Chapter 8: Before the Dust Settles

Given the situation, they’ll probably take some action soon. I need to decide on a course of action. Well, it’s best to avoid killing if possible, but I’ve heard that holy knights are quite skilled. If they’re opponents I can go easy on, that’s fine. But if not, they’ll either receive severe injuries or lose their lives.

“Please try to avoid it as much as possible. But your life comes first.”

“No, it’s ours. You could be targeted too, couldn’t you?”

“Could it be that you’re worried?”

At Saran’s words, I let out a light sigh.

“Stop with the weird tests, sly glasses. You’re important to me too.”

“That straightforwardness is your strong point, huh? It’s embarrassing.”

“Don’t tease me. Look, the ‘saint’ is looking this way.”

Fimia smiles with an oddly lukewarm expression from a little distance away.

I’m not particularly fond of that smile. Maybe she’s worried, but if so, I wish she’d act like her usual self.

“Fimia-san. Just to confirm—”

“I won’t leave ‘Mercia,’ okay?”

Fimia declares firmly, almost as if with resolve, overlapping with Saran’s question.

“All right, then. We won’t entertain any of their demands, and if they try something, we’ll crush them.”

“My, Jurg. That’s a bit rough, isn’t it?”

Fimia laughs like that, but her eyes are oddly serious.

People are most dangerous when they have such eyes.

“Now, Fimia-san. Let’s talk a little about the future.”

“Understood.”

Saran invites Fimia to a room in the church.

I was about to follow, a little worried about Fiona and Saran, but Sly Glasses stopped me.

“Jurg, please return to the Adventurer’s Guild. Be careful gathering information.”

“Hey, Saran. Don’t go putting ideas into Fimia’s head.”

I whisper a warning, and Saran’s lips curl up slightly.

Hey, you’re looking pretty villainous there, aren’t you?

“What? I’m just borrowing a little wisdom to come up with countermeasures. There’s no problem.”

Saying so, Saran slowly pushes me out of the door.

—

“Welcome back, Master. Rolo was here until just now.”

“We missed each other, huh. Haa… I was hoping to vent to Rolo and get some comfort.”

I sit down heavily on the leather chair, and Kati chuckles.

It’s not something to laugh about, but I couldn’t help but smile a little too.

“Master and Rolo get along really well, don’t they?”

“Well, yeah. He’s my benefactor, my best friend, my comrade. He’s the most important person in my life.”

“Oh, I’m jealous.”

Putting a stack of work on my desk, Kati laughs softly.

“If Rolo were a girl, I wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“That’s a question that’ll cause a rift if I answer honestly, isn’t it?”

“It’s too late now. Besides, there are other formidable rivals out there.”

I tilt my head slightly at Kati’s words.

“Rivals?”

“Huh, haven’t you noticed? Could it be that you’re dense, Master?”

“I don’t think so? I’m pretty sharp, you know?”

“Is that so? In my case, I feel like you didn’t really notice until I said it explicitly?”

I thought you were joking. And even now, I can’t tell if you’re serious or not.

“By the way, where did Rolo go?”

Changing the subject, I ask about my childhood friend.

I think I should share what happened with Cardinal Miopete earlier with Rolo too.

“Um, I heard he went to help at his mother’s inn.”

“Ah, Hotel Mercia?”

Saying that, a slight sense of foreboding sends shivers down my spine.

Right now, the ‘Holy Scripture Knights’ should have the place booked.

As a retaliation for my attitude, they might do something to Rolo or aunt.

And that fat pig’s gaze at Rolo felt a bit off.

Rolo is handsome, so even in the Adventurer City of Advante, he often attracts strange people.

“Just a moment.”

“Master?”

“I want to inform Rolo about today’s meeting as soon as possible.”

“You say that, but your killing intent is overwhelming.”

Sure enough, there’s a reason why you’re just handling reception at the Adventurers’ Guild.

I should’ve been careful not to let anything slip, but…

“I’ll leave the work to you. Please come back soon!”

“Yeah. I’m off then.”

As we passed by, I lightly patted Kati’s head… and left the branch manager’s office.

Just as I left the Adventurers’ Guild, Bitz—Rolo’s younger brother—with swollen cheeks, dashed towards me.

“Bitz? What’s wrong? Did you get hurt?”

“Jurg! Help…!”

“What happened? What’s going on?”

Bitz pulled my hand, leading me to a nearby rest area where an old lady had collapsed.

A priest who was already an adventurer was treating her, but the wound seemed severe.

As soon as she saw my face, the old lady grabbed my shoulder.

“It hurts… Jurg.”

“What’s wrong? What happened with this injury?”

“For some reason, that bossy priest locked Alko in his room while he was carrying hot water…”

“Huh?”

In an instant, it sounded like the threads of rationality in my mind were being torn apart.

“Rolo, who went to help, got caught too! We tried to help, but as you can see… Jurg, I’m sorry to ask you for this…”

“Don’t worry about it. Just wait a bit; I’ll bring them back soon. Hey, you there. Run to the church and tell Saran and Fimia, ‘Jurg lost it!'”

Giving instructions to a nearby adventurer, I stood up.

It seems that damn pig bastard wants to die.

“…Wait for me, Rolo. Alko.”

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter