Dining with the Hero

Proposing to Rokuko? Forget sending him home alive, he'd be heading straight for execution the moment he got back. Well, it's not like it'd be my problem, but it would weigh on my conscience to abandon a fellow countryman. My feel-good-doing-good-deeds campaign is still going after all.

"… So, what do you think I should do, Kehma?"

"For now, tell me exactly how he said it."

"Eh? Hmm, um, it was 'please be my partner'."

Rokuko's cheeks were red and she was fidgeting bashfully, but… is that really a proposal?

"Partner" can mean a lot of things. Sure, a male-female partnership can imply a romantic relationship, but it can also mean partners in the sense of what me and Rokuko are.

I often call Rokuko my "partner" too, after all.

… Ah, there's a possibility that Translation-san swapped it for something outrageous, isn't there…

"Hey Rokuko, I want to ask you something. About 'partner'—"

"Yeah, well I refused on the spot though! Since I have Kehma, I don't need another partner."

"O-oh. Then isn't the problem solved?"

"Hold on! Um, well. The thing is, he's being really persistent. He said he wants to talk and invited me to have a meal together. You come too, Kehma."

A request from S-Rank adventurer-sama, huh… Can't she just turn him down normally?

No, but if we have to talk with him at some point regardless, doing it over a meal might be a good opportunity.

And letting Rokuko handle the conversation alone… yeah, I can only see that ending badly. There's even a chance she's already messed up somehow. How did she even get asked to be his partner in the first place?

"So I think I need to properly show off that I already have a partner named Kehma."

"Huh? Is… that so?"

"Hey, get it together. You're my partner, Kehma."

"Right, right, we're partners. Yeah."

Crap. There's no way to ask what "partner" means in this flow.

… Let's just pretend I didn't notice this problem. Kicking the can down the road. How very Japanese of me.

Ah, maybe I could just ask the hero directly?

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

In the end, I decided to talk directly with the hero. The invitation to have a meal together played a part in that.

The venue was the suite. Right now, Kinue-san was setting out the A-Rank meal, the [Avarice Set], a.k.a. the kid's meal.

And I was seated in front of the hero as the mysterious earth mage adventurer, Narikin the Masked. Rokuko was beside me.

Incidentally, today's mask also hides my hair color, so it's more of a full-face helmet than a mask. The area around the mouth can pop off for eating. It'll be useful for hiding my hair color going forward too, so I'll stick with this.

"Pleased to meet you, Hero-dono. I am Narikin. Rokuko's partner. It is my honor to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Wataru Nishimi… Um, Narikin-san. Rokuko-san. I'm terribly sorry for inviting you myself, but I can't focus on conversation with this meal in front of me. My apologies."

I figured we'd talk while eating, but thought the kid's meal might make things a bit anticlimactic. Turns out the hero had other concerns entirely. He'd been staring fixedly at the kid's meal and cream soda ever since they were served.

Was serving a kid's meal to the hero a bad idea after all? The hero would know how much a kid's meal costs in Japan, and I still think five gold coins for one is a total rip-off.

Then the hero silently and single-mindedly ate the kid's meal. With a completely straight face the entire time.

… A full-grown adult silently eating a kid's meal. The atmosphere was pretty heavy.

Rokuko and I couldn't bring ourselves to say anything either, swept up in the mood. Or rather, when we tried to speak to him, he just said "I'm eating right now" and flashed a hint of killing intent that nearly made me wet myself.

Was he angry about the high price after all? I thought so, but apparently that wasn't it.

"—Thank you for the meal."

Hero Wataru, who had drunk every last drop of cream soda and eaten every last grain of rice, was shedding tears.

"I'm sorry, it brought back memories of my hometown… the hometown I can never return to."

Three years. Haku-san had mentioned that it had been three years since this hero was summoned.

Three years. The same amount of time from enrolling in high school to graduating. In that much time, a lot must have happened. I don't know the details, but from how he looked now, it wasn't hard to imagine he'd gone through some harrowing experiences compared to life in Japan.

"You can never return, you say?"

"Yes. My hometown is in another world, so there's no means to return. I'm searching for one, but… even if I found a way, I probably couldn't go back. Since coming to this world, I've killed people with these hands. In my hometown, that's the gravest sin."

