Episode 75

“Ah, Mr. Faik! Good morning!”

With his usual friendly smile, Ivas runs this way over.

Weather, who had been watching that sight with a “good grief…” expression, stops dead when he sees Alicia’s face.

Ivas pays no attention at all to the escort soldiers and comes right up to me. For a moment one of the soldiers moved toward us, but Alicia stopped him.

Ivas stops in front of me.

He really seems oblivious to everything around him.

As for me, I preferred him acting like usual, so I didn’t have any particular reaction to this.

“Good morning, Ivas. Are you going to take on a job now?”

“Yes! Is that maybe a date over there!? I can’t believe you have such a cute girlfriend… I’m jealous!”

…He doesn’t even know about Alicia.

At Ivas’s words, Alicia sheepishly scratches her cheek.

From our reactions, the soldiers seem to have taken us for friends; they remain cautious but do not try to restrain Ivas and Weather.

“It’s not a date—I have a little errand at the Blacksmith Guild.”

“The Blacksmith Guild? So it’s something to do with a blacksmith, right?”

As we talk like that, Weather repeatedly glances over at Alicia.

Ivas looks over at Weather with an exasperated expression.

“Geez, Weather. You’re still terrible with women, aren’t you?”

“I-it’s not that, but… hey, Ivas. You don’t know who this person is… do you?”

Weather looks at Ivas as if he’s seeing something unbelievable.

Ivas looks at Alicia for a moment, then tilts his head.

“She’s Mr. Faik’s girlfriend, right?”

“N-no! This is Lady Alicia! She’s from this town, so you should’ve seen her before, right!?”

“…Lady Alicia…? Huh! R-really! She looks like Lady Alicia! I-is that actually her!?”

She must sometimes appear before the townspeople as the lord’s daughter.

It seems everyone recognizes her face, and Alicia smiles warmly.

“Yeah. The real one. I used to go by ‘Ari.’ It’s not our first meeting… but nice to meet you again.”

“Ari! It’s the masked person! I was talking without knowing anything! I’m sorry!”

Ivas bows deeply, and Alicia returns his smile.

“No, it’s fine. I kept my identity hidden on purpose, so don’t worry about it.”

“Is that so!”

He was surprised at first, but Ivas breathes a sigh of relief.

Ivas’s ability to switch gears so quickly is astonishing. I wish I could switch that easily when something surprising happens.

However, Weather is not someone who can switch like Ivas.

“…C-could it be, Mr. Faik, that you’re Lady Alicia’s… fiancé?”

“Yeah, I am… but how do you know about that?”

“I-I heard it… from rumors.”

Weather switches to a polite tone, his face growing pale.

…I’m close enough to nobility that they’re probably trying not to be rude.

I’d prefer people to speak to me naturally, but I suppose that’s not possible.

There must also be the dignity of the duke’s family to consider.

Hearing our conversation, Ivas’s eyes light up.

“Uh, congratulations? I’ll definitely go to the wedding!”

“A-a noble’s wedding! There’s no way commoners like us can attend!”

“No, I want you to come when it happens. If it weren’t for you guys, I might not have succeeded as a smith in this town.”

It might be too early to call it success, but there’s no doubt my goods started selling because of him.

And I owe him for introducing me to Weather.

If it’s just friends, you should be able to invite them regardless of commoner or noble… Though I don’t actually know how noble weddings work, so I can’t be sure.

“See, Weather! Isn’t that great!”

“I-Is it… okay…? If I attend among all those nobles, I’ll be so nervous I might throw up…”

Weather’s face remains ashen.

…I can totally understand that reaction.

If I were in Weather’s shoes, I’d almost certainly have the same expression.

Ivas just doesn’t sweat the small stuff enough.

“Ah, oh no! Weather, we’ve got to go to take the job!”

“Right… yeah.”

Ivas declares that, and Weather nods as if remembering.

If we keep talking here, we’ll just be in their way.

“Well then, we’re off to the Blacksmith Guild too. See you later.”

“Yes! I’ll come by the town again next time!”

“Got it. By the way, I’m planning to open a shop soon. I’ll tell you the exact location once it’s decided.”

“Really!? I’m excited! I’ll definitely come!”

Ivas waves enthusiastically, and Weather leaves with a polite bow.

I’d be thrilled if Ivas brings more new customers like that.

“Well then, Alicia. Shall we go?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

“…Come to think of it, Alicia, you speak politely even in public, don’t you?”

“Among the nobility, it’s an established rule that women don’t need to be treated with any special informality.”

…I see.

From there she explains in detail that a culture of male dominance has long been deeply rooted.

Because men traditionally handled external affairs, that kind of culture developed.

Recently, the number of female heads of households has started to increase, so it might change going forward.

After various conversation, we head straight to the Blacksmith Guild.