Chapter 77: First day

The first day of the Whitnash Port Opening Festival.

At the main venue set up in the central square of the city, the Port Opening Festival was officially declared open and the seven-day festival began.

“That … looks like Abel no matter how I look at it …”

“Yes, no matter how you look at it, that is Abel …”

“Abel is in the guest seat. That is kind of amazing, right?”

“As expected, Abel is incredible!”

Those were the remarks of Ryo, Etho, Amon, and Niles.

The guest seats could be seen from the standing audience seats where Ryo and his friends were, and among the guests, there was a person who seemed to be Abel.

However, he was not wearing his usual adventure clothes but formal wear, so he looked very dignified.

“I guess its true that anyone can look good with the right clothes.”

Ryo muttered a rude remark but it was erased by the hustle and bustle of the surroundings and even the people from 『Room 10』 beside him didn’t hear it.

“That woman in the guest seat is amazingly beautiful.”

“Oh, that ginger-haired person? Yeah, she is.”

Amon and Niles evaluated while looking at the guest seats.

“It was mentioned earlier that she is the princess of the Empire. Niles, she is even further beyond your league compared to Nina.”

Etho ruthlessly stabbed Niles with the truth.

“No, you know, it’s not that I want to go out with her, I’m just admiring a beautiful woman.”

Niles shook his head exaggeratedly.

“Niles, what if you could go out with her?”

“Oh, then I will date her.”

Ryo stirred Niles on and he took the bait.

Etho sighed and Amon smiled wryly.

“Is-isn’t it fine. It’s natural for a man to aim for the top!”

“Niles, you’ll have to surpass Abel first!”

“Well, Abel is a little impossible …”

Just as Niles was quickly facing a setback from his goal of aiming for the top, a few people called out to the four of them.

“Ah~ Ryo and gang are here!”

When Ryo looked back, he saw Rin from 『Crimson Sword』.

And behind her, Rihya and Warren appeared.

“It’s amazing how we can bump into each other in such a crowd.”

When he hear Rihya’s voice, Etho, who had been sighing a while ago, became nervous.

“Ri-Rihya-san …”

“If the three of you are here … that means the person in the guest seat really is Abel?”

Even now Ryo still didn’t believe it, but it seemed that it really was Abel.

“Yeah. Abel came as the representative of Rune’s Guildmaster. Well, the Guildmaster will arrive tomorrow, so he’ll be relieved of his duty after that.”

Rihya explained why Abel was in the guest seat.

“It happens occasionally. When you’re a B-rank adventurer or above, you might need to act as a proxy of the Guildmaster. Normally, in the case of the City of Rune, the White Brigade Phelps often acts as the proxy. But currently, the White Brigade is busy with food transportation missions, so this time it’s Abel. That’s the ostensible reason.”

“Ostensible reason?”

“As expected, Abel-san. So cool.”

Niles, who was not obsessed with the minor details, had high praises for Abel, who he respects.

“The real intention of the Guild Master was to remove us from the dungeon mission of the Court Magic Group. Because of that incident that happened. It’s revenge against Illarion-sama in the royal capital.”

『Crimson Sword』 received a letter from a person named Illarion and dove into the dungeon to escort the Court Magic Group.

And they ended up fighting Devils …

Hugh, who was about to lose his valuable talents, would certainly want to have a word with Illarion.

While Ryo was thinking about that, Rin groaned as she looked at the guest seats.

“Muu ~. That barrier that covers the guest seats, it’s a Wind-Attribute barrier after all … it’s extremely thick.”

“What? That is wind? Isn’t it an ordinary magic barrier?”

The priest Etho responded to Rin’s mutterings.

“Yes, it’s wind. It might be more accurate to call it a protective film rather than a barrier. It somewhat feels like the wind protective film that Wyverns constantly deploy.”

“One of the treasures that have been passed down to the Whitnash Lord for generations is a treasure that creates a wind protective film. I heard that it is rarely used because it is extremely fuel-inefficient … Well, the prince and princess of the Empire are here … and a war would break out if any subversive activities occur … I guess they can’t afford to save on fuel.”

Rin and Rihya were talking about dreadful topics.

(It would certainly be troublesome if there’s terrorism. Was it the First World War that happened because a prince was killed? May nothing bad happen today.)

Ryo wished for world peace in his heart.

“But that princess is the Emperor’s Magic Division Chief of the Empire, right? That means that the deputy chief would definitely be here too …”

“You’re right, he probably came along …”

Rin and Rihya had a meaningful exchange of looks.

“Is that deputy chief a troublesome character?”

Ryo was intrigued and asked them.

“Yeah, that deputy chief is the Empire’s pride, the『Explosion Blaze Magician』.”

“What the heck, that sounds so cool.”

Ryo’s mutter was inaudible to them.

“Legends say he burned down 1,000 Kingdom troops with a single blow. Legends say he exploded a Wyvern into bits with a single blow. Legends say he annihilated a city of rebels with a single strike.”

“I’ve heard of those rumors. Are they true?”

Etho joined the conversation with a flustered expression.

“I don’t know, but it’s said to be true. If it’s true … he’s someone you wouldn’t want to face.”

Yeah, his alias was cool, but Ryo vowed to stay away.

Abel would not have free time as a guest until Hugh came tomorrow, so the three others from 『Crimson Sword』 told him that they would be touring the festival and left.

As for the four people from Room 10 …

“Okay, let’s eat our fill today too!”

“Oh!”

Normally, E-rank and F-rank adventurers would not have that much money.

However, the people from Room 10 were different.

“I’m really glad we succeeded in Ryo’s magic copper ore request.”

Yes, thanks to that request, they earned a reward of 300,000 Florin per person.

