Commendation

Thanks to Mr. Gaendal explaining the situation after ordering the food, I was able to react with pure disbelief.

"They're saying that just seeing a wyvern flying low makes me look like I'm about to jump off? Is that even slander, or what?"

"Slander? How could that possibly be slander?"

Watching Seneran and the others react as if my words were the ridiculous part, I spoke with righteous confidence.

"I jump off high places all the time."

"For fuck's sake, that's the part you take issue with?"

"This is a serious matter, you know."

Unlike Seneran, who shook her head and downed the drink that had arrived first, the others burst into laughter, and I laughed too.

Even though it had been a while, the jokes Mr. Gin tossed out based on facts landed perfectly, so we carried on eating while naturally catching up in a much more comfortable atmosphere. The conversation with them was definitely enjoyable, but since my purpose here wasn't just socializing, as the surrounding noise grew louder and the meal was wrapping up, I slowly brought up the main topic.

"Just sitting here for a bit gave me a feel for the atmosphere. Have you all had any results today?"

"Absolutely none. At this point, even magic tools are useless."

Seneran let out a long sigh and tilted her glass, then pulled something from her pocket and slid it toward me before continuing.

"It was a magic tool I'd modified a little, originally meant to locate places where Magic Power is densely concentrated. For a while, we were picking up their trail, but now even the traces are hard to find. It probably means they're getting used to hiding their Magic Power."

"Is it still certain that there are Demonfolk in the vicinity?"

"That's certain. The problem is it's too certain. I have absolutely no idea why they're staying here. Or why they're looking for you."

The surroundings were so loud that even I, sitting at the same table, could barely hear them clearly, so I wasn't particularly bothered. Sitting like this reminded me of when I first met Gaendal's party and ate at the guild. It felt like ages ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ago, but looking back, it was only a few months.

"That, well, I know that part, so it doesn't matter. What would be better is figuring out why they're searching for me 'here' while enduring all these risk factors. I don't even know if that's their main goal or a secondary one."

The first thing that came to mind was, of course, the gate.

These were bastards who'd already laid hands on even the Imperial capital, so I didn't think it was impossible for them to set up a couple more gates here. Maybe they'd dug into another strange dungeon and were repeating the same shit. The reason they were skulking around the port area specifically might be because they'd already secretly created an escape route while raiding it once before.

If so, that meant these bastards were both proactive and highly capable. Applying Demonfolk characteristics, such individuals were invariably high-ranking, and if they were high-ranking while doing back-alley schemes, there was a high chance they knew who ordered the attack on our village.

There was more than enough reason to personally pound the pavement and try to capture them. While I mulled it over, the empty plates were cleared and replaced by a platter full of roasted shrimp. It looked like Yekaterina had ordered something midway through; that must have been it. I wasn't even particularly hungry, but once food entered my sight, everyone's hands, without anyone needing to say who was first, picked up forks and reached for the shrimp, which still had the meat left.

Except the mages. They were still looking at the warriors shoving food into their stomachs with utter disgust, tilting their glasses with peanuts as their snack.

"Personally... I think it might be an extension of what we saw in that request before."

When Gaendal, who'd been thinking along similar lines, broke the ice, the others nodded in agreement. Gin, who'd been quietly stroking his beard until now, added a comment.

"Maybe they're building the exact same thing Eldmia destroyed. This is something I heard from an acquaintance, but apparently, they'd captured signs of a massive explosion within Demonfolk territory around that time."

Seneran wore an expression of not knowing what the hell we were talking about, but she didn't bother asking or cutting in. She already seemed to sense why we had no choice but to have such vague conversations without her. I wasn't particularly surprised, since I'd already been caught up in the aftermath of that unidentified bomb before, but Rellie, Yekaterina, and Gaendal made serious faces upon hearing Gin's story. They were probably recalling the scene where I'd been blown away.

Personally, I thought mass-producing such items wasn't as easy as it sounded, but since I had absolutely no elements to confirm anything, I decided to keep my mouth shut for now. A brief silence fell between us because of it, but soon Mr. Gaendal shifted the topic with a deliberately cheerful tone.

"It's far more beneficial to rest well today and face tomorrow than to agonize over what we can't know right now. More importantly, I'd like to know why you went out of your way to come here? Did you perhaps decide to take the request?"

For some reason, not just Mr. Gaendal but the others also began sending expectant looks. The only one with a disconnected attitude, glaring at me with murderous eyes, was Seneran.

"I've got a schedule, so I can't. Open your eyes nicely, Seneran."

Even if there was a contract, I had no intention of letting my actions be constrained. As I spoke back with equally murderous eyes, Seneran's eyes instantly became nice.

"Hehe, that schedule is studying, right?"

