Chapter 28

Chapter 28 : Nursing Care

When I pushed the partition aside, I came face-to-face with someone familiar.

A face I had seen so much over the past few days that I was almost sick of it.

“H-Huh…?”

Radi stared at me with eyes as wide as a startled mouse’s.

I froze in confusion as well.

‘Why is he here…?’

I had expected Radi to come this way.

After all, this was the only place nearby that rented lodging tents.

Now that he had received a heap of Silver Coins as payment, if he did not want to be robbed of everything by some highwayman, he had no choice but to stay here.

I simply had not expected us to be assigned to the same tent.

And….

‘…I was mistaken.’

No matter how few rooms they had, there was no way they would assign a man and a woman to the same room, was there?

I had thought his voice sounded somewhat pretty, but since he was a kid who had not even gone through puberty, I had almost made the wrong assumption.

As I stood there watching in silence, Radi hurriedly fixed his Hood and shouted.

“What are you staring at! Get out!!”

“Ah, right. Sorry.”

“Your answer and your actions do not match!! I said get out already! No, in the first place, why are you even here?”

“What do you mean, why…? I paid to come in.”

“……?”

For a moment, Radi looked up at me with a blank expression.

Then, as though he had guessed something, he scowled fiercely, stormed out of the tent, and began arguing with the merchant.

However, he soon returned trudging back with his shoulders drooping.

“How was it? They said there are no rooms left, right?”

“…….”

“It is unfortunate, but we have to accept reality. What else can we do?”

“…Why are you naturally coming over to my side? Hurry and go back to your own spot.”

“No, never mind where I am going… Are you all right?”

“…….”

Radi quietly closed his mouth.

I had a guess as to why he had been groaning.

｢[Status Ailment] Suffering from severe Level-Up Sickness!｣

‘He had looked unwell ever since we defeated the golem, but….’

If it was this bad, he should have said something earlier.

There was no way to cure Level-Up Sickness except by taking sufficient rest.

After staying up through the night to defeat the golem, he had then marched out of the dungeon without a moment to catch his breath, so it was no wonder he had collapsed ill.

I pushed away Radi’s hand as he resisted while breaking out in cold sweat, and when I placed my palm on his forehead, I felt a temperature as hot as fire.

“You managed to follow us without saying a word in this state. Looking at your complexion, I would think you were the undead one.”

“The undead… would be you. And I naturally have a beast… a constitution with a high body temperature, all right? Stop meddling for no reason and leave….”

“Would you leave if you were me? I would rather not wake up next to a corpse tomorrow. …Do not even think about moving from here. Wait.”

‘This actually works out perfectly.’

Being sick was one thing, but if I made a good impression now, I could earn some points.

If I gained enough favor, I might be able to change his mind.

Besides, through my [Chaos] skill, I could indirectly infer emotions.

‘I will definitely recruit him as a comrade again before the next dungeon entry…!’

With my resolve set, I hurried out of the tent.

When I returned from the shopping street loaded down with a wooden bucket filled with clean water, a towel, fever reducers, and other supplies, Radi looked at me suspiciously.

“…What are you going to do with all that?”

“What else? They said this medicine is good for lowering fever, so drink it all down. Do not leave any.”

“…….”

｢‘Radi’ stares intently at you!｣

｢Radi is finding your sudden kindness extremely suspicious.｣

｢Luck increases by 1!｣

Radi looked at me distrustfully, but perhaps he was too tired to argue any further, because he quietly drank the medicine.

“Ugh! Ptooey, ptooey… Bitter….”

“Things that are good for you are meant to be bitter. And when you finish it, give me the bottle and hurry up and lie down. The fever will only go down if you sleep properly.”

“Ugh….”

Radi frowned and finished drinking the medicine, then lay down on the bed. I wiped the sweat from his forehead and placed a wet towel on it.

‘I did just glimpse animal ears under his Hood for a moment….’

I had already figured out from his words and behavior that Radi was a Beastkin, so when I quietly pretended not to have seen anything, a faint voice slipped from between his lips.

“…You know that from my perspective, this is a complete bolt from the blue, right?”

“…….”

“Of all people, I ended up involved with a follower of the Evil God Antagon… And on top of that, you said you absorbed a Sacred Relic of Andira, the God of Death… I do not have any ill will toward you, but if one wrong move gets me branded as a Heretic….”

“Yes, you would be in danger. That is why I was not planning to hide it for long either. I am sorry.”

“…….”

“I will listen to your complaints later, so sleep for now.”

“I really… do not like this….”

｢Radi feels grateful to you!｣

｢Luck temporarily increases by 1!｣

Radi grumbled in dissatisfaction for a while, but soon began breathing softly and evenly.

