Chapter 13

"I have a letter for the temple leader. I would like you to come to my place and have a talk with my father soon."

Cain said with a smile and gestured to the chair next to him with his palm. Irvaleeno glanced at the chair but shook his head.

"I just came from the fields. Didn’t you say I smell? I’m going to take a bath."

"Alright. Then, everyone, why don’t we play a bit more with me?"

Nodding to Irvaleeno, Cain invited the young children nearby to play. Cain, who taught them various new games that didn’t require any tools, had become quite popular. They played games like "Who is in front of the back?" and "Musical Chairs" (or "Fruit Basket" in this world), explaining the rules using the local language.

"Lord Cain! With the games you taught us today, I think we can even beat the older kids!"

"Lord Cain, join us in the musical chairs! Please sing the knight’s song!"

"Me? I’d rather not sing after Lord Cain."

"Then let’s all sing together. Arnoldia, clap your hands loudly at the right moment. That will be the signal for everyone to find a chair. How does that sound?"

"Okay!"

Cain and the children sang a children’s song while circling around the chairs. When Arnoldia clapped her hands, everyone rushed to sit down. One child, in the rush, ended up sitting on Cain’s lap. "You’re as light as a feather that fell on my knee. Could it be you’re hiding an angel’s wing?" Cain joked, a habit from playing with Dianna. For Cain, it was just a normal thing, but the child, who had landed on his lap, blushed and looked down.

"Stop talking like you’re breathing. Are you trying to charm even the boys?"

Cain’s head was tapped, and he looked up to see Irvaleeno standing there, neatly dressed with slightly damp hair. The boy who had ended up on Cain’s lap quickly jumped off.

"I have something to talk about with Irvaleeno, so you all keep playing, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Lord Cain!"

Cain smiled, stood up from the chair, and moved it out of the circle of play, sitting down by the table.

"Irvaleeno, about the talk I had with you before about becoming my squire. My father wants to have a meeting to decide, so I’d like you to come for the interview."

"..."

"I plan to ask my father to put you in charge of charity activities related to the orphanage. I’m thinking of arranging it so you can come and check on the orphanage while serving me. What do you think? Is there anything else you’re worried about?"

Cain took the initiative, anticipating that Irvaleeno might be concerned about the children at the orphanage. Irvaleeno raised an eyebrow and glared at Cain with a surprisingly mature expression. Cain, still smiling, waited for a response.

"About the part-time job you mentioned before..."

Irvaleeno was referring to Cain’s previous statement that he could continue his assassination work. Cain nodded, remembering.

"Of course, it’s fine. You’ll be studying with a tutor until you go to school, so you won’t be out of the house much. I’ll arrange it so that it won’t be a problem even when you’re not around. However, I’d prefer it if you didn’t suddenly disappear. It would be helpful if you could give me a heads-up, like ‘On such and such a day, I’m going to kill so and so ♥’ before you go."

"I never said my part-time job was assassination."

"True."

Cain sat in the chair with the backrest facing forward, resting his cheek on it. He switched the hand supporting his cheek and tilted his head to look at Irvaleeno. Since Irvaleeno was standing, Cain’s gaze naturally turned upward.

"I won’t treat you badly. Of course, being a lord and a squire means I’ll have to ask you to do various things. As I said before, this is something I want for myself. I’m trying to fulfill Irvaleeno’s wishes as much as possible."

Cain didn’t want to die, and he didn’t want Dianna to die either. He probably wouldn’t want to see his future classmates die either. He wanted to avoid the worst-case scenario, the assassin route, where everyone dies.

Cain believed that by becoming an ally, he could avoid the ending where Dianna becomes unhappy. However, being targeted by the renowned assassin was not something easily avoided.

"Alright, I’ll go to the interview. I can’t promise I’ll pass, though, as that’s not my responsibility."

"Thank you. Irvaleeno, I’m sure you’ll be fine."

Cain stood up and extended his hand. Irvaleeno, looking a bit confused, eventually shook it. Cain wondered if this world didn’t have the custom of shaking hands. If not, he thought, we could make it our secret greeting.

The following week, Irvaleeno came to the Elgrandark Duke’s residence for the interview with the Duke.