Chapter 12: Beastman Adventurer Part 4
"Jin-kun, you don't have to be so worried. You haven't done anything wrong, right?" Chloe spoke to me as she looked at my face.
Well, it's not that it's good or bad...
"It's just the idea of being called out that bothers me..." I said, feeling a similar sensation to when I was called to the teacher's office in my past life, even though I hadn't done anything wrong.
Chloe tilted her head in confusion since she couldn't understand that feeling. "Jin-kun seems worried, so let's change the subject," she said, returning to the original topic.
"In your case, Jin-kun, if you can do both vanguard and rearguard, would it be okay for you to be the rearguard when working with me?"
"Does that mean you have a vanguard-oriented skill, Chloe? If it's okay to ask, I'd like to know just that much," I said.
"Yeah, sure. It's [Body Strengthening Magic] and [Swordsmanship: 3]. With these two skills, I've been playing as a vanguard until now," Chloe replied.
When I heard [Swordsmanship: 3], I thought Chloe might be one of the genius types.
The skill level of weapon arts and magic skills varies depending on the experience points required to increase the level, which is affected by the talent of the owner. In games, the protagonist's settings are usually relaxed, and they tend to reach near the maximum level equally by the end.
"You have talent for swords, huh?"
"Yeah, I heard that if you have any talent at all, adventurers have an advantage. It's really true," Chloe said with a smile when I mentioned talent.
Looking at Chloe out of the corner of my eye, Rikola-san told us about another of Chloe's exceptional qualities.
"Guild side values Chloe-san's scouting technique more than her swordsmanship skills."
"Oh, that's great. Since I don't have that kind of technique, it seems like we can challenge dungeon raids early on if Chloe is with me," I said.
"That's great! I can spot traps and such, and with Jin-kun's magic, we can easily conquer the dungeon!" Chloe said with a visibly excited expression at the mention of dungeon raids.
Dungeon raids. When I said that, Chloe's eyes lit up with excitement.
Dungeons are places where the gods give trials to people in this world, with many dungeons existing with various shapes, the most common being cave-type dungeons. There are several dungeons near the capital city, and many adventurers are challenging them.
"If it's Jin-san and Chloe-san, as long as they don't let their guard down, it seems like they could earn a good amount of money. Should we search for a dungeon that would be suitable for Jin-san and the others here?"
"Yes, please do so. I'm not sure if we will go or not yet."
"Understood. I will search for a dungeon that would be recommended for Jin-san and the others."
After Fine-san said that, Chloe said, "I'm looking forward to it!"
Despite getting off-topic, they somehow got to know each other and promised to take on a request together the next day before parting ways.
After saying goodbye to Chloe, I returned to my lodging because it was already getting dark outside.
Once I got home, it was already time for dinner, so I ate and took a shower before entering my room.
"Wait a minute... wasn't there a character with the same name as Chloe in the game!?"
Lying in bed, I jumped up, shouting as I realized it.
There was an adventurer of the beastman tribe in the game named Chloe.
However, the "game Chloe" and the "Chloe I met today" seemed like completely different people.
The "game Chloe" had a dark aura and was somewhat scary, to the point where I mistook her for an "enemy character" at first.
However, in reality, she was a character with "severe human distrust" and wouldn't open her heart to anyone except those she trusted, even if they were good people.
"Come to think of it, there was an incident in Chloe's story that was similar to what happened today... Could it be that the Chloe from the game is the same Chloe I met today?"
I couldn't fully believe it and spent almost an hour trying to sort out my thoughts.
In the end, I decided to believe that the "game Chloe" and the Chloe I met today were the same person, and I resolved to put this matter to rest.
"I'm trying to break away from the story myself, so why am I becoming friends with one of the important characters, Chloe?"
As I sighed, I went to sleep, tired of thinking and trying to avoid unpleasant things.