Interlude 31
◇◇◇
Orphelia has come all the way to Boldaf, the city farthest from the royal capital, in search of Master Ichiro—the mentor of Eris, the Sword Saint.
Hoping to find even the slightest clue about his whereabouts, she asks those who witnessed his special training with Eris at the training ground. However, their responses of 「He was truly worthy of being called a hero」 are utterly useless, revealing nothing about what actually happened.
The only thing that’s clear is that he has parted ways with his disciple, Eris.
For a swordsman of his caliber, even if he’s left the royal capital, he must be immersing himself in some battleground—a place of conflict.
And if he’s separated from his beloved disciple, he wouldn’t have gone just a short distance away. He might have gone to the far north or south of the country, or in the worst case, even left the country altogether.
With just these speculations and a rough plan—「If he’s left the country, we’ll deal with that when it comes to it」 and 「To gather information, we should start in a big city, preferably one near the most challenging dungeon」—along with a hefty dose of determination, Orphelia sets out.
The 『act as soon as you decide』 mentality instilled by her parents has taken firm root in Orphelia. For someone as capable as her, with her superior animal instincts, it’s become a truly formidable guiding principle.
So, she searches for places that fit the above criteria—despite there being quite a few such locations. Following her unusually keen intuition, Orphelia manages to pinpoint Ichiro’s location in Boldaf, the second city she visits.
However, Orphelia herself is still unaware that he’s in this city, so she continues to search for traces of the man she’s seeking.
◇◇◇
Orphelia has her reasons for becoming the guardian and caretaker of the two stubborn girls.
She figures that in Boldaf, one of the largest cities in the Arcana Kingdom, she can efficiently earn money while also getting close to people in power to gather various information.
However, after only a few days of being their guardian, Orphelia often finds herself sighing, wondering if she’s made the wrong choice.
「Laura, Sofia. Tell me, how many days have we been coming to the Hidden Mountain now?」
Orphelia doesn’t care about social status once she’s gotten used to someone.
So of course, when they said, 「Please call me Sofia」 and 「Call me Laura too,」 she had no objections and has been speaking to them casually ever since.
Then again, Orphelia herself is an S-rank adventurer, so she’s actually a more important person than your average noble. It’s not really that strange.
「Let’s see, today makes it four days, I believe,」 Sofia answers, placing her hand on her cheek.
「That’s right.」
Laura agrees, with her hands clasped behind her head.
「You know, I’ve never been one for just sitting around and waiting.
Sure, I agreed to be your guardian, but spending hours and hours every day in this unremarkable place, just waiting and wasting time—it doesn’t suit my nature at all.」
It’s not like they’ve been completely idle.
During their wait, the three of them have talked plenty.
Starting with small talk, they’ve shared stories about their upbringings, complete with anecdotes. More recently, they’ve discussed the people they’re each looking for. In truth, it hasn’t been a boring time at all.
By the way, Orphelia secretly thinks of Sofia and Laura’s missing person as 「probably some gloomy, pretentious show-off,」 while the two girls are convinced that Orphelia’s missing person is 「definitely one of those muscle-brained hermit types!」 「No doubt about it.」 They all harbor their own biases about each other’s search targets.
Anyway, with Orphelia’s words, the two girls agree that they’re not making any progress, and they decide to move on to a different plan.
◇◇◇
What Orphelia has come to realize is that these two girls are absolute trouble magnets.
They return to the city by carriage and head to the market together, but along the way, they’re repeatedly harassed by thugs and nearly picked up by guys. Each time, Orphelia has to chase them off.
「I wonder if they’re giving off some kind of weird pheromones…」
Orphelia mutters to herself.
「Pheromones? You mean we’re sexy?」
「Woohoo, Laura!」
Hearing this, Orphelia holds her head in her hands. This has become their usual exchange.
「Well, never mind that. Let’s talk about what we’re going to do next.
We just need to find a child tour guide named Milan, right? Is that correct?」
「Yes, that’s right. She’s been seen walking with Low quite often, so at the very least, they’re not complete strangers.」
His name was among the information gathered by the Goa Trading Company.
「Understood. Let’s go then.」
◇◇◇
As if all their bad luck up until now had been a lie, they quickly locate the girl in question, Milan.
When they decide to check out the tour guide waiting area on a whim, they find Milan cheerfully chatting with other guides.
Once things settle down a bit, the three of them approach the girl.
「We have a few questions for you,」 Orphelia says, speaking for the group.
「What is it?」 the boyish girl responds.
She turns her mischievous eyes toward the three of them.
「Your name is Milan, correct?」
「Yeah, that’s right.」
The girl answers without changing her expression.
However, Orphelia notices that the girl’s guard is up.
「What we want to ask about is a young man with black hair named Low.」
As soon as Orphelia finishes speaking, Milan turns her back on them and starts running at an incredible speed.
While Sofia and Laura stand there dumbfounded, Orphelia reacts instantly.
To onlookers, it might have looked like magic or a sleight of hand, it was so skillful. In the blink of an eye, Orphelia catches Milan by the scruff of her neck.
This is how the four girls, with Yamada at the center, come to meet.
If you enjoy it and wish to see more, please consider giving it a 5-star rating for the series on NU. Click Here.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link