Chapter 2

"Or you can call me Fin."

Seeing my reaction to his lenghty name, he reluctantly introduced himself again with a nickname I can easily remember. Nobles generally hate being called by nicknames, so I felt guilty for him a little.

After leaving my equipment in the smithing shop, we decided to talk things over again. I thought we finished our conversation earlier already, but Fin one-sidedly followed me and went on to ask for my plans. He even dared to ask me for tips and take notes in front of my face. It seems it didn't get to him that I wanted him away already.

At the moment, we're inside a luxurious restaurant, with luxurious meals prepared for us. I thought I should pay for it myself, but Fin insisted that he should be the one to pay for everything. I also initially wanted to go to a cheap tavern, but when I saw the look of disgust on Fin's face as we passed over one, I decided not to.

"Should I call you master?"

"Just my name is fine."

"Eria-sama then... if you don't mind, I shall consider myself as your pupil," he confidently declared.

"Umu..." I nodded. "Ah, right. I'm just curious to know, but what sort of stories have you heard about me?"

"I heard only great things about you, Eria-sama! How you slain strong monsters and hunt evil bandits easily; how you save slaves and donate to the poor," he continues on, and finally, with flames in his eyes... "How you defeated an ancient dragon in a fierce battle!"

"I-is that so?"

I was taken aback a little by the knowledge he has about me. Looking back at it, he was able to know it was me right away, even though I rarely dress befitting the legends on my name.

I can only live peacefully thanks to the lack of shared information in this world; only books and paintings exists, and cameras are yet to be invented. Except for the guild branches I already visited to, guilds I visited for the first time don't recognize me at all. They'll only know it was me once I give them my guild i.d.

The masses don't recognize me too since I don't advertise myself, so they only know me through stories and such. That's why they call me a legend, doubting my existence.

On that note, it's rare for people to recognize me firsthand.

"And... how did you know it was me?"

I'm curious how he's able to recognize me right away...

"Well, that's..." he turned his head to the side with a look of guilt. Then with a blush, he reluctantly gave his answer, "We have a copy of the book written by the famous sage Zehn in my family's collection... and... that's how I'm able to recognize it was you..."

"Bweee..."

I almost puked out the wine I was drinking in shock.

"E-Eria-sama...!?"

"I... I see, it seems I haven't eradicated all of them yet. I'll have you burn it once you get back home."

"Bu-but!"

"No buts!" I glared intently at him as I pounded a fist on the table.

"I... I will..." he reluctantly replied.

"Hmph...! I see, so that's why you know so much about me. Well, if it weren't for those drawings, I wouldn't mind its contents since they're all true. But! I just can't!"

I'm pretty sure my face is turning red right now, either in anger or embarrassment. I wanted to curse the dead bastard who wrote it to hell, but since we're in a public place, I refrained myself.

All the while, Fin is just staring quietly, red as he keeps the guilty look on his face. He must've had spent a lot of time reading that book...

"S-so, Eria-sama... may I know when we departing?" Fin asked, obviously trying to change the topic.

"Haa..." I sighed. "A week at most, since it's around that time the smith finishes fixing my equipment."

"Umu, then, I'll prepare myself too," he declared as he held his staff tighter.