Reunion

The next morning.

Felicia and I had come to the Adventurers' Guild in the royal capital.

"We've been expecting you."

The staff member who'd taken in all those monsters yesterday called out to us.

"Have you finished the appraisal?"

"Yes. There was quite a lot, so we brought in more people last night to check everything."

The staff member handed me a document.

【Total Purchase Price for Materials: 5,320,000 jenny】

"Five million three hundred and twenty thousand..."

Yesterday, all I'd thought about was earning P.

But I'd brought back almost all the monsters I'd defeated using Storage.

Apparently, with so many of them, the materials alone added up to this much.

"Would you like us to deposit this in the guild bank?"

"..."

Before answering, I suddenly had a thought.

Until now, I'd deposited my money in the guild bank because carrying a large sum was dangerous.

But now I had Storage.

It was a space large enough to hold even the Grand Lizard whole.

At the very least, storing the money I had on hand shouldn't be a problem.

"Sorry. There's no need to deposit it."

"Would you like to receive it in cash?"

"Yes. Also, could I withdraw everything I currently have in the guild bank?"

"Everything?"

The staff member looked a little surprised.

"That's quite a large amount."

"It'll be fine."

After waiting for a while, bags filled with gold and silver coins were brought out one after another.

"...You're taking all of these?"

Felicia's eyes widened, too.

"I'll put them in Storage."

"Oh."

I touched one of the bags.

It vanished.

Then another bag.

I put that one into Storage, too.

One after another, I stored them, and the piles of bags were gone in no time.

"That's convenient..."

"I hadn't thought of it before, either."

I didn't have to worry about anyone stealing it.

And I didn't have to worry about the weight, either.

I only needed to keep what I used regularly in my wallet.

That was everything we needed to do in the royal capital.

◇

We returned to the inn and spread out a map.

There were two main routes from the royal capital back to Belgant.

One headed south through the Rufen Empire.

The other went southwest through the Valdis Marquisate.

The route through the Rufen Empire was a little shorter.

But...

"Let's go back through the Valdis Marquisate."

When I said that, Felicia looked at me.

"...Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"It would be faster to go through Rufen, wouldn't it?"

"A little, but it won't make much difference."

Felicia lowered her eyes apologetically.

I didn't know the circumstances, but if Felicia didn't want to talk about them, that was fine.

"I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize."

"...Thank you."

Felicia smiled just a little.

We left the royal capital that same day.

◇

When we came to the royal capital, we were B-Rank.

Now, as we headed back, we were A-Rank.

My Membership rank had also gone from Gold to Platinum.

On top of that, I'd acquired Sword Saint.

We hadn't spent that long in the royal capital.

Even so, I felt like a lot had changed since we first arrived.

We headed southwest, changing carriages along the way.

A few days later, the scenery grew increasingly familiar.

"We've entered the Valdis Marquisate."

"Yes."

The last time we'd passed through, a nearby town had been attacked by a Stampede.

We'd defeated the King Ogre and stopped by the capital of the territory, too.

But we hadn't visited the marquis's residence.

Father and Kyle had been in the Kingdom of Arsreine, so they weren't there.

This time, we planned to continue straight through to Belgant.

However, the road began to change as we neared the territory's capital.

"There are a lot of people."

"I wonder if something's happening."

The territory's residents had gathered along the road.

There were even soldiers holding the marquis's banners.

I spoke to a man nearby.

"Excuse me. Is something happening today?"

"Oh, the marquis is returning."

"Father?"

I blurted it out without thinking.

The man looked at me.

"Father?"

"Ah..."

He stared at my face.

After a while, his eyes widened.

"Could you be... Lord Allen?"

"Yes."

"I knew it!"

His voice was louder than I expected.

Everyone around us turned to look at once.

"It's Lord Allen!"

"It really is!"

"The one who stopped the Stampede the other day!"

"Lord Allen!"

People began to gather around us.

"Thank you so much for what you did the other day!"

"What would have happened to the town if you hadn't come back then...?"

"No, I didn't do it alone."

As I wondered what to do, I saw Felicia smiling beside me.

"You're quite popular."

