The Noisy Adventurer Guild

It was morning in the Royal Capital.

I had come to the Adventurer Guild, five minutes from the shop, to take care of some errands.

On the wall opposite the first-floor counter was a bulletin board covered with posted requests.

There were quite a few adventurers gathered in front of it.

Because the Royal Capital Eastern Dungeon had been crushed, there had been almost no one around for a while.

As a result, there had been no one to handle the recently increased number of animal extermination requests, so the request fees had soared.

That was why people were coming back.

Most of the extermination requests were for wolves or boars.

It seemed the wolves had been attacking the highways, and the boars had been ravaging the fields.

When I happened to look over, the children from Edgar’s party were in one corner of the first floor.

They should have stayed near the Royal Capital the whole time, steadily taking animal extermination requests.

I thought I might be able to ask them about the wolves.

So I left accepting the herb-gathering request to Liricia and walked over to the children.

“Morning, long time no see. Have you all been well?”

“Eh, Alec-san!?”

“Good morning?”

“Morning?”

“Mornin’, boss”

“Morning—… eh!?”

The children each looked surprised when they saw me. Their eyes had widened adorably.

—What was with that reaction… ah, right! It was because I had become younger.

I scratched my cheek and tried to play it off.

“Well, uh, you know. Keep my change in appearance a secret, okay?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Yup.”

The boy with glasses and the small silver-haired boy nodded with grave expressions.

No, actually, it would be a problem if they took it that seriously…

I casually spoke to change the subject.

“What are you doing in a place like this?”

“Um, we were checking which request everyone should take.”

“Which?”

“Wolves or boars. We thought we might support things by taking whichever one fewer people accepted.”

“I see, that’s a good attitude. Just what I’d expect from an A-rank party.”

“Thank you very much.”

The boy lowered his head, his glasses flashing.

But I found myself a little puzzled.

“But between those two, wouldn’t boars be more popular? They’re both D-rank, and boar meat sells for a high price too.”

“Normally, yes, but lately, for some reason, the boars have been strangely strong.”

“Oh. Strong?”

“Yes, like their coordination is perfect. Or rather, they move tactically. They don’t just charge straight at you anymore.”

“…I see.”

I had a bad feeling about that.

If they were being led well, that meant their leader was competent.

…Could that White Boar be up to something?

That suspicion crossed my mind.

Still, the wolves seemed safe enough.

To confirm, I spoke to the boy with glasses.

“So it doesn’t sound like this is going to turn into something like a large-scale wolf extermination, right? I heard a little about it.”

“That’s right. It seems the wolves are decreasing in number, so I don’t think so.”

“I see, good.”

“Good?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. …But decreasing in number?”

“There’s a rumor that the wolves and boars may be fighting each other…”

“I see.”

—And then.

A tall man with shaggy black hair hanging over his eyes, Edgar, came over to us. As always, he gave off an aura of complete laziness.

“Mornin’, Alec-san.”

“Morning. What is it?”

“Well, about what we were just saying. The boars are a little bad news, you know?”

“Bad news?”

“They’re stockpiling rations and even digging trenches. They’re building fortifications.”

“What!? Are the boars planning to wage war or something!?”

Edgar bent down and spoke in a low voice only I could hear.

“The boars’ boss is a sacred beast, right? He might be plotting something and giving orders.”

“That really is bad. If it comes out that a sacred beast is attacking people, the sanctuary designation could be revoked.”

“Exactly. I thought it’d be better to confirm it once.”

Edgar said it in a restrained voice, the black eyes hidden behind his bangs flashing sharply.

I nodded firmly.

“Got it. I’ll ask about it later. Thanks for the information.”

“Leave it to me. This is easy.”

Edgar gave a grin, lifting one corner of his mouth.

He was easygoing, but he was a dependable man.

Then some rough-looking adventurers started talking to Edgar.

Ignoring me and the children beside him.

“Hey, hey, Edgar’s acting all high and mighty about something.”

“Gyahaha, you’re still babysitting kids?”

They let out mocking laughter.

The children frowned angrily and glared at them.

It was a rough-looking party I had never seen before.

But the man who seemed to be their leader, who looked to be in his thirties, seemed vaguely familiar.

Edgar bowed his head obsequiously.

“Ah, Yoanes-san, hello.”

“Yeah, I came back because the Royal Capital’s in trouble. Just make sure you don’t get in our way, gyahaha.”

—What was with these guys?

I got a little irritated seeing Edgar, whom I had decided on my own was competent, being mocked.

But there might be circumstances between them that I didn’t know about, so I decided to endure it.

However.

The rough swordsman called Yoanes set his sights on Liricia.

He walked up to Liricia, who had finished at the reception desk and was returning this way, with a leering grin.

“Hey now, you’re a fine woman. A healer, huh? Come hang out with us. We’ll show you a good time tonight, yeah?”

Liricia lightly avoided the hand Yoanes stretched out. Her silver hair fluttered softly.

She glared back at him, her well-shaped brows drawn together.

“I am a slave, so I will not do as you please. Why not ask my master?”

