Each One's Circumstances
Each One's Circumstances
With the final remark that word would be sent through Widra later, I left the third floor—Seneran's workshop—with Laika.
The second floor, which I trudged down to with my short-legged beast cradled in my arms, looked even more crowded than when I'd glanced at it on my way up. I briefly wondered if some trend of buying adventurer goods had swept the capital without my knowledge and scanned the crowd, but as expected, most customers were adventurers. Even in the lightest attire, they invariably wore their adventurer badges displayed outwardly, making them easy to spot.
I supposed the epithet 'Golden Mage' wasn't just for show. Thinking that the moment I'd come here with Asilie might have been the emptiest it ever got, I descended to the first floor—and that was even more of a spectacle.
[Laika would definitely get stepped on down there.]
I'd had the same thought, so I didn't put Laika down. Laika's tail had been docked short back when the body was still that of a sheepdog, but down there the tail had long since stopped being the main concern.
Most people were shorter than me, so it didn't feel suffocating, but there were a disgustingly large number of them. While the second floor seemed to stock mostly expensive goods and drew adventurers of red-rank or higher, the first floor was packed entirely with low-ranked adventurers. Nelbi was among the employees bustling between them, but it wasn't quite at the level of exchanging greetings, so I decided to quietly slip out of the shop.
The moment I stepped off the stairs and onto the noisy first floor, people started to notice and react.
[Master! People are staring!]
I'd thought it might just be one or two, but the reaction spread gradually, and within seconds it reached the point where I could tell people were watching me even without consciously paying attention.
For a split second, the thought that it might be some kind of ambush made my hair stand on end and my nerves go taut, but then little murmurs arose.
"Is that really the Guillotine?"
"Look at the dog and the height. Exactly like the rumors."
"Guess it's true that he uses stuff from Seneran's Magic Library."
"I heard he showed up at the smithy where Master Balkun works earlier..."
The world was truly unpredictable. Hearing the same rumors, some tried to assert dominance and attack, while others reacted like an ordinary person spotting a celebrity. Whatever else, I quite liked how a path quietly opened up for me.
Everything else about it, I could do without. Even as I passed them quickly and left the library, a heated debate raged behind me about whether I was really the Guillotine, so I set Laika down and swiftly vacated the area.
Fortunately, no one tailed me like a rabid fan or tried to dig into my background. Anyone with even a shred of common sense would naturally avoid shadowing someone nicknamed the Guillotine, but I'd experienced so many things utterly devoid of common sense that I'd grown wary for no good reason.
"Tch. Wonder if this means I'll start getting riffraff showing up at my house later."
Of course, if they did, I planned to give them a death that would go down in history, but not being scared and something being a pain in the ass were always separate matters. If that happened, I'd clearly have to launch into another round of uprooting work, and just imagining it was exhausting.
After that, a fair variety of gazes kept fixing on me and Laika, so by the time we arrived at Ragnis's manor, I was pointlessly weary and drained. I rubbed my dry face to pull myself together, stated my business, and waited at the front gate until a familiar face came out to greet me from afar.
"It's been a while, Sir Eldmia. You must have been very busy."
"It's been a while, Sir Renisa. It seems trouble follows me around. And since I'm nothing more than an ordinary adventurer now, I'd prefer you drop the 'Sir.'"
Renisa, who had come out to welcome me in the rare sight of her wearing only her uniform without armor, continued the conversation as she guided me inside.
"I cannot do that. Considering your achievements, it's stranger that you haven't received a title. I heard the Noble Council strongly opposed it, which is truly unfortunate."
On the surface, the Noble Council stood in opposition to the royal family, so her reaction was entirely natural. I made appropriately agreeable responses while thinking it might not be a bad idea to find some way to express my thanks to Duke Lesrom. He had likely made his calculations for his own benefit, but from my standpoint, things had turned out quite satisfactorily, so there'd be no harm in saying a word of thanks.
"By the way... that dog...?"
"Ah, a pet I somehow ended up raising. Laika's smart, so there shouldn't be any trouble."
[Laika is smart!]
Naturally, Laika's confident declaration didn't reach Renisa's ears. But she did seem to catch the nodding gesture, and Renisa, who'd let out a laugh after being lightly startled by Laika's reaction, let us in without any particular complaint.
