Chapter 22
"You expect me to believe that?"
The village chief's reaction was poor from the start.
Erika's explanation was concise and clear, but that's exactly why it wasn't good.
It's unreasonable to expect someone to believe that Rank 1 adventurers, forgetting to hold back a little, turned over a hundred Bonbo into ashes.
Because it was explained so clearly and concisely, it sounded even more absurd.
On top of that, Erika's outfit was also a problem.
Her attire was completely ordinary.
Normally, you wouldn't see an adventurer in a skirt without any armor.
Though it's unusual, since we planned to get proper adventurer gear later, she chose a plain outfit with minimal decoration from the clothes she had brought.
In other words, she looked mismatched—dressed in plain but well-made clothes that a young lady from a good family might wear, with a sword belt and a sword hanging from it.
Knowing her strength, I'm confident there's no issue with this.
But to someone who doesn't know her, she just looks like a reckless town girl gone astray.
By the way, you can guess from the fact that when I first met Erika, I was mistaken for her bodyguard.
"As someone responsible for this village, I can't possibly believe that Rank 1 adventurers completely incinerated a horde of Bonbo without a trace."
The village chief, with his sun-tanned, square face, said this with a troubled expression.
"Well, that's to be expected."
Half-expecting this reaction, my words came out lightly.
It's unforgivable that someone can't see Erika's true strength, but as the village's leader, his words are only natural.
"But Shin, if this continues, we'll be imposing an unnecessary burden on the villagers."
She didn't say out loud that it was her fault.
She probably thought that saying it would only raise more suspicion since they didn't believe us anyway.
"Whether they believe us or not is the responsibility of the person in charge, not ours."
Isn't that right?
I asked the village chief with just a glance.
The village chief ignored my question, but his eyes, full of a strong sense of responsibility, told me his answer.
"However..."
murmured another person with equally responsible eyes, lost in thought.
"But isn't it our job to properly convince the person in charge?"
That's what I think, she seemed to ask with her gaze, though I could tell right away she had no intention of changing her mind no matter what I said.
There's no way that Erika would overlook someone suffering a loss because of her mistake.
As I nodded, thinking, yeah, this is so Erika, the village chief spoke with an exasperated tone.
"No matter what you say, I have no intention of changing my judgment."
"Please don't worry."
Erika smiled.
"I may be an adventurer, but I'll handle persuasion in our own way."
With eyes shining with a strong light—eyes that some might even call insolent, the same eyes that once scattered countless noble suitors trying to approach the Priestess of Light—Erika said this.
*
There's no such thing as an adventurer's way that Erika mentioned.
She said it with so much confidence that even I almost believed there was such a thing.
Naturally, the village chief simply believed it, thinking there must be such a thing.
It probably helped that believing it wouldn't cause any harm.
"It's cramped."
"Yes, it's cramped, isn't it?"
Erika dutifully responded to my muttering.
We were in a rundown shack at the edge of the village.
You could call it a tool shed.
After that, Erika negotiated with the village chief.
She asked if we could stay in the village for a few days until they felt reassured.
I thought they might not take kindly to outsiders staying in the village.
But since this village is a satellite to a larger town, they seemed accustomed to outsiders, and as it caused no particular harm to the village, the request was accepted.
This rundown shack was the place Erika negotiated for us to stay in for a few days.
Well, in a farming village, there's no spare empty house or inn lying around, so we should be grateful that the floor is made of boards instead of dirt.
We patrolled the village's surroundings until evening, partly to get a sense of the terrain, and that night, we slept on blankets lent to us by the village chief's kindness, spread out on the floor.
I wondered if it was strange not to feel nervous sleeping in the same room as someone I liked.
Though I questioned myself for getting so used to it after sleeping in the same room during our recent travels.
As I thought about what to do for the plans starting tomorrow, Erika called out to me from the darkness.
"I apologize, Shin."
Because it was dark, the closeness of her voice startled me.
"For what?"
I tried to ask calmly, making an effort not to let her notice my surprise.
Somehow, I had a feeling Erika was about to say something in the darkness, so though her sudden apology caught me off guard, I found it oddly amusing that we both assumed the other wasn't asleep.
"Because of my selfishness, I'm causing inconvenience to you as well."
"Well... yeah, that's true."
For a moment, I thought about denying it, but facts are facts.
I wondered if saying kind words here would make me a popular guy, but my adventurer self got in the way.
Perhaps sensing my momentary hesitation, I felt like Erika gave a wry smile.
"But I don't dislike it."
I pushed tomorrow's plans to the back of my mind for now and said this.
"I don't dislike that strong sense of responsibility."
I felt a bit pathetic for chickening out and saying I don't dislike it instead of saying I like it.
Maybe to cover up that pathetic feeling, something suddenly came to mind.
"Besides, I'm used to this kind of thing because of my junior disciple."
In fact, compared to the level of trouble she causes, this is nothing.
My junior disciple Elsa is honestly a handful, so the trouble she causes is also a handful.
"Skewering Elsa, was it? I'd like to hear more about her."
I couldn't help but let out a chuckle at Erika's casual remark.
"Are you mocking me?"
Her mock anger felt pleasant.
"I just think ignorance is bliss."
Even in the darkness, I could tell Erika was smiling.
"Now I want to know even more."
Sometime soon.
With that promise, I fell asleep.