It has been a week since we have returned from Moterno, and after completing high-rank quests for days, we have accumulated more than 44,000 points. We're already almost a third from our goal, but with only D-rank quests and below, we might take about a month and a half before fulfilling it.

Currently, Yuna and I are in front of a big mansion, and that's because today, we are going to meet Galderia's city lord.

Yesterday, when we completed our quests, the guildmaster told us that the city lord was thankful that we accepted his invitation. He also said that the city lord would like to meet us today if possible, which brings us to the current situation.

Come to think of it, this is the first time we have visited the lord's mansion. Fritz's mansion was already amazing, but this one is even more amazing. It clearly shows the difference between a count and a viscount.

「Are you two perhaps Count Grey-sama and Countess Yuna-sama?」

While I was admiring the lord's mansion, a guard came over to us and asked for our identities. It seems that the lord had already informed the guards of our arrival.

After showing the guard our guild cards, the guard then bowed to us and led us to a large room, about the same size as the one where we first met Fritz. There, a man in his late twenties was sitting on a luxurious sofa. When he saw us, he stood up abruptly and reached out his hand to us.

「It's a pleasure to finally meet you Count Grey, Countess Yuna. I'm Cedric Aldridge, head of the Aldridge Comital house and Galderia's current lord. I bid you welcome to my humble manor.」Cedric

「It's also a pleasure, but you can just call me Grey.」Grey

「Same for me, please feel free to call me Yuna.」Yuna

「If that's the case, then you can just call me Cedric.」Cedric

After the introductions, Yuna and I shook Cedric's hand and he invited us to have a seat in the luxurious sofa just parallel to him.

「Would you like some tea?」Cedric

「Ah, thank you.」Grey

Cedric then signaled one of the maids by the doors to bring us tea. In response, the maid slightly bowed to Cedric and exited the room.

「So, what did you want to talk about? The guildmaster said it might have something to do with the Bellowing Specter.」Grey

「That's right. Because of your participation in the incident, you will be receiving a medal of honor, awarded by the king himself. Commander Filastra, Brigadier Helsberg, Count Kris, and Countess Aria will also be awarded.」Cedric

「You've already talked with Aria-san and Kris-san?」Yuna

「Yes, they agreed to attend the award ceremony when we met two days ago. They should be traveling towards the capital by now.」Cedric

No wonder I haven't seen them in the guild since then, it seems that they already had a talk with Cedric. Also, the guildmaster's predictions sure are accurate. It's making me doubt that he has a psychic ability that can bypass my appraisal.

Nah, he probably learned it from experience. I wonder if I could pick up that skill over the years.

Just as I was thinking of useless things, the maid from before returned with a pot of tea, and tea cups on her hands. The way she was handling them was very graceful. It clearly shows how much training she had gone to.

Without wasting any movements, the maid poured us tea and arranged the table for us. After that, she bowed her head and exited the room once again.

I wonder how many years of experience it took her to move that efficiently while retaining grace at the same time...

「Woah～ This is delicious.」Yuna

Before I even noticed, Yuna had already taken a sip of the tea that was just served recently. And when she tasted it, her face shone brightly.

I guess I'll have a sip as well.

Before I could even taste the tea, it's alluring scent already wafted to my nose and made me even more curious about it. And as I took a sip of it, a bitter yet delicious taste flowed into my tongue. It was both refreshing and calming.

「Was it good?」Cedric

「It is. May I ask what tea this might be? I would like to brew some when I have time.」Grey

「Oh, so Grey knows how to brew tea as well?」Cedric

「Just a little bit. I'm not as good as the maid from before.」Grey

I learned brewing tea because I was interested in it for some time in my past life. Although I only did it in my free time, I think I can do it quite well.

「It's Alferia tea. It's really good, though it's really expensive. About 3 silvers a kilogram.」Cedric

3,000 kiels, huh... That would mean a kilogram would cost about 150,000 yen. And it's not even processed yet. It really is expensive.

「Would you like me to recommend the supplier to you?」Cedric

「Please do.」Grey

「Then I'll prepare a letter for you.」Cedric

「That would help. Thank you.」Grey

「You're welcome... Well, back to the topic. The king would like to award you with a medal of honor for the bravery you showed in participating in the raid. The ceremony would take place at the castle on the 18th of Erido, just a day before the founding festival.」Cedric

18th of Erido... That's exactly 18 days from today. We should be able to make it if we just run our way through. Two days would be my guess.

