Three Dark Order members were out and about in broad daylight.
The three were following a map Hess had marked with their destination, trying to find their way.
They were the bastards Hess had called the Three Idiots.
“He gave us a chance to redeem ourselves! I really thought we were going to die!”
At the tall bastard's words, the short bastard scoffed.
“Idiot.”
“What now? You want to go another round?”
“We're only going to live a few more hours. Do you think Lord Hess will let us live after we took the organization's property?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
While the tall bastard failed to understand, the fat bastard added a word as well.
“No doubt there will be a huge monster at the destination. Or a trap. We are going there to die.”
“W-What? How can you be sure?”
“You're stupid because you don't know that.”
“What did you say?”
What am I supposed to do with a bastard like you who doesn't know a damn thing? Hah.
“Bullshit. Want to die here first?”
This time, the tall bastard and the fat bastard started going at each other. Looking at them, the short bastard let out a sigh.
“…I'm an idiot. What an idiot I was, stirring up this mess by trusting bastards like those.”
“Look at you blaming others. Did you do anything right?”
“Fine, if we're going to die anyway, do you want to fight? Bastard? Dying by my hand will hurt less, won't it?”
The three repeatedly stopped and set off again as they bickered.
“Damn it… If we're going to die anyway, should we just run?”
“That bastard is talking bullshit again.”
“What did you say, fatso? Am I wrong?”
“Defy Lord Hess's orders and run? Do you dare think it's possible to hide beyond his eyes? If we're caught, we'll be tortured even more horribly. He'll probably even come to check whether we really died. What the fuck do you know?”
“But this son of a bitch, every damn sentence!”
The three headed toward their destination, fighting without end.
Their constant growling was partly because they were horribly incompatible, but it was also largely because they wanted to turn away from their fear of death.
The end of those who sullied the organization's name.
The Dark Order did not desire the regret of such people.
All it desired was pain.
***
Henrik stood beside the table with his hands behind his back.
The innkeeper seated before him wrote down Henrik's words.
“Have you written it all down?”
“Just a moment… Yes, I have written it all down. Hoho.”
“Is this funny?”
“…No.”
“Write your name at the very bottom, too. Sign it properly.”
The innkeeper wrote ‘Margaret’ at the bottom.
Her husband, who ran the inn with Margaret, also signed his name as ‘Ben.’
At the table beside them, Lloyd was devouring a lavish feast.
“Munch… Urk… Munch….”
Watching him, Henrik thought, That bastard is definitely going to get sick. But it did not seem like Lloyd would listen even if Henrik stopped him.
“Margaret, you clearly promised. Read it through from the beginning.”
“Um… From now on, our inn will manage Lord Lloyd's diet and healthy lifestyle, and….”
I cannot manage Lloyd's life in every detail 24 hours a day.
Fortunately, this inn had plenty of staff and all the essential facilities.
For the time being, I will manage him through this inn.
“Ben, you have no complaints about this amount either, right?”
“Of course not!”
It was not even a contract that would cause the inn a great loss. Henrik had paid additional gold coins and steered the negotiation to a reasonable point.
“The fact that every window in the second-floor corridor was shattered will count as compensation for the unfair treatment Lloyd received. That also applies to Lloyd's meal now. You have no complaint, Margaret?”
“O-Of course not.”
Henrik lightly touched Lloyd's clothes as he continued speaking to Lloyd, who was preoccupied with eating.
“I consider dressing him in clothes like these an insult to his dignity as well.”
“W-We will prepare fine new clothes that fit him perfectly as compensation, too!”
“All right, then. You have not forgotten the last promise you made, have you?”
Margaret timidly walked to Lloyd's side as he ate.
“I-I am sorry, young man. No, Lord Lloyd….”
Lloyd paid her no heed and merely continued wolfing down his meal.
Of course, Margaret had not expected a positive reaction from him.
Henrik saw her clench both fists and tremble as she apologized to Lloyd.
