Level Down 20 (Patreon)

Volume 1 Chapter 20 - Eric's Visit

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After finishing his meal and taking a break to cleanse himself, Allen thought about going to bed just like that, but thinking ‘could it be’, he changed into Nera's appearance and left the house.

The area around Allen's house near the slum to the west is pitch black at night. Under the cover of that darkness, Allen began walking toward the center of the city.

The sight of a clown walking in the darkness was a kind of horror that if a child saw it, it could have traumatized them, but fortunately there were no children out at such a time.

After walking for a while, he got closer to the center of the city, and the road was lit up by street lamp magic tools, and although not many, he started to see people.

Some people looked surprised at Allen's appearance, and some people were on the verge of screaming, “Hih!”, but Allen hurried forward, trying not to think about it as much as possible.

The place Allen arrived at was his own workplace, the Adventurers' Guild. It had already been some time since the gate was closed, and the guild's bar had already closed for business, so there were only a handful of people there, including the employees.

Without hesitation, Allen headed to the guild counter and faced the night shift male employee. Even when the man saw Allen's queer appearance, he didn't lose his customer service smile. That’d make you think ‘as expected of a pro,’ but the truth was that Allen had come here as Nera many times at night, so he had just gotten used to it.

“Welcome, Nera-sama. The fourth payment is ready, but would you like to receive it? The items you ordered have arrived today, so you can also receive them.” (Employee)

It was a bit different from a face pass, but the male employee informed him before he even identified himself as Nera, so he almost cried out loud, but he managed to hold it back.

While grinning under his mask, Allen held out his empty palm to the employee and clenched it. And then he opened that fist and there were two tallies on his palm. The male employee’s expression was dyed with surprise at the tallies that appeared out of nowhere. Allen was secretly satisfied with that.

* (T/N: it was tickets before, now it’s tallies, I guess a tally is a ticket that’s torn off? 割符 - tally; check; piece of wood or paper split in half and given to each party as a form of proof (e.g. of a transaction).)

‘I’m dressed up as a clown anyway,’ thinking so, Allen decided to do this kind of surprise once in a while. ‘It's more interesting that way after all,’ and that's his only reason.

That said, Allen is not a professional clown, so there are limits to what he can do. What he did earlier too, it seemed like those had suddenly appeared to the guild employee, but in reality, he just moved so fast that he couldn't see him take out the tallies.

“I-I've confirmed the tallies. Well then, I'll be bringing you the payment and items, s-so, please wait a moment.” (Employee)

As Allen watched the male employee scurry towards the office in the back, he wondered if he had made a slight mistake, but he still waited excitedly for the male employee to return.

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(Geez─, I finally got it) (Allen)

Allen was looking at a bag about 50 cm squared that was attached to his waist; the magic bag, as he walked home in light gait.

The magic bag that Allen obtained was a dark brown thin leather bag in appearance, and was the type that could be closed with a string attached to its opening like a drawstring bag.

Of course, magic bags come in many different shapes, and there are even ones that really look like ordinary bags.

Allen immediately put the gold coins he received at the Guild into his magic bag, and the sight of them being sucked in as if it was a miracle was so moving that he almost cried out.

For an adventurer, owning a magic bag is proof of first-class status, and Allen was no different in that he longed for them.

Allen walked in that happy mood for a while, but when the street lights were disappearing and he got closer to his home, he noticed an abnormality.

(Footsteps, 4 people? No, 5 people, huh?) (Allen)

Hearing the slight sound coming from behind, Allen frowned as he analyzed them. It wasn't just footsteps, but it was blending in with the sound of his footsteps, they were following him. Allen couldn’t think of this as anything other than a harbinger of something bothersome.

(Robbers? Well, there were people at the Guild who were watching me receive it. Alright, let's shake them off.) (Allen)

With that decision, Allen veered away from the direction of his house and into an alley, and as soon as he was out of the line of sight of his pursuers, he kicked off the ground and jumped up. As Allen silently landed on the roof several meters above him, he heard rustling voices searching for him.

