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Vol 2: Chapter 57
I ran into Dante-san, who was going out to buy breakfast, as I arrived at the Silver Citrus Inn.
「Hey, you came earlier than expected. Hmm, that person is…」
While feeling relieved that Dante-san acted like he usually did, I introduced Zerry-san.
「This is Zerry-san. She is a beastman who was in the same Dark Fang Mercenary Group as Raikira-san, and she also helped me escape from the Keith Gran Federation.」
「Nice to meet ya.」Zerry-san said.
「Raikira…」
Dante-san was lost in thought for a moment, but soon returned to a smile.
「Shall we go back to the inn for the time being? Both Mimino and Non will surely be surprised. They thought that you would only come in 5 or 10 days at the earliest.」
「Well, but I did come yesterday…」
「Yes, but Non was saying it would be impossible for you to leave at the moment.」
I see… Non-san must have thought I would choose to work for the Earl.
Then we entered the inn and headed for the rooms where Silver Balance were staying. It seems that Dante-san and the ladies stayed in different rooms. I wondered why they all didn’t stay in the same room, but was told “The inn boss didn’t like the idea…” in a lonely tone, so I knew that it was a topic that I shouldn’t dig into any further.
Dante-san raised his index finger to his lips and hissed “Shhh…”, and winked at me, then knocked on the women’s room.
「–Who is it?」
「It’s me. Open up for a while.」
「Dad? It’s still early, isn’t it?」
When the door was opened slightly, Dante-san immediately thrust his head into the room and stopped the door from being opened further.
「Thing is, I am not done yet with the shopping… But who do you think I met while there?」
In response to those words said in a joking tone, I sensed both Mimino-san and Non-san gasp.
「Dad… I will seriously get angry if you brought in a “drinking buddy” like last month.」
「—You won’t get to drink for a whole month.」Mimino-san said.
Dante-san, what are you doing…
「Weren’t you the one who solved his petrification, bocchan? Now that he’s all well, he’s starting to tease girls. Seriously, people like these can’t be helped…」
Is that something you should be saying, Zerry-san? Someone who gets so drunk and sleeps on the corners of the street…
「I-I’m not kidding this time. It is genuinely our companion– Puha!!」
Dante-san was pushed away and the door popped open.
「「Reiji-kun!?」」
Mimino-san and Non-san jumped out.
「You are really here! Oh my, isn’t that the clothes I stitched together for you!」Mimino-san said.
「H-Hey, Reiji-kun, did you resign from your work at the Earl’s House?」
「Yes.」
The two were happily stroking my head all the while.
I just smiled. When I see these two people like this, I just can’t help but smile.
「Things will get troublesome again from now on.」I said.
After that, we temporarily left the inn, bought breakfast at the food stall, and talked while eating on a bench in the public square.
I explained everything about my situation to them—leaving out such as the “promise” with the young lady, though—taking more than an hour.
「…You had it hard, huh…」Dante-san said, with a serious look.
「Well, yes, but there were a lot of good times too.」
「It doesn’t end at just hard, it is too cruel! The nobles of this country are cheap fellows who return favour with spite– puh!」
「Yes, yes, Mimino-san, we get it. But please be quiet~. Criticism of nobles in public will bring nothing but trouble~」Non-san said, while shutting Mimino-san’s mouth from behind.
Good job, Non-san!
「Then, I guess we will have to leave the Holy City by today. Staying any longer will bring no good.」
「Eh… but dad. We still have some unfinished requests from the guild.」
「Cancel them.」
「…Hmm.」
Is it possible to cancel requests of the Adventurer’s Guild? When I glanced at Zerry-san,
「You all are “Silver Balance”, the gold-rank adventurer party, aren’t you?」Zerry-san asked.
「Yeah.」Dante-san answered.
「If so, wouldn’t the cancellation penalty for requests be quite high?」
Eh, really!? …No, before that!
「Gold-rank!?」
「Oh right. I hadn’t told you this, Reiji, but I actually went up a rank… though, it will go down due to the penalty, but that’s okay.」
「Oh no…」
「Either way, it was certain that I would get a penalty for the uproar in the guild yesterday.」
What did you do, Dante-san… Is it the time where Non-san said Dante-san and Mimino-san went to the guild to give them a piece of their mind!?
「By the way, I can win against all the guys below silver-rank in the guild. But it would probably be a tie with the gold-rank guys! No, there are quite a few really strong gold-rank guys in this city!」
「Dante-san… Did you somehow transform into a muscle-brain?」
「That’s right. Reiji-kun has to take responsibility for making my dad like this.」
「Me!?」
「That’s right. It’s Reiji-kun’s fault.」
「Even Mimino-san is saying that!?」
Although the story was getting off track, everyone seemed to feel that there was no helping for canceling the guild requests.
「Thank you, but I am also sorry.」
「It’s okay. Reiji-kun will finally rejoin Silver Balance after all!」Mimino-san said.
I wonder if it is okay for me to do that.
The hearty and kind welcome was making me feel bad and happy at the same time.
As I was fidgeting about,
「By the way, are you the Zerry-san, who is called the “Spy Cat”?」
「EH!?」
Z-Zerry-san has a nickname…!?
「Nufufufu. Bocchan, are you surprised? That’s right, I have a nickname.」
「It sounds so lame!」
「Wha!?」Zerry-san was shocked.