Other than that...

「Cedric, did you mention a founding festival?」Grey

「I did. It's going to be the 628th year since the kingdom's founding. It's going to be one of the busiest days in the capital. Me and my children are going to be attending it as well.」Cedric

A founding festival, huh... That means people from all over the kingdom are going to be attending it. I guess we'll be attending it as well...

Wait! Since our award ceremony is just the day before it, does that mean a lot of people are going to see us!?

No, I need to calm down. We're going to do it inside the castle, so only nobilities and a few other selected people should be able to attend it. That's right, there's no need to panicー

「By the way, after the award ceremony in the caste, the King will be presenting you to the public.」Cedric

Ah, of course we would be... Life sure is great...

Dejected, I just silently took a sip of tea to calm myself. As for Yuna, she was also in the same situation, one could even say that her soul had left her body because of shock.

I must have jinxed it. How could fate play me like this...

「Ah, speaking of the award ceremony, I actually have a request for you two. If you would allow it.」Cedric

「What is it...」Grey

「Like I said earlier, me and my children are going to attend the founding festival. But there's just one problem, I still have a mountain load of work to do. Although we could still make it, we would arrive at the capital just before the festival begins. Rather than that, I would like my children to enjoy the capital longer.」Cedric

Ah... I think I know where this is going...

「So you want us to take the children with us?」Grey

「Yes, I would like you to escort them to the capital.」Cedric

「Are you sure?」Grey

「About what?」Cedric

「About entrusting your children to us. We just met today, you know?」Grey

「Well... I know it was rude doing it, but I've actually had you two investigated already. I apologize for doing it.」Cedric

So he had us investigated already... Seems like all nobles do that. Fritz also told us that he had investigated Argas-san. I guess if you're nobility, you need to be wary of everyone you're going to meet.

Well, if I was a noble, although I technically am one, I would also investigate someone before inviting them to my home. Having said that, I can't really blame him.

Though... I can't help being creeped out after knowing that we were investigated secretly. Yuna and I need to be more careful from now on.

「It's alright. Anyway, this request of yours, we're fine with doing it. But please make it an escorting quest from the adventurer's guild.」Grey

After our talk with the guildmaster yesterday, Yuna and I learned that we could have had Fritz's bodyguard request become a guild quest. It would have been a special quest, and we could have earned at least 20,000 points. It was a very large waste of opportunity.

This time, I'm not letting such an opportunity go to waste. With the quests in the guild right now, it would take about 10 days to accumulate the same amount of points.

「If it's just that then there's no problem. I'll officially request it to you as a special quest. Other than that, isn't there anything more you need?」Cedric

「Well, if the children are obedient then everything would be perfect.」Grey

Escorting problematic children would really be a huge pain. I just wish Cedric's children would be like Liz. Liz was a really good child.

「Don't worry, they're really obedient. Their names are Elnart and Galvin, seven and five years old respectively. Since my wife is working at the capital, I'm raising them up alone here in Galderia.」Cedric

So he's somewhat like a single father, huh. Although not entirely. When he said he wanted them to enjoy the capital longer, he probably meant to have them spend more time with their mother.

If the only way they can spend more time with their mother is for us to escort them, then who am I to decline Cedric's request.

I know how hard it is to not have a mother around, after all, I had mine in my past life die just shortly after my college graduation. But growing up away from your mother is a different matter. Kids should enjoy their time with their parents as much as they can.

「Alright, we'll be taking it.」Grey

「Thank you, I'm really grateful for this.」Cedric

「Well, if that's all, then we'll be taking our leave. Also, please prepare your kids, we'll be departing tomorrow.」Grey

「Eh?! That soon?」Cedric

「The sooner the better, right? You can consider it as thanks for introducing the tea supplier to us.」Grey

「Ah... Thank you very much.」Cedric

Showing his gratitude, Cedric bowed his head and expressed his words clearly with sincerity.

Although I was happy with his sincerity, should a lord really bow his head that easily? Well, I guess I'll just let him be for now.

A few moments later,Cedric left the two of us alone in the room so that he could continue with his work.