"More precisely, because of an event a week from now. I'm finally receiving the rewards that have been postponed until now all at once."

"...Rewards?"

At my answer, this time everyone looked at me with puzzled faces. Now that I thought about it, even though the letters from Esmue were discovered, there'd never been a chance to talk about what happened in the Empire. Anyway, since I was officially receiving commendation this time, I judged there was no problem mentioning it a bit early, so I compressed the story and explained appropriately.

"There ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was a time I saved Her Highness the 1st Princess from danger in the Empire. It took some time to decide on compensation, and this time there's an investiture planned alongside the achievements I've made in the Kingdom. Since I've come of age, I'll probably also receive my appointment as a wandering knight."

Clatter.

The hands of the group, who'd been wielding forks using the plump roasted shrimp as drinking snacks, all stopped simultaneously. Rellie and Seneran, who hadn't even touched the shrimp, dropped the peanuts they were about to bring to their mouths.

The sight of them all stopping at the same time as if on cue felt like a gag, but I couldn't laugh because the people involved were utterly horrified, as if it wasn't funny in the slightest.

"Uh... yeah, sure, Eldmia's definitely resolved some pretty major incidents in the Kingdom. I get that. But he saved the Imperial Princess? The Iron-Blood Princess, at that?"

Following Yekaterina, who was panicking to the point of almost dropping even the shrimp she'd put in her mouth, Mr. Gin also smacked his knee and shouted as if he'd realized something.

"My god, so that's how you were able to send those letters disguised as something else! Indeed, if he's a lifesaving benefactor, disguising them as love letters would be extremely natural!"

No, that was about half genuine, though...

It was obvious that explaining properly would only add to the chaos, so I read the room a bit, but the heated reaction showed no sign of dying down. Amidst it all, Rellie, who'd been chugging drinks without pause, tried to escape reality for a long time saying she'd gotten drunk and heard nonsense, before finally accepting it and questioning me with a skeptical look.

"Mr. Ega, be honest with me. When you went to the Great Grassland, you caught a dragon too, didn't you?"

"When it comes to dragons, I caught a Demon Dragon at the academy."

"...Huh?"

Of course, it was beyond a fake dragon and was an Archdemon, but since that's what was publicly known, I had no choice. As Rellie briefly suffered a cognitive disconnect and Yekaterina burst out laughing at Rellie, I'd entered a momentary flashback, confirmed my memory wasn't wrong, and added.

"Besides, that place may be called the Fire Dragon's Domain or whatever, but there was nothing there except orcs."

"Just look at his reaction. The more ridiculous part is that he seems like he really would have fought it if one was there. What the hell do you do while traveling alone to get tangled up in things like that?"

Except for Seneran, who was looking at me like she was dumbfounded, everyone's eyes were sparkling. They were adventurers at heart, after all. But to me, it felt utterly unfair, so I answered with sincerity.

"That's what I'm saying. How did things end up like this? Looking back, even when it came to the orcs, I just took the request with the feeling of finally getting some rest after a long time."

But what I got back was a hearty shoulder bump from Yekaterina, who had taken my words as a joke.

It really hurt so much I nearly teared up.

◈

For having reunited and shared old stories ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after so long, Gaendal's party greeted the morning perfectly fine, without a single trace of hangover. Since they were all heavy drinkers, they probably just drank a few glasses of beer like water. The ones suffering were, as always, only the mages.

"Well then, I'll be off now. Seneran, if any additional information related to the Demonfolk comes in, please let me know right away."

"Ugh, that's not hard, but... you came all the way here using even a wyvern and a gate, didn't you? Leaving already? Why not stay a bit longer?"

The reason she said that even while half dead was obvious. She must have wanted to check whether I'd been studying properly while she was away. I was disappointed too, but this time I had an appointment where 'something unexpected came up and made me late' wouldn't fly. Even if it hurt to spend the money, it was better to move quickly.

"I would have if the gate had worked properly, but it didn't. If I got tangled up in some strange incident for nothing and was late returning, there'd be no answer for it."

If the Demonfolk's location had been definitely pinpointed, I'd have thought of dealing with them before leaving, but since it wasn't, as I'd promised Asilie, quickly returning was more beneficial.

"That does make sense... Then, after you're done with your work, if things are still like this over here, will you come?"

"It's a waste of money, but I'll have to come. It's a good opportunity, isn't it?"

An opportunity to catch and destroy Demonfolk.

Hearing my answer, Seneran made a face as if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she was seeing all kinds of crazy bastards, and the others just let out empty laughs.

And so, seeing me off, I once again spent a large sum of money and boarded a wyvern.

Since it only took a few hours to the next city, this time I was absolutely certain nothing would happen.