2: A Tale From Before the Story Began, and Before a Certain Couple Got Together

What led up to Latina hearing the tale from the past was a certain customer visiting the Dancing Ocelot.

It wasn’t solely adventurers who stopped by the place.

Both travelers and merchants also visited there to learn a variety of information, as the shop served as an extension of the temple of Akhdar. If a natural disaster blocked off part of the highway, then it was important to take waits and detours in mind. And if there was information about bandits or magical beasts prowling about the road, they needed to know that in order to hire guards for their trip.

And so, it was very important to check for significant news in order to make sure your journey was a safe one.

“Welcome!”

Cheerfully greeting customers like that was part of Latina’s daily routine as the shop’s adorable waitress. Her charming voice resounding through really created a wholesome and calm atmosphere that was hard to imagine for a shop where such roguish-looking adventurers gathered.

It had become second nature for an experienced professional like Latina to instantly grasp details about the customer she was greeting. Whenever she saw someone was a new customer, she would guess as to their profession from the clothing and equipment they had on their person.

This man in particular was older than her, and while his traveling attire looked sturdy and of decent quality, it certainly wasn’t suited for battle. The only visible weapon he had was a single knife dangling from his hip, and from its shape and size, it was hard to imagine he was an adventurer or had some other combat-focused job.

He doesn’t look like a magic user, either. And he doesn’t feel like a merchant... He seems more like a traveler from a slightly well-off background, Latina thought to herself as she approached the customer.

The majority of non-adventurer customers either wanted to hear information or put out a request for adventurers. It was still a little early for their general business hours as a bar, but there were some customers who did come for the food and drink. Predicting what type of customer you were dealing with allowed you to offer the appropriate services to them, and so it was a skill that Latina had picked up on her own over the years.

“Welcome. This is your first time here, isn’t it? The board for information from the temple of Akhdar is over that way,” Latina said with a smile.

She had pointed that out first because that was what the majority of first-time customers were most interested in.

“Thanks,” he briefly replied, but then he stopped partway there and turned back to face Latina. “Ah, right. Does this place serve light meals? I missed lunch today.”

“Yes, we do. Is a counter seat alright...?”

There were tables open, but she avoided guiding him that way because it was around when the regulars started to gather. By now, Latina was fully aware that regular customers often felt intimidated when surrounded by such rowdy adventurers.

“In addition to choosing from the menu, you can also get the chef’s recommendation, which will be a full serving.”

“Then let’s go with that.”

“And what would you like to drink?”

Latina waited on the gentleman promptly, showing both charm and skill and smiling the whole time. Once she was done she went to the kitchen to tell Kenneth the order and then prepare his drink personally.

“Sorry for the wait.”

The instant that she placed down the glass and accepted his money, the door to the shop swung open. And when she reflexively turned to greet the new customer, she found a regular standing there.

“Welcome.”

“Hey there. I’ll take the usual.”

“Right.”

“The rest of them will get here before long, so go ahead and get some snacks for all of us ready, too.”

“Got it.”

It was a rather vague order, but she was well acquainted with the old-timer, so that was no problem. However, unlike usual, Latina also stopped and asked a question.

“Um, today we have shellfish dipped in oil. Will that be alright, or are those not to your taste?”

“Oh? That sure sounds unique.”

“The recipe’s still a work in progress, though. But Kenneth said it was good enough to serve to customers, so I would really appreciate hearing your impressions...”

The old-timer broke out in a bit of a smile upon hearing that. This newlywed girl still hadn’t given up her title of adorable waitress, and knowing her, if it was a dish she had carefully prepared there was no way it would be bad.

By the way, when Latina was developing new dishes, her mentor Kenneth was strict and offered precise advice, making him a very useful person to consult. Dale was completely useless, though. After all, he doted on her far too much, so he just said that everything Latina made was delicious.

Still, it wasn’t exactly easy to criticize him for that. Latina took such a professional approach that by the time she felt ready to have someone taste something, it more or less qualified as a completed dish. But Latina and Dale had completely different standards for food to begin with.

Some time had passed as Latina bantered with the regular.

“Sorry for the wait,” Kenneth called out while peeking out of the kitchen and carrying a basket full of a number of prepared dishes and bread. He then walked over to the counter seats, then laid out the plates.

That was when the man spoke up.

“You’re...” the man started in an emotional tone.

“Hmm?” Kenneth questioned while frowning a bit, sensing that had referred to him. The customer seated at the counter didn’t pay any attention to that reaction, though.

“I never thought I would meet you in a place like this! Man, this is a crazy day! Do you remember me?!” the man asked, unable to hide his excitement as he stood up from his seat.

“Um, you’re... Ah, from Wal...”

“So you do remember!”

Latina didn’t recognize the noun that Kenneth had wrung out while furrowing his brows, but there was something she did realize.

“Kenneth, you were just making a face that said ‘thank goodness I got it’...”

As Latina marveled at the fact that Kenneth was making a face that was far more fitting for Dale, the regular by her side nodded.

“Wal is a port town in the west of Laband. That means he knew Kenneth back from when he was still active, huh...? But still, it’s hard to suddenly try to remember something from over a decade ago, you know...”

“I’d have difficulty remembering a customer from that long ago out of the blue, too...” Latina added, nodding along.

“Kenneth was an adventurer before we got married, but... Have you heard any stories from back then, Latina?” Rita asked with a bit of a troubled look on her face, having appeared beside Latina at some point.

“No, not really... Just that Kenneth helped Dale out in the past.”

“Yeah. Dale used to be in Kenneth’s party, after all,” the regular chimed in, and Rita nodded.

“That’s right. I’ve only ever heard stories about back then through Kenneth myself, but... When the time came for Dale to leave his village, he was entrusted to Kenneth’s party. And so, my husband was the one to teach him the basics about being an adventurer.”

“Ooh...”

“There was quite a commotion when Kenneth said he was going to retire, too. Back then, he was the leader of a reliable party that drew enough attention to get a lot of requests by name. Folks said that he was retiring far too early. Everyone shut their traps when they heard it was to marry Rita and become this place’s chef, though.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Even Rita’s old man had lamented that he couldn’t leave the kitchen up to his daughter, and so he had no complaints about getting a son-in-law who could cook.”

Latina stopped and thought a bit as she listened to the exchange between Rita and the regular.

Latina was acquainted with the former owner of the Dancing Ocelot, Rita’s father. When Rita and Kenneth got married and took over the shop, he and his wife retired. They still lived in the neighborhood, though, so when things were busy they would help watch after their grandchildren, Theo and Emma. And so, Latina had plenty of chances to see them over the years.

“Now that you mention it, have I seen Rita in the kitchen before...?” Latina muttered while searching her memories.

She had a vague recollection of it happening in the past. She could recall Rita helping with preparations and cleanup in the kitchen when Kenneth was especially busy and couldn’t do it. But at some point, Latina had taken up her role as his apprentice and handled such matters, so she now only rarely saw Rita in the kitchen. But Rita had been busy raising the kids ever since Theo was born, so Latina hadn’t really found it strange.

“But the kitchen is Kenneth’s workplace... So maybe Rita just doesn’t get the chance to do anything there that often...?”

“Of course that’s why,” Rita clearly stated, and sure enough the regular didn’t say anything further on the matter.

“I heard a story about Kenneth handling an extermination request in Wal once... Apparently, he fought a pretty big magical beast,” Rita nonchalantly stated.

“That’s putting it lightly... And Rita, you should know better than anyone that rumors of Kenneth had made it all the way to Kreuz, right?” the regular chimed in with a grin.

Rita shot him back an eerily chilly smile in response, but her tone remained friendly as she replied, “It’s bad for you to drink too much, so how about I prepare you a special healthy tea for today?”

It was the sort of line you would never expect from the proprietress of a bar.

Latina tilted her head a bit at Rita’s reaction, but the regular didn’t seem to question it at all, and just gave a strained smile and a hearty wave of his hand.

“Don’t go acting so cold, there. Drinking helps you forget old stuff like that, after all.”

“For a drunk, your tongue is certainly still deft enough.”

“I’m not drunk yet today.”

Sensing that Rita and the regular had returned to their usual friendly banter, Latina looked Kenneth’s way again. He looked clearly troubled by how the first-time customer was getting overly worked up and talking away, but he didn’t seem to be taking issue with the praise being aimed in his direction.

“Hmm?” Latina questioned, tilting her head again upon realizing how her own impressions contradicted each other.

“Wal?”

“Yeah. Do you know it, Dale? Apparently it’s a port town...”

“Yup. Actually, I went there before when I was young. It’s a little town with a fishing harbor. What about it?”

Ever since she was little, it had been part of Latina’s daily routine to report the day’s happenings to Dale. And so, she had done just that when Dale returned home.

However, she hadn’t stopped preparing for dinner as she did so, laying out dishes one after another atop the tables as she talked. When she reached Kenneth’s reaction to the first-time customer, Dale gave a strained chuckle. He had been out for the day so he hadn’t witnessed the events, but apparently he found them easy to imagine.

“He was really going at it, so Kenneth looked surprised too... And both Rita and that customer said something about Kenneth having taken on a big job in Wal in the past...”

“The magical beast extermination from fifteen years or so back...? That certainly was one heck of a job... And I’m sure it must have left a big impression on the folks who’d heard about it at the time.”

“You know about it, Dale?” Latina questioned, looking a bit surprised.

After a bit of hesitation, Dale went ahead and made up his mind.

Ever since Latina was little, Dale had intentionally not talked to her about his work. That was because sometimes the jobs he received from Laband were bloody affairs that included slaughtering members of her race.

Thanks to that, Latina had rarely ever heard what exactly Dale did as an adventurer.

As he moistened his lips with a light wine, he thought on what to say.

“It may not be that interesting to you, but...” Dale began, kicking off his story of the past.

†

When Dale was 15, it was decided through a contract with Tislow that he would receive work directly from Duke Eldstedt, the greatest noble in all of Laband.

However, as the head of Tislow at the time, Wendelgard didn’t immediately dispatch her grandson to the duke.

“I won’t say that the training you’ve received up till now will be useless, but it won’t be enough. But with that said, all the folks I knew from when I was young are retired by now...” Wendelgard said while swaying her favorite pipe and breathing out a long puff of smoke.

“The folks you knew when you were young...” the 15-year-old Dale muttered, a strained expression on his face as thoughts of his grandmother’s budding loves came to mind. He was well aware that when his grandmother was young she made a living in the rough-and-tumble field of adventuring, and that in the several decades since then, her connections from that time had been quite valuable.

Still, his grandmother was also so far outside the norm that he frankly wouldn’t have been surprised if some of her acquaintances were still active.

“By watching Randolph, you’ve come to understand that negotiation techniques and manners can also be weapons to employ against your foes, haven’t you?”

“Yeah... But I also know I’d have trouble doing it as well as my old man.”

“You’re sure to face a diverse array of foes from here on out. But you’re just a country boy who knows nothing of the world at large, so you’re far too lacking in experience. And so...” Wendelgard stated, stopping for a moment and staring straight at her grandson. “I was thinking of entrusting you to Tarnat. You’re familiar with them, right? The ones who guarded the Weiss merchant caravan. You’ll be learning how to be an adventurer from them, which should be useful when you do work for the duke.”

