Intermission (1)

It's been a while since I've slept for so long.

I couldn't even remember the last time I fell asleep, but except for a few moments of tossing and turning, I had a deep sleep. When I opened my eyes, I saw the shadows of the trees swaying on the cloth covering the wagon. As I sluggishly got up, Vittorio approached with a bright expression. The child tiptoed slightly while hovering around the wagon.

"I thought you weren't going to wake up…"

"Did I sleep that long?"

"Almost two days."

The child held up two fingers. Seeing how proficiently he now expressed numbers, I laughed and patted his head, which made his ears turn red with embarrassment. At that moment, Leonardo approached from a distance, holding a wooden bowl in his hand.

"You're awake."

"Yeah, I slept quite a while, didn't I?"

"It's a good thing. You overexerted yourself, so you need to rest. Is your neck sore?"

As he spoke, I instinctively felt my neck while Leonardo dragged out a wooden box from the wagon's compartment and placed the bowl on top of it. Now that I looked around, the wagon was parked, and I could hear the sound of a stream flowing nearby, but the donkeys were nowhere in sight. It seemed we had stopped for a break during our journey.

Leonardo offered me the wooden bowl filled with stew. Blowing on the steaming surface to cool it down, I savoured the taste that warmed my throat… a bit bland, though. The cabbage must have been boiled thoroughly as the taste was mild, and the cabbage pieces melted in my mouth before I even had to chew. A bit more salt would have made it perfect.

I've been eating quite luxuriously until now. As I ate the bland cabbage stew, I calmly acknowledged my previous indulgence and simultaneously drove away the remnants of sleep from my body.

Maybe it's because the scenario notes aren't progressing during this . I felt a much greater sense of peace than when I was inside Sinistra.

"Where are we?"

"We're on the way to Rilke. According to the baron, we should reach the outskirts of Rilke by tomorrow. He mentioned that the fastest route to El Dante, where the count's estate is, passes through Rilke. The second son of the Ertinez family—well, it seems they believe it's urgent to inform the count quickly about finding me and what happened in Sinistra. However, since monsters roam this area, making it difficult to send messengers, they decided to deliver the message themselves."

Rilke. According to the information I gathered earlier, it's an area prone to flooding during the rainy season. And as for the monsters… the tendon used in my crossbow string was from a Red Horned Deer, a monster in this world. While that might be the most monstrous thing here, traditional fantasy monsters also seem to exist in this world.

Well, that's that.

"Urgh."

I reached out and pressed Leonardo's cheek, making a fish face.

"Do you want to keep making it obvious?"

Talking about the second son of Ertinez and the Count—it's like he's advertising everywhere that he's not Leonardo Ertinez. Especially now, when we might soon visit the original home of the body he's possessing.

Leonardo rolled his eyes sideways and then dropped his shoulders, adopting a posture of admitting his mistake. Vittorio watched us with a puzzled expression, wondering why we were acting like this. As we were messing around, I sensed someone approaching, and then Baron Roald appeared. Seeing me, he flinched momentarily before greeting me.

"You're awake. You slept like the dead, so I wondered if you had some chronic illness."

Sleeping for two days was indeed a bit much.

"Thank you for your concern, Baron. I guess the shock of losing the inn took a toll on both my mind and body. But now it's time to pull myself together. We have a long journey ahead, and it won't do any good if a perfectly capable person just lies around."

"Call me Sir Roald. I received my knighthood before inheriting my title, so I'm more accustomed to that. There's a river nearby, so you might want to wash up."

"Ah, I did feel a bit grimy. Thank you."

Leonardo, having already emptied his stew bowl, set it down and spoke up. I patted his shoulder, trying to dissuade him, but the baron grumbled again.

"Let's go together."

"To… wash up?"

"You might slip on a rock if you're not careful."

"I'm not a newborn goat. I'll be fine."

"You were so attentive at night, now you're quite the sight during the day…"

I couldn't hear what the baron was saying. Leonardo, with his sharp ears, probably caught it, so I looked at him, but he just tilted his head in confusion while looking back at me.

After strongly insisting on going alone, I finally arrived at the riverbank and leaned against a rock, gazing into the distance. Before I fell into a deep sleep, I had received a notification that some viewing functions might be restricted during the intermission.

