Volume 1 Chapter 4 Trainer Roezé
"Hey, Roezé, you're good at cooking, right? If you open a diner or something, you could earn money at your own chill pace."
"..."
At first, it sounded like a random idea, but it started to seem like a pretty good suggestion.
It's definitely more interesting than just grinding through low-level adventurer quests.
Plus, I really like cooking.
Even that cold-hearted hero party praised my cooking, so that's something.
But if I want to open a diner, I'd need to set up a lot of things, get permission from the commercial guild or somewhere, and find a place to set up shop...
A bunch of obstacles flooded my mind all at once, so I decided to put that idea on hold for now.
But well...
"Opening a diner might be tough, but starting a business sounds good. If it goes well, it could be easier than what I'm doing now."
"...So your standard is whether it's easy or not, huh?"
Ms. Terra probably suggested this because she felt sorry for my current dried-up self.
She probably wants to see me working more actively, but I have no intention of changing my laid-back mindset.
I just want a slow life to heal from being kicked out of the hero party.
If I can do that, I don't need anything else.
Just then, the guild started getting crowded, so I decided to head home.
As usual, I stopped by the market on the way back to buy some ingredients.
I finished my monster-hunting quest earlier than usual, so I got home while the sun was still up.
There's still some time before dinner, so I think I'll take a nap to kill some time.
"Yawn..."
I sat in my rocking chair and closed my eyes.
This is the kind of carefree life I've been wishing for.
With that thought, I drifted off into a dream.
* * *
──Knock, knock, knock.
A sound of a gentle knock on the door woke me up.
"Ugh..."
Rubbing my eyes and looking out the window, I saw it was already dark outside.
Who could it be at this hour? I was so close to falling back asleep until morning, so I'm grateful someone woke me up.
Feeling a bit cautious, I stood up from my chair and replied to the voice beyond the door.
"Hello, who is it?"
There was no response from the visitor.
I thought maybe I misheard, but then there was another 'knock knock knock,' so I moved closer to the door.
Since coming back to this house, I hadn't had any visitors, so I opened the door with a sense of caution and...
There stood a girl at the entrance.
"Huh...?"
She looked to be around 15, a girl I didn't recognize.
Her long, fiery red hair was striking, styled with the top half tied back.
Her matching red eyes were big and innocent, and the way she stood there shyly made her look even more youthful.
On her waist, she carried a long straight sword, and over her white tunic that reached her waist, she wore a modest chest plate.
From what I could see, she looked like a rookie adventurer, but who could this girl be?.
"Um, excuse me!"
"...Yes?"
The girl, her voice barely coming out, looked up at me with glistening eyes.
And as I stood there, stunned and unable to grasp the situation, she pressed on with her question.
"Are you Mr. Roezé, the Trainer?!"
"...Huh?"
A bad feeling crept in.
Trainer Roezé.
That was definitely me.
I had never seen anyone else with such a strange job class as Trainer.
Maybe there are others out there who call themselves 'Trainer' regardless of job class, but since she specifically used the name Roezé, it was clear she was looking for me.
But how did she know I was a Trainer?.
"I, um, I have something I want to ask Mr. Roezé, the Trainer..."
Since coming back to this town, I had never introduced myself as a Trainer.
I didn't want anyone to know I was the Trainer Aroze who got kicked out of the hero party.
I thought that even if I revealed I was a Trainer, only a handful of people would recognize me.
In the hero party, I was the weakest in terms of strength, and my recognition was just as low.
Sword Saint Dahlia, Saint Iris, Sage Grisine, Holy Knight Jostum.
Compared to these 4 with top-tier job classes, Trainer Aroze seemed like a faint shadow.
In fact, even the fact that I left the hero party 6 months ago has long been forgotten by the public.
Anyway, I must look like just another rookie adventurer to anyone watching, so why does this girl know about my Trainer job class?
"Uh, um, are you Mr. Roezé, the Trainer?"
No, that doesn't really matter right now.
Putting aside how this girl found out about my job class, the real issue is that I have a bad feeling about this.
Thinking that, I gave a vague response to the girl who was looking at me anxiously.
"Y-you must be mistaken?"
"Huh...?"
"I'm not a Trainer or anything."
The girl looked at me with wide eyes, confused.
I couldn't really explain why I was acting so dazed.
I just sensed some kind of unsettling atmosphere.
It felt like things might get complicated.
"Isn't this Mr. Roezé's home? I heard it was definitely here..."
"My name is indeed Roezé, but I've never called myself a Trainer. By the way, who told you that?"
"It was Ms. Terra, the receptionist at the adventurer guild. She kindly informed me just now..."
Ugh, so it was Ms. Terra's doing.
She's the only one in this town who knows I'm a Trainer.
I hadn't asked her to keep it a secret, but she must know I don't want people to find out I'm Aroze, the one who got kicked out of the hero party.
So why would she spill the beans about me being a Trainer?
I really hope this doesn't lead to any trouble.
Well, she doesn't seem like the type to cause trouble, so there must be some special reason behind this.
At least until I hear it from her, I'll keep the fact that I'm a Trainer under wraps.
"I'm, I'm sorry, I think I made a mistake. I heard there was a Trainer here who knows a lot about raising adventurers..."
"Did, did that person have something important to do?"
I ask out of curiosity, like wanting to see something scary.
The girl blushes a bit and gives a somewhat awkward smile.
"I wanted to get stronger with his help as an adventurer..."
"Stronger?"
"It seems like I'm growing slower than others. I've been active for a year, but I'm still only rank 3. Because of that, I got kicked out of the party I was in, and now I can't join any party at all..."
The wry smile on the girl's face slowly turns into a self-deprecating grin.
I start to regret casually asking and feel a bit guilty.
So that's what was going on.
Being active for a year and still at that level does seem like a slow growth rate.
That's why she came here looking for Trainer Roezé, who knows about raising adventurers.
She can't join any party, huh?
"So, I wanted to ask Trainer Mr. Roezé for help, but it seems I accidentally visited the wrong place. I'm really sorry for the trouble."
"Ah..."
As she says that, she bows her head and quickly leaves the place.
Watching her back, a complicated feeling swirls in my chest.
What is this guilt...
I thought it would be a hassle, so I ended up lying and sending her away, but was that really the right thing to do?
"..."
Maybe it was good that I played dumb back then.
If I had accepted the girl's request as it was, I would have definitely gotten into a troublesome situation.
This peaceful life I have now could have been threatened, and my whole life might have fallen apart.
I wonder if it's really such a big deal just to help one girl, but I can't shake this uneasy feeling.
Yeah, that's why it was definitely the right choice to lie and send her away.
"......"
I try to tell myself that, but guilt seeps in like poison, little by little.
Feeling overwhelmed, I decided to go to the adventurer's guild early tomorrow morning to vent my frustrations at Ms. Terra, the one who got me into this mess.
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