Chapter 31

Aldis finished his work earlier than expected and stopped by a familiar weapon shop on his way home.

He needed to replace the short sword he had lost in battle with the woman.

He bought two of the mass-produced swords on display and ordered two short swords made of "Heavy Iron" at the same time.

After that, he visited a few more stores, bought some daily necessities and sundries, and returned home.

“Aldis, welcome back.”

“Aldis, you’re late.”

As soon as he entered the house, the twins with platinum blonde hair came running over, their hair swaying.

Although they rarely showed a smile, at least they didn’t show a frightened expression to Aldis.

“I’m back. Filia, Liana.”

He greeted the twins, whom he still couldn’t tell apart, and lightly patted their heads.

“Today, Filia and I made lunch.”

“Liana and I made sandwiches.”

“Is that so? Did you do well?”

“Not at all. They weren’t tasty.”

“Failed. So sad.”

The twins, for their age, spoke very little.

It was probably due to the oppressive environment they had been in for a long time, but recently their atmosphere had gradually become brighter.

For Aldis, although he had initially taken them in out of a sense of duty, he now accepted living with the twins as a matter of course.

Living with the twins had become a natural part of his daily life, and their presence made him feel more grounded.

However, he didn’t know what to call this feeling.

“Aldis, shall we make dinner?”

“Aldis, I’m hungry.”

“It’s a bit early, but... okay. Then both of you help me.”

A peaceful conversation exchanged.

Just as Aldis was about to enjoy this tranquil time, an uninvited shadow appeared.

It was a figure with long Alice-blue hair.

“Why are you here?”

After finishing the meal preparations with the twins, Aldis, who had come to the door, said without hiding his displeasure.

Standing at the door was a woman in a white hooded cloak.

She was the one he had taken to the lord’s mansion a few hours earlier.

“I have come to report that I have fulfilled my mission.”

“Mission...?”

“Huh? Didn’t my lord tell you to meet the lord?”

Tilting her head, the woman responded to Aldis, who was also tilting his head.

He did remember having such a conversation, but it was just a pretext to get him to meet the lord.

Aldis had no idea how to respond to the report that the mission was completed.

“Ah, right... Good work. I’ll be on my way then.”

By taking her to the lord’s mansion, Aldis had already fulfilled his mission.

There was no need to involve himself with this woman any further.

In fact, sensing the trouble, he tried to close the door, but the woman said:

“Do you have any further orders?”

“...No.”

“Then I will focus on protecting and assisting my lord.”

As she was about to close the door, the woman stopped it with her hand and said:

“Huh?”

Aldis thought that perhaps she was asking for a place to stay for the night.

Indeed, he had brought her to Tria without warning, and it was understandable that she might want him to provide a place to stay for the night.

However, Aldis had only taken on the mission from the lord.

After taking her to the lord’s mansion, the lord should have taken responsibility for her.

Aldis had no obligation to take care of her.

Moreover, the twins were at home.

He didn’t want to reveal their existence to a complete stranger, even if she wasn’t a resident of the town.

“I’ll pay for a night’s stay if you don’t have money. Just wait there.”

“I don’t need money. But if I stay far away, I won’t be able to protect you in an emergency. It is my duty to stay by my lord’s side.”

“...I have no intention of letting you in.”

“I understand. Then I will guard from outside.”

Surprisingly, the woman stepped back and left without further argument.

Aldis, still puzzled, set up a protective barrier around the house that would last until morning and returned to the living room where the twins were waiting.

The next morning, the first thing Aldis felt when he woke up was the presence of someone outside the house.

“Hey, Aldis, there’s a woman at the gate.”

“Hey, Aldis, the woman with white hair has been there all night.”

While preparing breakfast, the twins, who had been observing outside, reported to Aldis, tearing off pieces of bread.

It seemed the woman had stood by the entrance all night, like a gatekeeper.

Aldis had been aware of her presence since last night, but she hadn’t tried to enter the house or cause any harm. She had just stood there, occasionally patrolling the area.

She had claimed she was guarding the house, and Aldis was recalling her words from the previous day.

“My lord...”

