"Food!"
"Shopping!"
"Let's find Lion or Canon!"
In response to my question, Amour suggested food, Jeanne and Aura suggested shopping, and Chris said she'd look for Lion or Canon. Chris's suggestion was obviously not because she "had business with the two of them" — it was clearly just that she "wanted to get in the way of Lion and Canon" — so nobody paid her any attention.
"So, how about we just stroll around town and pop into any shops that catch our eye?"
In the end, we ended up doing our usual town stroll as a group. Even Grandpa, who usually went off on his own, decided to tag along since he said he wanted to grab lunch.
"Man, the town seems noisier than yesterday."
"It sure does."
After we'd been strolling for about ten minutes or so, we could clearly feel a buzz that hadn't been there the day before.
"Could there be some kind of event going on?"
"Maybe it's a mass matchmaking... Chris, why don't you join?"
"Like that would ever happen! ...Tch."
"Maybe it's not a matchmaking thing — could it be a festival?"
"But the guild people didn't say anything about it?"
Amour teased Chris, who tried to give Amour a knuckle rap in retaliation but couldn't land it. Even as they watched the two of them, Jeanne and Aura — completely used to this by now — ignored the whole thing and scanned the surroundings, wondering if some unusual stalls had popped up.
"Perhaps the commotion is caused by Lady Lion being out on her inspection? And beyond Lady Lion, there are also Lord Albert and Lord Cain. Those three are quite the conspicuous bunch, so it would be perfectly natural for the town to become noisy."
We found Renny's theory plausible and were about to resume our stroll, but... someone came running toward us, so we stopped and waited on guard... though we quickly realized it was a guild employee, so we relaxed and welcomed them.
"So this whole ruckus is Grandpa's fault, then..."
"No, if anything, it's Tenma's fault."
"No matter how you look at it, the two of them are to blame."
"Well, maybe just a tiny bit of it is Chris's fault too."
"By that logic, it would be the young lady's fault as well."
According to the guild employee, we were the cause of all this commotion. Basically, since all the standout fighters from the martial arts tournament happened to be gathered in one place, it had turned into quite the scene. However, the reason nobody was brazenly approaching us was—
Grandpa and me.
There was the guilt they felt toward us, and on top of that, the urban legend that if you ever earned my disfavor, you'd somehow cease to exist before you even realized it—
an urban legend—
that was apparently the other reason.
"Hmm, so when you're telling a lie, mixing in a little bit of truth makes it all the more effective."
"It's not just a little! Half of it is the truth!"
"No, not even half of it is true."
I had reflexively retorted to Amour's nonsense, but for some reason, Amour looked extremely pleased.
As for why the commotion had only erupted now despite us having stayed in Russell City for several days — it had to do with Shiromaru and Solomon. Shiromaru had been taken outside a few days ago when transporting Canon, but the witnesses at the time only had a "Could it be...?" level of awareness. However, the news that a meet-and-greet session with Solomon had been held at the back of the guild — ostensibly for Canon's rehabilitation (which was really just one of Yuri's pranks) — had spread through the entire city, causing this uproar. Incidentally, the meet-and-greet had originally been planned for Canon alone, but Yuri had insisted on tagging along with something like, "As his uncle, as the guild master, I have to verify that it's safe!" As a result, guild employees were allowed to participate, and Shiromaru was added to the roster on top of that. The meet-and-greet only lasted a short while, but the guild employees' satisfaction level was reportedly through the roof, so Yuri sent two pigs' worth of pork as a reward for the two of them.
"But isn't about half of it Yuri's and the guild employees' fault?"
"Indeed. The meet-and-greet was held in a restricted area of the guild where non-employees couldn't enter, so unless someone — Yuri or one of the employees — leaked information to the outside, there's no way the story could have spread."
The guild employee who had been listening to our conversation bowed his head over and over, sweating like a waterfall.
"Hm? Ah, don't you worry about it. Even though I said the staff bears some responsibility, in the end, it's all Yuri's fault. A person in charge exists for exactly these kinds of situations... That said, Tenma — I'm going to go tease Yuri now."
With that, Grandpa took the employee along and headed back to the guild. When I asked about dinner, he said, "I'll have Yuri prepare it, so don't worry about me and enjoy yourselves." The moment Grandpa declared that it was all Yuri's fault, the guild employee's face had visibly relaxed with relief.
"Well then, let's leave Grandpa to Yuri and get back to our city stroll? Slarin, the wheelchair... right, that won't work. Shiromaru, pull me along."
