Volume 4 Chapter 15: An Escort Job

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Author: 夜州 (Yashu)

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The Narnis Company’s assets were all seized by the country. All their stores inside the nation came under the management of the kingdom.

Mathias was assassinated on the night of the fire. The adventurers who had been imprisoned alongside him as well, of course.

While they were being held at a guard station, someone had intruded, and they were all found dead the next morning, alongside the guards who had been guarding them.

Hearing about it a few days later from Magna, Cain was indignant.

“So the evidence is…?”

“About that, you know what happened at the company building, but Mathias’s home was also broken into, and they took all the evidence with them, it seems.”

Cain and Magna were discussing the incident in the royal castle.

“Speaking of which… I heard from Lil, no wait, Her Highness Liltana, that the captured adventurers let slip that the Narnis Company was being backed from the shadows by a higher-ranking noble…”

“Well, about that… it was almost definitely Corgino. He’s just making sure not to leave any evidence behind. If we had evidence, we could bring him in for questioning, but there’s nothing left anymore this time round… If you could not mention that to anyone I’d be grateful…”

Marquis Corgino’s involvement in the case was quite gray, and as such, he would not be receiving any punishment. It was all handled as if he had only come across the incident when he accompanied the Narnis Company on a business transaction. Marquis Corgino was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, so he was the person who dealt with other countries, but as he was actually really good at his job, Magna told Cain that they couldn’t just sack him.

Then, at the end, Magna delivered Cain a message from the king.

“By the way, Sir Cain, the king wanted me to tell you something: ‘Hearing about that mansion being cut in half was pleasant. Although, as there is no evidence, we don’t know at all who could’ve done it,’ he said.”

“––Is that so… what a catastrophe indeed…”

Cain could but answer so, smiling wryly.

“Even though they know who the criminal is…”

Cain murmured inside his carriage on his way home from the royal castle.

However, although they all knew that he had been the one to destroy Marquis Corgino’s house, Cain was not guilty.

The two things were the same. However, the destruction of a high-ranking nobleman’s mansion had a stronger impact than an incident that occurred among commoners, and it became the topic of gossip among the nobility.

“I think I’ll take a request to clear my head a bit…”

Cain arrived at his mansion, quickly put on his adventurers’ outfit, then left the mansion, heading towards the adventurers’ guild.

Unsurprisingly, the guild in the royal capital had a lot of receptionists.

“It used to be Letia-san… the person in charge”

Cain looked at the bulletin board for the requests, but only requests up to B-Rank were pinned to it. A-Rank requests and higher had to be confirmed directly by the receptionists.

Cain lined up in front of a receptionist lady he didn’t know, waiting for his turn.

Five minutes later, it was his turn, and the receptionist called out to him.

“Welcome. Welcome to the adventurers’ guild headquarters in the royal capital. Are you here for a request? Or to register as an adventurer…?”

Seeing Cain, who was both young and didn’t have a request paper, the receptionist lady, still in her teens, thinking he was likely there for registration, started talking to him.

“No. I’m thinking of accepting a request, but it’d probably be better if I just asked Eden-san. Umm… please don’t be surprised.”

“Eh… what do you mean surprised…?”

Cain stealthily put his proof of being an adventurer onto the counter. It was, of course, the platinum adventurers; guild card.

Seeing that, the receptionist lady managed to stifle her surprised scream by covering her mouth with both hands.

“Please wait a moment. I’ll go ask for the guild master immediately.”

The receptionist lady hurriedly stood up and went off into the back of the building. Then, she returned a few minutes later.

“The guild master will meet you. I shall show you the way.”

“Thank you.”

Following the receptionist lady, Cain headed to the guild master’s office.

The receptionist lady knocked on the door, saying Cain was there, and permission to enter was given soon after.

“Oho, Cain-kun, thanks for coming. Thank you miss, that’ll be fine, I’d like to talk in private,”

“Yes! Excuse me.”

Cain entered the room, and the receptionist lady nervously closed the door.

Cain sat on the sofa while Eden brewed two cups of tea and placed them on the table.

“Sorry for coming here all of a sudden. I just thought I’d do a request once in a while… and Letia-san used to be the one to help out with that…”

“Yeah, that’s true. How’s Letia doing? Babysitting Rikisetsu must be hard work.”

Eden laughed, taking a sip of his tea.

“She seems to be doing fine. I haven’t heard anything from my brother Alec, the deputy governor either, so I doubt there are any problems.”

“Really, that’s good then. Well, it’s ‘cause Letia’s excellent at what she does. Really, she was pulled out of here, and now we’re in trouble here in the HQ. But a request, you say… Cain-kun, are you in the mood for an escort job?”

“Being an escort…?”

As Cain had to go to school, he couldn’t leave the royal capital for extended periods of time.

Moreover, Cain was the head of a noble family, and if that came to light, problems would also arise. One never knew what would happen, especially when nobles were involved.

“Nah, there’s this amusing request, see. I doubt it’ll be any problem, even for you. Although, you can’t accept it alone, of course. You’ll have to blend in with the other escorts.”

“An amusing request, you say… I’m a little curious.”

“Actually, the one you’re supposed to be escorting is the child of a noble, but stuff happened, and, well… your destination is––”

Eden explained what the request was about.

By the time he had finished explaining the request, they were both smiling.

◇◇◇

On the weekend, in the early morning, a number of private escorts were standing around a fancy carriage. Cain was also there, with there being four other adventurers apart from him.

The four adventurers seemed to have only just reached adulthood. They were a party of two men and women each.

And among them, the man who seemed to be the leader was complaining loudly.

“Why do we have to also take care of some kid like this. Seriously, what was the guild even thinking…”

“Don’t say that. It’s our first time going to this town. We need someone who knows the place. Hey you, what’s your name? I’m Ninalee. This loudmouth is our leader, Lagett, and those two are Kros and Mine.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Cain. I look forward to working with you for the next two days.”

Cain greeted the other four escorts, bowing.

Lagett clicked his tongue, then went over to the client.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting. We’re all ready. Let’s go.”

At Lagett’s words, the small window on the carriage opened.

“Yes, let’s depart, please.”

The voice of a young girl came from the small window. Then, at the coachman’s sign, the private escorts set off on horseback, leading the way, followed by the carriage, which itself was followed by a luggage cart.

Then, Lagett said.

“Alright, let’s go then. Head towards Drintor!”

And thus, Cain and the others set out for the town governed by Cain himself.

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