Chapter 2 - Caught
Lizel was brought by the man who called himself Gil to a tavern.
The interior leaned more toward a bar, but since they served proper meals and even had a few tables, it was probably better described as a tavern. It was still daylight, so there were few customers, but it would likely start to fill up soon.
“Rent me the back room.”
“Okay.”
Gil spoke to the man behind the counter and placed a few silver coins on it. Lizel himself didn’t want their conversation overheard, so he had no reason to refuse.
The man—most likely the tavern master—cast a quick glance their way.
“Nice to meet you.”
“...Yeah.”
It was an odd pairing, clearly out of place, yet the man said nothing more. Thinking this was a rather fitting place for a private talk, Lizel followed Gil through the side door beside the counter.
Inside was a small private room with a table for four. Compact, but comfortable enough.
“You seem to have some pull around here, Mr. Gil.”
“Just a familiar face, that’s all. Master, bring drinks.”
“Oh, I don’t drink, so I’m fine.”
“Huh? Hey, he says he doesn’t drink.”
“I can hear him just fine.”
Watching Gil poke his head out the door and banter with the master, Lizel took one of the two chairs and sat down. For the first time in hours, he could finally rest his legs, and he let out a quiet breath of relief.
Soon, Gil returned holding two glasses, handing one to Lizel.
“Here.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Although Lizel declined the offer of alcohol earlier, he thought it would be rude to come to a tavern and not drink at all. Contrary to his expectations though, the glass he received contained some kind of freshly squeezed fruit juice.
He gazed at it for a while, then set it down without taking a sip. Gil swirled his own glass, clinking the ice, and curled his lips into a grin at him.
“Want me to taste-test it for poison?”
“If I had doubts about that, I wouldn’t have spoken to you in the first place.”
Lizel answered with a calm smile, while inwardly Gil clicked his tongue.
‘So it’s only a complete set if he drinks after I mention it, huh... this guy’s hard to read.’
As Gil suspected, Lizel had planned to drink only after receiving some kind of comment about it.
Of course, Lizel didn’t truly think the drink was tampered with, nor that the tavern master was in on some scheme. But the moment suspicion completely vanished was precisely when Gil spoke up.
He had his own reasoning, yet at the same time could hold a third party’s perspective in parallel. That alone made Lizel unusual—but the fact that Gil could even notice it also marked him as unusual.
“So, what did you want to ask?”
“Well then, why not start with your introduction, Mr. Gil?”
“What exactly do you want to know?”
“It’s not that I’m trying to probe into you. I just thought talking with someone whose name is all I know feels odd. Occupation, past flings, anything’s fine.”
Dodging his probing look, Lizel calmly raised the glass to his lips. As expected, it was squeezed fruit juice—the sweet tang seeped into his tired body, refreshing him.
What Lizel truly wanted to know was Gil’s standing. When receiving information, the other party’s position mattered.
Taking in the wrong kind of information could be dangerous, and it would also change the kinds of questions he could ask. Judging from appearances, Gil was definitely an adventurer, but Lizel wanted confirmation.
Gil sighed, resigned, then muttered “I’m gonna smoke,” and put a cigarette between his lips.
“Fine, it’s nothing you couldn’t dig up anyway... I’m a solo adventurer, rank B. Got no particular woman, and no plans to get one.”
“Not planning to, but no trouble either?”
“If that’s how it looks, I’ll take it as a compliment.”
Gil gave a sharp laugh through his nose and lit his cigarette. He clearly hadn’t expected Lizel to respond to the bit about women rather than the occupation.
A solo adventurer at B-rank like Gil was well-known among adventurers. One reason being that going solo beyond D-rank was said to be nearly impossible.
Not that it couldn’t be done, but the jobs were far too difficult without a party. That was why reaching B-rank alone made his name spread inevitably.
Yet Lizel offered no reaction. Completely unruffled, impossible to read—his composure was such that even someone as practiced as Gil couldn’t see through him.
‘Bigger shot than I thought... and yet I’ve never seen or heard of him. Wandering around alone like this makes no sense.’
“You seem sharp. Am I maybe confusing you a little?”
Even though Lizel gave nothing away, he had no trouble reading Gil.
The back-and-forth that rang true with every word was oddly pleasant. Gil plucked the cigarette from his lips and snuffed out the flame, almost as though he intended to enjoy this exchange with the man before him.
“Will you actually tell me if I ask?”
“Do you want to know?”
“Then maybe you could share your own history with women or something.”
Lizel laughed, amused at hearing his own words thrown back at him.
It wasn’t a boisterous laugh, but a refined one, quiet and dignified. Gil, watching that manner of laughter, reached for his glass with the conviction that this man must surely be of noble birth.
