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Chapter 2 – 14 (part 1)

From Farewells, to…

When I woke up, it was already well past noon. I felt pretty restless so headed down to the first floor. Lilly and the others were already up and had all gathered around a table.

“Good morning, everyone……is Flute-san off work today?”

Though I greeted them, n.o.body replied. I thought it was strange, so I turned to Milly, the one nearest to me, and clapped her on the shoulder.

“Funya! ……Ow, ow ow ow!”

she shrieked, and held her head. Looking over at the other three, they continued,

“My head is pounding~”

“It feelsh s...o...b..aad~”

“It hurts~ it's so painful~”

“I drank too much~. Ah~ Tenmsan, go~od morning~ … hic.”

……All four of them were spectacularly hungover. I reached into my bag and pulled out not just the usual anti-hangover medicine, but instead a specially made status effect recovery medicine, and gave it to the four of them to drink.

After drinking the medicine and then applying recovery magic, their symptoms seemed to have gotten considerably better.

“Hey grandpa, I'd like seconds!”

“Me too, a second helping please!”

“Make mine a really big serving!”

They were back to normal. As if they were completely cured, they ate a second helping of the innkeep's specially made okayu1 for sick people (aka those with a hangover).

“……Soup is just fine for me.”

Flute-san seemed like she had little appet.i.te, and just drank some soup.

“So then, Flute-san. Is your work situation okay today?”

“Yes, I took today off just in case. ……I think the Guild Leader is filling in for me right now.”

Even on her day off it seems she hasn't changed much, and was forcing the Guild Leader to work.

“Is that right…… Ah, I have to go out soon.”

The moment I said that,

” ” ” Tenma, you're leaving already?! ” ” “

The three catgirls, cheeks stuffed full of okayu, reacted strongly.

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“No no, not like that. I just thought that I would go and say goodbye to all the people who've helped me out.”

After explaining that, they said they understood and to have a good time, then returned to their congee.

I left and first went to the Knight Headquarters. I asked the receptionist for Primera, but she was apparently out patrolling the city. I said I would be back again later to discuss something important.

Next, I went down to the Gunjo City council main office, and asked the receptionist there for Marcus.

I had good timing, as he was free and came by right away. Upon seeing me, he bowed his head.

“I want to thank you again for helping Serna. Now, what business brings you here today?”

“Ah, actually I've just recently decided to leave the city, and I thought I would say goodbye.”

Hearing this, Marcus seemed surprised, and in a soft voice said,

“I had suspected it, but is this because of the duel yesterday?” he asked.

“That is one reason, but originally I just wanted to travel, and I thought it would be a good chance to start that up again.”

“I see…… You know, my house is pretty close to here, and Serna's home. Would you mind waiting a little, so I can call her over?”

I agreed to wait, and Marcus took off from the reception room with a jog.

He returned about 10 minutes later, completely out of breath and unable to speak. Serna, who had followed him was also winded, and about 2 minutes later they had returned to normal.

“It's been a while, Sernsan. Have you been doing well?”

Serna had been captured by the thieves not too long ago, so I expected her physical strength to have weakened considerably. Seeing her now though, it felt as though that might not be the case.

“I have, Tenmsan. I'm very grateful for all the ways that you've helped me. The recovery medicine you gave me worked, and I'm in even better physical condition than I was before.”

she answered with a smile and laughed. But suddenly, her expression turned serious.

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“Tenmsan, would you take me along with you? I want to do something to pay you back!” she asked.

“I can't. I wouldn't be able to take you with me.”

I very clearly refused. Marcus had a surprised expression after Serna had asked and seemed relieved after hearing my reply.

“But why? Is it okay to ask for your reason?”

“It's because I would be taking on a burden. You really can't bring someone without an unwavering determination along with you on a journey where their life may be at risk.”

I looked at both Serna and Marcus.

“If something were to happen to Sernsan, I wouldn't be prepared to take responsibility.”

After hearing my words, Serna said,

“……It seems I've been rejected, that's too bad.”

Although it didn't sound too bad to me, I felt a little guilty for it coming out in such a harsh way.

“Tenmsan, where do you plan on going?”

Marcus came back into the conversation…… Honestly speaking, I forgot he was there.

“I thought I'd go to a dungeon somewhere. I'm not sure what will happen on the way there.”

“Hmm, is that so. There's quite a ways to go between this city and any of the nearest dungeons.”

