1.
After a frantic chase finally came to an end.
“Water.”
“Y-yes!”
The old man from the pawnshop wheezed as he flopped down onto a chair.
As a bonus, his massive belly jiggled in the seat.
“Why are you running around when your health is already this bad?”
“This is your fault, you little bastard…!”
And the winner of the chase was me.
The pawnshop old man, who had been trying to catch me and kill me, lost to his chronic high blood pressure.
Silver Wolf stood nearby, chewing pink gum and watching us.
Maybe she was already used to my antics, because she didn’t seem to think much of it.
“So, can you really not make me a sword?”
“……This time, it doesn’t sound like a joke.”
“No, I need a weapon.”
My hand axe, my beloved weapon.
It was light, easy to swing, and useful as a throwing weapon too.
But I was starting to think I needed a proper main weapon.
It had taken a beating in the fight against the three Rank 7s, and since it wasn’t even a high-quality weapon to begin with, it was practically on the verge of breaking.
“If you need a hand axe, then—”
“No. I need a weapon to use as my main.”
Swords and spears.
Bows and arrows.
The kinds of weapons that showed up all the time in fantasy novels.
A hand axe was convenient for throwing, but its reach was absurdly short.
Closing the distance to attack worked once or twice, but thinking about it now, it had been no different from tightrope walking.
“So you want a sword?”
“Well… I heard you’ve made a lot of demonic swords.”
Let me become a little bit of a sword master too.
When I looked at regression stories, they were all using swords.
“I can’t make swords right now.”
“So if it’s not a demonic sword, your body’s at the point where it can’t make swords anymore…?”
“Do you really want to die? Want to draw blades until one of us drops?”
“Dehet!”
“Don’t stick your tongue out and act cute.”
The reason he couldn’t make swords was simple.
Forging a sword in front of searing heat and a blazing furnace took long patience and stamina.
And with his health in the gutter, plus high blood pressure and obesity, the pawnshop old man couldn’t make swords anymore.
“But… I do have a sword I made in advance.”
“Oho, I knew I could count on you!”
“Why did this bastard’s tone suddenly change?”
“No idea.”
Let me breathe!
This tone I was using now was the tone of a man who had slightly let go of his sanity.
The so-called deranged otaku tone.
It was weirdly calming to just stop thinking and act like this.
“Here. It’s just an ordinary sword with no special abilities, but I guarantee the quality.”
“……How much is it?”
It looked like a fine sword from some Chinese-style martial arts tale.
When I drew it from the scabbard, a cold edge seemed to flow along the blade.
Man, this looks expensive.
Feels like I’d have to empty my entire savings to buy it.
“Take it.”
“Holy moly.”
“But there’s a condition.”
“What?”
“Never use it for anything bad.”
Something bad?
Did he think the good little Adrian Servet would just hack people apart for no reason?
“……I don’t kill people for no reason.”
“I know. I know that, and I’m saying it anyway.”
The pawnshop old man looked at me with a bitter expression.
His eyes were fixed on the past.
“We can’t make the same mistake twice. You’re a good kid, but haven’t you had some problems lately?”
“…….”
“Don’t sink into the past. I’ve lived long enough, so I’m the one who broke down.”
Sharp old man.
That was exactly why I’d tried so hard to hide my emotions.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m saying it because I am worried.”
“…….”
“Silver Wolf, keep an eye on him for me. Make sure this one doesn’t go off the rails.”
Silver Wolf nodded.
This guy really was surprisingly warm-hearted.
He’d given me so much already, so all I could do was be grateful.
2.
“You’re not going to tell me what happened, are you?”
“It’s not that I won’t tell you. I can’t tell you.”
- Silver Wolf used the Coin of Truth. Remaining uses: four.
Hmm….
So our Silver Wolf was suspicious of me.
She’d immediately flipped the Coin of Truth to check whether I was lying.
This was the loneliness of a regressor.
And only I knew how this world would end….
I was starting to understand Zhonghui’s feelings.
Regression ate away at your mental state more than I’d expected.
When I read about it in novels, I never thought much of it.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. That’s just how life is. There are things you can’t help.”
“I… want to be useful to you.”
A dejected look.
Silver Wolf had gotten stronger, but compared to me, who walked the Path of Elation, she was about even with me or a little below.
Her natural combat sense and experience meant I was stronger for now.
But once Silver Wolf’s growth curve started rising, she’d catch up to me in no time.
Adrian Servet, that bastard really has no talent no matter how you look at him, huh?
I was only able to survive in Neon City because I was me.
If it had been anyone else, they’d have been backstabbed and died on the street.
“Heh-heh… come here.”
“…….”
I hugged Silver Wolf, then buried my face in the nape of her neck.
A refreshing peach scent…!
It felt like my mind was being healed cleanly!
“That tickles!”
“Actually, I’ve got a serious problem….”
“What? Really?”
“Our Silver Wolf is so cute that it’s a problem. I get so sad every time other guys try to go after you….”
“Ugh, seriously.”
After forcing a smile, I kissed the back of her neck and stepped away.
The place we were heading now was a troupe.
What, what, what.
A troupe on the outskirts of Neon City?
You might be wondering about that.
I was surprised too when I first heard about it.
Apparently, there are troupes that wander the galaxy performing plays and acrobatics.
The troupe out here on the outskirts was a pretty obscure one.
“Go have some fun and clear your head.”
The pawnshop old man had given us theater tickets.
