Volume 2 Chapter 67 The Story Of ‘Natra’ I
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Maribel’s eyes, pleading for him to become her knight, were serious.
A normal person might have been moved or perhaps excited by perverse desires and agreed.
Kian thought about giving a quick response for his rise, but reason held him back.
Nodding here would mean losing his freedom──.
It would mean becoming Maribel’s pet.
He would have to follow her and navigate the noble world of the frontier as a lower-rank adventurer, a position of overwhelming disadvantage.
(This young princess is just desperately reaching out for allies.)
His body is his alone──.
To dedicate his life to Maribel here would yield far too little in return.
If she were to raise the stakes and come seeking help from a position of complete reversal, then he might consider accepting.
(And thinking like this shows I’m not a commendable person. Maribel seems to misunderstand me a bit.)
”…First, I did not blow away the windbreak. Do you think a lower-rank adventurer could cause such large-scale destruction? If it were possible, I would have been living lavishly as an advanced-rank adventurer, hunting dragons or whatever by now.”
”But Oswald”
”Didn’t Sir Oswald say it was a misunderstanding?”
”Isn’t your sword a magic sword?”
”This is my tool of trade. If others learn its effects, it could cost me my life. Please forgive me.”
”Um, then… will you not become my knight? You said before in the basement that it was okay.”
”That was just social nicety. It wasn’t from the heart. If I had answered honestly, the guards around would not have allowed me. I want to avoid trouble after fighting a strong enemy (golem).”
Maribel’s face turned as if deeply hurt.
Even if she make that face, he refuses to live a life just wearing down as Maribel’s shield, diving into a deadly place filled with disadvantages.
Being exiled from the Adventurers’ Guild is slightly better than being used up at the Great Ice Wall in the north.
”Your Excellency, what will you grant me? It’s a rather rude question, but it’s very important to me. ──Surely, you don’t think I would become your shield for free, taking the attacks in your place?”
”N-no, I’m…”
”If you will unleash hunting dogs just because I refuse, feel free.”
In that case, he will take away Maribel’s most precious friend ── Christy.
Once Christy falls into his hands, the hunting dogs Maribel can send are nothing to worry about.
Oswald and Renaud could use their wealth to increase the number of assassins, making them troublesome enemies.
However, Maribel’s personal assets are nothing significant for a noble.
After all, the Danofen family itself owes a huge debt to Oswald and has no way to repay it.
”N-no! I could never set hunting dogs on Kian, my life savior! My own conscience and the gazes of those around me would never allow it!”
”Your Excellency, unfortunately, I’m not seeking unconditional love or knightly honor. What I want is wealth, fame, and a stunning beauty.”
”……! I can’t believe words like McCutchen’s would come out of Kian’s mouth.”
(So that old steward is a materialist to the core. How deplorable.)
’You are a greasy monk to the last drop of blood.’
(Shut up.)
”Your Excellency, one cannot eat honor alone. Lord Guillaume was knighted and assigned dangerous missions, but that too is part of rising to power.”
”Well…, that seems true.”
”When seeking something from another, one must offer what that person desires. Otherwise, there’s no choice but to forcibly obtain it through plunder, theft, or extortion.”
”So, how can Kian become my knight?”
”If you guarantee me enough reward and my status, then I must receive a proper ‘favor’ for risking my life in ‘service.’ The way we face ‘service’ will differ.”
It’s a harsh statement, but it shouldn’t be wrong.
An employer who ignores this and forces compliance is no longer an employer.
They are an enemy that poses a danger to Kian.
”Is that ‘favor’ wealth, fame, and beautiful women?”
”Yes, especially wealth is important. Without wealth──land, gold, and rights, one cannot live. Ah, these are the conditions presented by Sir Oswald.”
”From Oswald!? …Ugh, has he beaten me to it?”
Maribel’s expression darkened as she received the knight contract from Kian.
Perhaps, she cannot offer better conditions than Oswald at this moment.
”Your Excellency, shall we pretend this conversation never happened?”
When Kian spoke the decisive line, Maribel’s eyes widened as if her heart was pierced.
Then she tightly clenched her gloved hands and pressed her lips together.
──After a moment, her eyes twisted, and tears began to overflow.
”──!? Your Excellency!?”
