"I… I… I apologize for my indecency. How dare I show this kind of behavior to the Young Master of the Rinehafer Family...."
"Forget it. Are you more sober than that?"
I asked, crossing my arms.
My tone was oddly prickly, and Elena broke out in a cold sweat.
I sighed, remembering the situation from earlier.
'I didn't think she'd actually just grab me by the scruff of the neck and start drinking.'
Again, Inner Lunatic is amazing in so many ways. I can't believe how well it establishes the character's personality.
The developer is clearly a bit of an asshole.
But even if she's a heroine, there's no I can in good conscience give her a trait like [drunk].
Is this insane?
Most bizarrely, she pulled out a homemade hangover potion to cure her own hangover.
…Doesn't it make you feel self-conscious to use your talents like that?
I look at her innocent face with a deep question.
It's still a pretty face.
Her purple hair falls around her face with a faint scent of lilac.
Her eyes are deep and dark, with a youthful air, and slightly squinty.
It was all part of her charm.
The black mole at the side of her eye added to her decadent charm.
She's definitely pretty.
Pretty, but....
I thought to myself and used [Insight] to open Elena's status window.
I see the familiar trait skill in place.
__________________
[Basic Info]
Name: Elina
Gender: Female
Age: 21
Race: Half-Elf
Primary Element: Wood
Achievements: -.
[Traits].
Positives: [Cheerful] / [Potion-making genius] / [Dexterity genius] / [Open-minded] / [Master of Elementalism – uncultivated].
Neutral: [Natural] / [Dumbass] / [Gold digger].
Negative: [Ignorant] / [Drunkard]
[Stats]
Physique: 6
Magic: 4
Luck: 5
Will: 8
Charm: 22
[Skills].
Passive Skills: [Crafting Blessing].
Active Skills: -.
__________________
There are a few things of note in Elena's status bar, but two are the most important.
The first is that she is of an unusual race. That is, she is a Half-Elf.
Inner Lunatic features a number of races, and elves have always been popular.
It would be a shame to leave them out.
Granted, it's not a setting that has a lot of human interaction, but whatever.
Forbidden love has always been a major theme, and in that sense, she was a forbidden fruit, born to an elf who didn't get along with humans.
'Half-elves have the advantage of living longer than humans and being able to maintain their appearance for longer periods of time, and in Elena's case, she was quite popular with male players because of her ditziness.
The problem with half-elves is that they like humans too much.
They're also very gullible. They don't have the intelligence of an elf.
In other words, they're pretty but troublesome.
If Zitri is a perfectionist with a sore finger… she's a character with a lot of gaps that you want to fill in.
I didn't hate her either.
The fact that I recruited her so many times is proof of that.
…until I started playing the game.
I thought, 'This is… drunkenness. Will I be able to roll this well later, or shouldn't I be bouncing now?'
But then I pulled myself together and shook my head. It's even harder to find another potion maker.
That, coupled with the main story's requirement that I not include any protagonists, was leading me down a very rocky road.
Which means there aren't a lot of options for me right now.
I could take a drunk with me.
Whether he realized it or not, Zitri whispered in my ear.
"Uh… Master. If I may be so presumptuous, I've heard that drunks are not allowed in the house. Even in my family, people like that were always causing trouble."
"Yeah… I know… I know… I know, but... there's nothing I can do about it now."
Indeed.
Zitri sighed to herself as she said that.
She had enough trouble with Rona on her own, but to add another person to the mix, it seemed like a terrible thing to think about.
Why was there no one like that? Someone who looks like they could get into trouble.
A ticking time bomb, so to speak.
If Rona and Elena stayed together, they'd probably have an amazing collaboration.
It'll just be Zitri and me dying.
Goosebumps rise and run down my spine.
Elena gulps down the cold water, sputtering and coughing, whether she realizes it or not.
Huh, bear with me. I thought it was said that three 'patient' characters could get you away with murder.
Wait.
"Doesn't that mean I don't have to endure three swings of a knife?
I glanced at Elena, trying to keep my rambling thoughts to myself. Clearing my throat, I continued calmly.
"As I said a moment ago, I wish to transfer you to my faction."
Elena hesitated for a moment, then tilted her head.
"Faction? Transfer…? I don't know what you mean by that...."
