The next morning we left the Argentia family's villa and walked through King's Landing, taking a different path than yesterday.

　I wasn't dressed much differently from my usual adventurer days, and Garnett wasn't dressed in his usual boyish way either.

　Breaking with Abigail's strong recommendation, we were both dressed in matching clothes sent to us by the Sun Dial Trading Company, and we were pacing along, watching for the reactions of those around us.

　In reality, no one may be paying attention to us, but it's human nature to be aware of it even when you know it's so.

'If you're too nervous, you'll stand out.
I'm not nervous at all. Where are you pointing me?

　Garnett struggled to control his expression under the hat.

　Is he trying to tighten his loose cheeks, or is he trying to unravel his tight, stiff face?

　Either way, this wasn't going to get me anywhere, so I decided to take a aimless walk around for a while.

　We exchange casual conversation and try to get used to walking together in matching outfits.

　I was mostly confused about Garnett's unusual attire, so I seemed to be able to get used to it rather quickly, but Garnett's seemed to take a while to get used to it.

　The situation was different from when I borrowed Abigail's clothes the day before yesterday.

　Those were daringly modestly made work clothes, and they didn't even have the same design of clothing as me.

　No, in fact, on the contrary, the experience of the day before yesterday may be the reason why today is only this much.

'Is it time to settle down?'

　As we walked along the canal path, I asked again how Garnett was doing.

'What are you talking about? I'm very calm from the start. I'm not surprised that people don't suspect me, even though I'm so conspicuous. The day before yesterday, this kind of strange attire seems to be very effective.

　Garnett laughed, tugging at the edge of his hat to hide his face from his surroundings, while he unceremoniously lifted the edges of his mouth and laughed.

　That would be it. That's before we were suspicious.
　We're no differently dressed now, no matter who ...... we are, we're no differently dressed than all the other male and female companions out there in a circle from the day before yesterday.

I'm glad to see you're getting used to it. I'm sure you'll be able to get a little more of that.
'What?　Just like that: ......
Here's the thing.

As we walked forward to each other, I grabbed Garnett's hand, who didn't seem to understand me very well.

　In the next moment, Garnett jumps back to the side with the momentum of a startled cat, shakes off his hand and turns his bright red face to me.

　The people around me look at me, too agile in their movements, wondering what's going on.

''Nah, you, you ......!
I figured I'd do something like that, but why not?
"No, no, no, no, I'm sorry, but ...... at least tell me before you do it, because I'd be surprised if you didn't: ......

　Garnett rubs the hand in his grip and swims his gaze with a glaring look as he blushes.

　It's so new that I can't help but feel my cheeks loosen up.

　As you can see from the fact that I've tried to guess the subtleties of the romance between Nagi and Melissa before, it shouldn't be that I have no knowledge of romantic relationships at all.

　However, apparently, the knowledge is there and the intuition works if it's someone else's problem, but when it comes to his own affairs, he doesn't know what to do about it.

　Maybe it's because she was active in the Silver Wing Knights, a male dominated group, hiding her gender, or maybe it's because of her origins as the daughter of a knight commander, a daughter of a knight commander, who could be called a daughter, or maybe it's just a purely innate personality.

　Either way, it's nice to receive this kind of clumsy favor.

''Then let's start over. Garnett, will you hold my hand?
"...... You shamelessly start off by saying ...... oh, shit. Okay, I lose. But please, will you just go easy on me?　Unlike you, you're a complete beginner.
I'll do my best.

　The hand I held out to him is clasped back in a reserved manner.

　We walked down the canal path without conversation, realizing once again how small and thin the hand was.

　Garnett didn't try to say a word as he blatantly looked away, but he didn't seem to dislike the fact that we were holding hands.

　Rather, rather than disliking it, he even chased after my hand and squeezed it back tightly by himself when he was about to accidentally let go of my hand for some reason.

　I was walking along the canal for a while, and before I knew it, I was near the walls that surround the royal city.

''It's amazing ...... I've never seen such a big sluice gate before.

　The large scale building in front of me makes me exclaim in amazement.

　The canal pulled in from the great river adjacent to the royal capital flows into the city in the form of a sluice gate built into the city wall.

　The sight of cargo ships of all sizes passing under the highly engineered gates is truly a sight to behold.

...... and. Sorry, now is not the time.

　I was inadvertently distracted by the canal and the sluice, which would not be a desirable topic of conversation when walking around with the opposite s*x.

　Garnett, however, was looking up at me with an oddly amused look on his face.

　As if to say that he enjoyed looking at me.

'What's wrong ......?'
No. No?　I just thought that many of my knights also liked this kind of trickery.

　He lightly scratches his head with the hand that isn't connected to him.

　Maybe it's just a prejudice, but the percentage of guys who show interest in large machines may indeed be much higher for men than for women.

　It's just that simple, but when Garnett, who is usually coarse in speech and behavior - so-called masculine is the best way to describe him, always has a glimpse of his not-so-masculine side, it's the moment that makes his age worthwhile It's a mind-blowing experience without the

'Do you want to climb to the top?　There's a whole pile of them on guard, but the stairs take you to the top of the ramparts.
Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's go for it.

　I decided to take Garnett's invitation to climb the stairs along the city wall near the sluice gate.

　Guards were stationed at the entrance to the stairs and along the way, but apparently they were properly opened up as a tourist attraction, and I was able to pass through to the top with just a simple check.

...... Ah, d*mn. It's really hard to move your legs and stuff like that when you're in a crawl space.
Come on, we're almost there.

　With the help of Garnett, who was struggling with the long skirt she was not used to wearing, she reached the general open area above the city walls.

　-- the view from there was truly a spectacular sight, worthy of being called a spectacular view.