Chapter 517: Knights and Adventurers

Fran accepted Khannas request to escort them, but the sun was soon setting.

We camped on the roadside of the pa.s.s and used earth magic to create walls and other stuff around our camp as a defensive measure.

We wont be in the way of traffic and I think well be fine here on the road side

Nn

This pa.s.s is not a completely straight road, it is said that dozens of side roads lead to various places. Some of them are said to lead to the Raidos Kingdom, and naturally, that road was monitored by guards, so free pa.s.sage was not possible.

Yo-you can use this much magic!?

Yo-youve gotta be kidding me!

Dianne and Sh.e.l.la were shocked when they saw the camp that Fran had created.

They may have known that Fran was a powerful warrior, but they didnt expect her to be skilled in magic. It seems Khanna and Dianne were more astonished than when they saw Urus.h.i.+ in his larger form.

The atmosphere on the road was not as bad as I had expected. Dianne, who had completely lost her mind, and Sh.e.l.la, who was still terrified of Fran, hardly spoke at all. On the other hand, Khanna was very active in talking to Fran.

Dianne and Sh.e.l.la were also trying to hide their presence at a distance from Fran and Urus.h.i.+ while Khanna was sitting next to Fran, enjoying a bowl of curry-flavored soup.

As one would expect of a squire, Sh.e.l.la braved herself to be a tester for poison, but Khanna still ate the seemingly crude dish served by Fran without complaining. Well, it might look crude, but its still a high-cla.s.s dish made with a lot of magic beast meat and spices.

She rather enjoyed eating the grilled skewers as they are and her cheerful expression doesnt seem to be an act.

Fran-san is an adventurer, right?

Nn?

I think, Fran-san is about the same age as me but isnt it unusual for an adventurer to be that young?

Umm but there are a few

Is that so Umm, hey. Why did Fran-san become an adventurer?

She doesnt seem to hate adventurers like Dianne and Sh.e.l.la and was interested in adventurers. Is adventurer that rare? But every town should have a few of them though. Or had she never seen the outside world before? But shes quite resilient enough to use magic and not complain about our camp.

To become stronger

Stronger, huh? But can you become a knight or a soldier instead?

Im still a kid so its impossible

I see Umm, is it hard to be an adventurer?

Why?

When Fran heard Khannas question, she asked back, sincerely curious.

To be that strong at the same age as me, it must have been very difficult, wasnt it?

I became an adventurer because I wanted to be strong. Thats why I never thought of getting hurt or fighting a strong opponent as a hards.h.i.+p

I-I see

When Frans eyes looked straight at her, Khanna looked away as if she was under pressure. Our values are too different from each other. Im not saying that we cant understand each other, but I dont think its possible to understand each other all in one night.

What seemed like h.e.l.lish days for Khanna must have been irreplaceable for Fran.

On the other hand, Fran could not understand Khanna either. Im sure that this nice young lady has a pain that only she can understand.

Thats just what people are like.

An adventurers job is to defeat the magic beast and bandits, right? And also, escorting the merchant

Nn? No, youre wrong

Eh? Really?

Eh? Really? I was also surprised to hear her reply too.

An adventurers job is to go on an adventure

Go on an adventure?

Yes, by adventuring someone can become an adventurer

But what about catching the bandits or hunting the magic beast? Isnt that what adventurers do?

Yes, they do. But its actually the job of the Knights and soldiers. But since they wont do it, so the adventurers are the ones to do it

Hmm, I dont think many adventurers would agree with Fran. Frans definition of adventuring is to be going into a magical area or a dungeon and fighting in general.

Maintaining public order by defeating bandits and magic beasts is essentially the work of the Knights. However, the boundaries were pretty fuzzy there. Since adventurers were fighting magic beasts in the dungeon, they could fight outside as well, and fighting bandits and such could be considered an extension of that.

B-but those who have power should use their power to protect the people!

Is that so?

Yes! Great power comes with great responsibility

Dianne!

Khanna tried to stop her, but Diannes words didnt stop there.

Y-You has so much power and yet you see the weak and think nothing of them? Dont you want to help them?

I always thought of it though, thats why I helped you guys, right?

You dont understand anything, dont you?

Nn? I wanted to help you, so I helped you. Thats why, I dont care even if Im weak, if I want to help, Ill try to help. Do you only help people because youre strong? And youll just abandon them if you were weak?

Th-that is

Dianne, silence!

! Im sorry

Dianne, who had been yelled at by Khanna, fell silent with a pale face.

But it was a difficult problem. The responsibility of power is a convenient story for the weak to take advantage of the strong. Or it is the conceit of the strong who are drunk with power.

In Frans case, she wouldnt be thinking about such difficult things. In the first place, if there was someone in trouble in front of her, she would help them without even thinking about the reason. As she said, she helps people because she wants to. Thats all.

If the other party is annoying, she would usually abandon them, or help them and demand an exorbitant reward.

This may be another difference between adventurers and knights. Knights are people who are fed by taxes, so to speak. They must be taught about their duties and rights from the time they join the knight order.

Aah, as long as its not a rotten sc.u.m knight that is.

However, Work for your paycheck! was not enough to raise morale or maintain their pride. Thats why they use phrases like helping the weak and serving the cause of justice. If that kind of education goes too far, more knights like Dianne will be born.

Adventurers, on the other hand, are entirely responsible for their actions. In other words, the power they acquire is their own, and it is normal for them to use it for themselves.

I dont mean to speak for Dianne, but Ive also heard that some adventures do things like a bandit

Its not the adventurers only, even knights and n.o.bles must have their sc.u.m too. Or there are no bad guys in your country?

Thats might be true. There are also some bad knights and n.o.bles after all

Khanna agreed when she heard Frans words. She seemed to have some idea of what she meant. When I think about it, its not normal for a young lady to be travelling in such a small group, so she must have her own reason.

Then, what an adventurer

Perhaps because she was so interested in adventurers, Khannas questions went on and on until she went to bed.