chapter 23

The girl right in front of my eyes was actually the princess of the imperial city of Gheil.

When we found out who she was, we immediately got down on one knee.

“P-please forgive me, Princess!”

“We’ve been ignorant, and have been disrespectful to you…!”

Princess Rifill was surprised at our sudden actions and giggled a bit.

“Don’t worry about it. You saved my life. By the way, Veig, who are these people?”

She stopped laughing and asked Veig a question.

Veig paid his respects and answered.

“These are the two people Meld-sama wanted to meet.”

“I see,” the princess said.

“You must be those adventurers that Father has so much interest in, then!”

Clasping my palms together, I was happy to know that she knew who we were.

“Yes! I am Asou Aruto!”

“My name is Meryl Sheening!”

We introduced ourselves respectfully.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Aruto-dono and Meryl-dono.”

Glenn introduced himself as well, and afterward, we went along with Princess Rifill and her entourage to the imperial city of Gheil.

As we were going there…

“How’d it become like this!”

I was currently riding inside Princess Rifill’s carriage.

Meryl, Veig, and Glenn stayed in our original carriage.

In front of me was Princess Rifill, who was smiling, and a royal knight, who glared at me as though resentful.

“Apologies, princess, but why am I in this carriage?”

“I want to hear lots of stories from you!”

…so she’s a curious one…

“I understand. What do you want to hear?”

“Thank you. Now, first of all…”

Just like that, I regaled the princess with stories of all kinds until we reached Gheil…

Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Meryl and the others were in…

“Mh…”

Meryl glared at Princess Rifill’s carriage.

“Meryl, what’s up?”

Glenn tilted his head when he saw her so unhappy.

Veig smirked next to him, and patted him on the shoulder.

“Best not to ask, Glenn. We men will never understand maidens in love.”

“Love? Ah, I see.”

Understanding what Veig said, Glenn nodded again and again.

A few seconds later, Meryl blushed furiously.

“Wh…!? Y-you’ve got the wrong idea! I-it’s not like Aruto-san…”

“Hey, now. We didn’t even say anything about Aruto-san, though?”

What a meanie, she thought while glaring at Veig.

“Come to think of it, what relation do you and Aruto have? You guys don’t seem like lovers.”

Meryl ended up confused as she pondered for an answer to Glenn’s question.

While in this world, we were adventuring partners, our real relationship was of goddess and transferee.

However, taking care not to mention goddesses or transferring, she thought for a bit then answered.

“We’re childhood friends who’ve been together for a long while.”

“And you still call him Aruto-san?”

Meryl flinched at the point Veig brought up.

It was true that it’d be weird if she called me something as formal as “-san” if we were childhood friends.

“I-I was told by my father since I was young to always be respectful, so it’s because of that that I call him ‘-san’.”

Meryl thought that was a lame excuse, but Veig and Glenn seemed to understand.

As the carriage came to a halt, Meryl let out a sigh of relief.

It seems that they had arrived at the imperial city of Gheil.

We got out of the carriage and took in the sights of Gheil’s streets.

Izuruli’s streets were lively, but Gheil’s streets could give them a run for their money…

As expected of an imperial city…

“Well then, I’m off to turn in a quest.”

“Alright. Let’s meet again, Glenn-dono.”

As Princess Rifill laughed, Glenn nervously bowed and excused himself, running off.

Princess Rifill and Veig led us into the royal palace, and we arrived at the door to the throne room.

“Aruto-dono, Meryl-dono, Father is waiting. Please come inside.”

As Princess Rifill said that…

I was filled with a great sense of nervousness.

“A-Aruto-san… are you nervous?”

“E-even saying that, you’re nervous too, despite being a goddess…”

“That has nothing to do with this…!”

Veig sighed at our nervousness and mumbling.

“I understand how you feel, but could you please enter?”

We nodded silently to that and opened the doors.

Beyond the door were around twenty nobles on our sides, and a man on a throne wearing a crown further beyond them.

T-that person was the emperor of the country… Meld Gheil-sama…

Steeling ourselves, Meryl and I walked forward.

We were the focus of many gazes around the room. The gazes felt painful.

We weren’t even nobles, and we had an audience with Meld-sama.

…If I got all self-conscious about it, it’d all be over.

I told myself that, and we genuflected to pay respects as we got to the throne.

Then Veig went up beside us and paid his respects in the same way.

“Meld-sama. I have brought Asou Aruto-san and Meryl Sheening-san.”

“Hmm,” Meld nodded as Veig spoke. I went forward to introduce ourselves.

“Well met, Meld Gheil-sama. I am called Asou Aruto. This is my companion, Meryl Sheening… Thank you so much for allowing us to have this audience with you.”

“Welcome. Thank you for taking the time to visit us, even with your busy schedule.”

…He was surprisingly friendly.

“Asou Aruto. We have heard much about your activities. The Knight Corps are indebted to you.”

Hm…? Luke-san was right in the middle of the line of nobles.

“N-no… those stories are too good to be true,”

“I was curious about your nickname, “The Classless One,” but for you to have gained the power to protect that town…”

So I have a nickname now, huh…

“May I ask why you sought an audience with us?”

“I wished to reward you. You may wish for whatever you want.”

S-seriously…

The emperor himself was giving us a reward…

“I-is that really fine?”

“Because of you, many lives were saved. I believe that a reward is appropriate.”

A reward, huh…

If that’s the case, I should ask for that.

