Chapter 34: Evidence“Master, um, Sir, would you really send me back if I asked you to? You paid a lot of money for me.”

  “Yes, Sherry. Your happiness is more important.”

  “What?”

  Alina, chimes in, “Yeah, David’s weird that way. He really would. I too hope you stay though. Especially since David is so happy to have you here.”

  “Of course I’ll stay and I’m really sorry for causing so much trouble.”

  “Evidently, everyone else had the same question, so it’s all good. Anyway, lunch is getting cold. Let’s go eat.”

  Alina whispers something to Sherry — probably expining my weird, new word.

  “We should look into this question of what I am a bit ter. Of course, this must remain strictly secret, just like my extra skills.”

  “Yes, Sir. I understand.”

  After lunch, we went to Curatar for a little shopping. Alina took Sherry to look for personal items and the guys went off to get more food. I stayed in the middle to supply money as needed. After pushing the rger items through a warp portal, we all went to the weapon shop.

  “Sherry, you might like to continue with a spear, but it’d be good if you try using a club.”

  She picked out a club, which looked suitable for a final boss. It’s not much more than a log with one end whittled down to a handle. The rest of us didn’t find any upgrades, though our enthusiasm may have been lowered after seeing Sherry wield the tree like it was a simple stick. Alina didn’t even bother to check. After I finally asked Marcus clean up the stuff we got from the ambush, Alina snatched Simon the Pirate’s short sword (a rapier). She said it was because of the bance, but I suspect that it was cool to have the sword of an infamous vilin.

  At the armor shop, Sherry picked out some heavy mail. I had considered having Marcus pass his heavy armor to Sherry, but he didn’t want to upgrade to heavier armor since he didn’t want to get even slower. Sherry was initially hesitant about being the only getting new armor, but she liked it anyway.

  We stopped at home to drop off the rest of our stuff and change into our new armor before warping back to Nordselm’s byrinth. We managed to complete the eighth floor before heading home. While the others were busy making dinner or other chores, I resumed my conversation with Sherry.

  “OK, let’s get back to our conversation before we got side-tracked by specutions regarding my race.”

  “Um, you mean there’s more, Sir?”

  “Yes, all that was just for fun. This is more serious. I’ll start by telling you that it’s perfectly OK if you don’t believe me. I only ask that you keep an open mind. I’ll give evidence where possible and avoid the parts which are impossible to prove. You are encouraged to be skeptical about anything I’m about to tell you. Challenge any of my wild cims.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “First is my Identify skill. Besides objects, I can identify people. I can see anyone’s name, age, job and level.”

  “Do you mean like a status card?”

  “Yes, it’s simir. The best general usage is to identify criminals.”

  “What? Can you really do that?”

  “Yes, I’ve never missed. I hope you can wait for the proof. The main reason to tell you about this is that I can see that your Explorer job has reached level 11.”

  “That’s quite close, Sir, though I’m only at level 10.”

  “No, Sherry, that was back when we met. Go ahead and check.”

  Sherry opened her Item Box to see that she had indeed risen to 11 x 11.

  “That’s impressive though it still could have been just a good guess. Um, Sir.”

  “Yes, very good. My Identify skill goes a bit further with party members. For example, it looks like you started going to byrinths earlier than others your age.”

  “Um, yes, but how could you possibly know that?”

  “I guessed based on your Vilger level, which brings me to my next wild cim. All jobs have a level.” [1]

  “I’ve heard that theory before, but there is no evidence besides Explorer.”

  “It’s true that I can’t prove this directly and there’s a chance that I’m actually wrong. What I can say is that I see level numbers for every job, exactly like Explorer. More importantly, seeing these levels allow me to make and test predictions.”

  “I’d be very interested to see that.”

  “OK, but it may be a bit of a shock so please be patient with me. I believe that you had tried to become a Priest.”

  “Sadly, yes. I guess Master An told you.”

  “No, but it didn’t work because your Vilger level was too low. Today, we fixed that. Look at your hand.”

  “What?! How did that happen? This is impossible!”

  Sherry looked to Alina in the kitchen for an expnation.

  “Yes, Sherry, he did the same to me and Theo as well. It’s just another thing David can do.”

  “Sherry, an important thing to understand is that I didn’t grant you this job. Instead, I could see when it became avaible and simply switched it with your primary job. Basically, nothing more than anyone could do at a guild temple.”

  “And that’s the simple part? Nobody can do that.”

  “Well, the evidence doesn’t support that cim, Sherry, since it sure looks like I can do it.”

  “How could you… never mind, I give up. It’s all too much to understand, but I can’t deny what I’ve seen.”

  “I can’t imagine how hard this has been on you. Let’s stop with the revetions for now and go eat dinner.”

  I set up the bath after dinner, giving up my seat to Sherry. There’s plenty of room for all three of us, but it just felt like a bit too much too soon.

  ────────────────────────

  “Sir, may I talk to you for a moment?”

  “Sure, Sherry, come on in. What’s on your mind?”

  “Alina told me about your problem. I’ve come to help.”

  “Huh? What problem?”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything. It’s my duty, after all.”

  “No, it absolutely isn’t.”

  “Oh, I understand. You don’t want someone so small, right?”

  “I can see that you’re just trying to guilt me.”

  “OK, look at it this way. My master is a human male. Even if I’m sent back tomorrow, everyone will assume we were together. In that case, I’d like to actually experience it.”

  “Sherry, that was a damn good argument. I guess Alina was right after all, it’s just me.”

