Vector held out a Flame Stone to Lloyd and spoke.
"W-Would you like one too, Young Master? It is convenient to have."
As he spoke, Vector gave his pleasant-looking smile.
For a moment, Lloyd looked at Vector with a strange expression in his eyes.
Come to think of it, they had many things in common.
Not only his incredible strength, but also his straightforward personality to the point of being frustrating, his habit of stuttering, and, finally, the Flame Stone that could only be obtained in a dungeon.
The world was wide, and many people resembled one another, but could this many similarities truly overlap?
'Could it be......'
Lloyd calmed his inexplicably churning heart and asked.
Not in this world's common Continental language, but in their native tongue.
"Are you Jinseok, by any chance?"
"Huh?"
Vector's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected Korean.
Vector blinked his wide eyes and stared at Lloyd for a long time.
His age and appearance were completely different, but his cold, impassive gaze and manner of speech reminded him of one person.
"C-Could it be...... Leader?"
When Lloyd nodded, tears began to gather in Vector's eyes as he looked at him.
"A-Are you really the Leader?"
"Yes."
"L-Leader......"
Was it because he was happy to have finally met a companion?
Vector could not finish speaking. He sat down on the spot and burst into tears.
"WAAAHHHH—."
Lloyd merely patted Vector's shoulder in silence as he cried loudly like a child.
***
Lloyd asked Vector, who wore a satisfied smile as though he liked the fine clothes Anna had hurriedly prepared for him.
"You said you became a slave because you needed money for your sister's medicine?"
"Yes."
Lloyd tilted his head in puzzlement.
"That is strange."
If Vector had even a few Magic Stones or potions in his Inventory, the cost of clothes or medicine should have been nothing.
"Did you not have any Magic Stones in your Inventory? Selling them would have been more than enough to pay for medicine."
Then Vector gave an embarrassed smile and spoke.
"Y-You know, Leader. D-Rank and C-Rank Magic Stones d-do not bring in much money. I sold everything I had, but it was still far from enough......"
The instant he heard that, Lloyd felt a strong doubt.
Even D-Rank Magic Stones, which were relatively low-quality, could fetch at least 10 gold in this world, where Magic Stones themselves were rare.
"That is strange. No matter how expensive the medicine is, it should not have been insufficient...... Tell me in more detail."
Vector was briefly flustered because he was not good at speaking, but he soon began to tell the story slowly.
"S-So, last month, a m-merchant......"
What came from his mouth was truly shocking.
A merchant had bought the ten D-Rank Magic Stones and three C-Rank Magic Stones Vector possessed for only 5 gold.
"Five gold......"
C-Rank Magic Stones were worth more than 20 gold, so with the amount of Magic Stones Vector had possessed, he should have received at least 160 gold.
And that was not all.
It had also been that merchant who proposed that Vector become a slave in exchange for covering the remaining cost of his sister's medicine.
"......S-So I had no choice but to b-become a slave. L-Luna is practically my real younger sister."
"......"
Even after Vector's story ended, Lloyd did not speak.
As only silence flowed through the room,
RATTLE, RATTLE.
The furniture and objects in the room suddenly began to shake.
As though an earthquake had occurred.
"L-Leader......"
Vector knew this phenomenon well.
It happened when Lloyd was extremely angry.
He did not know what had angered Lloyd, but Vector decided to calm him down first.
"C-Calm down! At this rate, the castle will collapse!"
There was no way a castle as sturdy as the Count's could collapse from this, but he succeeded in calming Lloyd.
As though suppressing his anger, Lloyd slowly exhaled a long breath before speaking again.
"Jinseok...... no, Vector. That man swindled you."
Lloyd explained the value of Magic Stones in this world and their average prices.
Only then did Vector realize that the Magic Stones he had possessed would have been more than enough to cover the medicine costs.
However, as though he was not even angry, Vector soon smiled his pleasant smile and continued.
"It is still all right. Th-thanks to it, I met you, Leader, so it worked out better."
"You are not upset? You nearly became a slave."
"Y-You got angry for me, Leader. That is enough."
Lloyd, who rarely showed any change in emotion, had expressed anger for Vector's sake.
That alone made Vector very happy.
Lloyd let out a dry laugh.
"......That is like you."
It had always been like that.
Even when he was treated unfairly at the Institute, Vector would only smile and almost never get angry.
Lloyd thought that was like him, but he had no intention of leaving that merchant alone because of it.
"Do you remember the name of the merchant who bought your Magic Stones?"
"Uh, I think his name was M-Merte."
"Merte...... We should make him repay this debt."
Lloyd firmly engraved that name in his mind.
One day, he would surely collect the price for deceiving his companion and selling him into slavery!
"But before that......"
Lloyd took several thick books from the bookshelf, handed them to Vector, and spoke.
"You seem to lack common sense about this world, so before you work under me, I will have to make you study first."
At those words, Vector's face instantly turned pale.
"D-Do I really have to study? Like before, I can just do what you tell me to......"
"The situation is different from then. So study. That way, you will not be swindled again."
"I-I'm fine, though......"
"You will formally become my subordinate now. Do you intend to make things difficult for me?"
"Ugh...... A-All right."
Wanting to be of help to Lloyd, Vector had no choice but to follow his words in the end.
***
The next day, as soon as the Dungeon Key's usage time reset, Lloyd summoned Vector.
