Chapter 20

EP.20 Dedicated Knight-2

One Month

Thirty days had passed, and the time that makes up a year had been divided into twelve parts.

During this long yet short period, many changes occurred.

The first change was in Leo himself.

[You've really improved, haven't you?]

During this month, Leo had solidified his foundation in magic. His achievements were so remarkable that even the sage, who usually spouted curses, gave him high praise.

He had also mastered 1st Circle spells in various fields, making it feasible to use them in actual combat.

The second change was in the treatment he received from his family.

When he first arrived, he was treated with disdain, as if he were a lucky country bumpkin. But now, at least in his presence, such treatment no longer occurred.

The reason for this could be easily inferred from the events that had transpired.

The last change was...

“Thank you! Leo!”

A change in Ariasphyl's personality and attitude.

In her previous life, Ariasphyl always looked down on others as inferiors, but now, it seemed she regarded him as an equal.

One might say, as a friend.

[What was it like before?]

<Like how people look at ants?>

The sage looked back and forth between Ariasphyl and Leo, asking.

[You must have been pretty jealous.]

<While I won't deny it, it wasn't an exaggeration either.>

While some of it might have been distorted or prejudiced due to jealousy, Ariasphyl truly viewed the world that way at the time.

She saw people simply as 'the same species,' without attributing any higher value or lower discrimination.

As if she were a machine born to be a hero.

[That's a bit scary.]

<That's what I thought. Maybe it's just because she's still young.>

She can still smile like this because she hasn't faced the storms of life yet.

“...Leo?”

“Yes?”

At some point, her face was right in front of Leo's.

“Are you okay? I've been calling you for a while...”

“Huh? Yes, yes. I was just thinking.”

“Now that training is over, let's go down. We need to buy a gift.”

Leo nodded and followed Ariasphyl, who had already started walking.

[Gift? What gift?]

<A gift for Lady Serica.>

Serica Reinhardt, the wife of Gladio, the head of the family, and in other words...

[Oh, Arias' mom?]

<...Yes, but does the sage usually speak so crudely?>

As a non-mage, he had no illusions about the sage, but his sense of human decency had long been shattered.

[I ate with the first hero and even bathed with her! We did everything!]

It was a connection he didn't really want to know about.

But if they were that close, why wasn't there a single portrait of the hero in the family's house?

[...What? Don't believe me? I'm just a bit down now...! In the past, it was...! Incredible!]

The sage, with a sly look, picked his nose while glaring at Leo. For some reason, this behavior helped explain the family's treatment and actions.

<...Tsk.>

[Don't click your tongue.]

<Sorry, I had something stuck in my teeth...>

[Do you clean your teeth with aura?]

Ah, he's not falling for that.

“Ari! Hurry up!”

Turning his head to the outside of the mansion, he saw a girl in civilian clothes waving her hand.

“Yes! I'm coming!”

Following the young lady, Leo also stepped out of the mansion.

***

[The market 300 years later is pretty good, huh?]

The sage whistled, which was uncharacteristic for his age, as he looked at the market.

While he was curious about the market 300 years ago, he couldn't bring himself to ask in the face of the prosperity and vitality of the surrounding shops.

The merchants at the edges of the alleys were busy showing off their goods, and the people walking by were doing their best to haggle over the prices based on the value of the goods.

[But why would a noble lady need to come to such a shabby place?]

<She needs to understand the world and it's a good way to change her mood.>

As if to prove this, Ariasphyl was captivated by the market's vitality.

“Leonardo!! Leo!! Look at this!”

She waved her hand, as if inviting him to share in the excitement, and called out to her knight.

“...This is...”

What Ariasphyl saw was a blue flower, not an ordinary one, but a blue rose.

“A blue rose! I've never seen one like this before!”

“Oh ho ho! You really have a good eye, my lady!”

The florist, who spoke in a strangely effeminate tone, confidently held out the blue rose.

