Blessed Side Quest 2
Just as plenty of adventurers had fallen for me, there were quite a few knights who looked on me with fond eyes as well.
Like the Temple priests who kept their faith without falling into corruption, most of the kingdom's knights were a sweaty, muscle-bound macho collective who revered chivalry and honor and prized camaraderie above all else.
I'd earned goodwill with my massive frame and clearly defined musculature, and respect as an adventurer who'd never abandoned a comrade. The problem, if anything, was that these knights—who'd trained their brains into pure muscle—clung a little too sticky-sweet.
As far as I was concerned, I wasn't particularly driven by any sense of duty, nor did I have any heroic qualities. I mean, a discharged military student who'd gone crazy for female characters and gotten isekai'd while running macros—how could someone like that have any heroic qualities?
I'd just done this and that within the bounds of not getting hurt and not taking losses, and because my body was a broken 6-star character, that "not getting hurt" line simply sat a lot farther out than most people's.
"So like I was saying, that time Roland—!"
"Sullivan, is it your swordsmanship that's improved, or just your gift of gab?"
"My muscles have definitely grown too, look! And call me James already."
"I don't want to call you by your first name. It's awkward."
"Haha! Look at you getting shy."
But those muscle-heads, who knew none of that, treated me like the most loyal guy in the world and tried to stick to me like glue, which was a bit painful. If they'd criticized me with malice I could ignore it, but all this fussing and praise made me want to die of embarrassment.
On top of that, every time I spent a hot night with the capital's widows and noble ladies, they worshipped me as "a real man who knows women," which doubled the shame. Watching him add ninety percent exaggeration to my adventure tales right next to Grace was giving me a headache.
The guy flexing his biceps with his sleeves rolled up. Fair enough—his bicep was bigger than Irene's entire head, so he had every right to show off. If my body was like a Greek statue, his was like a miniature Hulk.
"Did you come all this way because you had something to tell us about the commission?"
"Huh? Yeah."
"What's with that answer?"
"Honestly I don't have much to tell you—I just ran over for a drink."
"…You ran?"
"It's only a day's ride by carriage. Figured I'd work up a sweat, so I ran from morning, cleaned up, and waited."
No wonder the stables were empty—this bastard was here.
Still, he did seem intent on explaining the commission, as James Sullivan finally sat properly at the table after showing off his muscles and spouting nonsense. His whole demeanor once again reminded me that dealing with hot-blooded muscle machos was always exhausting, and fatigue was already setting in.
When the party members who'd been listening to my heavily embellished exploits looked at him with sparkling eyes, he grinned. For all his appearance, the guy had a good way with words and was excellent at explanations. He hadn't been put in charge of adventurer affairs for nothing.
"First off, the official commission is to search for orcs in the Avergne Forest."
"And by 'official' you mean…?"
"Roland, let me ask you something first… Nothing happened the last time you visited the capital, right?"
What the hell was this all of a sudden.
At James's words, which all but announced there was a hidden agenda, everyone's eyes turned toward me. Well, the last time I'd been to the capital was before Han Se-ah had logged into this world, so nothing particularly memorable came to mind.
Aside from finishing commissions as usual and then quietly slipping into some noble lady's bedroom under the pretext of collecting a reward, there was nothing. Seeing me roll my eyes with zero idea what he was talking about, he nodded.
"Don't take it too seriously. The knight order just thought this commission was a bit strange—it's not like there's some major problem."
"Strange meaning… that they gave the commission to adventurers is what's strange?"
"Exactly. Honestly, searching the Avergne Forest should be our knight order's job. No matter how busy we are or short-handed, it's a forest blessed by the Goddess. There's every justification to pull knights off other duties for it… and yet they specifically designated an adventurer party."
At James's heavy voice, the party members nodded as if that made perfect sense. It wasn't some ordinary noble family's estate—it was a royal forest blessed by the Goddess, and they were putting out a commission just to hunt orcs? Yeah, that was suspicious.
But no matter how hard I racked my brain, nothing particular came to mind. Even the noble ladies I'd been involved with were women pushed out of politics and power, killing time chatting at social clubs and enduring loneliness. None of them had the kind of authority to shove adventurers into the Avergne Forest.
"Well, we don't know where the talk started, and the commission really did end up with you guys, but it's not a bad thing. There are quite a few guys in the knight order who know your skills."
