Give Me Some Money
These days, every single day had been a joy.
This is all thanks to Young Master, isn't it?
It wasn't as if anything special was happening, or as if they were off doing something together. Simply being at Alvin's side was enough to put Faran's heart at ease.
I want to be his strength.
She couldn't quite remember what had happened after Alvin followed Rebecca into the archive. At some point she had come to her senses and found Alvin collapsed beside her.
Fortunately, Alvin had come around quickly and gotten back on his feet. But then came that sigh of his — the sound of a man carrying a heavy burden. Hearing it, a wish had taken root in her: she wanted to lighten that load.
Was I always this kind of person?
To worry about someone else this much. Faran had never known she was capable of such a rich range of feeling. Emotion was a shackle when you were trying to kill someone, so she had always written it off as useless. And yet this heart that pounded whenever she thought of Alvin...
She was happy now, thanks to these changed feelings. When she hadn't had them, she hadn't felt the lack. Now she couldn't imagine a life without them.
To think he changed me like this.
That she could change at all was surely thanks to Alvin.
As expected of Young Master.
To Faran, he was something like a god. Without him, she would have closed her eyes without ever feeling any of this.
Haa... Young Master...
That was when it had started, she thought. When she could no longer keep her feelings in check just by looking at him. From the moment she recognized that she was changing through Alvin.
They said a thief who learned the trade late never noticed the sun coming up. Faran, who had never received the affection she should have gotten as a child, found herself craving it all the more.
This feeling was so sweet.
"Haaat...!♥"
So delicious. She didn't want anyone else to taste this flavor. If they learned what it tasted like, they would never be able to leave Alvin either.
I'm the only one who gets to eat this.
As an assassin, she had been taught to do whatever it took to achieve her goal. That had become something like a creed. Even if most of her time now was spent serving Alvin as a maid, this was a body that had lived its entire life as an assassin. Faran resolved to do anything to claim him. Even if it meant killing someone else.
I went out into the streets with Faran to enjoy the festival.
The sky itself seemed to be blessing tomorrow's Hero Summoning Ritual — the weather was wonderfully warm. Laughter never stopped in the streets. Had there ever been a day this joyful?
Everyone was looking forward to the Hero Summoning. No one knew when the Demon King's army might invade, and people had lived trembling with the fear that this everyday life might not last. The common folk held a firm belief that if only they had a Hero, this war would be resolved.
I had only ever fought with the goal of defeating the Demon King as a game. I had never thought of fighting to protect anyone. They were just lumps of data inside a game, after all.
But this place was reality. Watching Faran and Dana change lately made that fact hit home. Their lives would change depending on the outcome of this war.
Watching people enjoy the festival lifted my spirits too. But on the other hand, I felt a strange sense of mission.
"Young Master, they say there's a lot of food over that way."
Faran guided me through the streets with practiced ease, as if she had already researched today's festival. If she'd gone to that much trouble, I would have felt bad if I hadn't come.
She led me around and kept feeding me.
"Whew, I think I can stop eating now."
"I...s that so?... Understood."
But her hands were already full of even more food, and she was reluctantly hiding it behind her back.
If she does that, I'll have no choice but to eat those too.
My resolve crumbled, and I finished off the food in her hands as well. Her face lit up.
"Do you come to festivals like this often, Faran?"
"No. This is my first time."
For a first-timer, Faran was enjoying the festival with impressive enthusiasm. It had made me wonder if she'd been to plenty of them.
"But I researched thoroughly so that I could be of help to you, Young Master."
Okay, that's actually touching.
The thought she put into me was admirable.
This is all thanks to the Relation Level, isn't it?
After her Relation Level rose, Faran had gained different traits from Sir Jacqueline. I still didn't know what determined which traits you got.
The newly added statuses: Obsession and Affection.
Reading it as text, I hadn't really grasped what any of that meant. But looking at Faran, I could feel it. Right now, every action she took and every thought she had orbited around me.
I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing. On the surface, though, I liked the way she had changed.
It says jealousy occurs... she's not going to start stabbing people, is she?
That wouldn't happen. I wanted to believe that. I supposed I'd just have to wait and see.
I was still lost in that thought when a voice thick with a nasal lilt called out.
"Young Master~!"
A cluster of women came toward us, all lavish makeup and cloying perfume. They were the girls from the tavern the original Alvin had frequented before I possessed this body.
I remembered running into them once before, on the way back from buying weapons with Faran.
"You said you'd come, but we hardly ever see your face these days."
Two of them slipped naturally into place on either side of me and linked their arms through mine.
"We've been waiting and waiting for you to visit us... sob, sob."
One of them clung to me, putting on a teary act.