He said he had no use for them, so he gave us three tickets at once.
I was starting to wonder if the pawnshop old man was actually the saint of Neon City.
He was almost there. Just a little more and he’d be a real saint.
The sword he’d given me was hanging at my waist, and I had the troupe tickets in my hand.
A wandering troupe with nothing much to see.
But maybe it would be a nice change of pace for us.
Seeing how many people were around, it didn’t seem all that unpopular.
“Oh, it’s got a Japanese vibe?”
“Japan?”
“Yeah, a country below ours.”
Silver Wolf tilted her head, since she had no reason to know what Japan was.
I looked at the stalls and people spread out beside the huge troupe tent.
It looked like they’d only just opened.
I’d heard these troupes usually performed in one place for a while before moving on.
“This is interesting. They even have games like this.”
“Goldfish scooping? Want to try?”
“3,000 credit points per round.”
The merchant guarding the stall said it casually.
Silver Wolf took the paper scoop, and I handed the stall owner the money.
“Ugh….”
“Let me try once.”
The result was a miserable failure.
The paper scoop tore without catching a single goldfish.
“This is a scam.”
“If you succeed, it’s not a scam. If you fail, it’s a scam?”
“Hmph. Adrian, why don’t you try it once?”
I paid another 3,000 credit points.
Looking at the paper scoop, it was made to tear surprisingly easily.
Even if I managed to scoop one up, it would probably only hold one fish at most.
Inside the tank, I watched for an opening and looked for the prettiest goldfish.
It had a red body and a long tail, swimming lazily as it swayed.
The tip of its tail was tinted sky blue, making it such a strange goldfish that it almost looked mystical at a glance.
“Hup!”
“You missed.”
The red goldfish had been swimming gracefully, but the instant I dipped the scoop in, it vanished.
“……Why is it so fast?”
“Heh-heh, unfortunately, that goldfish has never been caught even once.”
“The way you say that makes me want it even more.”
“Many people have tried so far. Not a single one has succeeded.”
A fish, daring to defy humans?
“Adrian, your eyes have gone crazy.”
“Silver Wolf, let’s take turns trying.”
I’m definitely putting you in a tank if I catch you.
It’ll look pretty if I keep you as a room decoration.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Four times.
Five times.
“This is a scam!!!”
“……Is that even a fish?”
Silver Wolf and I weren’t ordinary humans.
We were both fast enough that I thought we could definitely catch it.
The result was 21,000 credit points going up in smoke.
The goldfish swam on serenely in the tank.
“Damn it all!!!”
“You should’ve stopped when I told you to stop.”
“If I’ve come this far, then I have to become the winning idiot!!!”
I couldn’t be the only idiot here.
And just like that, another 15,000 credit points were stripped from us.
“Sniffle….”
“Hmm… I can give you a different goldfish, so how about taking that one instead?”
“Adrian, pull out some more money.”
Silver Wolf was getting angrier too, her expression starting to crack.
It felt like she’d gotten stubborn enough to catch that goldfish no matter what.
“U-um….”
“Hm?”
A voice came from beside us.
When I turned my head, I saw a little girl in shabby clothes.
She gave off the same kind of first-impression vibe Silver Wolf had given me when we first met.
What stood out was her hair and eyes.
Black hair with a faint reddish tint at the ends.
And in her eyes, a faint butterfly shape seemed to swirl.
Shabby, but with beauty she couldn’t hide.
“Could I try just twice…?”
“Using my money?”
“……Yes.”
Embarrassed, the girl lowered her head.
Well, asking to use someone else’s money just to try goldfish scooping wasn’t exactly easy.
“Go ahead. It’s fine even if you fail.”
“R-really?”
“Yeah.”
Pitying sympathy.
Silver Wolf looked at the girl with some obvious dissatisfaction, but she didn’t voice it.
“Mm… like this.”
Her wrist snap was different.
Unlike us, who’d been trying to scoop them up recklessly, her scoop slid in at an angle with a gentle touch.
Swish
Unfortunately, the first attempt failed.
The tail brushed lightly past, and the goldfish escaped.
“Ohhh!”
“……She’s pretty good.”
She was different from us, who couldn’t even brush the tail.
The girl stared intently at the goldfish, clearly focused.
Second try.
And the result was…….
“Goodness.”
“…….”
Success!
The red goldfish floated inside the bowl.
“Hehe….”
“That’s impressive. Do you work here or something?”
“I just do a little bit of odd jobs.”
It turned out this girl was a general helper for the troupe.
Shabby clothes and not exactly a glamorous life.
She made a living by doing odd jobs and scraping by.
“How did she do that….”
The goldfish had been won.
The stall owner was looking at me like a man watching his girlfriend walk away.
It was too pretty to give back, but I wasn’t confident I could raise it properly if I kept it.
Taking responsibility for one life meant.
You had to raise it right.
“Hey, kid.”
“……Yes?”
I stopped the girl as she was about to leave.
Her unusual eyes, with butterfly-shaped pupils, looked up at me.
“Do you happen to know much about fish tanks or aquariums?”
“Ah….”
“I caught this one, so I have to raise it. I want to do it properly.”
She stood there thinking for a moment.
Then the girl looked back and forth between me and Silver Wolf before nodding.
“Yes, I know a little. I’m actually pretty interested in goldfish….”
“Perfect! You said you work for the troupe, right? Then you’re my guide for today!”
Okay.
Shabby little troupe helper girl.
Hired for the day!
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