Disciple of Immortal

After registering Pomera and I as a party with the Adventurer Guild’s receptionist, we could finally take on combat-related commissions. Compared to those odd jobs like preliminary investigation for summoning contracts or being a porter, these simple combat commissions were a lot simpler for me to do.

Though the goblin extermination commission was fairly simple, easy, and close to the city walls, this was the only commission allowed for F-rank adventurers who’d just been registered to be taken up by a party. I should be able to raise through the ranks quickly by piling up achievements from completing these kinds of commissions.

The goblins who appeared around Aarburg were only around Lv. 7… This wasn’t even a fight for me to begin with. Though goblin extermination seems to be an unproductive commission for my level, it really couldn’t be helped.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

「U-Uhm… A-Are you sure that y-you, want to form a party with someone like Pomera?」

Pomera asked timidly after we accepted the commission.

Though I understood her low self-esteem from being constantly treated harshly by someone like Roi, I couldn’t help but feel a little emotional at hearing her question. I wish she had more confidence in herself.

「Acquaintance aside, no one even tried to save me back then and yet, you saved me even though you didn’t even know about me. That’s why I’m really grateful towards you. In addition, even though it’s only been less than half day, I know that Pomera-san is a reliable person.」

Upon hearing that, Pomera suddenly pulled both sides of her beret down in an attempt to cover her face as it flushed bright red.

「P-Pomera just… wants to get along with Kanata-san, and she is really happy that Kanata-san’s attitude stayed the same even after knowing her lineage. Things aren’t… going as well as before with Roi-san and co, that’s why thank you very much for inviting Pomera to join your party. Problem is, Pomera is anxious whether she can really help Kanata-san or will…」 [TL* : Pomera referring herself as third person, she never uses “I” or “me” in the first act due to her low self-esteem.]

「… As well as before?」

I unintentionally blurted my thoughts out loud.

Roi’s attitude towards Pomera was simply the worst. He was clearly looking down on Pomera as if looking down on a slave. I suspect that he intentionally overworked her.

「L-Long time ago, both Roi-san and Holly-san were so kind to Pomera! They… they’re just pretending to have a bad relationship with Pomera in the guild after they found out about Pomera’s Elven lineage. P-Pomera’s just… responding to their expectations.」

Pomera was clearly crestfallen as she spoke words of defense for them.

On the other hand, I recalled the moment when Roi had bumped into my shoulder and whispered to me in an almost inaudible voice.

『You better stop trying to act like a good person towards her, Kanata. I know that you’re the same as me, thinking that she might be of some use for you since she might be able to use magic very well thanks to her forest troll’s blood. But, she’s nothing more than useless, low-leveled baggage. You might think that she is good material as a baggage carrier and stress relief since she won’t say anything about it, but don’t think that things will turn out as you expect. So you better retur—』

She was so compassionate towards those two, and yet…

I’m troubled as to what I should say to her about those two f*ckers. I wanted to cheer her up, but I had no idea what to say to her in this case.

「I-If Pomera does her best… will she be able to get along… with Roi-san and Holly-san?」

Please, Pomera, please forget about those two horrible people already.

No matter how you look at it, Roi is just sc*um, useless piece of trash. The same went for Holly since she did nothing to help you when that Roi was abusing you with his foul language. Even if Pomera became stronger, that would only decrease the time for Roi to be able to jeer at her. It wouldn’t change their attitude and treatment towards her.

「P-Pomera’s level maybe isn’t as high as Roi-san or the other adventurers but, she can use white magic up to 3rd rank! That’s just how much Pomera’s mother taught her when she was still alive… T-That’s why, please leave any wounds to Pomera.」

… I’d confirmed it before but Roi’s level was 14 while Pomera’s was at 7. The difference might be huge for them but, to be honest, it felt like there wasn’t any difference between their levels at all in my eyes.

My lowest ranked magic was white magic, but it was only because I didn’t feel the need to learn it thanks to the ｟Ouroboros Ring｠, drugs, and the alchemy lessons from Lunaire. I didn’t find the existence of white magic as an important magic for me so far mostly because Lunaire could just heal me by reversing the law of cause and effect with Time-Space magic.

… But, I should be able to use it up to the 4th rank.

Maybe I should keep this matter a secret from Pomera for now.

「Pomera… she will do her very best to not let down Kanata-san’s expectation!」

Pomera clenched her fists with determination and she proclaimed in a loud voice. Realizing that her loud declaration had made her the center of attention, she immediately flushed and pulled down her beret to cover her bright red face.

… Forming a party and having a party member was the minimum requirement to be able to accept a guild commission. However, an active adventurer who was knowledgeable was especially indispensable for the current me. But, could it be that she thought that I’d invited her out of pity?

Well, she really might’ve felt that way if she’d found out that my level was above 4000. She surely would’ve rejected my invitation while thinking that she would be a burden to me, thus making me into the person that would’ve hurt her the most.

「M-MM-My apologies, Pomera ended up embarrassing Kanata-san…」

Pomera was looking at me with a troubled look on her face that looked apologetic for causing me trouble from her earlier loud outburst.

Her low self-esteem was so low that it was to the point that I kept racking my brain to find a way to calm her down somehow.

A short man passed by us as Pomera and I left the Adventurer Guild’s building. The short man kept looking at us, and then a grin flashed on his face. I’ve seen his face before… he was Octavio’s sidekick, an eternal D-rank adventurer.

Honestly, I never ever wanted to get to know this creepy dude. I urged Pomera to walk faster as we left the Adventurer Guild.