Protagonist Knows Everything

Kate bowed her head and spoke. She said that the information Dirk had was wrong… she suddenly changed her words.

“Oh no.”

She said, “He thought I was a C+ class. Dirk said he was sorry, now what do I do?”

Kate covered her face with her hands.

“I said all those things to Eris at the tavern crowded with other adventurers.”

Well, that’s what I did, but I’m not particularly sorry.

Dirk that guy by the way. It seems that he hid my involvement in that incident.

Please give me a 0.1 percent upward rating.

“What?”

“No matter which guild I go to, it won’t give me the same quests as before. Now they give only D plus, at best, only C grade quests.”

Of course, they would. If a person who only performed party quests wanted to run a single quest, who would give them a high-level quest?

I casually asked, “Hmm. So what?”

“Are you going to pretend you don’t know? I want to party with Eris again.”

“Haah?”

This is not what she said. It came from Kasha, who was listening beside her. It seemed that Kate hadn’t heard it.

I asked, “Are you sorry?”

“Huh? she didn’t do anything well.”

“……”

“She always made mistakes. I have been in danger once or twice because of her.”

Kate complained, then she suddenly changed her words, as if she had realized something.

“No, of course, I wasn’t all good either. But that evening I was a little bit harsh.”

“Yeah.”

“So, where is she? Eris.”

“I haven’t seen her since that day either. I’ll tell you when I see her.”

Maybe you’ll never see her again. Kate let out her sigh and drooped her shoulders.

“If you see Eris, tell her. I’m deeply regretful. I want to do it again.”

“Are you reflecting at all?”

“Kate. What was the most dangerous quest you ever received as a party?”

Kate tilts her head at my unexpected question. But she soon replied.

“I think it was Class B… why did you ask?”

“You were a C-class and Ms. Eris was a D-class. Are you saying that the two of you got B-class quests?”

“……”

“Did you get hurt in those quests?”

“Oh, no. Definitely not.”

I nodded as if I knew she would say that.

“In that case, it means that someone was protecting you without you knowing.”

“What are you talking about? You’re an unusual person.”

“Nothing much.”

“At any rate, please deliver my message. Okay?”

I half-heartedly nodded. After Kate had gone outside, I glanced at Kasha. She was rubbing her eyes. It’s probably her habit when she wanted to hold back her tears.

“How did you know?”

“What.”

“I helped Kate without her knowing.”

“It’s just a guess from common sense.”

After rubbing her eyes again, Kasha looked at me and laughed. It was her first smile. I was a bit surprised to find that a smile suited her better.

“Huh. You’re a very, very tiny bit of a nice person.”

“Thank you for that.”

“Of course, overall, it’s really a little bit. About 0.1 percent?”

I’m sorry Dirk for playing you.

“When I become S-class, I’ll reveal my identity to Kate as well. Then, I’ll apologize for making mistakes.”

I replied with a self-contained smile, “Then will you register? To the Hagnut Guild.”

Kasha jerked her head vigorously. Sain, who couldn’t keep up with the situation, dumbfoundedly pulled out her documents.

It was at the moment when Kasha signed the paper.

[I got 50 HR evaluation points from Sain.]

[You earned 50 HR evaluation points from Kasha.]

[The employee can be promoted to the first year. Do you accept the promotion?]

Do you accept the promotion? Only some idiot will refuse a promotion.

I nodded.

[Level: 1st-year employee / Next level: 2nd-year employee]

[Personnel points required until the next promotion: 80/1300]

[Newly obtainable information: History.]

[Professional ability 1: Please also ask for this.]

It finally became a full-time job.

Kasha Flame signed an exclusive contract with the Hagnut Guild. She went back, leaving a word that she would come here every day.

“A-class adventurer…an actual A-class adventurer.”

My boss’s condition was quite strange.

“Why? Ms. Sain.”

“Mr. Tay. How many A-class adventurers do you think there are in our guild?”

“I don’t know because I haven’t seen the organization chart yet.”

“The chart?”

I nodded, then said “No. I actually do not know.”

“None, not a single one.”

“But now we do.”

“That’s what I mean. Having an A-class adventurer exclusively means that the guild’s level and reputation will change completely.”

She wandered back and forth, seemingly nervous. This was the first time I saw her acting like that.

“It’s been 7 years since the Hagnut Guild was established.”

Our guild’s history is shorter than I thought.

“I am welcoming an A-class guild exclusively in 7 years. It would be the first time our guild sees rapid growth.”

