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“Familiar ceiling.”

“Is that really the first thing you say when you wake up?”

“Oh, Luna. Good morning.”

You’re in energy-saving mode again. Feeling refreshed, huh?

“Do you know how hard it was to bring you back yesterday?”

“Waah! I’m baby Luke! So light, waah!”

“………”

Seriously. You even got dinner last night thanks to me, and now you’re acting all high and mighty about moving a bit.

They say raising a slave is meaningless, and the adults sure were right.

“Haah… What are you going to do today?”

“Well, I think I might try something other than regular requests today.”

The requests at the Adventurer’s Guild are categorized into four types.

First, the general request. You can think of this as requests made by the Adventurer’s Guild. Catch a monster and show proof to get paid, just like I’ve done.

Second, individual requests. Nobles or commoners who need an adventurer’s help hire one for payment. It’s often used for F-rank tasks like herb gathering, cleaning, or transporting items.

Third, designated requests. I absolutely need this guy! I want to give him a big, fat surprise no matter what! That’s when you specify an adventurer to carry out the request. They can reject it, but anyway, low-tier folks won’t ever get these, so there’s no need to memorize it.

And finally, there’s emergency requests.

Also known as cash advances. These are requests given by high-ranking individuals if they deem it necessary. Adventurers who receive these lose the right to refuse. The reward matches the hardship, so I’d love for emergency requests to come up every day.

It would be nice if I could do something that looks fun anyway.

That’s how you keep things exciting and not boring.

“I guess I need to go check it out.”

“Before that, shouldn’t you change your clothes?”

“Oh, right.”

I threw my clothes to Luna.

“Luna, put some magic into that.”

One great reason for the academy uniform is its magical recovery feature when you infuse it with mana.

Students engage in fights every day, and if they had to buy new clothes every time they got wrecked, commoner students wouldn’t last a year and would drop out.

It’s a very convenient feature absent in modern times, but with my zero magical power, I can’t fix it.

As Luna received the clothes, the torn parts quickly began to mend.

“Luke, we’re all set.”

“Cool.”

I put on the clothes and headed straight out of the inn.

*

Today, instead of heading straight to the reception desk upon arriving at the Adventurer’s Guild, I made my way to the request board.

The general request board was filled with requests.

Today’s goal was the individual request board right next to it.

“Sure enough, being D-Rank broadens my choices.”

There were quite a few monsters that didn’t just look like regular animals with monster frames. Some resembled actual monsters I’ve seen somewhere.

Of course, I was tempted by the A-Rank request to hunt a Stone Snake.

But seeing as I’d just get rejected anyway, I’ll just stick to looking at it.

I skipped the general requests and began checking the individual request board for anything interesting, one by one.

Goblin exterminations in some rural corner, dog walking, and slime exterminations.

The request levels were pitiful.

They could just handle the dog walking themselves, crazy idiots.

I’m so bored I could die here, show me something genuinely fun!

I’d show the owner of that request how to stew their puppy right in front of them!

‘No, this isn’t enough to satisfy my boredom.’

In the end, I couldn’t find any worthwhile requests.

“Adelaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

So, I went to someone who might know something.

“You don’t have to shout that loud; I can hear you…”

“I know that.”

“Anyway, why did you call me?”

Oh, she’s really good at dodging questions. At this level, she could handle even the most troublesome adventurer.

“Can you recommend me a fun request?”

“I’ve got none.”

That’s not true, is it? You definitely seem to be hiding something.

My intuition is telling me that Adela is keeping something interesting from me.

So, I flopped down on the floor.

“Beeaak!! It’s Luke’s!! It’s Luke’s!!!!!!!”

I rolled around on the ground like a human rag doll.

All eyes snapped to me in an instant.

It’s good to make some noise, but considering my friendship with Adela, I specially delivered a remix version.

“Luke’s!!! Ya↗a↘u↗!!!”

“Stop! I’ll tell you, so please stop already! Luna, help me out here!”

With that, a flustered Adela tried to intervene.

“Luke, I think that’s enough now.”

After Luna came over and stopped me, I brushed myself off and stood up.

“Should’ve done that sooner.”

Of course, the attention I had drawn wouldn’t just disappear because I stood up.

“So, what do you have for me?”

“Here you go.”

Adela handed me a paper.

The contents of the paper were as follows:

=

Investigation of Missing Persons.

Recently, there have been multiple cases of missing persons in the Count’s Territory.

As the investigation cannot be carried out by the local soldiers alone, we request the dispatch of adventurers to assist.

Required rank: D-Rank or higher.

Reward: 15 silver coins.

Requester: Count Isaac Devon.

=

The end of the request form bore a seal as if to certify it.

