30 – Naming (2)
Erin was heading somewhere outside the Heavens Gate. The direction seemed to be the same as Allen took yesterday when he got lost on his way to the banquet hall.
As Erin approached, familiar faces began to appear. Among them, a handsome man with a gentle smile noticed Erin and spoke.
“Erin, did you sleep well last night?”
Orlando, the warrior of the Holy Flag, was the one Erin sought. His expression seemed completely clueless as to why Erin had come. Suppressing a hollow laugh at his feigned appearance, Erin approached him.
If she had taken it seriously or had deep thoughts about it, she would not have hidden that either. To make Orlando move according to Erin’s intentions, there was no need to be too serious or push him too hard.
She pretended to laugh despairingly, as usual, and spoke to him.
“Sir Orlando?”
“Yes, Erin.”
“Did you have any business with our party members yesterday?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, was it nothing like that?”
Erin chuckled lightly.
“We received someone from our party yesterday, so I thought it must have been something you ordered, Sir Orlando~♡”
“…I sent someone?”
“Hmm~?”
Erin looked at Orando with a puzzled expression, then deliberately smirked slightly and spoke.
“Yes, of course I thought it was Sir Orando who sent them~ Wasn’t it?”
“Why did you think it was me…”
“Well, you know~”
Erin glanced behind Orando, towards Kael who had just come out of the room.
“I heard that one of the party members of Sir Orando came to see me?”
Orlando immediately grasped where Erin’s gaze was focused. Although Kael had indeed come to look for him, he didn’t seem particularly surprised.
Instead, Ka-ae, who had just come out of the room, felt a little embarrassed by the glances towards her.
“…Is that so?”
Orlando was calm. He smiled slightly and said to Erin.
“I haven’t heard of it myself, so I have nothing to say. Erin, may I tell you something once?”
“Well….”
Erin laughed lightly.
“That’s right. That’s why managing party members is the role of the party leader~ It’s also necessary for the party leader to take responsibility for party members’ mistakes♡.”
“…That’s right.”
“Then I’ll trust you and wait~?”
Erin left the place feeling satisfied, as if everything had been resolved. At first glance, it seemed like a less-than-ideal choice to leave everything to Orando’s internal workings.
However, that was a story fitting for someone who didn’t know Orando. Clearly, Orando had warned Kael.
“Don’t do anything unnecessary.”
“I won’t tolerate anything that harms the party.”
“If you want to do something, at least do it without anyone knowing. It means ensuring that the party doesn’t get involved.”
But Kael couldn’t keep any of those promises.
“Kael.”
“Just a moment, Orando. I didn’t do anything yesterday. It’s true that I went to see someone, but I came back without doing anything.”
“Didn’t I clearly tell you not to do anything unnecessary?”
Orlando saw Kael. And Kael, shocked, shrugged and looked down. That arrogant Kael spoke.
Orlando stepped closer. Taller and bigger, Orlando was an exceptional warrior in all aspects. His intimidating presence as he looked down brought great pressure.
“Don’t come out of the room for a while, Kael.”
“What…?”
Orlando said.
“This is not a warning, it’s an order.”
“…Fine, I understand.”
Kael obediently went back into the room. While Kael seemed like a fool to others, he couldn’t even move in front of Orlando.
Orlando narrowed his eyes.
Yesterday, Erwin stumblingly returned late, and the fact that Kael went to find Erin’s party members… Orlando had been suffering from a throbbing headache.
“It’s hard, Orlando.”
“…Barg.”
Whether he had been observing their appearance or not, Barg comforted Orlando, saying he understood his stress.
“Both of them are still inexperienced, so it’s natural. They’ll get better soon on their own.”
Barg and Orlando were early members among the party, while Kael and Erwin joined later. Originally, there were other party members, but they died and were replaced by these two.
“So, I was relatively lacking in abilities. Not in combat ability, but rather in the ability to grasp who the other person is.”
Orlando spoke with a slight frown.
“…There’s nothing good about getting involved with that person.”
“I agree.”
Barg suddenly remembered the small warrior who had been chatting happily with Orlando earlier.
“There’s nothing good about being marked by that monster.”
“Dugo gave a name and headed back, where the party members were gathered in the garden. Letizia, Pray, and Ser-Aria were there.”
“Erin isn’t here?”
“…Erin seemed to have gone somewhere earlier.”
“Oh?”
“…Yeah.”
Dugo… No, it’s Clara’s words, so we can trust them. He may not be as strong as Erin, the warrior, but he is excellent at reading people’s gestures.
Clara and I approached them naturally.
“What are you doing here?”
“Oh, Allen!”
Ser-Aria greeted us warmly and immediately took out a bottle of alcohol, chugging it down.
“That damn alcohol seems like he drank himself to oblivion yesterday, I’ve never seen him let go of the bottle.”
“Did you guys go somewhere together like thieves?”
“…Name, Allen gave it to me.”
“What?” Clara said.
“…Clara. Allen gave it to me.”
It seemed like I was emphasizing that I named her. Is that important…?
The three briefly glanced at me when they heard that I named her and then smiled mischievously as they told Clara.
“Clara, do you like that name?”
“…Yes.”
“hahahahaha, isn’t it nice? It was a bit inconvenient not having a name to call you, but Allen did a good job!”
“It’s a beautiful name.”
It seemed like a reasonably good sense of naming. Everyone’s reaction wasn’t bad.
“Everyone was here?”
At that moment, a tone and voice that seemed familiar even just by hearing it rang out.
“Erin.”
Of course, it was Erin.
“The story went well?”
“Yeah~.”
Story?
I wondered if it was a story about Cadie coming to my room yesterday.
“Letitia must have talked about it.”