Thinking back on it years down the road, Dale would realize that there were more well-known adventurer groups than Kenneth’s young party among those who protected the merchants coming and going from Tislow around that time. Granny Wendelgard sure had an eye for people to choose Kenneth, who still went by his old family name of Tarnat back then, to take care of her grandson in spite of all that.

Kenneth was affable and naturally talented at watching out for others, and at the same time he also had excellent leadership skills and situational awareness. And appropriate for the fact that he was a firstborn child, Dale was independent to a fault. However, Kenneth possessed the skills to sense what was going on with Dale and help him out even without being asked. When adding in the fact that he later became Latina’s mentor and effectively acted as her guardian when she was young, Dale really did owe him an awful lot.

On top of that, Dale felt strangely frustrated at the fact, but he had to admit that his grandmother had a discerning eye to so clearly evaluate Kenneth’s abilities.

At the time, Kenneth used heavy equipment in battle and led the party, which had four other members. There was Karel, a bow user who also employed basic healing magic, Helmut and Salomo, lightly equipped fighters who took the vanguard, and Scipio, a magic user who employed both the Fire and Water elements. It was rare for such a young adventurer party to have multiple members who could use magic. And the front guard was impressive as well, as Helmut could switch between a lance and a sword depending on the situation, while Salomo used a great number of short swords, allowing them to properly divide their roles. As the party could handle fights against both humans and magical beasts, they accepted all sorts of jobs ranging from guard work, to extermination, to gathering, rather than specializing in one thing. And so, that was yet another reason they were chosen to help Dale gain experience.

When the time came to entrust Dale to them, his grandmother who led the clan and father who acted as representative for the main family invited the party to their home, where they gave them a warm welcome and made the formal request. Kenneth and them would never refuse to accept Dale at this point, but the party’s leader felt the need to say something then regardless.

“I’m no teacher, and I’m still inexperienced myself. I intend to do the best that I can as a leader, but I can’t guarantee that I’ll live up to your expectations.”

Seeing how Kenneth didn’t falter in the least when facing someone as eccentric as his grandmother was more than enough to raise Dale’s impression of the man, but Granny Wen just gave a hearty chuckle, not concerned in the least.

“I’m the one who should be saying that. If my idiot grandson ever seems hopeless, feel free to send him on back. You don’t need to feel so responsible with all this. I just want you to keep in mind that he knows nothing of the world beyond these mountains.”

That was how Dale was entrusted to the party, and though he was indeed ignorant of the ways of the world, he immediately started displaying his skill.

In addition to the archery techniques that were his clan’s specialty, he’d also learned the basics of wielding a sword from his father and grandfather. On top of that he was blessed by Quirmizi and possessed great skill with Earth magic, which he could employ in battle in both close- and long-distance fights.

That still wasn’t the extent of his skills, though.

Having come from a clan of hunters, he was proficient not only in capturing prey, but also dissecting and preparing it. He may not have had camping experience, but he was skilled at a great number of outdoor tasks. As they were essential in Tislow, he gradually acquired them from a young age, but that wasn’t the case for folks who grew up in the city. And despite being the heir to the head family of the clan, Dale wasn’t given a pampered upbringing, and was more capable in the outdoors than most.

Though Dale was still on the young side, he really did have the basics down a lot better than your average rookie, so he got a fairly high appraisal by the members of the party right off the bat. At the same time, Dale also realized that he was just getting a sort of grace period with his grandmother and father entrusting him to the party. He didn’t have any time for grumbling about being thrown out into the world or treated like a kid. Even when it came to odd jobs, he knew that he would need to be able to handle all of it on his own. And so, he knew he should be grateful for the opportunity to train himself in an environment where he could be taught.

It wasn’t like Dale was looking that far into the future or had accepted everything. That was only natural, though, considering his age and his feelings. And it was likely largely due to Kenneth being there to guide him like a big brother that Dale didn’t end up falling into anger or despair as badly as the adults around him had feared.

Kenneth was also still considered young for an adventurer, but even someone who had been raised to be the next head of the Tislow clan like Dale had to acknowledge his abilities that made him the cornerstone of the party. Then there was the impression he gave off just in terms of appearance, too. Kenneth had a large frame and a low voice, but he had a very friendly personality and felt like someone you could rely on. And that wasn’t all, as when he had to bare the brunt of an attack for the party, he projected some serious pressure towards the opponents and a definite sense of stability.

And it was under that man that Dale built up experience as an adventurer.

It wasn’t all that long in terms of the time they spent together. But even so, Dale had outdoors skills to start with, but Kenneth taught him how to interact with clients and ascertain market prices, and tried his best to make sure that he was always there when purchasing supplies. Being given the opportunity to have so many different experiences as much as possible provided Dale with a whole lot of experience. Dale got a great deal of fulfillment from what he learned each and every day, and on top of that he just plain enjoyed being together with Kenneth and his group.

By the time they visited Wal, Dale had grown somewhat accustomed to being a member of the party.

It wasn’t like they had come there explicitly to handle an extermination request or anything. They were just on their way back from a guard job, having escorted a client to a large nearby town governed by a local count.

“Since we’ve come all this way already, I’d like to take the chance to check out the fishing harbor.”

When Kenneth suddenly said that, the longtime party members and Dale weren’t surprised in the least. Dale had sensed what was going on with Kenneth pretty quickly when he noticed he wasn’t getting cooking duties shoved on him or even handling it in a rotation, as their leader was taking charge of that pretty much every single day.

He was blessed with a large frame that made him an excellent warrior when he dished out powerful blows with an axe, and occasionally he would even act as a shield for the rear while still actively giving out precise orders. And yet, being an adventurer was ultimately just a means to an end for Kenneth.

They traveled all around for their requests, and when they did he would always carefully check out the ingredients and cooking techniques of the region. And then, he would put the recipes he gained to use and recreate the dishes.

Dale didn’t perceive this as Kenneth merely being eccentric, though, as he sensed something akin to what he felt from the craftsmen back in his home village. He was familiar with that sort of focus that occasionally resembled obsession, repeating things over and over through trial and error. And the fact that Dale accepted that side of their leader actually caused Karel and the others to have a much higher opinion of the youth.

“A fishing harbor... Is that different than a port town like Qualle?”

As the second-in-command of the party, it was Karel’s responsibility to answer Dale’s question. This man was skinny and would be considered spindly at a glance, but Dale had come to realize even that was a tool to be used when he saw Karel being the one to negotiate with clients who were hesitant to deal with a rough group like adventurers.

“First off, they’re completely different in terms of scale. Qualle is the foremost trade port in Laband, after all. But since we’re talking about Kenneth, I’m sure he’s interested in the types of fish that can be caught in that part of the ocean.”

“Ah, I see...” Dale replied with a strained smile.

“I’m not too fond of smelly fish, myself,” Helmut chimed in.

“That’s no worry if it’s tasty, though,” Scipio added.

Salomo was a man of few words, so he just nodded along.

“It’s just a port meant for local fishermen, so it’s only really built to deal with small boats. Then again, the count’s land we just came from had a decent amount of seafood and processed goods passing through, so it’ll probably be fairly lively.

They followed along the highway while having that calm, idle chat, turning towards Wal as they went. As if to support Karel’s words, the path narrowed but still remained properly maintained. That was proof that they were doing definite business with neighboring towns. And since they were traveling there on foot, it was certainly appreciated.

“It would be a big help to either catch a return ship or a merchant carriage we could get a ride with,” Scipio said with a joking tone and everyone chuckled along with him, but that really was how they felt.

They spent one night along the way camping, then got rolling again early the next morning.

Dale wasn’t surprised in the least that the smoked meat they were treated to then was something Kenneth sometimes made while they were camping. He was shocked at how much the man’s skill as a chef showed just by placing that between two slices of bread as a snack, though. He must have cooked it absolutely perfectly. To be honest, it was way better eating Kenneth’s cooking than a meal from some mediocre restaurant.

When Dale conveyed that thought to him, Kenneth looked a little surprised.

“The stuff your home village produces is all flavorful and high class. And your mom’s a pretty darn skilled chef, too. I’m not foolish enough to go making light of such country cooking. So you know, you probably have an even more discriminating palate than you think,” Kenneth said, sounding impressed. Dale just tilted his head, though.

“I don’t fuss that much over food, though...”

“Whether or not you do has nothing to do with how good of a tongue you’ve got on you... And besides, if you’re going to be eating something anyway, then it’s better that it tastes good, right?”

“Is that how it is?”

“Plus if you’re to be coming and going around elites, then being able to discern tastes definitely isn’t a bad thing. Still, no matter how high class the food, your own preferences will ultimately come first. After all, there’s no such thing as a taste that’ll satisfy everybody. But if my cooking’s to your tastes, then I’m glad to hear it.”

At the time, neither of them realized that a certain girl would learn from Kenneth and cause Dale to fall for her in part through his stomach. And of course, even though Dale had a more discerning tongue than he knew, she did a splendid job of searching out his tastes through careful consideration and observation, so that she could suggest delicious meals each and every day...

When Wal finally came into view, the first one to realize something abnormal was going on was, unsurprisingly, Kenneth.

“Something’s off...” he muttered, stopping and straining his eyes as they reached the top of a hill overlooking the town.

Noticing how Kenneth was acting, Karel came up beside him, while Dale shot him a questioning look.

“What is it?”

“The ocean doesn’t look rough at all, but there aren’t any ships out for fishing.”

“That’s true. And it’s still too early for fishing season to be over,” Karel agreed, then Dale finally got what was going on.

Observing the harbor, there were ships moored, but there were none to be seen out on the water. They had combined their knowledge together with their observations to realize the strangeness. Dale may have been out of his element, but still, he couldn’t keep relying on the excuse that he was raised in the mountains forever. And so he focused himself while also reflecting on his own shortcomings.

Thanks to that, Dale was able to notice something else.

“Hey... There’s something odd with that spot.”

“Where are you talking about?”

“A bit out from the harbor... The ocean’s an unnatural color. Is it how the light’s reflecting...? No, that’s not it, but it’s got to be something...”

The spot Dale pointed out was colored differently than the deep blue of the rest of the sea as it sparkled in the sunlight. It also didn’t look like what would be caused by a change in depth, so the party stared intently... only for it to sway.

It was now clear that there was some massive creature hidden there.

Before long they made it into Wal, and the streets were so dead that it practically felt deserted. Karel had a quick word with Kenneth, and then he separated from the group. Karel had a far gentler appearance than the rest of them, so it just made sense for him to break off when gathering information from townsfolk and the like. After all, most ordinary folks would probably quiver in fear if he was accompanied by tough-looking guys like Helmut and Salomo.

“Apparently it hasn’t been just recently that they haven’t been out fishing...” Kenneth muttered while looking at the state of the boats and fishing equipment.

“What should we do? Wait for Karel to come back?” Scipio questioned.

“We could also try talking to the town mayor, but... What is it, Dale?”

Kenneth had asked that because he noticed Dale was still staring out past the harbor to where that shadow was, not moving, only for some notably large waves to come crashing in. The ships moored there swayed greatly, and the seawater came eerily flowing up on the shore. As the seawater covered their feet, Dale braced himself subconsciously, but his gaze remained fixed out on the water.