Immediately after that, Niles bought a pocket watch, but he still had enough savings because it only cost about 20,000 Florin.

“Oh, pardon me.”

“No problem, my apologies too.”

The moment they wanted to start walking and Ryo turned around, he almost collided with a person from behind.

However, contact was avoided due to the super-fast reaction of both parties.

“Hey, deputy chief, what are you doing? We have to buy a lot and bring it to the chief.”

Ryo heard that voice from behind.

“No, I’m not good with crowds …”

“Are you planning to make such an excuse to the chief? I’m sure she’s looking forward to it. If you don’t bring it, she would cry and complain about how she had to put up with it and sit in the guest seat, but the deputy chief didn’t even bring her delicious fish and chips.”

The deputy chief Oscar, with his alias the 『Explosion Blaze Magician』, and his adjutant, Jürgen, were responsible for buying delicious food from the stalls and delivering them to the chief Fiona.

“No, she wouldn’t cry just because of that …”

He muttered but due to the noise of the surroundings, his adjutant Jürgen didn’t hear him.

“Well, grilled mini kraken, thin okonomiyaki, and grill bowl, we have them all … All that is left is something I was told that was an absolute must … yes, the fish and chips over there. Fortunately, the queue seems short. Deputy chief, let’s go. “

The adjutant Jürgen said and lined up at the open-air stall.

“Jürgen … you’re taking it pretty seriously …”

Of course, Oscar liked delicious food but he wouldn’t think of lining up just to buy something and he wasn’t comfortable doing so.

However, that『mission』absolutely required Oscar.

That was because ……,

“Deputy chief, the one I bought earlier, please keep it warm so that it doesn’t get cold! The chief will be sad if it gets cold.”

For the Explosion Blaze Magician, it was a simple task to keep what they bought warm.

But … the only person in the world who could use the Explosion Blaze Magician in such a way was Princess Fiona.

“Oh, pardon me.”

“No problem.”

Another commonplace exchange happened after two people left the guest seats.

It was between Konrad, the third prince of the Debuhi Empire, and Abel, acting as a proxy for the Guildmaster of the Rune Adventurer’s Guild.

“Proxy of Rune’s Guildmaster … Abel-dono … yeah … am I right?”

“Yes. Your Royal Highness Konrad. It is Abel. At least for now, just Abel.”

Konrad commented as if he noticed something and Abel emphasized his address.

“I see. Excuse me. You just looked like someone I’ve met before.”

“I see. It must have been someone else.”

“Will Abel-dono be acting as a proxy for the entire festival?”

“No … only for the first and last days. The Guildmaster will only arrive in the middle of the festival. I believe from the second day to the sixth day, there will be individual talks and various meetings?”

“Yes, it’s rare to have representatives from each country, guild leaders, or lords all gathered around here. The schedule is packed with talks and meetings.”

Konrad shrugged his shoulders and shook his head a little.

“That’s a pity.”

“If Abel-dono returned to his parents’ house … Oh no, I’m just talking to myself. My sister is here too, but I’ve given her the task to enjoy the festival.”

Konrad smiled.

“She was in the guest seat earlier. Her Imperial Highness the Emperor Magic Division Chief Fiona.”

“Does Abel still care about that title?”

A sharp light ran behind Konrad’s eyes for a moment, really just for a moment.

But it was Abel, and he didn’t miss the momentary light.

“I’m not sure what you are talking about but the fact that the 『Chief』 is here means that the 『Deputy Chief』 is also here, right? Yes, the person with the alias, the 『Explosion Blaze Magician』 …”

“That pertains to confidential military matters so I can’t comment on that.”

He dodged the question in the end but of course, they had no intention of hiding the arrival of the Explosion Blaze Magician Oscar Ruska.

Everything was tactics and everything was a show of force. The Empire was such a country.

“Oh, that seems to be the Lord. See you again.”

Then, Konrad left Abel.

“Sheesh, what a difficult person … I’m not good at this kind of thing.”

Abel muttered in a whisper.

“Phew, I’m tired.”

Fiona fell into bed.

“Your Highness, please stop such improper behavior … this is the second time.”

Marie, her adjutant and maid, continued to chastise Fiona in continuation from last night.

“But it’s troublesome to sit like a princess while being watched by everyone?”

“Your Highness is unmistakably a princess after all … don’t you face being watched by everyone in the division?

“The division is fine. Everyone is a familiar face and friends. But, like this, the line of sight from an unspecified number of people … how do I put it …”

“Disgusting?”

“It feels ticklish.”

“… Yeah, I can’t make sense of what Your Highness is saying.”

While having such a conversation, Marie took off Fiona’s dress and arranged it so that it would not wrinkle. Fiona also changed into the familiar division clothes without permission.

“Oh, this is the best outfit. It’s functional and easy to move in.”

While she was talking about that, there was a knock on the door and the shopping group came back.

“Your Highness, we’re back.”

“I’m tired.”

The deputy chief Oscar displaying his exhaustion and his adjutant Jürgen were back.

“Even deputy chief acts like that …”

“Hmm?”

“When Her Imperial Highness returned from the guest seat, she said the same thing …”

Marie shook her head and began preparing tea.

“Oh, I’m just not good with crowds.”

For some reason, Oscar was boasting.

“Deputy chief, you were really close to colliding a while ago. But you didn’t for some reason.”

“Oh, that was dangerous. If I bumped into him, I might have dropped the food I was holding. But I didn’t collide not because of my actions but the other party avoided me with great reaction speed. He was an adventurer and seemed to be a Magician, but he’s pretty good.”

Recalling the scene at that time, Oscar reheated some of the food they bought.

“Well, let’s eat for the time being.”

With Fiona’s words as the trigger, the Emperor’s Magic Division’s tea party started.