A/N: To Kenin-sensei who suggested Suzuki learn Martial Arts, the thing is that I'm pretty convinced that even in the New World there is no such thing as a "Free Lunch." In other words, if Suzuki does learn Martial Arts, it would take away from his other levels in Magic Caster and make him weaker like that. It's never been confirmed that that is the case or if people from Yggdrasil can even learn Martial Arts, but they seem very close to the "skills" that warriors can learn. As such, even if Suzuki went down the path of a warrior, if he learned Martial Arts, I think it would affect his ability to be a warrior from Yggdrasil. As it is, for now, Suzuki's a dedicated mage.
To Moral Conundrum, what Suzuki is doing isn't contrary to his character at all. He did want to join the Adventurer's Guild the moment he walked into town, so when given the opportunity, he took it. The fudging of paperwork is not something Ainzach was planning to do to Suzuki, but rather something he would do behind the scenes in case anyone else wanted to look into it.
There are changes to Suzuki's character of course- he is human in this world and doesn't have his undead regulation of emotions, nor his negative karma value (which I think might've affected his decisions a bit). Also, he doesn't have the rest of the NPCs like Demiurge pressuring him, he just has Albedo, so the pressure on him is less.
Thanks to everyone else who left a review, also! I do enjoy reading them.
After getting their newly minted plates, Suzuki and Albedo headed out towards Ralph's shop which had become a commonly visited destination for the both of them.
Ralph greeted them with a warm smile as was his wont now, and behind him, Suzuki could see that there was a new poster next to the one of Gazef Stronoff.
It was of Suzuki and Albedo- Albedo in her black armor, and Suzuki in a pair of red robes he had purchased. Both of them were striking a pose as if they were superheroes from some television show like the Power Rangers.
Suzuki found it so cringe worthy that he thought he might die- if dying from cringe was actually possible.
"So how are my favorite customers?" Ralph asked. He then noticed their new plates. "Adamantite! I knew it was only a matter of time you got them!"
"What's with the poster?" Suzuki asked, still dazed by it.
"Ah, right, I decided to have that commissioned that after I heard you two took down Brain Unglaus," Ralph said. "Man- that makes the two of you nearly as strong as Gazef Stronoff! Right then and there, I knew that I wanted to see you guys in action once! So, I had an artist make this!"
"Right- Brain Unglaus," Suzuki said, remembering that encounter that had led to his fame to skyrocket.
Two weeks earlier a weak adventuring party had been scouting a bandit camp near the road leading to the capital. There were several reports of people going missing, and as such, it was decided to send two Platinum ranked adventurer parties to take care of the bandits given they probably numbered near a hundred and seemed to have someone who was really strong.
However, only the ranger who had been stationed far away from the camp lived to tell the tale. When his comrades had not returned from the camp even when two days had passed, he could have only assumed that they had ben killed and reported as such to the guild.
It was then that Suzuki and Albedo offered to go investigate. While it was common for adventurers to die, it was generally a fate that befell low-ranked parties. For not just one, but two Platinum ranked teams to perish was a massive blow to the guild given that most people could only reach as high as the Gold rank even with lots of training and experience. As such, Suzuki knew that if he and Albedo avenged the two, their reputations would definitely soar.
The only issue had been the fact that this was one of the first times aside from the graveyard incident that Suzuki found himself fighting fellow humans. Knowing his reluctance to kill his own kind, he and Albedo had stuck to fighting monsters such as goblins and ogres for the most part. Still, Suzuki found that he could overcome his hesitation to take human life whenever the person standing in front of him was actively threatening him- say, for example, charging at him with weapons as many of the bandits did. Not to mention he could somewhat ease his conscience by telling himself that these people certainly deserved what was coming to them.
Suzuki had been able to defeat large numbers of the enemy easily, but as they were walking deeper into the camp a warrior with blue hair confidently approached the two of them. He was wielding a katana strangely enough- something Suzuki had not seen before. At least, he had not seen someone wielding before in this world.
The man was able to withstand a shot of Dragon Lightning and then probably would've taken Suzuki's arm off had Albedo not blocked the strike. He had been the first and only enemy in the bandit camp to be able to withstand a strike of fifth tier magic. Most of the bandit hordes were incinerated with a single Fireball which could turn several dozens of them to ash.
Albedo then proceeded to break both of Brain's arms and his legs and let Suzuki finish him off [this was becoming a favorite tactic of theirs as time went on]. Suzuki was somewhat filled with pity as he saw Brain's shocked expression and eyes pleading for escape- as such he summoned an undead and had his summon finish the man off.
This made the whole thing simpler to swallow- it was the same as if a judge had ordered a convict to be executed. The actual execution was of course carried out by someone else, and as such, the judge did not feel the burden that the executioner would in the moment the convict had his life taken.
