Episode 14 At the Fortress of the Sun
「There is one thing I should tell you before we go deeper into the training camp.」
Aisha, ahead of Kian, opened her mouth as they walked up the narrow slope of the fort made of wood and stone.
Behind the fences on either side of the narrow passage stood soldiers with spears, some of whom were sending eye salutes toward Aisha, but more than half of them were ignoring her.
「What is it?」
「The people in this training camp are not all from Oswalt-sama's faction. There are other knights as well, so please do not leave me or Oswalt-sama's side. Well...It might get complicated.」
「Understood. I will not be reckless enough to move as I please in an unknown fortress, so don't worry.」
「Thank you for your understanding.......this way」
After passing through a narrow passage, they came to a square built of stone.
The morning sun was shining once again.
At the far end of the square stood the man with the distinctive shaven head Kian saw yesterday.
He seemed to be looking down on the circular fighting space below the stone square.
It seemed that the training space for the "Order of the Sun" was that circular arena.
「Oswalt-sama」
Aisha raised her voice to keep up with the loud voices of the knights coming from the training space.
「――Ah. Thank you for your hard work, Aisha.」
Oswalt, a man with shaved blond hair, turns his head toward them.
He is wearing silver cloth armor over wedge mail, perhaps the formal attire of the knights.
On his ears, earrings in the shape of the sun, which he had worn yesterday, were shining, bouncing the sunlight off his ears.
「Kian! Thanks for coming! I haven't seen you since yesterday.」
Oswalt opened his hands and smiled broadly.
The parchment in his right hand swayed in the wind.
「Good morning.」
「Good morning. I'm sorry for calling you out so suddenly. But I really wanted to see you.」
「It's an honor.」
「Oswalt-sama, that letter is......?」
Aisha squints beside Kian.
The blond-shaven young man turns to face her.
「It's the usual――a request for a loan of money.」
「...... again? No matter how much of a princess you are, you can't pay back anymore, including interest.」
「Aisha.」
Oswalt interrupts, glancing toward Kian.
「We can talk about that later. ...... Anyway, assistance. Make the arrangements, I'm counting on you.」
「No, Oswalt-sama. It is not Her Excellency Mariabelle who is writing this, but rather the household servants and female magicians who surround her. They must be secretly lining their own pockets by begging for money from you. I think you should stop giving them any further assistance.」
「No. It is not good to be reluctant to give money. You know their financial situation, don't you? At the very least, we must keep up appearances, or there will be trouble. What will you do if the princess or her immediate vassals start showing up at the lords' banquets like beggars because they are strapped? The authority of the frontier counts will fall to the ground.」
「―――」
「Nngh. ....... Sorry. That was not the right thing to say in front of a guest.」
Oswalt coughed deliberately and pushed the parchment to Aisha, then smiled at Kian again.
Kian just noticed that he has several expensive-looking rings on his fingers as he holds the paper.
They were not just ornaments, but some of them emitted powerful magic power.
(Oswalt of Ramsey. He is a lord nobleman and lives in the capital city of the Frontier Count's Domain of the Ezerland. And if he also runs a bank, he must have a lot of money.)
『Kian. If he is a banker, he might be able to exchange your ancient coins for cash.』
(Arueno-san said it would be better to show it to a scholar, though)
「Aisha, arrange the money. We'll talk later. ――Kian, this way. It's a bit of a dank place but bears with it. Our house in the fortress is undergoing a complete renovation. It will be finished soon, but right now it's not ready for guests.」
「Don't be. ......」
Oswalt hugged Kian on the shoulder and led him to a square building at the end of the stone square.
Apparently, that room is a simple waiting area for commanders.
「Come on in. Come in.」
The door is opened and Kian is led inside.
Inside was a large stone room with a table in the center for strategy meetings.
On the floor was a red rug with a sun pattern.
The walls were decorated with expensive-looking swords, axes, and shields.
「I only have iced tea, do you mind? By rule, we are not allowed to drink wine during training. Even if we must drink it when we are visited by a nobleman, we are supposed to drink it without alcohol.」
「I'll take it. Thank you very much.」
「Please take a seat on the chair there.」
「All right. Also――」
Kian looked at Oswalt, who was pouring a glass of tea as he sat in the luxurious chair.
