Seriously, shouldn't he leave as well? Is this debt not finished?

If I knew that this much trouble would occur, I should have just run! But, alas, my flight or fight function decided to freeze. I wonder if it's not too late to just ignore him?

"Hey, why did you pay that guy?" Light Frost relaxes their grip a bit as if they realized I wouldn't run away.

Oh, as to why I paid that guy...there were a lot of reasons, I guess. However, no matter what answer I give, I feel like it wouldn't satisfy this person in front of me.

...Should I just run after all? No! Lass what are you doing? It's just a person, person, person...Ah, my mind is going a bit hazy. Deep breaths now, you managed to speak once already. What's a bit more? Get rid of the last trouble.

"He...he probably would have kept bothering me anyway. At least, if I do it now, I'd have a clear conscience," I somehow manage to mumble something out.

Light Frost, as expected, doesn't seem convinced, "If he kept bothering you, you could call the guards. Also, what do you mean by clear conscience?"

He has somewhat of a point, but I have other worries that caused this to happen as well. "In the end, I'm not entirely out of blame. I shouldn't, yeah, shouldn't have run away in the first place."

If I didn't this bunch of chaos wouldn't have happened! Safely resolve the situation without a fight! But there isn't a pill for regret is there? "At that time, he, uh, probably lost some reputation and needed to pay the guild's fee, um, right? So, I just gave him that as an apology..." As I continued speaking, my words got quieter and quieter. Hey, this is tough for me, okay!? It's not because my reasoning sucks!

"You're...a more honest person than I expected," He pauses for a moment before continuing, "Fine, I admit that I don't agree with what you did, but I'm not going to hang it over you." Light Frost rubs the back of his neck, seemingly a bit exasperated.

Though, that means I'm good to go, right?

With that, I only slightly lift my feet before he speaks again, "Do you want to add me as your friend? At least that way if he tries something else, I can help defend you. Plus," He adds, "I feel like you'd be a good party member."

"No!-" I catch myself, clapping my hand against my mouth. Light Frost seems momentarily dazed by my sudden outburst...me and my mouth. "It's just, I just, I want this to be over with. I'll deal with it myself if something happens. I-if we meet again, maybe, but-" As I stumble over my words, Light Frost interrupts me and acknowledges what I said, "Ah, well that's fair, if we ever see each other, we can help each other out!"

Saying that he walks out of the alleyway.

Thank goodness.

I really just wanted this to be over with and not need to associate myself with either of them anymore.

I can't help but think as I slump over. Looking around, it seems like the people who were staring had left when the sword was pulled out, or maybe when I mentioned the guards were near?

Thinking back on that interaction, it really seems weird from an outsider's perspective, doesn't it? Some people fighting on the second day of launch.

"Ugh..." I rub my head as my thoughts start to properly form again.

['Why didn't you run away?']

A: 'I can't run forever, even with my disguise skill. It's not like I can keep it on forever. I'll have to take it off if I want to take quests from the guild and other stuff like that. I don't want to keep wondering whether or not they're trying to look for me. He seemed like a vengeful person.'

['Why pay him?']

A: 'Didn't I already answer this? I really did do him quite badly. This might be a game, but It's not like I'm heartless. Also, there's not really a big need for gold; I could easily get more by just cutting up some rabbits. Just consider it the cycle of karma.'

['Is that really all?']

A: '...Hmmm...'

Looking up at the sky, I can't really form an answer. At that moment, I thought I should have done that, so I did. There isn't much meaning. It's something I formulated and accepted in the heat of the moment. Games are games, after all. The consequences are much less than in real life. Why worry about a few coins? Why tire myself out to running away, only to then circle back?

While I didn't accept Light Frost's invitation, who knows in the future? But, right now, I just want to go solo, peacefully play, and...

"Stop being such a coward."

In the first place, that was a goal I set for myself when I learned about this game, right?

Still, the goal...it seems like it's going to take a long time. Maybe I should postpone such a goal for next year? I wonder if the progress has evened out with today? Without a doubt, it was in the negatives before!

"Oh! Little lass Elegiac! Everythin' go well for ya? Those brats in the guildhall didn't do anythin' to bother ya did they?" When I arrive at Hibaien's stall, I nod at his greeting. A greeting that makes me wonder if he's psychic...Anyway, currently, he's chopping up some sort of boar. Though, I wonder why it's blue?

"Ah, well, yeah. The receptionist was nice and all, but I just wanted to ask about something..." I pause for a second, seeing if he wanted to say anything, but he just motions me to continue, "Do you know who uhm, a person called Swift Swor-" I don't get to finish the rest of my sentence before Hibaien slams his knife down on the cutting board, creating a loud 'BANG' sound.

"Oops, sorry about that there. Did ya mention somethin' about Swift Sword?" Hibaien keeps slicing up the boar calmly, but the tight grip on his knife gives him away.

"Uhm, I can't remember his name, but a person who called himself Swift Sword insulted you, he seemed pretty angry...and he, uh, also called you Chopper?"

Hibaien stays silent. He simply finishes butchering the boar and wipes off the knife with a towel nearby.

Eventually, he sighs and puts the knife down, "That twerp you spoke to little lass, was my apprentice, once."

A-apprentice? I thought they were rivals!