Life At The CapitalThe capital of Meigis.
Within this city, there is an adventurer"s guild.
And my new residence was built close to it.
"It"s here."
Not too big, or small, it was a fairly nice house.
However, it"s a bit too big for just one person.
"It"s a very good house."
"When someone who lives in the royal palace says that, doesn"t it sound sarcastic?"
"You think so?"
The way she says things without being aware is scary.
"Well, today I"ll sort out all the luggage…
……Ah."
Come to think of it, I was forgetting one thing…
"Al-kun? What happened?"
"No, well, um.
The king knows who I am, right?
Things might get difficult if he tries to invite me."
"I don"t think you need to worry there.
My father only knows your name, and not your face."
"Yeah, but."
I glanced behind me.
Behind me, there was a group of guards who followed us all the way from my village to keep Fal safe.
"These guys have seen my face, and they even know where I live, right?
Will I be fine? If these people were called by the king and asked about me, wouldn"t my life here in the capital be over?"
"Don"t worry, I"ll shut them up."
"You"re surprisingly scary!?"
"I"ve planned for you to protect me in the future, and I wouldn"t won"t anyone like that to go through a painful experience."
"Hey wait. Why is it always like this with you. I haven"t said anything about working for the palace."
"Yup, because Al-kun isn"t going to work for the palace, he"s going to be working for me."
"d.a.m.n it! I"m going to be a bodyguard!!"
"By the way, I expect for you to be the head of the guards."
"Uwaaaaaaahh!!"
Good-bye my future life in farming.
"―Well, enough joking around, let"s go inside the house."
"I wasn"t joking though…
Oh! Guards-San, everything is fine, you can go back to the palace now!
Oh and by the way… If you tell my father anything about Al-kun… You know what will happen, right?"
As Fal said this, the guards" faces paled.
"Un… Understood!!
W, we… Well then! Please excuse us!!"
The guards left behind all my luggage that was in the carriage, and hurriedly returned to the palace as if they were running away.
"…I just realised right now but.
You"re keeping me a secret from the palace not because you want to inconvenience me, but because you don"t want me to be taken in by the organization within the palace…"
"Yup, there"s that too."
"Black-bellied!? You have a pretty face but inside you"re all black!?" ¹
"Really? When you say that, it kind of makes me happy…"
"Being happy because you got called black-bellied, how crazy are you!?"
Why did you suddenly glare at me.
"Phew… Finally finished…"
Even though I"ll be living here by myself, there was a surprising amount of things to unpack, so we ended up spending more time than expected.
"Al-kun, thanks for your hard work."
"Oh, you helped too, Fal. Thank you."
When I thanked, her, Fal turned around and looked at me, surprised.
"That Al-kun thanked someone…!?
Maybe it"ll rain stars tomorrow…" ²
"Okay let"s take this outside."
"Don"t worry, I"m only half joking."
That means you"re half serious…
Even I sometimes thank people too?
"Well, we"ve finished all the work for moving houses."
"Yeah, and I think I"ll head over to the adventurer"s guild tomorrow."
"If it"s Al-kun, I bet that you could become an S-rank very quickly. No, even an SS-rank might be possible. Try your best."
Adventurers have ranks ranging from SS rank~G rank.
But, SS rank is usually reserved for heroes, so it"s actually S rank~G rank.
I head that once you reach B rank or C rank, you"ll be considered a fully fledged adventurer, so that"s where I"m aiming to reach.
"Why would I aim for S? I"d stand out."
"Really? That"s a shame."
She didn"t look disappointed at all while saying this, so she probably didn"t care at all.
"Well, this is regrettable, but I"ll have to go home soon. Good luck tomorrow."
Fal then tried to leave the house, so I followed her.
"Are you seeing me off? I"m happy, but you don"t have to care so much."
"No, I"ll stay with you until we"re near the palace. I wouldn"t won"t you to be kidnapped like the first time we met."
"Really… Thank you."
I accompanied Fal as close to the palace as I could without getting seen by the gatekeeper, and after seeing her home, I returned to my home.
¹ To be black-bellied (and to be black on the inside) basically translates to being treacherous/traitorous.
² "Maybe it will even rain stars tomorrow." - Just an expression, said when something rare happens.