“He’s left the city again.” [Tiffany]

Tiffany said in a lonely tone while looking out the window from the castle and pressing her hand on the cool glass.

“That idiot left after asking us where he could get elven slaves. Just what is he thinking? Suddenly asking about them, going to Stornith, taking that cute puppy, I swear…” [Leila]

Leila’s unhappy grumbling reached her back. Her little sister was sitting on the sofa placed in her private room and wiping the Artifact passed down in their family with a cloth.

“… I’m sorry.” [Leila]

She turned around when she heard Leila apologize.

“There’s no need for you to apologize.” [Tiffany]

The First Princess smiled bitterly and walked towards her little sister whose frown changed into a gloomy expression.

“… Last time, I said that if I beat Ryner, he’d become our servant.” [Leila]

The Second Princess stopped wiping the blade of her sword as their first parting replayed in her mind.

“But, no matter how many times I challenged him, I couldn’t beat him… And he’s gone again… That’s why I’m sorry for disappointing you.” [Leila]

“Haha, geez, you really worry over the smallest of things.” [Tiffany]

Laughing softly, Tiffany hugged her from behind the couch which caused Leila to stiffen up.

“His cousin is staying here to manage their new company, so he’ll come to visit her. We’ll meet him again.” [Tiffany]

“His cousin… I wonder if they are in that kind of relationship.” [Leila]

“Oh? Leila, are you jealous?” [Tiffany]

Seeing her little sister wonder out loud while looking away uncomfortably, Tiffany couldn’t help but tease her as a mischievous smile formed on her face.

“Wha?! No!” [Leila]

The effect was instantaneous which could be seen by the intense blush on the panicking Leila’s face.

“You’re sad that he’s left too.” [Tiffany]

“I’m not! He always makes fun of me and treats me like a kid or calls me Ponytail and he’s just a huge stupid idiot that’s got a dumb sleepy face!!” [Leila]

“It’s fine to be shy.” [Tiffany]

“I’m not shy! Tiffany! Stop smiling like that! I don’t miss Ryner at all! You’re the one that’s in lo-!!” [Leila]

“Leila is really cute whenever I bring up Ryner’s name~.” [Tiffany]

“I keep telling you, I DON’T LIKE HIM AT ALL!!!” [Leila]

Leila suffered Tiffany’s teasing and was boiling red. Unfortunately, she never noticed how her older sister was also blushing when she had hurriedly prevented her from voicing out how she was attracted to the man who had saved her twice.

“Ah!” [Trish]

Seeing the memorable customer that hadn’t shown up in a while, Trish’s eyes turned round and her voice accidentally leaked from her opened mouth.

“Toilet man!” [Trish]

Quickly placing the mugs of beer at their tables, she ran over to Ryner who was standing at the entrance.

“Where you’ve been?!” [Trish]

She asked as she stretched her hands out and pulled his cheeks while frowning.

“Ouch! Is that how you greet your customers?!” [Ryner]

Ryner complained after jerking his head back to escape her grip and rubbed his right cheek.

“That’s your fault! Since the last time we talked, you never came by to eat or even say hello!” [Trish]

The young waitress put her hands on her hips and unhappily stared at him.

“You kept me waiting! … So, who’s this?” [Trish]

However, her anger didn’t last long when she noticed the red puppy by Ryner’s feet.

“This is Mi. It’s a dog I picked up.” [Ryner]

“Woof!” [Mi]

Ryner half-heartedly introduced her to Mi as he thought back on his visit to the castle. After asking the queen and king about elves and telling them that he was leaving, they thanked him for his help again, warmly told him that he was always welcomed and reminded him that their offer to become a noble still stood. Their daughters showed different reactions to his departure. One waved her hand slightly and gave him a small smile while the other was openly displeased and pouted.

He also met Klauss and his wife, Wendel, by chance. The woman was happily spoke to him while her husband seemed too tired to talk. It appeared that he had been busy every night.

“How cute!” [Trish]

Just as Ryner was about to leave and asked them to take care of Mi, the young pup ran up to him while barking repeatedly. It was like she knew she wouldn’t see him for a while and requested to be taken along.

She incessantly barked and stubbornly stayed on his heels. In the end, he decided to bring her along.

“I didn’t know you had a pet!” [Trish]

That was why Mi was currently with him at the Sleeping Duck.

“It’s not my pet. It’s a dog I picked up.” [Ryner]

“She’s so cute! But, pets aren’t allowed in here.” [Trish]

“It’s pretty impressive how you can switch expressions so quickly.” [Ryner]

Although Trish was grinning and squealing at the energetic puppy’s cuteness, which caused some male customers to stare at her while blushing, she politely informed Ryner that her family’s inn didn’t allow pets with a business smile.

