Stepping outside, it was already night.
Night Dragonfly is swaggering through the crowded Villebron night.
The city people surround us, cheering us on. Everyone waves back at them in return. It seems to be part of the job.
Looking up, Ms. Camilla’s face appears even more stern and dignified, leading the envied members together like the lord of Villebron.
Going from a provisional member to a full one, the scenery changes.
I’m one of these amazing people now? I feel that sense of approval, like I’ve gotten my certificate.
It makes me tighten myself up to not mess this up.
The eyes of Mark beside me meet mine.
Mark smiles slightly.
“Nice job. Awesome, man.”
His fist bumps against mine.
….Eh?
“Here.”
Oh, that kind of thing huh.
I hold my fist out too and bump it against his.
“Let’s get along from now on, Mr. Vim.”
“Y-Yes!”
Unlike before, elation wells up from within.
I feel like I’ve become comrades with these people, obtained acknowledgment.
It makes me square my shoulders to not do anything careless.
◆
Opening the door to the guesthouse, Vim is packing lightly inside.
“Ah, Heidemarie.”
“Yo yo, moving out already huh? Jeez you wandering hermits can never stay put. Even though your old pal went through the trouble of buttering them up.”
“I’m just moving a bit…”
Yeah, I know. Now that he’s a full member, he has to move from the guesthouse to the main house.
Looking around the room, he seems to have more belongings than when he first rolled in here. Most of it is gifts from when he was hospitalized that he hasn’t used up yet.
But some of the stuff isn’t gifts.
Books.
Vim read quite a bit to begin with. Lately he’d been too busy to read but gathering books again means his mind has relaxed, I’d say.
That’s very welcome in itself, but…
“Hey Vim.”
“….Hm?”
“Congratulations on getting out of the hospital, though late. And on joining the guild too. Now we’re officially colleagues.”
“Ah, thanks…”
“Well I kinda wanted you to rest more slowly but…”
I tried to say something.
Just testing the waters with a leading statement. I can’t see into Vim’s heart after all. But looking right at his eyes, he avoids mine as expected. Seems I hit the mark.
“Getting out of the hospital was way too fast no matter how you look at it. You wouldn’t do something to induce a misdiagnosis out of impatience, but you used an application spell right?”
“W-Well, no, haha. Just happened to turn out alright…”
“A puppetry application…maybe? No way you figured out brain structure, so you just vaguely stimulated the pituitary region.”
“H-How do you see right through me?”
He seems aware it was reckless on some level.
This part of Vim is seriously dangerous. He’ll readily march off to his death when his options narrow down too much.
Since he realizes it this time, it may be better than normal.
“It’s definitely not good to do that.”
“W-Well…I just enhanced human functions a little, so it was probably fine…”
“We scholars and priests can heal too you know, it’s our actual job. How many priests have I slowly told about creating inhuman fleshy blobs that can’t be distinguished from monsters by enhancing function in that thin line between recovery and increased muscle?”
“….I’m sorry.”
He seems aware he was pushing it.
In this area, Vim is really dangerous. When he has his choices sorted out, he will go to his death as if it were a matter of course.
This time, he is aware of it, which is probably better.
“You know, you didn’t have to rush to leave the hospital. I think everyone would have waited for you. If pepople visiting are tough, just let them know, and they’ll reduce the frequency.”
“Y-Yeah, you’re right, hehe…”
I wanted to ask why you were in such a hurry, but that would turn it into an interrogation.
I wonder if you’re balanced on this issue within yourself.
You didn’t run away because you hated it. You should be happy to be appreciated, to receive attention, and to have someone say they want to see you.
—Because you always look lonely when you see others together.
I can’t grasp it. No matter how much I try to understand you, the crucial parts remain blurry, and I can’t control anything as I want.
It’s really frustrating not being able to eavesdrop on your thoughts.
“Hey, Vim.”
“…Hmm?”
“Do you like the Night Dragonfly?”
“…Yeah.”
“Well, that’s good then.”
In the end, it seems all I can do is watch over you.
*
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
Busy days.
Rushing around every day conquering the 98th floor. Sneaking in, sleeping, sneaking, sleeping, on our rare days off it’s less a break and more resupplying and strategizing. At most we get free nights, and the wise choice is to sleep and prepare for tomorrow.
Yet why did I come here?
In the dead of night, I specifically snuck out of the house to avoid being found, and kept walking according to the instructions on the back of the business card shoved at me so clumsily.
Where I ended up was the Adventurer’s Guild’s back door.
