CH 109

Chapter 109: Discussing About the Future

It was the day after Cyril and I started dating.

That day was coincidentally our scheduled, periodic meeting with our Party, so we decided to make the announcement.

Henry: “Wellー so, anyways. You might all have guessed already, but Cyril and I decided to go out.”

……..they might have already guessed since Cyril ran to me at twice the speed than usual.

She grabbed my arm as if to make the “He’s mine!” statement, so I think she made it obvious to everyone.

Teo: “Uh huh…...and?” Teo doesn’t seem to be interested at all at the news and responds very dryly. How could she not care if there is a dramatic change in the Party’s dynamics?!

Henry: “HーHey, hey, Teo. You can be a little more surprised at the news.”

Yes, you should be more aware of the people around you.

Jend: “No, no, Henry. It’s been so longer overdue, so honestly, I feel the same way.” Ferris: “I agree with Jend. Seriously, it took you two this long to start dating?” Jend and Ferris too?!

IーI mean. I won’t deny that there has been moments when things seemed to be going in that direction, but putting that aside, could you all be a little more shocked at the news? Was it that obvious? Really…….?

Teo: “Oh, but I’m curious to know who confessed first.”

Cyril: “He he heー Teo. Then I, Cyril, shall be happy to answer your question! Can you believe it?! Henry was the one who said, “I loーー HMMFF?!”

I quickly closed my hand over her mouth to shut her up. You need to learn to keep some details private!

Teo: “Mr. Henry initiated it? That really is a surprise.” Henry: “......Teo? What do you mean by that?”

Why is that the part that surprised her?” My question was left unanswered as she looked away and broke eye contact with me.

………...this reaction usually means…...if she says anything, it’ll just come off as insulting. I think it would have been a similar comment to what Cyril mentioned about what Yuu said about me. Do I really look like I have no initiative on that front? If I delved into this any further, I would probably suffer a severe backlash but…….I’ll remember this!

Jend: “So is that why you wanted to meet in a private room instead of in the tavern?” Right now, we are using one of the Church’s private meeting rooms instead of the pub downstairs.

The Church has a couple of these rooms on the second floor. You have to pay by the hour, but if you are distributing large amounts of rewards or discussing a strategy that you don’t want others to hear about, or if your Party just hates meeting at a noisy joint, there are a variety of reasons to use this facility.

Cyril: “What? Is that why, Henry? You wanted to keep our relationship a secret?” Henry: “Ack, no. That’s not why. It’s to discuss what we’re going to do going forward.” Cyril who sat right next to me began to glare discontentedly, but it’s a misunderstanding, and I make that very clear.

……...besides, from what Jend and Ferris are telling me, other Adventurers would probably already assume that Cyril and I are going out.

Jend: “Going forward? Like what?” Henry: “Yeahー I know I’ve said this over and over, but I’ve changed my mind. I’ve decided to go to Ligaleo with you guys. It’s about that.”

Jend: “Oh, I see! That’s really good news!”

Jend slaps his thighs and makes his delight known.

Ferris: “Yes, it is indeed. …...you are our Party Leader after all, Henry. I can’t imagine anyone else taking your place. If you’re coming with us, we’ll be glad to have you with us.”

Teo: “Okay.” Ferris and Jend both seem happy to hear the news. Teo seems to be very casually about it…...but we’ve been together as a Party for a good time now. I can tell when something is making her happy.

………..I’m glad they didn’t assume that I was already going from the beginning.

Jend: “Then when do you want to go? I was a little worried if it’s just us and extended and extended our move out date, but with Henry, we should be okay then. We probably need to take care of our living situations here, so around the New Year’s?”

Jend is right.

Honestly, with our current ability, we would do fine in Ligaleo, but if I exited the team, I would need to still teach them things outside of combat, and it would have taken maybe half a year longer.

Henry: “Well, that’s true. If I’m backing you guys up, I think we’ll be able to do just fine there. But the problem is…...in order to reach Cyril’s goal, ‘doing just fine’ won’t be enough now.”

To rebuild a new Kingdom. Reviving a Kingdom in the Southern Continent would be too farfetched, so Cyril’s 2nd goal is what I’m aiming for.

To earn a territory and have the former Fezard Kingdom Royalty rule over it……...it’s most likely that it’ll be treated as one of the Alvenia Kingdom’s territories, but if we can get to even that point, that would be a huge success.

But even if the hurdle is lowered because she’s the direct blood relative of a former Royal Family (compared to an ordinary citizen), for a person of a former Kingdom to earn a Noble’s title, they will need to accomplish a lot to attain that status.

In Ligaleo, you would probably have at least once, no twice……? Wait…...maybe even 3 times? Well, anyways, we would get more opportunities per year to do something big, so her decision to head to Ligaleo isn’t wrong.

But in order to do so in the first place, we need to be adequately equipped and trained. Rather than heading there right this second, it will be better to spend some time preparing. We can get direct combat experience on the frontlines, but it’s not a place where we can calmly train and develop ourselves.

Ferris: “I see. That’s right. Cyril, I may not be that much help, but I will do my best to help your cause.” Teo: “.........it can’t be helped, so I’ll help out too.” Cyril: “Yes, thank you so much, Miss Ferris, Teo!”

The woman in our group really get along well.

