291 - Trivial Matters
――At the Lefence Royal Castle, Rauno had been given a room.
No, Rauno Vandelfia sat on the sofa, took off his jacket and tossed it aside, then loosened the collar of his shirt. It was true that he had been officially recognized as a knight, but it was also true that he wasn't satisfied.
"Damn it!"
Infuriatingly, he had been forced to help capture those making suspicious movements within the Lefence Royal Castle. Helping in itself was fine. However, the story changed once he realized that it had been used for his own benefit. Inis, who was in the room, stood by the wall with her head bowed.
Covering his face with both hands, Rauno, sitting on the sofa, spoke to Inis.
"...Why did you act on your own? It's true I still had lingering feelings about being a knight. But if your skill became known, somewhere, eventually..."
Inis possessed the skill Information, which allowed her to predict the future; to put it bluntly, it was a skill sought after not only by those in power. Since it was truly possible to predict the future depending on the information, Rauno had kept Inis's skill hidden.
Inis spoke while still looking down.
"I-I know. But, Rauno-san becoming a knight was my dream, too."
When told something like that, it was hard for Rauno to argue. After all, he had been complaining to Inis about his lingering desire to be a knight. Besides, even if he hadn't said it, Inis would have known from the accumulated information that he still wanted to be a knight.
Rauno spoke, worried for Inis.
"...The royal palace and the castle—places like that become ruthless once power struggles intensify. Do you think those people will stay the same ten years from now? They'll definitely move. Miranda is the same. As a client, she's someone who pays well. The difficulty of the jobs is high, but that's just because her skills are valued. As an individual, she's a good person. But... she'll definitely get her hands into shady business. That's just among the people I know. Considering the future—"
Rauno's prediction was correct. Once Lariel overthrew Banseime, the era of governance would begin. When that happened, issues like succession and power struggles among the women awaited.
If Inis had sought help from Novem, then Rauno was now part of the Novem faction. To anyone watching, Rauno now had Novem's backing.
That meant being dragged into power struggles and factional disputes. Inis looked apologetic, but said,
"Even so, she's a person who keeps her promises. Besides, she's not someone who actively seeks conflict—"
"It's not that simple! This isn't some naive world where you won't get dragged into a fight just because you don't do anything!"
Though he didn't show it, Rauno, who had witnessed such power struggles, felt terrible. And he knew that Novem was a woman who would do whatever was necessary when the time came.
That's why, who would be the one asked to do the job at that time? To Rauno, it was a simple math problem.
"Sure, she probably won't move on her own. But you know about this recent incident, right? The moment the Count started gathering allies, she disposed of him immediately. Rather than utilizing him, she cut him off for the sake of the future. And she did it without consulting Lariel. She's the kind of person capable of that. If those around her move on their own, she'll use any means necessary."
Having said that much, Rauno stopped. Then, he looked at Inis.
"...Sorry. Even though you worked hard for my sake. But stop doing things like this. Your skill is too dangerous. Lariel already had you use it, didn't he?"
At that, Inis nodded with a conflicted expression.
"Y-Yes. Only twice."
"...Twice, huh. What kind of future did you predict?"
At Rauno's question, Inis first told him the reasonable one. And then—
"About when Banseime would invade... and then, how to avoid a total disaster."
Rauno looked up, his expression equally conflicted.
"...Banseime is a problem, but the 'total disaster' part is a huge problem too. That's basically saying factional and power struggles are waiting for us!"
Rauno clutched his head in his hands—.
――South Banseime.
The guild near the entrance of the labyrinth was becoming more organized than before.
Novice adventurers had begun to show up, and since the first-class parties had moved their home base to North Banseime, the party led by Erhart had become the most capable adventurer party in South Banseime.
Their numbers had doubled from before, swelling to nearly fifteen people with the addition of newcomers. Erhart, appearing at the guild counter, headed toward where the staff member Rieue was. Then again, since that was the only reception desk, he had no choice but to go there.
"A-Ah, Erhart-san!"
Facing Rieue, who was waving, Erhart waved back awkwardly. Looking around, he saw novice adventurers glaring at him. Rieue was the cute type of staff member, and naturally, she was well-regarded by the adventurers.
She had received training at the Banseime East Branch and was now well-accustomed to her work. She handled adventurers well, making her an idolized figure to the rookies.