After confirming that he had fallen asleep, I returned to my spot and lay down on the bed.

I had nursed him as though doing him a favor, but I was half dead myself.

‘…At least now I will not wake up because of the noise.’

The moment my head touched the pillow, I fell sound asleep.

***

When I opened my eyes to the crowing of a rooster, dawn had already broken outside the tent.

‘What…? Did I pass out for more than half a day?’

I got up while clutching my aching head, and from beyond the partition came the rustling sounds of someone waking.

“…Hey, are you awake?”

“……Yes.”

“Ah, I am dying of thirst. I am coming over for a moment.”

When I pushed aside the partition, Radi was sitting on the bed.

There was clear fatigue around his eyes, but judging by how much brighter his complexion had become, he seemed to have improved considerably.

“It looks like the medicine worked. How do you feel?”

“I did not sleep very well, but I feel much better. …What about you? You must have suffered from Level-Up Sickness too.”

“I am fine now that I rested properly. It was not as severe as yours to begin with.”

“…For some reason, that annoys me. Do you have any water?”

“Water? Wait a moment. I will bring my canteen.”

I returned to my place, grabbed my canteen, and came back.

However, when I stepped closer, Radi subtly turned his head away.

“Ugh, the smell….”

“…Hey, even for me, that reaction hurts a little.”

“Ah, I did not mean it like that… I am sorry. My sense of smell is so sensitive that I did it without thinking….”

“Well… I suppose that is understandable.”

I lifted my shirt and sniffed it.

After returning from the dungeon, I had fallen asleep without even washing.

Having no choice, I began undoing the buttons of my shirt, and Radi shouted in horror.

“Why are you suddenly taking off your clothes again? Are you seriously an exhibitionist?”

“What else would I be doing? I am going to wipe off the sweat. It would take a long time to walk from here to the waterside… Would it not be better to at least clean myself up a little with a wet towel?”

“Then why are you doing that in my spot?!”

“It is not as though there is anything left to hide between us. You saw everything when I transformed.”

“That!! It was because!! You forced me to see it!! Besides, you seem to have been making a huge misunderstanding for a while now, but I am…!”

“You are?”

“…….”

Radi, who had been indignant, seemed about to say something, but then his pride appeared to get pricked, and he clamped his mouth shut.

Then he glared at me as though he wanted to kill me and promptly kicked my shin.

CLANG─!

“Ow! Why are you wearing Greaves indoors too?!”

“Ah, right. I forgot to take them off yesterday. I was so tired.”

I gathered my clothes and the wet towel and headed back beyond the partition.

“Ah, but could you maybe help wipe just my back….”

“Get out right now!!!”

｢Anger generated! Agility increases by 2!｣

***

After briefly washing with the wet towel, I returned beyond the partition, and Radi was lying sprawled out in exhaustion.

“That is why no one told you to waste your energy.”

“You…! Haa… What do you want this time?”

Radi, who had started to spring up, sat back down as though dizziness had struck him. I shamelessly jerked my chin toward the outside of the tent and said,

“You are hungry, right? Let us go eat together.”

“…Did you not listen to a word I said? If I keep going around with you and get branded as a heretic!”

“As long as you keep your mouth shut, no one will find out. I will not transform in front of people, so relax.”

“…….”

“I will buy.”

｢Radi is conflicted!｣

Even though I tempted him with the bait of covering the food expenses, Radi stared at me with the wary eyes of a wild squirrel.

When he showed signs of wavering, I took a Silver Coin from my pouch and drove in the wedge.

“Then let us do this. I will toss this coin. If I call the side correctly, we go out together. If you call it correctly, we eat separately. How about a bet?”

I had something to test anyway.

[Con Artist]

｢The round table where gold and psychological warfare change hands is Antagon’s stage. The chance of drawing a favorable result in games and gambling increases slightly.｣

‘The timing is perfect.’

I had not had a chance to use it until now, but I could test it here.

If I figured out the exact activation conditions of this skill, there might be room to use it in battle as well.

However, for some reason, Radi looked at me with even more suspicion than before.

“What?”

“…No, you might have tampered with the coin somehow, and you want to bet with that? It is obvious you are trying to cheat.”

“…….”

Sharp little bastard.

In this world, it was common sense not to trust gambling or shell games run by someone else.

Just as I was trying to come up with another method, Radi rested his chin on his hand and sighed.

“Fine. Go ahead and do it. I will bet on tails.”

｢Radi accepts the bet while pretending to be fooled.｣

｢It is a small repayment for you nursing him the day before.｣

｢Luck temporarily increases by 1.｣

“Oh, then here I go?”

TING─! When I flicked my finger, the coin soared in a silver arc.

