chapter 33

After my victory against Keith, I freed Rifill and Meryl.

“Aruto-san!”

As she was freed, Meryl came up to me…

“Aruto!”

But before she could reach me, Rifill hugged me.

This surprised me and caused Meryl to stop in her tracks.

“Oi, Rifill! Let go!”

Who would think that a princess would go and hug some adventurer!?

Seriously…!

However, when I saw Rifill’s face as she hugged me, I stopped talking.

“Thank you…! I was scared…”

She buried her face in my chest and cried.

…I see.

She was so strong-willed back then…

Unable to say no to this, I looked at Meryl and meekly smiled.

I patted Rifill’s head gently.

Sixteen, who was watching, made an understanding expression nodded a few times.

“Asou Aruto made a woman cry…”

“Oi.”

Don’t stir up rumors like that…

Afterward, Glenn came up to me.

“Aruto! Wait, what sort of situation is this?”

Glenn was confused at the scene of me hugging Rifill.

“O-oh, Glenn, we won!”

“Yeah, somehow!”

“Speaking of which, Eleven and the rest…”

Sixteen looked downwards upon hearing of Glenn’s victory over Eleven and the rest.

She’d lost more of her sisters…

This was an obvious response.

Still hugging Rifill, I pat Sixteen on the head.

Her cheeks turned a bit red, and she shied away.

“You really do make women cry.”

“Shut up.”

She was really trying to lighten the mood, huh…

“First of all, let’s get going.”

“Ah, hold on a moment!”

As we were about to leave, I picked up Fifteen, who had ceased to function.

“We should at least make her a grave.”

“…!”

For me to want to make her a grave…

This came as a shock to Sixteen.

She smiled at this.

“Sixteen, will you help?”

“…yes!”

Sixteen nodded, smiling.

Leaving Keith to Glenn, Sixteen and I took Fifteen’s body up the cliff and made a grave for her.

Alright, this should be fine.”

“Yes. Surely Onee-chan will be fine with this… (Onee-chan, I’m off.)”

We smiled at those words.

Afterward…

We returned to Captain Gil and the knights at Aquarth.

They seemed to be waiting for us.

“Rifill-sama!”

“Everyone… sorry for worrying you.”

Before this happened, she told me not to tell a soul that she cried.

She was blushing, quite embarrassed about that…

Afterward, we went and reported the situation to the mayor.

Of course, we left out the info about sixteen.

We just said that the Zaigan Valley case was resolved.

After our business in Aquarth, we headed back to Gheil.

After we entered the castle…

“…hold on, what!?”

Those were my first words.

Dozens of knights were lined up in the castle.

Luke was there, too.

Seeing us back, Luke spoke.

“Aruto?! Why are you…?!”

Did he not know that I helped Rifill?

I heard that Captain Gil reported that Keith was held captive…

…that would mean Captain Gil…

“Did you not report that we helped out, Captain Gil?”

“Apologies. I was just too happy from seeing the princess safe that I forgot.”

Oi…

At least bring back info properly.

“I’m fine! Aruto-dono helped me on the way back.”

Hearing this, the knights let out a breath of relief.

Then, we were led into the throne room by Luke and the rest.

As we entered, we saw Meld-sama sitting on his throne. He stood up when he saw Rifill.

“Oh, Rifill! You’re fine!”

Hm…?

“I’m glad you’re safe, Rifill.”

“Apologies for making you worry, Mother, Father.”

Rifill curtsied to them.

Wait, did she just say mother?

“Nice to meet you, adventurer. I am Ryll Gheil, Meld’s wife, and the queen. I apologize for not greeting you last time. I had some business to attend to.”

“N-no, it’s really…”

Getting flustered over Ryll-sama, we kneeled and lowered our heads.

“Aruto-dono… for saving Rifill, you have my deepest gratitude.”

“But I was expected to protect Rifill…”

“…on the topic of your compensation…”

Ah… about the guild home…

I kind of forgot…

“We have finished construction on the site you requested.”

“Eh…?”

