The messenger loosened the clothes around his collar even further, sweating profusely.
ââŠI have fully understood that she is an irrational person with her lack of common sense exceeding all limits.â
âWhat counts most is that youâve finally got it. Thatâs why itâs impossible for her to go to the palace. You guys gotta compromise here. Itâs somethinâ like keepinâ a dragon or a fiendish monster. Taminâ her is impossible. Youâll be annihilated for just harborinâ the idea, âkay?â
ââŠI shall inform my Liege of this.â
After having such a conversation with Sword, the messenger left.
Then, while stroking my head after it had suffered from Swordâs iron claw, I asked, âHey, are you acquainted with that messenger guy?â
In response, he remained silent for a while, before answering, ââŠSomewhat.â
Hmm? Thatâs an awfully evasive answer, isnât it?
âYou donât want to talk about it?â
âThatâs not it, butâŠâŠ âŠWell, if I tell you to keep somethinâ a secret, youâll do just that, I sâpose.â
A secret?
ââŠThe present king took the throne after the dragon attack. Itâs because the previous king had been killed by the demon. Back then, the crown prince, whoâs now king, fought the dragon together with me, so he came out unscathed in the end.â
Hee, quite the courageous guy. Or I guess heâs a king with a strong inclination towards military matters.
ââŠHe was an eccentric crown prince who often slipped out of the castle while pretendinâ to be a commoner. And during one such time, I rescued him by chance, leading to us gettinâ acquainted.â
âIf it had been a princess, itâd have made for a beautiful story.â
âWho cares about that! ââHearinâ âbout me wantinâ to learn magic, he got me into the academy as a scholarship student. And thatâs when I learned âbout him being the crown prince since everyone called him ăHis Highnessă over there. Him preferrinâ to repay his debt by lettinâ me enter the academy over the risk of me findinâ out âbout his true identity showed that heâs a guy with a strong sense of duty.â
I see. So Sword called him a good king because heâs actually got some achievements to back it, huh?
âAt that time, the guy from before was always stickinâ next to the king. Heâs a tricky sadist who worships the king. When you started to blather âbout destroyinâ the palace, I was on tenterhooks, worryinâ âbout what he might do.â
âDonât worry. No matter what he might try, it wonât be able to shake either you or me.â
âI know. But, donât overdo it with pickinâ fights, âkay?â
Bah!
Though, as long as itâs Swordâs request, Iâll try to abide as much as possible.
âDonât be too unreasonable. My priority lies with you and the Ryokus. Then the residents of our mansion and Bennyboyâs party as runner-up. Iâll use all my power to rescue you and the Ryokus, but as for the others, Iâll only help them if I get the time to do so. Hence, if youâre tied down, itâs tough for me to make any moves.â
Sword hugged me.
ââŠâŠ.Gotcha. For me your the highest priority as well. Because of that, I donât plan to ask you the impossible.â Suddenly he let go of me. ââŠBut you know, you were somewhat scary when you got excited. To the extent that I wanted to scream at you, ăSnap out of it!ă. What was that âbout? What triggered you all of a sudden?â
âŠâŠ
Yep, Iâm well aware of it myself, okay?
ââŠIâll be carefulâŠâ
But, itâs probably no use.
ïŒ
In the end, Sword was summoned to the royal palace. Since I got worried, I deployed all Ryokus to the palace in stealth mode after telling them to contact me and rescue Sword if something happens.
I think this should cover his side~
Though itâs unthinkable for Sword to not pick up any malicious intents when being in a den of treacherous snakes like a royal castle. Today Iâm going to treat him to a feast, and on top of that, Iâll splurge a bit on the alcohol since it canât be helped.
âŠAh!
I got a nice idea! Letâs set up a stall! Iâll rent some place where I can open a stall!
I rushed out of the mansion.
ïŒ
And then, when I consulted with the store owners I often frequented for shopping such as the spice lady or the greengrocer lad, they all told me theyâd help out since they liked the idea. The butcher rented out a place for me, and then I prepared the food together with everyone. Over time female adventurers and the bakery miss joined in as well, saying they want to help.
âWhoa, you can use spices like that!?â
âOh, you cut off this part! That makes it more delicious if you cook it together, right?â
They apparently made several new discoveries for themselves.
Since I didnât have the right containers and skewers, I left the city, chopped down a few trees, and made what I needed on the fly.
After having made around a thousand bowls, I stopped, thinking that itâd be enough. Probably.
Everyone who had watched me, had become flabbergasted.
ââŠJust as I thought, S-Rank adventurers are in a league of their own,â I was told, but you see, Iâm an A-Rank adventurer.
Itâs a crude stall born out of a spontaneous idea, but oh well, whatever.
âAlright, itâs done!!!â
Everyone applauded and cheered.
Okay, all thatâs left now is to wait for Sword to come back from his mission at the palace.