“My occupation is ‘none,’ and since I carry no proof of identity, my status is no different from being slum-born. As for my history with women—let’s keep that a secret.”
The hand he stretched out nearly knocked over the glass, but he quickly steadied it before disaster struck. His sharp gaze then bore into the unreadable man before him, as though he intended to strip away every hidden layer.
Even with eyes so piercing that most people would cower and spill everything, Lizel remained unshaken, carrying himself at his own pace.
“...Doesn’t sound like a lie. But for information handed to a confused man like me, it ain’t very generous either.”
“You really believe it isn’t a lie?”
“If a person’s willing to say he won’t talk about women, that means they won’t bother lying about things they don't want to say. Don’t test me with every little thing.”
Lizel narrowed his eyes with delight. He had chosen Gil because he seemed capable of conversation, but to have him pick up on his intent so perfectly made the exchange genuinely enjoyable.
He had even noticed Gil almost knocking over his glass earlier, though he gave no sign of it.
“You’re right. If I’d been making things up, I’d have just claimed I’d cut down a hundred women already.”
“Now that’s overdoing it.”
Gil’s lips curved in amusement, while Lizel nodded without fuss and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and lacing his fingers together.
“Now that the introductions are out of the way, shall we move on to the main subject?”
“From my side, I don’t know a damn thing about you.”
“Then let’s call that your fault for asking poor questions.”
Lizel smiled, and Gil’s face twisted with frustration.
There was no doubt Lizel was hiding something. If all of this had been calculated from the very first exchange, then just how many steps ahead did Gil need to read?
‘Fine. This time, I’ll just hand over the information worth what I was paid.’
This wasn’t a cutthroat negotiation, but a safe, prepaid information deal—one that promised him an unusually high profit.
He didn’t need to know the other man’s circumstances to do that. Though, if asked whether he was curious—that was another matter.
“So, what do you want to know?”
“Let’s start with the situation in this region.”
For an adventurer who often crossed borders, it was a safe question.
“You just got here?”
“Yes. I only arrived today.”
He probed casually, only to receive a calm reply.
The man had said earlier his status was no better than slum-born, yet now claimed to have come from outside. Just who exactly was he?
“...Nothing suspicious going on lately. Things are calm.”
“Lately?”
“Yeah. A while back, the Mercantile Nation and the Magic Ore Nation were butting heads, but things settled down. Well, they’re countries that scuffle all the time, so nobody really cares.”
Lizel nodded at the answer, recalling the map he’d seen at the tool shop. It had sketched the nearby nations roughly, showing only the main roads between them, which was why he had remembered it well enough not to buy it.
Even in his original world, the castle-owned maps had been detailed, but the ones released to the public looked much the same as that one he saw.
‘The Mercantile Nation... probably the country south of here, where many roads converged. The Magic Ore Nation—or maybe Magitech Nation?—if it’s picking fights with the Mercantile Nation, it’s likely the one to the southwest, facing the big mountain range. It’s likely called the Magic Ore Nation because of the ore they have there. Disputes between producers and merchants are routine—no need to worry too much.’
“You want another drink?”
“No, thank you. But this country really is vast. I wonder if I’ll manage to travel all of it.”
Gil reappeared from the doorway with a fresh drink in hand.
Judging by his unchanged complexion, he seemed to be a strong drinker. Lizel could only envy that.
“If you plan on taking a close look at the Mercantile Nation, Magic Ore Nation, and the rest, a single month won’t cut it. Even with carriages, it’ll eat up too much time.”
“Right, I figured as much.”
If those other nations were mentioned alongside this one, then they were likely subordinate states or something of the sort. The map he’d seen also had this country at the center, so he had suspected as much. Most likely, the several nations—or perhaps even cities—shown there were all part of a single greater kingdom.
The map hadn’t conveyed scale, but judging from this conversation, their territory was quite expansive.
Lizel recalled the letters written on the map. Strangely, they had been almost identical to those of his original world.
The Mercantile Nation “Marcade,” the Magic Ore Nation “Cavanna,” and the country where his own feet now stood.
“What do you think of Parteda?”
“This country? That’s a vague question.”
“Just a simple impression is fine—whatever comes to mind.”
Unable to grasp the intent behind the question, Gil gave him a suspicious look, but Lizel only smiled in return.
With a heavy sigh, Gil gave up and downed a long gulp of his drink.
“To me, it’s just a place where I can make coin. A decent inn, good food, and jobs worth taking—that’s all I need.”
“I see. That’s useful to know.”
If adventurers who roamed between nations could settle here, then Lizel’s own lack of verifiable status wouldn’t stand out as strange. Entry and exit procedures might be an issue, but he was unlikely to end up in the worst-case scenario of being treated as an illegal trespasser.
