The dining room, which had been bustling at one point, had calmed down a bit as the number of people in the room dwindled.

　A group of pilgrims, pilgrims, and parents and children with three people have gone back to their rooms, and now there are only nine of us - four of us and five of our escort adventurers - in the dining room.
　They seem to have finished eating, too, and are in the middle of a drinking binge.

(Thanks to that, the smell of alcohol is amazing.)

　The whole cafeteria is filled with it.

　I'm a little worried and look at Illtimina's profile.
　But the white beauty enjoying fruit juice doesn't seem to have any problems. Thank goodness, as expected, it seems that she won't be hit by the smell alone. Or, unlike the other day, is she in good physical condition?

　As she was thinking about this, she suddenly turned around.

(Hmm?)

　Next thing I know, Mr. Kilt, Solstice is looking behind me.

''--Excuse me, you're Kirto Amandes, the demon hunter from 'Moonlight Wind', right?

　Huh...?
　Suddenly, a voice calls out to me and I turn around.

　The one who was there was still a young man.
　His age is about 20 years old, same as Illtimina-san, I guess.　He has short black hair and tanned skin. His well-trained body had the air of a warrior even just standing there, and even from my male perspective, I could honestly think that he was 'cool'.
　Yeah, he was one of those escort adventurers, even though his equipment was off, but he was one of those escort adventurers.

　And next to him is another woman with golden hair.

(Ee, that's Mr. Elf!)

　My heart leaps with a thud.

　The royal road of the fantasy world, everyone's dream, Elf-san, was right in front of me.
　Her white skin is crystal clear and the lines of her body are thin. Her fragile atmosphere is more than a person, she is truly an elf. He looks about 20 years old, just like the young adventurer, but since he's an elf, I can't tell his real age.
　100 years old?　200 years old?　Maybe more...?
　Yes, it is truly a mystery.

　Mr. Kilt, who is named, looks back at the two men.

'What about you?'
'I am Clay Boring, a white marked adventurer belonging to the adventurer's guild 'Black Iron Fingers', and next to me is my fellow adventurer, Shakra.' --I heard that you and your companion are here this time, Kilt-san, and I came to say hello.

　Mr. Clay holds out his right hand with a carefree smile.

(He's like a child when he smiles.)

　It's a bit gaping and interesting.
　But the feeling of 'I'm happy to meet the person I admire' is very palpable.

　By the way, the Solstice next to me has a 'again' look on her face.
　Iltimina-san is also watching his actions as if it's a common occurrence or not unusual.

　Kilt-san held Clay-san's right hand.

'Hmm. Well, I'm sorry you had to go to all that trouble.
No. --It's very comforting to have you, the Golden Marker, with us on the road.

　Hearing this, Solstice interrupted, "Hey.

''We're just guests of the dragon car, okay?　When the time comes, it's you guys who have to fight for your customers, right?　Don't count on us.
'Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way, but...

　Mr. Krei, this is getting a little bumpy.
　I follow up.

'But you know, Mr. Kilt, you make me feel safe just by being around you.
Hmm, is that so?

　Mr. Kilt chuckles.
　Seeing my intentions, Solstice cowers her small shoulders and settles her contraption.

　Mr. Clay looks at me gratefully.

'Of course, when push comes to shove, we'll fight our own battles. But this time, I'm hearing some unpleasant information. The reason I called out to you this way was actually because I wanted to tell you about that too, just in case it happened.
...bad information?

　I ask him back, parroting back.
　He nods.

Are we talking about ogres?

　Mr. Kilt spoke up, winning the initiative.

　Mr. Clay and the others said, "Did you know about this? He looked surprised.

　No, Illtimina-san and Solstice were also surprised. Of course, I was too.

'What's that, a kilt!　We didn't hear that either, did we?
I'm sorry.

　She apologizes and looks at me.

'I heard a rumour about it in the Medis. But this is Marle's first trip on the Dragon Wheel. I wish he hadn't had to tell you until the last minute to keep you in the mood for fun.

　Oh, you mean for me?
　Iltimina nodded widely, 'I see,' she said.

'Then it can't be helped. We'll forgive you.
What?　Ilna, sister?

　Solstice, you look terrified.

"Solstice, what's the matter?
........... No, it's fine.

　A sigh of resignation.
　Then she blurts out, ".......you two are too overprotective," and glares at me with a sideways glance.

　Clay-san seemed to be confused by the four of us, but he started to speak as if he had regained his composure again.

