——In the Rufence Royal Castle, Rauno was given a room.
No—Rauno Bandelfia sat on the sofa, peeled off his jacket and tossed it aside, then loosened the collar of his shirt. He had been officially recognized as a knight, but the truth was, the way it happened left a bitter taste.
"Damn it!"
The infuriating part was that he'd been made to help capture suspicious individuals inside the Rufence Royal Castle. Helping out wasn't the problem in itself. But learning that his assistance had been leveraged for someone else's purposes—that was a different story entirely. Innis, who was in the room, stood with her head bowed by the wall.
Covering his face with both hands, Rauno spoke to Innis from the sofa.
"...Why did you go off and act on your own? I know I still had lingering feelings about becoming a knight. But if your Skill were to be discovered, someone would inevitably..."
Innis possessed a Skill called [Information] that granted her the power of future prediction. Frankly speaking, it was a Skill coveted not just by those in power—virtually anyone would kill for it. Depending on the information gathered, it could genuinely enable something close to precognition, which was exactly why Rauno had kept Innis's Skill hidden all along.
Innis kept her head bowed.
"I-I know. But Rauno becoming a knight... that was my dream too."
Hearing that made it hard for Rauno to argue back. After all, he himself had been grumbling about his lingering feelings for knighthood, practically spelling it out for Innis. Not that he even needed to—Innis could piece together the truth from accumulated information alone.
Worrying about Innis, Rauno continued.
"...Palaces and castles—places like that become ruthless when power struggles intensify. Do you really think those people are going to stay the way they are now, ten years from now? They will make their move. Miranda is no different. As a client, she pays well. The work is difficult, which just goes to show how much she values your ability. She's a decent person on a personal level. But... she will inevitably get her hands on dirty work. Even from what I know personally, that much is clear. Thinking about the future—"
Rauno's prediction was on the mark. Once Lyle defeated Banseim, the age of governance would begin. And with that would come the question of succession, followed by power struggles among the women.
If Innis had sought help from Novem, then Rauno was part of the Novem faction. Anyone could see that Rauno had Novem backing him.
That meant being dragged into power struggles and factional disputes. Innis looked apologetic, but still spoke up.
"Even so, she's someone who keeps her promises. And she's not the type to go out of her way to start conflicts—"
"It's not that simple! This isn't some naive world where you can avoid getting dragged in just by keeping your head down!"
Though it never showed on the surface, Rauno had seen enough power struggles to feel sick to his stomach. And he knew that Novem, when she decided to act, was not a woman to be trifled with.
That was exactly why—who would be commissioned when that time came? For Rauno, it was nothing more than a simple matter of arithmetic.
"He wouldn't make the first move himself, that much is true. But here's the thing — you know about what happened this time, right? The moment the Earl started recruiting allies, he had them disposed of immediately. Rather than using them, he cut them loose thinking about the future. And he did it all without consulting Lyle. That's the kind of guy he is. If the people around him start acting on their own, he'll do whatever it takes."
Having said that much, Rauno fell silent. Then he turned toward Innis.
"...I'm sorry. You worked so hard on my behalf. But you need to stop doing this. Your Skill is far too dangerous. Lyle already had you use it once, didn't he?"
Innis nodded with an ambiguous expression.
"Y-Yes. Twice, actually."
"...Twice? What kind of futures did you foresee?"
At Rauno's question, Innis relayed the less troubling prediction first. And then, after that—
"When Banseim would launch their invasion, and... what could be done to avoid the bloodbath."
Rauno looked up, wearing an equally troubled expression of his own.
"...Banseim is one problem, but the bloodbath is a huge issue too, isn't it? That's practically saying faction wars and power struggles are waiting for us!"
Rauno clutched his head in his hands—
—South Baim.
The Guild building near the dungeon entrance had taken on a more polished appearance than before.
New adventurers had started showing their faces, and since the top-tier parties had relocated their home base to North Baim, the party led by Erhard had become the most capable adventurer party in South Baim.
Their numbers had swelled to nearly double what they once were, and with the newcomers included, the roster had ballooned to close to fifteen members. Erhard, having made an appearance at the Guild counter, headed toward where Ryuen, a staff member, was stationed. Not that he had much choice — the reception desk was the only place to go.
"Oh, Erhard!"
Waving cheerfully, Erhard waved back in a somewhat stiff manner. Looking around, he noticed a group of new adventurers glaring daggers at him. Ryuen was a staff member of the adorable variety, and predictably, he enjoyed a good reputation among the adventurers as well.
He had received training at the Eastern Branch of the Baim Guild, and his work had become second nature by now. He handled adventurers with great skill, and to the newer recruits, he was someone to look up to.
