Chapter 16 _ The Defeated Mage, or the Price Paid by a Girl
When I returned to the inn, the landlady grimaced.
“Welcome ba—what in the world is that smell!?”
“I’m sorry. I washed myself and my clothes, but… is it that bad?”
When I told her about working as a waste collector, she shook her head.
“You’re a regular now… otherwise I’d have thrown you out!”
I ordered dinner and headed to my room.
I tried to open the door.
It wouldn’t budge.
“Do not come in! You stink too much!”
“Open it! This is my room!”
The door creaked open reluctantly.
The moment I stepped inside—
“Gueeeehhh—!!”
“Disgusting! Stay back!!!”
“Oh? What’s this?
A cute little squirrel? Guess I’ll hug you.”
“W–Wait! Stop! I surrender! I’m sorry! Forgive me! Please!”
“If you know better now, that’s fine.”
“…But Mario,” Frey said, covering her nose,
“have you truly not noticed your own smell?”
“Not really. I’m used to it.”
“Incredible.
I wouldn’t approach within five meters.”
But my mind was far too occupied
with Iris’s tears to care about my own stench.
“…There’s something I want to ask you, Frey.”
She raised a hand, stopping me.
“Iris, is it…?
And what would you do, even if you knew?”
“There are truths that only drag one deeper into despair.”
“You have learned this world’s cruelty, have you not?”
“…Yeah.
I know how painful helplessness is.”
“I’ve always been powerless.
In my old world, and in this one.”
“But… I think I love her.
It was love at first sight.”
“If there’s anything I can do for Iris—anything at all—I want to.”
“…Good grief.”
Frey sighed.
“Very well.
Then tomorrow morning, we go to the Adventurers’ Guild.”
“No matter what you learn…
be prepared.
Can you do that?”
“…Yes.”
Early the next morning, I followed Frey to the guild.
My heart was heavy with unease.
What could possibly await us there?
Inside, a reception counter stood near the entrance.
The woman behind it was quite beautiful—or so I thought,
until Frey (still in squirrel form) nudged me.
“Look.”
She pointed to the wall.
Adventurer nameplates were displayed there,
each marked with a rank and level.
The ranks were color-coded:
Master — Black
Diamond — Blue
Platinum — White
Gold — Gold
Silver — Silver
Bronze — Bronze
Levels ranged from Lv1 to Lv10.
At Lv10, every nameplate was black.
Then I noticed it.
At Lv2, there was a black plate.
“Iris.”
Every other Lv2 adventurer was silver or bronze.
“…What is this?”
“Excuse me,” I asked the receptionist.
“Why is Iris only Lv2?”
She hesitated.
Before she could answer, a male adventurer laughed.
“What, you know the loser? Hah.”
“Loser…?”
“Yeah. Around here, she’s famous.
They call her ‘the Defeated Mage.’”
“But she’s a Master, right!?”
“She can use all high-tier spells. That’s true.”
The man continued coldly.
“But she has no sense.
No battlefield awareness.”
“Do you know what happened to the first party she joined?”
I shook my head.
“Ogre extermination.
High attack. High defense.”
“The party trusted her completely.
She was a Master, after all.”
“They charged in.”
“And in moments, the party was annihilated.”
“…No…”
“It gets worse.”
“When she realized things were bad,
only the male knight leader was still alive.”
“She cast teleportation then.”
The man sneered.
“The knight blamed her.”
“He said it was her fault.
That she deserved punishment.”
“…No way…”
“He raped her.”
My stomach dropped.
“And that wasn’t the end.
He demanded compensation.”
“She was forced into prostitution to pay it.”
“And it’s still happening.”
My vision swam.
“She tried again.
Joined other parties. Took more jobs.”
“All failed.”
“Never once succeeded.”
“That’s why she’s called the Defeated Mage.”
“At least she learned to teleport sooner after the second time.”
“No more deaths since then.”
“But no one will take a job with her anymore.
Because she always loses.”
“…Got it?”
A voice came from behind me.
“…Iris…”
She stood there, eyes hollow.
“Go on. Laugh.”
I shook my head.
“…I won’t.”
“Pity?” she scoffed.
“That’s the cruelest thing there is. Do you know that?”
She laughed bitterly.
“You can’t do anything.
You feel sorry for me—so what?”
She loosened her collar slightly and stepped closer.
“If you pay, I’ll sleep with you.”
“I have no requests. That’s how I survive.”
“Remember when I said if you were good-looking,
you could be my outlet?”
“That was about me.”
“It’s fine. I’ll put up a barrier spell.
You can finish inside.”
“Will you do it?
One hundred Fanann.”
I couldn’t say a word.
I ran.
“Wanting to help”—
those words were paper-thin.
Faced with the crushing weight of despair she carried,
all I could feel was my own filth-stained weakness.