“That’s...”

The silhouette was far too large to belong to any fish. And the tip of the massive beast’s tail could be seen piercing the surface of the water. Its scales were surprisingly vibrant, and they left a dazzling afterimage as it splashed the surface of the water.

Upon seeing the long, thin tail for just a second, Helmut uttered the name of the beast he had suspected since spotting it atop the hill.

“A sea serpent...”

“No, that’s not it...” Kenneth muttered, denying his ally’s words and seeming somehow taken aback. “Those distinctive vermilion scales... That’s an agate-eyed dragon...”

“Agate...?” Dale questioned, but then saw he wasn’t the only one confused by Kenneth’s words. Judging from everyone else’s reactions, this wasn’t just a case of him being ignorant of the world at large.

“It’s an aquatic type of dragon that lives in the ocean.”

From Kenneth’s explanation, it seemed this wasn’t a commonly known type of magical beast.

“Normally, it’s supposed to live out at sea, though. It’s not all that smart, and it can’t use magic, but apparently its magical resistance can prove tricky... This is actually my first time seeing one outside of just books...”

Dale realized from Kenneth’s tone that he was feeling something between excitement and admiration, especially after what he said next.

“It’s considered a legendary ingredient...”

“Huh?”

“I see.”

“So that’s it, is it?”

Dale was completely taken aback, but the longtime members of the party seemed like they had more or less expected this. Even the generally silent Salomo nodded along.

“Wait... Kenneth?”

“The taste changes when it’s frozen or even kept in cold storage, so it’s not an ingredient suited to being preserved for a long period of time and shipped around. Needing to taste it fresh in order to get its true deliciousness wouldn’t be enough on its own to qualify it as a legendary ingredient, though. The fact that it lives in a very limited area is also a big reason...”

Everyone else was silent.

Kenneth was normally calm and composed, but he was getting more and more heated up.

Even Dale could sense it: Kenneth had honed in on something, and there was probably no stopping him at this point. And the distant expressions on the other members of the party only served to confirm his assumption.

“Agate-eyed dragons usually live out in the open sea. Thanks to that, you need to fight them on the uncertain footing of a boat, meaning the main way to handle them is with long-distance attacks. However, they’re so resistant to magic that the means of handling them are seriously limited...” Kenneth stated, getting all the more worked up.

“Hmm? Hey, Kenneth...” Dale chimed in without thinking, but it seemed to get across. Rather than ignoring him, Kenneth stopped his explanation and turned to face the youth.

“What is it...?”

“If it lives at sea... Then what is it doing in this little harbor? Is there a chance that it’s some different magical beast with a similar coloration?”

“Well, it certainly isn’t normal for one to be so close to land... But nothing else would match those uniquely colored scales and that size.”

“Really?”

“The body colors of most types of sea serpent fall somewhere between blue and silver. There are fish with scales that are red like that, but none that big. And now that we’ve confirmed how the scales cling firmly to its body, it’s not likely that it’s a different species of dragon.”

He was clearly excited as he talked, but if he was able to make such detailed observations, then he hadn’t lost his composure.

“There are other types of red-scaled aquatic dragons, but those all live further north. They don’t come anywhere near Laband way down south. So there’s an extremely high likelihood that this is an agate-eyed dragon.”

“R-Right...”

“Though they live out at sea, I have heard tell of them occasionally coming into a harbor when chasing after a school of fish. I figure that’s probably what happened here.”

Dale had studied the ecology of magical beasts, plants, and animals to some degree, but he still couldn’t help but be impressed by how confidently Kenneth was able to make that statement.

He felt like the gap between him and Kenneth now went beyond just a mere difference in experience.

“So, what should we do? Wait till Karel comes back with some information?” Scipio asked.

Kenneth looked around at his party, then stated, “We’ll go talk to the town mayor. I never imagined we would run into such favorable conditions. So we really should get moving, before the request gets given to some other adventurers.”

With that, the party set out towards what they believed to be the mayor’s residence. They had gotten a glance at the town from atop the hill, so they figured they had an idea as to where it was. It had been apparent from even a glance that there were no firm walls around the town to keep out bandits and magical beasts like what you would see with a city, and it didn’t seem like the layout of the paths and buildings was meant to confuse visitors.

It certainly did have a rustic feel to it, but the scenery of the town also made it easy to tell the level of prosperity it possessed.

The mayor was surprised and clearly on guard at the sudden arrival of the adventurers, and once Kenneth started negotiating with him, he was shocked for a different reason entirely. And with that, he invited them inside to discuss the matter further.

When they exited the residence and stepped outside, they found Karel waiting for them past the gate.

“So you really were here, huh?”

“Yeah. We asked what we needed to. How were things on your end?”

“Well, I already went ahead and checked us into an inn, so how about we swap info there?”

After that brief exchange, the group started walking again. And seeing all this, Dale gave a sigh.

“What is it?”

“Ah, it’s just... Everything’s progressing so smoothly, like it’s only natural...”

They had done everything perfectly, from opening negotiations with the mayor, gathering information, finding lodgings, and plenty of other trifling matters. The general image of adventurers was that they were combat specialists, yet their negotiation skills were absolutely off the charts.

Dale still looked a bit childish, and when he looked at the adults with something akin to admiration in his eyes, they looked just a bit embarrassed, then broke out in hearty chuckles.

“It comes down to practice, but there’s aptitude to consider, too,” Karel stated.

“After all, there are folks like me and Salomo out there who are disastrously bad at stuff like that,” Scipio chimed in.

“I’m not especially skilled at it, either. That’s why we’ve got a specialist around,” Helmut added.

Hearing that, Dale groaned just a bit. Considering his position, it wasn’t a skill he could just write off as something he didn’t have a talent for.

“You don’t need to be in such a rush. You’ll get the hang of it eventually.”

“But ‘eventually’ isn’t good enough, right?”

“You’ll be fine. Well, I guess this isn’t a completely sure thing, though, so I’ll add a ‘probably’ to that,” Kenneth said with a chuckle.

Dale seemed a bit disgruntled at Kenneth’s comment, his face carrying a sulky expression one might expect from a young man his age.

Seeing that, Kenneth’s gaze softened ever so slightly.

The youth before his eyes was struggling to become a man, but even so he humbly accepted his own shortcomings and kept moving forward, trying desperately all the while to absorb everything he could.

Dale’s unrestrained passion had a nostalgic air to it, like fresh leaves, and the boy looked just a bit dazzling to Kenneth.

Still, it certainly didn’t feel half bad having a kid like that treating the crew as a role model.

They were all well aware of the duty the boy had been tasked with. And at the same time, they had also heard that he possessed the rare skill earning him the title of hero. But regardless of how rare that may be, Kenneth also knew that wasn’t related to the talent of the person in question. Just because someone was a hero, didn’t mean they would become a sword master or possess great skill with magic.

In the first place, the reason the term “hero” came to be was because the person who once saved the nation from a truly vile demon lord and united the surrounding countries was just an ordinary person, not possessing the abilities one would expect of a great champion. That person’s bravery was widely praised, and so ever since then, out of respect for how they became a true champion, those with power that let them oppose the demon lords came to be known as heroes. This became an epic saga that was widely loved, and served as an important part of the nation’s history.

But as for this boy, he would surely have to stand on the sort of harsh battlefields expected of a hero. And there was no way that the kind of requests that came from the highest authorities in the nation would be simple.

So he wanted to be of help to the youth... Though he couldn’t help hoping for some credit in whatever grand epic resulted from Dale’s endeavors. After all, nearly everyone who chose to walk the path of an adventurer had some definite admiration for such things.

And so, Kenneth and his group weren’t exactly unhappy with their role as mentors.

Fittingly for the small port town, the inn that Karel got them into was rather old and small. However, it did look like it was being maintained and properly managed. But on the other hand, it felt downright deserted, most likely because of the current state the town found itself in.

There didn’t even seem to be any other customers around when they grabbed seats in the restaurant on the first floor.

The sight really did make the place feel all the more desolate.

At any rate, the group shared the information they had gathered. When they mentioned their theory that what they had seen was an agate-eyed dragon as well as what they had heard from the mayor, Karel gave a nod.

“That’s pretty much the same as what I heard. The fishermen apparently concluded it’s a dragon, too, deciding to err on the side of caution and just keep an eye on it.”

“The mayor also knows what’s going on, but it’d take time to head for the city, share the information via a temple of Akhdar, and wait for adventurers to arrive. And it would take even longer for the local lord to dispatch soldiers to deal with the problem. It’s easy to say they’re waiting and seeing, but it feels more like they just don’t know what to do.”

“They’d need to offer a heck of a lot of reward money for a request to take down a dragon, too,” Scipio chimed in with an awkward chuckle.

“So the town mayor accepted Kenneth’s request,” Dale said in understanding.

“You need to offer reward money when putting out an extermination request, but that’s not necessary with someone who says they’ll go and do it on their own. Dragon parts hold a good deal of value, so if we sell those off after exterminating it, we should be able to earn plenty of profit. And that’s not even what we’re after in the first place, so we’re fine without getting any reward money.”

Through his negotiations with the mayor, Kenneth secured exclusive ownership of the catch in exchange for not asking for any other payment. And since they would be fighting near the town’s harbor, he also received a guarantee that they wouldn’t be held accountable for any damages that may occur. After all, it was important to consider the risk of their right to their prey being taken as compensation.

“Just to confirm, Dale, does your Earth magic work on the ocean floor, too?”

“Hmm? It’d be tricky to do if it was too deep... But if we’re talking about something like this harbor, it should be doable if I have enough time.”

“Then we should be able to secure footing for ourselves.”

Dale’s Earth magic was definitely a reason Kenneth had judged their conditions to be so favorable.

“Normally our only choice would be to launch long-range attacks at it from atop a boat, but now we’ll be able to drag it out and attack it directly. It’ll still of course be a deadly mistake to underestimate it, but it’s incredibly rare to have such good conditions. We’ve got a real chance of pulling this off, so I can’t see any reason to turn down this opportunity.”

“Plus, it’s supposed to be tasty.”

“Yeah, it’s a legendary ingredient.”

“How exactly do you prepare a dragon?”

Kenneth had been totally serious, but his allies all went and threw their feelings on the matter out there.

After coming to the conclusion that they would gather some more information about the situation tomorrow, they decided to get a meal at the inn’s restaurant. Since no one had been able to fish in the area for a while now, they weren’t served any fresh seafood, which got Kenneth’s fighting spirit even more fired up.

The divine protection Dale received from Quirmizi acted as a safeguard when it came to Earth magic. As long as he was casting magic using that element, he would never use up any mana.

However, since Dale wasn’t primarily a magic user by trade, it took him a bit of time and concentration to activate. And since he was using an even longer chant than usual, the precision required in weaving his mana was significant.

“Oh earth and the spirits dwelling within you, by my name of Dale Reki I order you, shift your form according to my wishes...”

They had first driven the agate-eyed dragon to the center of the harbor using Scipio’s Water magic. It naturally didn’t do much damage to a being with such a high resistance to magic, but it was effective in annoying it and getting it to move where they wanted.

With that, the dragon arrived at the point where they were waiting.