It’s rare to see a noble writing in such a polite manner towards an adventurer, but here we are.

‘How did the requester know my rank was D-Rank and set it as D-Rank or higher?’

This looks interesting, doesn’t it?

Isn’t this request meant just for me?

It certainly has the scent of a case about it.

It’s cliché for an adventurer to say they’re only investigating but end up getting caught up in the incident.

In such cases, there’s usually some sweet opportunity or something else around, and even if there isn’t, it’s bound to be full of interesting events.

‘But I feel like I’ve heard the requester’s name somewhere before.’

Hmm…

I think the protagonist of a game where you tearfully kill your own mother was named Isaac or something.

I have no idea. The fact that I can’t recall means he was probably just an extra.

“I’ve decided on you!”

“W-wait a moment. Let me explain first—”

“Kimini Kimeta!”

I am a manly man. I don’t change my choices.

The moment I decide to change my choice, I’d be admitting I’m a wimpy man.

From the moment I made this choice, this request has already been taken by me.

“Listen up!”

“Sure.”

Just then, I saw something that looked like my mother in human form flash behind Adela.

It seemed to resemble a Stand user, but since I have no Stand myself, I should avoid messing around.

“Sorry to mention this after showing it, but there’s something unsettling about that request. It hasn’t been approved yet.”

“That’s even better.”

“……….?”

Koitsu has finally awakened www.

It’s a common cliché for a protagonist caught up in a dangerous situation to awaken something within themselves upon meeting something.

Who knows? If I get into trouble, maybe Luke, the original owner of this body, will surface and awaken me.

But what kind of difference can a pathetic loser, zero in magical power, and the last of the class make?

I might want to rethink that.

“….Huh. How convenient. The Devon Count’s territory is famous for its beautiful sea and lodging. Why not go get some rest while you’re at it?”

“Oh. That doesn’t sound too bad.”

I’ve only ever seen the sea on my monitor, completely locked away in my room.

‘The last time I saw the sea was in a visual novel event scene.’

I even dumped 300 bucks into that to collect every character’s bikini at that time.

Then I barely survived on cup ramen for the rest of the month. It’s a nostalgic memory.

I wonder when the last time I actually saw the sea was. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad to give myself a break after working hard recently.

“Yeah. Why not stay as long as you can?”

“Why do you emphasize ‘as long as you can’?”

“Me? Did I? I can’t imagine why.”

No way, you just put major emphasis on “as long as” and “long” just now.

“More importantly, shouldn’t you get going? It’s gonna take quite a while to reach Devon Count’s territory from here. If you don’t hurry, it’ll be evening before you know it.”

“There’s no time to waste!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I immediately stormed out of the Adventurer’s Guild and headed for the cart-laden area.

*

In a dim corner of a dark room where not a speck of light seeped in even during the day, a beautiful woman was bound.

The windows were intentionally blocked off with wooden planks, preventing any light from entering, and a thin layer of magical energy was spread across the room to muffle sounds.

The room was filled with the metallic scent of blood, with a carpet made of someone’s blood covering the floor.

“The Lord’s revelation has come. We must accelerate the schedule.”

A man’s voice, akin to that of a noble.

Simultaneously, that commanding voice echoed through the room like a whisper in a cave.

“Please… Just stop this, even now…”

Her voice trembled, having turned desperate from pleading.

This clearly proved that she had tried countless times before.

The man, who had been watching her closely, answered.

“It’s already too late. Soon the ritual will be over, and we will be reborn.”

“Please… No matter how hard we fight, we’re just frogs in a well…”

“Even so, I’d rather die doing something than continue living in hiding.”

In this world, powerful individuals are everywhere.

What little we can do is all just hiding.

– Crack. Crack.

The man twisted the limbs of something presumed to be human.

As he did, blood began to seep out from the contorted limbs as if squeezing water from a rag.

“Eat it.”

“N-no!”

No matter how hard she resisted, nothing changed.

Her arms and legs were bound, making her unable to move freely, and the only thing she could eat after days of starvation was that grotesque thing before her.

How many times has it been since she drank a person’s blood?

Every time she drank, her thirst deepened, and she increasingly felt like she was losing herself.

Despite her attempts to resist, her body craved blood uncontrollably now.

Even when she tries to bite her lips until they bleed, her tongue slips out on its own, consuming what was taken away.

It felt like something was pulling her up from the depths of the sea.

An unknown force was trying to control her.

For now, she held on with her self-awareness and endured…

But this was merely a temporary measure. There was no way she could last like this forever.

So, she could only hope someone would come and stop it before it was too late.

Before more lives were lost…

Before she hurt someone…

‘Please… Anyone, stop me. Please…’

 

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