“Heh, is that so? Which one is he?”

“My master is right over there.”

So saying, she gracefully pointed at me with her supple hand.

“What—whoa!?”

Yoanes jumped back a full step in shock.

That was because I had been standing silently right beside him.

And, as a bonus, I had filled the clenched fist in my hand with Serâge.

He looked like he was about to do something to Liricia, so before I knew it, I had moved close to him.

If he hurt even a single strand of her hair, I had intended to deal with him no matter who or what he was.

From a step back, Yoanes looked me over as if observing me.

The foolish expression from his surprise gradually stiffened.

“Wh-! Y-you’re… Alec!”

“Heh, so you know me. That’s surprising.”

I had originally been an unpopular hero, and on top of that I had become younger, so I had thought no one would recognize me anymore.

Yoanes ground his teeth and glared at me.

“You bastard… because a sluggish, worthless idiot like you was around…! I’ll never forgive you!”

“Did I do something to you? I don’t remember anything about you…”

“What did you say!? Idiot! Don’t screw with me!”

Yoanes clenched his fist and stepped closer to me.

But then a sharp voice flew from the counter.

“Fighting inside the guild is strictly forbidden.”

The receptionist said it while pushing up her glasses with a finger. The lenses flashed.

“Tch—remember this.”

Throwing out that parting line, Yoanes turned on his heel.

Holding Liricia close with one arm, I shot back at his retreating back.

“I’m the idiot you say I am, so I can’t remember people who don’t matter.”

“What—!”

“So you remember this. Say whatever you want to me—but if you lay a hand on my wife, I won’t let you off for free.”

“—Tch!”

Yoanes glared back over his shoulder with a vicious look, then led his party out.

The guild fell quiet.

As I held Liricia, I shrugged.

“What was with them? I didn’t recognize them.”

“They’re an A-rank party. Yoanes-san is this country’s prince.”

“Ah! So that’s why I thought I’d seen him before! At the castle! —But I shouldn’t have done anything to make him resent me…”

Leaning against me, Liricia looked up at me with her violet eyes.

“Would it be… because he lost his right to inherit the throne?”

“Huh? Because of me?”

“Yes. The hero who defeats the Demon King marries the princess and becomes the next king… and you, Master, were that hero.”

Liricia drew her brows together in distress.

“I see… isn’t that just misplaced resentment? And besides, I failed to fulfill my duty as the hero. Hm? Then what’s happening with the next king of this country?”

Edgar muttered while casting his gaze around the area.

“Yoanes figured he wouldn’t be able to become king, so he became an adventurer and started running wild, ending up in court again and again. You got dismissed, Alec-san, but because of his bad conduct, his succession rights stayed revoked.”

“That’s troublesome… So that’s why the King keeps telling me to come back so insistently.”

“Yeah. The country was probably moving under the assumption that Alec-san would become the next king.”

“No, no—even if the Demon King had appeared, I might’ve failed to defeat him, right? What about the princess?”

“Princess Carolina still retains her succession rights, but…”

I frowned.

“Living is troublesome… but if the country falls into disorder, our livelihood becomes shaky.”

The manor couldn’t be moved, so that was a problem.

I might need to prepare a villa somewhere.

—That would cost money. Good grief.

Since there was no point thinking about it, I said something else.

“Still, that surprised me, Edgar.”

“What did?”

“You were grinning and trying to smooth things over even when they were making fun of you. Were you just obeying him because he’s a prince?”

Edgar tilted his head as if thinking it over. His shaggy hair swayed.

“Mm~, same as you, Alec-san.”

“Same as me?”

“Yeah. I’m someone who failed, so I don’t care if people make fun of me… but if they make fun of or try to hurt the people important to me, I won’t forgive it.”

The tall Edgar lowered his gaze toward the children.

I nodded too, putting strength into the arm with which I held Liricia.

“I see. For you, Edgar, that means the princess and the children.”

“That’s right… well then, we should get going.”

“Yeah. Make sure the wolves are driven off, not killed.”

“Roger.”

Edgar left the guild with the children.

I looked at Liricia.

“Shall we go too?”

“Yes, Master!”

I went outside with Liricia.

Neither the prince’s party nor Edgar’s group were anywhere to be seen on the main street.

After leaving the Adventurer Guild, we headed for the slave trader at the edge of town.

We walked along the stone-paved road in the warm morning sunlight.

In the bustle of morning with people and carriages coming and going, I sighed and walked on.

—I had already finished what I came for, and I thought all that remained was to flirt with Liricia.

Boars and a prince.

Somehow, there were a lot of troublesome problems, not huge ones, but annoying all the same…

Liricia walked beside me, her white nun’s habit swaying, and spoke to me.

“Is something on your mind, Master?”

“No, it’s just that one small problem after another keeps popping up.”

“With you, Master, I’m sure you can solve them.”

“Of course I’ll handle them. I want to spend a quiet, relaxing time with you as soon as possible, Liricia.”

“I do too, Master…”

Blushing, Liricia lightly smacked my shoulder.

That gesture was so cute that I thought to myself, as expected, she really was my angel.