In that instant, Dale finished off his chant.

“...Display your glorious strength. <<Ground Transfiguration>>”

With that, the ground lifted up from the ocean.

The displaced water turned into a large wave, washing over the surroundings. It was enough to lift up the fishing boats, but when it slammed into the buildings, it burst into white foam.

“Oh earth, by my name I order you, shift your form according to my wishes. <<Ground Transfiguration>>”

As he chanted the same spell as before again, the already protruding surface spread out to create even more footing for them.

Before the agate-eyed dragon could even tell what was going on, it was dragged upwards and its usual territory completely vanished. Since it lived in the ocean, its limbs had evolved to prioritize swimming ability. But apparently now that they were touching solid ground, they didn’t have the strength needed to allow it to freely move around as it pleased.

Having cast his grand spell, Dale staggered for a moment in a lapse of concentration.

“You don’t need to force yourself to join the front line,” Karel said from beside the youth, not even looking his way. His gaze remained perfectly fixed on his target, and he released the tension in his bow’s string. The arrow cut sharply through the air, heading towards the beast’s head at the end of its long neck.

“It’s not like I’ve used up my mana... I’ll be fine,” Dale briefly replied as he drew his sword.

Thanks to the dragon’s high magical resistance, the magical device bow that he favored wouldn’t be very effective. And so, he instead went running forward in order to slash at his target.

The three members of the vanguard had gotten moving the instant Dale completed his magic, so they had already reached the dragon. Salomo had made it there first, and he was carefully watching the beast’s wriggling movements while slashing at its gleaming red belly. He landed one blow, then another. With that, the dragon realized what was happening and that these humans were its enemies, and its agate-colored eyes fixated on Salomo. Sensing that, the adventurer chose without a moment’s hesitation to distance himself.

Salomo had realized that his own weapons wouldn’t be enough to land a decisive blow when up against the dragon’s tough scales. And so, he retreated in order to distract the beast along with the magic-using Scipio.

At nearly the exact moment that the agate-eyed dragon’s attention turned towards Salomo, Helmut swung his long spear towards the beast’s softer abdomen.

The agate-eyed dragon let out a shrill shriek.

Even though he could sense the clear resentment in the beast’s voice, Helmut didn’t let up with his attack. Through his countless slashes, a great number of the damaged scales were shaved away and its flesh was cut loose, sending fresh blood flying through the air.

Amongst all that pain, the agate-eyed dragon swung its tail to swipe away its enemies. Even though the beast’s overwhelming weight alone was enough to make it a potentially fatal weapon, Kenneth remained calm and stepped out in front of his allies.

Using his battleaxe as a shield, he warded off the blow from the dragon’s tail. Naturally, that didn’t mean he stopped it directly, but rather intentionally redirected it. It was the kind of maneuver that could only be pulled off through a combination of skill and experience. Scipio also provided Kenneth with magical support, and thanks to the flow of water he created, the threat was kept safely away from any of their allies.

“Dale, can you aim for its neck?” Kenneth questioned, giving that short command.

“I’ll give it a try,” Dale responded, already running while slicing at the beast’s abdomen.

Then, he let loose a basic spell that was one of his specialties, “Oh earth, by name I order you, strike down my enemy. <<Stone Spear>>”

The attack magic executed in a different way than it normally would. The sharp conical stone shape usually meant for striking an enemy instead shot up under his feet. The instant that Dale reached the beast’s neck as planned, Karel let loose a barrage of arrows at its head. It wasn’t quite enough to completely rob the dragon of its vision, but it did cause it to reflexively close its eyelids and lose sight of Dale.

“Haah!” Dale yelled out, taking advantage of the opportunity to slash with his sword. He didn’t flinch as he was coated by fresh blood gushing forth from the deep wound, instead driving his blade even deeper.

Having received that critical blow from Dale, the agate-eyed dragon had clearly lost its ability to launch precise attacks.

“Scipio!” Kenneth yelled out to the group’s magic user, not taking his eyes off the beast.

“Yeah!”

The bloodied Dale was sent flying to the rear, cast aside as easily as if he was a kitten.

“Gotcha!” Kenneth yelled out while swinging his battleaxe, predicting the movements of the flailing injured dragon all the while. It was a powerful blow, slashing through the abdomen Helmut had already sliced open.

Unable to bear it, the agate-eyed dragon twisted its massive body, then a second later its head listlessly drooped. It had essentially left its critical injury completely defenseless.

Helmut deeply drove the tip of his spear into the soft flesh exposed by the wound Kenneth had opened wide. At nearly the same moment, Kenneth swung with enough strength for a fatal blow at its injured neck, tearing through it.

With that, the dragon’s massive frame came crashing down, causing the ground under their feet to tremble.

“Dale!” Kenneth called out while turning around, having finally seen the beast meet its end.

“I’m alright,” Dale replied with a light wave of his hand, having had the blood washed off of him through Scipio’s Water magic. “It didn’t get in my eyes or mouth.”

“It’s known as an edible species, so I don’t think there’s any need to worry so much about it. But still, best to be safe.”

There were plenty of magical beasts out there full of poisonous bodily fluids. And when there wasn’t much known about the species you were dealing with, it was especially important to be cautious.

“I cast detoxifying magic too, to be on the safe side.”

“You sure do know a lot of different types of magic for someone who isn’t even a dedicated magic user...” Scipio said in an astounded tone.

“That’s because Tislow’s a blessed land, where it’s not rare at all to be able to use magic,” Karel chimed in with a chuckle as he watched over the first-aid being applied.

“It’s a waste not to use everything you can. Back in my village, studying magic comes right after learning to read and write,” Dale replied as if it was only natural as he brushed aside his dripping wet bangs. Then, he gave the sleeve of his coat a sniff and grimaced. Mentally, he made a note to give it a thorough wash before the stench became a real problem.

“Well then, now we’ve got the real task before us,” Kenneth stated while placing his hands on his hips and stretching.

“Yeah, how are we pulling this thing ashore...?” Scipio asked in agreement.

“Is it alright if I go ahead and put the harbor back how it was?”

“Yeah, but wait till we get out of here first.”

“Right. And Karel, leave the cleanup here to us and go either find a merchant whose services we can buy or a carriage we can rent for transportation.”

“Got it. And I’ll see if I can find a kitchen we can borrow, too. We can’t transport the edible parts, right?”

“Yeah. We’re counting on you.”

Once everyone’s roles were decided, they each set about working on their separate tasks. As he watched Salomo and Helmut tying rope around their catch, Dale wove his mana once again.

Wanting to make things easier for transporting the beast, he used his magic to create a downward slope. He was going to have to fix all this later anyway, and now that he had come this far, this wouldn’t require much extra effort to clean up.

“Are you alright just firing off magic again and again like that?”

“Yeah. As long as I rest a bit, it’s no problem. I mean, I don’t even use up mana to begin with. It just takes a lot of concentration. That’s the one thing I wish I could get used to already,” Dale replied to Kenneth with a light wave of his hand.

And Kenneth really did seem to be able to tell that Dale wasn’t pushing himself, as he just turned to the rest of the group and said, “I think it’d be easier to dissect it a bit up here rather than pulling it down as is.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

“It’d be smart to cut the head off and bloodlet it, too. We’ll get soaked in blood, but we can just wash it off in the ocean later.”

“The smell of the blood won’t attract any sharks or anything, right...?”

“Better that than making a big puddle of blood in the middle of town.”

“I’ll do most of the prep work, but go ahead and skin it, Helmut. And Salomo, you gather up the parts like the nails and fins.”

With that they had their new tasks, and they silently got to work. Dale was taking a break and watching at the time, but perhaps due to his blood as a Tislow hunter getting all fired up, he soon grew restless. Now that he thought of it, it wasn’t often you got a chance to dissect such a large, rare beast.

“Kenneth, let me help too.”

“Right. Think you can help skin it?”

“It’d be my first time with something this big, but I’ve dealt with some large lizards back home.”

“Well, it’s not like we run into ‘lizards’ this big that often, either,” Helmut said with a chuckle.

“Yeah,” Dale muttered, pulling out his knife. “Ah, could I have some scales and stuff later as my personal share?”

“I don’t mind, but why?”

“Because I figure the craftsmen back home would be excited about such rare materials. So I was figuring I’d send them along to give them something to discuss.”

“I see.”

Even as they chatted, they didn’t slow down their work in the slightest. And so, the massive, menacing dragon was steadily divided up into chunks of meat. In fact, the beast’s fate had likely been sealed when it was first declared to be a delicacy.

At any rate, both Kenneth and the rest of the group were entirely focused on dissecting the creature. And when they started seeing how delicious the chunks of meat looked with the fat clinging to them, any thoughts of the dragon they used to belong to more or less vanished.

“It can be a little tough to look at a whole roasted lizard sometimes. But when it’s this big you’ve got to cut it up anyway, and then it’s hard to even picture its original shape.”

Still, it wasn’t such a bad feeling, hunting down a dragon for its meat. There weren’t any that lived near his home village, so they’d never had the chance, but if there had been, he was certain the hunters would have jumped at the chance.

They would be able to sell off the large bones like the spine and ribs. And so, while Dale set about using magic to return the harbor to its former state, the rest of the party was silently cleaning those off. In the middle of all that, though, they suddenly realized that both Kenneth and Karel were conspicuously missing.

And yet, nobody in the group found that strange in the least.

Later on, they loaded the luggage into the carriage Karel had procured and fixed it in place. Then after that, they all bathed at the inn and washed off their equipment. And unsurprisingly, when Dale’s paralyzed sense of smell started working again, he couldn’t help frowning at the residual stench clinging to him.

While Dale didn’t bring a lot of them, a few spare everyday shirts and pants were among the minimal luggage he brought along. Granted, the amount he could carry was limited on such a nomadic journey. It was something he hadn’t really ever considered back in his home village.

As he stepped outside of the inn he saw the sun was starting to set, dying the sky red.

He looked around as the salty ocean breeze blew through his damp hair and spied that a bonfire had been prepared, and the women from about town were walking all around. The flow of people was mainly centered around a makeshift outdoor stove, where a familiar large man was standing and skillfully working away.

I guess I probably shouldn’t go asking him which one he sees as his real job...

Seeing how the clean apron he wore fit him perfectly, it must not have been borrowed. And the blade he held in his dominant hand didn’t look to be any ordinary knife, but rather one meant for cooking that he was well accustomed to using. It felt odd to realize that he must have been using a fair portion of his limited luggage space just for cooking tools.

Apparently, the women from about town had gathered to help out.

To a novice like Dale, it sure was an impressive sight seeing Kenneth not only briskly throw out orders to those around him, but also prepare a number of dishes at the same time all by himself.

Around when the red sky started shifting into a deep indigo, the prepared bonfire began serving its purpose of lighting up the surroundings. It was a setup reminiscent of a night festival, and in fact it served as a celebration of the unprecedented threat of the aquatic dragon being wiped out, as well as the fact that they would be able to get back to fishing from tomorrow on.

It was the type of ingredient that rich dilettantes would pay plenty for, but it was hard to sell, due to being difficult to preserve and ship. And so, they ultimately had to resign themselves to using up all of the meat. Those who gathered at the ensuing banquet held in the town couldn’t hide how they felt daunted by the unfamiliar ingredient, but alcohol gradually drove away any residual misgivings about the beast, and they started showing interest in such delicious food.