'It's just as you said, Kilt. There was a sighting of an ogre on the road to the royal capital. But our own party has two white markers and three blue markers....
Hmm. You're not exactly a fighter.
'Yes, sir. I'm embarrassed to say that I can't say I'm a sure-fire winner.

　With a stern look on his face, he admits that he's not good enough.

(Are ogres really that strong?)

'Of course we'll do everything we can, and we won't let you guys get hurt. If that happens, we're going to hold ourselves back and let you all go ahead. ........But there's one more thing I have to tell you: there's also information about the wildebeest.
Hmm?　You don't know what it's like over there, do you?
''They say it's a twenty-man bandit. In the unlikely event that we fight the ogre and get attacked by twenty wildlings when we're exhausted, we're in a pretty tough spot.

　He looks grief-stricken.
　The female elf next to him - Ms. Shakra - puts her hand on Mr. Clay's back as if she were concerned.
　Clay-san noticed and gave a small smile.

(..........Mm?)

　Peen.
　They could be lovers.

　But I'm going to have to put that aside for now.

Well is the road to King's Landing always so dangerous?

　I utter an honest question.
　Illtimina-san shakes her beautiful hair softly and shakes her head, "No," she says.

''The roads near the royal capital are patrolled three times a month by the royal capital's garrison, and they are usually so peaceful that some travelers don't even hire an escort. This is a very rare case.
Really?
But when you have five guards in this case...

　Iltimina-san's gaze turns to Kilt-san.

''The Carriage Guild, you've been hit. Probably, it seems that when they found out about Demon Princess Kilt's existence, they narrowed down the number of guards.
What's with the straw?
It's your fault.

　I've assured you, Iltimina.

(I mean, if it happens, Mr. Kilt will take care of it, right?　(Or so the Carriage Guild thought.)

　That's why I didn't increase the number of guards, so I let them leave.
　In a way, Clay-san and the others also got a break because the target of the escort was the Gold Marked Demon Hunter Kirt Amandes.

''Carriage Guild, that's terrible.
'Well, there's a chance you won't get an ogre or a wildebeest. In fact, there's a 70 percent chance they won't.

　Soltis says.
　Mr. Clay tells us, with a genuine look on his face.

'But even if it's 30 percent, it's possible. That's what I wanted to tell you, Kilt-san.
Hmm, okay.
'Of course we'll do our best and we don't want to be wiped out,'

　Then he laughed.
　Mr. Kilt looked at him and eventually nodded widely.

'I get the story. I'll keep that in mind. --You just do the job you've been given, and do it well. The results are irrelevant. Beyond that, we don't want any more.
Yes, sir.
So that's the end of the hard part.

　Then she tipped the bottle of liquor into her own mug.
　She thrust it in front of Mr. Clay - and laughed like the sun.

'Drink. Next time we'll have a good talk, shall we?
"!　Yes!

　Clay's face lit up and he nodded widely.

　Solstice has a 'oh dear' look on her face.
　Iltimina-san also sighed and tipped her own glass of fruit juice.

　Beside her lover who was taking a gulp, Shakra-san was smiling a bit bitterly.

''Um........''

　I approached her.

'Can you shake my hand?　I've never met an elf before.

　Shakra, she looked a little surprised, but she immediately laughed and nodded at me. Yay!

　He grasps the white hand offered to him, a little nervously.

(Ho, thin...)

　And his hands were a bit cold.
　But they were slippery and comfortable.

　For the first time in my life, including my previous life, I touched Mr. Elf!　Yes, yes, I'm glad to be reincarnated in another world....

　My heart is filled with pride.

　Everyone laughed in a dumbfounded or hilarious way at the child being moved by the elf. Illtimina-san muttered something complicated, "........Marle likes elves, right?".

　Eventually, we joined Clay-san's friends and moved to an empty table.

'Today, Warawa will buy you a drink. You can feed your wits as long as you like!

　Fatty Quilt.
　The dining room, which had settled down, was buzzing again with cheers.

　I joined in the circle, and Clay and his friends told me about their many adventures.

　How I lost to a goblin on my first request and failed.
　I cried with joy when I succeeded in getting my revenge.
　How I got lost in the ruins.
　I got into a fight with my friends and broke up the party.
　That I met my current friends.　
　I've been to so many places and cities and seen so much of the world.

　I've had so many, many conversations with them.

(Adventurer...)

　It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on a new one.

　--It's a good idea to have a good time with them.