From Noble mtl dot com
I hadn’t even told the story yet, but she took care of it on her own, so I was grateful. Can I relax and sleep well now?
“Oh, Erin. I got a name from a thief!”
“Allen gave it to me.”
“Hmm~?”
Erin chuckled mischievously.
“Did you come up with such a tacky name with your poor naming sense? Isn’t it totally lame?”
“…No, I didn’t.”
When I denied it, Clara nodded as if agreeing with me. Then Erin tilted her head and asked jokingly,
“What did you name her?”
“…Clara.”
“Clara… Hm, it’s not bad, right?”
Erin approached Clara and said,
“Your eyes always shine brightly, so it suits you well~♡”
“…Thank you.”
Erin unexpectedly spoke to Clara in a gentle manner. Upon hearing that she suited him well, Clara smiled bashfully and liked it.
…If you can talk like that, shouldn’t you also talk to me nicely?
As I looked at her with a little pouting, Erin looked back at me in the same way and said,
“If you felt that way about her…”
“…Huh?”
“Why are you asking like a fool~? You’re just talking about the reason why you gave her that name, you silly~♡”
No, the nuance was a little different just now.
Instead of simply explaining the reason, it was a voice that seemed to contain some other emotion. It didn’t seem like a mere misunderstanding…
However, Erin, as if implying that my perception was just a simple mistake, sold me out and said.
“By the way, it’s kind of creepy how you give the girl a name yourself and laugh like that~♡”
“When have I ever laughed like that?”
“Fuhehehe♡”
Erin laughed despairingly and changed the subject of the conversation.
“I’m leaving at 6 pm tonight.”
…Looks like she’s going to disappear like a mirage.
“You’re leaving early?”
“I don’t think there
“Are you going back to the empire?”
“Yeah.”
Oh?
If the events of “Dungeon Inferno” were followed, they had to go to a different place after this event, not the empire. They had to go to the Bastian Kingdom, which bordered the northern border of the Estelle Kingdom.
To be precise, they went to Isenstelle, the capital city of the kingdom. It’s because something will happen in the kingdom as soon as the event in the Estelle Kingdom ends.
If it’s an appropriate matter, the kingdom itself can handle it, but it was said that serious matters arise when the player party goes there, who are naturally warriors.
And that matter is…
“Erin Warrior! Erin Warrior!!”
A person quickly ran over from the other side.
“Why are you in such a hurry?”
“I have urgent news to deliver…! I apologize for calling out your name without permission… My name is Eric, the Chief Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
So, he wasn’t just an ordinary person, but a government official.
“Oh no, it’s not about me. What is this urgent news you need to deliver?”
“If it’s alright, could you please head towards the Bastian Kingdom?”
So, the destination was changed like this. I didn’t know because the story text was handed to me roughly.
“Why there?”
“Well… A rare occurrence has happened right in the heart of the kingdom’s capital.”
This is exactly the matter I was talking about.
“It seems that an ignorant and reckless young dragon is responsible for such an incident. Saying that it liked this land.”
It was a young and spirited dragon that turned the capital of a kingdom into ruins. It was a situation no different from saying, “I came into someone else’s house and I like it here, so I’ll make it my own.”
“Well~ but we can’t move as we please either, can we? We need permission from the imperial military leadership…”
“That probably won’t be a problem.”
Advisor Eric explained to her.
“This is an official request for assistance sent by the Bastian Kingdom to Erin, the hero. Sending such a formal request most likely means that negotiations with the Deren Empire have already concluded.”
“…What about Orland’s party, the heroes?”
“We haven’t received a request for assistance. They probably thought that our kingdom would be too busy with its own affairs.”
“Hmm.”
Erin looked back at us and asked,
“What should we do? Should we take a break or go help?”
“We might need some help. After all, Bastian Kingdom doesn’t even have its own party of warriors.”
“Of course we should help!”
Sera-Aria declared that we should definitely help and took a sip of her drink.
“There’s no way a young warrior who hasn’t even tasted alcohol can handle this! hahahahaha!”
It seemed that saying there was no warrior party didn’t mean there were no warriors in the kingdom. I wonder how young they are that they haven’t even formed a warrior party yet.
“So, what are your thoughts?”
“Me?”
“You’re the commander~?”
Looks like they’re going to keep pushing that…
Naturally, it was better for me to go that way. A young dragon’s lair. There was something to gain in the process of subjugating that place.
“If everyone’s in good condition, it’s better to help than to ignore it.”
“I didn’t get hurt in the last battle, so I’m fine”
“If we just leave it, many people will get hurt. We need to go help as soon as possible.”
“…Yes, let’s go.”
I was relieved that everyone’s opinions were unanimous. I looked at Erin and asked.
“That’s true.”
“Alright, then let’s go~.”
“Thank you, everyone! I will send the official document right away!”
Secretary Eric hurriedly ran back as if giving a stiff greeting. It’s really true that government officials are busy when you see something like that…
“How naive~♡”
“…Why?”
“Don’t cry because the dragon is scary~♡”
“I won’t cry…”
Why would I cry?
I couldn’t believe it. There was really no reason to cry when seeing a dragon. On the contrary…
“I might laugh out of joy.”
There were things to be made from the materials obtained from Dragon’s Lair. They were not necessary equipment for characters with good performance, but they were essential items for someone like me with mediocre stats.
“…Mediocre?”
I unintentionally called myself mediocre. It seems like my brain is being contaminated because of this Mesakki girl.
“Well then, shall we not delay and depart?”
“That sounds good.”
“Now that we have money, let’s take a comfortable carriage ride!”
I agreed with Ser-Aria’s suggestion.
“That sounds nice.”
That damn rickety carriage is now annoying me.