“Aria brought you, right? Then it should be fine, shouldn’t it?”
“Well, it’s Aria-chan, after all.”
“I don’t have any complaints if Dolton decided.”
They’re taking this rather lightly….
The day after Aria went to meet the princess, I had a meet-and-greet with the other members of the “Rainbow Sword.”
Is it really okay to be this easy? Well, I guess it just shows how much they trust Aria. …Though some people seem a bit intimidated.
“—っ”
When I gave a smile to the tall and broad dwarven girl, she returned a strained smile and took a step back.
“Jesha, she’s scary but not a bad person,”
So said the vertically large muscle-man… Feld, I believe his name was. He cheerfully stroked Jesha’s and my heads.
Whether he’s magnanimous or just doesn’t care about the details, I can’t help but wonder how he can casually pat the head of a murderer like me. I couldn’t help but stare at him.
“D-Don’t be ridiculous! I’m not scared!”
That’s right, isn’t it? It’s as if I’m more dangerous than an Elemental Dragon.
The other elf, Mira, wasn’t intimidated like Feld. Or rather, I was surprised to find she had slipped some sweets into my pocket without me noticing.
Originally, Viro, one of Aria’s mentors and a scout, was supposed to be here, but he’s retiring and becoming a Shadow Knight, replacing me. I still think he could have at least shown his face….
“Where’s Dolton?”
“He’s been summoned by Her Highness. Viro is with him, so I guess Snow won’t have to stop by the Guild to renew his registration.”
Feld answered Aria’s question and cleared up my doubts. Even so… Aria seems to trust him a lot.
It seems Viro used to be the vice-leader, but with his retirement, Feld has taken over that role and is giving us instructions.
“For now, Aria, just follow Dolton’s instructions. And you don’t have to go back to the Magic Academy, right?”
“I was attending the academy to protect Elena. Elena also has work at the Royal Castle, so she doesn’t need me to return to the academy. My job is done.”
Well, that’s how it is for upper-class nobles who have been learning from private tutors since they were young. The reason upper-class nobles attend the academy is just for introductions.
The graduation ceremony will also be held at the Royal Castle. On the contrary, the princess must be busy trying to rebuild the country so that next year’s graduation ceremony can be held. Still, the freshmen who thought they could meet her this year might be pitiful.
After confirming the instructions from Dolton, Feld took out a sealed letter.
“Viro says to treat him to something next time.”
“Understood.”
Aria put the received letter into her 【Shadow Storage】, and walked towards me.
“What was that?”
“I asked him to investigate something. Let’s go then.”
She’s still a girl of few words. I can roughly guess what it is, but I shrugged lightly and started walking next to her.
＊＊＊
“Aria-chan! What have you been doing for months!?”
As soon as we entered the shop we arrived at, Aria was being scolded by a rock dwarf in a sequined dress, who was stomping around in steel high heels.
Since the Royal Capital is in this state, it’s normal to be worried if you haven’t been in contact for months. Though I’m really not one to talk.
This shop is the Dwarven Armory where I also ordered a dress. If it’s just an armor shop, there are bigger and more skilled craftsmen in the Royal Capital, but when it comes to craftsmen who balance design and performance well for young women, he’s the best in this country.
Inside the shop, there’s armor that makes you wonder, “Is this really armor?” …Armor that only covers the chest and waist, but is this rock dwarf going to wear it?
“…Oh?”
In the back of the shop, there was a familiar black dress on display, and the shopkeeper noticed my mutter and turned to me.
“Ah, that’s the prototype of the dress Aria-chan wore to the party. I was thinking about whether I could make a new design…”
After finishing scolding Aria, the shopkeeper spoke to me, who was with her, normally, but then froze when he saw me.
“…Y-You, that height and build, could it be…”
“…Where are you judging people from?”
“Ah, that’s right.”
The moment the shopkeeper was about to reveal something, whether calculated or “natural,” Aria took out that black thing (・・) from her 【Shadow Storage】.
“Can this be fixed?”
“Aria-chan!?”
It was the Dark Dragon material dress she wore in the battle with me. It’s amazing that it didn’t tear even after that battle. But from the creator’s point of view, it seemed to be quite damaged, and the shock of meeting me seemed to have flown somewhere.
“Oh, it’s become like this! Self-repair has started with the dirt still on it!”
“And…”
To the shopkeeper who hurriedly started examining the damaged black dress, Aria apologetically took out something white.
“Eeeeeek!?”
That was the mithril thread dress I was wearing. It’s a dress that wouldn’t even get a scratch from a level 1 attack magic, but it was heavily stained with my blood, and the shopkeeper was swaying like seaweed with both hands on her cheeks, as self-repair had started with the blood still on it.
“…Aaaargh, geez!”
The shopkeeper had been quite shocked, but suddenly revived and grabbed the two dresses, put them in what looked like a water tank in the back, and poured in something like chemicals as if giving up.
“Yeah, I’ll do it! I’ll completely restore them… no! I’ll remake them so that you can wear them even when you’re adults, so be prepared!”
What kind of preparation…? As I was thinking that, Aria muttered.
“We’re technically adults this year, though?”
“That’s right.”
Both Aria and I will be fifteen years old this year. Nobles attend the Magic Academy, so next year’s graduation party doubles as a coming-of-age ceremony, but commoners are seen as adults when they turn fifteen.
“Will it change that much…”
I couldn’t help but roll up the hem of my robe and look at my legs. …They’re still sickly thin.
Still, unlike commoners, we are growing with mana. For women, growth and aging will start to reverse around this time, so age fraud isn’t that much of a deal, but even so, our appearance is about sixteen or seventeen years old.
My height hasn’t grown much, and I don’t think it will change much. When I voiced my thoughts, the shopkeeper glared at me.
“What are you saying! There are elves around you who ate too many sweets and became a little weird when they grew up, right!”
“Ah.”
I see…. Certainly, it’s normal for humans, but it’s pitiful compared to someone like Serejula as an elf. Hehe.
After that, the shopkeeper had us modify some relatively sized items from the ready-made items, and decided to have proper items made.
“He said the modifications would be done in three days, so let’s prepare by then.”
“Where are we going?”
Aria said that to me as we left the shop.
I think Dolton said there would be instructions. Since there’s a possibility that I’ll be exposed if I’m in the Royal Capital, maybe we’ll be taking on some kind of request.
Thinking so, I urged her to continue, and Aria said the destination.
“We’re going to meet Samantha, the former magician of the Rainbow Sword.”
Next time, Samantha appears.
I couldn’t write about the Hero this time, so I’ll save it for next time.
Volume 6 of the book and Volume 3 of the comic are now on sale!