At this time, especially the back entrance, there wasn’t a soul around.
After reconfirming no one was watching, I knocked on the door with the second knuckle of my middle finger, following the card’s instructions.
Knock, knock, knock knock.
“Oh my, Mr. Strauss.”
The door opened halfway and Gereon stuck his face out, calling my name in a low voice.
When I tried to open my mouth, he brought his right index finger to his lips and passed me a memo with his left hand.
[Pardon me. Since we are a secret society, I have put up a barrier. Please make the sign of the cross with your ring finger before entering, I would be much obliged.]
As instructed, I cross with my ring finger.
Seeing that, he waves me inside. I follow him in.
Ga-chunk, the door shuts, and finally Gereon speaks normally.
“Welcome, welcome! Mr. Strauss! Please excuse me! Please excuse me!”
“Ah…no no. A labyrinth maniac, you could say.”
The dubious atmosphere was in full force from the start, so I almost backed out, but somehow it got me excited like secret base roleplaying.
“It’s a little…fun.”
“Heeheeheehee, as expected of Mr. Strauss, you understand.”
Gereon’s laughter makes me want to chuckle along.
“Now now, I would like to introduce our group to you, and our leader is especially eager to greet you.”
“Your leader?”
“Yes. Mr. Strauss, did you happen to read this month’s Labyrinth Maniac preface?”
“Yes. It was a very passionate piece of writing…”
“Do you remember the author’s name?”
Of course. The fact he’s specifically asking means…
“Dr. Heinkes.” ….Could it be…”
“Indeed. Our leader, editor-in-chief of Labyrinth Maniac, and cutting-edge theorist, is Dr. Heinkes.”
The stairs Gereon led me down from the guild’s back door went underground rather than the first floor. In other words, to the same place as the Labyrinth’s first level.
“Calling it a secret society while using the Adventurer’s Guild is contradictory, but the point is the parent body is a formal organization you see, heeheeheehee.”
“Ah, I see.”
At the end of the dim stairs was a hall with a large indented section in the center.
Thirty-some people were sparsely seated. Half wore white coats, the other half wore crude cloth that looked hand-tailored from twisted rags. I couldn’t tell if the people in the back were men or women.
Large sheets of paper with charts and formulas were taped to the blackboard in the center, and a model of some kind was placed on the podium.
I never went to an academy, but this is what I imagined it would be like.
“Hey! Gereon! That’s Strauss over there right!?”
A distinctly loud female voice.
Tap tap, light footsteps climb up the hall entrance. Her behavior seems childish and out of place, but the others don’t react that way. Her dignified bearing convinces everyone here that she is their superior.
What comes into view is, as the voice indicated, a slender woman.
The wide-open eyes give an impression of innocence.
She has a petite build, shorter than me rather than just not tall. Seems more like a girl than a woman, even a bit boyish.
She’s wearing a jacket like Villebron kids do when they play adventurer, and her every joint is smeared with dirt as if she had been spelunking until just now.
“Heya! I’m Rita Heinkes! I write for Labyrinth Maniac under Dr. Heinkes! And I’m the editor-in-chief too!”
///
Scene transition
///
I’m dumbfounded.
I assumed it would be a middle-aged man.
“Heeheeheehee, Mr. Strauss, first-timers here all have the same reaction…well, some are totally unresponsive, but still.”
“Now now Gereon, don’t be mean. Mr. Strauss, I may look it but I’m older than you, about the same as your Camilla! Call me Rita!”
“R-Really…”
“Anyway! Nice to meet you! It’s an honor!”
“Ah…sorry. Let me introduce myself. I’m Vim Strauss. I currently belong to…Night Dragonfly.”
“Yeah yeah. I know all about you! Not just defeating the 98th floor’s master, but even more…”
…Even more?
“I got to read the papers you write as a hobby! Never been to your place but they get published here and there right?”
“Wha…”
Huh, there were people reading them?
“The big one for us was [On the 25 Butterfly Species that Indicate Large Monster Activity] from two years ago. When we were struggling to identify flies, some random new theorist handily accomplished it, so it was quite the shock back then!”
“Ah, thank you very much…?”
Being told out of nowhere that my writing had readers, my shoulders prickled with embarrassment.
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated.
Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
Thank you for the chapter!
I’m having Eta’s from The Eminence in Shadow flashbacks. She won’t be mad scientist and psychopath behind pretty and petite girl facade? It’s also sad how Vim get more careful after being acknowledged, instead of feeling more at ease.