Vol 2 Chapter 35 – Return to Rakan Village【Exile to the Empire Arc】

After defeating the High Goblin, Roy’s party loaded the group from the entrance of Rakan Temple onto their wagon and returned to the village.

When they arrived at the village, the village chief and guild staff members were waiting for them.

“A swordsman with black hair and red eyes… You’re the leader of the party that was involved in the High Goblin subjugation, correct?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Why?”

The guild bigwig radiated an atmosphere thick with tension. Behind him stood the village chief, and further back, the reckless rookies who had charged through the northern rear entrance were peeking out like shy children hiding behind their parents.

Even though they were grown men—men who could easily carry longswords on their backs—there wasn’t a shred of cuteness to it. Roy could already sense what was coming next and let out a sigh.

“…Haah. What do you want? I’m sensing quite the hostile atmosphere here.”

The guild bigwig stepped forward and began explaining with exaggerated hand gestures.

“According to this party called the ‘Phoenix Knights,’ your party arrived later and interfered with their operation. Is that correct?”

The reckless rookies—the so-called Phoenix Knights—nodded in unison, led by their leader wielding a longsword. Seeing this, Yukino exclaimed, “Huh? Why?!” while Sarina muttered, “What a farce…” Palco sent a gesture from afar indicating he was preparing to move the wagon—good coachman, preparing for a quick departure in case of emergency.

“Let me be clear—we took on an emergency quest for the sake of this village. Why can’t any of you offer even a single word of gratitude? Besides, these guys refused to treat the party that charged in first. Thanks to them, our single party had to take on the challenge alone.”

The leader who had been hiding behind the village chief apparently took offense at Roy’s words and stepped forward.

“We could’ve taken it down just fine with our party alone! You guys ruined our strategy by pulling that pincer attack!”

Then Sophia stepped forward and smacked the leader across the cheek.

Smack!

“Ow! What the hell?!”

“Get a hold of yourself! If you’re going to be an adventurer, face your own inadequacies. Otherwise, next time no one will come to help you!”

“What did you say?! You bitch!”

The enraged leader swung at Sophia—but it never connected.

Crack!

“Guheh!”

The guild bigwig had driven a straight punch into the leader’s gut. The leader flew back about a meter and skidded to a stop in a cloud of dust. Even the village chief was stunned, his expression transforming into one that seemed to ask, “Why?”

The guild bigwig then turned to Roy.

“You misunderstand. Our guild was conducting a fair investigation before rendering judgment. We were merely confirming the facts. Ah, and village chief—it was because you insisted that we arranged this confrontation. Normally, matters like these would be settled through a duel, you know?”

“Ah… well, I beg you, please spare us from a duel!”

Something’s off. Why is the village chief going so far to support this party? As if reading Roy’s doubts, the guild bigwig pointed at the leader.

“He’s a noble. He used money to graduate from the advanced academy’s adventurer course. After that, he made this safe village of Rakan his base, hunting goblins and bragging about it to his servants and parents. You know that graduates from the advanced academy get priority when accepting quests, right? He forcibly cut in line. The result is as you witnessed—his lack of ability has caused problems not just here but elsewhere as well.”

“You believe us?”

“What you’re holding is the High Goblin’s magic stone, isn’t it? And you’re the most injured. I can clearly see you fulfilled your duty as the vanguard. The wagon behind yours belongs to the party that went ahead, I presume. I don’t need to say more—the rest is obvious.”

Roy had been fed up with nobles lately, but apparently there were some decent ones out there after all.

Roy revised his perception and handed the magic stone to the guild bigwig. Off to the side, the leader was rubbing his swollen cheek while the village chief and party members tried to calm him down.

“Are you going to be okay for hitting him?”

“When dealing with a thug who tries to strike a woman, status matters not. Besides, the guild’s iron rule is non-interference, even with royalty. …Though I’d like to say that, but honestly, I can’t speak for the other branch chiefs.”

“What’s going to happen to them?”

“Their advanced academy graduation credentials will be revoked, and their rank will restart from F… They’ll be doing adventurer work under the same conditions as everyone else. Though since they started adventuring as a hobby, they probably won’t continue.”

Roy thought the punishment seemed rather lenient, but as this man said, they probably wouldn’t be adventurers anymore anyway.

“Well then, I’ve received the magic stone. Please visit the guild later.”

With that, the guild bigwig and staff departed. The guild’s headquarters actually exists in the free city of Freiheit. Antagonizing the Grandmaster there could lead to the guild withdrawing from one’s own country, making it difficult for nations to interfere. If they withdrew, the country would have to solve its own problems with domestic forces, greatly reducing national defense capabilities.

That said, the guild doesn’t act superior or interfere with the policies of nations it operates in.

◆　◇　◆

Afterward, Roy’s party received their reward at the guild and stayed at the inn. After getting three rooms in the lobby and just as they were about to disband, Sophia lightly tapped Roy’s shoulder.

“Roy, do you have a moment?”

“Hm? What’s up?”