Grandpa, who had been pushing the wheelchair until just a moment ago, was gone now, so I had considered asking Slarin for help but quickly realized that was out of the question and asked Shiromaru instead. I figured Shiromaru could manage pulling me along the way a sled dog would.
"I'll push it for you even without asking Shiromaru."
"I'll do it!"
Thinking that my asking Shiromaru was just a joke, Chris tried to push the wheelchair with a smile, and Amour competed with her for the task.
"Well, part of the reason I tried asking Shiromaru was to introduce him to the people of Russell City. Besides, I can get around on my own without help."
The wheelchair mechanism in this world was far inferior in performance to the ones from my previous life, but the basic structure wasn't all that different, so I could move it by myself. The only drawback was that it was incredibly tiring...
"You really don't need to hold back, you know."
"If Chris doesn't want to, I'll do it!"
Amour tried to grab the wheelchair before Chris could, but I reflexively rolled it forward to dodge.
"Why?"
"Well, it was so sudden..."
When I reflexively repeated those words to Amour, who looked puzzled by my dodge, she declared, "I'm pushing from now on!" A desperate, life-or-death crisis! ...Well, not really, but I steeled my resolve and focused my awareness, bracing for Amour's advance, when—
"Ah! There you are! I'm borrowing Tenma for a moment!"
Cain appeared from a side path and started pushing the wheelchair.
"Thief!"
Amour called Cain a thief, but he just replied, "Don't say things that sound so bad~" and didn't slow down at all.
"Hey! How far do you think you're going?!"
After riding along with Cain's wild dash for a while, Chris finally lost patience with being carted around without any explanation and demanded in a stern tone—
"Just a little more... There! I can see it! Over there!"
"Wha—! Sudden—ah... ngh!"
Chris couldn't react in time to Cain's sudden stop and nearly pitched forward, but Amour caught her at the last moment. She looked a bit uncomfortable from having her waist grabbed so abruptly, but it had to be better than face-planting into the ground.
"What in the world are you—hang on, Albert. What are you doing hiding out here?"
"You came, Tenma.
That...
can you do something about it? No—more than that, I'm begging you,
please do something about
that!"
I looked in the direction Albert was pointing from his hiding spot, and there stood Lion, with Canon pressed up beside her, gazing at the merchandise on display in front of a shop.
"Damn it! Were we too late?!"
"What's wrong with that? They look like they're getting along just fine to me."
When I answered, ignoring Chris's frustrated grumbling, Albert and Cain both shook their heads. So I took a closer look at the two of them, and—
"Lion's being pretty cold, isn't she? At this rate, I almost feel sorry for Canon."
What I noticed once I looked more closely was that Canon was trying to chat about all sorts of things, but Lion was giving her the cold shoulder the entire time, her eyes darting around restlessly as she scanned the surroundings over and over.
"Wait—is she looking for Albert and Cain, by any chance?"
"Could be... but I don't want to get too close and end up kicked by a horse."
"Even if that's not the case, I don't want a woman bearing a grudge against me."
They were putting on a brave front with their tough-guy act, but the truth was they were simply scared of Canon. I wasn't the only one who noticed—or rather, the women figured it out first. Chris and Amour in particular had their suspicions about the pair, and the interrogation was about to begin—no, it had already started. And in a matter of seconds, the two of them confessed without any resistance. Apparently, "When Canon first caught up with us, she had that look in her eyes—the look of someone who'd already decided to eliminate us."
"There's nothing to do but brace Lion for what's coming... I hate to say it, but it can't be helped. At this rate, it's as clear as day what Canon will end up doing... I wish she'd just drop dead."
Chris was saying such alarming things you'd think she couldn't tell the difference between a joke and her real feelings, but everyone present nodded along to the joke.
Given Canon's temperament—she'd already been openly hostile toward me—if things kept going like this, she could easily spiral into full-on obsessive stalker territory, or worse, become completely unhinged. Cain seemed to think that would be entertaining, but if Canon actually reached that point, the fallout could reach Albert and Cain too, so the two of them needed to come up with a serious countermeasure.
But a countermeasure was meaningless unless Lion was willing to cooperate. Nobody had any particularly good ideas, and eventually Chris piped up with, "Why don't we just get Lion drunk and toss her into the same bed as Canon?" But if we did that, they could retaliate by doing the exact same thing to us, and we'd have no grounds to complain—so Albert, Cain, and I shut that idea down flat. "Absolutely not!"
"For now, let's just say Lion lost sight of us and leave the two of them alone like this. Whether their relationship develops or not depends on Canon's efforts."
"Alright, let's go with that!"
Albert and Cain, the first to agree, hurriedly pushed my wheelchair away from the scene, trying not to catch Lion's attention. All we could do was pretend not to notice, and since no one had any better ideas, nobody said a word.
