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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 196: Grace Period

The day after we arrived in Carirro Town. We set out for the Adventurers’ Guild early in the morning, leaving the inn we had rented, and walked through the town as a group of four.

“Yawn~”

“Runa-san, are you sleepy?”

“Lily, Runa always looks sleepy, so I don’t think you need to worry.”

“No, today her eyelids are 0.26mm lower than usual. That means she’s especially sleepy today.”

“That’s true. As Lily-san pointed out, the time she yawned was about 0.48 seconds longer than usual. Runa-san, did you not get much sleep last night?”

“Ah, I was using detection magic while I slept, so I might have had a light sleep.”

“I see, that makes sense. Then tonight, I’ll keep watch. You all should rest easy.”

“Then I’ll take you up on that. Thanks, Mize.”

“No need to mention it.”

Since yesterday was our first day in this town, I had used detection magic and magic sensing while I slept, just in case the Poison Serpent faction reported by the knights might attack.

That must be why my sleep was lighter than usual, and it seemed Iris and the others had picked up on my slightly sleep-deprived state.

“Hey, can I ask something?”

“What’s up, Narche?”

“It’s not ‘what’s up,’ but… wasn’t that conversation with Runa a little strange?”

“Strange? What part was strange?”

“What part? Mize, do you understand?”

“No, I didn’t think anything was particularly strange.”

Since Sharueina looked puzzled, I asked Iris and Miria as well, but they also shook their heads, indicating there was nothing odd about the conversation.

“Do you really not get it? Or am I just being mocked? What I want to say is—Runa’s eyelids being slightly lower than usual and yawning a bit longer is a vague, hard-to-spot reason for figuring out her condition! Don’t you find that odd?”

“Hmm? Oh, I see what you mean.”

“You see what I mean? Isn’t that a bit too lighthearted? I thought both of you made quite questionable comments.”

“Well, while I agree that those comments were questionable, it’s pointless to point it out, and denying it is a hassle, so I thought I’d let it go.”

“Eh, a hassle?”

Sharueina frowned as if she was about to say something exasperated, but honestly, if I had to react to their statements every time, I’d be the one getting tired.

I had been vaguely aware of Iris’s heavy feelings, and it wasn’t new for Miria to notice the little details about me.

Moreover, Fiera was quite dependent on me, and Shuvina’s excessive affection was no less than Fiera’s.

Furthermore, Sonia had become an inescapable stalker, so if I were to respond to all of them, I might end up suffering from overwork for the first time in my life.

“Narche, there are plenty of things in the world you’d be better off not touching. One of them is those girls. Keep that in mind.”

“I wonder if that’s really so.”

“Well, you might understand eventually. But for now, I’m a little curious about the atmosphere in town.”

“The atmosphere in town?”

“Yes. Not everyone is acting this way, but it seems a few people are hiding and watching us.”

“That’s true. As expected of Runa and Mize. I didn’t notice at all.”

“I didn’t notice either. But now that you mention it, I do feel some gazes on us.”

Since we left the inn, it felt like someone had been watching us, and it seemed that Iris and Sharueina hadn’t noticed the watchers at all.

“Runa-san, if you want, I can take care of them.”

“No, it’s fine to leave them for now. If they’re just watching us, it won’t have much impact. Mize will take care of it all later anyway, right?”

“Understood. I will handle it when the time comes.”

“Got it. Let’s head to the Adventurers’ Guild.”

Deciding to leave the business of the watchers to Mize for later, we headed towards our main objective, the Adventurers’ Guild.

“Here’s the Carirro Adventurers’ Guild.”

“It’s quite impressive. It seems larger than the Rumalunya guild.”

“The atmosphere isn’t bad either. The building looks brand new.”

Located near the center of the town, the Adventurers’ Guild was a notably large structure, and as Miria said, it seemed to have been recently renovated, with not a single stain or scratch on its exterior walls.

Inside the guild, there was a fresh aroma of wood, likely from using new timber, and it created a very calming atmosphere; however, I could still feel a suspicious gaze lingering from all around us.

“What a rude gaze indeed. When people stare at you so boldly, it almost feels refreshing.”

“Seems Runa-san’s read was on point.”

“Yes. It’s likely collusion between the clan and the guild. Otherwise, there’s no way they’d have the budget to renovate the building like this.”

Just as Miria said, the Adventurers’ Guild in the imperial capital or the capital of any domain would likely have the budget for a renovation due to the many adventurers there.

However, for a guild that exists in just a town, frankly, I doubted they had the budget for a complete renovation. The other guilds I had seen were barely managing repairs, let alone a complete overhaul.

“Well, that’s the most likely scenario, but there’s also the chance that the guild master has been scrimping and saving for this. So while we can doubt, let’s not jump to conclusions until we have solid evidence.”

Once I confirmed that Iris and the others nodded at my words, we chose a random quest while exposed to the uncomfortable gazes and brought it to the guild’s reception.