"O-Oh. Sorry, but could you let me confirm a few things? Entering the labyrinth is all well and good, but I want to start taking requests to go outside soon."
Erhart didn't specialize solely in entering the labyrinth to collect magic stones and materials, so he needed to look at requests coming from the surroundings of South Banseime and nearby villages.
This was because, despite their lack of experience, Erhart and his group were the top adventurers in South Banseime.
It was also because the South Banseime guild, merchants, and those higher up had been told to actively cooperate with them. In other words, such instructions had come from Lariel. While Erhart wasn't named specifically, since the surroundings were full of rookies, it resulted in Erhart and his group handling the requests.
Running a hand through his hair, Erhart spoke with Rieue, ignoring the gazes around him. However, the voices of those nearby reached him. Compared to Banseime, this was a small guild. It was only natural that voices would carry.
"What's with that tank-top guy?"
"He's the 'top adventurer in South Banseime' only because there's no one above him, right?"
"A guy like that will be overtaken in no time, and then I'll be with Rieue-chan—"
Hearing such voices, Erhart somehow began to feel embarrassed.
(...That bastard Lariel looked at me with those lukewarm eyes while I was making a scene. So this is what it's like. He definitely has a nasty personality.)
Calming down a bit and becoming aware of his surroundings, Erhart felt embarrassed remembering his past self.
"As for surrounding requests, there's the cleaning before the road maintenance in South Banseime. Soldiers will provide escort during the work, but there's talk that they want to request the guild to sweep out monsters and such beforehand. However, I'd be uneasy with other parties."
Based on the request details, in a South Banseime full of rookies, only Erhart and his group seemed capable of completing it. Erhart nodded.
"I've got a few rookies and I'm training them, but it'll be a while before they're useful. Even if I give them chore-type requests, they slack off if there's no one watching, so it'll be a long time before they're full-fledged. Then again, I'm barely more than a rookie myself."
At that, Rieue hurriedly began to praise Erhart.
"What are you saying! Back when the first-class parties were here for labyrinth matters, you volunteered for the chores and learned various things from them. Someone who can do that is... I-I think it's amazing."
Looking at Rieue, who was blushing, Erhart could only manage an "O-Oh."
(...Why? Why are women starting to flock to me now? Before, they'd run away even if I chased them.)
Feeling complicated, Erhart sighed and took the documents to confirm the contents. How many people to take, who to bring, and who to let rest. While he was deep in thought, a voice called out from behind.
It was a group around the same age as Erhart. Rookies who had just become adventurers had formed a party and were acting with overconfidence.
"Hey, Rieue-chan, why don't you give that request to us? I think we can handle something like that by now. If we only do cleaning and chores forever, it'll honestly get stressful, or rather—"
They told her to give them the request she was about to give to Erhart. However, Rieue replied seriously.
"Please do that after you've earned a Rank C or higher in chore-type work. Besides, your equipment is not suitable for the request. You must gather the minimum required equipment before accepting requests."
As the rookie adventurers looked frustrated, their gaze shifted to Erhart.
"T-This guy's dressed weird, and his party is—"
They began complaining about Erhart, but those around them were lowering their opinion of the rookies for doing so. They probably wanted to show their best side to Rieue, but seeing them spin their wheels was so embarrassing that Erhart felt his face catch fire.
It was then. Perhaps worried that Erhart hadn't returned, his party members entered the guild.
...It was a female adventurer.
"Erhart, are you still not done confirming? Then come along and help me shop first. Look, a new shop opened on the street, and I want to check it out."
She was an adventurer who had once been charmed and led around by a Cartaphus adventurer named Larc. At the appearance of the capable and beautiful female adventurer, Rieue looked at her with half-closed eyes.
"Erhart-san is in the middle of confirming a request. If you want to shop, please go alone. Interfering with the leader's work—as an adventurer, what's with that?"
At Rieue's prickly words, Erhart began to panic. The rookie adventurers were also bewildered.
The female adventurer spoke.
"I'm not interfering. If he's confirming, I'll just wait, so that's fine, right? Besides, this is a party matter, so I don't want to be told various things by a staff member."
Erhart thought.
(Damn it, why didn't those guys hold her back? They must have known I was going to the guild.)
"Those guys" were the youths from the same village who had been active as adventurers with him from the start. They were the ones who had come to Banseime with Erhart, become adventurers, and caused problems with Lariel. He had told those comrades to keep the other female adventurers in check.
