Chapter 250 Are you Captain Ian?

"I should have come a bit later, I guess."

Someone walking toward them smiled at Rin and Ian.

Rin and Ian sprang apart the moment they heard the footsteps, but with their faces turning bright red, anyone could have guessed what had been going on.

"Should I go somewhere else for a bit and come back?"

"...No. It’s fine."

A mercenary with messy blonde hair tied back loosely smiled at the strange atmosphere between the two.

With a spear slung casually over her shoulder, the mercenary was dressed in light everyday clothes, as if she didn’t even need armor in a place like this.

Ian could immediately tell who she was from those features.

It was Rebecca, one of the mercenaries belonging to the guild.

Rebecca spoke mockingly to the two people following behind her.

"You kids. Didn’t you run over here a bit too fast? Your Captain might get mad at you later."

As Rebecca chuckled, Tanya and Mika, who had been hidden behind the quite tall Rebecca, peeked their heads out.

Realizing this, Rin’s face grew even redder, and she hurriedly covered herself with the wet clothes scattered on the floor.

"Stop feeling awkward and just give them what you brought. Your Captain’s going to freeze to death."

"Ah... yes!"

Hearing Rebecca’s words, Tanya finally snapped out of it and ran over to hand them towels and clothes they had brought from outside.

"...Thank you."

Rin took the clothes, trying her best to cool down her burning face.

Ian watched Rebecca as he put on the clothes Tanya had brought.

Rebecca, who had stepped aside for a moment while they changed, was leaning against her spear a short distance away, looking around the sewer.

At first glance, it seemed like she had only brought a single spear, but looking closely at Rebecca, he could see her rings or earrings occasionally flashing with a faint blue light in the darkness of the underground passage.

Each one of those items was something the Ian Mercenary Group couldn’t afford even one of with their current assets.

Although she was a guild mercenary, she wasn’t the type of person who would normally come to a place like this just to help out.

Ian wondered how those two had managed to bring someone like her here.

Sensing the gaze observing her, Rebecca turned her head to look at Ian and spoke first.

"Hm? Done changing?"

"Yes. Thank you for your help."

"Oh, those two were the ones who worked hard. They came running in out of nowhere, begging for help before collapsing, so I thought a Drake had shown up or something."

As Rebecca pointed at Tanya and Mika and laughed, the two girls’ faces turned slightly red.

"I’m Rebecca. Are you Captain Ian? I’ve heard a lot about you."

"About me? From whom...?"

"From the staff. They said you’re the one who takes the underground sewer assignments on a regular basis."

Rebecca tapped the floor of the sewer with the tip of her foot.

"There aren’t many mercenaries who want to get stuck in a gloomy place like this for pocket change, right? So the staff were always in a panic trying to find someone."

Rebecca chuckled, perhaps remembering what had happened at the guild before she came down here.

"The staff heard the news and practically clung to me. They said it would be a disaster if Captain Ian got hurt, so please help him."

"...."

He had wondered why the staff were talking about him, but he hadn’t realized it was in that sense.

Rebecca laughed at the look on Ian’s face.

"It might sound a bit weird, but there’s nothing wrong with being liked by the staff."

"Yes.... I suppose so."

Of course, from Rebecca’s perspective too.... it was good to have a mercenary like Ian around.

Managing the underground sewers was a task commissioned by the city, so the guild couldn’t just leave it neglected because there was no one to take it.

In other words, if no one could be found until the very end, guild mercenaries like Rebecca would eventually be forced in to do the cleaning.

For that reason, although this was Rebecca’s first time meeting Ian, she was quite well-disposed toward him.

The smile on Rebecca’s face as she looked at Ian slowly faded.

Aside from the small talk they had shared, the main point they had to discuss was a bit more serious.

Rebecca took a large step toward Ian.

Since Rebecca was taller than Ian, he had to look up at her as she stood before him.

Rebecca looked down at Ian quietly, meeting his eyes.

"But you see. I have something I want to ask you personally."

Rebecca pulled something out from her pocket. An object familiar to Ian.

It was the map of the underground sewers that Ian had drawn.

"This tactical map.... they said the Captain drew it?"

The map in Rebecca’s hand fluttered.

