Chapter 100: The Impoverished Viscount’s Second Son Follows Her Eyes 1
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The person who entered was unexpected.
It was the leader of the merchant caravan’s guard party, John Parkour.
For just a moment, John showed a sign of flinching under Elza’s gaze, but he immediately suppressed it and turned his eyes toward me.
The thought, Are you still wearing that mask? flickered across his face, but I ignored it.
Even I myself wondered why I had put the mask on again.
People who only knew me through rumors recognized me on sight; there was no point in wearing it.
I only realized I didn’t need to wear it after Elza had handed it to me and I’d put it on as if carried by the flow of events.
I couldn’t very well take it off now, and I also felt hesitant to disregard my Female Disciple’s kind gesture, so I dealt with him while wearing it.
That’s a lie. I simply missed the timing to take it off and couldn’t back out anymore.
“We meet again. Good to see you.”
I greeted him, mimicking the farewell words John had said: If we meet again, good luck to you.
John snorted at that.
“I meant I was the one expecting your well wishes, though.”
I responded to his sarcastic words with only a shrug.
Also, Elza, please stop asking me with your eyes every second, Is this guy an enemy?
John-san is twitching every time, you know?
“I wondered what had happened when I heard you fainted and were carried off by ‘Elza the Impaler,’ but I’m glad to see you’re alright.”
Did she really do that? I glanced towards Elza, but she didn’t seem to grasp the meaning behind my gaze.
Yuunou-san must have been confused. Being competent, she probably doesn’t get along well with Elza.
Well, setting that aside.
John dismissed the fact that I had been kidnapped as if it were nothing.
“This is a summons from the Guild. I assume you understand if I say it’s about the black Dragon?”
Since that was the only thing that came to mind, I nodded honestly.
Ah, Elza-san, that nod just now wasn’t an answer to your question, okay?
Stop emitting that killing intent, will you?
John-san is one step away from assuming a combat stance.
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Past six in the evening, Noel Jeun Town was welcoming a slightly early night due to its town walls.
Perhaps it was my imagination, but the residents walking the streets seemed more restless and anxious than yesterday.
The request was for “Elza the Impaler” to come along as well, so the three of us—me, Elza, and John—walked through Noel Jeun Town.
In response to my question, “Why did John, who has absolutely no connection to this, come to deliver the summons from the Guild?”
“Because I’m from Faltar,” John replied.
Apparently, even though I hadn’t even shown my face at the Noel Jeun Adventurers Guild, they already thought I was someone from the Faltar Kingdom.
Man, I wonder who they’re mistaking me for.
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The moment we entered the Adventurers Guild, dozens of Magicka Threads rained down on us.
“Is that ‘Elza the Impaler’?”
“She’s younger than I imagined.”
Whispers leaked out in equal measure to the stares.
It was certainly a busy time for the Adventurers Guild, but even so, there were a lot of people.
We walked through the path that naturally opened up for us.
“Then is that Masked Man walking next to her the one?”
“‘Elza the Impaler’s’ master, ‘Kind Barbara,’ was a man…?”
For a moment, I heard words I couldn’t just ignore, but since there was no actual harm to me, I let it slide.
You’d better pray Master Barbara doesn’t hear about this.
Familiar faces were gathered in the Guild’s reception room.
Bearded Drim, his partner Competent Maricia, Digris whose leg got blown off, and even the bald Holan were there.
“I was worried about you, Masked Man,” said Drim, seated on the sofa.
I swallowed the words, That’s my line.
Because I didn’t know what happened after I healed nearly two-thirds of his upper body, which had been blown away, with Healing Magic.
It felt somehow wrong for me to make a point of saying how worried I had been here.
The one who brought him back was Yuunou-san, not me.
So I replied in a light tone.
“Sorry to make you worry, Beardy. Good to see we both made it back.”
As I responded, Digris said, “See? Told you there was nothing to worry about.”
Holan, who had lost not only his head hair but even his eyebrows in the self-destruct attack, nodded in agreement.
Ah, right, the head was already like that.
Feeling vaguely irritated, I said to Digris.
“Your pants are still torn. Have you figured out an excuse for your wife yet?”
I reminded him about his still-torn trousers.
“Don’t remind me of unpleasant things, Masked Man,” Digris grumbled. Holan laughed at that, only for Digris to immediately counter, “If you’re gonna laugh, at least get some eyebrows first!”
The easy familiarity born from surviving life-or-death situations together brought a strange sense of comfort.
“How about you sit down for now, Masked Man?”
Just as the atmosphere became difficult for someone who hadn’t shared the same near-death experiences to intervene, Yuunou-san, Maricia, said something sensible.
Her tone also implicitly said, Seriously, quiet down already.
“Also… about Drim. Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Perhaps sensing that I didn’t want a big deal made of it, Maricia bowed her head slightly while remaining seated.
“I just wanted to sleep soundly at night. Don’t worry about it, Yuunou-san.”
So I replied lightly as well.
“If you put it that way… No, wait. Stop with that ‘Yuunou-san.’ Because these guys started saying it for fun, now everyone else has started calling me that!”
Just when I thought things would settle down with us sitting, a strong protest came from Yuunou-san.
When I said, “But isn’t it fine? You were truly competent,” I got another round of protests.
“Alright then, how about ‘Bearded Drim,’ ‘Eyebrowless Holan,’ and ‘Twenty-Seconds-Left Digris’?”
If I give the three of them fitting nicknames too, things should settle down amicably, right? Maricia scolded me, saying, “That’s not the issue!”
Digris grumbled, “Mine is not only hard to understand, but it’s also kinda wrong.”
Shut up. I’ll make it ‘Wife-Fearing Digris’ instead.
As I thought about how chaotic things were, John murmured behind me, “Strange, the Faltar concentration is high.”
Holan, with a serious face, asked.
“Should I shave my eyebrows from now on?”
At that point, the master of the room must have lost patience.
It seemed they decided to clear their throat to gather everyone’s attention.
Perhaps because everyone was aware they had gone too far, they immediately shut their mouths and looked towards the source of the cough.
The master of the room flinched for a moment under the focused attention but quickly regained composure and said.
“Sh— Masked Man, could you please take a seat for now?”
I nodded at the extremely reasonable request.
Ah, so they really do know who I am, I thought.