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"That girl is very interested in you, boy," says Kaelion, as we sit on a bench outside the association building.

"Yeah? I think she's just got a screw loose," I say, playing it down.

"Nah, trust me, I've got a good eye for these things. And she's quite pretty... You should take advantage of the opportunity you have," he says, looking at me with a crooked smile.

"I'm not interested in that. Besides, if what you say is true, that female orc can only be interested in me because of my stats," I say, annoyed by the stupid topic of conversation the old orc seems determined to bring up.

"And what's wrong with that? It just means she's attracted to your strength. Love always develops after some initial attraction, and the fact that her attraction is to your level and not your looks or personality doesn't mean anything negative about her. It's just her tastes, and we can all have different tastes…"

'Why on earth do I have to suffer this? One of these days I'm really going to kill him.'

"... Besides, it is to some extent customary in our culture to be attracted to people with strength, or is it that you don't like women?" he says, and his smile is wiped off his face.

"What? No, I mean, yes.... But what the fuck does it matter to you?..." I ask with indignation and irritation at the goofy grin that has reappeared on the elderly orc's face.

"...Besides, just because I'm physically attracted to some women, or just because I find them pretty, doesn't mean I have to do anything about it. I know what my goals are, and I can't be distracted from them by thinking about things that are unimportant to those goals. Therefore, I don't give a damn whether a girl I don't know is interested in me or not."

"And what exactly do you care about? Or should I ask who?" he says mockingly, apparently not taking what I just said seriously.

"Old orc, I'm warning you; you're wearing me out with your bullshit, and there's still quite a day left…" I say with a sinister smile as I bring my hand to the hilt of my sword.

"... I already told you what my objectives are! First is the labyrinth, and now you've seen that I have plenty of levels to do what I had planned. I hope you won't raise any objections now."

"Haa... alright... I was just looking for material for the story I'm planning to write…" he says and goes back to behaving like a person of the age he looks.

"...But about your levels... What we saw in the token isn't necessarily a guarantee of anything... Don't get me wrong. It's obvious that you're absurdly strong, and your levels are evidence of that, but high levels aren't always an example of strength."

"What do you mean?" I ask, very intrigued by any information regarding how people's levels work.

Something I've had a lot of doubts about in the past due to various strange situations.

'Like the explosive growth of Deirdre's abilities when we used to go to the labyrinth together, as if each new level of hers would provide much more benefits for her in her state than each new level does to me...'

Suddenly, a terrible sadness comes over me as I remember my old companion's face, smiling and full of happiness, as we explored the labyrinth together.

After which I pull a bottle of a very strong whisky from my inventory and take several long gulps, whereupon the feeling of sadness disappears.

And in its place is the typical numbness I experience when I've consumed all I can drink without fully losing control of my thoughts.

"Are you all right, kid? From your expression a few seconds ago, you looked like you were staring at the corpse of a loved one or something similar." Kaelion says, looking at me with concern.

"Yeah, it was pretty much something like that..." I say in a voice void of any emotion as I think about how weird it is that Azur hasn't taken advantage of the situation to tease me about it, though I am thankful that he decided to keep quiet.

"What do you...." the orc begins to ask, but I don't let him finish the question.

"It's nothing! Just answer my question! Aghbou… ejem… what you were saying about the levels… what the fuck did you mean about them not necessarily being a guarantee of strength?" I say with irritation, thinking that the old orc better hope this isn't another one of his typical bullshit, because right now I have no patience for that kind of stupid thing.

"I mean that level is of little use if a person's talent is mediocre…" he says, and, at the angry look I'm giving him, he begins to speak hastily.

"... Don't misunderstand me! I'm not saying you're mediocre! I was just explaining what I meant. I don't know if you know this, since you come from another land, but here, levels are not a definitive indicator of strength. If they were, there would be no difference in ability between two people with the same levels and classes, but the fact is that there is…"

As he speaks, he seems to gain some confidence because he starts to pronounce the words again at his usual speed.

"...Generally there is not much difference, but there have been cases where some people with very high levels were beaten by people that is 20 or 30 levels lower. So it is well known that levels are only one part of a person's capabilities, and that the level of talent that a person possesses is also very important. We use the term talent to refer to people's innate abilities to do certain kinds of things, irrespective of their levels…"

At that moment, Kaelion hesitantly stops talking and looks at me with concern.

"...But going back to what I was saying before, I think you shouldn't drink so much if you're going to go to the labyrinth today to fight. Also, I've noticed what you're doing... It's not good to try to ignore problems with alcohol. It's best to deal with them as soon as possible."

"That's... interesting," I say, and I remain silent as I think about it, ignoring the elder orc's advice.

'He doesn't know anything... Hmm… But it's true that earlier, I too thought that I shouldn't drink before going to the labyrinth.... Bah, a little bit of alcohol can't affect my ability to fight that much.'

I notice Kaelion is still looking at me with concern, but I choose to ignore him, and he thankfully makes no further comment on the matter.

 

...

 

After a few minutes of waiting, the crazy receptionist comes out of the building with an orc in his early thirties, looking tough, wearing full body mithril armor, and carrying a large two-handed axe on his back.

The fellow's head is shaved, revealing his scarred scalp.

