4-1 A Request From Old Man Ruba

The seventy-first day in another world.

A full week had already passed since that major roundup.

Eri and the others’ food stall business also seemed to be going smoothly.

They were consulting with the Commercial Guild about whether they could open various new kinds of food stalls together.

At this point, Eri might actually be more of an expert than I was when it came to that sort of thing.

She had a good grasp of how to adapt Japanese ingredients, cooking tools, and other new items that existed in this world and integrate them smoothly.

I had already given her a variety of recipes and ingredients.

For ingredients that could be produced locally, she wanted to develop them here and incorporate them properly.

I thought that was a good idea, and Edomont, the Adros magistrate, agreed as well.

The reason things were working out so well was probably because Eri had gone through many hardships until now—and because she was smart to begin with.

Apparently, her father had also been an exceptionally intelligent and capable man.

He was exactly the kind of person one would want in Adros right now, but since he had already passed away, there was nothing to be done.

Still, his talent had clearly been inherited by his daughter.

Eri’s reading, writing, and arithmetic skills were outstanding.

It was hard to believe she was a ten-year-old girl living in the slums.

She already had a good reputation within the Commercial Guild, and at this rate, she might end up working there in the future.

That would not be a bad path either.

We had already lifted the escort arrangement for Eri and her family, and there were no major security concerns.

If anyone tried to lay a hand on that family, the people of the square—no, the entire town—would not stay silent.

After all, they had played a role, or at least provided the trigger, in driving out those scumbags who had colluded with nobles and tormented the townsfolk for so long.

Things like this tend to happen suddenly, one day out of the blue.

There was no world where things remained unchanged forever.

Given time and a single catalyst, even a massive boulder can crumble.

At my age, I had seen things like the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall reported in real time.

Considering how bad things had been here until now, this town had nowhere to go but up.

Whether that was good or bad, I didn’t know.

In any case, there was no choice but to let go of what had already happened.

And now, Eri had become a frontier figure responsible for creating new work opportunities—she was already a symbol of hope for the people of Adros.

It was at that moment that I received a summons from Old Man Ruba.

He had gone to great lengths to help me with the recent incident, and I had been planning to pay him a visit anyway, so the timing was perfect.

I had still been busy taking care of Eri and the others, so I had ended up putting it off longer than I intended.

Was the old man asking me for something?

I would return the favor, of course.

I immediately headed for the royal palace.

Using teleportation magic, I arrived straight at the vast plaza before the palace, had a guard pass along my message, and waited in the entrance lobby.

The palace exterior looked like it had been modeled after a British royal palace, yet the entrance felt more like the lobby of a luxury hotel.

It was obvious at a glance that it hadn’t been built by people of this world.

After a short while, the woman who had guarded His Highness in the dungeon before came to meet me.

“It’s been a while, miss.”

“It’s been a while, hero.”

That way of addressing me made me laugh without thinking.

“No, no. From what I hear, people are calling me ‘noble killer’ these days. If I showed my face here, there might be people who’d turn pale and run away.”

That earned a laugh from the beautiful lady, which satisfied me.

When dealing with a beautiful young noblewoman, an old man naturally adopts an overly polite manner of speech.

That’s only natural, right?

As we chatted pleasantly, I learned that she was the daughter of a viscount’s house, from a family renowned for defensive magic.

Ah, so that was why she had stayed by His Highness’s side until the very end.

Now that I thought about it, she had magnificently blocked the chimera’s breath for quite a long time.

She then guided me directly to His Highness’s chambers.

Apparently, she was always there with him.

I always called him “old man” casually, but he actually held the title of Chief Attendant to the Third Prince—a proper knight.

Naturally, he was a noble, probably of viscount rank.

But since he was such an easygoing person, I had no intention of changing my attitude toward him now.

“Hey there, old man. Thanks again for the other day. I’m glad to see His Highness Prince Emilio is doing well.”

“Al! Did you go on another adventure?”

Prince Emilio was as adorable as ever.

“Well, this time it was more about matters within the city.”

“Oh, I’m glad you came. Actually, I have something I’d like to ask you.”

“What is it? If it’s a request from you, Old Man Ruba, I’d be happy to hear it.”

“Mm. This matter concerns His Highness Prince Emilio.”

To summarize the old man’s story, the position of the Third Prince was not very favorable.