“Yum.”

The meat skewer seemed to have just been made by sprinkling salt over it and roasting it, and yet the amount of salt and roasting time were just perfect, making for an exquisite dish. It was lighter compared to farm meat, but it had a nice, firm texture to it, and a delicious flavor came gushing out when you bit into it.

“It definitely is good, but it’s hard to think of what to compare it to,” Dale muttered to himself while glancing at the next dish.

The stringy parts had been boiled long enough that they became viscous like gelatin, and then steeped in the flavor of potherbs and tomatoes. It made for a really unique texture of a sort that Dale had never tasted before. The deep fried dish was quite interesting, too. It was seasoned a bit on the strong side, but it paired perfectly as a snack alongside the drinks.

Then there was a dish made through steaming, prepared in a way based on the local cuisine of this port town, using a citrus-based sauce. Even the scraps didn’t go to waste as Kenneth used them to make a soup, which had a salty flavor and was served in a bowl with noodles and more citrus.

Dale had his cup filled with fresh wine and took a sip. It was a cheap wine, but it wasn’t overly sour and went down easy, which earned it passing marks in his book.

As Dale moved towards the center of the banquet while picking at the dishes on offer, he soon noticed the man who should have been the star of the moment was instead staring out at the dark nighttime sea. He spied the man’s cup was empty at the moment, though, so he borrowed a bottle of wine before going on over.

“Kenneth.”

“Dale...?”

“What’s with that face? You were so energetic just a little bit ago,” Dale questioned while pouring wine into Kenneth’s glass.

“Was the food tasty?” Kenneth asked, with a bizarrely listless look to him.

“Yeah.”

“An agate-eyed dragon, huh...?” he muttered with a sigh, causing Dale to look a bit puzzled.

He didn’t say it often, but Dale really did think his “big bro” was someone worthy of respect. And so, he gulped down the contents of his own cup and grasped for what to say.

“Even working as an adventurer, it’s unlikely you’ll ever run into one of those incredibly rare beasts. And even if you do, taking it down is a whole other matter entirely. It’s possible to set up a specialized fishing trip in order to take on the challenge, but for that, you’d need to find an investor with a massive fortune first,” Kenneth stated.

“Right...”

“It’s rare enough that I’d call it a once in a lifetime opportunity, even for famed adventurers. That’s how legendary of an ingredient it is...”

“It sure was tasty.”

“Yeah, it was... I had wanted to try eating it, just the once...” he muttered, his words coming out bit by bit. He really wasn’t acting like his usual self.

As Dale searched for words of wisdom that had come from the man himself, Kenneth gave another sigh.

“It was my goal in becoming an adventurer...”

“Huh?”

Kenneth paid no attention to how taken aback Dale looked, though, and instead stared into the darkness towards the far-off horizon line.

“Now that I’ve accomplished my goal, what’ll I do from here on out...?”

Dale’s impression hadn’t been wrong.

Now that Kenneth had completed his life’s goal without Dale even realizing it, he was undoubtedly at a loss.

†

After hearing “The Epic of Wal” from Dale, Latina asked the question she was most curious about: “You can eat dragons?”

In a way, he had totally expected that.

“The agate-eyed dragon we ate back then tasted totally different than other meats or fish, but it was crazy tasty... I don’t really have the words to describe it, but it sure was good.”

“Ooh...”

When he saw the curiosity sparkling in Latina’s gray eyes, Dale started thinking maybe he’d go catch an agate-eyed dragon or two, no matter how much trouble it may prove to do so. He really was serious about it too, making all sorts of plans in the back of his head on how to best use his connections and authority.

“The only dragons I’ve seen before were flying dragons at the capital. But still, you and Kenneth sure are amazing to have taken on such a large magical beast...”

Despite her words, there was a clear look of concern on Latina’s face. Noticing that, Dale gave a strained smile and patted her on the head like he did when she was little.

“It’s true that you start to get a reputation of being a first-rate adventurer when you take down a dragon. But put another way, it happens enough for that not to be so rare an occurrence. Plus Kenneth and I are just fine, so there’s no reason for you to worry, Latina.”

“Right.”

When he thought on how Latina had worried like that when he left her home and headed out for a job ever since she was little, he thought it really may have been for the best that he hadn’t had much of a chance to tell her the details of his work. After all, the Seventh Demon Lord’s troops made a real habit of bringing dragons along with them. It was true that you were called first rate for taking one down, but he dealt with them so often that he had grown completely numb to that fact.

It made him glad to see Latina concerned for him, and he could understand why she felt that way, but fighting a dragon was far from an unusual job for Dale.

“Well... That agate-eyed dragon was seriously tasty, but from what I hear, most land-based dragons aren’t suitable for eating.”

“Really?”

Dale felt relieved that he had managed to so swiftly shift her attention.

“Their meat is tough to start with, and a lot of them have a resistance to fire, so you can’t really soften it through cooking, either.”

“I see...”

“Flying dragons have great strategic importance so nobody eats them, and supposedly they wouldn’t be tasty even if you tried, anyway.”

“But if we know they’re not tasty... Then that means someone has eaten them before.”

Dale was at a loss as to how to respond to that.

Most of his knowledge on such things had come from Kenneth, and he hadn’t ever questioned why he would know such things in the first place, but now that he thought on it, Latina was absolutely right.

He wanted to think that Kenneth just learned it from someone else too, but he really couldn’t say that with certainty.

“I guess that’s true.”

“So dragons aren’t very tasty... Huh?”

Dale had been tempted to ask if she wanted to try eating one even so, only for Latina to think of something partway through her statement and tilt her head before continuing on.

“＊＊＊＊＊＊ meat could be... I mean, I thought it was some type of giant lizard, but maybe it’s not...? Huh...?” she muttered, mixing in a word from her home country.

“Well, maybe there’s no helping that it tastes bad, then...” Dale said while averting his gaze a bit.

Latina, meanwhile, furrowed her brows and looked to be struggling to search distant memories. When she seemed to finally be satisfied with her search, she met eyes with Dale and then let out an odd little giggle.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“It’s just... You were a whole lot younger in that story than the you I know, so it’s kind of a strange feeling.”

“I mean, to put it bluntly, I was still just a kid back then...”

At the time, he put on a front far more than was necessary, hoping to get the people around him to acknowledge him. Now that the years had passed, he could tell that actually must have made him seem even more childish to them, though.

“I mean, you were an adult ever since I first met you.”

“By now, you’re actually older than I was when I found you, though.”

“Ah...” Latina muttered, blinking her eyes in clear surprise. “That’s true, isn’t it? How strange.”

“Well, I mean, pretty much all the old-timers making up the regulars of this shop have known you since back when you were a kid... and honestly, it’s not all that different for me, either.”

A great number of the senior adventurers centered around Kreuz had known Dale since back when he was just a fledgling Kenneth had taken under his wing.

“I mean, there’s some stuff you can only really see when the years have passed, but it can be real embarrassing to think back on.”

Would he even have been able to take charge of a young girl so utterly unrelated to him without the impetus of youth to spur him on? He had thought he was a proper adult back then, but in actuality he was still young and inexperienced, and so perhaps the people around them saw him not too differently from the young girl he cradled in his arms.

“So you’ve all done work here in Kreuz since way back then?”

“No, Kenneth and them just used Kreuz occasionally, but from what I hear it wasn’t their base of operations or anything.”

“Really?” Latina questioned.

With that, Dale resumed his story of the past.

“It’s a bit of a strange twist of fate, that the reason Kenneth’s party started working out of Kreuz was because we had taken out that agate-eyed dragon.”

†

The next destination for Kenneth’s party was Kreuz, after slaying that agate-eyed dragon in Wal. The reason for their destination was to sell off the hide, bone, and other valuable parts of the dragon they’d prepared. And since their condition would affect what they could be used for, Kenneth’s party wanted to find buyers before anything started to deteriorate. That was even more true because they were rare, valuable parts.

A great number of merchants did also gather in the port town of Qualle, but if you were trying to maximize profits, then Kreuz was on a whole other level.

Kreuz was the second largest center for trade and distribution in all of Laband, so it was very welcoming to outside merchants and adventurers who visited. That reputation came from the fact that it was easier to find a place to sell something there than in other towns, and because the conditions weren’t set to be explicitly favorable to residents, so even adventurers without any backing had a chance to maximize their profits.

The carriage they rented took them from Wal to the nearest port town. From there, they traveled by ship up a large river that connected to the coast, heading towards Kreuz. The vessel carried not only people but also crated goods. And for Dale, the trip made for yet another learning experience.

Once the ship moved from the ocean to the river, the whole journey became incredibly smooth. While the rest of the party took it easy and saw this as a chance to relax, Dale decided to use this time effectively in order to write a report to send back to his home village. Of course, to those around him he looked like a high-level student buried in homework, causing them to break out in awkward grins.

Eventually, the boat came up alongside the bridge to the north of Kreuz. Apparently, past this point it was difficult for large ships to advance due to the depth of the water. In order to go further, you would need to bring your luggage down to the nearby riverbank prepared for these situations, and move it to either a small boat or carriage to continue onwards.

It was Dale’s first time visiting this part of the river, and he actually thought it was a town.

There were a great number of people working there, and there were also inns set up there for them. Plus there were stalls there lined up to do business with the workers and folks using the boats, making it a lot more lively than the rural villages Dale was familiar with.

“A bit of a settlement naturally popped up here, but it’s not officially considered a town,” Karel taught Dale. “Since it’s not a town, they don’t collect taxes. But in exchange, there’s no guarantee of protection and you’re responsible for yourself here.”

“Is that really alright? What about magical beasts and bandits...?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s perfectly safe or anything, but it’s close to Kreuz, so apparently they can take care of themselves to some degree.”

Plus, he explained to Dale that during long periods of turbulent weather, stalls and luggage could be quickly packed up and everyone could retreat to safety. Though, put another way, such events were frequent enough in the area that a proper town couldn’t be established there in the first place.

While Karel was teaching Dale all that, they arranged a carriage and gathered information on places in Kreuz that might buy rare ingredients like the parts of an agate-eyed dragon.

Kenneth had seemed somehow listless since that night in Wal, but there weren’t any clear changes in his work to indicate that. It was even possible that he was in a slump since they hadn’t handled any dangerous jobs since them, so perhaps he would return to normal once he threw himself back into such a situation.

It’d be nice if that was the case, but still...

Dale was seated in the back of the carriage as it rattled along, and he gave a sigh as he stared up at the sky. To someone like him who grew up in the mountains, both the sight of the ocean reaching out to the horizon line and a river so wide it would be hard to swim to the other side were fresh to him. And even with such thoughts racing through his mind, the sight of the sky reflecting on the sparkling blue water looked quite beautiful. So even though he was essentially just another piece of luggage being transported by the carriage, it still felt like a deluxe seat as it allowed him to relax and enjoy the scenery.

Ultimately, they ended up entering Kreuz through the eastern gate.

The crafting district in the east was far more bustling and lively than any town that Dale had visited thus far. You could really sense Kreuz’s prosperity as one of Laband’s most prominent towns from both the goods lined up in the shops along the way and the people passing by.

