《10 Disintegration of Peaceful Daily Life ~Part 1~》
「Hey, I told you, Sarah, don’t leave the house for a while! I told you to just leave the shopping to Airi or me!」
「I’ve heard that line so many times, Dan. I won’t be convinced unless you tell me why, okayー?」
I ―― Dan – strongly persuaded Sarah, but she glared at me with a look of “I’ll never be convinced!”
「I can’t tell you why right now, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to. ……」
I finally muttered helplessly, feeling bitter that I couldn’t say why.
「That’s all you ever do, isn’t it? Dan and I have never had to hide anything from you!」
Sarah has taken the attitude that she has nothing more to say to me.
Then, without even hiding her grumpy face, she walked into her room.
I gazed at her back, feeling sad.
Her and I have been together for quite a long time. That’s why I said it the way I did, because I know Sarah’s personality.
She is basically kind and calm, but when she is really angry, she doesn’t listen even if you stop her, but rushes to the cause of the anger.
As for me, I just couldn’t say why, because that would be dangerous in the current situation.
I still hadn’t found a solution to my problem, and I spent my days arguing with Sarah.
◇ ◇ ◇
――This was three days ago.
Both Galwin and Lisa had left Dallas a while ago, having been asked to go away.
So lately I’ve been taking requests solo, or with Sarah’s help on rare occasions.
And today, as usual, I came to the Adventurer’s Guild to accept a request.
Now that I’m solo, should I look for a nearby request?
I looked carefully at the request form on the request board, thinking to myself.
Then the receptionist I’ve been seeing lately came over to talk to me.
I think she’s probably a new receptionist. It’s easy to tell if you’re new if you’ve been to the guild.
Some of the receptionists have been transferred from other cities, but these girls are easy to identify because they are used to the business when you see them.
I had seen this receptionist for the first time a few days ago, and I remembered that she had been fumbling with her duties.
「Excuse me, may I speak with Dan-sama, the A rank adventurer?」
I was suddenly spoken to, and after looking at the receptionist with a dubious look on my face, I nodded and said, 「Oh, yes」.
I was then asked to go straight to the guild’s consultation room. I followed the receptionist and entered the consultation room.
「Sorry for calling out to you so suddenly, my name is Kara, and I’m the guild receptionist. Please take a seat on the sofa first.」
I was surprised at the sophistication of the greeting gesture of the receptionist, who introduced herself as Kara, but I tried not to let it show on my face and sat down on the couch.
But I could see that Kara didn’t look sorry at all.
「I’m going to get right to the point. Alfred von Windsor, the eldest son of the Earl Pierre von Windsor, the lord of this city, has some business with Dan-sama and would like to see him.」
I’ve never met the Earl of Windsor, but from what I’ve gathered from the rumors around town, he’s neither arrogant nor a great ruler; he’s neither good nor bad.
On the contrary, Alfred, the eldest son, is known to be rough and arrogant.
Since Alfred’s name was mentioned, I had a bad feeling about it.
However, I still didn’t know what Alfred wanted, so I pretended to be calm and urged the receptionist to continue the conversation.
「He didn’t tell me the details of his errand, only that he wanted me to inform Dan-sama of the meeting place and date.」
「Does that mean Alfred-sama has asked you to do this?」
「No, I’ve not been asked as a nomination through the guild.」
Kara answered my question as if it had been a predetermined answer all along.
The Guild is an organization that is independent of each country and is basically unaffected by the country, but I, on the other hand, am inevitably affected by it since I live here in Dallas.
There are more than a few people who get into trouble with the nobility and are ordered to leave and get kicked out of towns and cities.
There are times when I am called upon by a nobleman as a nomination request.
This time, however, it was not a request for nomination, she assured me. I have no idea at this point if this is a matter of consultation or if I’m going to get into some kind of trouble.
I had a really bad feeling about this, but I reluctantly agreed to do it because I knew it was inevitable.
「I heard that Alfred will be at the 『Coffee Shop Sidria』 in front of the fountain near the guild from 12:00 to 16:00 for three days starting today, so please come on a day that fits your schedule. If you ask the staff at the restaurant, they will show you to Alfred-sama’s seat.」
Kara told me that was the end of her business and I decided to leave the room.
I looked at the clock in the guild and saw that it was only about 14:00, so I headed to the coffee shop Sidria. I couldn’t hide my restlessness on the road, and my steps were heavy.
I arrived at the restaurant and called out to the staff, who showed me to my seat.
I greeted Alfred and obeyed his request to take a seat.
Behind him were three knights in full plate and a steward as his guards.
As I sat down, Alfred opened his mouth in an arrogant manner.
「You see, about a month ago, there was a woman on the street who happened to be in my line of sight. I checked her out and found out that her name is Sarah and she is your mate. I’ll make her my wife, so be grateful. Now I’ll give you a gift of five white gold coins. It’s better for you if you don’t say no, okay? If you refuse, it’ll make it harder for you to live in this city.」
At first I couldn’t understand what he was talking about.
Gradually, as I began to understand its meaning, I felt an inexplicable anger rising in me.
I unconsciously became emotional and lifted my hips to punch Alfred, but I calmed down a little when I recognized the guard behind me with his hand on his sword.
I sat back in my chair and put on a composed demeanor, but unconsciously I could feel my cheeks twitching.
The atmosphere in the restaurant was a bit noisy and the other customers started to pay attention to us.
I took a deep breath and then told myself to be as calm and collected as possible.
He’s a nobleman, after all, and if I don’t speak to him politely, he’ll make it difficult for me.
「Alfred, Sarah has been my companion for a long time, and it is impossible for me to give her to someone else for money. We also have a child, and a child needs his mother, Sarah.」
There were rumors that Alfred had been spoiled by his parents and had gotten everything he ever wanted. …… Is he exactly what they say he is?
The man in front of me looks dumbfounded for a moment, as if he didn’t think I would say no.
However, he soon seemed to regain his composure and opened his mouth.
「You’d better nod while I’m being nice. If you refuse, not only will it be harder for you to live in this town, but you might lose your child before you know it, right? Now I just hope they don’t throw you in jail for some reason. You can’t even think about leaving town. I’ve told the guards in this city to keep you and your family from leaving the city until I have Sarah.」
Now he’s threatening us!
But is this man planning to make enemies of the Adventurer’s Guild?
「If you used the receptionist of the Adventurer’s Guild to summon me to talk about this, you won’t get off scot-free either, will you?」
「It’s not a problem then, Kara was a maid in the Count’s household until recently, right? I’ve already told her to quit the Adventurer’s Guild as soon as she passes on the message, so it’s just between you and her. Appealing to the guild would probably only make the receptionist’s appraisal a little tougher.」
Alfred starts giggling triumphantly. I couldn’t stop myself from getting irritated by it.
You piece of shit! You want me to kill you?
No, I don’t know how far Alfred has been spreading this around, but if I killed the lord’s eldest son in my current state, I’d be caught in a heartbeat.
And if we kill this guy, the lord is going to take revenge on us. If that happens, Sarah and Louis might be harmed.
Is there anything I can do to help?
As I pondered, Alfred opened his mouth further.
「I’m afraid you’ re not going to give me a prompt answer here, are you? I’ll give you a week to decide. You never know what might happen past that, do you?」
Alfred said this last and left the store, protected by his guards.
I clenched my fists so hard in anger that before I knew it, blood was pouring out of my hands.
But I felt no pain, too much anger for …… me to feel, and I just glared at the scum’s back as I left.