Chapter 85

In the office designated for the noble in charge at the government office, a noble was stamping documents while reviewing them.

Originally, his father had been in charge, but he had passed away in the recent war, and the responsibility had been passed down to him.

Most of the documents had already been checked by senior officials, so he mostly just needed to stamp them, but he paused at one application.

"Hey, is anyone there?"

"Yes, did you call for me?"

A senior official entered the office to attend to the noble.

"Explain this to me."

He handed the application to the official, who nodded after reading it.

"There is an auditor here, so I will call them now."

The official left the room to fetch the auditor.

After a while, the auditor entered the office.

"I heard you called for me..."

"Yes, this is about the new orphanage. What's the situation?"

"Well, I conducted an audit. There are some concerns about the income, but I don't think there are any major issues, so I approved it."

"Concerns about the income? What happened?"

"Actually—"

The senior auditor explained the situation after visiting the site. The noble, Viscount Magler, smiled.

"So, if the adventurer who is the main donor disappears, the orphanage's funding will dry up, right?"

"Indeed, that's correct. He's still young, but he has a decent rank and some assets."

"I see... By the way, regarding that thing, it's getting good reviews, and there are requests to expand it."

"Viscount... If we expand too much, there's a risk of it leaking out..."

"Shut up. If it brings in more revenue, there won't be any problems. I'll leave the arrangements to you."

"Understood. I'll make the same arrangements."

The senior auditor bowed and left the office. He sat down at his desk, holding his head. Reflecting on his past, he didn't consider himself particularly virtuous, but there were limits.

He had been promoted to his current position after being persuaded by the viscount and making various arrangements, so he couldn't easily refuse.

He understood that if the matter came to light, he would face the death penalty along with the viscount.

However, once he had gotten involved in wrongdoing, there was no way to escape. He had to keep responding to the viscount's requests.

The senior auditor sighed and stood up, leaving the office to carry out the instructions.

---

Despite being a marquis, I had no official position, so I continued to visit the orphanage every day.

Saya told me that the permit for the orphanage had been approved and that the subsidy would be disbursed soon.

The subsidy from the empire alone wasn't enough to run the orphanage, but as long as I continued to donate, there shouldn't be any problems.

Thinking about taking on some adventurer quests soon, I finished dinner at the orphanage and was walking through the dimly lit streets when I felt someone watching me.

...Am I being followed?

Without turning around, I used the Search skill. Despite the sparse crowd, there were still people walking around.

I took a roundabout route instead of going straight home and still felt the same gaze.

There are five of them following me.

"I can't just go home like this..."

Some people know I'm a noble, but most think I'm just an adventurer.

If it's known that I came from the orphanage, I can't just ignore it.

Still, I have no idea who it could be... I guess I'll have to ask them directly.

I headed towards the slums instead of the noble district. The streets gradually became more desolate, and I suddenly darted into an alley.

At the end of the alley, I found a dead end.

I heard the sound of several people running from behind.

...They really came.

Five adventurers, all carrying weapons, appeared in the alley. Their armor was leather but dirty.

"You've been walking around a lot. I didn't expect you to wander into such a place."

"Yeah. Since you made us work so hard, let's have some fun."

The two leaders grinned.

"Do you have something for me...? I don't recognize any of you."

Honestly, I wasn't afraid of these low-ranked adventurers.

However, one of them raised his eyebrows, clearly annoyed by my calm demeanor.

"We're going to make you take a break from adventuring. You might end up retiring permanently."

"Haha, that's right. You might end up in the grave."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

I sighed at their words. They seemed to think they were the stronger ones.

I'm A-rank, though... They can't tell by my appearance.

"I don't think you have the right to say that..."

"You're pretty confident for a young guy. That's why you get enemies. Coming into such a place without a weapon. We'll take all your belongings and money."

"Is this... a request from someone...?"

"Who knows? It doesn't matter. Let's get this over with."

They all drew their swords. Three had longswords, and two had daggers. They slowly closed in on me.

"We'll start by taking your arms."

"I didn't expect to face an unarmed kid... This will be easy."

Clearly, this was a request from someone. I took out my Buster Sword from my dimensional storage and pointed it at them.

"So, who's unarmed here? I need to ask you guys some questions."

The men took a step back at the sight of the Buster Sword.

"Where did you get that...?"

"Is he a warrior...?"

"But we have five of us. Let's go!"

They all charged at once. I parried one with my Buster Sword, sending him flying, and fired an Air Bullet from my left hand at another. I kicked a third while the other two with daggers were still stunned.

I ran past them, switching positions to prevent them from escaping.

"It's down to two of you now. I need to get the name of the person who hired you, so I'm not letting anyone escape."

I advanced on the two with my Buster Sword. They were trembling, but I wasn't letting them go.

I needed to get the name of the person who hired them and make sure they didn't repeat this. I intended to put them in jail.

I knocked them out with the flat of my sword and let them fall to the ground.

"Hmm, what should I do with these guys...? I could leave them here and go get the guards, but I don't think they'll be safe until they come back..."

This area is a back alley, and the slums are nearby. If they were found unconscious, they might be stripped or even killed.

"I guess I'll have to take them with me..."

I took out a rope from my dimensional storage and tied them up.

I put their weapons in my dimensional storage.

Holding the end of the rope, I cast Body Boost and dragged them out of the alley.

Despite being away from the main street, there were still people around.

My appearance, dragging five people, naturally drew attention. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I walked towards the main street, and a few people ran towards me.

They were guards, holding swords.

"Whoa, what's going on here?!"

Two guards came towards me, and two went to check on the unconscious men.

"I was walking when these guys attacked me. I fought them off and thought I'd hand them over to the guards."

"...You took on five by yourself..."

"Yes, I have some skills."

"Do you have any identification? You look like an adventurer."

"Ah, here it is."

I showed them my A-rank adventurer card.

"A-rank... They must have been in over their heads..."

If they had known I was A-rank, they probably wouldn't have attacked me.

By the way...

"By the way, they said they were hired to attack me. There might be someone who hired them."

The captain, who seemed to be in charge, crossed his arms and looked troubled.

"Hiring someone to attack an adventurer... And they didn't know you were A-rank... Oh!"

The captain's expression changed, and he straightened up.

"Wait, could you be the hero who saved the country, Marquis Kisaragi?"

The captain's words made all the guards freeze.

I knew I was famous as an adventurer in the empire, having turned the tide of a war that had reached the capital.

My victory over the hero had made me a topic of conversation among the empire's residents.

Once they recognized my name and A-rank status, it was inevitable that they would know who I was.

I sighed and showed them my noble identification.

"Yes, I apologize for not mentioning it earlier. I'm Toya von Kisaragi. I'm dressed as an adventurer, so please bear with me."

Once I admitted I was the hero, the guards' eyes lit up.

"Wow, to meet the hero! I'm a fan!"

The young guard approached me, but the captain grabbed him by the collar.

"That's disrespectful. This is Marquis Kisaragi! Marquis Kisaragi, I apologize."

"No, it's fine. More importantly, please take care of these guys. If possible, get the name of the person who hired them."

"Understood! I'll make sure to get it. Hey, take these guys to the station!"

The captain took the weapons from the attackers and watched as they were taken away.

"Still, who could it be...? If they knew my strength, they wouldn't have hired such low-level attackers..."

It didn't make sense if they knew me. So, who could it be?

"Maybe I'll find out who the culprit is eventually..."

With that thought, I headed back to my mansion.