In the same way, Suzuki was the judge, and his summon the executioner. It maintained a degree of separation between Suzuki's thoughts and the actual act of killing, which made it easier for Suzuki to live with what he was doing.
Suzuki got enough XP from that encounter that he nearly levelled up, signaling that this man was strong and making him mildly curious as to who the man was (Brain had not had a chance to speak his name before being slain). Normally adventurers might've taken the head of a monster as proof as they had beaten it, but that seemed a bit excessive when it came to humans.
It was only when the bandits were cleared out and another team sent in to review the area that the man was identified as Brain Unglaus.
This caused quite a stir, given that he was a warrior that rivalled Gazef Stronoff himself and was as strong as an Adamantite ranked adventurer. As such, when people realized that it was Suzuki and Albedo who finished him off, their reputations soared and they were given the Orichalcum rank for clearing out the bandit base. Ainzach himself had come to personally thank them for their work.
"Honestly, I get that you had to do what you had to do, Suzuki-dono, but I did one day hope to see Brain and Stronoff-dono fight it out once again," Ralph said and then shrugged. "But oh well, if he chose to walk the path of crime, well, he got what he deserved."
That was true- that bandit group had caused a lot of misery all around. The woman that they had captured were still being treated- while their physical injuries were fixed the trauma of their captivity left long lasting mental scars. Not only that, but it was confirmed that the two Platinum teams they had sent were dead.
The whole incident, although it had only lasted a few hours, had very long-lasting implications for the two of them. Some of the woman had wealthy relatives who extended their thanks to Suzuki, and as it was, the entire guild appreciated his efforts to avenge the two fallen adventurer teams. As Ainzach told him, it would have been unlikely that even if the other Mithril teams had gathered together that they would've been able to defeat Brain and all of the others in the bandit's hideout- it would have been extremely likely that Brain would've at least been able to flee after killing several Mithril ranked adventurers.
Not to mention any delay, such as calling for Blue Rose from the capital, would probably give the bandits enough time to relocate somewhere else. Suzuki and Albedo had assaulted them just after the Platinum teams, and as such, were able to strike them down before the bandits could relocate.
As such, the other adventurers, whose eyes before had usually been filled with envy at how quickly the two of them had risen up the ranks, were now filled with admiration and gratitude that the two of them had avenged two of their fellow adventurer teams.
As a matter of fact, when news of this head spread, they had all started clapping for the two of them when they entered the guild- Suzuki had hid his face at the time because it was as red as a tomato. It had been so embarrassing especially given at the time he had no idea why it was happening- it was as if you were sitting at a restaurant and someone said it was your birthday and all the waiters began singing!
Seeing the poster that Ralph had commissioned made Suzuki jokingly wonder if maybe he should make miniature plastic figures of Albedo and himself to sell on the market.
Ralph certainly wasn't the only fan that the two of them had managed to get- Suzuki had gotten at least three anonymous love letters a week since he had taken Brain down, and had had to try very hard to convince Albedo to not find the people who sent them and crush their skulls.
"So, anything new here?" Suzuki asked Ralph.
"Sadly, nothing I think the two of you would be interested in," Ralph said.
The items that Suzuki was interested in fell into the following categories:
Firstly, items that cast spells so that he didn't need to waste his spell slots.
Secondly, items that could heal and guard against poison and disease.
Thirdly, items that could detect traps, open locks, and the such.
Fourthly, those that could enhance his own abilities.
"So, what are the two of you up to now?" Ralph asked.
"There are no real jobs for us here," Suzuki said. "Not anymore. I thought about maybe heading towards the center of the continent, like you had mentioned earlier. That, or we could exploring the Azalea Mountain Ranges to look for the kingdom of the dwarves."
If anyone else had said those words Ralph would've laughed at them- but he somehow knew that Suzuki wasn't kidding. Not only that, he had a feeling that if anyone could find the lost kingdom of the dwarves, or explore the fallen kingdoms and retrieve the treasures that lay within, it would be those two.
Either of those two endeavors would be the kind of adventurers that the minstrels would sing about for decades to come, but Suzuki talked about doing them as if he was going for a walk in the park. But Ralph knew that wasn't because Suzuki was cocky- it was because Suzuki was really the kind of person who could talk about such things that casually.
"If you're free have you considered visiting the Empire then?" Ralph asked. "You could enter the arena and challenge the Martial Lord- now that is a fight people would love to see! And I'm sure you'd make a fortune too!"
Ralph had an ulterior motive here- he wanted to see these two in action, though of course, he could never follow them on their adventures. He had spent his entire life avoiding violence, possibly the reason why he enjoyed seeing fights in the arena so much. He could witness their capabilities from a safe distance like that. Plus, the arena hadn't had a good fight in several years now, so his talk of a fortune wasn't necessarily too much of an exaggeration.
