I don't understand. You don't understand anything—
Whose words were those?
Oh right, I remember now. They weren't the words of some great historical figure, but the last thing my former boss said to me.
While he had a higher position than me, it's not like he ever accomplished anything special. But in the literal sense, I guess you could call them the words of a great man.
I never dreamed that guy would be the last person I exchanged words with in Japan. Yet here I was, being told the exact same thing by my old boss.
...
It had been a month since the Adventurer's Guild receptionist Sara tearfully begged me to let her help out, and I graciously accepted after having no choice.
I'm not twisting the past, I'm pretty serious about things like that.
Despite my serious nature, right now I have a job as an adventurer and thief.
Is thief really a job? Oh well, whatever.
The Thieves' Guild An Chain—
Those who know, know, and those who don't, don't.
Rather than just stealing whatever they can get like common thieves, they tend to take more specialized items.
The members are scattered all over, and most of them live ordinary lives unconnected to stealing in their daily life.
Every so often, each one receives a magical letter from the boss—or leader, since that sounds more thief-like—detailing the job request.
The magical letters can only be opened by someone with a certain level of magical power, and they simply state what object to steal and its location.
The one I received just said, "In the city of the gods, gather the tears of the gods."
When I first saw it, I thought it must be some kind of prank.
But while the request is vague and lacking information, I'm told that the item specified will definitely be at that location.
Apparently only those personally approved by An Chain's leader can join as members, so their abilities are top-notch. They seem to possess special talents and combat skills.
Their success rate is one hundred percent. It's said that once An Chain has you in their sights, just give up.
Whoops, starting to brag about my new group there.
Does An Chain exist? Or not?
They're treated as something of an urban legend, but rumors say some nobles and even entire nations believe in them and gather information, hoping to get An Chain's power in their own hands.
That summarizes the info I gathered myself and what Sara taught me.
As a new recruit, I know next to nothing about An Chain.
I haven't even seen the boss's face or learned his name, and I haven't met a single other member.
When I asked Sara why she wanted to help such a mysterious organization, she said they had saved her life in the past.
She also said I should pay her a reward for her assistance.
Yeah, that's gotta be her real aim. The world is a cold place.
About ten days ago, I finally received a job request and started gathering intel.
With Sara's help, I did manage to scrape together some pertinent information.
But I still don't know the most crucial part—just what are these "tears of the gods"?
Having a new guy work solo... they must have made a mistake in their plans.
Sorry 'bout this, but I might just break your hundred percent success rate.
That brings us up to this morning.
I'm currently walking to reach the city that's my destination.
"Waaah, Catherine!"
Who the heck is Catherine?
"Oi, shut it," I said.
"Waaah, you don't understand anything about her!" the noisy guy walking next to me wailed. "Waaaaaaah!"
My loud companion, the phoenix, spewing out the same words my boss once said to me.
Yeah, he was heartbroken. Or more like, I'd be scared if I knew the details about a bird's love life.
"Those translucent wings, smooth beak, beautiful cry... I've never seen such an amazing girl!"
They all look the same to me, buddy. Geez.
I decided to ignore the phoenix. After all, he's an idiot.
Tuning out my noisy companion, after a while I could see a forest up ahead. Once we pass through there, we'll reach the town that's our goal.
The town is surrounded by mountains, but entering from that forest is supposedly the easy way in. Or so I heard.
You can also go over the mountains, apparently.
After walking a bit more, we finally arrived at the forest entrance. We took a short break, then it was time to head inside.
A small bird passed over our heads and flew into the forest.
As I absentmindedly watched it go, the phoenix's obnoxious wailing suddenly stopped.
I had a bad feeling and turned around.
"She's... an angel," he murmured.
"Huh?"
"Engy, I gotta go do something real quick."
"What? Oi!"
"My magnificent crest is all a-tingle. Later!"
With that, the fool took off flying, chasing after the little bird from before.
So what was all that crying about earlier? He has no integrity.
And you're always covered in goosebumps anyway.
"Geez."
I knew he was always like this.
Letting him do what he wants is the least tiring option.
But was that thing on his head really a crest? I always thought it was just feathers.
Thinking pointless thoughts like that, I entered the forest alone.