Reincarnated into a Game as the Hero’s Friend - Chapter 24
Feli. Full name Felix Earnest. He’s the hero party’s scout. The game set his age as 14 years old, but his ability as a scout is second to none. There are many trap-filled labyrinths in the game that can’t be conquered without his help.
His appearance is cute, but he’s, without a doubt, a male. If the game had been released 20 years later, Felix is probably going to be a girl.
And well, this isn’t important, but I think the illustrator must have taken a lot of inspiration from the Peter P?n in D?sney animation series.
With this thought in mind, I take a seat back in the Adventurer’s Guild, of course with Feli. It’s not like I don’t have any other work to do, but it never hurts to keep in touch with Feli while he’s here.
“So you recognize my face.”
“You’re famous after all, Viscount-sama.”
Feli is sitting on the chair with his leg still dangling off the floor because he’s short. In front of him is fruit juice, though he’s 14, it doesn’t matter if he drinks alcohol. However, he still chooses the fruit juice instead.
The fruit juice along with fruits and nuts on the table are all my treats.
“So, what are you up to, Viscount-sama?”
“Simply put, I want to buy stuff.”
After saying that, I proceed to tell him the same official reason that I also told Mr. Bierstedt. I can’t tell him about the demon king matter, but hiding the matter of buying equipment from Feli is useless since I’m pretty sure that Feli will be able to find it in no time.
“Heh, so you plan to go around towns and splurge money to buy all sorts of equipment?”
“Not exactly ‘splurging’ money.”
“Then you’re doing a panic buying?”
“That word has a completely different meaning, you know.”
I wonder to what extent he’s being serious. Feli has this kind of personality. He’s good at digging through people’s real intentions with his jokes.
He’s also good at digging through others’ pockets, a.k.a pickpocketing. He won’t do it here, in Adventurer’s Guild, though. The guild might expel him if he does, after all.
In the game, there are some events where his pickpocket skill comes in handy. Think about it, if you can pickpocket a valuable item from your opponent… isn’t that quite a great skill?
“It sounds interesting. Maybe I would like to be part of it?”
“Why is it a question?”
“Because other than it sounds interesting, I have no other reasons to go all the way to distant towns.”
Well, I guess so, since the matter of the demon king’s revival is still a secret.
Well then, where should I put a great pawn called Feli? I’ve been wanting a person that can become the behind-the-scene support for gathering information in the capital.
Feli would be an excellent choice for that.
On the other hand, I can also put Feli in the merchant corps so he can ascertain the geography and the location of the future hero’s party journey.
There is an expendable item called Skywalk that allows teleportation to a town you’ve visited once. That means if Feli joins the merchant corps now, when he joins the hero party in the future, the scope of activities of the hero party will be significantly broadened.
After all, the town where Skywalk can be bought is among the towns that the merchants corps will visit. Buying 2-3 of them would make Mazell’s future journey a bit easier.
“Well, Feli, what do you want to do?” The question might seem straightforward, but it actually isn’t. I ask him this on purpose, so I can fit him in whatever job he wants and I need, even if it’s unrelated to the merchant’s corps that’s been the subject of my conversation with him.
Feli answered nonchalantly, “Anything, as long as it’s interesting.”
“….In a sense, that’s a simple condition.”
But in fact, that’s a hardly simple condition to follow. The scope of interesting is just too broad. What’s certain is that Feli is the type of person that will willingly fall into a trap just because he found it interesting to do everything in his power to escape.
In my past life, I had handled a new employee that had a similar character to Feli and he caused me a really hard time. In a way, this type of person is the most difficult to handle.
“How about a tedious but quite thrilling job? Will you be interested in it?”
“Heh, what kind of job?”
“A scouting job for the merchant’s corps.”
Then I proceed to tell him the explanation about the fact that the recent demon outbreak is orchestrated by a devil and the possibility of similar things may happen in other areas as well as the possibility of a change in the frequency of demon appearances, etc.
Actually, both are certain facts that will happen, not just possible, but I’m probably the only person who knows that.
“In short, the roads that used to be safe are now unsafe and different types of demons might emerge, so we need to be careful.”
“Your commission sounds tough and it will take a lot of time to complete.”
“In exchange, you will be able to acquire things that can only be found in those towns. For example, specialty dishes that you can only eat there.” Yep, his expression changed a bit. As expected, people of Feli’s age care more about their stomachs rather than a beautiful woman. Speaking about beautiful women, are there any red-light districts in those towns? I had never paid much attention.
“I can provide you a food allowance in addition to your daily allowance.”
“That’s… a lucrative deal.”
“For me, as long as the merchants can return safely, I don’t mind spending some extra.”
That’s my real feeling. I really need the merchants to return safely, so if Feli is with them, the chance for that to happen is increased.
Above all, putting Feli to work in the capital will only help me, but putting him in the merchant corps will help Mazell and that alone can improve our whole situation against the demon king.
That’s why I judged that having Feli travel with the merchant corps is a better investment for the future. Unfortunately, I still can’t tell if he wants to go. Well then, should I start exploiting Feli’s character setting?
“More specific explanation will be provided in the gathering at the Count’s house in a few days, so please show up.”
“I will go if I feel like it.”
“Here for your traveling expenses.”
I toss a pouch filled with gold and silver coins to the table. Feli, who probably knows the contents from the sound it makes when it hits the table, shows a stunned expression.
“Even if you’re a Viscount, isn’t this too much?”
“I’m just a nobleman in name only, I don’t have that much money.”
More than half of that words are true since the majority of my funds belong to my count father. This time, I gathered enough funds by practically taking a loan from my parents. But it’s fine since this money is my investment in Feli.
“But since I’ve given it to you, it’s yours. I don’t care where you donate it.”
“!!!”
If I’m not wrong, the setting said Feli is from an orphanage, right? Well, the orphanage has never really been depicted in the game, but Feli is part of the protagonist’s party, so it’s definitely an orphanage. Really, a protagonist’s friend from an orphanage; there’s nothing more cliche than that.
Come to think of it, there was no orphanage building on the game map.
“The meeting will be held on Hunt & Rear day. See you later.”
Now, all I need to see is how Feli will act after learning about the fact that I know he’s from an orphanage. There is a 50% chance he will end up doubting me and become wary of me.
But if it is to get someone of Feli’s caliber in my hand, it is still a worthy gamble. I immediately left after giving him the meeting day to cut off any questions he might have. The money I give to Feli is the last of my funds, so let’s call it a day.
Thus, my Nativity day which was normally a holiday ended on a hectic note. Sigh… Let’s do some training and immediately go to bed.