Once we'd moved a fair distance from Lion and the others, Albert and Cain started discussing future plans as if nothing had happened.
"So, first up is definitely food, right?"
"I know a good place for that."
We decided on one of the recommended spots the pair knew from their visits to Russell City. However, since it was a place they knew, Lion might know it too, so I asked about that. Apparently, the restaurant had private rooms available for an extra fee, which often attracted nobles looking for privacy, and the staff were well-trained, so even if
someone we knew
asked, they wouldn't leak any information.
"Plus, there are multiple entrances and exits, so unless something major happens, we're unlikely to run into anyone. At least in Russell City, it's probably the place where information is least likely to leak."
Even so, if someone gathered people to stake out all the entrances and exits, they could figure out who was using it. But since the people we needed to watch out for this time were Lion and Canon, we didn't need to worry that much.
"The food here is on par with the Royal Capital's."
"It was delicious!"
"As expected, the seasoning is different from the south... Lady, your speech."
"...It was de...licious."
"It was good, but..."
"Tenma's cooking is better!"
"Well, Tenma's cooking is the taste the royal family has approved, after all."
"Also, the novelty factor of Tenma's food is probably a thing too. This place's food is delicious, but there are other comparable tastes out there."
"Is that how it is? I thought this place was pretty delicious, and since it's made by a professional, the skill is definitely superior here... Wait a second, Lion is nearby."
As we left the shop and shared our impressions of the food, I suddenly sensed the presence of a person of concern and warned everyone to stay on guard. They all fell silent at once, and following my instructions, they ducked into a nearby side street to hide.
"He's really here."
"And if he came from that direction, there's a high chance he was at the same shop as us."
According to Albert, the alleyway where Lion and Canon had emerged led to one of the exits of the shop we'd just been using. Given Lion's satisfied expression, they'd probably been dining at the same place.
"Where are they headed... toward the center of the city? If so, should we head back to the guild? If we keep wandering around shopping, we're bound to run into those two somewhere."
"That's true. We're planning to stay in Lassel City for a few more days anyway, so there'll be other chances to shop. More importantly, if we bump into those two unexpectedly... I'd probably reflexively try to do something about Lion."
Hearing that, Jeanne and Aura—who had looked eager to go shopping—seemed to be afraid of Chris. They erased their presence and hid behind me.
"Going back to the guild is fine, but what are we going to do there?"
"I've been thinking it's about time to start rehabilitation in earnest. Since this is a good opportunity, I figured we could begin today... that's all."
My physical condition had recovered to a decent degree, so if I didn't start moving my body soon, I'd only continue losing muscle mass.
"It seems everyone's on board with that, so let's head out right away."
With that, Cain picked up the pace and began pushing the wheelchair forward. Lion and the others had gone in the opposite direction, so I said there was no need to rush, but Cain replied that Lion's instincts might kick in and he could come back. Everyone naturally quickened their pace upon hearing that.
"So about the rehabilitation—what exactly are you planning to do?"
"Leave the sparring to me!"
"No, sparring is not part of the first stage of rehabilitation."
"Well, obviously. Starting with stretching, I suppose?"
Amour had shown enthusiasm, but Cain quickly reined him in. I thought Chris might share Amour's idea, but as expected of someone serving in the Royal Guard—she understood what rehabilitation actually meant.
"Are you thinking something rude, by any chance?"
Chris's wild instincts had kicked in, and her gaze sharpened as she looked at me, but I immediately denied it and narrowly avoided trouble. Just like me, Albert, Cain, and Amour all shook their heads. Fortunately for them, they were outside Chris's line of sight, so none of the three ended up being pressed further.
"Well, today we'll focus on stretching and try to see how far I can walk. Albert, Cain—sorry to ask, but could you help me out?"
I explained the plan to Chris, and before she or Amour could raise their hands, I chose the two same-gender members. This was because even basic stretching could involve close physical contact, and I figured it would be impossible to truly work out my muscles with a woman as my partner.
Albert and Cain quickly caught onto my intent, taking off their outer robes and rolling up their hems to move freely, while Chris, looking resigned, had already secured Amour by the scruff of his neck.
"Sorry, Amour, but it's easier to do this sort of thing with someone of the same sex."
"But I don't really know any proper stretching routines, so give me clear instructions."
I gave them a brief overview of what I wanted them to do, then started the stretching. I was surprised to find my body was much stiffer than I had expected. I had been resting, true, but I thought I'd still been moving around enough. To struggle this much was unexpected.
"Tenma, should we take a break for a bit?"
