Claire stared up at me with a blank expression.
It was the first time I had seen her make that face since meeting her.
I could not help but laugh.
“It’s been a while.”
“Why are you here…?”
She was clearly so stunned that her mind had stopped working.
It was amusing to watch, but there were too many eyes on us from every direction.
Before anyone started finding our interaction strange, I composed myself and returned to my seat.
“…….”
Claire still looked confused, but she soon regained control of her expression and rose from her place.
As I watched her, Gilbert’s voice came from beside me.
“What a stupid commoner woman. To think she has such poor judgment of people.”
His lips curled upward as his gaze followed Claire.
He looked almost pitiful, like an abandoned dog.
The one fortunate thing for him was that the man named Amelot had chosen Gilbert.
If even Amelot had sworn loyalty to Garen, Gilbert would probably be bawling beside me right now.
“—With this, the three of you are appointed as Personal Knights of the Kalsburg Family.”
Once the appointment ceremony ended, the first to leave were the three sons of the family, including me.
The newly appointed Personal Knights followed their respective masters.
Unlike Gilbert and Garen, who returned to their rooms, I headed outside the estate.
Claire said nothing until we had completely left the estate behind.
The moment we passed through the main gate, however, she spoke.
“Young Master Allen. You deceived me.”
Despite the sense of betrayal in her voice, her expression was merely sulky.
“I never deceived you. Allen isn’t exactly a common name, is it?”
“That is true, but… I think you could have at least given me some warning beforehand.”
“That I was actually the eldest son of the Kalsburg Family?”
“Yes.”
How innocent.
If she understood her own personality a little better, she would never say that.
“If I had told you, wouldn’t you have refused to come all the way to the North?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said it yourself in the Labyrinth. ‘A knight is someone who protects honor. If I became a knight through personal connections, there would be nothing more shameful than that.’”
“…….”
The reason she was upset was not because I had hidden my identity.
She was worried that she might have gotten in through connections.
That she might have betrayed the honor she valued as a knight.
“Don’t worry. You became a knight by proving your strength fairly.”
“I heard that I am the first commoner-born knight in the Kalsburg Family. Isn’t that because you spoke about me beforehand, Young Master Allen?”
“Not exactly. But I did make sure that no one would reject you this time simply because you were a commoner.”
“Then—”
“If you were rejected because you were a commoner, wouldn’t that be even more unfair? All I did was put everyone on the same starting line. If that’s wrong, then the first king who divided commoners and nobles was wrong to begin with.”
Claire jolted in alarm.
“Young Master Allen! What you just said constitutes the Crime of Insulting the Royal Family!”
“So what? Nobody heard me.”
“I heard you!”
“And?”
Claire’s expression changed into one of utter disbelief.
“If I reported you to the Empire, you could receive the harshest punishment.”
“Probably. So, are you going to report me?”
At that question, Claire’s expression settled.
“Of course not. I am the sword that protects Allen Kalsburg. No matter what situation may come, I will never betray you, Young Master Allen.”
That was good to hear.
If it had been anyone else, I probably would not have chosen a Personal Knight in the first place.
Claire was not perfect yet, but after what I had seen in the Labyrinth, I had decided she was someone I could trust.
“That’s why I said it without hesitation. From now on, there won’t be any secrets I can afford to keep from you.”
“…….”
The most important thing between a master and knight was trust.
We might have completed the appointment ceremony, but trust did not simply appear on its own.
Making her my knight had been an impulsive decision, but from now on, I would genuinely be entrusting my life to her.
If I wanted her to trust me, then I first had to trust her.
“Now that we’ve cleared up the misunderstanding, shall we head out?”
“Yes. But where are we going?”
“The Adventurer’s Guild, obviously.”
“The Guild…? Don’t tell me you intend to enter the Labyrinth again?”
“Yeah.”
She did not look particularly pleased.
That was understandable.
No knight would be happy to hear that their master intended to enter an extraordinarily dangerous place.
“Yes. Understood.”
What?
She agreed more easily than I expected.
I had assumed she would object because the Labyrinth was too dangerous.