As I walked, mulling over how to send a thank-you letter or the like to Duke Lesrom, Mongsun suddenly came to mind.
Come to think of it, her whereabouts were unclear. If she was still in the capital, she'd probably handle delivering a letter at least. Maybe she'd considered her help at the Envelde manor sufficient and gone back. It was a bit of a shame that I'd been too flustered to remember and had completely forgotten to even say thanks to her.
I stopped my wandering thoughts and looked toward Renisa, who was leading the way. She was skillfully issuing instructions to the maids. She seemed far more like a butler than before—directing prearranged tasks with mere glances and gestures rather than words, she was the very picture of a head butler. Knights generally didn't care for this kind of side work, but perhaps a loyal retainer was a loyal retainer; I sensed no such reluctance from her at all.
"The Margrave of Levien is truly fortunate to have you, Sir Renisa."
When I voiced my admiration without hiding it, Renisa's eyes briefly widened before she answered with a faint smile and opened the door to the reception room.
Thinking back, though I'd visited quite a few times, I'd never been to the reception room here. We'd always spoken in the office. Being guided here probably meant Ragnis had gained that much leeway herself. Last time she'd looked utterly exhausted with deep dark circles; maybe today her color had returned a little.
Looking forward to a meeting with some breathing room for the first time in a while, I naturally stroked Laika, who had climbed up beside me on the sofa, a dozen or so times.
When the door opened and Ragnis entered the room, I realized my expectations had been wildly off.
"What the hell. Ragnis? You've gotten so thin."
"...Hello, Eldmia. I didn't expect that to be the first thing I'd hear."
But rather than looking gaunt and emaciated from not eating, it was more like she'd gone through an extreme personal training regimen...
"...You look strangely healthier...?"
"Just as I have a lot to hear from you, I also have quite a bit to talk about this time... And what's with the dog?"
"Haha. No matter how much you have to say, it'll be nothing compared to Eldmia's Grand Shitshow Adventures."
Well, as long as she was healthy, that was what mattered. As soon as Ragnis, who seemed to be suffering from muscle pain and moving stiffly, took her seat, we launched into a lively conversation.
The opening of our chat, which could only be described as truly leisurely, began with my adventure tales. Even though I delivered the whole story completely unvarnished and with no seasoning whatsoever—from cheerfully heading to Ogwen with Asilie and getting entangled with Sen's party, to taking the Holy Light Cross Order's request and beating down demons and confronting the Demon God Church's heresy inquisitors, to unintentionally acquiring Laika thanks to Geuronzel's bullshit in Englem—Ragnis still seemed stunned.
"So... Laika's a Demon Sword?"
"Yeah. The face used to look a lot fiercer, almost like a wolf-shaped helmet. The body felt metallic too."
Even as she stroked Laika, who was sleeping on her lap, Ragnis looked at me with disbelief, so I just smiled back. What could I do? It was the truth.
Ragnis's own recent situation, which followed, was unexpected in many ways. That her words in the Empire had been sincere wasn't surprising anew, but the fact that Radnelbandes had initially moved to overprotect her, and had now flipped entirely to putting her through Spartan-style training, was a development I hadn't imagined in the slightest.
Honestly, I'd been seriously worried that Radnelbandes hadn't shown himself even during the Envelde incident and might be planning to stab me in the back later. While I was deeply relieved that wasn't the worst-case scenario, I did grow curious about what had caused the change of heart.
"Who knows. Maybe because you're tougher and more reckless than the master expected?"
"I'm the cause?"
"The master already knows I have no intention of separating from you."
Now that I thought about it, the day we'd visited the Empire, he'd been the one who'd immediately recognized it was my fault just from seeing me spout tactless nonsense at Ragnis and get slapped. If his conclusion, reached after examining my past actions and much deliberation, was Spartan-style education for Ragnis, then the past few weeks of training really had been just the basics.
Suddenly, Ragnis, who was struggling even to lift her teacup due to muscle pain, started to look even more pitiful.
"You're going to have a rough time ahead."
"...Why?"
"From what I can see, Sir Radnelbandes intends to train you to the point where you won't die even if you're beside me."
And before long, the incidents I'd stirred up since the Envelde affair would reach his ears too.
By the time she reached the level of skill where she could fight demons without dying, Ragnis might well have turned into a muscle woman rivaling Yekaterina.