"How about tonight, for old times' sake? It's going to be a hot one.♥"
And another hugged me from behind, whispering into my ear. Four women in total had closed in on me. It happened so fast I couldn't even react before I was caught.
The old Alvin had shown up every single week like he was punching a time clock. The fact that I hadn't so much as cast a shadow near their door lately must have made them wonder if I'd switched establishments. This was a sales pitch to drag me back to their place.
"Calm down a little..."
I knew it was just a hustle, but the sticky closeness of all that skinship was starting to make me uncomfortable — and that was when the festive mood around us went ice-cold.
Then I saw Faran's expression. It was glacial.
How dare they...
Those filthy things.
They were going to die. The women holding onto me were going to be murdered. A killing, in the middle of a festival. At this rate I was going to end up standing trial right alongside Rebecca as a fellow criminal.
"Sorry — I've given up drinking."
I turned them down, grabbed Faran's hand, and ran. Fortunately, she came along without a fuss.
"They're not following us, right?"
"You needn't have troubled yourself, Young Master. I would have taken care of them."
I ran away because that "taking care of them" is what scares me.
Still, she had been thinking of me, so I decided to thank her.
"Thanks."
"Hehe. Not at all."
The icy look she'd worn because of those women melted away at once. Thank god.
"Oh! Lord Alvin!"
Another voice called my name from somewhere, and I turned to find Dana standing there. She had a bundle of food in one hand and was waving at me with the other as she ran over.
"It's been so long! Hello to you too, Miss Faran."
"Yeah, it has been a while."
I returned her greeting warmly. Faran answered with the faintest nod of her head.
The whole country was in an uproar over the festival, so I kept running into people I knew. At this rate I was half afraid I'd bump into the king himself just walking down the street.
"You said we'd train together, so I was sad I couldn't see you."
"I didn't have the chance. We've been preparing for the Summoning Ritual."
Security around the relics had been tightened, so the Gilbert family hadn't been receiving guests for a while. I hadn't been able to leave the house either, which was why she hadn't been able to see me.
"Ahh! The Hero Summoning Ritual! Are you and Miss Faran planning to apply for the Hero's companions as well?"
I already intended to, but on the surface Faran was just an ordinary maid. Dana, though, had seen what Faran could do in a dungeon, so of course she assumed Faran would apply.
"I intend to go wherever Young Master goes."
"Ohh!! I want to apply too, but... do you think I can do it?"
Fighting alongside the Hero was an honor you could carry for the rest of your life, just by the fact of it. Crowds of people were already gathering here hoping to apply. But the Hero's party was a group assembled to fight the Demon King, so the selection was bound to be ruthless. Dana seemed worried she wouldn't make the cut.
She still has no idea how much potential she has.
That was why she was hesitating.
"I believe you can do it, Dana. Easily."
"Really?"
My words seemed to give her courage. A firm resolve bloomed across her face.
"Then, Lord Alvin — if we become companions, you have to train with me every single day!"
Dana said it with her face flushed, as if she were making a confession.
"No. I shall be the one to spar with you."
Faran cut in before I could answer.
"But I want to do it with Lord Alvin?"
"Young Master is busy. He does not have time for that."
"What? Is that true? Lord Alvin?"
Dana ignored Faran entirely and demanded an answer from me. Faran started to look distinctly displeased. Dana, oblivious, just stood there waiting for me to speak.
When did she get this bold?
If this kept up they were definitely going to start a fight, so I decided to change the subject.
"Hey, look over there, you two. What's going on? Want to check it out?"
A crowd had gathered in the direction I was pointing. It looked like some kind of performance. I headed toward the cluster of people, and the two of them followed, however reluctantly.
"If you ate it, you have to pay!"
"I told you, I have no money!"
"Then why did you eat it?!"
"Did you not tell me to try it?!"
From the commotion, it sounded like someone had dined and dashed.
Who's got the nerve to pull something like that?
A blonde girl was standing there clutching a fistful of already-eaten skewers. She must have gone through dozens of them. Across from her stood a bald man who looked like the shopkeeper. He couldn't bring himself to do anything because she was a child, so he just kept thumping his own chest in frustration.
She was an unusual girl, I thought. Not having any concept of money was strange enough — but then there were her ears. They were shaped exactly like an animal's.
First time I've seen a beastkin since coming here.
People from all over the Allied Forces had gathered for the Hero Summoning, so it made sense that beastkin had come as well.
The girl looked around helplessly, then her eyes met mine. The moment she spotted me, they went wide.
"Ah! Gilbert! Alvin Gilbert!"
She pointed a finger at me and shouted.
"Me?"
She knows me? Who is she?
"Have you any coin? Pay for me!"
She wanted money?