“But if it's Tenmsan, wouldn't it be faster for him to just fly to a dungeon?”

Serna was exactly right. However,

“Hey now, Serna. That wouldn't be fun at all though, would it? You have no sense of adventure!” Marcus said.

I had to agree, and nodded. Marcus did have a point, but

“Marcus-san. You guessed what I wanted to say, but that's not my reason for it.”

Going against what he had said,

“Sernsan, this trip will be kind of like training for me. In order to have all sorts of different experiences, I plan on traveling via horse drawn carriage.”

Speaking as a guy, I agreed with what Marcus said earlier. But traveling for experience was a much more important reason.

“So it's more like that then…… I thought that surely, the dungeon would've been the only goal.”

“Nah. Because it's actually like this instead, I'm going around to say my goodbyes.”

After that, we spoke about more lighthearted topics, and the mood brightened up and became lively. Marcus had to go back to work so it was only for about an hour, but it was an enjoyable time.

During that time, I asked Serna about how the other women were doing. It seems they all were recovering…… Their physical injuries and stamina had recovered, however it seems some of them still had lasting mental scars. Upon seeing a man or being approached by one, some of them would burst into tears out of fear, or start to panic, still.

It seems that the only thing left to do is to let time heal their wounds, Serna said.

After that, I decided to go back to the Knight Headquarters to try again, and parted ways with Serna and Marcus in front of the council office.

Serna looked like she wanted to see me off until I disappeared on the horizon, and I was embara.s.sed each time I turned my head to look back.

I reached the Knight Headquarters and asked the receptionist same as before. It appeared they had already spoken with Primera about it, and they guided me to where she was.

“h.e.l.lo, Tenmsan. I heard from the receptionist that you've chosen the day you're going to leave?”

Primera asked me right after I entered the room.

“Yeah, I thought I would head off on my journey in 2 or 3 days, so I came to say goodbye.”

“Oh, really. You decided quite quickly.”

Primera had met up with the Duke yesterday so she wasn't surprised that I was going to leave the city. But she didn't think I would leave in only 2 or 3 days, so the speed seemed surprising to her.

―~――~―――~―――~――~― This chapter was translated by Refulgent for [ FourSlimes . com ] ―~――~―――~―――~――~―

“Is the duke not here?”

“Ah, father returned home yesterday. I'm not sure but, it seems like Regil was transferred to the royal capital as quickly as possible.”

The Duke was as swift as ever. As was usual with him, when a matter was important enough, he moved quickly.

“Hmm, is that so. Then if you get the chance, please send him my regards.”

“Yes. I'll make sure I will.”

We spoke more easily after that for a while, but then,

“Primera, excuse me for interrupting!”

The Knight General Captain called out suddenly. He and the three other Knight Captains came in.

“Is something wrong, General Captain? Everyone is here, too.”

General Captain Alain answered,

“Is something wrong, she says. Tenma is here to say farewell because he's going to leave the city, isn't he?!”

“That's right, Primera. He's contributed greatly to keeping this city safe. I think it's only natural that we'd come and say goodbye.”

Santos said, and Aida followed up by saying,

“Isn't it terrible that you didn't even let us know?”

Aida gave Primera a sharp glare as she spoke.

“Now, now, calm down. We all know that Primera can be absentminded sometimes.”

Simon acted like he was sticking up for Primera, but in reality was making a jab at her.

“Ahh! I'm really sorry. I completely forgot!”

He didn't even need to say anything else, as Primera proved it herself. The men laughed, but Aida started to fidget with her weapons and armour.

“Ah, we've gone a bit off topic, though. Anyways, we're here to see Tenma in person.”

Maybe because Aida seemed put off, Alain brought the conversation back around.

“I am truly sorry about this. By all means I should have told you but……”

“You don't have to be so formal. We're different from the royal knights of the capital, and this isn't exactly an elegant place. And anyways, we're here to ask a favor of Tenma.”

Alain interrupted when I tried to speak, cutting in to talk about the favor.

What Alain wanted was, to make a long story short, a battle. However, it was quite a strange match as it would be me alone vs each of the five Knight Captains.

Hi, Refulgent, your translator here, if you like my translations, you can show your support by leaving a comment or constructive feedback at Four slimes . com I'd love to hear from you directly~

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Translator's NotesOkayu (also known as congee or jook) is a savory rice dish made by boiling rice in a great deal of water until it breaks down into a thick, pudding-like consistency, similar to porridge.