I see, so he's killed people since coming to this world. That's why he can't return to Japan, huh.

Even if he returned to Japan, he probably wouldn't be arrested as a criminal for murders in another world, but this kind of thing is a matter of feelings.

"Then why are you searching for a way to return? Even though you can't go back."

"Well, partly in case I meet someone from another world who wants to return home someday, but… it's also lingering attachment, I suppose. You do miss your hometown after all."

… As for me, I've gotten comfortable with life here and have no intention of going back to Japan, but will I want to someday? I'm happy as long as I can sleep though.

"I understand why Haku-sama recommended this inn. As I thought, there seem to be clues connected to Japan here. There are a few things I'd like to ask, if I may?"

"… If it's something I can answer, I will."

"Then… [Rice]. Where does this come from?"

Whoa, a tough question right off the bat.

Even if I said "I don't know since Haku-san procures it for us," this hero could go confirm directly with Haku-san. If Haku-san then answered "I wouldn't know," it would create a contradiction. Getting caught on that could turn out pretty badly.

"… Well, this is a business, so I'd rather not reveal our supplier."

"Please, I'm begging you. I won't tell anyone else. I absolutely want to obtain some."

"Then I'll accommodate you. We don't have much, but I can sell you some polished rice."

"Please! —Ah, and where does this grow?"

He won't let up. Well, rice is the Japanese soul food, so of course he'd be curious.

If I don't answer, he'll probably keep pressing with "please, somehow." Let me throw up a smokescreen using some country name… Um, Haku-san mentioned one, didn't she? Wakoku? Cherries could be obtained there, right? Alright, I'll use that.

Apparently thinking I was reluctant to answer, Wataru waited quietly.

"Do you know of a country called Wakoku?"

"Ah, I'm planning to visit there. It's in the east and called 'Wakoku' of all things. Such an obvious name has been on my mind."

… Oh, he's right! I hadn't noticed!

"Well, things like cherries are procured from there and delivered to us through Haku-san."

"Ooh, so Wakoku has cherry trees! I can't wait!"

Ah, right. Cherries come from cherry trees, so that checks out.

Then maybe [rice] really exists there too… wait, Haku-san said she didn't know about [rice], didn't she? I can't imagine Haku-san would miss a staple grain while noticing fruits like cherries. So it probably doesn't exist there.

… Well, I never actually said [rice] was procured from there, so I'm safe. Even if someone used a lie-detecting magic tool on me, I'd come up clean.

"That's all I can say about the supplier for now."

"Thank you… Next, I'd like you to look at this."

After thanking me, Wataru placed some playing cards on the table.

"I heard these can be obtained from the dungeon [Cave of Desires]."

"Yes, apparently they can be found on the first floor. We buy them for five copper coins here."

"… Narikin-san, please look at this."

The hero pointed to part of the playing card box… What? Is there something? It looks like a normal box to me.

"Hmm? … I don't see anything unusual. Are you going to show us a magic trick?"

"Oh, there's a strange pattern on it, isn't there?"

The hero grinned. Hearing Rokuko's response, it hit me, and a chill ran through my body as if all my blood had reversed course.

… A bar code. There was one on this thing? This is completely out!

"Yes. What you see here is called a bar code. It's a special way of encoding prices."

"Ah, now that you mention it. I'd always wondered what that pattern was, but that's what it is."

I jumped in without missing a beat… This guy definitely suspects I'm Japanese. That reaction just now might have confirmed it for him.

Oh, right. Haku-san must have heard about bar codes too. If she thinks I'm some ultra-capable schemer, she'd naturally see this bar code as bait I deliberately planted. Even though it was a complete blunder on my part!

"… Well, that's why I believe this dungeon has clues to my hometown."

"I see… Well, you're free to investigate, but this is a beginner dungeon after all… please don't wreck the place, alright?"

"Yes. I understand. For now, I'll be staying for one week."

Saying that, Hero Wataru bowed deeply… He doesn't seem like a bad guy, but who knows.

Ah. Right. I still need to ask about the whole proposing to Rokuko thing. Well, nine times out of ten it probably meant a research partner.