CH 100

Characters in this chapter:

Sapphiras Perfectio, 2nd son of the Earl of Aldridge

Percival Belisario, 3rd son of Margrave of Vanderwall on the Eastern Frontier

Aurora Steinfeld, daughter of the Duke of Bloomfield

Liliana, daughter of a Viscount, Aurora’s lady-in-waiting

Gideon Harvard, 2nd son of the Marquess of Wagner

Cleo, boy from Morris village who lost his father in the magical beast outbreak

Adeline, Margravine of Vanderwall, Percival’s mother

Theodore Belisario, 1st son of Margrave of Vanderwall on the Eastern Frontier

Curtis Belisario, 2nd son of Margrave of Vanderwall on the Eastern Frontier

Bruno Kingsleigh, Commander of the Kingsleigh unit

“Listen, as an adventurer, you must repay double the favour you have received. It is unbecoming of an adventurer not to return the favour after having been saved. The world is a two-way street. The people you help have no obligation to help those in need. But they still lend you a helping hand, so you must repay them for their kindness. And if someone is in trouble, help them as much as you can. This will come back to you in due course.”

“Yes!”

The children raise their hands and cheerfully reply.

Today I am the children’s teacher. They wanted me to tell them something interesting, so I decided to teach them how to be an adventurer.

I started by telling them how to register as an adventurer, and so on. 150 years ago, I knew some things about registering as an adventurer, so maybe some things are different, but the things and knowledge necessary for traveling will not change much between now and then.

And then there’s the mindset you need to have to be an adventurer.

“Another important thing is to fight back when you get hit. This is an ironclad rule. If you don’t, you’ll be licked not only by the attacker but also by those around you. If your opponent is stronger than you, you don’t have to choose the means. Double payback is lukewarm! Give him a thorough beating!”

I clenched my fist and made a gesture of punching the opponent.

“Yes!”

“Yoshi, that’s a good response. No matter how strong your opponent is, there is always a way to win. Don’t cry yourself to sleep, take your revenge!”

“……Sapphiras, you’ve got to be moderate there.”

“Ah, Percival.”

Percival returned, perhaps having finished talking to the village chief.

The village chief had been discussing the future with the platoon leader, with whom Percival had been working for the past few days.

Although not completely, every village has been rebuilt to the point where the rest can be managed by the inhabitants alone. It’s about time for me to leave.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah, it’s not our place to go on from here.”

“……Onii-chan, are you leaving?”

As if he was listening to us, Cleo grabbed the edge of my cloak and looked up with a worried look.

I’ve completely become attached to Cleo.

“Yes. The village has settled down. But I’ll be back soon, so make sure you help your mother out.”

“Yeah!”

It’s been two weeks since I came to Vanderwall. As expected, I have to return to the academy soon. I still have regrets, but the rest is the work of the people who live here.

On the way home, I was clung to and jostled a lot by children who were sad to say goodbye, and I was rescued by Percival and said goodbye to the village.

Terrifying children. They were much more formidable than magical beasts.

“Sapphiras-dono. As the lord of Vanderwall, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you have done.”

I was about to say goodbye to the Margrave as I was about to return to the academy. The thick, clear voice of the Margrave echoed through the halls.

I was deeply moved, thinking that when I came here, the place was full of evacuees and injured people, when suddenly my mouth dropped open.

The Margrave bowed deeply, and Theodore, Curtis and Percival followed suit. Madam Adeline also dropped her knees and bowed her head. I looked around and saw that the people at the castle who had come out to see me off were also bowing.

“Eh? No, please raise your head! I didn’t do anything that big!”

He glances at Percival for help, but since Percival, who he can rely on, also bowed his head, our gazes don’t meet.

“What are you talking about? You wiped out that many magical beasts and even helped rebuild the capital. If it was just us, I don’t know what would have happened by now. Sapphiras-dono is Vanderwall’s benefactor.”

Theodore says so, but I’ve had a lot of good food here. The people of the castle have been kind to me, and I am indebted to Madam Adeline for everything. Above all, this is the home of my dear friend. I can’t keep quiet when my friends are in trouble. It’s in my nature, and fortunately I have the power to do something about it. So I used my power to the extent that I could. That’s all I did, but I can’t believe I made the margrave bow down to me.

But I know that the extent of my power is out of the ordinary.

“Ummm……I’m indebted to the Belisario family, and besides, I like this Vanderwall, I just didn’t want it to be ravaged by magical beasts. So if you make such a big deal out of it, what can I say ……”

I’m in trouble. It unconsciously makes me want to look up at the ceiling.

For me, I didn’t mean to do such a big job. I want them to take it easy and just say, ‘Thank you for your help this time, please help us again’.

“……Ufufu, yes. Understood, Sapphiras-san. Thank you for helping us. You really helped us. This is your home now, so feel free to visit us anytime. And during the next long vacation, when the Yor Festival is coming up, we have lots of specialities waiting for you, so please come home with Percival.

She must have understood that I was in trouble. Madam Adeline looked up and said with her usual smile.

“……Yes! I’m looking forward to it!”

The Yor Festival, I’m looking forward to it. Vanderwall gets a lot of cultures from different countries, so I’m sure we can expect a lot of feasts at the Yor Festival and food stalls in the Oriens.

“That’s right. Our Vanderwall always welcome sworn friends.”

The Margrave softens his stern face a little and claps me on the shoulder. He did not use force like Kingsleigh-san, but used a proper amount of force.

Then, after shaking hands with Theodore and Curtis, Percival and I were seen off by the Belisario family and everyone at the castle and returned to the academy.

“You’re back at last!”

As usual, we made the transition to the courtyard, and for some reason, redhead was waiting for us.

“……No, why are you here?”

“Thinking that it would be here if you came back, I was waiting for you guys to come back!”

Waiting? You were in the courtyard the whole time? Did you go to class?

“More importantly, you both treat me like a stranger1! Why didn’t you take me with you? My friends are in danger! I wanted to help, too!”

He’s as noisy as ever. It seems impossible to have a secret talk with redhead.

It is highly doubtful that such a redhead can help, but he seems to know what was happening in Vanderwall. Even though it is an event in a distant land, people would be worried if they heard that there is a huge outbreak of magical beasts in Vanderwall, which is the key to the defence of the country. So only His Majesty the King, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and a few people involved in the country’s politics would know about it.

“Where did Harvard learn about what happened in Vanderwall? The territory’s magical beasts disaster shouldn’t have become public knowledge yet.”

“……Actually, I overheard my father and brother talking about it.”

Redhead gives an embarrassed look and scratches his head.

“I happened to see my brother walk into my father’s office with a serious look on his face. I was wondering what was going on, and then I heard Vanderwall’s name, and I just, I just overheard him……”

Well, I can understand that. If I was in redhead’s shoes, I would have definitely eavesdropped too. If you hear a name you know, you’re going to wonder what’s going on.

“So I was wondering if I could help in any way, but before I knew it, Belisario and Sapphiras were gone. You guys went to Vanderwall.”

“Welcome back, Sapphiras-sama and Percival-sama. Thank you for returning safely.”

“Miss Aurora……?”

Aurora and Liliana came to the courtyard just as they knew we would be back today. Could it be that they were in the courtyard all day long?

“No, we weren’t. We heard Harvard-sama’s loud voice, so we thought you must have come back, and we came here.”

“Eh? Was I speaking out loud?”

“No. It was written on your face.”

A mysterious kobold doll was swinging on the folding fan in Aurora’s hand as she smiled.