"Is that so?" Suzuki asked.
"Yeah," Ralph said. "I happen to know the master of the arena- I can schedule a meeting with him if you'd so want."
Suzuki looked over Ralph's wares once more and said he'd think about it.
"Well if something good does come in, you'll be the first to know," Ralph said while following his gaze. "You're staying at the Shining Golden Pavilion, correct?"
"Yes, that's right," Suzuki said as he walked out the door. He honestly felt that the new place was too posh for his liking and would not have minded staying where they had been earlier, but Albedo said as high ranking adventurers they should go somewhere more classy, a sentiment the Guildmaster seemed to mirror.
As it was, Suzuki had been planning on staying there for just a week get a feel of things, though now that he was an Adamantite, it was unlikely he could downgrade at this point. It was quite a waste of money in his opinion- not that he was starving for funds, but his inner gamer hated to see money flow when it was unnecessary. Not only that, he had been pretty frugal even in his life in 2138 and that carried over here as well.
"Now that we're done, Suzuki," Albedo said, making sure not to add honorifics now that they were in public. "Shall we go on another date?"
There was nothing else to do really, and so Suzuki agreed.
Albedo changed out of her armor and the two of them walked through the streets of E-Rantel.
Suzuki was well aware that several men were practically radiating jealousy, but he had learned a neat trick- namely, that the two of them could wear their adventurer tags which kept them out of trouble, though the whispers around them only intensified.
People had obviously noticed Albedo's wings and horns, and if asked about them, Suzuki would simply answer that they were high-tier magic items that the two of them had found along their travels. No one really probed further- and Suzuki had thought that maybe her eyes might be a problem, but strange eye colors seemed to be common in this world. He had even heard stories of an entire country of people who all had rainbow-colored eyes existing a long time ago.
Even if they thought Albedo was some weird kind of demihuman, this country wasn't as human supremacist as the Slane Theocracy and someone like Albedo would most likely have been left alone anyway- save for some underhanded people who might've wanted to capture her just for her beauty, but with her strength such people would only find their spines snapped in two.
As it was, at this point, no one would really bother them anyway. Even before, when they had just been Mithril ranked, messing with them meant messing with the Adventurer's Guild, something no one was ready to risk.
Joining the guild had proven to be an extremely wise decision- not only did Suzuki now have a somewhat reliable source of income, but he was privy to information that he normally would never have been able to get his hands on. He could also enter places that a commoner could not, and there were even some magic items that he could purchase that he would otherwise not have access to. The blue robes that he was wearing right now, for example, had been sold to him by a nobleman from the Empire of Baharuth. He had come to E-Rantel because his eldest daughter, who was one of the woman Suzuki had rescued, had called for him.
The robes were a family heirloom, but the man was ingratiated enough to sell them to Suzuki for a reasonable price, replacing the red robes he had earlier. These robes were actually the rarest of the items that Suzuki had. They had the property of increasing his total MP by 2 points, and also would let him cast one spell up to the third tier that he knew once a day without any MP cost.
It was actually the rarest thing Suzuki had in his inventory, though they paled in comparison to Albedo's armor and of course, his earlier robes as Momonga.
In the month he had been here, Suzuki learned that the general power level of this world was extremely low. He had based his earlier assessment on the fact that he had found the sealing crystal with a seventh tier spell, but the world was far weaker than even that. Apparently even a fourth tier caster was extremely rare and fifth tier magic, something he would consider trash that was not even worth using when he was Momonga, was something that could land you in the realm of heroes.
That meant that the crystal had been quite valuable- he had his regrets in using it, though in hindsight it was almost the perfect time to use such an item, so he guessed he should have little complaints in that regard. It did mean though that the country known as the Slane Theocracy had some way of creating seventh tier magic, and it was possible others did too. Too bad that country didn't have an Adventurer's Guild, so details on their strength was hard to find...
Suzuki tried to clear his head of these thoughts and instead focus on Albedo for the time being.
Over the month they had spent together, they had certainly gotten closer. Suzuki did appreciate his teammate more and more- the way she was always up in the morning to greet him, the fact that she basically carried their team, and her bright smile whenever she talked to him.
There was only one issue.
Albedo, most likely due to her NPC settings, still viewed herself as a servant of Suzuki's. And that, over time, became nearly maddening.
There might have been men who would've been fine having a total sycophant or yes-man (to be more accurate, yes-woman) as a love partner, but Suzuki wasn't one of them.
Albedo practically worshipped the ground that Suzuki walked on, and his inner self could not possibly tolerate someone acting like that round the clock.