“I’m not here to stay or eat though. In fact, I’m leaving the city today.” [Ryner]

“Already? You should stay a bit while the place’s lively. There are merchants selling the hero’s mask, you know? They’re just like the real thing!” [Trish]

“Ohhh~ really?” [Ryner]

“… You don’t seem interested at all.” [Trish]

“No, not really.” [Ryner]

Trish pouted since he didn’t share her excitement or respect for the hero that saved her city, and was about to pinch his cheek. But, she controlled herself and took a good look at his face.

“How do I say it, compared to the first time I met you, you’re more serious, or… Busy?” [Trish]

She said, unsure of how to express the impression he gave her.

“Back then I just got on vacation, you know? But then one problem popped up after another and now I’m stuck in work mode. Like an abused salaryman.” [Ryner]

“Um… Ok?” [Trish]

He shrugged his shoulders while she was even more confused.

“Anyway, I wanted to ask you about elves.” [Ryner]

“Elves?” [Trish]

“And a favor.” [Ryner]

While the waitress tilted her head, Ryner took out from his pocket a piece of paper folded in two.

“There’s an address on it. Pass this message to the red-headed girl living there.” [Ryner]

“A message? I’m pretty busy helping out at the inn.” [Trish]

Trish said as she took the paper, wholly ignoring the fact that she was currently neglecting work. She looked at Ryner and took a stance with her hands on her hips to begin lecturing him.

“I can’t just run around and deliver messages for you.” [Trish]

“I’ll pay you ten silver coins.” [Ryner]

“On second thought, I have some free time. Sure, I’ll do it.” [Trish]

The lecture was avoided and the negotiations were successful just in time since Trish’s mother was yelling at her to get back to work. Furthermore, once he forked over a few more coins, he managed to pacify the inn owner long enough to ask her daughter about elves.

Now that his business was done, Ryner, along with Mi, left Sakael and headed for his next destination. As for Trish…

“(Hmm… I wonder what’s written on the paper that he wanted me to deliver. It’s to a girl, so maybe a love letter!?)” [Trish]

Excited by her own thoughts, she impolitely sneaked a look.

SEE YA LATER

That was all that was written on the piece of paper.

The poster girl of the Sleeping Duck sighed tiredly.

“He’s never going to get a girlfriend…” [Trish]

The trip was quick and easy since Ryner was luxuriously travelling by air on a gargantuan ship. He would leisurely spent his time aboard the Avalon by taking a nap, going through the reports on the ship’s repairs or making sure that the spy satellites were being properly built.

Still, on the way, Evelyn would contact him telepathically every five minutes to either report on the Roseseed Company’s activities or talk about mundane matters. Maya would sometimes join in and turn it into a three-way conversation. Mi would tirelessly run around him and bark energetically, asking him to play with her.

As a result, he didn’t have much time to relax until he finally convinced the vampire to limit the number of telepathic calls. The beastman planned on becoming the head of her clan, so she was pretty busy and didn’t contact him all the time. The puppy, on the other hand, didn’t listen to a word he said and always ran around him.

“We’re here.” [Ryner]

After spending such days aboard the Avalon, he reached the town that he had been told about, which would normally take more than a month. It was where he could find what he was looking for.

“Jadistro, a border town of Stornith and the closest human settlement to the elven forest.” [Ryner]

“Woof!” [Mi]

“It’s a pretty big town at the edge of the border of the empire that that stupid prince came from. His name was Sirius, remember?” [Ryner]

“Woof?” [Mi]

“You don’t, huh. Well, I guess he didn’t do much to be remembered.” [Ryner]

Hearing Mi bark by his feet, Ryner spoke to her as if she was asking where Jadistro was.

“More importantly… This place looks depressing.” [Ryner]

He remarked as he looked at the streets around him. After being allowed to enter and passing the entrance of the tall wall surrounding the town, he noticed two glaring points.

The first was that everyone he saw had gloomy expressions and was moving languidly.

The second was that the exception to the first point was those wearing blue military uniforms.

Unlike the townspeople, they were lively and walking around like they own the place.

“Really depressing.” [Ryner]

While looking at the surroundings, Ryner thought back to when he left Sakael. He had asked the queen and king if they knew where he could find elven slaves. They were a race that mostly stayed in their territory, but a few would venture outside. Those who did would, if misfortunate enough, end up captured and sold as slaves. They were rare and cost a fortune, and Ryner wanted to know where he could buy them.

The royal couple told him that they didn’t know, but the Stornith Empire was next to the forest the elves lived in and their town, Jadistro, was close to the elven birthplace. They suggested that he should search there first. He verified what they said by asking Trish the same question. Upon hearing the same thing from three different sources, he was now at Jadistro.

