The carriage driven by Susana was running on the road towards the royal capital of the Hertford Kingdom, Fragun.

　I'm straddling Deedle next to that carriage and running alongside it.


　That idiot ...... what the hell is he doing!

　No matter how much he hates it, he wouldn't have done ...... anything to attack Giles.

　Alfine should have been mending any outward appearance against the nobleman, no matter what state he was in.

　So the fact that he was executed as an assassin of Jair is a misinformation that flowed from the tail end of a rumor.


　I was pondering about the rumors about Alfine while I was running over Deedle.


　In the first place, I don't know what it means that he was recuperating from an illness.

　I'm sure you're not the only one who's been sick.

　If that's the case, then it could be that she has lost her stress outlet in me and has gone out of shape.


　It's a good thing that you're not going to be able to tell me that you're rejected by me, because if you're not, you're going to say that you're going to go to train as a swordsman or something.

　It's that guy, and I'm sure he's going to tell everyone around him that for sure.

　I'm sure he'll blame me for everything that goes wrong in his mind.


　When I remember my life with Alfine, whose self-esteem was so badly damaged, even now my heart tightens and I feel nauseated.


　I should have fled from Alfine to escape that life, abandoned my position, my name, and my appearance, and even drifted to the frontier of Yuguhanotes.

　And now he's riding his horse to King's Landing to make sure that Alfine, the source of the problem, is still alive.

　I am aware that I am doing a strange thing.

　But the moment I saw the sign that said Alfine was executed, I felt a burst of emotion inside me that I didn't understand, and I was driven by the urge to find out if the contents of the sign were real or not.


''Master Flick, that's not the road to King's Landing.


　When Susana called out to me, I suddenly came to my senses and without realizing it, I was running along the fork in the road in the opposite direction from the capital.


I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Deedle, I'm sorry. It was that way.


　I pulled on Deedle's reins and hurriedly headed back towards the road to the royal capital.

　Deedul also seemed to sense that I was acting strangely, and was trying to glance up at me, twisting his head to look up at me.


'I know what you mean, Deedle. You've been in a daze lately: ...... me.


　Ever since I saw the sign that Alfine was executed in the city of Invahannes, I couldn't stop the days with Alfine that I thought I'd abandoned everything in King's Landing from leaking out of the back of my mind.

　I'm also disturbed by the fact that Alfinae has affected my life so much, and has swung me around with her selfishness and selfishness.

　Thanks to this, I had more time to be pensive like I was earlier.


''Ah, um, ...... Mr. Flick. If you're tired, it would be better ...... to rest in the carriage. Well, it looks like your face doesn't look too good either.


　As I approached the carriage, Noelia, who was worried about my condition, peeked out from inside to take a look.


　I guess Noelia thinks I've been acting strange since then, too.

　As a matter of fact, I'm so upset that I'm surprised myself, and I'm hoping that what was written on that sign is a lie.

　The reason I changed my destination to the royal capital was also because I wanted to confirm for myself whether the rumors about Alfine were true or not....


　I looked at Noelia, who was looking at me worriedly, and I felt my own heart tingling as I was aware of the favor she was giving me.


　I shouldn't let Noelia worry me any more.

　And this is my problem alone.


　I can't tell her that I'm the platinum-grade adventurer Fynn, who had an adventurer party with Swordsman Alfine before I came to Ygghanotes.


''That's okay. It's not a problem. Yeah, no problem.

...... I see. Can't I consult with Mr. Fricke at ......?　It sounds like you are suffering very, very badly and ......


　Every time I see my face reflected in her moist eyes, I feel the pain in my heart increase.

　My heart tingles helplessly at the sight of Noelia gently removing her gaze from me and turning over.


　It's awkward .......

　I can't look at Noelia's face properly because of the awkwardness of her concern about Alfine and the guilt of hiding my identity.

　Obviously she senses that I'm hiding something, too, and she's grabbing the hem of her own clothes and squirming and trying to say something.


　Every time I think of Noelia, even a little bit affectionately, my heart beats fast and furious, as my mind wanders back to the suffocating days with my former lover and swordsman, Alfine, who has become a sword saint.


　If I tell her that I love Noelia, she'll change again, like she did with Alfine, and she'll try to hold herself down.

　I'd like to think she wouldn't do that, but .......

　I want to think ...... but .......


　I felt Alfine's shadow, which I thought I'd shaken off, clenching and stirring my heart in a scattered way, and I couldn't help but feel frustrated that I couldn't be proactive in my relationship with Noelia.


'I'm sorry, Noelia. I'm sorry, Noelia, but I'll be in King's Landing to deal with all the cobwebs inside me. So ...... and then I'll--


　Noelia didn't wait for my answer, but jumped from the carriage onto Deidre's back and grabbed onto his back.


I know that Flick-sama has a lot of things that he can't say. ...... And I also understand that I can't support you. And I understand that I can't support you, so I will wait. I will always be there for Mr. Frick--


　What he said after that was inaudible to my ears.

　Whether Noelia said it or not, I'm not even sure of that.

　But the strength of Noelia's hand around my waist was so strong that I couldn't believe she was slender.

　But maybe it's anxiety, that hand is trembling a little bit.


　Noelia, I'll make sure it's settled.


　Feeling the warmth of Noelia's body heat from her back, I laid my own hand on her hand that was passed around my waist and silently ran my diddle.