Chapter 29: The Protagonist Meets the Heroine

A few days after retrieving the elixir, Lilina’s mother had fully recovered from her illness.

We were now headed to the Adventurers’ Guild in town, having received words of thanks and farewells from Lilina’s mother.

My goal, of course, was to have Lilina meet Kane.

“Lloyd-sama, who exactly is this person you want me to meet?” 

Lilina asked as she walked right next to me, looking up.

Thinking that this might be the last time she’d stay this close to me until she met Kane, I felt a slight pang in my chest.

“Well, he’s the kind of person who would extend a hand to anyone in trouble and treats his companions with great care. He’s very kind.”

“Doesn’t that sound like you, Lloyd-sama?”

Lilina said this with a serious expression and a cute tilt of her head.

I wondered how she could think of me in such a way.

As I contemplated this, I put my hand on the Adventurers’ Guild door.

…When I open this door, Lilina will go to meet Kane.

“Lloyd-sama?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s go, Lilina.”

I opened the door with a burst of resolve before my decision could waver.

No matter how much I think about it, my conclusion won’t change.

So there’s no point in thinking about it any further.

“Come on, Lilina, go on in.”

“Yes. Wow, so this is what an Adventurers’ Guild looks like. This is my first time inside.”

Lilina looked around the Adventurers’ Guild with great interest and curiosity.

Seeing her innocent excitement, I couldn’t help but smile faintly.

“Hey! Where’s the booze? How long are you going to make us wait?!”

As we walked through the guild, we heard a loud, angry voice.

It seemed like a rather scary customer was in the adjacent tavern, but this was also a part of the Adventurers’ Guild.

If Lilina were to travel with Kane and the others, she might often see such scenes.

“Hey! Bartender! What kind of crappy earrings are those? Don’t wear such cheap things—get some gold ones… you poor bastard!”

Was there a particularly troublesome drunkard around? The table making such noise had been quite disruptive.

“What’s this? Do you have something to say to us A-rank adventurers? Huh?”

Hmm? The commotion was caused by A-rank adventurers?

I didn’t expect to see adventurers causing such a ruckus at the guild other than Lloyd and his team.

I wondered what kind of adventurers they were.

I tried to glance at the rowdy adventurers without being noticed.

“…Huh?”

This wasn’t a mistake, was it?

I rubbed my eyes in disbelief and looked again at the adventurers.

They had black hair, an average face, and a slender build.

The character, who I had seen many times in anime, looked completely different from what I remembered.

Unlike the old Lloyd with his spiked hair and lavish golden accessories, now he was adorned with excessive golden ornaments and jeweled rings on both hands.

Moreover, his once gentle face now wore a mocking expression.

“Kane, is that you?”

What I saw ahead of me was the protagonist from the anime.

It couldn’t be a case of mistaken identity, could it? No, Kane was flanked by Lena and Emi on either side, and Zard was also standing a bit farther away.

So it wasn’t a mistake?

Kane, who had a self-satisfied expression while being flanked by the two girls, no longer resembled the anime protagonist at all.

“What’s wrong, Lloyd-sama?”

Lilina followed my gaze and frowned upon seeing Kane.

“Ugh, what’s with that person… He’s so gross.”

Wait, isn’t that a line Lilina says to Lloyd in the anime?!

Seeing Lilina scowl in contempt, I was left bewildered by the situation unfolding before me.

What on earth had happened to lead to this?

I was at my wits’ end, looking at how the main character of this anime had changed.

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