"Hey. Sorry about this, but could I go over a few things with you? Entering the dungeon is fine and all, but I've been meaning to take on some quests outside as well."
Erhard didn't specialize solely in delving into dungeons to collect Magic Stones and materials — he also needed to keep an eye on quests issued from the South Baim area and the surrounding villages.
That was because, despite their limited experience, Erhard and his group were the top adventurers in South Baim.
It was also because the South Baim Guild, the merchants, and even higher-ups had all been instructed to cooperate actively. In other words, the orders had come from Riel. He hadn't pointed specifically at Erhard, but since everyone around was a rookie, Erhard's group ended up being the ones handling the requests in practice.
Erhard scratched his head as he talked with Lianne, ignoring the glances from those around him. But he could still hear their voices. Compared to Baim, this was a small guild. Conversations carried whether you wanted them to or not.
"What's with that tank-top guy?"
"They say he's South Baim's number-one adventurer, but that's only because there's no real competition, right?"
"I'll blow past a guy like that in no time, and then Lianne-chan is all mine."
Hearing voices like those, Erhard felt inexplicably embarrassed.
(...That bastard Riel — he watched me causing a scene with that lukewarm look on his face. So this is what he meant. That guy's definitely got a mean streak.)
Once he'd calmed down enough to take in his surroundings, Erhard felt embarrassed when he thought about his past self.
"For nearby requests, there's the cleanup before the South Baim highway improvement project. Soldiers will provide escort during the actual work, but they want the Guild to handle clearing out Monsters and such beforehand. The thing is, it's a bit worrying if we hand it to another party."
Given the nature of the request, in a South Baim staffed almost entirely by rookies, only Erhard's group seemed capable of handling it. Erhard nodded in agreement.
"We've got a few new recruits we're training too, but it'll be a while before they're ready for real work. Even if we put them on miscellaneous errand-type quests, they slack off without someone watching, so it'll be some time before they're pulling their weight. Honestly, I'm barely more than a rookie myself."
At that, Lianne hurriedly began praising Erhard.
"What are you talking about! Back when there was a top-tier party handling the dungeon-related matters, you volunteered for all the grunt work and learned everything you could from them. Someone who can do that is... well... th-that's really impressive."
Watching Lianne's face turn red, Erhard could only manage a "O-oh."
(...Why is this happening? Why are women suddenly starting to hang around me now? Back in the day, they'd run the other way even when I was the one chasing them.)
With a complicated mix of emotions, Erhard let out a sigh as he accepted the documents and began reviewing the details — how many people to tackle it, whom to bring along, whom to give the day off. As he mulled over everything, a voice called out to him from behind.
It was a group of people around Erhard's age. A party of freshly minted adventurers, brimming with overconfidence.
"Hey, Lianne-chan, how about handing that request over to us? I think we're more than capable of handling something like that by now. If it's always just cleaning and grunt work, it really starts to get to you, you know?"
They were asking to take the request that Erhard had been about to assign to himself. But Lianne firmly pushed back.
"For things like that, you should wait until you've earned at least a C rating on errand-type jobs first. Besides, your equipment isn't up to the task. You'll need to come back with at least minimum gear before we can let you take on a request like this."
As the novice adventurers looked frustrated, eyes began to turn toward Erhard.
"T-this guy looks all weird, and besides, his party is—"
They were starting to complain about Erhard, but the people around them were watching this exchange and mentally lowering their opinion of the novice adventurers. They probably wanted to impress Ryuen somehow, but their flailing attempts were so embarrassing for Erhard that his face felt like it was on fire.
Just then, a party member walked into the Guild—perhaps worried about Erhard, who hadn't come back.
...It was a female adventurer.
"Erhard, are you still not done checking? If so, come shopping with me first. A new shop just opened on the street and I've been wanting to check it out."
She was the adventurer who had once been charmed and dragged around by an adventurer from Karthas named Raluk. Upon seeing this capable, beautiful female adventurer appear, Ryuen regarded her with narrowed eyes.
"Erhard is in the middle of confirming a request. If you want to go shopping, go by yourself. What kind of adventurer interrupts their leader's work like that?"
At Ryuen's sharp words, Erhard began to fluster. The novice adventurers looked troubled as well.
The female adventurer spoke up.
"I'm not interrupting anything. If you're confirming, I'll wait—so that should be fine, right? Besides, this is a party matter, and I'd rather not have guild staff telling me how to handle things."
Erhard thought to himself:
(Shit, why didn't they hold her back? They knew I was heading to the Guild.)
"They" referred to the young people from the same village who had been adventuring together with him from the very start. They were the ones who had come to Baim with Erhard and, upon becoming adventurers, caused trouble with the Laiel. He had asked those same companions to keep the other female adventurers in check.
