandering from town to town.

I sought stability.

I wanted to set up a base in some town and live with my feet firmly planted on the ground. Every time we moved towns, we had to put in effort to secure our safety.

Each town had its own rules. There were authorities you could not oppose. There were power balances among those who lived in the shadows. We had to untangle this complex web of information, devise countermeasures, and ensure our safety.

Then I had to make sure Gonz, who lacked understanding, fully grasped those countermeasures. Every time we moved towns, that work had to be done all over again.

It required a tremendous amount of effort.

By establishing a solid base, expanding our connections, and building an information network, we could minimize the risk of dying outside of assigned jobs.

Among adventurers in the Minor States, the cause of death was overwhelmingly more often being killed by other people than failing subjugation quests. Gonz in particular was good at making enemies.

I wanted to create an environment where we could respond even if someone tried to kill Gonz.

I told Gonz that I wanted to settle down somewhere and establish a base. He seemed tired of wandering as well and agreed without hesitation.

Out of several candidates, we chose the fortress city of Rock Cliff.

Rock Cliff was quite stable. Because it was ruled by a newly risen noble house that had rapidly expanded its power, there were few nobles within the territory.

The underworld factions were unified, and sudden trouble caused by power struggles did not occur. For these reasons, I judged it to be relatively safe.

It was called a fortress city because of the walls that symbolized the town, but in reality it was a trading city, with money and people flowing in from the surrounding areas.

The monsters nearby were not very dangerous, and the jobs could be handled relatively safely. The conditions were ideal for an adventurer to settle down.

One year passed after Gonz and I moved to Rock Cliff. At first, it was hard dealing with fights against other adventurers who clashed with Gonz or those who attacked us for money.

However, Gonz killed every hostile party.

In Rock Cliff, almost no one openly picked a fight with Gonz. Occasionally, adventurers who drifted in from elsewhere would pick a fight without knowing who he was.

Those adventurers were quickly turned into corpses.

After moving to this town, I focused on building connections and establishing an intelligence network. I seduced the daughter of the vice captain of the guard and had her leak investigation information to me.

I passed that information to the organization that controlled the slums and built connections with them.

Using the knowledge I had gained as a bureaucrat, I taught them legal loopholes, borderline legal methods of trade, and efficient ways to extort people.

Once a certain level of trust had been established, they began asking me for advice on efficient organizational management and effective control of the trading houses under their influence.

Getting too deeply involved carried the risk of being eliminated, so I kept a measured distance and offered appropriate advice using my experience from the Ministry of Commerce.

I succeeded in demonstrating my value to the slum organization. After that, I maintained a good relationship with them.

I kept my distance from the nobles. Fellow adventurers did not oppose Gonz, and I maintained a reasonable relationship with the underworld as well.

Interpersonal troubles decreased, and I was able to earn money steadily as an adventurer. It could not compare to my time as a bureaucrat, but compared to ordinary commoners, I had obtained a wealthy and stable life.

My position was stable, but as an adventurer, there was a decisive weakness.

Because we lacked scouting skills and long range attacks, the jobs we could accept were limited. Our efficiency was poor. We needed new party members.

However, skilled and trustworthy people were already members of other parties. In the end, time passed without us being able to recruit anyone new.

One day, a man arrived in Rock Cliff. Wearing a bow on his back, he was a rugged and taciturn man who took jobs alone and returned with neatly finished prey.

The man gained a reputation as a master, and various parties began trying to recruit him.

He joined parties a few times, but his extreme quietness unsettled people, and there were disputes over rewards.

After that, he only joined when asked for help and otherwise hunted alone. He became an adventurer without a fixed party.

In the Minor States, adventurers usually valued fixed parties to prevent betrayal, so he stood out as an unusual presence.

I carefully gathered information about him and confirmed that there were no bad rumors. After that, I proposed to Gonz that we invite him to join us temporarily.

After completing several jobs together, we formally invited him into the party.

He said scouting was not his strong suit, but compared to Gonz and me, who were complete amateurs, his tracking skills were excellent.

And his skill with the bow was overwhelming.

Even with archery skills, targets move, wind affects shots, and each arrow has its own quirks. Yet Kimon boasted extremely high accuracy under any conditions.

