CH 15

The Royal Capital is Completely Peaceful

After leaving the Adventurer’s Guild, the four of us were heading straight back towards the dormitories.

We had discussed amongst ourselves, and we decided to take our first commission tomorrow. Fortunately, tomorrow was a holiday. We planned to meet at the Guild in the early afternoon, and work on our commission while it was still light outside.

We should all be rested and prepared by tomorrow.

We wanted to celebrate getting our Adventurer’s Licenses, but that would have to wait until tomorrow.

— I’m surprised that he was easily convinced.

As I continued walking, I thought back to the test I just finished.

In the Basic Combat Ability Test, I was able to distract the Guild Master, who was supposed to monitor me, and I defeated the Golem in an instant. The Guild Master didn’t know how I was able to defeat the Golem, but he still allowed me to pass the test without asking unnecessary questions.

Was he just being lenient? Or did he consider my actions as part of my ability? Either way, I got lucky.

As I was internally thanking the Guild Master for his consideration, I sensed a disturbing presence.

I abruptly stop walking, and Gran and the others look at me quizzically.

“What’s wrong, Tweight?”

“…Sorry, I remembered I had something urgent to do.”

After giving a brief apology, I left the three of them.

◆

After suddenly being told that he had to do something urgent, the three: Elysia, Gran, and Mize, stood in bewilderment as Tweight left alone.

Eventually, the three continued heading back to the dormitories, having been left out of the loop.

“Tweight-san is a very mysterious person.”

Mize says in a small voice.

“That guy isn’t just mysterious; he’s suspicious.”

“Well, he’s doesn’t seem like a normal person. He does some strange things, and he also misses some strange things…”

Elysia and Gran agreed with Mize’s observations.

“I, once talked with Tweight about family.”

Gran tells the other two, while walking.

“What I was told was a somewhat lonely story…Tweight told me about a person who was a parent and a sister to him…someone who was a substitute for both.”

Would a person with parents have someone who would substitute as a parent?

Tweight probably has no parents…maybe even no family.

“It’s difficult to judge whether or not we should ask him about it.”

“That’s right. But there are many things he won’t tell us unless we do.”

Although Tweight doesn’t realize it; Elysia, Mize, and Gran were uncomfortable with Tweight’s inexplicable behaviour. And each time, they wondered if they should pry into him.

“It’s probably fine, even if we don’t understand him.”

Elysia says.

“At the very least, I don’t think Tweight is hiding things from us to keep us at a distance. So, we should just be at ease with ourselves. If there comes a time when he is willing to share his secrets with us, then we can just listen to him then, and if he decides to keep it hidden, it won’t cause our friendship to fall apart. I mean, even if he doesn’t tell us anything, we can still understand how he feels about us, right, you two?”

Elysia says, while Gran and Mize agree with her.

Although they have only known each other for two months, they all understood that Tweight wanted to be friends with them. As Elysia said, that feeling was a fact, so the rest didn’t matter.

“Fufu.”

Mize chuckled.

“Wha-what is it, Mize?”

“No, it’s nothing…but Elysia-san, you really do have a deep understanding of Tweight-san, don’t you?”

“Wha-!?”

At Mize’s conjecture, Elysia gets agitated.

This agitation was partially due to embarrassment, but also- impatience.

In fact, among the people here, Elysia was the one with the most understanding of Tweight.

The incident last month– the case of her revenge against Robert, was something Elysia would never forget.

What Elysia had just said, was brought about because she was somewhat aware of Tweight’s circumstances.

“It’s like you’ve opened your hearts to each other! I’m getting flushed!”

“L-like I’ve been saying, Tweight and I are not in that kind of a relationship!”

If you’ve been together for two months, your impressions of each other would have changed.

When they first met, Elysia came off as serious and tough, but recently, they have been able to make jokes like this.

“By the way, haven’t you been hearing those strange sound from behind us?”

Gran asks all of a sudden.

If you listened carefully, there were some unfamiliar noises coming from behind them. Sometimes, there would be a high-pitched metallic sound, and other times there would be a sound similar to an explosion, which would echo in your abdomen.

“Indeed, I can hear them.”

“Maybe there’s construction work being done there.”

Clink, clink. There was the sound of metal hitting metal.

Mixed in with those sounds were the occasional screams.

“Hey, just now, did you hear that scream?”

“…I think there might be a brawl. The security in the Royal Capital has become worse lately, huh.”

Elysia mumbled with a sigh.

“Still, it’s a lot better than during the Great War…”

Mize says, with a voice that carried a sense of actuality.

During the Great War, each city was run-down. Due to the shortage of manpower, the knights and guards who were entrusted with ensuring public security were deployed to the frontlines, which caused increased crime rates in cities.

Even if public security did not fall, the cities were filled with the endless cries of mourning for friends and family lost in the war.

The three of them had experienced that heavy, painful atmosphere.

Compared to those times, things were much better now.

“That’s right. After experiencing those times, I don’t mind the occasional brawl.”

“Yeah. I feel that this is much better.”

Gran says, as he observed the cityscape.

Even though it was almost sunset, the castle town was bustling with activity. It had only been half a year since the end of the Great War, but people’s lives were clearly becoming increasingly prosperous.

“It’s peaceful.”

“Peaceful, right?”

“It really is peaceful.”

With light footsteps, the three of them continue heading towards the dormitories.

But they were unaware that there was one person who wasn’t enjoying the peace.

Author’s Note:

The next chapter will be from 28’s perspective.