Published: August 10, 2026
At night, in the inn's bedroom, Lizel was getting ready for bed.
Eleven and Quattro were in the room. Gill had gone out somewhere after dinner.
Lizel closed the book he had just finished reading to a good stopping point and tucked in the bookmark he had been using since it was given to him. He had judged that if he kept going any farther, he wouldn't stop until he had finished the whole thing. Lizel did not stay up late at the expense of his own health.
—Generally speaking, anyway.
"(I don't have any requests planned for tomorrow, so maybe it's okay if I stay up a little later.)"
In other words, if he had a way to avoid ruining his health, he would gladly do something a little reckless.
The current time was earlier than usual for sleeping. If he finished the book now, it would probably only be a little past midnight. Even so, what was this strange phenomenon where the moment he closed a book, he suddenly became desperate to know what happened next?
Lizel's cheeks relaxed as he thought about how even being able to worry over such things was a luxury.
"(Being able to put off a conclusion like this is freedom.)"
His actions did not affect anyone else.
That was something Lizel had experienced for the first time since coming to this world. Now and then, when he realized it again, something in his heart would be stirred. He had never loathed his old life, but even so, he was glad of this.
After agonizing for a few seconds, just as he finally decided he should really just go to sleep and let go of the book—
"Done with the book?"
Quattro poked his face up from the edge of the table.
Up until then, he had been sitting cross-legged on the carpet, looking through the encyclopedia Lizel had picked out for him. Perhaps he had something he wanted to talk about. Seeing expectation in those dull-gray eyes, Lizel smiled.
"Yes. What is it?"
"I want to go on request together."
"Tomorrow?"
"Mm."
Quattro stood up and spread the encyclopedia he had been reading out on the table.
The one Lizel had lent him was The Encyclopedia of Forest Creatures. Reading is basically an expensive hobby, so there are not many children's books to begin with, but there are plenty of books that are "simple enough for children to read."
Quattro had learned reading, writing, and arithmetic in his homeland, but since it had all been crammed into him through sheer willpower over a short period, his level was a little rough. His comprehension was roughly below that of the children in the Capital City. That was not unusual among adventurers, but since he had the desire to learn, Lizel encouraged him to read.
It was definitely not a hobby. Well, choosing books that someone would probably like was a hobby, but still.
Reading was certainly suitable for learning, so it was not as if he was recommending it purely for fun.
"This."
Quattro pointed to a page in the encyclopedia.
It was a page summarizing dangerous creatures in the forest, lined up with fierce beasts, insects, and the like.
"A treant."
"Mm."
Why had monsters been listed here?
Granted, they did live in forests. They were dangerous, so knowing what to watch out for was probably important.
But if a monster researcher or some other specialist saw this, they might not complain outright, but they would almost certainly have something to say.
"I want to fight it."
"You've never fought one before?"
"No."
Quattro was throwing himself fully into adventurer life, but he was still only E-rank.
That was probably due to how short his adventuring career had been. If he kept building up achievements, he would surely rank up naturally.
In other words, there was no way to rush things any further.
"Then let's take a request together."
"I'll take it."
Treant extermination requests did not come to low ranks.
So that was probably why he had asked Lizel. When Lizel suggested that, Quattro answered happily.
"Treant...?"
A voice suddenly rose from the bed.
It was Eleven, who had returned to the inn after being away all day and had then slept as though dead. He lifted his head from the pillow and looked between Lizel and Quattro with sleepy eyes, then without changing his expression buried his face back into the pillow.