However, the result was this: an argument had started inside the guild.
"For the most part, Erhart-san is the top adventurer in South Banseime. That's why the work is concentrated on him, so why don't you capable people form a new party and take on requests?"
At Rieue's words, the female adventurer replied.
"I caused trouble in Cartaphus. Erhart's job is also to monitor me, and as a party, we can't consider splitting our combat power. This is why people say staff members only push their own convenience. It's hard for us too. I wish we had more manpower."
Inside the noisy guild. From the stairs at the back of the guild, Marianne was coming down with a bundle of documents.
"Oh, another fight? Rieue, stop the arguing. The adventurers are troubled because you can't handle the reception."
Marianne cautioned Rieue. Then, Erhart looked at Marianne and greeted her bashfully while scratching his hair.
"H-Hello."
"...Yes, it's been a while, Erhart-kun. I hear you're doing your best. I'm happy too."
She responded with a smile, but there was a strange atmosphere between the two. Seeing this, Rieue puffed out her cheeks, while the female adventurer pressed her chest against Erhart's back.
"Come on, hurry up and finish confirming the request."
"O-Oh! I-I told you to get away from my back!"
Erhart hurriedly turned his gaze to the documents. The rookie adventurers watched the scene with their mouths agape—.
Inside the Lefence Royal Castle.
Shannon, jumping around near me, was trying to take the pudding on the plate I was holding.
"Hey, give it back! That's my pudding!"
"Don't be ridiculous! No matter how you look at it, it's my pudding. Besides, you've already eaten two puddings! Those finished plates are the evidence!"
After leaving the office and heading to a dining hall separate from the general one, I found Shannon eating there, consuming the puddings placed on the table.
Only one pudding remained—no matter how you looked at it, this was my pudding.
"You're a man, so be patient! Besides, I was told I could eat them if there were leftovers-uu!"
"Realize that there's no way there'd be leftovers since I'm here! I want sweet things too. Rather, if you ate two, you're the one who should be patient! No, you should show some restraint!"
When Shannon realized she couldn't snatch it due to the height difference, she clung to my clothes and shook me.
"Today's pudding is especially delicious! I haven't been able to eat any lately!"
"That's because you made a mistake at work! Your mistake! It's your fault for oversleeping!"
The dining hall—though I say that, the dining hall we use can only be used by a limited number of people. Only me and the members associated with me. Therefore, there was no one around besides me and Shannon. Because of that, the two of us were making a huge racket.
"Stingy! Lariel the stingy!"
"Greedy! Shannon the greedy!"
I think some weird switch had been flipped due to work stress. As we were making a noise, the door to the room opened. Meals had been prepared for four people. One was likely Rianne, but I didn't know who the other was.
Then, the moment my attention shifted, Shannon grabbed my arm, and the pudding flew into the air.
As it was, the pudding hit the face of the red-haired woman who had entered through the door—Aria—dead on. I think both Shannon and I saw the scene in slow motion.
The pudding lost its shape, stuck flat against Aria's face, and then began to drip onto the floor. Aria remained silent for a while, but—
"...You understand what I want to say, right?"
I immediately replied.
"N-No! This was Shannon!"
Shannon also waved her hands violently from side to side.
"That's not true! Lariel did this!"
Aria, licking the pudding off her face with her tongue, gradually developed a sharp gaze—and upon looking at the table, she seemed to notice the remaining pudding was gone.
"Where is my puddingggg!!"
"I'm sorryyyyyy!"
Saying that, Shannon dashed out of the room, and I jumped out of the room shortly after.
"Hey, don't screw with me! Why are you the only one escaping! This is your fault!"
I caught up to Shannon, who only became fast at times like this, and as the two of us ran down the hallway, something red passed between us and appeared in front of us.
Shannon stopped.
"T-That's unfair! Using a skill is unfair!"
Aria looked at Shannon.
"You're one to talk! I've heard about the various things you did to Miranda with your skill. Also, I wonder who it was that stole my pleasure?"
Looking at Aria cracking her knuckles, I pointed at Shannon.
"Y-You're planning to sell me out, Lariel!"
"No, you're the one who ate it. And you ate two, right? You're definitely the one at fault. Just get scolded by Aria."
When I said that and laughed, Aria's hand landed on my shoulder.
"Then, Lariel, shall we have you reflect on throwing pudding at me?"
...Yeah, I thought it would end up like this. That's why I ran.