“Um, well. This is—”

“Roy-san!! It looks like there’ll be pancakes for breakfast tomorrow! I’m so excited!”

“Yukino, there’s no breakfast.”

“Huh?! Why not?!”

“We’re economizing. Sarina is out buying provisions for tomorrow’s breakfast right now. We’ll eat breakfast in the wagon.”

“Roy-san is so meaaaan~”

Yukino left, and in the distance Manabu made some kind of exasperated gesture for some reason.

“Ah, Sophia. Didn’t you need something?”

“…It’s nothing. I’ll be taking dinner in my room today, so see you later.”

Sophia headed to the second-floor guest rooms without waiting for a response. After closing the door, she leaned against the wall and rolled three black rings in her hand.

“I couldn’t give them to him again. Was I always this much of a coward…?”

She put away the rings and dove onto the room’s bed, falling asleep until her roommate Sarina brought dinner.

Vol 2 Chapter 36 – A New Thread【Exile to the Empire Arc】

Roy’s party departed Rakan Village without breakfast. Having more people meant more food expenses. As the leader, he told the party to cook their own meals as much as possible, but Yukino was a bit pouty since she had wanted to eat this morning’s pancakes.

He actually wanted to ask Sophia to be the leader—she had the combat ability to block Kairo’s strike—but she adamantly refused. According to Sophia, “I’m the supportive type, so I’m not good at leading,” some nonsensical statement like that.

So Roy reluctantly took on the role of leader.

After three hours of travel by wagon, they set up a simple camp to have a late breakfast. Incidentally, simple camps use built-in incense that emits a scent to keep monsters away, making camping relatively safe. Of course, it doesn’t work on high-level monsters, so you can’t let your guard down.

After setting up camp, Sarina and Palco handled the cooking, while Manabu read a book befitting his name. Yukino and Sophia were organizing supplies.

With nothing to do, Roy sat in a folding chair and pulled the holy sword from his dimensional storage to check its status.

『Status』

Roy & Yukino (Shadow Mage, Healer)

Gram +72↑12
Total Power 7180
『Holy Sword Trait Enhancement』

Thyrsus +72↑12
Total Power 6940
『Skill Improvement』

Sarina “Spear Master”
Meteor Spear (Lightning)

Manabu “Earth Mage”
Meteor Grimoire (Earth)

Sophia “Holy Knight”

Holy Lance Longinus +105
Total Power 9610
『Magical Amplification: Overload』

He was gradually catching up to Sophia, a senior wielder of holy weapons, but the gap was clearly greater than the numbers suggested. Despite this being the party’s first battle together, her technique was so advanced that she synchronized attacks with Sarina. On that day she returned to the Empire, what kind of hellish battles had she endured until now?

With a slight feeling of frustration, Roy turned his gaze to the trait section of the status.

He had thought that maybe defeating the High Goblin would grant him some new trait, but only the numbers had increased significantly. When he purified Sarina, the numbers jumped dramatically too, but no new trait appeared. And this time as well… There must be some other pattern to it.

He stored the holy sword back in the dimensional void and began a mental simulation battle against his greatest enemy. No matter how many times he tried, he was defeated with the first move… Even if “Shadow Maiden” or “Shadow Prison” connected, the only future he could envision was having it immediately torn apart.

For Roy, the one who had utterly defeated him—Kairo—was still far beyond reach. The Black Knight Kairo, truly an enigmatic man. Roy had heard rumors about him: terrible work attitude, leaving his subordinates who do as they please alone. Combat ability to overturn the tide of battle single-handedly, audacity to serve no one but the king with a carefree demeanor.

Yet such a man wasn’t sending pursuers after them…

“…Haah. Are we being toyed with?”

Perhaps hearing Roy’s muttering, Sarina wiped her hands on her apron and sat down next to him.

“Being toyed with?”

“Yeah, if he were serious, our escape would be much harsher. We wouldn’t be relaxing like this. When he hunts his prey—us—he’ll appear with Haruto at the worst possible moment.”

“I see. Maybe what you said about meeting Haruto again isn’t so far off.”

“Right? But why did you come with us anyway, Sarina? My proposal didn’t have much certainty to it, did it?”

“I told you I have nowhere else to go, didn’t I? Besides, if such a beautiful woman is his fiancée, I don’t have a chance… no, that’s not…”

Roy was confused by the uncharacteristically weak statement, and when he glanced at Sarina beside him, he was even more confused. She was clutching her apron tightly, looking down, desperately holding something back.

“Ah… um, how do I put this. Er, did you get a good look at Haruto’s face at the parade?”

“…His face?”

“During the engagement parade, he had the same expression you have right now, you know? I’m sure he doesn’t want this either.”

Sarina showed a surprised expression at those words.

“Don’t make that face. It’s not like you. Being straightforward and devoted is what makes you Sarina, isn’t it? Rather than that teary face, you should have your usual grumpy expression.”

“Sh-shut up!”

With that shout, Sarina stood up and ran toward Palco… but stopped midway.

“Later, there’s something I want your help with. Come at night… and, thanks.”

Sarina left behind a dumbfounded Roy.