Jend: “..........hm, well, I’m aiming to become a Hero of Legend, so I have no objections if it’s going to help us make it big. But what did you have in mind specifically?” Henry: “I’ve only had one night to think about this, so I don’t have all the details but…”

But there are a few ideas I came up with.

Henry: “First, we’ll reach out to all my contacts in Ligaleo and ask for support. We’ll also need to upgrade our armor and equipment about 2 levels higher, and finally, to improve our skills, we’ll go to the Dojo’s in Eastfarea. Those are my thoughts.”

I simply explained everything I had on my mind. There are other things we need to do, but these are the top, critical items.

Jend: “I understand about making connections and getting better weapons, but why do we have to go so far away to a place like Eastfarea?” Henry: “I’m the same way, but Jend’s Master, Mr. Ricardo, isn’t a specialist at teaching others, right?” If it’s training a Militia or Military, then Mr. Ricardo is a pro, but as far as training a Martial Artist, he’s only had experience training Ashley and Jend.

I don’t doubt Mr. Ricardo’s abilities, but compared to a Dojo’s Master who has trained several dozen to several hundred students, there will be a difference in their teaching abilities.

We’ll aim for a concentrated training in a short period of time. There are Dojo’s who cater to recruiting Adventurers and helping them train as a business. And the quality of Dojo’s in Eastfarea is the best.

Cyril: “Ohー What about me? Will I be going too? Well, it’s not that I don’t want to, but I’m not sure how much more I can improve on my staff skills.”

Henry: “Yeah, Cyril should probably go to the Sunwest area while Jend and everyone are in Eastfarea…. It’s the place in the Alvenia Kingdom you should go to once if you are mastering Magecraft or Magic.”

If Eastfarea is renown for its Martial Artists, the city of Sunwest in the west is renown for its Magic Studies.

If it comes down to researching about Magecraft and Magic, there is the [Sage’s Tower] that is said to be better than the Alvenia Central University, and they focus on developing and raising combat-focused Magecraft and Magic users. Finally, they make this available to anyone interested by offering short term courses.

Cyril: “Huh? Just me? ……….oh, if it’s Magecraft, would Miss Ferris come with me?” Ferris: “The [Ningel’s Hand] Magecraft is the sole propriety of the Ningel Church, so they won’t be teaching that at the Sage’s Tower…...there won’t be any reason for me to go.” Teo: “And I don’t have to explain about the Cloudy Plains Style, correct?” Visibly shocked, Cyril shrivels in disappointment.

Henry: “........well, I was thinking that I might improve more on my Magecraft than my Spear Skills, so you might be with me. But this is tentative and not final.”

I followed up with her just in case after seeing her reaction. I’m not trying to mislead her here either. Being able to combine 5 is pretty good with the Kroseid Style, but I only know 6 Types of Spells which isn’t a lot.

…...or so I was making excuses to myself whenーー

Cyril: “Oh, are you really?!” Henry: “I told you it’s tentative!”

Cyril flipped to the bright side and <SQUEEZED> me tight. Oh, she’s softーー

………..wーwait! It’s not that I don’t like it, but let’s not do any excessive public displays of affection!

Jend: “Huhー”

Ferris: “Ohー”

Teo: “A boyfriend…...I wonder if I should get one….” Look! Everyone’s staring at us!

And chuckling to herself, Ferris spoke first.

Ferris: “Well, let’s leave figuring out the details at another time. Today, it’s a wonderful date to commemorate these two. I know it’s still mid-day, but why don’t we all go downstairs to have a drink?” Jend: “Yeah, that sounds good. Henry, I’ll pay for your drink, so tell me the story.”

……...hmm, well…

I guess they’re genuinely congratulating us.

I guess I’ll gladly accept their congrats.

<<<<>>>>

Cyril: “Oh, excuse meーー Can I have more mead please!”

Henry: “HーHey, Cyril. You don’t drink that much so slow down a little.”

Cyril: “He he heー even if I drink too much, you’ll carry me home, right?” Henry: “.......ohー yeahー wellー of course, I’ll at least do that much…”

I’ll carry a girl who started drinking from mid-day and carry her back to the Governor’s mansion…….spelling it out, it sounds terrible, but I won’t just abandon her either.

Cyril: “Then I have nothing to worry aboutーー”

Ferris: “Haha…….well, let’s let her have her way for just today, Mr. Henry. Here, Cyril, they brought the mead.”

Cyril: “YAYーー”

Ferris takes the ordered drinks from the waitress and brings it to Cyril.

“I thought things might end up this way, but still, I can’t believe it’s happening to that Miss Cyril. ……..Mr. Henry, please take good care of her. In fact, if you don’t……...he he he…..”

This is the tavern inside the Church so the waitress’ that worked there were all Sisters of the Church. ……...they knew about Cyril really well, and stuck a warning in my back like a thick spike.

……….of course, I had zero intention of mistreating her but…..

Cyril: “Oh, Henry. You’re glass is empty. Did you want more ale?”

Henry: “Yeah, thanks.” Cyril: “Excuse meー Can we get more aleー?”

“Yes, of course.” Cyril puts in the order. Her smile is genuine without a hint of doubt or remorse.

Well, so now…..

There’s a lot to do. I’ll have to do my best or at least, what I can so she can keep smiling like this.

………..and with too much ale in my system, I made a new resolution.