Back at the lord's castle, Alex headed first for the mercenary guild.
The moment he opened the door and stepped in, his eyes met those of Wilbur, the receptionist. Wilbur looked surprised for a moment, then quickly beckoned him over.
Puzzled, Alex went to the counter with Leo.
"When did you learn magic?"
"Ah."
Word must have reached the mercenary guild.
It was only natural. There had been mercenaries among the onlookers yesterday.
"Well...."
Alex, in an awkward position to say it had been only a few days ago, rolled his eyes about, and Wilbur frowned briefly.
A mercenary having a secret or two he could not share was standard, so he would let that slide, but for Serena and Glick's sake he had to ask this much.
"You didn't do anything dangerous, did you?"
"No."
He had simply grabbed something to save his life, and it had happened to be the life vessel of a lich from another world.
"That's a relief, then, but...."
How on earth had a boy who did not know the 'm' in magic grown strong enough to bring down a goblin shaman?
Alex smiled awkwardly under Wilbur's gaze, a mix of worry and pride, and set the pouch of herbs on the counter.
"I brought the herbs. That means I've passed the qualification examination, right?"
"That's right. Here's your mercenary tag."
Wilbur took a mercenary tag from beneath the counter and handed it over.
The copper tag was small enough to fit in one hand, and it bore his name, his place of origin, and his grade.
"Uh, Wilbur. This says 5th grade?"
Alex asked, looking at the number written on the tag.
"We'd get an earful if we handed 6th grade to a mage who took down a goblin shaman. But we can't hand 4th grade straight to someone with no experience, so it's 5th grade."
Alex nodded as if he understood.
Just then he felt an intense gaze from beside him.
It was Leo.
He was staring with shining sky-blue eyes, curious about the mercenary tag.
"Haha. Here."
Alex smiled at that look and handed the tag over.
"Thanks, Uncle!"
Leo went Wow! and examined the mercenary tag he was seeing for the first time.
"Here are the herbs."
Alex set the herbs he and Leo had worked so hard to dig up on the counter.
Wilbur checked them and handed over the commission fee.
"Thank you. Wilbur, are there any commissions related to the northern dungeon?"
"You're going to the dungeon?"
"Yes. As training."
Wilbur nodded.
Being a physically weak mage, he needed practical training all the more.
"Dungeon commissions are all much the same. Kill slimes for their fluid, or kill Mushruts for paralysis powder. Or bring back lowest-grade magic stones."
Wilbur laid the commission forms out on the counter.
"You can also skip taking a form from the guild and sell straight to the merchants up north."
There was a small market in the dungeon area as well.
"The commissions are better, of course. A decent lowest-grade magic stone request came in not long ago. Anything else you need?"
"I'd like to buy a map of the continent and a map of the eastern region."
Wilbur pulled two maps from the shelf and handed them to Alex, who passed them straight to Leo.
"Whoa!"
Leo's voice, marveling over the maps, brought a smile to his face.
"Anything else?"
"Have you ever heard of a dungeon where strong, strange-looking monsters come out of a lowest-grade dungeon, like this time?"
Alex was asking about corrupted dungeons.
To stop the world's ruin and find Two Hundred's bones, he had to go to the corrupted dungeons.
"Hmm. First I've heard of it. You'd probably get an answer faster asking at the mercenary guild in the capital."
Of course.
This was a time when the term 'corrupted dungeon' did not exist yet and nothing was known about 'demonic beasts'.
But before long, word would start coming in from all over.
"Then...."
Alex hesitated a moment, then spoke.
"Do you know anything about the commission my sister and brother-in-law took?"
Leo, who had been looking at the maps, reflexively lifted his head at that and looked at Wilbur.
Wilbur answered with a bitter expression.
"I don't know the details either. It was a commission the royal capital asked us to pass on to Serena and Glick. You'd probably learn more if you went to the royal capital."
"I see. Understood."
Alex, who had not expected to get an important lead in one go, nodded.
'Still, that settles our next destination.'
Mitera, the capital of the Mwihiti Kingdom.
That was where he had to go.
***
Leaving the mercenary guild, Alex headed to a nearby restaurant with Leo. Max he had left in the guild's care.
Leo, a little downcast at hearing no news of his mother and father, soon perked up and asked what he had been curious about earlier.
"Hey, Uncle. What's a Mushrut?"
"Ah, you've never seen a monster, have you, Leo?"
"I've seen a slime in a picture! The squishy thing that looks like water!"
Alex smiled and nodded.
"A Mushrut is a monster shaped like a mushroom. It sprays something like a paralysis powder that stops people from moving."
"I see! I want to see one!"
At that childlike curiosity, Alex smiled and stroked the head of the boy sitting across from him.
"Leo's still too young, so it's dangerous. When you're bigger, Uncle will make sure to show you one."
"Okay!"
Leo nodded firmly.
[But if you're traveling the continent, you're bound to run into monsters stronger than slimes.]
[Wouldn't it be better to show him early and let him get used to it slowly?]
That was true enough, but.
For Alex, who wanted Leo to grow up as safely and happily as possible, there was no choice but to agonize over which was better.
"Here's your food."
He set the worry aside for now and decided to fill his stomach first. Perhaps because he had spent twelve years as a ghost, three meals a day mattered enormously to Alex.
Alex took the first bite, then put some of the dish on Leo's plate.
[This place is good too!]
[If the inn's cooking is light, this place is bold.]
"This is good, Uncle!"
