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| ← Ch.192 | Ch.194 → |
"You're back from work early."
Hillis, who was chatting with Mrs. Arscilla in the living room, found me back in the boarding house and greeted me.
"It seems so. Would you like to have a cup of tea with us, Mr. Den?" Mrs. Arscilla offered.
I smiled and declined."I'm sorry, Mrs. Arscilla. I suddenly got a business trip and just stopped by to get my things together, so I'll have to drink next time."
Mrs. Arscilla looked curiously at me."Oh my, it's only been three days since you came back from a business trip, but you have another business trip?"
It was unusual to have business trips in a row like this, as the place I belonged to, the Adventurers' Guild, was not associated with many business trips.
"Haha, I know. But I'll be in the capital this time. Oh, and someone you know asked me to deliver this for him."
I handed the bouquet and letter I was holding to Mrs. Arscilla.
She opened the letter and nodded in surprise."This is. I see. I understand what kind of business trip you are going on. It seems like it'll be hard work for you too."
She looked at me pitifully seeing the difficult days ahead and encouraged me. Since the person who sent the letter through me was the Duke of Asteria, she must have figured out why I was going on a business trip in one glance.
"No, it will be ok. It is just something I have to do."
I smiled humbly, but in fact, it was something that the Central Ceremony Department should do, not me. However, if the upper class told you to do it, there was no choice.
"Yuria and Alice will be sad. How many days will you be gone?" Mrs. Arscilla queried.
I shrugged."Well? I don't think I'll be able to come back for three days if it's short, or a week if it's long."
Hillis looked enlightened as she provoked me."Hoot! Poor little lamb. If you're unemployed, you won't have to go on a business trip."
"Keuk! I lost. As expected, you can't win against a bum who just plays around!"
Hillis was furious at my counterattack."Hey! Who is a bum?!"
"So what else do you do besides breathing, eating, and sleeping?"
"Oh, wait! You hit right on the mark." Hillis pretended to be distressed, holding on to her heart. Then she grumbled, "By the way, who am I supposed to play with if you go on a business trip?"
"There's Lisbon. Try to get close to other people while I'm away."
Seeing that Lisbon wasn't present, it seems he went to Angel's house again today. After giving a vague answer, I went up to my room and packed for a week.
While I was attached to the Duke of Asteria, I would be visiting the palace so it would be good to refrain from using my pocket space. I took out the necessary things from my pocket space and packed them. Using the space expansion bag that Milpia gave instead of the change in the past, the bunch of luggage didn't take up much volume.
"I'll be back. Please tell the others I'm going on a business trip."
Mrs. Arscilla and Hillis came out to the porch to see me off, nodded, and wished me good luck.
As I left the boarding house with my bag on, a very luxurious carriage and Rosellis were waiting in front of the door.
"You came all the way here to meet me?"
When I said it was unnecessary and that it was unexpected, Rosellis shrugged and made a playful face.
"It's a special service because it's an escort job with a high price among escort jobs. If you're dissatisfied with me being attached constantly, tell the client directly. I can't say anything because it's too scary."
In short, moving alone was almost impossible. With this, I additionally felt that the escort this time was truly the Duke of Asteria. I was just saying that because starting now, I would always be attached to the duke.
"As of now, I will usually be escorting you. You'll get a gold plate adventurer attached to you when I'm not around, so keep that in mind."
Rosellis wore a uniform I had never seen before, and only a black handle on her waist, instead of her giant axe.
"This isn't the uniform you usually wear?"
"Oh, this? This is a military uniform for the Black Water Buffalo Knights who have been discharged. I'm going to be going into the imperial palace, so it'll be annoying to be looked down upon."
If you were a member of the Black Water Buffalo Knights, even other knights would take a step back, so most people wouldn't try to pick a fight. Of course, no one probably had big enough guts to pick a fight with a platinum plate adventurer hired by the Duke of Asteria anyway.
"Why don't you get on first." Rosellis opened the carriage door like an escorting gentleman.
I climbed into the carriage smiling."Wow, it's fluffy."
The inside of the carriage was so comfortable and luxurious that it was comparable to the first-class compartment of the train I first took to the capital.
As Rosellis climbed up and closed the door, the coachman slowly began to drive on.
"Now! There will be a brief luggage check."
Rosellis smiled and began to unpack my luggage.
"Why are you checking my belongings all of a sudden?"
The only things in the bag were uniforms, extra clothes, various stationery, and books.
"I'm checking to see if there are any items prohibited inside the palace. If you have a prohibited item, you'll be captured and investigated for hours. Do you know that your nail clippers are a prohibited item? They look carefully even at all sorts of miscellaneous things when you're entering the palace."
It was better to have a check now than to be held unnecessarily later. But why are nail clippers banned? Of course, I could use nail clippers as a weapon, but that was just me, and generally, nail clippers were a safe tool.
"What? Is this a space expansion bag?" Rosellis was shocked when more luggage than the volume of the bag came out."This isn't something you can buy on a civil servant's salary?"
"My relative gave it to me as a gift."
Milpia had a cousin relationship with me since she was my aunt's foster daughter.
"Your relatives must be rich. I can't believe they gave you this as a gift. Then it seems you won't have to buy a new bag."