A normal man might've enjoyed such a thing for a few days, but would later find it highly bothersome.
It was honestly worse for someone like Suzuki considering he had never had very high self-esteem and had a giant case of Imposter Syndrome- he was no where near as cool as Albedo made him out to be. There was nothing about him that would've attracted the attention of a woman half as attractive as her back in the earth of 2138.
Even here, most of his reputation as an adventurer was thanks to Albedo- though nearly everyone gave all the credit of their achievements to him, simply because he was the leader of the team.
If Albedo could grow to see Suzuki as an equal, then he would feel far more at ease with her. Otherwise it was extremely difficult for him, also given how he felt that he had made her this way.
When Albedo praised him, a nasty part of his inner self told him that she was actually mocking him- something he knew was untrue, but it was just that he would've found that explanation easier to digest than unbridled praise.
They decided to go to a high end restaurant for their "date" (which had all ended the same way as their first date- the two of them hadn't even kissed yet) which specialized in cuisine made in the Holy Roble Kingdom. If rumors were to be believed, their head chef was an immigrant from that country, though this might've just been rumor to increase the appeal of the restaurant. He had once taken a client to a high-end Indian restaurant which had hung up various memorabilia in order to make it look more ethnically India. It was usually a gimmick to enhance the experience of eating at such an establishment.
The restaurant was about half full which was lucky for them, but even if a reservation was demanded of them Suzuki would've simply flashed his adamantite plate. That tended to get you into almost anywhere you wanted.
"Table for two please," Suzuki said.
A waitress dressed up as a maid bowed her head and led the two to a table.
The menus were written in the scripts of both the Kingdom of Re-Estize and of the Holy Roble Kingdom to enhance the immersion of dining at the place. This was ultimately useless given that Suzuki didn't understand the script of the Holy Roble Kingdom and he only knew a few words of the script of Re-Estize- usually when they went to restaurants he would order something verbally and it would be something such as a sandwich which was universally served. That probably wouldn't work here.
Albedo on the other hand had already virtually mastered the script of Re-Estize, a testament to her intelligence.
Again, Suzuki was reminded of the rift between the two of them- there was no way he could compare to her!
Someone of Albedo's intellect and learning, whose genius surpassed that of mankind, was probably equivalent to someone with several post-doctorates back in Suzuki's world. He, on the other hand, was someone who had only been educated up to the fifth grade.
Be it brain, beauty, or brawn- there was no way he could even be called Albedo's shadow. And yet the woman thought the world of him.
"So what do you want, Suzuki?" Albedo asked.
"I'll uh, I'll have what you're having..." Suzuki mumbled out.
"Ah, how romantic of you," Albedo said with a blush, once again misinterpreting Suzuki's incompetence for something else.
Really, Suzuki thought, how long was this set of circumstances going to continue?
Their food was brought, and Suzuki reflexively used his Ring of Unicorn before consuming it. If anyone who watched knew what he was doing- they would consider doing this to be extremely insulting. However, most people had never seen a magic item like that, and therefore would have no idea what he was doing, and so Suzuki was not met with eyes filled with scorn.
As it was, even if they were tacitly insulted, Suzuki's paranoia would still compel him to use it. He had been unable to find an item that was better than it when it came to poison resistance. When everything came down to it, even if he died, it was possible he could be resurructed by a spell, but Albedo would have to be brought back using the guild system, which no longer existed. As such, the item which completely nullified poison as well as most of their inventory rested with Albedo.
Suzuki dug in, as was with the food back in the Shining Golden Pavilion, this was exquisitely made and tastier than anything he had ever eaten. If he wanted better items, it seemed the only way that he would be able to get them was by looking places like private collections or the treasuries of certain countries.
"Is something on your mind?" Albedo asked as she noticed Suzuki's expression.
"No, I was just thinking," Suzuki said. "If we want better magic items, we'll have to look in places like the abandoned ruins of civilizations, or the treasuries of certain countries. As individuals, it is difficult for us to negotiate for national treasures. Like let's say I wanted the Gauntlets of Vitality..." Suzuki played with his food a little. The reason he wanted them was so that if he didn't need to sleep, he could spend more time reading and learning about things. "...it wouldn't really be possible to ask for them. No matter how strong we get... we'll just end up being two people who were strong... only a country, I think, could bargain for such items..."
Albedo's eyes widened for an instant before a coy smile appeared on her face. "I see... as expected of one of the Supreme Beings..."
Suzuki had just been mostly mumbling to himself while playing with his food, and as such he didn't notice Albedo's facial expression or the gears in her head slowly turning.
A/N: We're actually getting close to the next chapter, something I'm really excited for! For the person wondering about Albedo's wings and horns, I included an explanation in this chapter.