It’s already been built…

“We did this in the belief that you would be able to fulfill requests. Is this bothersome?”

“N-no! Thank you!”

Thank god for that…

We’ve already been able to establish a guild home.

“Now then, that’s the assailant of Zaigan Valley, isn’t it?”

As the topic of conversation shifted to Sixteen, she shook up, then nodded.

“Yes. I will accept any and all punishment that comes my way—I’ve done so much to deserve it…”

Of course, even though it was under Keith’s directions, she still put passersby at risk.

Those crimes can’t just go away.

Around us, the nobles shouted that Sixteen’s sins were too great, and that she should be put to death.

Meryl, Glenn, and Rifill were about to shout, but Meld-sama said something before they could.

“We’ll leave the punishment to you, Aruto-dono.”

“Eh…?”

“Meld-sama…”

Seeing Meld-sama’s expression sealed it for me…

He wanted to protect Sixteen too.

“Then, I will shoulder the responsibility of punishing her.”

I stood in front of Sixteen.

Sixteen looked up at me with a look of acceptance…

But her body trembled.

After a moment of silence, I spoke.

“Sixteen… your punishment is…”

The nobles murmured amongst themselves.

Not minding the commotion, I spoke.

“…to become my ally.”

“Eh…”

She was confused at my punishment.

This wasn’t what she was expecting…

“From now, Meryl and I are going to establish a guild… but we don’t have any other members. We want you to be a member. Of course, once you become a member, you’ll have to work hard.”

“…yes!”

She smiled and nodded.

The nobles seemed unsatisfied, but I didn’t care.

When my conversation with Sixteen was over, Meld-sama spoke again.

“How long will you stay here?”

“Tomorrow, we were planning to head back to Izuruli.”

“…I see. In that case, you can stay here for a night. We will host a party; then, you may leave.”

“Thank you for being considerate!”

Right. Tomorrow, we decided to go back to Izuruli.

There wasn’t any point in staying in this city forever.

However, I noticed that Rifill was surprised to hear that, and she had a dark expression on her face…

That night, there was a party at Gheil Castle.

Meryl tried to get her hands on the alcohol again, and I tried my best to stop her.

Glenn, Captain Gil, and Luke-san were having a drinking contest.

…as expected.

But Rifill was nowhere in sight.

I looked for her, and found her outside the castle, gazing at the night sky.

I grabbed drinks for myself and her, and headed out.

I talked to her.

“There’s a party going on. You’ve gotta have a good time, right?”

“…Aruto…”

I handed over a glass to her.

“Should you really be taking your eyes off Meryl? She’s wild when drunk, isn’t she?”

“I’ll just scold her if she does get drunk.”

“Don’t overdo it.”

Rifill was taken aback by my smirk and sighed.

We said cheers, looked at the night sky, and drank.

For a while, there was silence. Rifill broke it.

“…hey, Aruto…”

“What?”

“Please. Stay here… and become my bodyguard!”

“O-oi!?”

I was confused at Rifill’s proposal.

I didn’t expect that she would wish for this…

“From now, we can…”

…I can’t let you say anything more than that…

With that thought, I interrupted her.

“Sorry, I can’t.”

“Why…?”

I declined her clearly.

A princess’ bodyguard…

Sure, it was a great thing to be.

“…there are many other people in trouble just like you were… I want to help them. I can’t just help you.”

I looked down.

Rifill also looked down, but smiled quietly and pat me on the back.

“Well, you’re not cutting any corners, I guess! Let’s meet again. It’s a promise!”

“Definitely.”

I smiled.

Then Rifill looked away from me.

“It’s getting chilly. I’ll go back in.”

Saying that, she ran back into the castle.

I noticed tears in her eyes, but I couldn’t say anything.

After seeing Rifill off, I gazed at the sky.

“Making women cry… Sixteen was right.”

It was a full moon tonight.

It was beautiful…

I closed my eyes as I remembered someone’s face.

“Utane… am I doing good?”

With nobody to answer my question, I finished my drink and headed back inside.