“We already got information back at the riverside about a place that’d probably buy it all, but to be safe, I guess we should check things out at a shop with an Akhdar flag,” Kenneth stated as they approached the center of town.

“I think there’s one in the southern district,” Karel replied.

“Ah, that envelope with wings is the insignia of the postal service, right? I’d like to stop by that office to send my report and the scales you guys let me have. Would that be alright?” Dale asked.

“The shop has a green flag raised to distinguish it, plus it’s alongside the main street, so you can just catch up to us later.”

“It looks pretty crowded, so that’d be a big help. Plus it ended up even bulkier than expected,” Dale said while holding up the bundle of documents. By this point, it was more of a small parcel than a letter. And since he had also included the agate-eyed dragon scales wrapped carefully in oil paper, that only strengthened that impression.

After separating from the party, Dale entered the postal building through a door that was every bit as showily adorned as you would expect from such a large town. And true to his first impressions, it really was bustling, with a great number of people coming and going. However, the reception desks were well-staffed, meaning he didn’t have to wait as long as expected.

As Dale was filling out the form to have his report sent back home at the time, he didn’t directly observe what happened next. But when he heard about it later, it was something he hadn’t expected at all: Kenneth, who was supposed to be visiting that shop for the first time on business, was hitting on the waitress.

When Dale finished with the postal service, he found the bar known as the Dancing Ocelot, which was denoted by the green flag with a winged horse on it that was the symbol of Akhdar. And when he approached, what he saw was the rest of the group looking clearly at a loss, while Kenneth was there in the center with a sloppy smile on his face.

With that, he was informed of what had happened.

It was just too unbelievable for anyone who knew Kenneth as he usually was, so Dale was also left dumbfounded and uncertain how to handle the situation.

“Huh?”

“Ah, I mean, it’s just that he looks awful happy for someone who got chewed out in response.”

“Eh? I don’t really get it...”

“No worries there. Even those of us who were there the whole time don’t really understand it.”

“I don’t really get Kenneth hitting on anyone to begin with...” Dale muttered, and everyone else agreed.

“It was our first time seeing it ourselves.”

“Yeah.”

However, the question a troubled-looking Dale asked next was far from what anyone expected.

“What does... ‘hit on’ mean?”

It was just such an unbelievable question that nobody wanted to give him a straight answer.

“I mean, can’t you figure it out from context?”

“Why did you do something like that, Kenneth?”

With that, Kenneth shot him a wide grin, seemingly paying no heed to the fact that they were still out in public.

“I had no clue up till now either, but it looks like there really is such a thing as love at first sight.”

“Huh?”

“Like I said, it was love at first sight. So I tried to woo her.”

“Huh...?”

“I know that they say that haste makes waste, but I made a strategic decision that the saying that the early bird gets the worm took precedence.”

“Huh...”

From the look on Dale’s face it was clear that he wasn’t keeping up with what was happening, but then Kenneth broke out in a smile that said that he was going to leave the lad even further behind.

“Becoming an adventurer was just a means to an end for me.”

“You said something like that before, too.”

“And after I one day retire, I’d like to run an inn or something, and end up having plenty of kids with a beautiful wife. That’s my goal in life.”

“...Huh...”

“Now that I’ve accomplished my goal as an adventurer, that’s what I should focus on. I finally remembered that!”

Around when Dale finally vaguely sensed he wasn’t the only one feeling out of the loop, the energy had fully returned to Kenneth’s expression as he stared up at the sky.

In all likelihood, the rest of the group was probably also thinking to themselves that they were glad to see him back on his feet, but also that they hadn’t at all expected the circumstances that would bring it about.

At the same time, the girl Kenneth had confessed to hadn’t gotten a handle on the situation at all, either.

As the only daughter of the couple who ran the Dancing Ocelot, Rita was tasked with handling a portion of the affairs of her parents’ combination bar and inn.

The shop had been granted an affiliation with the temple of Akhdar, and an information terminal, but the task of using it couldn’t just be entrusted lightly to some outside employee. And so, that fell upon the owners of the place. As her parents’ only daughter, Rita had made up her mind at a young age that she would take over the business, so she underwent higher learning at an Asfar temple in order to polish up the essential skills like accounting. All of that was because she was the shop’s heir, and would have to take charge of it in the future.

She was still a young woman, but that was the sort of enthusiasm that drove her as she sat behind the shop’s counter.

Since she had grown up in a bar, she was used to being teased by drunk customers and having statements with a hint of sexual harassment thrown her way.

And yet... Or no, perhaps precisely because of that...

“I’ve fallen for you. Let’s get married.”

“What’re you saying? Is your brain busted?”

Having someone she just met propose to her with a totally serious look on his face was definitely a new one for her.

“It’s destiny. I can feel it.”

She could swear she shot him an icy glare, but it didn’t seem to get through to him at all. It seemed even her sharp tongue wasn’t enough to shake him.

“I hear death’s the only cure for stupidity, so how about giving that a try?”

“If the undead are what you’re into, Rita, then I’ll give that some serious consideration.”

“Then we’ll have to make sure to use thorough enough purification magic that there won’t even be a single ash of you left behind.”

She had thought she had built up a tolerance for drunks and vulgar jerks, and believed she could ward them all off. Perhaps that was why she didn’t know how to handle him staring straight at her like this.

Her thoughts were all a mess.

And so...

“Rita...”

Unable to bear his gaze any longer, her hand shot out reflexively.

Despite the resulting dry, light bang reverberating through the air, for some reason the large man in front of her was still staring at her with a look of complete and utter satisfaction.

The men accompanying him must have realized it would be bad if this blew up into an incident, as they dragged him out of the shop and closed the door.

And in that instant, Rita was unable to hold herself back any longer and yelled out, “What in the world was that?! Seriously, what the heck?!”

“Huh...? I mean, he was hitting on you, right?” a bearded regular called out while taking a drink, seemingly finding even Rita’s rage amusing.

The regular had made a name for himself as an adventurer, earning enough fame and fortune to become well known around town. Normally, you would expect someone like him to patronize a high-class shop in the western district, amongst all the mansions. The owner being his childhood friend, and his interest in watching over the man’s daughter, were likely both reasons he preferred frequenting this cheap bar in the southern district.

Doing business with ruffians like adventurers carried some risk even for an adult man, yet Rita had decided from a young age that she would take over the shop from her parents. And unsurprisingly, she ended up thinking of her father’s friend as “Uncle Sylvester.”

That was how long the regular had known her for, and yet even he had never seen her this out of sorts.

“And my hand hurts!”

“That’s what happens when you slap someone as hard as you can,” Sylvester said with a grin.

Honestly, he had some interest in the fact that the man was skilled enough to not only track the course of Rita’s slap, but also close his eyes in response. He had never seen the man in Kreuz before, but Sylvester suspected he belonged to a mid-level party with a good bit of experience.

“I don’t know him, but I wonder if he’ll be coming here for work from now on...”

“I don’t care in the least!”

“You say that, but if he’s an adventurer based out of Kreuz, then I’m sure you’ll be seeing plenty of him in the future.”

“Ugh...”

“The doctrine of a shop with an Akhdar flag is that they’re supposed to be open to anyone seeking information, right? You can’t just go around choosing your customers based on your personal feelings. If you do, it’ll be just like your old man says...”

Rita was clearly shaken, yet when Sylvester said that she put on a bold front and replied, “I know, he always says it’d be impossible for a woman to run this bar. I’m sick of hearing that. I can easily ward off a flirt or two.”

“Oh, I see.”

Having heard just the response he expected from Rita, Sylvester had nothing else to say, so he just held out his now empty cup towards her.

Kenneth wasted no time at all and came walking through the door of the Dancing Ocelot the very next day, as if to prove what Sylvester had said. Today he was accompanied by a boy with black hair that had a bit of brown mixed in, and he seemed to pay no attention to Rita’s murderous glare, as they just parked themselves in front of the notice board. The board displayed local information and bounties sent by the temple of Akhdar, as well as requests posted by folks from around town. Looking at the two of them gave the impression that the youth was something of a novice being given a thorough lecture.

As he looked intently over the posted requests, the boy, Dale, voiced his thoughts.

“There sure are a lot of extermination jobs.”

“There’s a forest near this town where a lot of magical beasts live. There’s a lot of demand for ingredients from them, so apparently a good number of merchants interested in such things gather here in town.”

“Having a reliable supply of ingredients is essential for craftsmen, too...” Dale muttered, then he made a request of his “big bro.” “Could we try taking jobs like this for a while?”

“It sure is rare, hearing you say something like that.”

“I think I really am most suited to hunting-style work like this. And so I’d like to build up more experience, for when I eventually start working separately from you all.”

At first Kenneth couldn’t hide his surprise at this unusual request from his “little bro,” but then he went and ruffled Dale’s hair.

“Don’t treat me like a kid!”

“I do have to praise you for saying you’ll still rely on us rather than suddenly run off on your own.”

“It just sounds to me like you’re talking to a child...”

“When you’re managing a party, dividing up roles properly is a crucial skill. And I really did mean it when I said that was praiseworthy.”

Rita, having started listening in on the conversation at some point, thought to herself that they got along rather well. But then she came back to her senses and looked back down at the documents in front of her.

After all, it was like she was actually interested in him of all things, with the way she was looking their way and wondering what they were discussing. It was downright stupid paying him any heed. Like the sort of nonsense a drunk would ramble on about.

Yes, it was totally foolish to be the only one paying any attention.

She didn’t seem to realize that the fact she was trying so hard to act like she wasn’t paying any attention to them meant she actually was quite focused on them. As he gave an awkward smile at that side of the girl that he had never seen before, “Uncle Sylvester” moved from his usual table to the counter and called out to the pair of newcomers.

“I’ve never seen you before. I’ve been hearing tell around the eastern district that someone’s brought in dragon parts to town, but was that you folks?”

Dale wore a look of suspicion upon being suddenly approached by the stranger, but Kenneth put on a faint diplomatic smile.

“We just got lucky.”

“No need to be modest.”

“We managed to quickly find a prospective buyer, too. I guess that’s the second most prominent town in all of Laband for you.”

“Sounds like business is going smoothly, then.”

“Yeah, fortunately. So much so that I’d love to treat you to a drink after you introduce yourself, but I seem to have gotten on the waitress’s bad side, so I suppose I’d better leave that for another time.”

“Right,” Sylvester replied, lightly raising his hand in response.

Then, having finished with such pleasantries, Kenneth turned around and prompted Dale to head out of the shop.

However, at the very last second, he looked at Rita, who was still pointlessly shuffling around documents.

“Well then, see you later, Rita.”

“I’d prefer it if you never came again.”

Kenneth grinned wide, seemingly just happy to have gotten a response. As a result, Rita wasn’t able to look straight at him, and felt a sense of defeat that was hard to put into words.

“Well then, shall we start off by handling the request from the alliance of healers?” Kenneth asked with a smile as soon as they were out the door, but Dale was left with a number of questions. They weren’t anything serious, though, so he could just ask on the way. And so, that was just what he did, keeping up his pace so as not to fall behind the larger man.