“This rose, you see, was picked by an adventurer from the high plateau of the Elrim Mountains. Since it grows near ice, it's also known as the Frost Flower! It should cost 2 gold, but for such a fine couple, I'll cut it down to 9 silver!”

His dazzling and eloquent speech was impressive, but what captivated Ariasphyl was just one word.

‘Fine couple...’

It had a rather fitting ring to it.

That one phrase was enough to enchant the daughter of the hero's family.

“Then one...”

“Sir.”

Leo grabbed the florist's wrist.

“Where are you trying to scam us?”

“...Scam?”

But the florist's act didn't work on the seasoned mercenary.

“...What do you mean? This is...”

“First, it's not the season for flowers to bloom in the Elrim Mountains. It's still too warm.”

But this flower was still fresh. If it were artificial, the florist's claim would be a scam.

“That's... due to our shop's special storage method.”

“Second, let's be clear. Frost Flower is a term used for blue flowers that are magically frozen for decoration. This is clearly a fresh flower, isn't it?”

“That's because you're young...!”

Ignoring the informal tone, Leo grabbed the rose.

“Third, this isn't even a blue rose.”

Leo broke the stem of the blue rose, and a light blue sap flowed out.

“Did you think I wouldn't notice just because you didn't apply the dye on the outside? You need to choose your targets better when scamming.”

“Y-You...!!”

The florist tried to swing his fist, but...

Smack!

Ariasphyl quickly struck his wrist.

“Gah!!”

“...Lying? How dare you...!”

Her eyes were full of killing intent, and she looked like she could kill the robust man at any moment, even without a weapon.

[...Wow...]

<This is the Ariasphyl I know.>

While she didn't usually exude such killing intent, she often looked at him with a cold, mocking gaze.

“...Ugh...Ah...!”

“Calm down. Let's try to resolve this peacefully.”

Leo picked up a few white roses.

“Or do you want to lose your hand along with your business?”

His experience as a mercenary was useful in negotiations.

***

“Amazing! Leo! How did you know?!”

“Just from the way he spoke, it was suspicious. When someone talks too much, it's best to be skeptical.”

An honest merchant would keep explanations brief so that customers could properly judge the product and think of additional questions.

“Right! Then how did you know the flowers were dyed?!”

Ariasphyl looked at Leo with sparkling eyes. She was genuinely impressed that he was not only good at fighting but also sharp-minded.

“That's just common knowledge. If you put the stem of a white flower in colored water, it will take on that color.”

The achievements of a knight's journey were not just in combat skills or strength. Through travel, he could easily gain light trivia to advanced information like magic.

His quick mastery of 1st Circle magic formulas was also thanks to this.

[No wonder you learn so fast.]

<Why does your praise sound so sarcastic?>

Whether it was his natural tone or not, it was overly sarcastic.

[No, you really did well. Traveling is more practical than being stuck in a tower writing on paper.]

When he said it like that, it was genuine praise.

It seemed that even sarcasm had become infected with praise.

It's a sad state of affairs. Let's pay our respects.

“...Then the white flowers?”

“They're a gift. I thought they would be nice.”

“Mom doesn't really like white flowers. When I said she liked them before, everyone sent lilies.”

Leo knew this from his previous life.

“Don't worry. The gift I have in mind is a rainbow-colored flower.”

Leo smiled and pointed to a shop selling paints and dyes. Seeing the sign, the pieces of information clicked together in Ariasphyl's mind.

“Oh...! Then we can make it ourselves!”

“That's the idea. We can make it in a week.”

With that, the young lady and her dedicated knight entered the shop.

Of course, haggling was a basic skill for a mercenary.

***

“...It's already this late.”

The day was gradually turning to dusk, the sun turning the blue sky red.

“You took too long haggling.”

“No, thanks to that, we were able to buy a lot of good things.”