With an unknown person lingering around the house, he was hesitant to leave the twins alone.

However, his concerns were quickly dispelled.

“My lord, are you going out? Then I will accompany you.”

The woman began to accompany Aldis whenever he went out.

This made Aldis feel somewhat relieved.

If he didn’t have to worry about the twins at home, it was just a matter of dealing with his own issues.

The woman’s strength was formidable, but even if she showed hostile intentions, he wouldn’t be caught off guard.

The only downside was that he couldn’t take a nap during his outings.

Aldis resumed his work the next day.

Whenever he went out of town, the woman naturally followed him.

There weren’t many jobs that Aldis could take on alone.

He avoided jobs that required a large number of people, such as investigations or bodyguard work, and also avoided jobs that required him to be away from home for more than ten days, such as delivering messages or letters.

Naturally, he often took on hunting jobs or went hunting without a specific request.

With Aldis’s skills, he could easily make a living by hunting Dispair or Beast Kings on the plains.

If not for the extra burden, he could even hunt Whips or Lactars in the Cossus Forest.

“My lord, will you collect the materials from these creatures?”

“Do as you please.”

Thus, Aldis was now deep in the Cossus Forest, hunting dual-sword beasts and Lactars.

Although he had expected it, the woman’s strength was more than sufficient to hunt in the forest, and she had just used magic to swiftly kill two Lactars.

The problem was that she was hunting the prey before Aldis could.

Aldis didn’t consider himself part of a party with the woman or that they were cooperating.

Therefore, he couldn’t just take the materials from the prey she had killed.

“The prey you hunt is yours. I have no right to say anything about it.”

“Nonsense. The prey hunted by a servant belongs to the lord. If you want it, you can have it. If you don’t, you don’t. It’s that simple.”

However, the woman seemed to be seeking Aldis’s judgment.

Moreover, thanks to her, Aldis had hardly participated in the battles so far.

This was beneficial for exploration or investigation, but Aldis’s purpose was hunting and collecting materials. The woman’s actions were more of a hindrance.

It seemed she believed it was her duty to eliminate any danger before it reached Aldis.

To Aldis, who hadn’t asked for this and was currently focused on hunting, it was frankly a nuisance.

“Anyway, if you keep hunting everything, I won’t be able to catch any prey. I want to bring back a decent amount of earnings. Could you leave some prey for me or hunt a bit further away?”

“These minor creatures are not worth your effort. If you want to bring back prey, you can take the ones I have killed.”

She seemed to think it was perfectly normal to offer the prey she had hunted to Aldis.

According to her, protecting Aldis was her duty, the prey she hunted belonged to Aldis, and if he needed the materials, he could order her to collect them.

In the end, seeing that she wasn’t going to back down, Aldis made a half-hearted proposal.

“Alright. Let’s put aside the ‘lord’ business for now. How about we team up temporarily? We’ll hunt together for the day, collect all the materials, and split the earnings when we return to town. What do you think?”

Aldis suggested forming a temporary party.

He judged that it was better to hunt together and split the earnings than to let her continue to take all the prey.

“I agree, my lord.”

The woman readily accepted.

The hunting went smoothly after that.

Aldis and the woman, both exceptionally strong, could turn even the strongest creatures in the Cossus Forest, like Whips, into silent corpses the moment they met.

They roamed the forest, almost as if they were going to harvest all the prey.

In the end, Aldis earned an absurd amount of 28 gold coins in one day. He gave half, 14 gold coins, to the woman and headed home.

At first, the woman stubbornly refused to accept the gold coins, but Aldis forced her to take them, claiming he would hold the money for her.

If Noris were to comment, he might say, “If you don’t want it, just take it,” but Aldis felt that creating a sense of ‘owing’ to someone with such power was more dangerous than the immediate gold.

They split the gold coins from selling the materials at the guild and returned home. The woman followed naturally.

“Then, my lord, shall I take up my guard duty here?”

It was clear from her actions over the past few days that she had no intention of staying at the house.

“Do as you please.”

Aldis said dismissively and entered the house.

2017/11/05 Typo correction: 患わせる → 煩わせる