With the addition of Kimon, an excellent hunter, our party became even more stable. After completing jobs smoothly, we decided to aim higher.

To break through the level barrier, we began saving money to buy black steel equipment. However, things did not go well.

There were clients who falsified job conditions. Ruthless and shrewd merchants of the Minor States. We were burned many times, and at one point we nearly fell into debt slavery.

Gradually, Gonz lost motivation and began drowning himself in alcohol. Kimon became infatuated with prostitutes of questionable taste and started avoiding risky work.

I too slowly rotted away amid our stable days. One completed job was enough to let us live leisurely for a week.

Work a little, drink, sleep with women. Take only the minimum number of jobs to keep our skills from dulling, get paid, and drink again.

The mind I had honed as a bureaucrat was used to help the slum organization make money. In return, I received a portion of their profits.

If things continued like this, I would slowly rot away. Gonz’ combat ability would decline, and he would be killed by someone. Having lost our deterrent, I would likely be killed as well.

Even so, I thought that was fine. A daily life of gradual decay. Living decadently while being slowly scorched by a creeping sense of anxiety.

Poisoned by the sweet toxin of everyday life, I believed I would continue living decadently until the end that would one day come.

Then one day, a man appeared before me.

A distinctive flat face. A short stature unsuited for becoming an adventurer. A barbarian from a remote region who did not even know common knowledge that everyone else took for granted.

The man’s name was Yajin. He brought change to my monotonous days and blew away the sweet toxin in which I had been immersed.

The barbarian who entered the Adventurers’ Guild glanced around restlessly, then frowned.

Perhaps Gonz did not like that expression, because the man was immediately harassed by him, who was already in a bad mood.

If he was lucky, he would only have his money taken. If he was unlucky, an axe would be smashed into his head. Either way, he was out of luck.

Thinking that, I lost interest in the short barbarian who had walked into the guild.

Then something unexpected happened. The short barbarian praised Gonz lavishly, instantly improving his mood and slipping straight into his good graces.

I was astonished. Many adventurers had tried to flatter Gonz before, but those lacking even a shred of intelligence could only say simple praises like “amazing” or “as expected.” They quickly irritated Gonz and had their heads split open with an axe.

This barbarian, however, spoke like a merchant selling jewels to a noble lady, skillfully soothing Gonz’ temper. I could sense real intelligence in his words.

The barbarian introduced himself as Yajin and said he would treat us to drinks. He was a man who exuded an intelligence unimaginable for an adventurer.

I was slightly wary, but if he were meant to be used in some scheme, his appearance was far too conspicuous. Despite his looks, he might have been a former merchant.

I decided to talk with the man calling himself Yajin and gather information.

As we talked, he brazenly asked to join our party. He was far too short to be an adventurer. Gonz also looked displeased.

Then Yajin claimed that he possessed stealth type skills.

Scouting skills were held only by a handful of elite individuals among those trained as military scouts, or by well known scouts from the labyrinthine city.

They were difficult to acquire and served as a benchmark separating first class scouts from the rest.

There was no way the short barbarian standing before me possessed stealth type skills that only top tier scouts could obtain.

I thought it was a waste of time. His lie would be exposed, and he would be killed by Gonz anyway. In fact, he did not even understand the value of currency, let alone have the tools needed for monster hunting.

Even while thinking it was a waste of time, I helped him prepare.

When I went adventuring with him, I was shocked by the level of his scouting skills. I had never imagined disguising body odor with the scent of herbs growing in the forest.

He truly seemed to possess stealth type skills and could even sense the number of monsters inside a cave.

We decided to let him join the party as a scout for the time being and observe him. He might turn out to be a valuable find.

After some time working with Yajin, we were attacked by a pack of gray wolves, including higher tier individuals. For a moment, I resigned myself to death, but we somehow survived thanks to Yajin’s unexpected performance, despite believing his combat ability to be low.

Using only a crude skinning knife and his bare hands, he single handedly killed half of the pack, including the higher tier wolves. Contrary to his appearance, his combat ability was also high.

People of short stature tend to have lower base values for strength and toughness. However, that is only a tendency. There are short people with high base values.

How many times did he intend to surprise me? He was undoubtedly a remarkable find. We formally welcomed him into the party.