But “Spy Cat”? That’s so lame. It’s more like a nickname given to a cat in a cat cafe. It falls under the mascot category.
「A-Anyway… I agree that bocchan should leave the Holy City as soon as possible…」
Zerry-san, please don’t look so down. Even without the nickname, I already know how good your abilities are, and your equally bad hopelessness to be a decent person.
「Since it’s all decided, we should get ready right away.」
Although their plans changed drastically because of me, Dante-san said so in a bright voice so that I wouldn’t feel bad.
「Reiji, don’t make that face. I’m incredibly happy right now. My body is in perfect health, and I can go on a journey with my only daughter, my long-time companion, and the person who saved my life. I have nothing more than I can wish more.」
「…Dante-san.」
Maybe it’s due to a lack of sleep, but I felt like crying.
The kindness of people has saved me many times. And much of that kindness comes from the members of Silver Balance.
I wonder if I can repay them even a little?
Although I cured petrification, I haven’t done anything for Mimino-san yet.
I want to go to the Lev Magic Empire to meet Lulusha-san. After that, I want to look for Lark. Maybe once that’s done, I can find something I want to do with everyone from Silver Balance.
「…Ah, speaking of which, Zerry-san will also be tagging along. Is that okay?」
「That’s terrible, bocchan! I will follow you no matter where you goooo!」
As Zerry-san said that, Mimino-san sidled up next to me.
「I don’t discriminate against the beastman, but I think this beastman is kind of educationally bad for you. Reiji-kun, you shouldn’t imitate this person too much.」
「Hey, that’s discrimination, isn’t it!?」
「It’s okay, Mimino-san. Rather, I have a lot of things to teach this person.」
「Bocchan!? I’m doing my best, ya know!?」
「Like repaying her debt.」
「Uh…」
I laughed looking at Zerry-san who acted like she had a stomach ache and tried to escape. Mimino-san was also laughing. Non-san was quiet, and Dante-san was murmuring something under his breath.
After that, we went back to the inn, packed up our luggage, and then headed to the Adventurer’s Guild. When entering the guild, the adventurers who saw Dante-san, turned pale and moved away from him towards the far end of the guild… Seriously, what on earth did you do, Dante-san…
The guild staff sighed and processed the request cancellation while announcing the demotion of Silver Balance to silver-rank. However, Dante-san, Mimino-san, and Non-san showed no concern at all. Thereupon, we undertook a request to deliver a letter to the Lev Magic Empire – it seems that there are restrictions that forbids you from entering the country without that request. I had no idea at all.
After leaving the guild, all we had to do was look for a carriage and leave the Holy City. I didn’t have any pursuers, but when I got onto the carriage, I sensed eyes on me. …Is it a subordinate of Duke Ebene, or someone else? I didn’t sense it after leaving the Holy City.
The journey by carriage was long. We talked a lot.
Dante-san laughed, saying “Our first encounter was because of a snake, and our reunion was also because of a snake.”
Non-san seems to have mastered【Light Magic】, and for the church, there are few people who have the aptitude for using【Light Magic】, so it seems that they have no intention of letting her go.
Non-san even said to me, “It’s quite strange that you can fire magic rapidly, like bang-bang-bang, and also use two types of magic of opposing attributes at the same time.”
However, Mimino-san answered deadly earnestly, “It shouldn’t be strange because it’s Reiji-kun, after all.” …Yeah, I can start to see the “over-doting parent” aspect in Mimino-san.
The “Duplicate Potion” used by Mimino-san in the battle with Ouroboros seems to have been made by using quite rare materials, and it was kept as a final ace-in-the-hole for important moments. “I have to make it again,” she said, without a hint of regret, but rather happily. So, I guess it is all okay…?
And also, it seems that the Knights Order have requisitioned most of Ouroboros’ raw materials, but the Adventurer’s Guild were able to get hold of a small portion, and Dante-san was able to secure the jewel inside Ouroboros’ head which I broke with my short sword. He laughingly said, “It’s sad that we were only able to get this much loot, but it’s still better than nothing.” But when I looked at it through【World Ruler】, it seemed to contain a tremendous amount of mana… H-Hey, this mana is no joke. Let’s take a closer look…
Even as we kept talking and talking, we did not run out of topics. Just like me, Silver Balance has also grown stronger in the last four years. Unfortunately, it seems that there was no information about Lark or【Shadow King★★★★★★】.
The megacity, Holy City of Kruvanyu, which was visible from afar, finally disappeared from sight, and even after that we continued on for days and days on the carriage.
Every time I passed by towns, I felt my splintered heart gradually calm down.
I have made a lot of mistakes, or possibly, the right things in the Holy City. There certainly are a few which I regret, but I keep each one close to my heart and look forward to the future.
I’m sure the young lady is doing the same too.
(…My lady, let’s meet again someday.)
The sky we see when we look up is the same sky. The same twinkling stars and the same passing clouds.
We will surely meet again.
At that time, will the young lady have grown into a wonderful Lady? Or will she still be the same young lady who requests the unreasonable from me?
Her appearance will surely change, but her core will surely remain the same.
It’s the young lady after all, I’m sure she wouldn’t change.
We headed straight for the nation of magic and technology, the “Lev Magic Empire” — to meet Lulusha-san, one of the purposes of my journey.
Carried by the wind, hot air rising from the ground blew into the carriage.
The seasons were changing. Summer was around the corner.