The messenger loosened the clothes around his collar even further, sweating profusely.

I have fully understood that she is an irrational person with her lack of common sense exceeding all limits.

What counts most is that youve finally got it. Thats why its impossible for her to go to the palace. You guys gotta compromise here. Its somethin like keepin a dragon or a fiendish monster. Tamin her is impossible. Youll be annihilated for just harborin the idea, kay?

I shall inform my Liege of this.

After having such a conversation with Sword, the messenger left.

Then, while stroking my head after it had suffered from Swords iron claw, I asked, Hey, are you acquainted with that messenger guy?

In response, he remained silent for a while, before answering, Somewhat.

Hmm? Thats an awfully evasive answer, isnt it?

You dont want to talk about it?

Thats not it, but Well, if I tell you to keep somethin a secret, youll do just that, I spose.

A secret?

The present king took the throne after the dragon attack. Its because the previous king had been killed by the demon. Back then, the crown prince, whos now king, fought the dragon together with me, so he came out unscathed in the end.

Hee, quite the courageous guy. Or I guess hes a king with a strong inclination towards military matters.

He was an eccentric crown prince who often slipped out of the castle while pretendin to be a commoner. And during one such time, I rescued him by chance, leading to us gettin acquainted.

If it had been a princess, itd have made for a beautiful story.

Who cares about that! Hearin bout me wantin to learn magic, he got me into the academy as a scholarship student. And thats when I learned bout him being the crown prince since everyone called him His Highness over there. Him preferrin to repay his debt by lettin me enter the academy over the risk of me findin out bout his true identity showed that hes a guy with a strong sense of duty.

I see. So Sword called him a good king because hes actually got some achievements to back it, huh?

At that time, the guy from before was always stickin next to the king. Hes a tricky sadist who worships the king. When you started to blather bout destroyin the palace, I was on tenterhooks, worryin bout what he might do.

Dont worry. No matter what he might try, it wont be able to shake either you or me.

I know. But, dont overdo it with pickin fights, kay?

Bah!

Though, as long as its Swords request, Ill try to abide as much as possible.

Dont be too unreasonable. My priority lies with you and the Ryokus. Then the residents of our mansion and Bennyboys party as runner-up. Ill use all my power to rescue you and the Ryokus, but as for the others, Ill only help them if I get the time to do so. Hence, if youre tied down, its tough for me to make any moves.

Sword hugged me.

.Gotcha. For me your the highest priority as well. Because of that, I dont plan to ask you the impossible. Suddenly he let go of me. But you know, you were somewhat scary when you got excited. To the extent that I wanted to scream at you, Snap out of it!. What was that bout? What triggered you all of a sudden?

Yep, Im well aware of it myself, okay?

Ill be careful

But, its probably no use.

In the end, Sword was summoned to the royal palace. Since I got worried, I deployed all Ryokus to the palace in stealth mode after telling them to contact me and rescue Sword if something happens.

I think this should cover his side~

Though its unthinkable for Sword to not pick up any malicious intents when being in a den of treacherous snakes like a royal castle. Today Im going to treat him to a feast, and on top of that, Ill splurge a bit on the alcohol since it cant be helped.

Ah!

I got a nice idea! Lets set up a stall! Ill rent some place where I can open a stall!

I rushed out of the mansion.

And then, when I consulted with the store owners I often frequented for shopping such as the spice lady or the greengrocer lad, they all told me theyd help out since they liked the idea. The butcher rented out a place for me, and then I prepared the food together with everyone. Over time female adventurers and the bakery miss joined in as well, saying they want to help.

Whoa, you can use spices like that!?

Oh, you cut off this part! That makes it more delicious if you cook it together, right?

They apparently made several new discoveries for themselves.

Since I didnt have the right containers and skewers, I left the city, chopped down a few trees, and made what I needed on the fly.

After having made around a thousand bowls, I stopped, thinking that itd be enough. Probably.

Everyone who had watched me, had become flabbergasted.

Just as I thought, S-Rank adventurers are in a league of their own, I was told, but you see, Im an A-Rank adventurer.

Its a crude stall born out of a spontaneous idea, but oh well, whatever.

Alright, its done!!!

Everyone applauded and cheered.

Okay, all thats left now is to wait for Sword to come back from his mission at the palace.