Well, now that Cedric is gone, I think it's time to deal with another problem...

Even though a lot of time has passed since Cedric revealed that we're going to be presented in public, Yuna was still frozen in shock. She was just like a statue.

「Hey, Yuna. It's time to go. Yuna～. Hello～. Merusia to Yuna～.」Grey

I called out her name loudly, waved my hand in front of her, and even shook her shoulders but Yuna was still frozen in shock.

It's useless... I need to somehow make her snap back using other methods... But how...... Ah!

While I was thinking of an effective method, a random and strange idea popped into my mind. It was as if the universe was telling me to do it.

That idea should work! After all, in every fairy tale, it is the most powerful spell that a prince does to her princess. Yep, a powerful spell!

After confirming that no one was watching, I closed the distance between me and Yuna, and without much thought, I kissed her on the lips.

「Eh...? Whaー Eh? Grey, what are you doing?!」Yuna

Somehow, someway, after I kissed Yuna, she snapped back to reality and backed away from me in panic.

Woah～ A true love's kiss really worked. Even though it was just a cliche in kid's fairy tales, it actually worked. I guess everything goes in fantasy worlds.

「G-Grey, why did you do that?!」Yuna

「Ah, sorry. You were so cute, I just wanted to kiss you.」Grey

That was a lie. I just actually wanted to test out my dumb theory, although I partly wanted to kiss her.

「W-What are you saying?!」Yuna

「Eh? But you really were cute.」Grey

「S-Stop! Hearing that is very embarrassing!」Yuna

Cute... Her reaction is just too cute. It makes me want to tease her more. But I should probably stop, I'm also getting a bit embarrassed. Well... maybe after another one.

「Alright, alright, I'll stop. Though I still want to tease you a littlー oops, I let my thoughts leak out.」Grey

「Grey!」Yuna

Yep, Yuna's reactions are just too cute.

「Just kidding. How about we go back to the inn. I'll cook curry and pizza to make it up for you.」Grey

「Don't think I'll forgive you that easily!」Yuna

「Then I won't cook if you don't want to.」Grey

「Uuu...」Yuna

「Just kidding.」Grey

「Grey!」Yuna

Haha. Teasing Yuna really is the best.

After teasing Yuna again and again, the two of us headed out of the mansion and back to the Rabbit's Den. On our way there, I told Yuna about Cedric's request and how we are going to escort two kids into the capital tomorrow.

By the time we arrived at the Rabbit's Den, coincidentally, lunch time had just finished. It was the perfect time to cook curry and pizza.

「Gerd-san, I'll be borrowing the kitchen.」Grey

「Sure. Lunch is already finished anyway. Are you going to cook curry again?」Gerd

「Yes. That, and another food.」Grey

「Another food?」Gerd

「It's pizza.」Yuna

「Pizza...? What a strange name... Mind if I observe you cooking it?」Gerd

「Hm, I don't mind.」Grey

When I gave my consent, Gerd-san took a chair from the inn's diner and took a seat just some distance away from us.

「Yuna, please help me prepare the ingredients.」Grey

「Un!」Yuna

Excitedly, Yuna headed to the kitchen table with me and prepared the ingredients. We then cooked pizza together with Gerd-san observing us passionately.

If it was me back then, I would have felt uncomfortable working while someone was watching, but after my daily interactions with Rhodes-san, I just got used to it.

Somehow, I'm thankful for Rhodes-san bothering me every now and then when we were staying at Fritz's mansion.

「By the way, Gerd-san, Yuna and I will be departing tomorrow for the capital. We would be staying there for about three weeks, I guess.」Grey

「Another quest?」Gerd

「Yeah. And please don't tell Helen-san about it, I feel like she's going to cause a commotion again.」Grey

「Yeah... Helen-san is too childish...」Yuna

「You can count on me! I'll keep it a secret to Helen!」Gerd

「Thank you.」Grey

Gerd-san gave his word to us and promised to not tell Helen-san. But just as I was enjoying that moment of relief...

「Grey, the pizza!」Yuna

「Ah!」Grey

... fate decided to play with me by burning the pizza.

I hurried up to get the pizza out of the oven, but when I managed to do it, the pizza was already charred black.

Ahh... Looks like we have to start over from the beginning...

CHAPTER 52 END