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“At last… the sea’s in sight!!”
Arthur had worried that with Morgan along, the atmosphere in the carriage would be tense, but to his surprise, it was lively. That was thanks to Kei—and this man.
“Thank you for the lovely performance. I thought knights were all serious, so this surprised me a little.”
“Haha. We knights exist to protect beautiful ladies such as yourself. We would never frighten you—please rest assured.”
At Kei’s words, Tristan gave a flashy wink. Seeing Kei laugh awkwardly at it, Arthur felt a little relieved, recalling the mood earlier.
Morgan had been keeping her seat right beside him, steering even casual talk back to politics, which made him want to escape. But when Tristan began singing songs about the Isle region, the mood shifted.
“You might be better suited to being a bard than a knight.”
“High praise indeed, but this is just a hobby. I am still a knight. My duty is to guard the noble and witness this kingdom’s future.”
He stroked his strange weapon—Failnaught, a harp fused with a bow—and smiled shyly.
Arthur hadn’t meant it as sarcasm. Tristan’s performance really was that skilled.
“He may look carefree, but his abilities are genuine. His perception and archery skills are top-class. There’s no one better for guarding an important person.”
Even Morgan, usually expressionless, vouched for him. Arthur recalled the accuracy of Tristan’s shots during the Cockatrice battle and nodded inwardly.
Then he remembered: the Good Deed Notebook had not written that anything would happen at this retreat. That meant he could afford to take some risks…
“Then, let’s greet Baron Isle and head to the royal villa. At a private beach, there won’t be any outsiders—”
“No, wait. This time, I’d rather go to the regular public coast.”
“…Do you mean to repeat last year? You know as well as I do—it put quite a strain on the common folk.”
Morgan fixed him with a sharp stare. Strictly speaking, she was just probing his intent, but Arthur found it intimidating.
Last year, when a rare beast had appeared on the shore, Greed had rented out the commoners’ beach for himself.
“I won’t cause such trouble. I mean to go simply as a private individual. If Tristan is with me as a guard, isn’t that safe enough?”
“…I see. So that’s your aim.”
Morgan’s eyes widened for a moment. She exchanged a meaningful glance with Tristan, both nodding.
They read far too deeply into it. Arthur’s intent was simple: he wanted to try the local food.
He was fascinated by regional specialties. At the private beach, chefs would prepare fine dishes, but that wasn’t what he wanted.
What he wanted was to share the down-to-earth B-class gourmet with Kei.
Morgan sighed inwardly as she realized she had been maneuvered. She could guess Arthur’s true intent: to go incognito among the common people.
He probably wanted to hear their voices directly. No one would expect royalty to mingle on a public beach.
“Listen to the people’s voices.”
Those had been her own words in the past.
And she herself had praised Tristan’s skill and declared him the perfect guard. To object now would insult his honor.
Of course, Arthur surely knew he had more guards trailing behind discreetly. They, too, would have to disguise themselves as commoners on the shore. And if he went to such lengths, perhaps Arthur had yet another reason in mind—something she hadn’t noticed.
“You really are never to be underestimated…”
“Hm? Did you say something?”
“No… nothing at all.”
Arthur clearly pretended not to hear, but Morgan grew certain: something was going to happen on this trip.
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