In the afternoon, I continued my work as a gatekeeper.
　A number of merchants and travelers came to the gate.
　The merchant had a permit, and the traveler was carefully inspected, but he was not suspicious.

　Meanwhile, the sun was about to set.
　The bell rang, signaling the end of the day.

Good. Well, I guess we'd better get going.

　Mr. Lambda turned on his heel.
　I was about to follow her when...

"Whoa. No, no, no. Zeke needs to stay here. We can't leave the gate unattended during the night.
Aren't you supposed to switch with the night watchman?
We had to switch shifts today because we had to. So we're supposed to be the night watch.
What about you, Mr. Lambda?
I've got a few things I need to take care of.

　Mr. Lambda said.

"And you're a former B-rank adventurer, aren't you, Zeke?　You're a former B-rank adventurer.
It's not a good idea to abandon your shift without permission, is it?
Don't worry. They won't know. As long as Zeke doesn't tell anyone. Well, even if he does, there are plenty of ways to cover it up.

　As if to remind her.

"I'm telling you, don't slack off.　If we allow any demons or villains to enter the city, we'll lose our heads.
"Oh?

　Mr. Lambda said with a grin.



I'm sure you must be thinking this right now, Zeke.　"I bet you're thinking, 'This a**h*le boss is just going to force me to slack off on my own.

　Was he aware of that?

I'm sure you're thinking, "This is what a rookie is supposed to do, right?　When I was a rookie, I was even more unreasonable than Zeke.

　Is that why he's trying to make up for it now?

I'll be checking in on you periodically. If you're slacking off or taking a break, I'll give you a hard time about it.

　Mr. Lambda said with a grin, and left before me.
　I found out later that she was being paid to take over the shift of the night watchman.
　He was trying to force me to do the job from the start.

　--Does he think it's harassment to make me guard the gate all night?

　No way. .......

　That's just not possible.
　Because this is nothing to me.
　I have no problem with being told to stand still for a week, let alone a day.

　Now that I was alone, I went about my job as a gatekeeper as before. In fact, it was easier for me to be alone because I didn't have to worry about anything.

　The time went by without a hitch.
　On the way, Mr. Lambda came to check on me several times.

She said, "Maybe you've been slacking off.　You didn't rush to pretend to be working when I came, did you?
"No, sir. No problem.
I can see through all that. Don't let your guard down. I'm watching you.

　I'm not slacking off in the first place.
　He said he was watching me, but he never showed up after the date changed.
　There was no sign of him around.
　He's probably gone to bed.


　I guess he was relieved when I threatened him that I was watching.

　Soon, the morning sun began to rise on the ridge of the mountain visible from the gate.
　It was dazzling to my eyes after an all-nighter.

　Eventually, the city woke up, and I saw that people were beginning to work. After a while, I heard footsteps approaching from behind.

　Mr. Lambda called out to me with a grin.

"Zeke. Good morning.
Good morning, sir.
You're not taking advantage of my absence to slack off, are you?　--What the hell?　What the hell is this?
Oh. This was attacked by a demon yesterday. We took them out.
"How can one person ...... take on this many?

　Mr. Lambda gasped, but quickly regained his composure.

It's not good. If there's a demon attack, we need to inform the other guards. Isn't that the basic rule of working people?
What?
You can't be a good soldier just because you're a little bit good at it, if you neglect that part of your job.

　Mr. Lambda said.

"Well, let's get to work today. --I'll tell you what, I'm not going to let you off the hook after a night shift.

　After that, I followed her to work as I did yesterday.
　After that, I followed Mr. Lambda to work as I did yesterday, continuing my duties as a gatekeeper, guarding the city walls, and patrolling the streets.

"Hey, Zeke. You're looking pretty good. You've been working all night, haven't you?　Aren't you actually trying to cheer up when you feel like you're about to collapse?


No, no. I think I'll be okay for another week or so. That's how well I've been trained.
Oh, shit. ....... Cheeky. I was going to pack you up and break your heart when you were so tired you were neglecting your duties.

　Lambda-san's face muscles twitched, as if he was suffering from the fact that his harassment was not working.

This guy is a pain in the ass. ......

But at that time I didn't know it yet.
It was not me who was going to quit the guard, but the man who was trying to get me to quit.