Kreuz was laid out so that the main streets formed the same cross shape as the town itself, so it was easy for even outsiders to grasp more or less where they were, unless they wandered down the narrow alleys. It really was helpful, as it meant you needed to spend far less effort memorizing roads.

“There are other requests, so why did you pick that one?” Dale asked first, choosing a question related to work rather than one driven purely by curiosity.

“We’re not familiar with the layout or the state of the area. But if we can get some information from local parties who frequently head into the forest and match that up with jobs, then that’s killing two birds with one stone.”

“I see...”

His “little bro” looked innocent in a way that was fitting to his age as he nodded along, much as the lad would hate to have that pointed out. In fact, Kenneth had to force himself not to smile at how adorable the boy looked.

“So do you know that old-timer?”

“Not exactly, but he matches the details of someone I’ve heard rumors about. I guess that’s Kreuz for you, for a big shot like Mr. Delius to be hanging out like it’s only natural.”

“Delius...?”

“Even you must have heard of the adventurer named Sylvester Delius, right?”

“Huh...? A-Ah! Wait, he was a real person?”

“Yeah, most folks react like that.”

“When you come from out in the country like me, he sounds just like a character out of tall tales meant for kids.”

Minstrels sung tales of adventurers and epics. And the great tasks sung of in such stories often crumbled the boundaries between fact and fiction. Dale hadn’t become an adventurer out of admiration for such tales, though, so he had never paid much attention to the adventurers who really did exist.

“When exactly did you have time to chase gossip anyway, Kenneth?”

“I managed to gather plenty of different bits of information even while you were staring at that notice board. Like in regards to Mr. Delius, let’s see... He was seated at the same table both yesterday and today, so he shows up at the shop enough to have a fixed spot. And from how much attention he seemed to be paying to Rita, they’re probably pretty close.”

“So Rita’s the name of that woman behind the counter...? When did you ask her that?”

“I didn’t, I just heard other folks calling out to her. It’s a wonderful name, isn’t it?”

Apparently he had managed to gather all that crucial information in such a short period of time. That level of skill was worthy of praise, yet Kenneth had that sloppy grin on his face the whole time they were talking, so Dale ultimately just awkwardly averted his gaze. As he still hadn’t spent all that long as a “little bro,” he didn’t have any clue how to properly quip at this entirely unfamiliar side of his “big bro.”

Meanwhile, back in the Ocelot, Sylvester was holding out his empty cup towards Rita.

“You just haven’t had enough to drink.”

Rita’s cheeks were still a bit red as she silently filled up the cup.

Despite feeling somewhat complex emotions upon seeing that, Sylvester continued on, “Apparently, someone brought parts from an aquatic dragon into the eastern district yesterday. The passionate youngsters around there are even saying that because they don’t seem to have gone bad at all, it must have been a case of that group exterminating it rather than just stumbling on the corpse. That would definitely take some serious skill.”

“There haven’t been any requests to exterminate a dragon around here lately.”

“Right, and I’d imagine we should hear more before long. After all, it’d be a serious issue if their habitat shifted.”

“That’s for sure...”

“The guy in charge of the adventurer party who brought those parts in is called Tarnat. That’s the same name as a guy who I’ve heard specializes in guarding merchant caravans, and he has a pretty good reputation.”

“Huh...”

Rita kept acting as if she didn’t care at all, showing her overall stubborn personality. And so she started using the nearby Akhdar message board, seemingly looking for some sort of information among what came from the temple.

The daughter of his friend of many years had never reacted to someone like that before, so Sylvester found it no surprise at all that she was investigating him.

For folks without much rumors and reputation about them, if they were trying to keep it that way it was best not to openly take jobs around Kreuz, and they certainly shouldn’t come anywhere near this shop. So since he hadn’t done so, it certainly made things go easier.

And yet, though Kenneth and his friends did indeed have a reputation, she couldn’t find anything bad said about them no matter how much she dug. And considering they were being requested by name for a number of guard jobs from merchant groups, they certainly seemed to have plenty of trust placed in them.

But considering the circumstances, the fact that there was nothing wrong with him was a problem in and of itself.

“I’d like to avoid having her hate me, but still... What should I do?”

Sylvester had known her for so many years now that he knew she wouldn’t back down even when dealing with hot-blooded, wild adventurers. With that thought, his old friend’s face came to mind and he gave a faint sigh.

After that, Kenneth’s party stopped taking on the guard jobs that were supposed to be their specialty, and instead began heading out into the forest where magical beasts dwelled, to the south of Kreuz. And yet, their reputation remained rather impressive all the while.

Since the magical beasts weren’t that common in the areas surrounding Kreuz, there was a strong tendency for the weak ones to gather in the forest. That went to show just how many adventurers gathered in the town. And in turn, that resulted in the forest having a greater variety and number of magical beasts than in regions where adventurers were never seen, making it far more dangerous.

If a party was able to venture deep inside, that was proof of just how skilled they were.

When they first took jobs in Kreuz they stayed on the outskirts doing basic hunting and gathering, but in no time at all they were going mid-way deep.

“Your magic sure is handy,” Helmut stated one day after they started working around Kreuz, sounding half astounded.

Dale’s Earth magic was almost too helpful when it came to exploring the forest. Even when it was an area they were supposedly visiting for the first time, Dale would never get lost or choose the wrong path. And on top of that, he could even grasp the terrain to a certain degree.

Those abilities really were a big reason they were able to proceed deep into the forest so unusually quickly. And his skills from growing up in Tislow were even more effective in a forest or on a mountain.

However, Dale himself understood firsthand that wasn’t the only reason.

“I think I probably personally have a strong affinity with this place.”

“What do you mean?” Helmut questioned, while as magic users, Karel and Scipio immediately looked jealous.

“You mean an affinity with your divine protection, right?”

“I’ve heard magical beast habitats are generally brimming with the energy of the gods.”

“By divine protection, do you mean that stuff that priests have? Does it really have that big of an effect?”

“My divine protection has a strong affinity with magic in the first place. And the divine energy from around here is from Quirmizi, Azraq, and... I think probably Akhdar. So yeah, it’s having a pretty big effect. It’s super easy for me to weave the mana I need.”

Dale had received a portion of miraculous power from the gods Quirmizi and Azraq, but even he was surprised at how strong of an affinity he had for this place.

Normally, it wasn’t recommended for adventurers to act on their own. The unusually high affinity of this land was a big reason that Dale would later come to carefreely do just that on a daily basis. In terms of earnings a guard job with a merchant caravan was more profitable, but since he was always able to catch his prey and turn a profit, it wasn’t half bad.

As for Dale’s training at the time, he was steadily getting some on-the-job experience at negotiating sales of his catches with the veteran merchants of Kreuz. At first, the merchants always managed to strike a one-sided bargain, but by now he was able to earn a definite profit.

He was getting such fulfillment from his everyday life, and yet from Dale’s point of view at least, Kenneth’s romance didn’t seem to have made any progress.

“Rita, I’d like to hear about the fine details of this request,” Kenneth called out to Rita like it was only natural when visiting the Dancing Ocelot.

“The rule is that you are to negotiate directly with the client. Our shop doesn’t get in the middle of such things,” she answered in an incredibly blunt tone.

However, Kenneth just briefly replied, “I see,” and walked further into the shop. “Sorry, Sylvester, but I wanted to ask about this job. Do you know anyone who would be familiar with where the magical beast in question can be found?” he asked the regular.

Sylvester didn’t look displeased to be bothered in the least, and he placed his hand on his chin as he mulled it over.

Seeing how Kenneth and Sylvester had gotten so friendly at some point caused Rita to furrow her brow even further. However, the pair just kept on seriously discussing the job, paying the waitress’s bad mood no heed.

It was unbelievably frustrating.

Unable to suppress that feeling, Rita instead turned it into fuel to passionately tackle her work.

They were completely earnest. More so than any other party of adventurers Rita knew, they were totally serious about their work.

Whenever Kenneth addressed Rita, he had impeccable manners for an adventurer seeking work. If he uttered even a single vulgar word she was prepared to curse him and toss him out, but he always remained a perfect gentleman.

The dragon parts his party had brought into Kreuz had come from a port town by the name of Wal. Apparently a rare beast known as an agate-eyed dragon had taken up residence in the harbor and brought the town’s business to a screeching halt until they took it down. Thanks to their careful preparations in fighting it, they managed to defeat the massive dragon with hardly any damage to the town, and apparently a number of minstrels were already singing a new epic song based on the event. They asked for their just reward to be the remains of the beast, but they didn’t ask for any further payment from the town. Since fishing had stopped, the economy of Wal had also stalled out, and so it would have a serious effect on the town if they had to pay a fitting reward for taking down a dragon. The party’s chivalrous actions in keeping that in mind was another big reason their tale was getting sung.

Their reputation around Kreuz was also steadily on the rise.

Even Sylvester’s friendly reception was based on what he had seen of their work ethic.

It really did seem like no matter what job they took on, they would fulfill it quickly and honestly. By now they were getting repeat clients, with some of them even occasionally inquiring if they could ask for the group by name. Rita had never heard of such requests coming in this short of a period of time before.

Rita slid her hand over the Akhdar message board again today, clearly unable to hide her irritation all the while.

If she hated him, then she just had to not look and have nothing to do with him.

And yet, Rita was abusing her position to gather information, for some reason she couldn’t explain. Ultimately, her excuse to herself was that she was just being picky and feeling a need to deal with the questions that occasionally came to mind.

“It’d be a bad joke if someone were to say it’s because I have feelings for him...” she muttered without thinking.

Then, she reaffirmed it. That was a joke. Yes, of course it was... After all, ever since they first met, he didn’t try to hit on her or flatter her.

And she didn’t want that either. No, definitely not.

But still, it was frustrating. It just wasn’t fair, that she was the only one worrying so much about it.

“Well then, I’m off, Rita.”

“I hope you never come back.”

That was why she had thrown such words back at him again today. It was clear that she had completely given up on offering the sort of friendliness you would expect of someone in the service industry.

But still, if he came again tomorrow...

“This job looks like it’s going to be a bit of trouble. You mind worrying about me a bit, Rita?”

“Of course I won’t. In fact, it’d be refreshing never having to see your stupid face again.”

She didn’t have any expectations, of course. But still, if he came yet again...

It was quite sudden when Kenneth’s party stopped showing up.

He had just said he would come again tomorrow, then he left the shop like normal. How had she responded to him, though...?

She had known for some time that the party wasn’t exactly based out of Kreuz to begin with. And it wasn’t exactly as if she could ask as to their whereabouts, either.

The days passed by, but she was too afraid to gather information on them.

She was well aware that adventurers would often disappear suddenly. It was a job that sat side by side with danger, and since she was born as the daughter of this shop’s owners, she had always known what that meant.

And so, she covered her ears. There could be all sorts of information flying about this shop that she didn’t want to hear.

And Sylvester was always in his regular spot, but he wasn’t there today. A few days prior he had received some information and left the shop with a heartbroken look on his face, and it seemed he had been around to various places since then handling some sort of work.

Even in the middle parts of the forest, powerful magical beasts would at times wander through from deeper in. Countless parties of adventurers had been wiped out through such run-ins.

When Sylvester and his allies heard that such a magical beast had reached the shallowed parts of the forest, they hurriedly rushed to come up with a plan to handle it.