But the result was this—an argument breaking out inside the Guild.
"Besides, Erhard is the top adventurer in South Baim. That's exactly why all the work piles up on him. If you're as capable as you claim, why don't you form a new party and take on some requests yourselves?"
The female adventurer responded to Ryuen:
"We're the ones who caused problems over in Karthas. Keeping an eye on us is part of Erhard's job, and expecting him to split his party's fighting capacity just isn't realistic. This is exactly why people say guild staff only push their own agendas. We've got our own problems too, you know. We could actually use more people."
Amid the noisy commotion inside the Guild, Marianne descended the stairs from the back of the building, carrying a bundle of documents.
"Oh my, are you fighting again? Ryuen, settle that argument already. Adventurers are waiting to be helped at the reception desk."
Marianne chided Ryuen. Upon seeing her, Erhard scratched his head and gave a sheepish greeting.
"H-Hey there."
"...Oh, it's been a while, Erhard. I've heard you've been doing well. I'm happy for you."
She answered with a smile, but there was an odd atmosphere between the two. When Ryuen noticed and puffed out his cheeks in response, the female adventurer pressed her chest against Erhard's back and spoke.
"Come on, hurry up and finish confirming the requests."
"O-Oh! S-So, get off my back already!"
Erhard frantically turned his eyes toward the documents. The novice adventurers stood there with their mouths agape, watching the whole scene unfold.
Inside the Ruffence royal castle.
Shannon was bouncing around near me, trying to grab the pudding on the plate I was holding.
"Hey, give it back! That's my pudding!"
"Don't be ridiculous! There's no way that's not my pudding. And haven't you already eaten two of them? Those empty plates are proof enough!"
After stepping out of my office, I headed to a separate dining hall from the general one, and that was where Shannon was eating—specifically, she was devouring the pudding placed on the table.
There was only one pudding left. And that was unmistakably mine.
"You're a guy, so just deal with it! Besides, I was told I could eat whatever's left over!"
"If I'm here, there's never going to be anything left over—don't you get that? I want sweets too! And if you've already eaten two, you're the one who should hold back! No, just stop altogether!"
When Shannon realized she couldn't reach it due to her height, she latched onto my clothes and started shaking them.
"Today's pudding is especially delicious! I haven't been able to eat any recently, you know!"
"That's because you kept messing up at work! It's your fault! You're the one who overslept!"
This dining hall—the one we used—was restricted to only a handful of people. Just me and the members connected to me. That meant no one else was around besides Shannon and the two of us. And so, we made a racket with no one to stop us.
"Stingy! You're such a stingy Lyle!"
"You're greedy! Shannon, you're so greedy!"
I think the stress from work had flipped some weird switch in me. As we carried on making a racket, the door to the room opened. There were four portions of food laid out. One of them was probably for Lianne, but I couldn't tell who the other was for.
Then, in the split second my attention wandered, Shannon grabbed my arm and the pudding went flying through the air.
The pudding sailed straight through the doorway and landed square on the face of the red-haired woman who had just walked in—Aria. I think the whole scene looked like slow motion to both of us.
The pudding lost its shape, stuck to Aria's face with a splat, then dripped onto the floor in little plops. Aria was silent for a while—.
"...You understand what I'm about to say, right?"
I immediately—
"N-no! It was Shannon who—!"
Shannon was waving her hands frantically side to side.
"I didn't do it! Lyle's the one who threw it!"
Aria licked the pudding off her face with her tongue, and her gaze grew sharper and sharper—then she glanced at the table and noticed there was no pudding left.
"Where is my pudding?!"
"So sorry!"
With that, Shannon bolted and fled the room, and a moment later I burst out after her.
"Hey, don't screw with me! Why are you the only one running away?! This is all your fault!"
Shannon was one of those people who only got fast in moments like these. I caught up with her, and the two of us were sprinting down the hallway when something red shot past between us and appeared right in front of us.
Shannon skidded to a halt.
"You—you cheated! Using Skills like that is cheating!"
Aria looked at Shannon.
"Oh, don't you start! I've heard all about how you did all sorts of things to Miranda with your Skills. And I'd like to know who it was that stole my fun!"
Watching Aria crack her knuckles one by one, I pointed at Shannon.
"W-Wait, you're going to sell me out, Lyle!"
"Well, you're the one who ate them. And you ate two of them, right? This is absolutely your fault. Go get chewed out by Aria."
As I said that with a grin, Aria's hand settled onto my shoulder.
"Then how about you reflect on the time you threw pudding at me, Lyle?"
...Yeah, I knew this would happen. That's exactly why I tried to run away in the first place.