As soon as we finished our showers, we wiped ourselves down with the towels we'd been given beforehand and put on the clothes we'd been drying in the heating spell scroll.

　As expected, we didn't dry up to our jackets, but it's not something we'll need right now, so we'll start with the rest of our clothes.

'...... Huh?　Your shirt isn't dry. Normally, I'd be long gone by now. ......
I'm sorry. I don't know if it's because I put my clothes in the wrong place at the wrong time.
That's pretty much it. All right, I'll let it dry out some more.

　Sitting on the edge of the bed provided in the room, he drapes his shirt over the back of a chair he brings nearby so that the heat of the spell scrolls spread out on the seat will hit him well.

　If you do this, you'll be dry by the time the effects of the scroll wear off.

　The close proximity to the source of the heat makes the chill of the upper body lessened to a reasonable degree.

　Garnett sat down next to me as I took a breath.

What are your plans for the future?　You're going to take care of him until the garrison is finished?
They are all higher ranked adventurers than me. They can set up a camp without any problems, without having to meddle in every single detail.

　I noticed that my golden hair was still watery, so I picked up the towel Garnett had been using and wrinkled it to wipe away the water droplets.

　Perhaps because we are completely alone, Garnett is completely caught off guard, and her cheeks are puckered up.

　It's not something that those who don't know what's going on can show you, but when you say that, this situation itself is.

''For now, the only thing I have to do in relation to the garrison involvement is to introduce the person in charge of the party to the town administrator and council. Roy is a fine A-ranked person, so he should be able to handle the rest without a hitch.
Well, you're pretty good for a young guy.
I'm usually older than you, you know?
I know what I'm talking about. If I were a knight, that would be like me being the XO.　Only thing I know is that you raised him.

　It's not that I didn't raise Roy, but since it's not like I was pissed off to correct him, I decided to let it slide.

　The only thing I did was to pick up Roy as a boy, who had abandoned his home town and had fallen by the wayside, and introduce him to the Adventurer's Guild, which gave him food, clothing and shelter for the time being.

　It's not like we had a party for long, and the fact that he was improving in rank at an eye-popping rate was completely due to his ability.

It's a little late for that, though. It's a good idea to have a good relationship with the best people in the world, but to put your trust in the request of a brave Falcons-like bastard, isn't that too stubborn?
'It's really a new topic for you now: ...... That's too nostalgic, that's for sure.'

　The topic of conversation went from the explanation of tomorrow's activities to the past more than a year ago.

　I was dismayed by the lack of context, but I thought back to my nostalgic past.

...... Well, I was definitely being stubborn," he said. The appreciation and respect that Roy directed at me was both a burden and a pain for me at the time. It wasn't worth the height of an E rank by any stretch of the imagination.
Complicated.
Totally.

　I fully affirm the frank and short impressions Garnett let slip out in even shorter words than that.

'I continued to be stubborn and put my faith in those guys' spills, and I jumped at the big job that I was able to meet the requirements for recruitment, and you know the rest. It was also a really hard decision at the time to call up all my high-ranking contacts for the safety of Green Hollow.

　But before long, the psychological barrier that I felt between me and those guys faded away, and now I was able to treat them without any sense of inferiority.

　I'm sure it's because the success of the white wolf shop, the success of the weapon shop, and the improvement of the social status of knights and new knights, the inferiority complex is dissolved.

　It's quite a cash cow, even for me.

Hmmm... ......
What's wrong with ......?

　It's a good thing that you're able to get a good idea of what you're looking for.

It's a good thing that you're a good friend of mine.

　He was praised straight away, and I couldn't help but caggle and avert my gaze.

　-- which caused me to miss the change in Garnett's expression immediately afterwards.

I can't do it. When we finally get to the point where we can do what we want, we probably won't be able to worry about bothering others.

　Garnett's voice sounded like a mixture of self-mocking laughter.

　That's not true. In my case, it's only because it's a personal obsession that I have to discard it in many situations.

　You wish to avenge your relatives and take down a criminal organization that harms society.

　This is something that should take precedence over my wishes.

　But - just as I was about to tell you this in words, there was a light knock on the door of the room.

　From the strength of the knocking, it does not seem to be a matter of urgent business .......

"Hmm, I'll get it.

　Garnett stopped me as I tried to get up and headed towards the door to answer the visitor.

　In front of the door was Ezell, a brave man in plain clothes.

''What, Ezell, eh?''
"Well ......, well ...... I came to ...... to talk about a place I want to go with you when I'm done with everything I have to do. ......

　Ezell stared at Garnett first, checking the dampness from the shower in his shirt with his jacket off, and then threw a glance in my direction as he sat on the edge of the bed.

　A few times after that, I thought his eyes darted right and left between me and Garnett, and then his cheeks flushed as he looked at me, as if he knew what was going on.

'...... I'm sorry to bother you - ...... take your time - ......'
Hey, come on.

　As Ezell casually tries to walk away, Garnett grabs her by the scruff of the neck and holds her back.

'Oh?　Where do you think you're going?
No, no, no, no, no, I don't have that kind of hobby to share with you - ......!
"Don't be stupid!

　Oh, and when he's making a lot of noise without reservation, it seems that there's no one other than Ezell on the other side of the door at all.

　Otherwise, neither of them would have said anything that would imply their true gender.

　As I looked at the two of them tussling with a friend-like uncomfortable feeling, I could only chuckle.