Allen was relieved that he had managed to shake them off, and tried to return home along the roof, but...

“Above?!” (???)

That voice sounded familiar to Allen, but a sound like a kick against the wall approaching him made him turn around in a panic.

That intuition that allowed them to draw the correct answer from the slightest evidence in the midst of this darkness even though there was almost no evidence that Allen had jumped upwards is terrifying.

(People with sharp intuition are troublesome. I’ll have to run away before they confront me.) (Allen)

Allen began to run as fast as he could and immediately disappeared from the scene, and by the time his pursuer landed on the roof, there was already no shadow or form of him.

When the man found just the slightest trace on the roof, “Tch,” he clicked his tongue and jumped off the roof to resume his search.

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The next day, Allen woke up at his usual time, stretched out slightly, and headed to the kitchen from his squeaky bed. Although yesterday's pursuer put a damper on his mood, Allen was still happy to have obtained the magic bag and started preparing breakfast in a good mood.

Today was Allen’s day off and he didn't have any special plans, and he was in a good mood too, so he thought about making a slightly more elaborate breakfast and started cooking when it happened. There was a knock at the door to his house.

(Who is it, this early in the morning?) (Allen)

Wiping his wet hands while thinking about that, Allen heard a voice coming from behind the door.

“Aniki, are you there? It's Eric.” (Eric)

“Ooh, wait a second.” (Allen)

When Allen hurriedly ran to the door and opened it, there was a soldier with masculine face standing there. He was somewhat younger than Allen, and had sharp eyes that didn't give any sign of opening, but the man had some similarities with Allen, like in his mouth.

Allen welcomed the soldier with open arms.

“I’m glad you come, Eric.” (Allen)

“I’m back, Aniki.” (Eric)

The two laughed as they hugged, celebrating their first sibling reunion after a long time.

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“Wait a bit here. I'm preparing breakfast now.” (Allen)

Saying this, Allen added Eric’s share and began preparing breakfast. Eric was a little surprised by the new dining table, but the scene looked the same as when he was young, so he watched nostalgically.

Eric is Allen's younger brother, and currently works as a soldier in this Lilac City.

Although he splendidly passed the test with the sword made in Dolban's workshop and got a job as a soldier, he was forced to live in a barracks when he first joined them, and even after that, due to certain circumstances, he did not have many opportunities to return to his parents' home, that’s why it’s been a long time since they met like this.

That said, from Allen's point of view, they sometimes passed each other when he was patrolling the city, and his other younger siblings have already moved away from the city, so Eric is the one closest to him.

After quickly preparing breakfast for two and putting it on the desk, Allen sat down facing Eric. After saying their usual prayers, the two began eating.

When Eric took a bite of his breakfast and stopped with his eyes wide open, Allen smiled widely.

“Delicious, isn’t it?” (Allen)

“Yeah, it’s delicious.” (Eric)

“Now that I've become a guild employee, my life has stabilized, so I've been studying various things a bit. Cooking is one of them. I wish I could have fed you guys while you were here.” (Allen)

Seeing Allen bad-manneredly playing with the food with his fork while talking happily, Eric smiled.

Half of the reason Eric came here was because he was worried about Allen, and from the way Allen looked now, he knew that his worries were unfounded.

Whether or not he knows Eric's inner thoughts, Allen continued talking.

“By the way, are you all right over there? Uhh, what about that matter with Julia-sama?” (Allen)

At Allen's words, which he seemed to have a hard time asking but his worries won out, Eric nodded his head with a wry smile.

“Julia is doing very well. If I can get a little more achievement and be nominated to knighthood, I should be able to get her back into nobility. She says she is happy as she is though.” (Eric)

“I see... you sure are loved.” (Allen)

Allen's expression softened at that answer. Allen and Eric, now free of worries, proceeded with their meal while reporting on their current situation, and finished eating everything.

Smiling and satisfied with the interaction with his brother after such a long time, Allen was about to get up to clean up. But was stopped by Eric's words.

“By the way, Aniki. Do you know someone called Nera?” (Eric)

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