Chapter 36: An Important Life Decision

Chapter 36: An Important Life Decision

The cold touch of the sword against his neck instantly sobered Alisar.
Just a moment ago, he saw himself in a quiet place, far from noise and danger, where he could live for many years without worrying about money or work. That future had felt so real… and now it was collapsing right before his eyes. Every drop of sweat running down his back felt icy. One wrong move—and his life would end that very second. Even swallowing felt dangerous—what if the steel cut his skin?

“Hello, Alisar. Going somewhere?” came a very familiar voice.

“Sherial, is that you?” he asked.

“Yes, it’s me,” she replied. “Don’t be afraid, you can turn around.”

He turned slowly. Sherial stood before him, smiling as always. But in her hand was a sword, the tip resting against his neck. The scene reminded him of when Rem had held a sword to his throat. Back then it had ended peacefully, but… why was Sherial doing this now?

Yes, back then he could at least understand why Rem had done it. But now… could it be about the money? Two hundred platinum coins—an enormous fortune. Money could change people easily. Even friends.

“Listen, you can take the money. I don’t need it. Just take the sword away from my neck,” he said.

Sherial stared at him for a moment, as if not understanding something.

“No, no… you think I came here to rob you?” she asked with genuine surprise.

“Well… yes,” he replied. “Then why are you doing this?”

She paused for a moment and slowly lowered her sword.

“Yes… I guess it really did look like a robbery, considering you just received a huge amount of money,” she admitted, taking a deep breath.

Alisar felt the tension ease slightly as the cold steel no longer touched his neck.

“Why did you do that?” he asked, still wary.

“I happened to walk by and overheard you saying you were going to quit being an adventurer…” there was irritation in her voice. “And that made me angry.”

“Angry? Why? I thought it would be easier for you if I left. I’m just a burden, and by helping me, you’re wasting your time. You saw it yourself—in battle I was no help at all,” he said.

Sherial took a deep breath and said:

“Listen, this isn’t the right place to talk. Let’s go into your room.”

“Yes, this really isn’t the right place,” he thought.

They entered his inn room. Sherial sat directly across from Alisar on a chair.

“All right, I’ll be direct: you can’t quit being an adventurer now. Because for the first time in a long while, Rem has finally decided to accept someone into our group,” Sherial said.

“Join your group?” Alisar repeated. Yes, it would be nice, but he wasn’t any use… he thought. “You know, I’d be glad to join your group, but I wouldn’t be of any help,” he said honestly.

“Well yes, if we’re talking about your combat abilities, you’re not very useful yet. But over time, you’ll learn to fight well. And your skills already more than make up for that. Without your ‘Training Room’ skill, we wouldn’t have survived in that dungeon,” Sherial said.

“But that was entirely thanks to Rem. I hardly did anything,” Alisar replied.

“I think you’re underestimating your skill,” Sherial said. “Without your ‘Training Room’ ability, Rem could never have summoned that many golems. And without those golems, we all would have died. Stop belittling your own contributions.”

“You know, modesty is a virtue. But excessive modesty, like yours, is actually irritating,” she continued. “If you truly want to quit being an adventurer, you can. I won’t stop you. But think about it—it would really upset Rem.”

With those words, Sherial stood up and left the room, leaving Alisar alone.

-

Outside his door, Sherial murmured quietly to herself:

“Well… that should be enough to make him reconsider quitting.”

Yes, if he really left, it would upset Rem… but it would upset her even more. Skills like his were incredibly rare. It would be foolish to let such an opportunity slip away.

He was needed in their group. In dungeons and during long expeditions, his ability could be invaluable—especially if used wisely. She had no intention of letting someone with such a convenient skill walk away.

If everything was left up to Rem, she might just let him go, even though she was the one who had invited him to join permanently. Hopefully, he would reconsider.

And if not… she’d have to find another way to convince him to join.

With those thoughts, Sherial headed to the room where Rem was.

Alisar remained in his room, thinking about what to do.

“What should I do now? I just wanted to quit being an adventurer and live somewhere safe—I have enough money now. But Sherial is right… I owe her and Rem my life. Refusing them when they sincerely invited me into their group would be ungrateful.