「I've been told you have a personal request for me, but what kind of request is it?」
「Hahaha. A request is just an excuse to summon you. I suspect that you would have been too afraid to respond to the summons, otherwise」
「No, no way. I'm afraid you're mistaken.」
「Please stop using polite speech. You can continue to use it if you want to be my subordinate, though」
「Oswalt-san. I don't know why you, who I just met yesterday, would go to such lengths for me, a mere adventurer――I don't get it.」
When Kian said this, Oswalt laughed low and offered Kian a glass of tea.
It's an expensive-looking herbal tea.
A slice of citrus was attached to the mouth of the glass.
「I told you, remember? I'm interested in you, for example, about the events that took place the other day in the Rose Labyrinth」
「What do you mean?」
Oswalt sat down on the seat diagonally next to Kian and put his lips to the glass of tea.
「According to the records, the "Magician of Thorns" slaughtered the vampire that caused the outbreak.」
「Thorns ......? Oh, you mean Arueno-san. Indeed. She was the main role who fought and eliminated the immortality of that monster.」
In fact, if she had not stopped the attack with the divine sword in the middle of the battle, the vampire would not have been defeated normally.
Because Arueno let her guard down at the last minute, it was a situation where Kian could have finished it off.
「But you're the one who destroyed the vampire, aren't you? How in the world did you kill a high-ranking vampire?」
His golden eyes turn their probing gaze on Kian.
He grabbed an apple from the plate of fruit on the desk.
Playing with it in his hand, Oswalt continues.
「It is impossible for a normal human to kill a vampire, even if they were weakened. Something you possessed, I suspect, to bring about its death ― a decisive means, no?」
「――――」
Kian thinks Oswalt is referring to his "The Art of Absorption".
Kian was the last one to use his "The Art of Absorption" to put the finishing touches on the vampire.
「Oh, sorry. If you can't say it, that's fine. It could be a tool of your trade, and it's natural to be reluctant to share that information with people for free.」
Oswalt said this with a smile on his face as he gazed at Kian's face.
「We have to offer something in return. It could be time to develop a friendship with you, or it could be a large sum of money. I'm not in a hurry.」
「Huh」
「Though I said earlier that the personal request was an excuse to summon you out, I'm not lying at all. I have a fair amount of money, as you can see, but I use my pocket money to do vampire research as a hobby.」
「Vampire research.」
「Yeah.」
Oswalt placed the apple he was holding in front of Kian.
「A powerful night clan handed down only in lore. A powerful race that is said to have ruled the night on this earth in prehistoric times. Their strong bodies knew no disease, accepted no curses or magic, and were capable using of powerful magic. Their lifespan was unlimited, and powerful individuals reigned over the world as demigods, keeping all living things under their control. .......Have you ever wondered why they disappeared from the earth?」
「No, I don't.」
「I ponder it as part of my pastime. I collect folklore from all over the world and read old documents to gather information about vampires. Sometimes I write papers and send them to academic societies in Royal Capital. But this is just a hobby. In my day job, I am a knight of Her Excellency Mariabelle, Lord of Ramsay, and a money-grubbing banker.」
But the lord's work is left to the deputies in the field ― he muttered and tipped his glass gracefully. The sun's earrings shimmered.
「To put it bluntly, I want to know more about what happened in the Rose Labyrinth. If possible, I would like you to go there and explain it to me. I would also like to inspect the Western-style house in the center of the labyrinth.」
「That is, in other words...」
「A quest.」
Oswalt said shortly.
He put his glass on the desk and leaned forward.
「I'd like to ask Kian, an 8th-class adventurer, to accompany me on a personal request to investigate the Rose Labyrinth and to escort me. How about it?」
「I am an adventurer, and I have no reason to refuse. ......, hmm, 8th-class?」
「You do not know? You passed the exam. I wrote Friedrich a letter yesterday. If you disqualified him in the exam, I won't forgive you. The result is already decided.」
「No way, that's absurd.」
「I just didn't think it was a good idea for a man who might become my subordinate in the future to be disqualified or rejected for some unspecified reason. Don't worry.」
「............」
(This guy is crazy ......)