"D-Did you call for me, Leader...... No, Young Master Lloyd."
Vector, who came running at Lloyd's call, was awkwardly imitating the behavior of retainers.
"You do not have to be so formal when it is just the two of us."
"B-But the butler and the head maid said I should not behave that way."
"I said it is all right when it is just the two of us."
"I-Is it really all right?"
He had thought that observing every formality was not only difficult, but awkward.
"T-Then can I call you Leader as before when it is just the two of us? Calling you Young Master feels awkward......"
"Call me whatever you like. More importantly, how are your studies going?"
"It is d-difficult, but thanks to Anna, I am m-managing somehow......"
It turned out that Vector had not known the writing of this world at all, so he was learning the letters themselves with Anna's help.
However, judging by the way he trailed off, studying did not seem easy for him.
"B-But why did you call for me?"
"Studying is important, but we need to raise your status for the future."
"M-My status?"
"You may have escaped the status of a slave, but you cannot remain lowborn forever."
Of course, Vector also wanted to escape his lowborn status if he could.
Because of this status, unless Lloyd called for him, he could not stay by Lloyd's side.
"B-But how......?"
"There will be a monster subjugation in two months. You will perform well there, earn Count Bled's recognition, and become a knight."
As an illegitimate son, Lloyd could not grant Vector a knighthood, so for now, that was the only method.
"T-Then can I become your knight like Sir Martin?"
"Yes."
At Lloyd's confident answer, Vector's expression visibly brightened. At last, he had found a way to stay by Lloyd's side and help him.
"I-I will become a knight!"
"Then we should prepare beforehand."
Lloyd spoke as he took the Dungeon Key from his Inventory.
"I-Is that the key we obtained in Mad Dragon Icarus's dungeon?"
"Yes. Starting today, we will train here and get you properly equipped."
He could commission a blacksmith immediately and get good equipment, but that would not be enough to satisfy him.
No matter how good their quality was, such items could not compare to dungeon equipment with various options attached to it.
'They say there are no strong monsters nearby, but we should be fully prepared just in case.'
He had barely managed to reunite with a companion.
Wanting Vector to avoid injury if possible, Lloyd used the Dungeon Key to open a dungeon.
HUMMMM—.
A faint, trembling vibration rang through the room, and a red dungeon Gate appeared.
"Let us go in."
"Y-Yes!"
Vector replied loudly and stepped into the Gate after Lloyd.
At that moment, the scenery changed in an instant with a slight wave of nausea.
"I-It has been so long since I felt this sensation."
"It has only been about a month. What do you mean, so long......?"
Then Vector tilted his head, unable to understand Lloyd's words.
"A-A month?"
"Has it not been just over a month since we awoke in this world?"
"Huh? I-I have been here for about a year......"
At those words, Lloyd's eyes widened.
It had not even been two months since he had awakened in this world, yet Vector said it had been a year.
'Did we each awaken at different times?'
A small crease formed on Lloyd's brow.
He had thought there would be some difference in time, but he had never imagined the gap would be this large.
'This has become more complicated.'
He had planned to use the Information Guild to find people whose personalities had suddenly changed around the time he awoke, but......
In any case, that was a problem to consider later.
Right now, the urgent matter was for both Lloyd and Vector to receive knighthoods at the monster subjugation two months from now.
***
The instant the two stepped into the tower, a monster attacked.
It had green skin and a head that resembled a wild boar.
The monster that attacked Lloyd and Vector was none other than an Orc.
-ROOOAR!!
The Orc let out a roar-like cry and swung the wooden club it held.
WHOOOSH—.
A terrifying sound of air being torn apart.
It was powerful enough to be dangerous even if it only grazed them.
"L-Leave the front to me!"
Unlike earlier, when he had seemed unsure of himself, Vector stepped forward shouting loudly, as though he had returned to his days as a Hunter at the Institute.
Vector's class was Boxer.
It was a class that enhanced physical strength with its ability, then made use of skills.
Soon, flames began to flicker around his fist.
'Fire Fist.'
It was a skill Vector often used, which basically doubled attack power and could inflict the Burn status on a target by chance.
At that moment, the Orc raised its arm to swing its club again.
"HYAAAH!"
Vector let out a resounding battle cry and drove his fist into the Orc's stomach before it could attack.
No matter how high an Orc's stamina and vitality were, it could not remain unharmed after taking Vector's fist head-on, with his physical body enhanced and his attack power raised by a skill.
-Gah!
With a short cry, the Orc spewed out a mouthful of blood and collapsed on the spot.
After checking the message that said he had defeated the Orc, Vector spoke with a satisfied smile.
"It is my first time using a skill in this world, so I was a little worried, but that is a relief."
"Since you can use skills, unlike me, it seems you fortunately have mana functioning properly."
"T-Then......"
In that instant, Vector remembered the conversation between the maids he had overheard by chance the night before.
They had said that they did not know what the incompetent young master without mana had been thinking lately.
'At the time, I did not know which incompetent young master they meant, so I let it pass. Could they have been talking about Leader......?'
Once he learned that fact, anger finally welled up in him.
To speak about the person he respected most in that way.
'Just let them badmouth Leader in front of me again. I will not let them off then.'
It was then.
Perhaps drawn by the smell of the Orc's spilled blood, a flock of bats with bodies as red as blood appeared: Bloody Bats.