This Eroge Won't Make Me Fall!

The week passed by sooner than I realized. After a long time of rest, I managed to recover about 30% of my mana and Ki.

"The rate is crazy slow?" Titania remarked as I checked over the room one last time, just in case I missed anything. Security wasn't a problem in one of the bigger inns of the Deep Down Town, but I couldn't leave behind something I might need.

"It's because the mana is constantly being refined into Arcana, and the quality of the Ki has to be at the best for intent Ki as well."

"It's still too slow..."

I dragged up the bag on my shoulders and loosened the thread on the chest of my black tunic.

"The slower it is, the stronger it is."

If need be, I could fill it up completely with comparatively impure stuff from the atmosphere, that would be what I would do most times. This just seemed more fun.

I picked up the keys to my room and left the place behind. The three flights of stairs passed by in the blink of an eye and I tossed the key to the son of the innkeeper.

"Going away, Dusk?"

"It'll be a couple of months at least, feel free to give out the room."

I stepped out into the streets of the town.

Cold breezes greeted me as the air of the morning remained chilly.

The skies were still dark with just a few streaks of sunlight making their way over, dying the black night a shade of bluish-grey.

I stretched my hands above my head and went past the empty streets.

The wooden buildings on both sides had their windows laden with water over the night.

The cold rocky streets of the town made loud thuds as my feet slammed on them, a sound one would rarely hear during the bustle of the day.

The sight of small birds fluttering around the fountains and a few old folks stepping out of their homes to drop some feed for them was more common now than seeing merchants and adventurers in full armor.

I had visited a fair amount of places around the vicinity of this place in the last two years.

But I always returned here.

Home...

"Should I buy a house...?"

"What's with that?" Titania asked, giggling.

I thought over the words that came out of my mouth for a few seconds.

"It sounds like you want to settle down or something. Did you find a lover? Even though I am here? Tell me, who do I have to kill?"

Huh.

Mornings made people weird, I guess.

My thoughts trailed away after hearing Titania's words.

A lover to share your home with. Someone to ease the hardships and deepen the joys.

I could imagine a home.

And a person without a face.

A faceless person waiting for me. A faceless person to trust in with all my heart, to share all my sorrows and joy with.

"Hah," I scoffed. "Lover, huh? You say the damndest of things sometimes, Titania."

"What? Why do I feel like I was just scolded? Huh?"

***

The adventurer's guild was quiet too in the morning. Only a few folks setting out for big missions were standing around the guild house while members of the night staff guided them through booking a ride and other things.

The night staff seemed rather used to making negotiations for big travels and events. Depending on the time, the skillset of people changed vividly.

I walked up to the meeting tables on the side of the guild house and leaned against the wall with a map in my hands. The capital of the empire changed massively each year thanks to its steady development, but having some knowledge about it was not bad. I had already studied up intensely on the Imperial culture and knew the language as well as I could breathe, so there wasn't much of an issue with those things.

Soon enough, a familiar hat popped up in front of me.

Wearing a beanie and a yellow hoodie with long sweatpants was Sharky. Behind him with a bubble popping out his nose in a red polka-dotted night suit and cap was Zachariah.

"Is he like this every morning?" I asked. I wanted to greet them first, but it was impossible.

"He is," Sharky crossed his arms and nodded. "This fucker is always like this. He would automatically change his clothes at around 10 PM."

"Six hours from now. As expected from someone ranked in the top ten crazy list of Adventurer Time. Those guys are a different breed."

"You fucking topped that list!"

"Ehhhh?"

How rude of him.

I was anything but crazy. No, I could argue I was perfectly normal, it was the rest of the world that was crazy.

Yup.

Even Titania would agree.

"Anyway, Sharky," I spoke out. "Did you prepare everything?"

"Right on sir!" Sharky beamed me a smile.

Yeah, something was definitely wrong with this guy.

I wasn't going to get used by him.

Despite being a simpleton, Sharky had surprisingly not blurted out his plans even once in the last week.

I remembered very well that one time when we were playing a game of 'crush your opponent in arm wrestling or confess your weirdest with and socially die' and he lost and confessed to Iffy, saying 'I want to grope you.'

He then had the nerve to wonder if she would date him.

He was sharp compared to that. This absolute tool shouldn't be able to use his sandpapered brain this much.

Thankfully, I knew a way to make him speak up.

A coachman soon neared us after spotting Sharky.

"Adventurer sir, everything is prepared." The coachman spoke to Sharky. He then turned to me and bowed his head.

Being famous sure had its perks.

I had landed the fastest in the top 500 list of the Deep Down Dive after going to the 400th floor.

"Then," Sharky muttered. "Let's set off to the Empire!"

Mythril Ranked adventurers, I was looking forward to meet them.