I don't know how long this intermission will last, but it's basic to assess the situation. When I mentally recited a list, my personal viewing window, scenario notes, and archive remained unresponsive.

However, the unresponsiveness of the personal viewing window might not be entirely due to the intermission. It seems more likely that it's because my status has not yet been updated and settled to the rank.

'So, I can't even check the scenario weight during this period?'

As if to refute this thought, the moment I thought of 'weight,' letters appeared in the air.

[Scenario weight: 23.50%]

'What the…? The weight has increased.'

According to my last memory, the percentage was exactly 20.00%, but now it had significantly risen. I could guess the cause of this increase was someone who acted as a charger for my scenario weight. But that wasn't the important thing.

So, even during the intermission, there's a fluctuation in weight.

'If that's the case, this could be another opportunity.'

During the scenario, actions are guided by the notes or the rules of the world. However, in this space between acts, the intermission, the freedom of characters is said to be higher. If so, I might be able to accumulate weight more easily, breaking free from the conditions that unknowingly restricted me.

Splash.

I stepped into the river, wetting my body with the cold water. As the water touched me, memories of being swept away by the underground flood flashed through my mind, sending a chill down my spine before calming my pounding heart. As I rubbed my body clean, I wiped away those memories as well.

'What I need to do now is…'

First, gather information.

The count's territory, El Dante, which is presumably the next stage. I need to obtain information about that area in advance. Since Leonardo currently sees me as a guide, I need to show myself as capable.

Leonardo seems to know nothing about the body he's borrowing, 'Leonardo Ertinez.' To avoid acting clueless when we get there, I should prepare in advance. I can subtly extract information from the baron or his knights.

The second issue is about my character traits.

In this fantasy world, my personal combat skills aren't highly regarded, but the setting of being an information broker covers that well. Ideally, I'd like to maintain this direction. To do so, it's better to prepare in advance to maintain the information broker setting in El Dante.

If El Dante starts off as a soft setting like Sinistra, it shouldn't be too difficult. But just look around here. The sound of birds chirping, the flow of the river, and the rustling leaves—all so vivid.

Even though I'm quite far from the protagonist, Leonardo, the surroundings are still so well-crafted. This place doesn't even seem to be treated as a stage without the scenario notes, yet it's so detailed. I doubt El Dante will be revealed in such an underdeveloped state.

I think the immature, soft world of Sinistra was possible because it was the introduction of the story. So, I can't rely on luck and must find a way myself. There are many ways. The city will have guilds and information brokers. I could use some clever tricks to take over those guilds and control things from the top. Lastly, I need to ensure that I keep Leovald's body hidden and protected.

"Whew."

Still, there are fewer tasks to handle compared to when I was inside Sinistra with the scenario actively progressing. I suppose I should consider this a relief.

As I rose from the water, streams trickled down my body, leaving droplets on the rocks beneath me. I brushed off the water droplets, which left round marks on the rock surface, and began to dress.

Just then, I noticed something peculiar on the pebbles being lapped by the stream at my feet: red and black stains. If there had been only one, I might not have thought much of it, but these stains formed a fairly long trail, marking the waterline at different levels, drawing my gaze naturally along their path.

I let my hair, still wet, hang loosely as I followed the flow of the water. Eventually, I spotted something sprawled on the bank. It swayed with the current.

At first, I thought it might just be a shadow under the tree, given its flat appearance. So, I assumed it was a blanket or a piece of clothing from a traveler that had washed ashore.

Splash.

When I finally reached the riverbank, stepping on the pebbles, I was greeted by a creature. I'm not sure if it was a monster, but what else would you call a lizard the size of a leopard with a chicken's comb?

It wasn't just any monster; it was a shell that seemed to have had all its blood, bones, and organs scooped out, leaving just the skin behind. I mistook the undulating shadow for waves, but the creature's body was so thin that it resembled a deflated balloon.

No. Even though this was supposed to be an intermission…

'Now all I can do is sigh.'

Ah, how fortunate that the cabbage stew I ate before coming here was so thin and digested so quickly. Otherwise, I might have ended up vomiting everything I had just eaten…

[Accessing information on the specified entity.]