Among the parties that fell victim to it were those who could even manage just fine midway into the forest. And so, they entered a state of high alert, barring inexperienced adventurers from entering the forest at all.

Even skilled fighters were falling.

One may have the skill needed to defeat a dragon, but if they were suddenly attacked in an unexpected place, there was no guarantee they would be able to deal with that.

Plus, Rita knew without having to ask that this incident had occurred around where Kenneth’s group was most active.

She was well aware of all that. And yet, she didn’t want to face the reality.

“If things were going to turn out like this, should I have at least told him to come back safely...?” she whispered, surprising even herself with how weak her voice sounded.

Kenneth at last appeared again before the emotionally overwhelmed Rita half a month later.

“You’re alive...?”

Kenneth tilted his head at that sudden question, clearly not understanding where it was coming from.

As for Rita, she was shocked at how much her voice trembled as she confirmed what she was seeing.

“Seems like it’s been pretty crazy here in Kreuz. We’ve been on a request from a merchant caravan we’re acquainted with, escorting them to the capital, but I heard plenty of rumors along the way,” Kenneth stated in sympathy, assuming Rita’s trembling voice had a different cause entirely.

To Rita’s ears, even those words felt totally unreal, and she sat there in a daze.

“I heard it was a massive enough snake that it could swallow large trees whole, right? And apparently a big group banded together in order to take it down. Dale from our party really wanted to participate, so he was disappointed not to get the chance. Ah right, I had been hearing there were some bandits active lately along the highway, but we didn’t run into anything like that on the round trip. Could you update that information?”

Kenneth had kept on talking away because Rita hadn’t replied, but when he looked at her face again, he was taken aback. She was so strong-willed and always wore a look of confidence, but now tears were streaming down her face onto the counter.

He had no idea whatsoever what he had done to cause her to cry. And he was utterly disgusted at himself when he realized he wasn’t even being caring enough to offer her a clean handkerchief to use.

“R-Rita...?”

“It’s nothing.”

“You say that, but I mean, look at you...”

“I told you it’s nothing, so it’s nothing.”

That reply at least had some of her usual toughness, which caused Kenneth to feel seriously relieved. As that showed clearly on his face, Rita shot him back a smile even as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“You made it back safely, so it’s nothing... Welcome home.”

That was the first time Kenneth saw Rita smile, and it was so charming that he felt himself fall for her all over again.

†

Dale’s tale of the past seemed to have seriously stirred up Latina’s curiosity.

She saw all the people around her as adults, but even they were once children. That observation was hardly profound, but she hadn’t really considered it until now.

“Theo and Emma were babies, but they’ve grown so big. And I guess it’s that way with everyone, but it still feels strange somehow.”

“And you were so small that your hands couldn’t reach the top of the tables, little lady,” Sylvester said while his eyes narrowed.

Hearing that, Latina pouted just a bit as she held out a cup full of freshly poured tea.

From back behind the counter, Rita smiled a bit at the sight of Sylvester acting like a doting old man looking at his granddaughter.

The regular was as much a fan of drinking as he’d been when Rita’s father ran the place, but thanks to a certain adorable waitress personally preparing it, now his usual glass of booze was replaced by a teacup half the time. Latina herself didn’t seem to realize the impact she had there, though.

“Mr. Syl, you knew Rita when she was a child?”

“Since before that, even, since her old man and I were childhood friends. And even when I started heading all over for work, I would still make frequent stops in this shop to gather information, so we’ve known each other for a long time. Thanks to that, I’ve known Rita ever since she was born.”

“Ooh, Rita as a baby...?” Latina questioned with a tilt of her head.

“I mean, even I was one once, yeah,” Rita quipped back.

Even so, Latina still looked like she was deep in thought.

“Hmm... So was it like when Emma was that small?” Latina asked, seeming like she was pushing her imagination to its limits.

“Nah, she was just like little Theo,” Sylvester answered, straight-faced.

“That must be because of the hair color, right?”

Their son had his mother’s black hair, while their daughter Emma got her blonde hair from her father. And that fine, soft hair of hers wasn’t too much like her mother, either.

“I wouldn’t say that was all. Theo cried the exact same way, too. All of us old family friends thought for sure a boy had been born when we heard it and prepared a celebration, so we were left real flustered when we found out they had a daughter.”

Apparently, Rita’s strong nature had been there since birth.

“So you celebrated a girl... But Rita just isn’t that girly, so I find it hard to imagine...”

“My dad wanted to put me in clothes like that. My own tastes certainly turned out differently, though.”

Rita had no interest in girly clothing, but she didn’t have a strong hatred for it or anything either. After all, there was no need to reiterate how deeply she enjoyed dressing up the adorable little Latina in cute outfits.

“Back when Rita was around Emma’s age, she got dressed in frilly stuff.”

“No way,” Rita replied, looking shocked.

“What would be the point in lying about that?” Sylvester replied.

Watching that exchange, Latina returned to her original question, which she then asked while doing her signature little head tilt.

“Mr. Syl, did you know Dale back when he was a kid?”

“We didn’t meet Dale till he’d already become an adventurer, and first visited this shop.”

“Kenneth would stop by Dale’s home village back when he lived there, so he should have known him back when he was a good bit younger.”

“I see...” Latina muttered, then shifted back to a serious expression. “Hmm... It really does feel a bit frustrating, somehow...”

“If you keep saying stuff like that, you’ll end up like Dale.”

“Like Dale...?” Latina questioned.

Rita replied, sounding truly astounded, “I mean, he feels seriously competitive with your sister. Like, he was honestly frustrated whenever she mentioned how she knew how you were back in your old home and the like.”

“I think Chrysos is at fault there, too...” Latina advocated for her husband while trying to remain an impartial judge, since she knew her sister actively tried to stir him up.

“Actually, I should say he was more beyond all help rather than merely being frustrated, considering how insistent he was that you must have been absolutely adorable when you were even smaller than you were when you first got here.”

“Um...”

“You normally wouldn’t go saying stuff like that about your wife.”

“Ah, yeah... Even I have times where I’m not sure what to think, too.”

Ultimately, she didn’t go as far as to advocate for him. Hearing that, Dale slumped his shoulders.

But in the end, that side of Dale was an established fact, so that hardly came as a surprise.

“Well, I also figure you were definitely awful cute when you were that tiny, Latina.”

“I’m sure you two must have been the apple of your folks’ eyes when they saw you and your twin sister standing next to each other.”

“Huh?”

When Latina had first arrived they thought from her manners that she must have come from a good family, and knowing of her origins now, they could tell how much overflowing love her parents had for her.

Though she’d cruelly lost everything, she’d simply missed her parents and the sister that she was separated from, rather than feeling any resentment. And that kind of gentle kindness didn’t come simply from being born into a prosperous family.

She had grown a great deal under her parents, and they surely had loved her greatly. Even that doting fool of a former guardian had to admit as much.

“Anyway, once you start talking about stuff like that, it never ends. I mean, it’s not like I know every single thing about Kenneth’s past,” Rita concluded, not realizing that Latina was staring at her with great curiosity. That was at least in part because she had already returned to glancing over documents, though.

“I see... So Kenneth met Dale before he met Rita?”

“That’s right.”

“So how did Rita and Kenneth end up getting married? Which one of you confessed your feelings first?”

Sylvester was silently sipping tea, but then he glanced at Latina and crossed his arms. Then, he immediately came to the conclusion that he shouldn’t go answering those questions.

“Maybe Kenneth would tell me if I asked him?”

Perhaps Latina didn’t have the idea to ask Rita because she had spent so long acting like a little sister to the woman.

Sylvester had been ambiguous about the matter out of consideration for the couple running the place, but in a way that hadn’t really been necessary.

“Kenneth, how did you end up marrying Rita?” Latina asked Kenneth as they were busy with preparations.

“I mean, it all started with me falling for her, of course,” Kenneth immediately responded, not faltering in the least.

“Wah...” Latina replied, blushing slightly at such a direct response.

“And after that, I didn’t give up until she accepted. That’s all.”

“I sort of get the feeling that I can really understand now that you were Dale’s mentor...”

“If you go around comparing me to him, then I’ll have all sorts of things to say about that.”

Even now that a few years had passed, it was still a topic of discussion around the shop that Dale’s reaction to Latina’s confession was feeling so shaken he full-on retreated using work as an excuse. He was a historic hero who would charge off against a demon lord all on his own, but he wouldn’t hesitate to turn tail and flee again if he ever got in a fight with Latina and made her seriously angry.

“If she full-on hated me, I would just have to politely withdraw. But still, Rita’s stubborn side is pretty adorable...”

Latina thought to herself as she peeled potatoes that the pair hadn’t hidden their affection for each other, even back when she was little. Despite all that, her hand didn’t slip at all as she skillfully wielded her kitchen knife, no danger there.

“I could tell from her reactions that she didn’t really hate me, though. So all that remained was for me to do my best.”

“Your best?”

“I promoted myself while earning as much of a profit as I could, ’til her old man accepted me.”

“Promoted yourself...?”

“With my skills at handling the kitchen to start with, as well as managing inns and bars. Thanks to Sylvester making some introductions, I helped out from time to time whenever any restaurants or pubs around Kreuz were shorthanded, and gradually built up a good reputation.”

“That sort of work sounds interesting...”

“Honestly, it was pretty informative being able to see how other kitchens did things. You’d be an immediate asset, so I’m sure anywhere would be glad to have you.”

Kenneth’s words sounded awful realistic, so Latina had a terribly serious expression on her face as she thought them over.

“I think Dale would say it was absolutely impossible, though. I can’t imagine he would be alright if you were holed up in a kitchen,” Kenneth added, making sure to put a stop to things before they went too far.

“That certainly could prove tricky.”

Since she had grown famous, there was no guarantee that she would be able to spend her time in peace in a shop that didn’t have so many people looking out for her, like this one. Latina seemed to realize that too, as she shot Kenneth back a bit of a disappointed smile as she replied.

And with that, Latina’s curiosity seemed to be satisfied at last. That was the conclusion Dale had come to when he looked at her.

It was Latina’s daily habit to report on what happened that day up in their personal room in the attic, but today, she seemed like she just wanted to wrap everything up with that summary. And as was his specialty, Dale found her unusual seriousness about the matter absolutely adorable.

“Personally, I find it hard to picture Kenneth back when he was an adventurer. But for you, he was the man who mentored you on the job, right?”

“I suppose that’s true, when you put it like that.”

“And also, I had a bit of a thought...” Latina said, trailing off for the moment and looking a bit bashful. Her cheeks were dyed red, and she was staring at Dale with upturned eyes. “Devils and humans have very different cultures, so I think my parents had a bit of a different sort of relationship... So to me, Kenneth and Rita were probably my role models in terms of what a married couple looks like.”

“Hmm... I’m not really sure how to respond to that...” Dale said, looking at a bit of a loss. Latina, however, just broke out in a smile like a blossoming flower.

“I guess my goal is for us to be so happy of a couple that we don’t lose out to them!”

Naturally, there was only one reaction Dale could have to that.

As the night stretched on, he didn’t even stop to quip that their passion had already surpassed that of the couple she had been following in the footsteps of.