“Good. Now bring clothes that fit Lloyd.”
Margaret was so busy seething at Lloyd that she forgot to answer. In her place, Ben dragged her away and answered,
“Understood!”
And then,
“Munch… Urk… Munch….”
Henrik quietly waited until Lloyd's throat was satisfied with a proper meal for the first time in years.
'Good, let us sort this out. For the time being, the urgent priority is raising Lloyd with this inn as our base.'
I need to feed him well and build up his stamina until he has a body that can swing a sword.
Then I will teach him swordsmanship in more earnest.
'That will not happen overnight. So I need to prepare well so that no problems arise at the hideout while Hess is absent.'
If the guild is run with Saya at its center, there will not be any major problems for now.
And I will entrust Aike's training to Saya and make him capable of pulling his weight as quickly as possible.
Aike and Saya: one makes coolheaded judgments, and the other understands Hess's intentions precisely.
With this combination, the hideout will be able to function well even while I am gone.
“Munch… Glurk….”
Lloyd's meal only ended after quite a long time had passed.
A faint smile appeared on his face without his noticing.
He sat there with his eyes closed for a long while, as though time had stopped.
After a while, Lloyd rose from his seat and walked to the window. Then he stared at something.
Henrik followed him and looked out the window with him. Sensing his presence, Lloyd spoke.
“You intend to tie me down here.”
“Shouldn't you say I'm taking care of you?”
“Why did you intervene for no reason earlier? It was my business. And I could have resolved it myself.”
As if.
“I was the one who paid the money, so it's not entirely someone else's business.”
“I'll remember all the money you paid and repay every bit of it later. I don't intend to be in debt.”
Well, well.
“…Still, since I didn't need to step in thanks to you, I'll say you've helped me, for now.”
“Oh, I'm touched.”
“I didn't say thank you. I said I'd certainly repay the debt and clear it.”
“As you wish.”
After a brief silence,
“Henrik, just as I heard, you do not seem to be an ordinary person. So that rumor was true.”
“Hmm?”
“Earlier. It was a distance of fifteen paces, but I clearly saw you cover it in only two steps. The shockwave that burst every window was a bonus.”
“Ah, that rumor.”
Of the four legendary adventurers who had set out to find the Orb, Henrik possessed the fastest athletic reflexes.
Of course, my current physical abilities are wholly Hess's. Henrik is merely a shell laid over them.
“A rumor is only a rumor. I do not know what you have heard about me, but do not think all of it is true.”
“…Is that a kind of humility?”
“Pfft, humility? That's not bad either. Think whatever you want.”
But Lloyd was no ordinary person either.
'To Margaret, it must have looked as though I had teleported. An ordinary person could not properly track that movement.'
But Lloyd had seen exactly that I gained momentum in two steps.
'Superhuman dynamic visual acuity. As expected, that talent has not gone anywhere.'
Lloyd continued staring out the window. Henrik followed his gaze.
“I wondered what you were looking at so intently….”
Henrik swept his gaze around the area.
“…There is nothing special.”
At that, Lloyd pointed outside the window at a certain spot.
“I was looking there.”
It was an alley leading into a beggars' den.
“Your older brothers' place?”
“The only place that took me in.”
“I didn't know you thought so fondly of it.”
“I didn't say that. It merely took me in.”
Lloyd's gaze toward the alley was icy.
“It seems you had many bad experiences?”
“That was not limited to that place. There were countless bad things.”
I know.
The fall of his House and the deaths of all his family members had been the beginning.
Everything began with trust. The people he trusted had drawn blades from their bosoms.
I can fully understand why Lloyd does not want to trust anyone.
At the very end of Part 2 of the novel, the identity of Henrik—the person Lloyd had struggled to open his heart to—was revealed as the mastermind, and Lloyd was betrayed once again.
That bastard's life is an unbroken chain of misfortune.
