Water Magician

Extra chapter thanks to ZC. Tomorrow’s release will be postponed to Wednesday!

Rune’s inn 『Golden Wave Pavillion』.

A Water-Attribute Magician entered through the door.

“Welcome.”

The proprietress of the inn greeted the familiar guest.

The Magician guest looked toward the dining room next to the lobby and found the person he was looking for.

Abel was sitting in a dining room chair reading a book.

A  Magician sat in the seat opposite him.

“Hey, Ryo, what’s up?”

Abel greeted him without lifting his head from the book.

“Abel … Do you know how to form trust?”

“That’s out of the blue, why?”

Abel raised his face and asked, perhaps because Ryo suddenly started a conversation without any preface.

“What you need is successful experiences. First, you need to build up your achievements. Then they would slowly think ‘I can leave it to him’, ‘He would be able to do a good job’, or ‘If he can’t do it, nobody can’. And then, when you try it or others let you do it, they experience what they expect of you over and over again. That’s how trust is built up.”

“O-okay …”

Even at this point, Abel nodded for now as he still couldn’t grasp Ryo’s intention.

“Then how do you lose trust? A failed experience doesn’t mean you lose trust right away. But if you lie or deceive, that trust is lost in an instant.”

“That’s correct …”

He still couldn’t guess where this was leading to but Abel nodded because he could agree with what Ryo was saying.

“There is something I want to check with Abel.”

Ryo deliberately paused there.

“W-what is it?”

Abel felt somewhat uncomfortable and urged him to continue.

“Abel wears an item that defends against mental interference magic, right?”

“Yeah, I’m wearing it.”

Abel wore an item called the 『Necklace of Calming』 that doesn’t leave his skin at all times.

It was a surprisingly effective item that resists mental interference magic and eliminates the harmful effects of poison.

“I heard it’s a national treasure-grade item. It’s strange that Abel, a B-rank adventurer, wears such a thing!”

“So what … B-rank adventurers are still top-class talents in the Kingdom.”

Abel argued with cold sweat dripping down his back.

“But even Hugh, a former A-rank adventurer, doesn’t have such an item.”

“Uh……”

Ryo pressed him with keen words as if a ruthless police officer cornering a criminal.

Ryo’s right hand pushed up glasses that he wasn’t wearing.

Of course, Abel didn’t know what that action meant.

“I wondered why Abel, a B-rank adventurer, has a national treasure-grade item. No matter how much I thought about it, I could only draw one conclusion. That was ……”

There, Ryo deliberately took a breath.

Abel desperately endured the oppressive feeling.

“The conclusion is that Abel is actually a bandit and stole it from the treasure vault.”

“And I said that conclusion was wrong before!”

It was a repetition of a conclusion Ryo had made previously.

“But that’s the only possibility I can think of. In the first place, Abel is a Swordsman but your hands are as dexterous as a Scout and can detect traps. That’s strange too. But if I consider you as an excellent thief capable of stealing from the treasure vault, everything makes sense!”

Ryo looked at Abel with an expression of ‘How about that?’.

For Abel, who couldn’t answer even if he’s asked, there was nothing he could do about it … but he was driven by the desire to tell the truth.

If it was Ryo, he wouldn’t spread Abel’s true identity and he didn’t think that his attitude would suddenly change after knowing it.

“Haa … Okay, I’ll tell Ryo the truth.”

Abel frowned and took a breather, then raised his face and looked Ryo straight in the eye.

“I’m Albert, the second son of the current king, King Stafford IV. Albert Besford Knightley. Now, to gain experience and well, for various reasons, I’m an adventurer. So, this necklace, the 『Necklace of Calming』 is certainly a national treasure-grade item, but it’s a special necklace that only members of the royal family are allowed to wear. Well … that’s it.”

Abel revealed everything and had a look as though he had a weight off his shoulder.

However, Ryo, who was told the truth, did not have a satisfied expression.

“Abel … Even if you plan to lie, you should make up a better lie. Didn’t I say earlier? If you tell a lie, you would lose your trust …. Sheesh, you don’t even listen to people at all. I don’t think that’s good.”

“No, that was actually the complete truth though …”

Ryo didn’t believe him at all.

Abel was troubled.

“The ones who know this are Gilmas and the Crimson Swords … Oh, and Phelps. That’s about it, so please don’t go spreading this around.”

“I won’t do that … I would be called a liar …”

“Hey, it’s unbelievable but it’s true? You can ask the guys I just named?”

“Abel has already bribed everyone, right? It’s a common move.”

“No, why!”

Abel had steeled his heart and told the truth … but Ryo didn’t believe him at all.

Relationships were extremely difficult.