“Then, if you’ll excuse me, I have something to ask of you.”

As I spoke, everyone turned to look at me.

But I didn’t mind, and continued to speak.

“There’s a small spring in the north part of Izuruli City. We would like ownership of that land.”

My request came as a shock to everyone.

“That spring, huh… Why do you want the deeds to that land?”

“Today, we were promoted to adventurer rank B. We heard that adventurers with ranks B or above could start their own guild, so we wanted to set up a guild home there. It would be a guild of people doing odd jobs—handymen—that would help with the troubles and quests of those in need.”

A handyman guild…

This was one of the things I wanted.

In this world, I ended up becoming an adventurer by going with the flow…

But now, I held the great power of Skill Copy.

And so, I wanted to use this power for the sake of those in trouble…

“A handyman guild… seems like an interesting idea. But what if your clients have evil intent?”

I’ve heard of people who pretend to be clients so they can get help for their crimes.

…but I’d already decided on an answer.

“We will take all requests equally. However, we will only take into account those with good intentions. If we don’t trust them, no matter how much they pay, we won’t take the request.”

“…in other words, even if we asked, you would not accept our request if you didn’t agree with it.”

I nodded silently to Meld-sama’s statement.

Meld-sama and I continued looking at each other without speaking…

However, the nobles, apart from Veig and Luke-san, began to raise their voices.

“This tactless adventurer…!”

“He just got to B rank by getting swept up in the heat of things!”

“This guy will be the downfall of our country! He doesn’t even have a class, after all!”

They didn’t seem happy with my proposal.

…was that too much to ask for, after all?

“…that’s perfectly fine.”

As Meld-sama muttered, the nobles causing a ruckus fell silent.

“I believe in you. I’ve heard, you know? About how you saved Rifill’s life. Isn’t that right, Rifill?”

As he asked that, the door opened, and Princess Rifill entered the room.

“Yes, Father. He protected me and my guards. I would grant his request.”

Princess Rifill glared at the nobles who were showing their disapproval.

Her gaze contained a hint of anger.

The nobles flinched at her gaze.

“I see. Then, I will grant your wish.”

Meryl and I smiled at his approval.

“However,” Meld-sama said.

“I will grant you the land, and construct your guild’s home, but with that, I have one request.”

Could our first request really be from Meld-sama…?

“What is it?”

“Tomorrow, Rifill will be heading south, to the city of water, Aquarth. I will need you to escort her there.”

“Understood. If you don’t mind, though, there’s one more person I’d like to bring along.”

“No problem. I would like you to keep in mind that you’ll be passing through Zaigan Valley.”

Zaigan Valley…?

“Is there something there we should pay attention to?”

Luke-san answered Meryl’s question.

“Ever since a few days ago, there have been reports of travelers and merchants passing through Zaigan Valley being accosted by a robed figure.”

A robed figure…?

Luke-san continued.

“The man seems to use a revolving saw as his weapon of choice.”

A revolving saw… so, a chainsaw?

Well, saws are a thing in this world, too.

“Thank you for the advice. Will someone from the corps come along?”

Veig shakes his head no when asked if they’ll send someone from the corps.

“Apologies. My squadron and Captain Luke’s squadron have other missions to attend to today.”

So in other words, the only other people coming would be Princess Rifill’s knights.

“We will humbly accept your request.”

“Yes, I’m thankful. You should get ready. You can rest at the castle for today.”

“Thank you very much!”

We paid respects and left the throne room.

Once we got out of the castle, we went into town and prepared to fulfill the request.

On the way, we met Glenn, and we told him about our situation. He said he would help out.

And so, that night…

We formed a party and relaxed in the rooms prepared for us.

As Meryl and I were talking in my room, we heard someone knocking on the door.

“Yes?”

“Aruto-dono, it’s Rifill.”

“Princess Rifill…? Please wait a moment. I’ll get the door.”

I opened the door, and let Princess Rifill enter.

She wore a nightgown.

“I’ll be relying on you tomorrow.”

“I’ll do my best to guard you.”

Rifill seemed dissatisfied by my reply.

What…?

“Alright, I’ve made up my mind. I’m not going to put on that princess persona in front of you anymore.”

…Oi, wait.

Princess Rifill’s personality changed?

“This is who I really am. Putting up that persona all the time is tiring…”

Seriously…?

“I’ll just call you guys Aruto and Meryl from now on… so calling me just Rifill is fine.”

Wait a moment!

This is too quick!

“Eh… Is… is it really fine?”

“Yes, of course.”

Princess Rifill’s words slightly bothered me, but after making up my mind, I spoke.

“…then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Smiling a little, I put out my hand for a handshake.

Rifill seemed a bit taken aback by this, but smiled and shook my hand.

“Um… if you don’t mind, can I call you Rifill-san?”

“Yeah, go for it.”

We talked for a while after that.

Meryl and Rifill went back to their rooms to go to bed…

A day later…

After getting ready, we got in the carriage.

The nobles and Meld-sama were there to greet us.

After saying hello to Meld-sama, Rifill also got on the carriage and we headed to the city of water, Aquarth.

In the back of a particular facility, there was a man and a robed figure.

“Someone is passing through Zaigan Valley today. I trust that you’ll eliminate them, Sixteen.”

The robed figure bowed at the man’s command.

“Leave it to me, master. I will eliminate your enemies.”

After saying that, the eyes of the robed figure…

Sparkled with a green tinge.