"I'm surprised, too."

That was when it happened.

An even louder cheer rose from farther down the road.

"The marquis is here!"

"He's returned!"

Everyone gathered there turned to look in the same direction.

The marquis's banners.

Knights.

Several carriages.

A long procession approached us.

"So it was today."

"It seems so."

The day Father and Kyle returned from the Kingdom of Arsreine and the day we passed through the territory...

Apparently, they'd coincided by chance.

"Lord Allen!"

Someone called my name again.

It seemed the returning procession had heard the voice, too.

A boy riding a horse looked our way.

Our eyes met.

"...Brother?"

It was Kyle.

◇

The procession came to a stop.

Kyle dismounted and walked over to us.

"Brother..."

"It's been a while."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm on my way back to Belgant from the royal capital."

"The royal capital?"

"I went there to become A-Rank."

Kyle's eyebrows twitched.

"...Did you make it?"

"Yeah."

"A-Rank?"

"That's right."

Kyle fell silent.

He stared at me for a while.

"You..."

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

He shook his head.

But he looked like something was bothering him.

Father came over, too.

The knights asked the residents to step back a little, and a small space opened up around us.

"Allen."

"Father. Welcome home."

"Yeah. I never expected to see you today."

"I only found out just now, too."

Father looked me up and down.

"I heard about you in Arsreine, too."

"About me?"

"I heard you defeated the Sword Saint of the Dran Empire."

"Yes."

Kyle's expression changed.

"...Was it true?"

"What was?"

"That you defeated a Sword Saint, Brother."

"Yeah."

"..."

Kyle looked at the Flame Fang Sword at my waist.

"I didn't believe it."

"Oh?"

"Because—"

He started to say something, then closed his mouth.

I could more or less guess what he'd been about to say.

Back when Kyle and I fought...

I lost completely.

He probably hadn't believed that someone who'd lost to him could defeat another Sword Saint.

"Well, we don't have to get into the details."

I had no intention of talking at length here.

Father and the others had just returned from a long journey.

And we were on our way back to Belgant.

"Well, we're going to get going."

"You're leaving already?"

Father asked.

"Yes. If you'll excuse us."

I looked at Felicia.

"Felicia-san, let's go."

"Yes."

"...Felicia?"

I heard Kyle's voice.

I stopped.

"What is it?"

Kyle wasn't looking at me. He was looking at Felicia.

"No..."

He took a step closer.

He stared at her face.

His expression was completely different from a moment ago.

"Kyle?"

Father looked puzzled, too.

Kyle didn't answer.

And then...

"Could you be... Felicia-sama Roland?"

Felicia's expression changed in that instant.

"..."

She didn't answer.

But that reaction alone was enough.

Roland.

The name I knew her by was Felicia Roth.

――Something was going on here.

"Felicia-san?"

"..."

Kyle took another step closer.

"I knew it..."

"Kyle, you know her?"

Kyle looked at me.

"Brother, hand Felicia-sama over to us right now."

"What?"

"The Rufen Empire asked us to look for her. The chancellor's daughter has gone missing, and they think she might be in the Sahar Kingdom."

The chancellor's daughter.

I looked at Felicia.

Her face was tense.

"They showed me a portrait then, too. There's no mistake. It's her."

Father's expression changed as well.

"Kyle, is that true?"

"Yes, it is."

Kyle looked at me again.

"So, Brother, bring Felicia-sama over here."

"..."

I didn't know the circumstances.

Why she'd been using a false name.

Why she'd wanted to avoid the Rufen Empire.

Whether Felicia really was the chancellor's daughter.

I knew nothing.

But I could tell that Felicia didn't want to stay here.

"Felicia-san."

"...Yes?"

"I don't know the circumstances."

Felicia looked at me.

"But do you want to leave here?"

"..."

For an instant, she seemed uncertain.

Then she gave a small nod.

"...Please."

"All right."

I turned to Kyle.

"Brother!"

"I'm sorry, but..."

I stepped half a pace in front of Felicia.

"I can't hand Felicia-san over while ignoring her wishes."

You have acquired a total of 124,680 P.