CH 47

「 This might not be a good time.」

As Marius entered the dimly lit office of Lord Revenant with his usual light gait, he suddenly said only one thing.

「 Oh, no. What’s happened?」

Marius asks, tilting her head so that her body bends lightly to the side, but her eyes glow red, and the pressure of her gaze, which is unthinkable from her joking gesture, makes Lord Revenant shrink slightly.

「 About the two adventurers who came the other day, I have a feeling that my territory is being probed…….」

「 Hmm, you’re not going to kill them?」

Lord Revenant gave a small shake of his head and said, unconsciously but with strength in his hands.

「 I have no proof of this, but it seems that in addition to his abilities, he is also connected to a powerful nobleman behind the scenes, so we can’t just attack him. 」

「 Okay, that’s tricky indeed.」

Lord Revenant raised an eyebrow at Marius, who shrugged her shoulders and sounded inarticulate, as if she didn’t think it was 『 Troublesome 』 at all.

However, she brought her fist to her chin and slowly began to walk around the room, mumbling in a volume that others could not hear.

Lord Revenant felt some relief when he saw her habit of doing this whenever she was deep in thought, but what she said next was not what he wanted.

「 Two more months, maybe three. Just hang in there for that long, and then everything will be ready.」

「 Na, that’s…… A little too long 」

She had never asked him to do anything without specific instructions before, so Lord Revenant, with one arm on the desk, muttered with cold sweat on his neck.

Marius looked pensively at the candles on the wall, then spoke.

「 You’re good at laying low, aren’t you? You’ve got most of the cards, now all that’s left is the decisive one, the one that will neutralize that damned Order, the best trump card you’ve played in five years. 」

「…… sigh, let’s do our best then 」

（ There’s nothing to fear from adventurers, and although I’m still worried, I can buy myself some time by turning them away. It’s just a small amount of time compared to the…… three months we’ve been hiding out for. It’s a good idea to take a look at the actual information on the surroundings and also the information network we’ve made. ）

With that thought in mind, Lord Revenant nodded firmly.

◇――――――

It’s a day out with Luttie today, and I’m glad we have a set schedule from the beginning, so I can dress up and wear whatever I want.

Today’s outfit was a short-sleeved cat-eared hoodie, slacks, and cargo pants from the adventurer’s guild, and I liked the pants look a lot.

And the pendant that I asked a jeweler to put the purple magic stone in a silver frame, perfect.

A week ago, about ten days in this world, the day after returning from the dungeon with Letty and her friends, I asked Helvetia how to use the magic stone, but it seems that the uses of the magic stone is too diverse, and she just sidelined, saying, 『 You just need to keep it with you 』.

In the meantime, she told me that by doing so, it can absorb my magic power and further increase my physical abilities, so I guess that’s the best way for me to use it. I heard that there’s also a way to insert it into weapons and armor to increase their performance, but I don’t use weapons or armor.

However, I who can’t 『 Release Magic Outside 』 am pretty sure that there’s not much I could do anyway even if I did have a lot of magic power inside me, so it was better for me to just let it absorb some of my flowing magic power……

And then, when I asked Helvetia about it, she replied that there was no problem at all, and in fact I had the impression that my body should become lighter, so I guess I was fine.

「 Toto-dono, thank you for waiting! 」

「 Nn, then let’s go 」

Now then, the reason why I have a day out is nominally to report on my activities once a month, since I’m often away from home for a few days on a request.

I thought that she didn’t need to go out of her way to check on me since we were spending time in the same house, but she clearly told me that I should separate my time from my work, so I was satisfied with the activity report time.

But it wasn’t so much work as it was just the two of us wandering around the city, eating dinner, and chatting about what we were doing while I was on assignment.

Every 《 Eating Out Day 》, Luttie wears a cute outfit and it’s not like we’ve been doing activity reports for a long time, it’s something that Luttie suddenly came up with about 6 months ago, so to be honest, I don’t think it has much of a role as an 『 activity report 』.

Maybe they just came up with a new and more efficient way to do it.

I went into town and looked around the shopping district, not really wanting anything in particular, just window shopping.

If you come to the store once a month to look at small items and crafts, you can enjoy the new items that are often on display.

I rarely buy groceries and daily necessities because I’m satisfied just looking at them, but if I were the type to buy them, my room would have been turned into mess and a disaster zone.

When I looked to the side, I saw a palm-sized piece of work, 《 Something like a dog with eyes that pop out and a big mouth that opens. 》 which made me wonder if it was a wolf, a dog, or if it was even an animal in the first place.

「 Toto-dono, if you’re interested in something……」

The motifs were so mysterious that I was staring at them, wondering what the mysterious artist was thinking when he created them, when Luttie came up to me, met my gaze, and froze as well after following it.

「 What do you think this is?」

「 A dog……isn’t it 」

「 Oh, if it isn’t Luttie-chan, that’s called a Bakubaku 」

As we both tilted our heads, the lady who was watching over the store walked over and told us.

I wondered if she was an acquaintance of Luttie’s, but Luttie is a member of the Knights, and I there was a good chance that the people in town would know her.

「 A Bakubaku is it? 」

「 I mean, it looks like a monster, right? It’s called a Bakubaku because it would normally scare you 」

I wonder if it’s a creature in a position like a messenger of some kind of god or something.

「 Ah, but it’s something I designed and made it on my own, so there’s no real effect to it. 」

There are no…… mysterious creatures with eyeballs popping out like this in mythology.

As I slump my shoulders and Luttie giggles, the lady suddenly asks Luttie-chan what was with my reaction. 

「 More importantly, are you going on a date today looking so beautiful like that? 」

At these words, Luttie backed away at a tremendous speed and waved her hand, blushing.

「 No, no, that’s not it, it’s just, you know, work, yes, work!」

I think I’m rather insensitive when it comes to love, and I wasn’t interested in it at all in my previous life, but when she reacts like that, I suspect that she has feelings for me.

Well, if that’s not the case, I’ll be a bit too self-conscious, but I’ll still end up doing anything about it.

However, if they have romantic feelings for me, I can’t help but wonder why I tend to attract such people around me, like Letty and her friends.

When I think about it, in my previous life and in this life combined, my first kiss was with Rikka-chan, and I was a girl. Could it be that I am also classified as 《 Someone like that 》, someone who is a friend to others?

I wonder how she is doing right now though, and she got angry at me for being a liar when I left, I wonder if she has forgotten about me already…….

「 Umm, well, sorry for interrupting!」

As I was thinking about those things, Luttie saluted to the lady in dismay and walked out of the store with her left and right hands and feet in synch, and I rushed after her.

After that, Luttie walked restlessly ahead of me until we reached the restaurant district, and I had to chase after her with a smile on my face.