“Get out of the way!” [Soldier]

“I’m, I’m sorry!” [Man]

“Hey, this girl is cute.” [Soldier]

“Kya! Please let me go!” [Woman]

“We just want to ask you a few questions back at base, girlie.” [Soldier]

The soldiers were harassing the townspeople who, despite their protests, didn’t do anything to fight back. Those passing by only took furtive glances and kept their head down as if to hide from trouble.

“This looks like it’ll be annoying to deal with.” [Ryner]

“Woof?” [Mi]

Ryner looked at the clueless Mi that was next to his feet and wagging her tail.

“We need to gather some info and it’d be easier if we don’t attract those idiots’ attention.” [Ryner]

“Woof! Woof!” [Mi]

“We should avoid trouble, so stealth approach only. Get it? No messing around.” [Ryner]

“Woof! Woof! Woof!” [Mi]

He nodded approvingly at her spirited response.

“Then, I guess we should do the orthodox thing and start at a ba-hey!” [Ryner]

The moment he took his eyes off her, Mi suddenly ran towards the soldiers that were dragging a young woman away after beating up her father.

“… Why do I bother?” [Ryner]

Ryner slowly shook his head, helplessly shrugged his shoulders and swiftly chased after that young puppy.

“What? A pup?” [Soldier]

“Huh? Someone’s pet?” [Soldier]

“The hell is it barking at us for?” [Soldier]

When the men in uniforms noticed Mi and she started barking at them, they let go of the girl they planned on kidnapping and looked around.

“WHO DOES THIS DAMN MUTT BELONG TO?!” [Soldier]

One of them yelled out, causing the townspeople in the vicinity to shrink back in fear.

“I’m sorry, sir. That dog is mine.” [Ryner]

Just as he was getting impatient since no one stepped up, Ryner ran up next to Mi, got down on one knee and put his hand on her head to get her to stop barking. Instantly, all eyes turned on him.

“You’re supposed to keep it on a leash!” [Soldier]

“I deeply apologize.” [Ryner]

“What’s with that mutt?! Is it asking us to kill it?!” [Soldier]

“N-no, it’s just too young to know what it is doing.” [Ryner]

The armed men barraged him with insults and threats. They wholly ignored the apologies and various excuses he offered in an apologetic, respectful and even frightened voice. It wasn’t that they didn’t fall for his act. In fact, they did fall for it and it only made them more arrogant. Seeing someone on one knee and with his head lowered before them empowered their sense of superiority.

The townspeople couldn’t do anything to them without suffering heavy repercussions. They knew that and that was why they were throwing their weight around and treating them poorly. In Jadistro, in the town at the border of the Stornith Empire, they were the law.

“We’re working hard every day to protect you lot and yet you’re giving us trouble!” [Soldier]

“It won’t happen again, I swear.” [Ryner]

“As if your word is enough!” [Soldier]

One of the soldiers, grinning arrogantly, pulled out his sword and took a step forward.

“We need to teach you a lesson so that it really never happens again.” [Soldier]

He stopped in front of Ryner and Mi while his friends watched from behind him, each smiling or chuckling. The onlookers gazed at the two newest victims with pity. Some turned their eyes away and clenched their fists.

“What better way than to kill this dog?” [Soldier]

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please have mercy.” [Ryner]

Turning a deaf ear to the apologies and pleas, the soldier, drunk on his authority, pointed his sword at the red and white puppy that stood still. He would kill it and perhaps, cut off a couple of its owner’s fingers.

“For the sake of this town, no one should defy us to maintain order!” [Soldier]

After proclaiming a false reason in a menacing voice, he reeled back his sword arm and got ready to stab the canine.

“I’m sorry. I’m sor-didn’t I tell you I’M FREAKING SORRY ALREADY!?!” [Ryner]

“Buergh!” [Soldier]

Ryner, shouting angrily, sprung up to his feet and delivered a clean uppercut at the unsuspecting soldier’s chin. In the end, he couldn’t use words to avoid trouble.

“Listen to people when they’re talking, you worthless brat!!” [Ryner]

His blow was a perfect surprise attack that stole the victim’s consciousness and left him with a weird expression on his face. A few of his front teeth flew out and his mouth was bleeding.

Upon witnessing the unassuming man suddenly sucker punch his oppressor, everyone present froze with wide eyes and mouths agape. When the twitching, unconscious soldier’s back hit the ground, the silence still continued for a couple of seconds. The whole street was rendered speechless as tension ran high.

To the townspeople, no one would defy their so-called protectors since it would spell their deaths and yet-

“Don’t touch my dog or I’ll rip your head off! Seriously!” [Ryner]

This man before them just knocked one out to protect a pet.