But those marks are nothing compared to the huge straight scar on the side of his face, running from the center of his forehead to the beginning of his jaw, across the right eye area, which is apparently still intact despite how terrible that wound must have been at the time.

"This is Jackal, a gold-ranked member of the association and my friend. He will be able to take you to the floor you need.... so... Kaelion, right?..." says the receptionist, addressing the ancient orc after introducing us to her companion.

"....Could you discuss with Jackal all the details of the order, including the matter of price and method of payment, while I go talk to your partner alone for a moment?"

"Sure, my dear, thank you very much for the help," says Kaelion in reply, after which he winks at me as he smiles.

"You're welcome, sir. I'm just doing my job. And now... Hmm..." she says, as her gaze drops to the ground for a moment and her face begins to flush red again.

"... Xelean, would you do me the favor of joining me for a moment?"

"N..." I start to say, determined to refuse her request, but...

Kaelion gives me a hard slap on the back that interrupts me and says, "Yes, sure, my dear. He's a boy who certainly needs company," and finishes by winking at Rinka.

At these words, I am about to protest, but I am again interrupted by the crazy receptionist, who says enthusiastically, "Really? T-that's wonderful!"

After which, she strongly grabs me by the arm and drags me away from the old orc and the warrior.

Then I change my mind and decide to let her drag me away because, although I'm not really interested in talking to the receptionist, I still need to wait for the elderly orc to talk about our assignment with the orc who is going to take us to the 78th floor.

Besides, it's probably a good idea to be on good terms with a person who works for the association.

But more importantly, just having another acquaintance in this place, apart from Kaelion, is already a great benefit.

'I don't like the idea of having to depend so much on the old orc constantly... If only this girl would act like a normal person. Is having a screw loose a characteristic of their race? No... Charity and Gell are normal... it's just that I've been running into some strange people lately.'

As we walk away, I watch as Kaelion looks at me with a wide grin and Jackal watches me with a cold, calculating gaze.

When we are some distance away, the young female orc lets go of me and starts talking in a rush, throwing question after question at me without giving me time to answer, "h-how old are you? Could you take off your mask? I'd like to see your face. Do you have a girlfriend?"

"I'm 15 years old, and I can't take off my mask.... It's... a promise I made to a valued person to me," I say, blurting out the first story that comes to mind and deciding to skip the last question.

"Ahh… Is it a girl?" she asks in a worried voice.

"No... It's... A promise I made to the orc who is talking to your friend," I say, mentioning again the first thing that comes to mind and feeling uncomfortable about the girl's inquisitive attitude.

I don't feel very comfortable calling Kaelion a 'valued person', but I'm willing to say anything to get this annoying girl off my back.

'Hmm, maybe it would have been better to say yes… I don't seem to be very good at making up stories as I go along'

"Ahh... That's good. Anyway, this is my address..." she says, looking towards the association building with a nervous expression, after which she takes my hand with both hands and presses it against her soft chest while putting a piece of paper in my hand.

"...I work late at the association, but you can come and visit me in the evening. I live alone, so it wouldn't be a problem.... I... I'm very happy to have met you"

"Yes, thank you. I'll think about it."

I lie to her because, although I feel uncomfortable and overwhelmed by the young female orc's intensity, I still think it's better to try to take advantage of the situation to have another acquaintance in the capital, in case I have to separate from Kaelion.

"Well, that's all I ask.... Ahh, when you want to get money for the labyrinth stuff, you can avoid the queue if you come to my home... Since I could give you my undivided attention there..." she says, uttering the last sentence in a honeyed tone of voice, as she lets go of my hand and keeps glancing nervously at her place of work.

'Shit, that would be useful...' I think as I tuck the paper away in my inventory.

'But I'll have to think about whether it's worth the risk…

It's one thing to try to be nice to her so that I can use her when I come to the association, but it's quite another to go straight to her house....

Now I see clearly what Kaelion told me before, and I don't want to give this girl the wrong idea... Hmm, but I can take the elder orc with me when I decide to go…

That would stop her from doing anything stupid…

Anyway, it all depends on how advantageous it is in terms of time. It is true that this time we were attended to quite quickly, but who knows if it's always like that...'

"Please, think about it... I'd pay you instantly and give you a very special treatment..." she adds in the same honeyed voice, seeing that I'm silent, and for some reason I get the impression that she's no longer talking about money.

As soon as she finishes speaking, she strokes my chest with her right hand and runs off towards the association, laughing a silly laugh as she runs.

As she reaches the entrance of the building, she turns around and shouts at me, "You have to look for me when you come to the association.... I... Just look for me!"

Then she goes back inside, still laughing herself silly.

That laugh gives me a really bad feeling.

'I'm not going to go to her house, no matter how beneficial it might be....

I can't risk this mad female orc finding out I'm not an orc and endangering my stay in the capital. After all, now that I think about it, her offer makes no sense...

Why would I be saving myself some time by going to her house instead of queuing up at the association?...

How did I not notice it before? It seems that she really is crazy...

And that I'm a bit more affected by alcohol than I imagined…

But I suppose the idea of maintaining a good relationship with the young female orc shouldn't put me at any risk…

Anyway, I'll have to think about it again when I'm a bit more sober'