What a Shame

(A/N: Hello readers. In back. The break was nice. Teehee XP )

"... I am sorry, Will. I called you by your real name again."

Will smiled, "Don't worry about it, Rina. It wasn't a bad thing you did. The truth about my name would've come out eventually anyway. What matters now is that we pretend to be a random person with the name Will."

"If I had kept my mouth shut then you wouldn't have to go through the extra effort..." muttered Rina with teary eyes.

"Nah, it's fine so cheer up Rina. Besides, it's mostly my fault for accepting the quest. I would've never imagined that she would be here. Also, I shouldn't have run away from the scene like that. It only makes me seem even more suspicious. Then again, anyone in my position would've done the same after seeing her."

Rina wiped away her tears before saying, "Now that you mentioned it, it seemed like the black hair girl was someone you knew. Is that black-haired girl someone you know?"

Will nodded. "She was someone I knew."

"But who is she really?"

"It doesn't really matter," said Will as he entered a shop. "She is only someone I know."

Rina tilted her head. "Is that so? You must've been close if you want to take such an absurd quest to help her out."

"She and I are at most acquaintances. We only met formally a couple of times," said Will as he scanned the shelves for packaged rations and a thin line. "I just wanted to help an old acquaintance. Nothing more and nothing less."

"You are starting to sound very suspicious," Rina said as she narrowed her suspicion filled eyes at Will.

"Whatever," said Will as he rolled his eyes and grabbed some supplies off the shelves. "Well, that should about do it for supplies."

"Did you get the net?"

"Of course, it's in my backpack."

"Then I also think we are prepared to hunt the water monsters."

"Shall we go meet our requesters?" said Will with a grin.

"Let's get this money! Every copper saved is a step towards not eating Rina!"

Will averted his eyes before coughing and paid the shop keeper the money due before packing all his new materials into his backpack. He and Rina then made their way to the dungeon sector where the black-haired girl and a few random people wearing heavy armor stood guard nervously.

At the sight of the heavily armed people, Will frowned. "Well that's less than I expected."

"Excuse me?" asked the girl with a confused look. "I am afraid that I do not understand what you mean."

Will shrugged, "Well considering your status, I would've expected you to have a higher quality escort or at least a few more escorts."

Immediately, the girl's face hardened as she sent a suspicion filled gaze towards Will. "What do you mean 'considering my status'. What do you know about me?"

Will gave the girl a slight shrug. "In my point of view, anyone who needs a great amount of water attributed stones is typically someone with a lot of money or some sort of noble. Based on the price of which you are buying these water attributed stones, you most likely lack extra funds which would kinda explain why you don't have a lot of escorts but then again not really."

The girl's grown grew deeper. "Explain what you meant by 'kinda but not really'."

Will shrugged. "Well you see, a noble who lacks money wouldn't go to hunt for water attributed stones unless it was an emergency. Since they wouldn't have funds to hire many mercenaries, they would most likely would be unable to gather a large escort. However, each noble house has a group of loyal knights which solved the problem of having a large group of escorts. Secondly, why would a noble try to collect water attribute stones when they lack a great amount of funds unless it was essential for their land? But if this was the case, why would they send a girl and a few average knights to carry out such an important responsibility?" Will gave the girl a small grin. "You see why it kinda but not really explains our situation, miss?"

"How do you know that these people are knights?"

Will rolled his eyes. "Only high ranking adventurers buy full body armor such as these fellas. And based on the fact that you are hiring me to help you, an E ranked Adventurer, shows that your knights are not all that powerful. That or you guys are so poor that an E rank guide is the best you can manage to afford. Either way, both situations prove my point."

The girl furrowed her brow before letting out a deep sigh. "I can only barely understand what you just said to me but it seems that you have and accurate vision of our current situation. Seeing as that you already know that the people around me are my knights and that I am of royal birth, I see no real reason to keep my identity hidden anymore."

The girl did a dainty little bow as she lifted up the hem of her skirt before calmly saying, "I shall introduce myself for the first time. My name is Sarah Desset. I am the daughter of Count Desset in the south."

Greatly amused after listening to her name, Will gave Sarah a wide grin. "Sarah Desset.... heh. I see then. A pleasure to meet you then, Miss Desset. I am a humble adventurer who goes by the name Phantom."

"Whose real name is Will," added Sarah with narrowed eyes.

"Whose real name is Will," echoed Will with a wry smile. "A terribly common name."

"You remind me of someone," said Sarah with her eyes still narrowed. "Someone whose name is also Will."

"What a coincidence, be sure to introduce him to me sometime," replied Will with a smile. "I would love to speak to this person who shares my name."

Sarah hesitated before letting out a sigh. "I cannot... For he is dead and has been dead for a long time."

A small smile crept up Will's face as he replied in a soft voice, "What a shame... what a shame."