"From the sound of it, nothing bad for us. We'll search the forest and deal with the orcs as planned."
"That's right. By the way, Roland, you sinful friend. Don't tell me last time you were in the capital, you somehow seduced a princess without even knowing it?"
"A prin… cess, all of a sudden?"
At the sudden remark, my eyes involuntarily rolled toward Kayden. Princess—the Sword Princess Kayden was sitting at our table listening to this conversation. Not just me—Han Se-ah, who'd been listening, also openly turned her eyes toward Kayden.
Fortunately, Kayden's gaze was locked on James, so she didn't notice our two suspicious reactions. On top of that, this dense muscle-head James was so utterly lacking in social awareness that he just laughed heartily and steered the topic in a completely different direction.
"Hmm? To open a blessed forest to adventurers, you'd need quite a bit of power. Roland here is incredibly popular with the young ladies in the capital. So the rumor went that some high-ranking noble's daughter fell for him at first sight and called him back just to see his face again."
"…Heeh, is that so?"
"Of course! The exploits of free adventurers have always been popular with the nobility. Catching a fox in the woods and hunting monsters across vast plains are completely different stories. And this guy's face is even prettier than the capital's young lords, so it'd be weirder if he weren't popular."
James got thoroughly worked up at Grace's intrigued interjections. Unlike Grace, whose eyes sparkled wanting to hear more, and Irene, who was moderately interested, Kayden looked like her soul had left her body.
Her eyes unfocused, lips slightly parted—anyone could see she was thinking about something else entirely. Even when Han Se-ah turned her head and stared right at her from the side, she didn't notice, which was seriously concerning.
Wait, for real? Can a character quest get mixed into a side quest?
I'd thought that if we were going by order, the Candidate Saint's secret would be revealed before the Sword Princess's. Of course, it might not even be revealed when we go up to the capital. The way she looked right now felt like… some kind of story foreshadowing.
Beside Grace, who'd fallen back into James's exaggerated tales of my exploits, Irene—who'd been listening halfheartedly—noticed Kayden's dazed expression.
"Oh my, Kayden? Are you very tired…?"
"Ah, yes?"
"You seem exhausted from riding the carriage all day. Why don't you go upstairs and rest? We can send a meal to your room."
Vacant eyes staring at empty air above the table, fingers fidgeting restlessly, lips hanging open weakly unlike usual. Irene, assuming Kayden's pale appearance the moment she heard the word "princess" was just the aftereffects of carriage travel, smiled gently.
Normally Kayden would say she was fine and quietly stay put. But Kayden, who'd reacted suspiciously strongly to the word "princess," gave a small nod.
"I'll go up and rest a bit first."
Kayden bowed her head slightly and staggered up the stairs, disappearing.
After filling my stomach with a warm stew loaded with meat and lying in bed web-surfing for a long while, dawn broke and the coachman prepared the carriage again.
"Are you feeling any better?"
"Yes. After a good night's rest, I'm fine."
While we lightly filled our stomachs with soup, Irene stuck close to Kayden's side and began carefully looking after her. Since Kayden was so businesslike and spoke so little, Irene seemed to think she simply never showed pain or fatigue.
Irene clung to Kayden's side like she was caring for a child who wouldn't listen. Perhaps because she was cross-dressing as a man, Kayden seemed a bit flustered—as if no one had ever gotten this close to her before. And while the two women were creating a warm atmosphere—
"Roland! Get out of the carriage and run with me!"
"Are you out of your mind?"
James, my number-one fanboy and a man whose brain had been thoroughly invaded by muscle, was diligently trying to stick to my side.
The time it took to go from the Adventurer's City to the capital was roughly two days. This waystation was built almost right in the middle, so suggesting we run the remaining distance on foot was not a normal person's opinion. I understood he couldn't ride since the carriage was just big enough for our party… but running?
"I like comfort, so you go run by yourself."
"You say that, but I know you never take the easy path! That perfect physique of yours is proof!"
"Ugh, goddamn."
That was from when I used to travel like an idiot relying on my tough body. Right now I needed to sit comfortably in the carriage and catch up on videos through the internet window. From every game strategy stream to full playthroughs of video games I'd never heard of—there was so much I needed to watch.