I suddenly remembered Elena's traits.
[Ignorance] and [Stupidity].
In other words, she was very weak in common sense, except for potion-making.
This is ridiculous.
I'm saying this out loud, and she can't even understand this….
I think this is a bit dangerous.
But what can I do, I have to explain.
"So… I'm asking you to be on my side. I need your potion-making talents."
"Hmph, that's… how did you know I make potions?"
"You're the one who supplied the potions to the old woman's stall upstairs, so I've known all along."
I added a word there, not sure she was going to be convinced.
"You haven't forgotten my family name, have you? There's a way to know everything in House Rinehafer."
Of course, I hadn't researched her.
But the Reinhafer name is often quite helpful in this way.
When people ask me, "How did you know about this?" I tell them that I used the family name to look into it, and it clears things up.
I think it's not a bad way to go.
"Why… why me…?"
"Because I sensed a talent in you."
"But...."
Elena pauses, considering.
Well, it's a given. House Reinhafer is one of the three great Dark Houses.
To put it nicely, their reputation is built on quite a bit of evil.
It's their nature, their foundation.
I clasped my hands together to ease her burden.
"It is I who you must serve. You are not obligated to serve House Reinhafer, so I hope you can look me in the face and make up your mind."
"Hmph… Well, you are very handsome, but... huck! Yeah...."
Even as she complimented my appearance, Elena seemed genuinely scared, not worried.
But so what. I have to live.
If I don't catch her now and clear the hidden quest?
I'll have to do a lot of backtracking.
And there's no telling how many other hassles I'll have to deal with along the way.
It's only right that I squeeze every last bit of efficiency out of this.
I finished my thoughts and looked Elena in the eye, hoping to convince her. What is the most important thing in a negotiation?
To offer something that the other side can never refuse.
Why?
Because then you don't have to think about it.
"Yes, your friend. I know she's locked up in the Chasers' dungeon{1} right now. Did I mention her name is Mei?"
"Uh, how did you… know that…?"
For once, Elena dropped her innocent expression.
Taking advantage of her embarrassment, she quickly continues.
"I've told you, I'm no less a member of House Reinhafer than anyone else. It's no big deal to dig up that much information."
It's a lie, of course. But she seems to believe it completely.
I feel a little guilty, but it's not a bad offer for her either.
A friend of hers, someone she's known for a long time.
It gives her the best chance to save Mei.
In fact, it was the reason she was still stuck in this rotten town.
Because Mei is locked in the dungeon because of her.
That guilt is why she's raising money to get her out.
She could have moved to another town and been recognized for her talent, but she didn't.
For her friend's sake.
I understand.
I know that she was abandoned by her parents as a child and raised in an orphanage with Mei.
And that they've relied on each other to get this far.
I clasp my hands together and try to recall the game's setting.
'Elena has been threatened with death by Taigan, the town's captain of the guard, unless she pays a huge tax. To protect her, her friend Mei was captured by him and imprisoned in the dungeons.'
Now Elena is a wanted fugitive, living underground, brewing potions.
When a woman is at her weakest.
I am saddened, but I will use this opportunity to recruit Elena.
Elena's greatest wish.
It is to save her friend and escape.
Also, I can save Mei.
That's enough.
'Besides, one of the requirements for this Chasers' Hidden Clear is to expose the town's corruption. It's something I need to do anyway, so it can't hurt to make a little noise.
I smiled sheepishly.
"I'll rescue your friend Mei, and with the help of the family, I'll claim this part of Chasers as my own."
"…What?"
At that point, even Zitri looked at me with wide eyes, surprised. I was puzzled, and then I realized something strange.
Oh, right.
I didn't explain my plan to Zitri, did I?
* * *
After Nox left, Elena pondered for a while in her workshop in the underground waterways.
Suddenly, her sobriety was broken and she was in an awkward mood.
In the solitude of the night, in a confined space where she couldn't even look up at the night sky, she remembered the boy who had stood before her earlier.
Had he just reached adulthood?
A lanky boy who looked at least five years younger than she was. He'd stood there with an air of authority, telling her what he wanted to have. Elena offered what she wanted to get.
It was the basis of a deal, but not the way the powerful did things.
Elena had seen plenty of scum in her time.
The powerful and the corrupt.
