A Day of Disaster (2): Probably Someone I Don't Know

We ended up meeting Zackhart-sama in the same room as last time.

However, the situation was very different from before. There were hardly any soldiers from the Third Knight Order—in fact, there was only one. It was Baylieuse-san, Zackhart-sama's sole aide.

"Zackhart-sama will be here shortly." Just as Baylieuse-san said this, a huge man with a long, beautiful beard lumbered into view.

"Grandpa Zack!"

When Lufa saw him and ran over to Zackhart-sama, an astonishing sight unfolded before us.

As Zackhart-sama lifted Lufa up with a broad grin, he said, "Oh, Lufa! I've been wanting to see you!" Zackhart-sama...? That was really Zackhart-sama? He wasn't his twin brother or something!?

I wasn't the only one who was shocked. Wickhart and even Rapiria-sama stood frozen, mouths hanging open. Beside them, Baylieuse-san watched us, shoulders trembling with suppressed laughter.

Rapiria-sama appealed to me with her eyes: "Explain what's going on!" But I was the one who wanted an explanation. What on earth had happened?

Zackhart-sama finally noticed our reaction. With Lufa still perched on his shoulder, he cleared his throat once. "Ahem." No, clearing his throat wasn't going to change the mood, you know?

After briefly adopting a stern expression, he said, "I am off duty today. Make yourselves comfortable." Then he turned a smile on Lufa again and said, "Well, Lufa. Where would you like to go? I'll take you anywhere." With that, he withdrew into the back room.

After the two of them had completely disappeared, Rapiria-sama asked in a whisper, "What's going on?" I answered, "I don't know either," and looked at Baylieuse-san. Baylieuse-san merely said, "I'll explain later."

We had arrived in Gadeland right around lunchtime, so we agreed to get lunch first.

Since Lufa wanted to go to the dining hall she had visited with Luluria, we ended up heading there with her still perched on Zackhart-sama's shoulder.

We followed a little way behind them. From the back, they looked exactly like a grandfather and granddaughter. Though the grandfather was about three times the usual size.

On the way, Baylieuse-san explained what had happened.

After we left the city to see Luluria off, Lufa was placed in the care of the Third Knight Order. Naturally, they couldn't deploy the Third Knight Order just to escort Lufa, who wasn't an important person, to the royal capital. Instead, the plan was to have someone take her along whenever they were heading there on other business.

During that time, Lufa apparently volunteered to help manage the Third Knight Order's food stores. "I felt bad accepting their hospitality without doing anything."

This caught Zackhart-sama's attention. Seeing Lufa work tirelessly and devotedly, he thought, "A girl who still looks so young is truly admirable." When he heard that she normally worked with the Tenth Knight Order, he was deeply impressed. At the same time, he grew angry. "Rays is irresponsible for making such a girl work," he thought. Then Lufa explained, "He's letting me stay because I have nowhere else to go." Zackhart-sama grew indignant. "It's heartbreaking to see such a capable girl in this situation!" And that is how, after personally taking care of her for just three days, Zackhart-sama ended up like this.

Furthermore, Lufa herself had apparently lost her grandfather when she was young. She took to Zackhart-sama as if he were her real grandfather, and that pure-hearted affection struck a chord with him. Zackhart-sama liked children, but his fearsome appearance usually made them keep their distance and merely watch him from afar.

Even now, Wickhart and Rapiria-sama were staring wide-eyed and saying, "I still can't believe that's Zackhart-sama..." The two had known Zackhart-sama for a long time, which only made the sight before them harder to believe.

Still, Lufa... She really is good at winning over somewhat difficult people, whether it's Rapiria-sama or Zackhart-sama.

And so, we spent half a day sightseeing in Gadeland.

Thanks to Zackhart-sama's ability to attract attention wherever he went, Rapiria-sama and Wickhart hardly stood out at all, and the outing seemed to give them both a chance to unwind.

The Third Knight Order was the most famous knight order in the city, and it was no exaggeration to say that every resident knew Zackhart-sama. Since he was strolling around with a broad smile and a girl on his shoulder, no one had any attention to spare for the handsome man and beautiful woman a little way behind him.

We planned to stay in Gadeland for two nights and three days.

Zackhart-sama had one unavoidable matter to attend to tomorrow morning, but apparently he had cleared his schedule for everything else. How much must he like you, Lufa?

We took our time sightseeing for half a day, and the day ended peacefully.

But the next day, which should have been another fun day of sightseeing, took a sudden turn.

Lufa had been kidnapped.