『I can see he is very much in love with you』
「Back to the subject, you will accept the request to investigate the "Rose Labyrinth" and to escort me, right?」
「Of course. It's just ...... one of my acquaintances wants to go to the "Rose Labyrinth" as well, and she wants me to escort her.」
「If we move the dates around, that won't be a problem.」
「No, if you don't mind, I was wondering if I could bring her along.」
「Who is this "she"?」
「She's the daughter of a tavern owner named Esther Pigfoot.」
「A civilian, huh. I don't mind. As long as she doesn't get in my way, I don't care what you're doing on the side.」
「Thank you very much. I'll let her know, then. I think Esther will have no problem with it, provided that the date is in line with Oswalt-san's. She said she would make time whenever she could.」
「Then I will submit a request to the guild after you are promoted to the 8th class and have your adventurer's card reissued. There will be procedures tomorrow, so the day after tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, I'll send out a request naming you.」
「You're going all the way through the guild? The fee will be doubled, though.」
When Kian said that, Oswalt laughed.
「How much are you going to ask me for in compensation? Equal or double is no different. It would be worse if you don't earn guild contribution points. You don't intend to spend the rest of your life in the lower ranks, do you? If so, I'll have Aisha bring you a contract right now. I will hire you right here. Even against your free will, see」
Kian doesn't know if he was joking or serious, but at least Oswalt's eyes were not smiling in the slightest.
He leaned back in his chair and continued.
「Is there anything you want from me? I'll even add an expensive special reward, depending on the conditions, though. I mean, if you're an adventurer, you should negotiate for more money.」
「No, that kind of thing is. ......」
「It's not a good idea to drink at the asking price. In the meantime, I'm thinking of 50 silver coins as a reward, though?」
「!? Y-You're paying too much!」
「Hahaha, just kidding. Actually, it's ten silver coins. I can add another five depending on what you have to say.」
「I think even ten pieces of silver is too much. ...... Oh, then instead of negotiating a reward, I have a request for money conversion, if you don't mind.」
「Huh? Money conversion. Where's the gold from? Azrair? Or is it Shin, the great power of the East?」
「No, it's a copper coin, about three hundred years old. A whole bagful.」
Said Kian.
It's the remainder of what he paid to Arueno before, and what was hidden with the equipment he got in the "Rose Labyrinth".
It was quite heavy and was now hidden under a bed in the "Pig's Foot Pavilion".
He often had Esther tell the employee not to let them touch them.
Oswalt raised one eyebrow.
「Hmmm ....... I'd have to see the actual thing to know more about it. But it would certainly be money that cannot be used in the present, so I would have to buy it at a discount, depending on the object. I'll be relying on your goodwill, but for my sake, I hope you don't sell it to a bunch of academics.」
「I don't know any scholars, though」
「I see. Then I will invite you again to my house in the fortress. At that time, show me the ancient copper coins. After I appraise them, I will take them back at the highest price possible.」
「I would appreciate it.」
"It's fine, it's fine," said Oswalt with an open smile.
Then he took a piece of parchment from his pocket.
「Here, if possible, take a look through it.」
「What is it?」
Kian took it and unfolded it to find that it was a contract to become an apprentice knight of the Ramsey estate. The conditions of salary, social security, and so on are described in detail.
The salary, by the way, was a sum that would certainly allow him to earn more than he does now if he worked for exactly one year.
If he worked for five years, he would probably be able to buy a house in the countryside (Ramsey).
「Now I will show you the training camp of the "Order of the Sun". I will also give you a brief timetable of what a day in the life of a member of the Order is like.」
He stands up as he says this.
「No, um, I'm just an adventurer, though」
「True. A low-ranking adventurer, but is that an appropriate assessment? Compare carefully the way the Adventurers' Guild treats you with the way you are treated by the "Order of the Sun". Oh, I'm only saying that I'm not suggesting that you betray the guild and come to me, though. I just want you to know the reality.」
Oswalt said with a smile and patted Kian on the shoulder.
Finally, he stroked the shoulder muscles with his fingertips and murmured quietly, "Nice muscles.
Kian, a little subdued, was about to say something back when――
Suddenly, the door to the room was opened.
Kian and Oswalt look toward the door.
There was a man wearing glasses and knight's equipment.
A huge, muscular man was standing there, nearly three meters tall.
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Tftc
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