"It is. Delicious. Chew it well, Leo."
"Okay!"
With his stomach comfortably full, Alex took out a few copper coins and handed them to Leo.
"What's this, Uncle?"
"You helped Uncle gather herbs earlier, right? This is the money we earned from it. It's your share."
"My share?"
Alex smiled and nodded at Leo, who blinked his round eyes.
"That's right. Leo's share. Uncle will buy you a pouch. Keep it in there. And later, when there's something you want to buy, you buy it with that."
"Wow! Really? Can I buy anything?"
Leo, now with money of his own, marveled with shining round eyes.
In the village there had been nothing much to spend money on, but as they traveled through various regions, Leo would come to want things. Having his own money like this would give him a sense for economics as well.
"Of course you can buy anything. Except dangerous things. And on top of the money you earn from work, I'll give you an allowance once a week."
Alex smiled, took out more coins, and gave them to Leo.
"This is this week's allowance."
"Whoaaa!!"
Leo's money had doubled in the blink of an eye, and his eyes doubled in size to match.
"I'm totally rich now, Uncle!"
Alex burst out laughing at Leo's words.
[What about me! I searched hard too.]
You've got nothing to spend it on.
Alex let it go in one ear and out the other.
After lunch,
Alex bought Leo an allowance pouch.
Leo clutched the pouch he had chosen himself in both hands, so adorable that Alex stroked his head.
"Max! We're back!"
Alex and Leo collected Max, whom they had left at the mercenary guild, and returned to the Lake House inn.
"Look, Sophia. I made bouquets!"
Sophia beamed at the bouquets filling Leo's arms.
"Wow! They're so pretty!"
"This one's for Sophia. And these are for Grandpa and Big Brother Matthew!"
"Thank you."
"Thanks, Leo."
Hallon and Matthew smiled widely at the bouquets Leo handed out. And when Leo said there were ones for her mother, father, and the baby as well, Sophia's smile grew wider still.
"And guess what this is?"
With an ahem, Leo produced a new pouch as though showing it off.
"What is it?"
"It's my allowance pouch! Uncle bought it for me!"
"Whoa! An allowance pouch! I have one too!"
The adults ended up laughing at the children beaming and showing each other their allowance pouches.
"Leo, let's put our money together and buy candy!"
"Candy! That sounds good! How much is it?"
"Candy's really expensive. It costs this much!"
Leo's face went shocked at the price of expensive candy.
[Bwahaha!]
[How cute!]
Two Hundred cracked up at that, and Alex laughed too, Haha!
While he was smiling at Leo and Sophia discussing with serious faces which snacks to buy,
the inn door opened and a new guest appeared.
"Welcome i—!"
Matthew, greeting him by reflex, opened his eyes wide at the sight of the guest who had come in.
At that, Alex, Hallon, the children, and the other guests inside all turned their heads to look at the door. And their faces filled with surprise.
"Pardon the intrusion."
A young man stood there in neat, expensive clothing quite unlike a commoner's.
[Wow.]
[A hundred percent, he's from a noble house.]
"Is this the inn where Mage Alex is staying?"
At the man's words, every gaze turned at once to Alex, seated in his chair.
Alex rose and approached him.
"I am Alex."
"Good day, Master Alex. I am Norton, butler of House Kaldis."
Butler Norton bowed politely and said,
"The young lord wishes to invite you and your nephew to dinner tomorrow evening. Might you have the time?"
The young lord had not forgotten to include Leo in the invitation.
"Tomorrow? That is sooner than I expected."
At Alex's slightly surprised remark, Butler Norton answered with a small smile.
"As you are a mage, Master Alex, it is difficult to predict when you might leave the domain, so we set the earliest date possible."
[He's certainly got a point.]
Alex nodded in understanding.
"The time is fine."
"That is a relief. You need not concern yourself with attire. We will have something prepared, so please come in whatever is comfortable."
"Understood."
"Then I shall come to escort you myself tomorrow evening."
Butler Norton handed over an invitation without a single crease, bowed, and left the inn.
"Uwaah...."
With that, the tension that had settled over the room without anyone noticing vanished in an instant, and everyone slumped as if drained.
"Nobles really are something else."
"You said it."
The guests who had been holding their breath began to speak one by one, and Hallon and Matthew let out light sighs as well.
"Whoa! A noble house's butler! I've never seen one before!"
"Me neither! He's so cool!"
Leo and Sophia hurried to the doorway with excited faces to watch the viscount's carriage drive away.
The only one unbothered was Alex, who had met plenty of nobles in the 'future' (though they had never known it).
[He was awfully polite?]
[I thought he'd look down on a commoner mercenary at least a little.]
That was probably because Alex was a mage and had saved the young lord's life.
'Of course, there are plenty of nobles who look down on you even if you saved their life.'
Recalling how courteous the young lord had been even in the urgency of the dungeon, House Kaldis seemed to be a decent noble family.
'Sending a butler, for one thing.'
Normally they sent a servant.
Still following that thought, Alex tore open the envelope of the invitation.
"Gasp!"
It was the onlookers who were horrified by that careless handling. Alex laughed a little inwardly.
There was nothing special about the invitation. It was exactly as Butler Norton had said.
[Ooh!]
[So this is a fantasy noble's invitation!]
"Can I see it too, Uncle?"
"Sure. Here."
Leo and Sophia, and Matthew and Hallon and the guests as well, all clustered together to look at the invitation.
[I'm not done looking either!]
It was a sight that somehow brought a laugh.