“Good morning. Are you here to take a quest?”

“Yes, please handle this request.”

“Certainly.”

The receptionist quickly processed our request with a smile and handed us a copy of the request form.

“Thank you for waiting. The procedure is complete. Please be careful out there.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll pray that you can return safely.”

As we were seen off by the receptionist, who continued to smile, we started to head toward the exit, only to find five familiar men blocking our path.

“Hey! Wait up, you lot!”

“Huh? Oh, it’s Ichi. And that guy who mocked me before, along with his buddies. What are you doing here?”

“Don’t call my name so casually!!”

“Well, you’re the only one I know the name of, so what can I do? Right, Ichi?”

“You bastard!”

“Shut up for a second, Ichi.”

Just as Ichi reached for his sword’s hilt, the leader of the group held Ichi back and stepped forward, looking down at me.

“You. Why didn’t you come to the clan? I told you to come once you arrived in town.”

“Didn’t you hear my report properly? I told that knight I’d refuse if going to your place meant running out of places to stay.”

“I heard that. But once you guys set foot in the clan, there’s no option to just leave. So if you had just come to our base, this whole matter would’ve ended there. That would’ve become your new place to live.”

“Ahaha. You really aren’t listening, are you? Or is it that your ears and your head are just for decoration? I should’ve told you not to think you could kill us, some unknown clan? And I also said I’d crush you, right? So, if we destroyed your clan yesterday, you would have nowhere to stay afterward, right? That would be a problem for me.”

“Hah. You sound pretty confident, but there’s no way your lot can wipe out mine. So I’m telling you to relax—are your ears just for decoration? Didn’t I tell you to listen carefully last time?”

We glared at each other for a while, but during that time, the gazes from the other adventurers around us didn’t fade, and if we were to start fighting here, it honestly felt like everyone would turn into enemies.

“Well, I’ll deal with you guys eventually. But today, I’m prioritizing my quest, so we’ll be taking our leave now.”

Determining that there was no point in lingering here any longer, I used short-distance teleportation to move behind the men, then led Iris and the others directly toward the door.

“Huh? How did you—”

“Say hi to your boss for me! If he wants to meet, he should come to us!”

“Hey! Wait! Are you running away!!”

“Huh? Running away?”

Just as I was about to step outside the guild, I heard a pathetic voice from behind that made me turn around, narrowing my eyes with killing intent so they could understand.

“…”

“We aren’t the ones running away. We’re just giving you a bit of time to escape. Well, even if you run, I doubt you’ll find a place to hide. Just think it through with your empty head. What’s the right thing to do?”

After saying that, I finally left the guild, and speaking only loud enough for Iris and the others to hear, I added:

“Mize, take care of the weaklings in the clan tonight.”

“Understood.”

“Is that okay? Without proof of the connection between the clan and the guild, we could end up being caught if they report us.”

“No, it’s certain there’s a connection. As proof, when that guy was arguing with me, the guild members were clearly preparing to subdue us at a moment’s notice. And one of the receptionists had disappeared, so if a fight had broken out, we would’ve likely been captured by the knights the receptionist called.”

“You noticed all that? I had no idea. But still, we’d be at a disadvantage without physical evidence. What do we do about that?”

“Tonight, I’ll sneak into the guild and look for anything that could serve as evidence. There must be some hidden ledgers or contracts.”

“I see. If we have that, even if we crush the guild and the clan, we can justify our actions.”

“Exactly. So tonight should be a bit busy—”

“Runa-san, may I take care of the infiltration into the guild?”

“Lily?”

“Yes.”

As I was discussing sneaking into the guild with Sharueina, Iris, who had been quietly listening, suddenly declared she would do it.

“I heard that last night Runa-san was on alert around the inn. So now it’s my turn. Mize-san has the clan to deal with, and Narche-san is nimble enough to handle any attacks. On my end, I can only use magic, so if we were attacked, I might end up destroying the inn entirely. Thus, I would like to handle this.”

“I see.”

Indeed, Iris had a point, and as skilled as she was in magic manipulation, if she were ambushed indoors, it could disturb other guests.

On that note, while Sharueina wouldn’t be as effective with a sword, she could handle a dagger and fight while incorporating magic, minimizing collateral damage.

“Alright then, I’ll leave the infiltration of the guild to Lily. Here, I’d like you to use this.”

“What is this?”

“This is an item called Mist Concealer, which will mask your presence and avoid detection magic as you channel your magic power.”

“Thank you! I’ll do my best!”

With that, Iris accepted the Mist Concealer and stored her robe in a ring with storage magic.

“Alright, let’s kick off the operation.”

After that, we quickly wrapped up the request we had taken and returned to the inn to prepare for the night ahead.

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If you enjoy it, please also check out the concurrently serialized work, “The Former Hero, Now the Demon Lord Devoting the World.”

https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330663836544021

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