***

Ian followed Rebecca out of the underground sewer.

He thought they had been trapped for quite a while, but it was still daylight outside.

Coming out, Ian frowned and shielded his eyes from the blinding sunlight.

It seemed Rebecca had cleared out all the monsters on her way in.

Ian had hoped he might get to see Rebecca fight, but they were able to exit safely without encountering a single monster on the way out.

As they left the sewer and everyone walked silently toward the guild.

Tanya, who was following behind, moved a bit closer to Ian and spoke quietly.

"I’m sorry. I was in a hurry and took your map out with me...."

Remembering how Rebecca had questioned her about the map in the sewer, Tanya asked anxiously.

She had no choice but to use Ian’s map to find her way, but when Rebecca saw it, she asked where she had gotten it and then took the map away.

She couldn’t openly eavesdrop on their conversation, so she didn’t hear the details, but even from a distance, the atmosphere between the two discussing the map didn’t seem light.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No. You did well."

What Rebecca had said to Ian after taking out the map was... really not much.

Whether he had really drawn it himself. Where he had learned. What the purpose was....

After asking such things, Rebecca had looked at Ian with a strange expression and then silently returned the map to him.

The map was now safely back in Ian’s possession.

After a few more minutes of walking in silence, the group arrived at the guild.

Seeing Rebecca and Ian follow her in, the staff members hurriedly approached and spoke to them.

"Are you all right? We heard you were missing after being attacked by monsters...."

"Did some dangerous variant appear?"

It seemed the incoherent story Tanya had told when she rushed to the guild had grown quite a bit as it circulated.

"No, I just fell into the water...."

Ian couldn’t bring himself to say the cause was just a Slime, so he gave a vague excuse.

After finishing the return procedures while talking to the staff, Ian approached Rebecca, who was sitting in a chair on one side of the guild’s waiting room.

Her posture clearly showed she was waiting for Ian to finish his business, so Ian went up to her first.

"Ms. Rebecca. Thank you. As for the reward...."

"Forget it, what reward?"

Rebecca waved her hand dismissively.

She had gone because the staff asked her to anyway, so she had no intention of taking a reward, and besides, Rebecca’s fee wasn’t an amount a mercenary group that had just reached D-rank could afford.

"But.... which inn are you staying at?"

Instead, Rebecca asked Ian in a low voice.

"I’m asking because I have a personal interest. Don’t worry, nothing bad will happen."

After hearing the name of the inn Ian was staying at, Rebecca left the guild first, saying she would see him later.

***

"Phew...."

Back at the inn, Ian sat on his bed and sighed.

In terms of time, it had been a short period—less than a day—but a deep fatigue, as if he had stayed up for several nights, washed over him.

He wanted to just collapse and sleep right away, but since there was still work to do, he was briefly organizing his things. Then, someone knocked on his door.

It was Rin, who had already gone up and dropped off her luggage.

When Ian opened the door, Rin entered the room looking a bit awkward and spoke cautiously.

"We’ve finished sorting everything on our end. Nothing was lost.... and the other two aren’t hurt either."

"That’s good."

The report on the things Ian had asked her to check was over quickly.

With this, today’s schedule was completely finished. Normally, Rin would have said a casual goodbye and headed out to spend her free time.

But Rin, hesitating and stealing glances at Ian’s face, asked him carefully.

"Captain. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah.... and you, Rin?"

"I’m fine too."

An awkward atmosphere flowed between them.

When their eyes met, Rin flinched and subtly looked away.

Ian could see Rin’s face gradually flushing red.

Rin, who hesitated as if she had more to say, fiddled with the hem of her clothes in silence before finally turning away.

"Well, then.... I’ll be going. Good night."

Rin left such a greeting awkwardly and rushed out of the room.

Creak.

However, a little while after Rin had left.

The sound of Ian’s closed door opening again was heard.

Ian turned his head and said.

"Rin?"

"No. It’s me."

Mika peeked her head through the gap in the open door.

"Do you have plans with Rin?"

"No, I don’t. What’s up?"

"It’s dinner time. I’ve secured a table."

"...Oh, I’ll be right down."

...Ian and Rin found themselves facing each other again in just a few minutes.