"Why buy a bag?"
Rosellis, who was looking through my luggage, smiled bitterly."His Highness, the Duke, will buy most of the things for you as high-quality items. If you wander around the palace with cheap things, His Highness, the Duke's reputation will be undermined. It's just not possible to understand the world of nobles."
Although Rosellis said so, she was also a noble of direct descent of Count Asilante and with her own abilities, was bestowed the title of baron. Her father, Guild Director Glont, was also unlike other nobles and was carefree.
She put the cheap ones I had into the box in the carriage."Everything in that box will be returned to your boarding house."
The only things that didn't go in the box according to Rosellis's classifications were the suit that Mrs. Arscilla gave me and some stationery. The stationery was given as a gift when Flam was swindled at the casino and they gave it to me as compensation.
"There's more I can leave than I expected."
"This is?"
Almost everything went into the box.
"I thought I'd have to send everything back along with the bag."
Rosellis returned the bag to me. Then the carriage stopped and the driver opened the door."We have arrived."
The place that the carriage arrived at was a department store that specialized in dealing with nobles.
"Here, welcome to the world of nobles, " Rosellis said playfully as she got off the wagon.
-o-
I sighed deeply as I left the department store.
"I don't want to experience the world of the nobility again."
As soon as I entered the department store, ten employees stuck to me asking about how I thought of this outfit, that outfit, and how this fountain pen was the favorite brand that one count liked to use... How a certain watch was crafted by a craftsman for years. They babbled nonstop to the point of making someone go deaf.
Because of this, clothes, shoes, socks, watches, hats, etc. were forced upon me and my whole body was plastered with luxury goods.
Rosellis, who was attacked at the same time, seemed tired as she stretched and agreed with me.
"I completely agree. If it wasn't a request from His Highness, the Duke, I would have run away."
"Is it okay for an adventurer to say that, when trust is important for adventurers?" I asked.
Rosellis smiled and went into the carriage."Of course not. I'm saying this because it's you. I can't do this in front of my client."
I also smiled as I entered the carriage at her joke.
"Isn't it lucky for you I'm the one you're escorting?"
"Yep, it's lucky."
Rosellis put her arm around my shoulder and tousled my hair. The sky that was blue when I entered the department store was already getting dark.
Our wagon went straight to the hotel where the Duke of Asteria was staying. The hotel in the distance looked quite luxurious, but it didn't seem enough for a duke to stay.
"His Highness, the Duke is staying in a hotel rather than a mansion in the capital?"
"He doesn't have a mansion in the capital. You know the relationship between the Blood Emperor and the Duke of Asteria, right?
The Duke of Asteria was such a powerful political opponent that he was called the natural enemy of the Blood Emperor. As such, it was understandable not to have a mansion in the emperor's territory, the capital. If he had a mansion in the capital, he could end up getting caught in an unfavorable situation. Even after the former emperor died and the current emperor ascended, the relationship with the emperor was an ambiguous one of neither good nor bad, so he did not acquire a residence in the capital.
When the carriage arrived at the hotel, Rosellis and I went straight inside.
"Thank you for visiting. I will take the bag for you."
When the kind concierge accepted my bag, he almost dropped it, unable to overcome its weight. The items in the bag were probably around 50kg so it would be heavier than most bags of rice.
"Shall I hold it?"
I handed over my bag unconsciously, but I asked because it seemed too heavy for the concierge.
The concierge shook his head desperately."Oh, no."
He looked red because of the weight of the bag but still smiled.
I don't know if we were regular customers, but because we were members of the Duke of Asteria's entourage, he couldn't just return the bag. As soon as even a single complaint came out of our mouths, hell would unleash onto the concierge. This was a uniquely extreme job.
I got on the elevator and asked, "What room is His Highness, the Duke staying in?"
"As far as I know, he is on the upper floor, but I don't know what room he is in."
"His Highness the Duke has rented the 13th to 15th floors. If it's the highest floor, it should be room 1501."
My god, the scale was outrageous. One floor of this hotel was as big as a small mansion, but renting three floors seemed nothing but like showing off his money to me.
"Which floor would you like to go up to?"
"15th, please."
"Yes, Sir."
The concierge pressed the button on the 15th floor and the magic elevator went up quickly. It wasn't as sophisticated as what I saw in the magic tower, but it was the first time other than the magic tower where I saw an elevator.
When it arrived on the 15th floor, the elevator door opened. Unlike what I thought, the 15th floor was not a long hallway, but a small space with a door.
The luxurious-looking door had the number sign '1501'.
"The entire 15th floor is just one whole room."
At the concierge's explanation, Rosellis and I couldn't close our mouths.
I never thought the duke would use a room the size of a mansion alone.
"The 15th floor, no, how much is this room?" I asked.
"It's a piece of gold per night, " the concierge answered with a smile.
Usually, a gold coin was the price of a large house. After hearing the amount, Rosellis shook her head and pressed the doorbell. Shortly after, a young butler opened the door and welcomed us.
"Welcome. Rosellis von Asilante-nim. Den von Mark-nim. I have been waiting. I will show you inside."
The butler easily accepted my bag that the concierge was carrying and showed us into the room.
| ← Ch. 192 | Ch. 194 → |