It seemed he might be sent to an unwanted country—something closer to being a hostage to an enemy state.

That outcome was being pushed by nobles currying favor with his older brothers.

Apparently, similar proposals had come up before.

His brothers doted on him and felt sorry for him, but because it was tied up with diplomacy, even the king could not strongly oppose it.

Depending on one’s perspective, it wasn’t a situation where one could easily say what was right or wrong.

Even so, since he would eventually be sent out, it had to be done in a way that benefited the kingdom.

Various agendas and negotiations were tangled up in that issue.

Establishing a ducal house was not something that could be done lightly, and keeping Prince Emilio in the country was apparently difficult.

The doting king was heartbroken and, in an attempt to break the deadlock, assigned Prince Emilio a mission: to search for a legendary ring said to exist in a dungeon, in order to earn merit.

However, the party was nearly wiped out, and instead, it emboldened the nobles who wanted the Third Prince removed.

“In that case, I want to ask you. We have already received His Majesty’s permission. Normally, the prince himself would have to go, but he is still young. If we send you as his proxy—the hero who saved the prince, and now an S-rank Dragon Slayer—then they will have no grounds to complain. Your status is equivalent to a count’s, so there is no issue at all. I want you to succeed in this mission.”

Then Old Man Ruba grinned and added,

“And besides, there’s not a single one among those timid fools with the guts to openly pick a fight with a troublemaker like you. Right? Noble Killer.”

“Hahaha. All right, I’ll give it a try. It sounds interesting. And since it’s your request, Old Man Ruba—and for Prince Emilio’s sake—I’ll do it no matter what.”

“So, you’ll take it. I knew you would say that.”

“By the way, what kind of ring is this?”

“Mm. A legendary ring. It has appeared in many tales. They say that a thousand years ago, when the first king—a Rare Visitor—founded this country, he possessed it. It supposedly granted godlike power to great armies. Later, fearing its misuse, the king himself sealed it away. Given the recent movements of neighboring countries, the situation is unstable. That is also why His Highness is being considered for dispatch to what is essentially an enemy nation. If, at a time like this, the legendary ring were recovered, the merit would be enormous. It would also suppress any strange schemes.”

“I see—so it’s a divine artifact from the founding myth!”

That ring was almost certainly something the Rare Visitor king had created.

Could he have had abilities similar to mine?

Interesting.

I’d like to see the craftsmanship of that ring.

In Japan, it would be something like the Three Sacred Treasures, such as the Kusanagi Sword.

In this world, it seemed to be a magical artifact with real, extraordinary power.

“Can I bring anyone else along?”

“Hmm. Is there someone you wish to take?”

The old man did not look particularly pleased.

He probably wanted to keep things as confidential as possible.

“There’s a man named Antonio. He’s the other Dragon Slayer—the one who went dragon hunting with me. It wouldn’t hurt to have one more person, just in case. I’m a far more cautious man than I look.”

“Very well. What reward does this man desire?”

Heh. Was that a hush fee included?

“You’re not asking what I want?”

I pouted slightly, just for show.

“For you, it’s too late for that.”

“Fair enough. That man… is the third son of the former Orlston Count’s house.”

“What…?”

A shadow crossed the old man’s face when he heard that.

“He wants to reestablish the Orlston countship under that name, for the sake of his older brother who withdrew after his dream of restoring the family was crushed. Well, to be honest, I was the one who put the idea in his head.”

“Ho ho ho. That’s very much like you.”

The old man laughed, further wrinkling his already creased face.

“He has the ability, and he has the Dragon Slayer title. He’s from a former count’s house. He’ll probably reach A-rank soon. I was thinking it would be good to give him one more push, achievement-wise, toward S-rank. His second older brother has helped me a lot, too, so I wanted to make a big move here. What do you think?”

“Very well. If you vouch for him, I have no objections. I will ask the king about recommending a member of the Orlston house for S-rank. Then I’ll leave it to you. You can prepare anything you need on your own, I assume?”

The old man smiled in satisfaction, as if it were obvious.

“Yeah. But I want any documents related to the ring. If there are any identifying features that could help us find it, tell me.”

“Understood. It is only legend, but I will explain what remains in the royal records.”

After receiving a brief lecture about the ring, I stayed the night at the palace.

And at Prince Emilio’s request, I spent the evening talking about adventures until His Highness finally went to sleep.