The gray wolf leader that Yajin killed with his bare hands had no unnecessary damage to its pelt and sold for a good price. On top of that, we obtained natural magic stones.

With a large sum of money in hand and with Gonz injured, we decided to take a long break. Even during that time, Yajin was diligent.

He spent money on food but drank alcohol only minimally out of social obligation. Every day, he accepted gathering requests that did not even pay well and went into the forest.

He was probably making sure his senses as a scout did not dull.

In the Megad Empire, diligence was valued. The sensibilities I had cultivated during my many years living in the Megad Empire made me view him favorably. After returning from the forest, Yajin often sought out conversations with me.

He bowed his head and asked me to teach him, saying there were far too many things he did not know.

Gonz and Kimon were not suited for intellectual work. Thinking that my burden would be reduced if Yajin became reasonably capable, I taught him various bits of knowledge over drinks.

He absorbed knowledge like dry sand soaking up water. Each time, he thanked me, saying, “Thank you for this valuable knowledge,” and bowed his head.

This might have been the first time I had met an adventurer who understood the value of knowledge. My fondness for Yajin grew even stronger.

Conversations with Yajin were refreshing, and I never felt bored. At first I was shocked by how little common knowledge he had, and then I was shocked by his level of comprehension.

Adventurers in the Minor States were terrifyingly poor at understanding. Even after repeated explanations, it was good if they grasped half of it.

Yajin, however, understood after a single explanation. He immediately asked about anything he found unclear, listened to the answer, and understood.

These were actions that should be natural for a person, yet among the adventurers of the Minor States, Yajin was the only one I had ever known who could do them.

Talking with him put me at ease. Until now, I had always been surrounded by people who understood quickly when spoken to. These were bureaucrats, merchants, and nobles.

They were educated people with the ability to think. Adventurers, on the other hand, lacked long term perspective, did not think deeply, and could not understand what others said.

It felt as though I had been thrown into a horde of goblins. I trusted Gonz and Kimon as comrades, but they were different from me.

Somewhere along the way, I had drawn a line.

From my perspective, the people around me were abnormal, but if everyone around me was like that, then perhaps I was the abnormal one.

I constantly felt a sense of alienation. I was always alone.

However, thanks to Yajin joining the party, I could finally enjoy conversations with someone on the same level.

He brought positive change to our party and saved me from my loneliness. Any prejudice I had felt toward his appearance had completely vanished.

Though not much time had passed since we met, he was our companion.

That Yajin then brought us an outrageous proposal. He suggested that we break through the level wall. He presented it not as a fantasy, but as a feasible plan.

We regained our former passion and desperately completed quests. After making thorough preparations, we challenged a rank four monster.

Things went well at first. However, the Rock Lizard suddenly acted in an unexpected way, catching us off guard and placing me in danger.

At that moment, Yajin hurled a metal rod and pierced the Rock Lizard’s eye. Then, to cover me as I lost my footing, he charged the rock lizard with his bare hands.

When I saw that, I trembled. Fighting a stronger monster bare handed for the sake of a companion. It was magnificent courage.

My chest burned at Yajin’s actions, like those of the protagonist of a heroic tale.

Afterward, we joined forces and defeated the Rock Lizard, breaking through the level wall. We erupted in joy.

The simple grilled meat dish Yajin made using Rock Lizard meat was so delicious that even I, who had experienced countless gourmet foods as a bureaucrat, was astonished.

We returned triumphantly to town and plunged into a grand feast that drew in everyone around us. It was a joyful, truly joyful time. Yes, a very joyful time.

“Hey, Al, wake up!”

It seemed I had been dozing off.

“Ah, sorry, Gonz. Looks like I fell asleep.”

“We’re almost at the border. I don’t think anything’ll happen, but we still gotta be careful.”

“I see. So we’ll be able to leave the country soon.”

“Seriously, falling asleep in a situation like this, Al, you’ve got some nerve.”

“Not as much as Yajin, who punched a noble flat.”

“You’ve got that right. Hahaha.”

I could hear the carriage rattling as it bounced over the uneven cobblestones. It seemed we would be able to escape the country safely.

As the carriage swayed, I reflected on the journey from Rock Cliff to here.