After snatching it out of the air, I opened my palm, and there was the clear portrait of a dignified ruler.

When I quickly checked the Log Window, a new notification appeared.

｢The passive skill [Con Artist] has activated!｣

｢Antagon’s power has intervened in reality and drawn out a result favorable to you!｣

｢As your ability rises or the stakes grow larger, you can achieve a greater effect. However, remember this. The price you pay upon defeat will also grow in proportion to the stakes!｣

｢You have not yet discovered the exact conditions for use.｣

‘As expected….’

If it worked like this, I could make useful use of it when negotiating with merchants or extracting information from people in taverns.

However, among those messages, I focused on the sentence, ‘You have not yet discovered the exact conditions for use.’

Just as the [Disguise] skill did not merely change my appearance as written, but twisted my very identity wholesale, there had to be something hidden within the [Con Artist] skill as well.

Since it said Antagon’s power intervened in reality and brought about change, perhaps if the skill level rose, it could twist greater realities or fate itself.

Perhaps, if I paid a price or fulfilled certain conditions, I might even be able to glimpse fate.

As I fell into thought while reading the Log Window message, Radi, who had been carefully watching my eyes, got up from the bed and straightened his clothes.

“Then, since I lost, let us leave right away. …Is Sir Malton not coming with us?”

“Malton said he was staying at an acquaintance’s house. Unless he has business, he probably will not come this way for a while.”

Radi and I left the tent and walked at a leisurely pace.

While strolling down a street lined with restaurants, we entered a place that looked decent and sat down. A server brought us the menu.

‘Maybe because it is near the dungeon, there are a lot of dishes I have never seen before….’

Come to think of it, this was the first time since coming to this world that I had eaten at a proper restaurant like this.

Even when I earned money by selling Monster Materials, I had been too self-conscious to enter restaurants in shabby clothes without even a spare outfit, so I had often turned away.

Besides, I had been hunting so frantically in Verastin that I had not had the time to eat proper meals.

When I looked across the table, however, Radi was fidgeting with the menu with a troubled expression.

“What is it?”

“…Do you really feel nothing after looking at this?”

“About what?”

“It is too expensive! Simple pickled vegetables are 3 pence, and a stew with only a little meat in it is 6 pence. They even charge money for plain water…! What is this?”

“Well, when I first saw it, I nearly cursed too… But as infuriating as it is, there is nothing we can do. It seems these prices are standard around the dungeon. …The fever reducer you took yesterday cost two Silver Coins, you know?”

“Wh-What?! You made me drink something that expensive?!”

“You were burning up with fever. What else was I supposed to do?”

“Th-Then I will pay you back right now…!”

“Forget it. It is not worth making a fuss over.”

“Then at least the meal….”

“I said I would buy the meal. If you really feel sorry, you can treat me to dessert.”

“…All right. Then let us do that… Huh?”

Would that not naturally mean we had to eat dessert together too?

｢Radi, realizing he has been tricked, looks at you reproachfully!｣

｢Agility increases by 1.｣

Radi glared at me, but I shamelessly avoided his gaze.

‘Let me see… Something the kid might like….’

“Excuse me, could we have the Venison Stew and the Mushroom Cream Soup?”

When I ordered the dishes he had been staring at ever since we entered the place, Radi looked up at me.

“Just now….”

“You looked like you wanted them, so I ordered them. If you do not feel like eating those, should I order something else?”

“……Anything is fine with me. I was forced to come here in the first place anyway.”

｢Radi leans back against the chair with a slightly softened expression!｣

｢Radi’s mood improves, and Luck increases by 2.｣

‘Looks like I guessed right.’

He was trying his best not to show it, but the stats were honest.

Besides, he was sick. Who would refuse hot broth and meat?

And one more thing.

‘…This kid was a tremendous miser.’

Even when we first met, had he not readily accepted the free drinks Malton bought for him, or filled his stomach with rock-hard Ship’s Biscuit?

A D-Rank Adventurer should not have been that short on money, yet he looked around from beneath his Hood as if even eating in a restaurant like this felt awkward.

‘This place is not exactly a high-class restaurant either….’

Adventurers usually splurged at least for the day after finishing a request and returning, but this kid did not seem to know even that sort of enjoyment.

Was there some reason for it?

“…Well, this works out perfectly.”

“What did you just say?”

“No, nothing. By the way, do you have anything to do after we eat?”

“What? Why do you ask…?”

“If you have nothing to do, come somewhere with me for a bit.”

I stretched and made the suggestion as if it were nothing.

All while harboring the ambition to win his favor during this rest period and recruit him as an official comrade.

When I smiled broadly and met his gaze, Radi glared at me as though asking what scheme I had now.