She smiled and looked at the dyes Leo had bought. While haggling might not be necessary for a family of heroes, teaching economic concepts from a young age was effective.

[Hey, but there's someone...]

The sage's reaction was cut off.

“Eh...?”

A man ran up from behind and snatched their luggage.

“A thief...?!”

It wasn't a rhetorical question. The thief's identity was already proven by his actions.

“...This...!!”

“Arias, wait...!!”

Ariasphyl was already running after the thief. With no choice, Leo also started chasing the thief.

[Isn't this a bit strange?]

<It is.>

As the sage noticed, Leo also sensed the oddity.

[Why is the thief leading us to a dead-end alley?]

There were two possible reasons.

The first was that there was an unknown alley that both Leo and Ariasphyl didn't know about.

The second, which he didn't want to think about, was...

“...What?! Leo! It's a dead-end alley! We can catch him!”

“I don't think so, Miss Ariasphyl.”

Leo drew his sword from his waist. It felt excessive for a simple thief.

“Leo...?!”

“Forgive me, as a knight...”

Gripping the hilt of his sword, Leo said,

“It seems we've been caught, not the other way around.”

The thief's confidence grew, or rather, it was because he wasn't a thief at all.

“...Not bad for a kid, huh?”

Masked figures emerged from the entrance of the alley and the surrounding walls.

The second scenario, which he didn't want to think about.

It was an ambush.

“...Stay back.”

Leo tried to protect his young lady with his other hand. Ariasphyl shook her head and drew her sword. Seeing the two young swordsmen, the assassins sneered.

“This is too scary. Should we surrender?”

“I'd be grateful if you did, but I don't think you will.”

The leader, who had posed as the thief, laughed loudly.

Yes, he must be the leader.

“I don't plan to surrender. But there's room for negotiation.”

The leader pointed a dagger at Leo.

“Put down your sword and raise your hands. Then I'll let the girl go.”

“How can I trust you?”

The leader nodded to his subordinates, who cleared the way out of the alley.

“Will you believe me now?”

“I'll believe you when they're all gone. When they're 500 meters away from the alley.”

“300 meters.”

“400 meters, no less.”

“Kid...”

“Or you can just die.”

The leader sighed and looked at his subordinates.

“...Fine. Let her go.”

“But, boss...!”

The leader glared at his subordinate, who shut up without a word.

“Go, Miss.”

“...But...! Leo...!”

She couldn't leave Leo alone. No matter how strong he was, the opponents were skilled and not just one or two.

“It's okay. Arias.”

Leo whispered in her ear.

“...Call for help. You're faster than me.”

Ariasphyl nodded at the whisper.

“Alright.”

She made up her mind and ran out.

She wasn't abandoning Leo.

She could run forward because she trusted her knight, because she believed in his skills.

“Now put down the sword.”

“Fine.”

Leo immediately dropped his sword.

“Hey, tie him up.”

The subordinate closest to Leo quickly tied his hands.

“Taking a knight as a hostage?”

“...You've been talking less since the start?”

“Maybe. You're all dead anyway, so it doesn't matter, does it?”

Everyone, including the leader, burst into laughter.

“Haha... Do you really think that girl will survive and call for help?”

They laughed so hard it seemed they were making up for a year's worth of laughter.

“We've already sent someone to chase her. She's already caught.”

All Leo could do was sigh deeply.

“...Ha...”

Everyone laughed even harder at Leo's sigh. To them, Leo was just a frog in a well, living in his own delusion.

“Why are you all laughing like that?”

At that moment, an explosion occurred.

The explosion and the crackling sound moved to the person holding the rope.

“Aaaah!!”

[Fireball]

A series of 1st Circle fire spells, the assassin's scream ended with the explosion.

“I'll give you 10 seconds.”

The rope had been burned by the flames for a while.

“Raise your hand if you didn't laugh.”

At least in front of Leo,

“I'll kill the rest.”

The laughter had to be suppressed.

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