It seems that there are fewer A-class adventurers than I thought.

Or does it mean that there are way more guilds than I expected?

“Today we are having a party.”

“Yeah?”

“I have to inform other employees of this news. So let’s have a party together!”

Sain’s cheeks were reddish.

It looks like the expression of the sales manager when our company achieved record-breaking sales. Of course, he was an old dude in his 50s.

I smiled and replied, “A party sounds good.”

“Yeah. But after work.”

“……”

With that, Sain regained her composure.

“Hagnut Guild’s Party.”

Straight away, Sain officially announced the exclusive contract of an A-class adventurer named Kasha Flame. Veteran employees even shed a few tears. A receptionist named Limer, who has a longer working experience than me, but is younger than me, cried out loud.

“Sain. That’s great. Good for you!”

Sain replied with a cheerful expression.

“Thank you. Mr. Limer.”

“But I can’t believe Ms. Kasha was alive.”

“Oh. About that. Please refrain from speaking about her as much as possible. The rumors will spread soon anyway.”

“Why?”

“Because Ms. Kasha might complain.”

As I had in my previous life, I only squeezed a glass on the dinner table. At that time and now, not talking to me is normal…

“Mr. Tay.”

”What?”

Sain spoke, “Everyone. Mr. Tay convinced Ms. Kasha to join us. Everyone, please applaud.”

“Wow!”

This was the most unusual experience since I first came into this world!

“We look forward to working with you Mr. Tay.”

Sain raised me up. I got up and greeted everyone.

‘This is my first time like this.’

More precisely I couldn’t explain what I was experiencing right now. My heart is pumping, but my face feels warm. I scratched my head and ended my crude greeting. The atmosphere of the dinner party became noisier and continued without any breaks. I watched the timing and went out of the bar.

‘I want a smoke.’

I was looking up at the night sky with that thought in mind, and suddenly I heard someone’s voice next to me.

“You don’t look very delighted.”

This voice? Someone walked out of the alley. Bright moonlight shone on him.

“If it’s not Mr. Dirk. What’s going on here?”

“I was going to the Hagnut Guild. It was closed though, earlier than usual.”

“I wanted to go home on time. But there is a dinner party.”

“You mean this party?.”

“They look really happy.”

He was speaking with a significantly heavier voice.

“It’s the first time that the Hagnut Guild signed a contract with an A-class adventurer.”

“……”

“Since that day, Ms. Eris has disappeared. As if she evaporated. And a few days later, a figure that everyone thought was dead, called Kasha Flame, appeared and registered in the Hagnut Guild.”

“Yeah. Wild coincidence right?”

“Do you think I am a fool?”

I closed my mouth.

Dirk said with a serious look, “All of this was your plan from the beginning, right?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Well, anyway. This time it was my complete defeat. You won”

Even though he said it was his utter defeat, Dirk did not seem particularly angry.

Then he spoke up again, “Today I came to uphold my promise.”

“……”

“You asked why the Wyvern guild cared about the Hagnut guild so much?”

He is a sincere friend. However, promises are promises.

“I can’t disclose everything. But… I’ll give you a name.”

“I am listening.”

“Nortel Rhine.”

Nortel? said with a grave expression.

“Nortel is the head of Sain’s…”

“Isn’t that her father?”

Dirk’s mouth cracks open. No. That’s the name I knew through the personnel records since I first met Sain.

“Your intelligence is downright scary. Sain couldn’t have said that name herself.”

“Well, he’s a person like that.”

“But you don’t recognize what the name means.”

“Not really. Could you tell me?”

Dirk replied with an absurd face, “No way. What I promised was the reason why the Wyvern guild cares about Hagnut. I told you the reason just now.”

“It’s half-baked information.”

“Next find out the other half for yourself. It won’t be challenging for anyone who even knew about the birth of my nephew.”

He turned away and muttered, “We’ll have to work harder too. It looks like Hagnut got a monster.”

“Ms. Kasha is a 17-year-old girl. How is she a monster?”

He then slowly left. When he completely disappeared, the tavern door opened and I heard Sain’s voice calling me.

“Mr. Tay. What’s taking so long? Come on in. Everyone’s waiting.”

I glanced at her. Still, the only information registered in the personnel records reveals that her father is Nortel.

I need to accumulate more HR evaluation points. Then, the obtainable information will increase. Nothing should be hidden from me.

I must know everything.