”I don’t need your sympathy! I am a defeated one!”
The blonde young princess said this while rubbing her eyes.
”It’s frustrating… I was so pleased to have outsmarted Waterman. It’s frustrating, frustrating!”
”Huh, Your Excellency…?”
”I see, it means I lacked both charm and wealth to win you over!”
”Charm has nothing to do with it. I have never harbored such disrespectful thoughts.”
”Kian must like girls with big breasts like Christy, right? You were always looking at Christy’s chest. I know!”
”────”
”…Did you really look? I was just testing you.”
”Christy has nothing to do with this. Your Excellency, I have a common mind.”
”Indeed, I thought it was a mistake to see you as the eldest son of the Twelve Divine Generals, a competent foreign prince who does everything excellently like in a story. But… I still believe Kian can become a great knight. That’s why I was trying to recruit you. However, without substance, I could not hire you. Next time, I will return with substance!”
”I see…”
He could only reply that way, overwhelmed by the momentum.
It seemed like the atmosphere would become awkward.
But he reconsider that it was better than becoming her servant easily.
He must protect his own rights.
”By the way, Your Excellency, is the exposure of your chest possibly to seduce me?”
”Huh?”
At Kian’s words, Maribel looked down.
It was frustrating, and while he was writhing in regret, the fabric loosened further, revealing a pale pink protrusion thinner than Christy’s at the peak of modesty.
”────!? W-Why didn’t you say something if you noticed it!?”
”I tried to ignore it. However, if it became visible up to that point,”
”You should have said so sooner!”
”I’m sorry. By the way, would you like to use a handkerchief? Your Excellency’s lovely face is getting dirty.”
”…Wipe it.”
”────?”
”Could you please wipe it?”
”Sure, that’s fine.”
This little whim is cute enough.
While Kian gently wiped Maribel’s eyes, she pouted her lips.
”That composed expression. It annoys me.”
”Your Excellency, I am already a 30-year-old man. If I had married appropriately, it wouldn’t be strange to have a child around Your Excellency’s age by now.”
At that moment, I sensed a strong magic power coming from the entrance.
This is Christy’s magic power.
Maribel seemed to notice too, looking toward the hallway direction.
”It is disrespectful to treat me like a child.”
”No, I’m just stating an objective fact. In another ten years, I’ll be old by commoner standards.”
”…….Hmph!”
Maribel, with a pouty expression, suddenly hugged my arm.
He couldn’t evade and ended up being clinged to obediently.
Between the gloves and the dress──he felt a sweet, milky body scent from her armpit.
”Your Excellency, could you please let go?”
”Huh? What shall I do?”
”No, you need to let go quickly.”
”────Manon? I’m back!”
The door creaked open, and the black-haired witch──Christy appeared.
”Ah, I’m so tired. You know, Manon, about that guy Rachid who was told to be fetched… Huh?”
As she spoke, Christy’s dark eyes caught sight of the two sitting together on the sofa with their arms crossed.
They were leaning side by side, like lovers.
”────Hey! What are you doing, you perverted monk!”
”Huh!? Is it me!?”
”Who else could it be! Let go quickly! If you keep touching your coat stained with your lewd bodily fluids, Manon will get pregnant!”
”That won’t happen!”
”Just let go, you rapist monk! If not, I’ll unleash my magic!”
”Okay! I understand! I get it, so lower your staff!”
”Hehehe.”
Maribel, successfully pulling a prank, placed her hand over her mouth.
Though honestly irritated, Kian stood up from the sofa without saying anything.
Christy was red-faced with anger, but in the end, she looked downcast and lightly tapped Kian’s shoulder with her raised magician’s staff.
”You idiot Kian…”
Was it a meaning to say not to get friendly with other women?
Was it a meaning not to approach Manon?
Fortunately, Maribel, looking satisfied, was about to rise from the sofa, not paying attention to the head magician’s demeanor.
* * *
According to Christy, the fat man bitten by a poisonous snake──Rachid──was nowhere to be found at the assassins’ hideout.
”I searched everywhere with Liam, but we couldn’t find him at all. Along the way, I even called out to the adventurer Guild staff who were at the ‘Labyrinth of Roses’”
”So, you gave up and came back?”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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