“Here”, Martina shoved a bowl of very fragrant soup right under my nose.

“Smells good”, it’s important to praise others for their efforts. It raises their mood and makes them feel that their lives are worth something. In my case, it also might give their goodwill to me just the slightest push, so they will be a little nicer to me. Anyway, it costs me nothing to praise a bowl of soup, especially when I agree with the sentiment.

“Un”, Martina just gave it a nod. Well, she does strike me as the type that hates talking too much. Seeing as she and Lurus both have the same bowls with the same soup and are eating it quite deliciously, isn’t enough to convince me that it’s safe to eat. Still, not eating it might seem too rude or suspicious and it will, most likely, give their goodwill a push that will make them treat me worse than otherwise. Human goodwill is a resource easily lost but gained with much effort in comparison.

“Ralph, is this safe to eat?”

“Yes, you can eat it without any worries”

I know that judging by their behaviour so far, it is highly unlikely that the soup is dangerous. Still, who knows what a random potion mixed into the soup will make of me? Maybe it will make me a devoted servant for them, who knows? Well, if that could, my corruption resistance would take care of it.

I should’ve asked Ralph about what magic here can, or cannot do. Sigh, no crying over spilt milk.

Seeing how Ralph has guaranteed the soup’s safety, I will eat it. Ralph, of all people… things… Ralph wouldn’t lie to me. In these circumstances at least.

“Delicious”

“It is, isn’t it? Martina has a talent for cooking. If only she had spent even a tenth of the time she has spent honing that talent for her practices in magic”

“Shut it, old man”

“Sir Lurus, if I may ask, how have you found me in these woods?”

“Oho, it was luck, it seems. When I had taken out my granddaughter to this forest to train, we found several traces of human activity. Out of curiosity, we followed the trail and found this cave where we found you, unconscious and with a fever”

You know that it’s in bad taste to so blatantly remind of other people’s debts to you, right?

Still, you had taken her out to this forest? I know not of the abilities of Grand Mages but I think I can assume that their base of operations isn’t that far from here. Maybe the town? Why haven’t you brought me there then? Surely, it would be easier to do so than staying here for a week.

“Is it legal to delve into a dungeon without notifying the local authorities or the Guild about its existence, Ralph?”

“It’s perfectly legal”

“Is it possible to find out a dungeon’s level of difficulty without going in first?”

“Yes, though you need to be of a sufficient level of strength to do so”

“And do discovered and registered dungeons have any signs that they have been discovered and registered?”

“Yes. they usually have various indications of the level of difficulty as well as precautions against unauthorized access”

“Thank you, Ralph, you are the best!”

“I know I am”

“Speaking of training, my Master has also sent me to this forest to train. I also found a dungeon here. It seems to have yet be discovered. So, if you would like, I could maybe show it to you?”

“I would be grateful. Would you like to come with us? It would be more beneficial for you to delve in with us, I believe”

“Oh no. Thank you for your offer, but Master has sent me here to train my foundation up first, so I’m not supposed to fight monsters yet. Just surviving here all on my own is what I do”

“And who may that esteemed Master of yours be, mister Toas? His methods of teaching seem quite eccentric”

“Eccentric he is, indeed.”

“Ralph! The next class after Grand Mage, as well as the name of one person with the class who has no connections to Lurus, quick!”

“Only this once, alright? Albert Von Remski, Sage, his alias is “The Frost Sage” and he’s known-”

“Albert Von Remski, The Frost Sage, sir”

“for being extremely eccentric. He could potentially create a mind link with you, so I’ll teach you how to make its presence known. If you can learn it, then I’ll also give you a hand with bluffing your way through, if not, well, do you best”

A torrent of information has descended upon me, but unlike the other two times that Ralph has used such a method on me, this time it didn’t settle within my mind, so I had to grab as much as I could and quickly digest it. Not very easy when you talk to somebody at the same time.