If I really am useful to them, it’s better to stay and join their team.

Well… I’ve decided. I’ll remain an adventurer.”

He took a deep breath, realizing he had just made one of the most important decisions of his life.

---

POV: Sherial

After we left the dungeon, Rem immediately wanted to get far away from the place. I understood her. She had just summoned tens of thousands of golems—and all of them were rank five. Such an army could challenge even the forces of an entire kingdom. That wouldn’t go unnoticed.

But we decided to stay in the city for a while longer. If we had disappeared right after the incident in the dungeon, it would have looked far too suspicious. I think we made the right choice.

In the Adventurers’ Guild and across the city, rumors were already spreading that an S-rank adventurer had appeared here and saved a group’s life in the dungeon. No one knew who it really was, but just the thought that an S-rank had passed through had sparked endless gossip.

Fortunately, almost no one guessed that it was actually Rem. She had summoned tens of thousands of golems, but did it inside a tent, hiding the summoning itself from any prying eyes.

Yes, no one actually saw her summon that many golems. Many may have seen the first eleven, but… who would seriously believe she had summoned an entire army? Who would believe that some C-rank female adventurer could summon so many golems in a row? If someone could truly do that, they would at least be an A-rank adventurer with corresponding abilities.

In truth, Rem’s skill alone couldn’t have created such a massive army. She did it using Alisar’s ability. Yes, he had a very unusual and extremely rare skill I’d never heard of before—a room where time flows hundreds of times faster than in the outside world. It’s unaffected by outside events, and it’s completely safe as long as you have enough food and resources.

An interesting skill… but he also said it’s not just a safe room—there are strange devices inside. Apparently, they’re training machines: by using them, he gains experience without fighting or killing monsters. Incredibly rare. No wonder Rem decided to invite him into our group. His ability would be extremely useful to us, and I can already think of dozens of ways to make the most of it.

This morning, we were summoned to the Adventurers’ Guild. It seemed the guildmaster himself wanted to see us. As soon as we entered his office, he thanked us and made it clear he knew perfectly well that it was Rem who had summoned that army of golems.

He explained that he had called us to give rewards for preventing a catastrophe. We had stopped the monsters in the dungeon, saving the lives of many adventurers and countless civilians—because if those monsters had gotten out, the consequences would have been disastrous.

He hinted that the fact Rem had summoned the golems would remain a secret. That was a huge relief for us.

But the most important thing—we received a truly large reward. The Adventurers’ Guild gave us 300 platinum coins, and another 300 platinum coins apparently came from the city’s mayor. In total—600 platinum coins, equivalent to around 60,000 gold.

We’d never had that much money before. It was comparable to the annual budget of a small barony. For example, I’d heard a small barony earns around 5,000 gold a year—meaning we’d just received about twelve years’ worth of income for an entire feudal estate.

For big cities like this, with massive dungeons and a constant flow of adventurers, that amount might not seem extraordinary. But still—it was a huge sum.

As soon as we returned to the inn, Rem immediately handed me 200 platinum coins. She kept 200 for herself and seemed to be planning to give 200 to Alisar. Yes, when it comes to dividing rewards, Rem is always fair.

If I think about it, my contribution in this battle was probably the smallest. Even Alisar had been more useful. Damn… it’s hard to take such money when you know you didn’t fully earn it. But Rem wouldn’t allow refusal—she’s not the type to argue over such things.

What worries me more right now is Alisar. If he gets this money, he might decide to quit being an adventurer. It would make sense—many people take up this profession for fame or wealth, and in the end, it all comes down to earning enough to leave.

But for me, that would seriously disrupt my plans. I already have a whole strategy for how to use his Training Room skill for the benefit of our group. Such an ability is priceless in long expeditions and dungeons. I hope he doesn’t decide to throw it all away…

Well, it seems Rem has already given him his share. Because when I passed by his room, I clearly heard him say he was going to quit being an adventurer.

The moment I heard those words, irritation—and then anger—flared up in me. I didn’t even fully realize what I was doing.

As soon as the door opened in front of me and he stepped out, closing it behind him, my hand instinctively went to my belt.

…and before I knew it, the sword was in my hand, and its blade was already at his throat.