“Why did you come looking for me? Did Rondal really send you? To protect me?”
Emotional appeals were enough last time.
“Butler Rondal—my father, that is—did ask me to protect you. But merely protecting you would be boring, wouldn't it? In truth, I have another, greater reason for seeking you out.”
Lloyd turned his head slightly and looked at Henrik. Sensing his gaze, Henrik met Lloyd's eyes.
“It is true that I intend to help you take revenge.”
“Why do you want to involve yourself in such a difficult matter? Isn't it someone else's business to you?”
Countless doubts and questions he still could not resolve were throwing Lloyd's mind into confusion.
'Emotional stories about following my father's wishes or how pitiful Lloyd's House is can't completely break down his suspicions.'
In the novel, Henrik first met Lloyd in Part 2, after Lloyd had become somewhat himself again. That was why he could appeal to Lloyd with emotional appeals alone.
But Lloyd's heart had grown cold after long years of wandering. He would not empathize with stories like that.
After losing his family and living on the streets, Lloyd had fought the merciless reality every day.
What could persuade the current Lloyd was an utterly practical argument.
“The Orb.”
“The Orb?”
Henrik turned his gaze outside the window. Then, wearing a more serious expression than ever, he continued.
“The one you must take revenge on is searching for the most precious treasure in this world. No one knows its exact name; it is merely called the Orb. You know what an Orb is, right? It is round.”
Henrik made a round shape with both hands.
“…So the Orb is what you are after?”
“Yes. Even the fact that the Orb exists is a secret. Every tiny clue about it is as good as a treasure.”
“It certainly feels like a treasure among treasures.”
Henrik nodded and continued.
“And the one you must take revenge on has those clues.”
“So?”
“My goal is to kill him and take the clues about the Orb.”
Lloyd stared at Henrik without a word. It was a gesture telling Henrik to make him understand clearly.
“The important point is this. I need your help to attack him. It is difficult to explain why I need it right now, but you need revenge anyway, do you not?”
Henrik turned his gaze outside the window. Then, looking at the distant sky, he spoke.
“You take your revenge, and I obtain the Orb.”
“…Pfft.”
Lloyd laughed as though the idea was absurd. But he was not mocking Henrik.
“That is an easy reason to understand. I thought you would bring up Rondal or my House, but it is interesting.”
Lloyd continued to laugh lightly.
“I already told you all of that truthfully before, did I not? I don't intend to keep milking it.”
Lloyd stopped laughing, sank into thought for a moment, then spoke again.
“I do not trust you.”
Henrik did not answer.
He thought Lloyd would have more to say. And that prediction was exactly right.
“But I trust Rondal. Remember this. Whatever I do with you from now on, it will be because I trust Rondal, not because I trust you.”
His emaciated body was wrapped in oversized clothing, making for a ridiculous sight. Yet Lloyd's voice was keenly sharp, as though it could slice through the air.
For a moment, Henrik recalled what Lloyd would become after he grew up in the original story.
'Murderous Fiend Lloyd.'
After learning that the Henrik he had trusted was the mastermind, Lloyd became completely consumed by darkness.
“That works out well. I trust my father, too. Since we trust the same person, does that mean we have established common ground?”
Henrik held out his hand to offer a handshake to Lloyd.
“Get that away from me.”
“You are playing hard to get.”
'Lloyd… He must think his life up to now has been unhappy.'
But he would not know that it did not end there. The real thing was only beginning now.
He still did not know how cruel his fate would be.
Henrik recalled the ending of the novel.
The final chapter of Lloyd's life, riddled with misfortune.
The bastard's final choice: to use the Forbidden Skill by sacrificing his own life for revenge.
“Then tell me. Who attacked my House? Do you know what damn reason they had for doing it?”
Was it finally time to introduce Nightmare?
“I will tell you, but I have a condition.”
“What is it?”
Looking down at Lloyd's toothpick-like legs, Henrik spoke.
“Do you like running?”