“So, here’s my plan…”

“His Excellency The Frost Sage? I have heard many tales of his heroic exploits. Truly an amazing figure you have taken as your Master. Honestly, even I feel a tinge of jealousy, haha”

“Master has also heard of you, sir Lusur. It’s very rare for master to be so interested in somebody that he remembered their name, you must be quite an amazing personage, sir”

In the time I was given by this short exchange I was able to explain the details of my plan to Ralph which has earned me a royal headache

“Really? How do you know?”

This time the Grand Mage has lost his composure to the point that even I was able to detect it. It seems that Sages have quite the influence in this world.

I operated the mind link to the best of my ability to make it noticeable

“My Master has means of always observing and communicating with me, he, ack!”

On that cue, Ralph made the air in the cave much colder, with me being at the epicentre of the cold. He also made my eyes light up with a menacing light blue color.

“”I thank you for saving my foolish and incapable disciple, as unnecessary as that help was, mage. Now leave, I do not take kindly to others meddling in my business””

I spoke with the most condescending and uncaring tone I could muster and Ralph made my voice infinitely deeper, as if I was speaking from the bottom of an endless abyss. Even I myself was afraid, honestly. Of course, antagonizing a Grand Mage is very dangerous, I believe. But would a mighty and eccentric Sage care about it? No, he would be pissed about some nobody meddling with his affairs.

“This, this one shall, leave, esteemed Sage. Martina, let’s go!”

Almost running, Lurus made his way outside the cave, grabbing a frozen Martina by her shoulders.

“”Wait, mage. For taking care of my useless disciple, I shall grant you a reward. What you will gain from it depends on your own ability”, so as not to antagonize the Grand Mage too much I got Ralph to give him some knowledge that will be useful to Lurus. Lurus was only slightly nauseous after he was given that information. He probably had some level of resistance against mind magic “Now, make sure that I never see you near this useless idiot disciple of mine again. You can go””

This level of possessiveness should be just right. Oh, Lurus flew away with Martina on his shoulders. Good.

…

Phew, that was exhausting. I still don’t know their intentions and even if they came here of their goodwill I still don’t think I have it in me to have a figure much more powerful than me around.

Ralph? What about Ralph? Ralph is, well, he’s just too powerful to care about hurting me. Directly that is.

Now I can at least be at peace knowing that Lurus will avoid this place like a plague and will probably get others to do so too.

I mean, he will, in his mind, be the first to have his head removed if something happens to me.

Still,

“What did you give him Ralph?”

“He was running out of his lifespan so I gave him a few pointers to a formula of an elixir that will prolong his life by half a century. Nothing too concrete but with enough diligence he will find the missing pieces of the puzzle and maybe live long enough to reach level six hundred and gain a hundred-year boost to his lifespan”

Ralph was quite generous. Well, that should settle the problem with Lurus. I hope. I believe it’s time to move places anyway. I now can’t go to the town as even if those two don’t live there, I will be more likely to run into them.

“Thank you, really, I mean it, Ralph. And for making them find me in the first place, also thank you”

Isn't it too convenient that they found me so fast?

“I only gave them a push. It would be quite horrible boring if you just died. As for driving them out, well, you can only thank your luck for opening a new possibility in the sea of Fate”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll see”

I guess more trouble is underway.

I love talking to Ralph. I can always assume that he has everything in control and that he doesn’t see much value in anything I have to harm me. Except amusement or whatever emotions he has if he has emotions in the first place. That’s why I can be straightforward and honest with him. He might be the closest thing that I have ever had or ever will to a friend. The problem is, if he doesn’t want me to know something, I won’t ever find out.

“Will they be back?”

“No”

I might not need to move again. I’m in the middle of nowhere so why do I have to deal with humans anyway? That sea of Fate or whatever makes me a bit afraid.

Sigh. The protagonists in the stories I’ve read have it easy but why is it that I suffer so much?

Maybe because I rarely make the right decisions. Can only blame myself.

Well, back to training. Sigh. At least they left the pot and the cutlery, so I can now cook more things in more ways than before.

Wasn’t my new life in another world supposed to be easy?

Well, nobody said that but still. I even have cheats. I even have plot armor (that speaks in my head and will also deliberately lead me to challenges)

At least give my bed back!

Sigh.