After training, Reina-san joined us, and the four of us headed to a diner for a meal.
"I think Erik-kun has a different way of looking at things compared to Amanda-san. Like an eye for observing people's movements, maybe?"
"You think so? I feel like it's just a habit from my childhood..."
Over our meal, the conversation turned to how good I was at reading people.
"Erik-kun, you grew up constantly walking on eggshells around your family, right? Maybe, odd as it sounds to put it this way, those skills from back then are paying off now?"
"Walking on eggshells? Erik-kun, are you on bad terms with your family?"
Out of everyone here, only Reina-san knew about my childhood.
At her words, Olivia-san and Cain-san both wore puzzled expressions.
"I'm sorry. Erik-kun, I assumed you had already told them, which is why I brought it up..."
"It's completely fine. I just never found the right timing to mention it; it wasn't something I meant to keep a secret."
With that, I shared the story of my childhood with Olivia-san and Cain-san.
"...That's awful. I always pictured the countryside as a place where families lived closely in harmony, but it seems I was sorely mistaken."
"...So that's why you hid the fact that you paid for everything, Erik-kun. You were afraid that if they found out, your family might come after your money."
"Yes. If they'd never taken anything from me before, I wouldn't have been so guarded, but it happened twice. Being vigilant is simply necessary."
My parents stole from me, and my siblings stole from me.
Neither could be trusted, which made keeping my affairs hidden a necessity.
"Even so, it's a wonder such a good kid could come from a family like that. Even if your home life was terrible, was it because the people around you were good?"
"The villagers were all wonderfully kind. They taught me so much when I didn't know a thing. It's thanks to them teaching me to read and write that I can even look over a menu like this and order for myself."
"That really is a massive advantage. It's often said that the very first obstacle adventurers from the countryside run into is literacy."
"The Adventurer's Guild offers basic reading and writing lessons to help with that, but Erik-kun didn't need any of it."
As we chatted, our food arrived, and we dug in.
Cain-san and I had ordered the steak set meal, while Olivia-san and Reina-san had gone with the stir-fried vegetable set meal.
"I had to work pretty hard on my reading and writing too~. People told me I wouldn't survive if I couldn't do it. Studying doesn't seem like a chore for you at all, though, does it, Erik-kun?"
"Since I'm in a position where people are generous enough to teach me skills, I've never once thought of studying as unpleasant."
"...I only wish there had been more kids like you at the Academy."
Hearing what I said, Olivia-san muttered with a quiet sigh.
"Are there not many people at the Academy who think that way?"
"A few understand and make real progress, but most students just come whining, 'Teach me powerful magic~!' Every single time, I'd complain, 'How on earth am I supposed to teach you that when you haven't even mastered the basics?!' A lot of the kids who enter the Academy received Elemental Magic during their rituals, and so many of them lack even basic manners or education."
"Olivia-san, you used to come back to the Fledgling Pavilion to vent all the time, didn't you? Saying you were on the verge of hating children."
"I really did. I'm glad I quit before it came to that, but if I had stayed, I doubt I ever would have agreed to become Erik-kun's master."
It sounded like Olivia-san had been pushed to her absolute limit back then.
To drive a Platinum Rank adventurer that far, the Academy students in those days must have been quite a handful, I thought.
"In that sense, kids who become adventurers are still far more cooperative than the ones at the Academy."
"That's because the adventurer world is a pure meritocracy. Advice from high-ranking veterans is something novices are genuinely grateful for."
"I agree with that. Getting instruction from a Gold Rank like Cain-san and a Platinum Rank like Olivia-san—I'm sure anyone else in my shoes would be green with envy."
"Fufu, I'm sure they are. Though, honestly, the thing other adventurers are probably most jealous of is your connection with Reina, don't you think?"
Olivia-san gave a teasing smile and glanced over at Reina-san.
"That's true. Reina-chan is great at her job, but she's very selective about who she gives her time to. The ones she backs tend to grow rapidly, so to everyone she turned down, Erik-kun, having earned her favor, is bound to be a prime target for jealousy."
"Well, those adventurers are all obsessed with the dungeon right now anyway. How are things looking on that front, Reina-chan?"
"It's incredible. Word came through via magic tool that the vanguard has reached the 170th floor. A massive dungeon this close to a major city is unprecedented, so adventurers have been pouring in from all over the world."
The last time I had heard about the dungeon, it was on the 150th floor, but it had already plunged another twenty floors deeper.
"That's amazing. Just how deep does it go?"
"Adventurers are whispering that it might go as far as five hundred floors, but a dungeon that large would be catastrophic if something went wrong. From the guild's perspective, we're hoping it caps out at two hundred."
"Even two hundred floors is extraordinarily massive. And with something that huge sitting right on our doorstep, the royal capital is only going to get more crowded. I doubt the Fledgling Pavilion would ever kick out current guests or jack up its prices, but who knows what the other inns will do."
"High-ranking adventurers often own houses, but it's going to be rough for everyone else. Erik-kun, even if a quest takes you out of the royal capital, you should ask Amanda-san to hold your room for you, all right? Otherwise, you might come back to find you don't have a bed to sleep in."
Hearing Cain-san's advice, I nodded in agreement.
Even if I had to leave the royal capital, securing my room was a priority.
With that resolve settled in my mind, I turned my attention back to the food that had gone untouched while we were lost in conversation.