Transaction

"Brother! Sister Eris! Welcome back!"

The moment I opened the door to the inn room, Aisha came flying toward me and Eris.

After catching Aisha, I rubbed her head.

"Have you eaten?"

"Mm!"

The three of us ate together, bathed, and got ready for bed.

Aisha sat in my lap, feeling the magic.

I was still teaching Aisha magic. As for swordsmanship, since we were in an inn, Eris couldn't teach her anymore.

"The holy power is fragrant, mellow grain; grant strength to those who have lost their vigor, that they may stand once more—[Healing]. How was that, Brother?"

"Mm... very good."

I felt the healing magic Aisha cast on me.

Aisha was probably already an intermediate mage now... Her growth speed was fast, and her total mana was increasing too. It looked like Aisha was a genius when it came to magic.

Hm? Eris had said Aisha's swordsmanship was getting stronger and stronger too. So my little sister was a genius at both magic and swordsmanship?

"Hehe, tonight I'm sleeping with you, Brother!"

Aisha lifted her head in my arms. Looking that adorable, there was no way anyone could refuse her.

Unable to control myself, I rubbed her cheeks and said, "Sure. It's about time to sleep now anyway."

"Mm!"

I turned to look at the other bed. Eris was lying on her side, and I didn't know whether she was asleep or not.

Still, yesterday she'd climbed into my bed on her own...

"Eris, want to sleep together?"

After a few seconds, Eris turned over.

Her face was red all the way to her ears, and she whispered in a slightly spoiled tone, "I do..."

What... was this...

In any case, after calming myself down, I still pretended to be mature and said, "Mm... come on, then?"

When had it started?

When had Eris's adorable side captured my heart?

"Brother~ your face is red."

"Uh..."

In any case, the three of us slept together, and it was another good night's rest.

Early the next morning, Eris and I headed to the meeting place we'd agreed on with that party.

We hadn't arrived as quickly as they had. By the time we were almost there, we could already see them.

"Are we late?"

"We only just got here too. Well then, let's introduce ourselves now, shall we? My name is Urax. As you can see, I'm a swordswoman."

As she spoke, she held out her hand to me, and after I shook it, "Rudeus Greyrat, mage. This is my older sister, Eris Greyrat, swordswoman."

After all, Eris's family counted as major nobility. It would be bad if her full name were recognized, and besides, this wasn't exactly a false name.

The dwarf patted his sword and shield and said, "My name is Thaurissan. I draw fire."

After the dwarf finished introducing himself, the Demon Race girl who looked a little shy said, "Polina... mage..."

"Introductions complete. Then let's set out."

The Lizardman leading them said that.

"Mm, no objections from me."

The B-rank task they had taken was to kill a lone Two-Headed Troll.

Just killing one Two-Headed Troll was B-rank, huh...

Apparently, Two-Headed Trolls were social creatures. If the job were to wipe out a Two-Headed Troll base, it would probably be an S-rank task, right?

Regeneration, monstrous strength, a height of about four meters, and the intelligence of a seven-year-old human child... Fire magic would probably work better.

"Um... excuse me... Is what you're holding a staff...?"

While I was thinking, the girl called Polina walked up beside me and asked timidly.

I looked down at my Arrogant Water Dragon King too. I had wrapped it in strips of cloth, mainly because it was too precious, and I was afraid someone might set their sights on it.

"Yes."

"Oh... uh... may I take a look...? Ah, it's just a mage's curiosity about staffs!"

"I'm sorry, but no. It doesn't really like being seen."

"I... I see... Sorry..."

The moment our conversation ended, I noticed Eris glaring fiercely at me.

When she realized I was looking at her, she turned her head away again.

"Hmph!"

Was she jealous? How cute.

"All right, the location for the commission should be around here. Since we don't have a scout in the party, we'll have to search slowly."

Not wanting to waste too much time, I spoke up.

"I'll do it. I'm good at detection magic."

"Really? That would be a huge help."

The Lizardman said this with some pleasant surprise, while Polina looked a little taken aback.

I didn't know whether detection magic existed in this world. The magic I was using now was really just me having enough mana to search with earth magic.

So, just like before, I activated earth magic and spread it outward along the ground.

A few minutes later, I found a huge object that resembled a humanoid creature.

"This way."

"That's all it takes...? You're a chantless mage?"

"Yeah."

"That really is rare..."

Indeed, so far, only Sylphie had been able to use chantless magic like me.

But I didn't think it was some amazing ability. If I ran into a swordsman like Ghislaine, whether I chanted or not, without preparation I would basically be killed instantly.

After walking for a little over ten minutes, our group found the lone Two-Headed Troll.

It looked about like I had imagined, except even bigger than I had expected...

We hid in the grass and observed it for a while.

"Then let's first work out a tactic..."

The Lizardman had only just finished speaking when Eris had already drawn her sword and charged out.

Honestly... She still hadn't shaken the habits she'd picked up in the northeastern Demon Continent.

"Change of plans! Support her!"

The Lizardman leader reacted fairly quickly.

The group had only just emerged from the grass when they discovered that the Two-Headed Troll had already had both arms cut off by Eris.

They stared dumbfounded as Eris cut off the troll's hands and feet. Its regeneration speed couldn't keep up with Eris's sword at all.

I activated fire magic and covered the troll's wounds with flames. As I had expected, it could no longer regenerate.

If possible, I really wanted to capture a troll alive and see what the principle behind its regeneration was, and whether it had any limits.

But never mind for now. I could think about that after I got back home.

With the last few strikes, Eris cut off the troll's head. She was covered in the troll's blood, her sword resting on her shoulder.

"How was that, Rudeus!"

"You were amazing."

"My clothes are all dirty! Wash them for me when we get back!"

"Got it."

We returned to the Adventurer Guild and turned in the commission.

They divided the money with us: forty silver coins. The price for this commission was sixty silver coins.

It seemed they knew they hadn't done anything, at least. Sensible enough.

"What mission are you planning to take tomorrow?"

"You decide. Starting tomorrow, I'd like every completed mission to earn me one gold coin. Look for commissions at that price."

"That's usually A-rank..."

"Haven't you already seen it? My sister is really strong."

"Got it."

Since adventurers apparently had a habit of going out for a big drink after finishing a request, they had no intention of taking another job.

Though they hadn't actually done anything...

Eris looked a little restless as she watched the celebrating adventurers.

I knocked her on the head.

"You can't even understand their language. There wouldn't be much point in mixing in and drinking with them, would there?"

"Hmph... I know that!"

"Besides, you smell a little right now."

"Huh?! R-really?"

Eris raised her arm and sniffed herself for quite a while.

"Not that I hate it, though."

"What are you saying, Rudeus?! I'm going back to bathe first!"

Eris ran back to the inn with a red face.

As for me, I still had something else to do.

That was to hire someone else to help Eris and me complete requests.

Though our source of income was stable now, it was still very inconvenient for our adventurer rank not to rise at all.

So I found a D-rank party and had them help us do F-rank requests.

"You're saying we do F-rank requests for you, we keep the commission money, and you'll pay us an extra F-rank commission fee on top of that? So basically double for one job?"

"That's right. Tell me what request you want to take, I'll accept it, you do it for me, and I'll give you the money."

"Th-there's... actually a deal this good...?"

"I just want to raise my adventurer rank. I don't have time to do those jobs. Of course, if your mistakes cause my adventurer status to become unusable in the next city, I'll kill you."

"Th-this... all right...! Deal!"