“I have no right to obstruct your will, Young Master Allen. No matter how dangerous a place you choose to go, my duty is simply to remain by your side and protect you. Therefore, I will enter with you.”
“What?”
“I know that you are strong, Young Master Allen. But that is not a reason for me to let you go alone.”
That was not quite the reaction I had expected.
Still, I could hardly stop her.
If anything, this might actually work out better.
“Then let’s head out first.”
“Pardon?”
“We’ll have to buy you some clothes.”
“Why clothes all of a sudden…?”
“That armor makes you look far too much like a knight.”
First, she needed to get out of the armor.
If she was going to act as an Adventurer, it would be troublesome if she constantly looked like an inflexible knight.
Our shopping trip lasted an entire hour.
By the time we finished, the sun was already setting.
[This is too thin, and this one is too heavy.]
Claire had taken choosing equipment very seriously.
[With our budget being around this much… this would be best.]
Had I spent too long living as a noble?
Thanks to her, my dulled sense of money seemed to be returning.
“Whew….”
Fortunately, the effort had been worthwhile.
Until just moments ago, Claire had practically radiated the presence of a knight.
Now she looked like an ordinary Adventurer.
The number of people staring at her around town had decreased as well.
Though her appearance still made her stand out.
CREAK.
We soon entered the Adventurer’s Guild.
Leaving the noisy second floor behind, we headed directly to the third.
The moment we arrived, the same scene as before greeted us.
The blind woman I had met previously, Aselin, was sitting at the counter.
“Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“We’d like to register an Adventurer.”
“Oh? You’re the person from yesterday, aren’t you? The Mage!”
Had the fact that I was a Mage left that much of an impression?
She recognized me from my voice alone.
Without showing any particular reaction, I first handled the process of registering Claire as an Adventurer.
Strictly speaking, an Adventurer Plaque was not necessary to enter the Labyrinth.
However, it offered benefits such as better prices when selling Monster materials.
Naturally, the higher one’s Rank, the greater the benefits.
Which was why—
RATTLE.
I opened the Subspace once again and poured out the Monster materials I had kept in reserve.
“I knew it! You’re the Mage!”
Ignoring Aselin’s excitement, I went through the process of raising Claire’s Rank.
“Rank 8 Adventurer Claire… Warrior….”
Claire held the wooden plaque and stared at it thoughtfully.
Next came my business.
I handed Aselin my plaque first.
“I’m Allen, a Rank 8 Adventurer. What happened with my Rank adjustment request? I handed over the Slave Trader’s head three days ago.”
“Ah, that? I prepared everything in advance.”
Aselin soon handed me a wooden plaque marked Rank 7, along with a heavy leather pouch.
“This is the bounty.”
I checked the pouch first.
It contained more than fifty thousand Sel.
Roughly ten times what I had received from selling the first batch of Monster materials.
Now I understood why people said bounty hunting paid so well.
“I said I wanted to join a Rank 7 team. Did any of them agree to take me?”
“One moment.”
The receptionist rummaged through a stack of papers.
“Ah, here it is. Let’s see… Hmm….”
She hesitated.
“Not a single one?”
“Ahaha… no….”
The answer did not shock me as much as I expected.
If I were in their position, I probably would not accept a Mage either.
Not unless they were an Executioner from a Mage Tower with a clearly verified identity.
It would probably be difficult even to arrange a meeting in the first place.
‘No helping it.’
If anything, this was better.
“I’d like to create a team. With this Warrior here.”
“What would you like to call the team?”
A team name.
When I played the game, I had simply unified all my team names under letters of the alphabet.
I could not make it quite that simple here, but nothing particularly good came to mind.
“Can the name be changed later?”
“Of course. Although once the team becomes well-known, changing it isn’t recommended. You’ll also need unanimous consent from all the team members.”
“Then for now, just call it ‘Allen.’”
It would take time to build recognition as an Adventurer anyway.
Simply exploring the Labyrinth would not be enough. We would also need to complete various requests.
“Are there any conditions for the members you want to recruit?”