"Yeah. Looks like our audience has grown without us noticing."
As I struggled through the stretches, the adventurers who operated out of Russell City had gathered to watch. Well, we were currently using the guild's training facility, so they had no right to complain about spectators. Still, having everyone gawk at me while I was having such a hard time wasn't ideal, so I called for a break at a natural stopping point.
Once I stopped stretching, most of the watching adventurers filed out of the facility. A few lingered—pretending to train on their own, or clustered in small groups chatting while keeping an eye on us.
"Hey, those guys huddled together are giving me a bad vibe."
"Yeah, it's been a while since I've seen guys who look so… classic. They're probably thinking something like, 'The current Tenma might be doable.'"
"Well, to be fair, I'm not even operating at a tenth of my normal capacity right now."
Based on the atmosphere of that group, they were likely plotting to defeat me and make a name for themselves.
"Then again, is it even crossing their minds that Tenma might not go down?"
"What's really strange is them not considering the possibility of losing to Tenma in his current state. If it were me, even with Lion and Cain fighting alongside me as a condition, I absolutely wouldn't take that risk."
"That's because you know Tenma well. Still, I wouldn't do it either. Even if he can't move properly, he still has magic…"
"And Slarin and the others!"
"There's also the Golem, right?"
"Tenma, want to use the scorpions? I think they'd be perfect for intimidation."
"Should I bring out Number Two as well?"
Jeanne and Aura had grown accustomed to situations like this and always kept the scorpion-type golems ready to deploy at a moment's notice. A single scorpion was already overkill in terms of combat power, but if those guys were the type to come in a group targeting someone who was weakened, then maybe it wouldn't hurt to just crush them with the golems... though magic for an instant kill might be easier and cleaner in various ways... — and while I was thinking all this,
"Grrrrrrrr..."
Shiromaru leaped out of the bag, back in his full-sized form, and let out a low growl. His gaze was fixed on the group of men who had been huddled together talking.
"Ah! They're running!"
"Tenma, won't you get in trouble? They technically haven't done anything yet."
"Shiromaru only growled. That's all he did — nothing more and nothing less. They just got scared on their own and left! ...Let's just go with that story."
It was a pretty forced explanation, but since Shiromaru hadn't actually lunged at them, the guild staff should be able to buy it... if they still had objections, we might just need to hold another socialization event.
"Even so, Shiromaru really picked the perfect moment to jump out... wait, was that Slarin's idea?"
When I went to praise Shiromaru for a job well done, he had already turned his back to us, wagging his tail while accepting a reward treat from Slarin.
"She was probably trying to prevent a future where those guys got crushed by Tenma and ended up permanently crippled."
"Slarin, good girl! What a great job!"
"Tenma doesn't hold back against enemies, after all."
"Well, sure, he goes easy on allies to make up for that... but every now and then, when I was shadowing along on Lion's escorts, I'd be grateful that he didn't attack without asking any questions."
Before I knew it, the topic had smoothly shifted from praising Slarin to talking about me. Before long, Chris had somehow started recounting the story of when he first met me, and was spinning a tale that was quite far removed from what actually happened.
"Heyyy! So this is where you guys are! There's been a commotion at the front desk — some guys claiming they got set on by Shiromaru!"
"Tch! He's already back?!"
I had been ignoring Chris and doing my walking rehabilitation with Albert and Cain's help when a ridiculously loud voice boomed from the entrance — it was Lion. Beside him stood Kanon, looking rather displeased. And the moment those two appeared, Chris took one step into the dark side.
"We should've just stayed out shopping together a while longer..."
"That's right. Since we have the opportunity, why don't you take your time and go survey the town? There are sides to it that you won't be able to see with us around."
"I know, but... it just isn't the same without you guys."
At Lion's dangerous remark, Albert and Cain slowly backed away to put some distance between them.
"Hey, Cain. Don't use me as a shield."
"Sorry. I don't think Tenma is the target, so just bear with it. For my sake!"
Cain, retreating while using me as a shield, wore an expression more serious than I'd ever seen on him.
Albert had a look that said "Oh, that's an idea!" but since there was no room behind me, he tried to hide behind Chris—only to get kicked away with "I'm not fat enough for you to hide behind!" Both of them seemed to be in a state of moderate panic.
Kanon, standing beside Lion, glared at the two flustered men while gripping Lion's sleeve. However, Lion—
woman
—despite having his sleeve grabbed by a woman and being at such close proximity they were nearly pressed together—showed not the slightest hint of caring.
"He should just drop dead..."
Watching the two of them, Chris sank even deeper into her dark side than before.