Although he desperately tried to keep his face still, the bright red cheeks said everything that needed to be said.

If a bard were to give it a title, it would be The Princess and the Knight. In the face of such an emotional scene, Lakyus felt a tiny sliver of terror. Although it was impossible, if Renner’s actions were all calculated, just how much of a master schemer was—.

Just what am I thinking about my good friend? It’s obvious she doesn’t have such a bad personality by looking at everything she’s done so far. She’s worked to help others. If I can’t believe in someone who’s earned the nickname of Golden, just who can I trust?

As if she was trying to rid herself of these terrible thoughts, Lakyus shook her head and spoke.

“Now that I remember, Tina and her friends managed to uncover the names of a number of nobles involved with Cocodoll— the leader of the slave trade. But we don’t know whether or not the information is accurate so acting on it would be jumping to conclusions.”

As Lakyus went through the names one by one, both Renner and Climb reacted to one name in particular.

“That noble’s daughter is working as my maid.”

“What? I doubt that he planted her as a spy to watch you but... I guess there’s no guarantee that she’s just working as a maid for the experience either.”

“Right. I should be more careful with how I handle information. You keep it in mind as well, Climb.”

“Then shall we discuss how to deal with the locations from the cipher? And Renner, do you think I could borrow Climb? I want him to tell Gagaran and the others to be ready to move immediately.”

Part 2

Lower Fire Month (9th Month), Day 3, 9:49

Climb walked down the Kingdom’s main street. With nothing noticeable about his outer appearance, Climb completely blended into the crowd.

Needless to say, he was not wearing his eye-catching full plate armor. Using a special alchemy item would allow him to change the color of the armor, but he didn’t feel the need to go so far just to have it on with him.

That was why his gear was light; a chain mail beneath his clothes and a longsword at his waist to set him apart from the average citizen.

His current equipment was similar to those of patrolmen and mercenaries, the kind one could find anywhere. It was somewhat enough for others to keep a respectable distance, but not so heavily armed that the crowd would part before him.

A person who was heavily armed would no doubt be an adventurer. They armed themselves to be noticeable rather than out of necessity. Adventurers who wore gear that made them stand out were not uncommon. It served as a form of advertisement for their services. There were those among them who went for an especially novel appearance so that they would leave a strong impression and spread rumors to sell their name. It was the trademark of an adventurer.

But the people that Climb was on his way to meet had no need for such antics. The members of Blue Rose spread rumors simply by walking down the street.

Eventually, an inn for adventurers could be seen by the side of the main street. The place had lodgings, a stable, and a yard large enough to swing a sword in. Behind its splendid outward appearance was an equally beautiful, decorated interior. The rooms were even fitted with windows made of clear glass.

As the highest class inn in the Kingdom, it was a place where adventurers who were confident in their skill and could afford the expensive lodging costs gathered.

Climb ignored the guard standing at the side and opened the door to the inn.

The first floor doubled as a pub and a restaurant. Compared to the large parlour, there were only a few adventurers. High class adventurers were as rare to see as they were skilled.

The faint chatter in the room died down for an instant and eyes filled with curiosity focused on him. Climb ignored them and looked around.

There were only strong adventurers everywhere he looked. Every one of them could easily beat Climb in a fight. Whenever he came to such a place, he clearly realized just how small he really was.

Climb stopped himself from being disheartened and moved his eyes on a certain spot in the inn.

In the farthest corner of the room, his eyes rested on the two figures sitting around a circular table.

One of them had a small stature and was wrapped in a jet-black robe.

The face was hidden not because of the lighting, instead it was entirely covered by a  strange mask with a red jewel embedded in its forehead. The area around the eyes had a thin crack so that it was impossible to even tell the color of the pupils.

And the other figure...

Although the person before had a small body, the other possessed an overwhelmingly huge physique. Enough to make one think of a huge rock. In a way, the body could be described as plump, but not because it was fat. First, the arms were as thick as tree trunks. In order to support the head, the neck was as thick as an average woman’s thighs, and the head resting on top of that neck was a square. The chin was wide as to better clench the teeth for power, the eyes for scanning the surroundings looked like the eyes belonging to a carnivore. The blond hair was cut short strictly for functionality.

The chest hidden behind her clothes was conspicuously bloated by muscles trained over and over. It was no longer the chest of a woman.

The female-only adamantium rank adventurer team— Blue Rose.

They were two of its members, magic caster Evileye and warrior Gagaran.

Climb headed in their direction. The person whom he needed to speak to nodded her head and shouted in a husky voice.

“Yo, cherry boy!”

Once more, the stares focused on Climb, but there were no sounds of jeering. As if they had suddenly lost their interest, they turned away instead, with something akin to sympathy filling their eyes.

There was a reason for the cold treatment from the other adventurers. They knew that even for orichalcum or mithril rank adventurers, showing discourtesy to Gagaran’s guest wasn’t courage, only reckless bravado.

Even while he was being made fun of, Climb calmly walked forward. Since Gagaran wouldn’t change her nickname for him no matter how often he asked, the most effective method was to pretend that he gave up and no longer cared.

“It has been a long time, Gagaran-sam—san, Evileye-sama.”

He approached the two and bowed his head.

“Yeah, long time no see. What, did you come here because you wanted to be embraced by me?”