“Rank 8 or higher is mandatory. I don’t care about the class.”
“Understood. I’ll look for candidates.”
With our business finished, we headed down from the third floor.
Claire continued fiddling with her wooden plaque.
Together, we made our way toward the noisy second floor.
“Claire. Can you hold your liquor?”
“No. I’ve never had alcohol before.”
“Really?”
When we reached the tavern, the same hairy owner I had seen before greeted us.
“Well, if it isn’t the friend from before. You brought a woman with you today.”
“It’s been a while. Two beers first.”
“Young Master Allen! I am a knight! How could I possibly drink while I’m on duty—”
At the word knight, several gazes around us turned in our direction.
Claire immediately lowered her voice.
“I will remain beside you and attend to you. But even so, alcohol is—”
“It’s fine. Let’s drink today. Think of it as a celebratory drink for swearing your loyalty.”
“But….”
As expected, the model student in her seemed strongly opposed to the idea.
But I had no intention of accepting her refusal.
If she was going to accompany me into and out of the Labyrinth, she needed to know how to drink at least a little.
‘After all….’
Otherwise, she might not be able to endure it.
After that, I visited the Adventurer’s Guild every single day without exception.
Perhaps because I had unintentionally begun clocking in like an employee, Aselin eventually learned to recognize me from my footsteps alone.
“Young Master Allen. You’re here again today?”
Not that I had actually accomplished anything.
“Any Adventurers apply?”
“Ahaha. Well….”
“None.”
“…Yes.”
An entire week passed without a single applicant showing their face.
Was it normally this difficult to recruit party members?
Had the Labyrinth fallen out of favor and everyone changed professions?
“Hey, drink up! Let’s drink ourselves to death tonight!”
“Order more food too!”
Then what were all these people filling the second-floor tavern and first-floor lobby?
“Young Master Allen. If you wait just a little longer, I’m sure someone will apply.”
“You said that yesterday.”
“Then… if you could just wait until tomorrow—”
“The Labyrinth opens in three days. At this rate, Claire and I will be entering alone.”
“…….”
I had underestimated the situation.
Surely, I had thought at least one person would apply.
Apparently, there was something I had failed to understand.
Just what kind of image Mages had among Adventurers.
The one fortunate thing was that I had Claire.
At the very least, we should be able to reach the second floor during the next Labyrinth expedition.
It was disappointing, but I would have to be satisfied with the second floor.
Then, unexpectedly, Aselin brought me surprising news the very next day.
“Young Master Allen! I have good news!”
“Good news?”
Aselin’s face was slightly flushed.
She spoke excitedly.
“You actually got applicants today.”
“What? Seriously?”
“And there are two of them!”
“Two?”
My mouth fell open before I realized it.
Aselin grinned at my reaction.
“Still, I never expected to encounter other races all the way up here in the North.”
“Other races…? Both of them?”
“Yes. An Elf and a Dwarf.”
An Elf and a Dwarf.
After humans, they were the two races with the greatest influence on the continent.
But hearing those two races mentioned together was extremely unusual.
“Don’t tell me they came together.”
“Yes. They did.”
What?
Elves and Dwarves did not travel together.
They might not be mortal enemies, but they got along terribly.
Of course, there were a handful who were less stubborn than the rest, but they were a tiny minority.
“What are their names?”
The moment I asked, Aselin handed me two sheets of paper.
The first thing that caught my attention was the brief description written on each.
[Rank 7 Archer. Primarily works as a Scout in five-person teams. Highly skilled with daggers. Specializes in trap disarming and route finding.]
[Rank 7 Warrior. Primarily works as a Guardian in five-person teams. Specializes in shield techniques.]
The descriptions themselves were utterly ordinary.
But one more characteristic needed to be added to both.
‘Other race.’
Elves and Dwarves alike possessed physical abilities superior to those of humans.
After checking the descriptions, I lowered my gaze to the names of the two applicants.
[Esta de Lemoe]
[Beric Dvar]
The moment I saw them, a curse escaped my mouth.
“Fuck?”
Those were names I had seen plenty of times before.