That being the case, moving freely shouldn’t be a problem. And if he was to spend time in this world—whether leaving eventually or lingering a while—then this capital city would serve as an ideal base of operations.
Besides, there was at least one person here he might be able to rely on. Lizel’s smile deepened.
“I was going to leave it at questions, but... may I also make a request?”
“...I suppose the information you’ve paid for wouldn’t really balance out otherwise. What is it? A sightseeing guide? A bodyguard? Or maybe you want a veteran adventurer to babysit you like a beginner?”
“All of the above.”
Gil, who had spoken half in jest, stared at Lizel with a mix of exasperation and resignation.
He’d expected the first two, but the fact that the man had accepted even the third, which had been thrown in as a joke, meant he had completely lost any chance of controlling this conversation.
“You’re brazen to a fault, aren’t you?”
“Not especially. It’s just easy with you, Mr. Gil. You understand without me needing to spell things out.”
“You’re the one making me understand.”
Gil raised the glass to his lips and drained it. He let out a small breath, then, with a touch of force, set the glass back down on the table.
The sound rang through the air, but the man before him didn’t flinch in the slightest, nor did he show any fear when Gil glared at him.
“You don’t know the customs here. Your background’s suspicious as hell. And yet you’ve got the brains to fish for information without ever tipping your hand. In the end, you just wanted to steer things to this, didn’t you?”
Lizel didn’t answer aloud this time. He only smiled in silence. But to Gil, that smile was confirmation enough.
He wondered if he’d gotten himself entangled with someone troublesome. And yet, to his own surprise, he realized he didn’t regret it as much as he thought he might.
He hadn’t called out to Lizel earlier out of kindness. The alley Lizel had been about to enter was home to some unsavory types Gil had once been indebted to—that was the only reason.
If a man who looked every inch a noble (no matter how much he denied it) had been harmed there, the entire district would have been thrown into uproar. Gil owed no such favor, and could have ignored him—but on a whim, he spoke up.
And that whim had led to this situation.
He could walk away. Even without accepting the request, he already had two gold coins in his pocket. He could just leave it at “lucky windfall” and be done with it.
“What’s the job?”
“As you said earlier: a bit of guiding, a bit of guarding, a bit of adventuring. For the first few days I’ll need you to show me the ropes, but after that, it’ll just be when necessary.”
“For how long?”
“For now, one month. If needed, we can extend it monthly.”
Even as he asked, Gil realized his mouth was moving on its own. His instincts—the instincts honed as an adventurer—were telling him not to let this man slip away.
The satisfied gleam in Lizel’s eyes was infuriating, and Gil instantly laughed at his own thoughts. A low chuckle rumbled in his throat, and Lizel watched it all with quiet amusement. Had he anticipated even this?
An adult man, well past the age of reckless impulses, about to move purely on curiosity. That was the truth of it.
“How much are you paying me?”
“How much work will you do?”
“Hah. Watch your mouth.”
They had only met today. Normally, Gil had no patience for taking an interest in every stranger he crossed paths with.
But Lizel had forced him to. Not through threats or tricks, but by stoking a rare curiosity inside him. Rather than feeling humiliated at being handled so neatly, Gil found himself intrigued—more than he had been in years.
Lizel had seen right into that hidden trait, one even Gil himself didn’t fully recognize. And for that, Gil couldn’t help but be impressed. He was far too old to get defensive about it.
He had just cleared all his guild quests. He hadn’t taken on a new one yet. There was no reason to refuse.
“In a month, I’ll show you work worth bleeding you dry of every coin you’ve got. No advance. At the end of the month, you decide what it was worth.”
“Generous terms. And that confidence—I find it reassuring.”
Lizel still didn’t know the going rates in this land, but he nodded, figuring that in a month’s time, he’d manage somehow.
With that, they clinked their empty glasses together, sealing the deal.
“First thing—could you recommend me an inn?”
“Would it be easier if you stayed at the same place as me?”
“Yes, I think so. Once we get there, I can explain most of the things you’ve been wondering about.”
“That’s something to look forward to.”
Gil stood up first and left the room, as if to lead the way. Watching his back, Lizel gave a slight nod. People who acted out of profit were the best partners to negotiate with, but not necessarily the best companions.
Of course, someone who knew how to weigh gains and losses was easier to deal with, but the deciding factor lay elsewhere. A pure profit-chaser would only work exactly in proportion to what they were paid—and if something more lucrative came along, they’d drift toward it without hesitation.
With Gil, Lizel had chosen to use curiosity as the deciding factor, and it seemed he hadn’t been wrong. From the way he spoke, a “solo B-rank” meant Gil was a capable fighter, making him quite an ideal partner for this job.
Satisfied with his conclusion, Lizel stepped out of the small room.
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