Such was the case with Taigan, who now commanded the Chasers' guard.
Elena closed her eyes for a moment and remembered the day of the tragedy.
It had been an unusually rainy day.
-They can't make me pay more taxes here, not even close! How can they make me pay for something I don't have?!
-When they tell you to pay taxes, you pay taxes. What's the big deal?
-But… people are dying because you haven't repaired the wall! I thought you were getting support from the Imperial Family, so where the hell is the money going that you're taxing us so much…
-That's none of your business, I'm just mad as hell that I've been relegated to this shitty backwater, and I have to explain that to you?
Taigan was the tyrant of the Chasers.
He ruled this abandoned land like an emperor.
The Chasers are a neutral zone.
It's controlled by the Imperial government, which sends people there on missions, but they're of little consequence: they're few and far between, and they're not very good in the first place.
-If you don't have the money, I'll drag you away. Everybody put her in the dungeon now!
-Wait a minute!
Just like that.
As Elena is about to be taken to the dungeon. A woman appeared in front of her, her old friend Mei.
Mei stretched out her arms proudly and said.
-I borrowed money from this guy, so I can't pay my taxes. If you're going to take me away, take me away.
-Mei, what the hell is that…!
Of course, Mei was lying. But at that moment, Elena couldn't continue. Her eyes looking back at her.
She felt it the moment she saw it.
The fear of the have-nots.
The helplessness of those who could do nothing.
And so, for all these years, Elena has been locked away in her workshop, making potions in the rotting, pulsing waterways.
Because if she didn't do something, she'd never come back.
She needs to make some money.
So she poured herself into alchemy, trying to hold on to hope.
But just as she was beginning to see its limits.
Nox came to her.
[Join me.]
[Hoping for a positive answer].
He offered to make a pact with her in exchange for her rescuing his friend Mei. She had no choice but to accept.
Her only friend.
She didn't want her life to be ruined because of her.
Elena hadn't learned much, certainly, and she didn't know much.
She's clueless, and for that matter, she has a filthy fondness for alcohol.
But she was just another person trying to protect what she held dear.
She will never forget the boy with the white hair and lavender eyes.
Even if he can't save her friend.
* * *
Day Three.
I'm ready for the Chasers to begin in earnest.
Zitri and I have been visiting the villagers, trying to piece together the events that have transpired in order to uncover the corruption here.
The first to help us was the girl I first gave bread to.
-Taigan… he's the most dangerous man in the village, always trying to get his hands on the girls, and the boys… if they look good, he'll sell them to someone else!
-The only way to survive is to be as sneaky as possible: cut your hair short, and be as ugly as possible when begging for food.
-The guards down there are all the same, and it's dangerous, so you have to be careful.
I give them some food.
The children handed over a bunch of important information. I took them and wrote a letter to the Reinhafer family through the town's telegraph office and sent it ahead of time.
I also managed to get some information out of others, and thanks to them, I learned that a slave trade was scheduled to take place underground today.
This would help me catch them in the act.
Satisfied, I set about putting my plan into action. I approached the building where the guards were gathered and inspected it.
The exterior walls were unusually white and new, unlike the others.
I wondered where the imperial funding had gone.
If it's obvious, it's obviously spent, assholes.
Yuck.
Without hesitation, I swooped in and drew my sword.
Then I shouted.
"Where is Taigan, the captain of the guard here?"
But it was his henchman who jumped out at me.
"No, Master Nox, why are you here....?"
"Where is Taigan the Sinner now?"
"A sinner… I'm not sure what you mean, but if it's Taigan, he should be in the dungeons by now. I'll speak to him and have him brought to you…."
"Lead the way. I'll go myself."
The subordinate's face stiffened at my words. But I let out a maniacal laugh, drawing my sword and holding it to his throat.
"Bastards. From now on, if you lie, you die. Do you understand?"
"Hmph, hmph! Yeah… ah, okay…."
I continued with a shrug.
"Well, if you don't want to die… you'll have to give me directions, and I'm sure you'll be good at that, right?"
"Mugh, shure…."
The subordinate muttered, stunned.
With a smile on my face, I tighten my grip on my sword.
I'm going to turn this town upside down.
Starting, of course, with the capture of the town's main power.
{1} : think gaol/jail would be better here but leaving as is