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  Day 31

  So, this is how it happens. I actually slept with Sherry with full knowledge that she’s a sve — my sve. I always wondered how someone who has sunk to the bottom can somehow manage to sink even lower. The trick is, once you’re doomed, there’s no where else to go. Another interpretation is that wallowing in the muck simply feels good. The warm embrace of a girl who seems so happy to be with me is really something to be celebrated, regardless of the differences in social status. This should not be ruined by self-doubt and morals that have no pce in this world. Ah, spoken like a true vilin trying to rid himself of his st shred of decency.

  OK, let’s try to use a little objectivity. I cannot doubt consent. Well, that’s if I ignore the little detail of svery. I honestly didn’t know Alina’s status when I slept with her and I na?vely trust that I would never, ever abuse that retionship. Both of them are legal here as well as back in my old world (again, ignoring svery) and we don’t differ much in age. [2] They clearly know about each other and one encouraged the other. Yes, I will once again forgive myself after the fact.

  “Good morning, Sherry. Are you feeling OK?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Nuh-uh, not in bed. I can accept if you feel a need to use a title outside, but I’m definitely ‘David’ here.”

  “Alright. Thank you for accepting me, David.”

  “I’m very happy to hear that, Sherry.”

  Yep, that simple line did it for me. If I’m bound for hell anyway, might as well enjoy the journey.

  Downstairs, Alina greeted us cheerfully, “Good morning you two.”

  With a bit of sharpness to my voice, “Alina…”

  Between Alina’s beaming smile and Sherry’s innocent gaze, I just couldn’t bring myself to admonish Alina for maniputing an event that had meaning for Sherry and, um, benefit for me. This was a well-intended and well-received gift.

  Much softer, “… good morning to you too.”

  We all sat down to a quiet breakfast.

  “By the way, Sherry, is this your native nguage?”

  “Brahim? No, I learned it at the sve shop. That’s one of the reasons I picked that pce. Most others shops don’t bother.”

  So, this really is called Brahim as Alina said. With two independent sources, local bias seems unlikely. Actually, I probably should have just asked An instead of trying to hide my ignorance. Sherry’s second point about selecting a sve shop seemed interesting, but she cut to a more important question.

  “Sir, will I keep the Priest job?”

  “No, Sherry, I want you to be a bcksmith.”

  “Huh?”

  “No, what was that word? Oh, yes, Runesmith. Sherry, I would like you to become our Runesmith.”

  “Even with all these miracles, that’s impossible. You said that you could only switch me to jobs I’ve qualified for.”

  “I have a theory, though it may take some time.”

  “Is Sir aware of the fact that most crystal fusions fail?”

  “Yes, Sherry, I have heard that and I understand your trepidation. My promise to you, if front of the entire party, is that I will never bme you for a failed fusion.”

  “Thank you, Sir, I do want to believe that.”

  “As the leader of the party and head of the house, I both reap the benefits and bear the responsibilities. In my view, anyone who can’t handle the responsibilities, should lose the right to the benefits as well. So, from that point of view, no one else can be at fault for simply doing what I have requested.”

  “Yes, Sir, I will do my best.”

  “Sorry, that may have been a bit too heavy for a breakfast conversation. Um, by the way, have you ever used a club in the byrinths?”

  “No, Sir, I have not.”

  “Then, let’s start out on a lower level. There’s a special technique I’d like to practice with you.”

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  I warped us to the second floor of Nordselm’s Labyrinth and watched as Sherry smashed trees and the occasional goat.

  “Hey Sherry, let me try using your club.”

  I had to push the majority of my bonus points away from Durandal and EXP skills to bump up my strength. Even with that, I was pretty clumsy with that gigantic weapon. With considerable effort, I managed to line up two trees and attempted to make a double hit. It sort of worked in principle, but had no significant effect. I handed the club back to Sherry in defeat. Of course, I only readjusted my bonus points away from strength after handing it back.

  “I was trying to hit two in one swing but couldn’t really do it properly. Maybe you could, Sherry.”

  The veil covering that manipution was pretty thin, but I’ll tell her about it ter anyway. Sherry tried a few times and I helped with her southpaw grip. Everyone else looked rather bored. I’d need to treat them to something good after this.

  Finally, she made a perfect twofer. I quickly checked her job list and there it was: Runesmith.

  “Yes! You got it. You got it Sherry!”

  I sure got some weird looks for the level of enthusiasm I showed for such a trivial accomplishment.

  “Let’s take a break at home.”

  ────────────────────────

  Sitting down to talk to Sherry again, she asks the obvious question.

  “What was all that about, Sir?”

  “You did it, Sherry. You passed the st prerequisite. Take a look.”

  [Runesmith]

  “What? How? OK. OK. Sir, this really is too much. Please, after all you’ve done, I don’t want to disappoint you.”

  “Sherry, it’s completely unfair to ask this of you, but please, just trust me. I promise that I won’t force you, but I want you to at least try.”

  I pulled a few caterpilr strings from my item box and handed them to Sherry.

  Sherry sort of mumbled or perhaps even grumbled, “You have an Item Box too? Of course you do. Why wouldn’t you?”

  “OK, Sherry, think about Armor Creation. I don’t know the chant, but I can try to help if you get stuck.”

  After a little thought and discussion, Sherry gets ready with threads in each hand.

  “From heaven and earth in shadow is born the form divine. By that will made manifest, forge protection. — Armor Creation!” [3]

  Out of a bright, magical light, a cute, little friendship bracelet is formed.

  “Good job, Sherry! That was so cool to see.”

  “I… I really did it. It’s real. I don’t understand how, but it really worked. Thank you so much, Master! I mean, ah hell, David. Thank you, David!”

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  [1] The MC of the LN tried to hide all this basic information from his party. Yeah, because of trama, etc. The point is, David has the benefit of learning from the previous MC’s mistakes.[2] Where David lived on Earth, the general Age of Consent is 16.[3] This chant isn’t revealed in the LN or WN so I just made it up. Most other chants are adapted from the source material.