One day.
　I wasn't doing anything in particular, but it was when I was walking around town.

''Hmm.......what's that?''

　I found Eileen in town.
　Eileen is the girl I met the other day with the Centaur King.

"But something seems to be going down, don't you think?

　Irene's shoulders slumped and she walked with a lack of energy.
　Her gait was wobbly and she almost hit a passerby in places.

You're not going to be able to get away with it. It's unusual for an energetic Irene.
Oh, Mr. Kurt...

　I call out to Eileen and she looks up as if she's only just realized.

　It's funny.
　Even in the midst of a crowd, if she had looked up, she would have noticed.
　I'm not sure if they have some sort of concern that prevents them from seeing me.

You don't have to call me 'sir'. You don't have to use the 's' word, it's just an itchy thing to do.
'Well ... uh, yeah, I guess so. I'll just call you Kurt.

　Eileen seems to have lost her mind.
　More and more I'm curious.

So... what's going on? What's wrong with you?
Heh, I guess Kurt can see through that. But it's just me. I don't think I can do anything about it if I tell Kurt.
Um....

　What is Eileen telling you?

'You can't help it?　You think there's something I can't do?
What?
Don't mind me, just talk to him. It's just a relief to talk about it.

　And when he said, 'Kurt can't help it,' it flipped a weird switch in me.

　When I said that, Irene began to speak in a hushed tone.

You know the reward money from the previous Centaur King," she said. I've decided to share it with Asil and the others. I wasn't the only one, so...
'I suppose Eileen could keep it all to herself, though. Those men were just a liability to me.
It doesn't work that way, either.
Well that's good. So I see you're in some kind of trouble.
'Ha, Kurt sees everything. Yeah, he does.

　A self-mocking laugh escaped Irene's mouth.

'The rest of the money I shared with Asil and the others. That alone would have been a lot of money for me. But last night, they took it away from me.
What?
"Even when we're splitting up, I'm like, 'What are you talking about?　We weren't the ones who fought the bravest! And I got in a bit of trouble with that. But I thought you gave up on me...

　Eileen said.
　Yesterday, while she was sleeping in her room at the inn, Asil and his friends snuck in at night.
　The place is where Irene is also an adventurer. I've heard that he noticed Asil and his friends without any concealment magic and immediately fought back.
　However, no matter how hard it was for Irene to deal with the three men, they were robbed without resistance....

''Isn't this the perfect theft?
Yes.
'Why don't you tell the Vigilante?　I hear the vigilantes in King's Landing are excellent.
Nope.

　Irene shook her head.

''Asil and the others were pretty strong adventurers who came from other cities, too. You can't win with the vigilantes. There is an alternative to asking the guild to put you on the wanted list, but haha, I'm tired of it. I'm going to consider this a high price to pay for this, so I'm giving up. If it wasn't for Kurt, I wouldn't have been able to get that money either.

　Although she said that, there was no supremacy in Irene's voice.

　It was probably Irene's fault that Asil and the others had stolen the money.
　If this was a thousand years ago, not only would they have stolen the money, but Irene would have been killed to keep her mouth shut.
　If you think about it, Asil and the others are still naive. I must think that Irene is also a profiteer just because she has a life.

　However.

'That's disgusting. It can't be helped.

　I took Irene's hand and walked out with her.

'Let's go,'
What? Where is it?

　It was obvious.
　I continued to say to her, who couldn't grasp the situation.

"To set up a moxie,

　The same as in the past.

　He probed with his detection magic.
　Asil and the others were on the carriage, just as they were about to flee from the royal capital.

''Hahaha!　That sweetie is a piece of shit!
'Yeah, yeah, I didn't expect you to hire an escort with that kind of ability!
That's enough to keep me from working for a while!

　Asil and the others are about to get into the carriage while giggling and laughing.

　They were not originally adventurers in the royal capital.
　They're planning to leave here and live comfortably for a while.
　But.


''You look like you're having a lot of fun.


　Not even I would allow that to happen.
　That's what I said to the three of us who were about to leave at any moment.

"Te Te Te Te Te Te........!

　Asil is astonished when he looks at me.

''You are so proud of yourself for being cruelly beaten by the Centaur King. Have you healed your wounds already? I'm sure you've heard the old saying, 'The bad guys are only as good as their life force'.
f*ck off!
Hey! You'll take on all of you!
With three of them, I should be able to take down at least one child!

　When I gave them a little provocation, Asil and the others drew their swords and attacked them all at once.

　I didn't realize that they still don't understand the difference in actual strength.
　It seems that there's no saving grace.
　I could have given them a light twist at this point, but that would have been a bit of a trick.

"Nightmare.

　I muttered to myself and activated my hallucination magic.

　Then the three people who had seemed so important until now suddenly stopped moving and began to scurry around and move their faces.

''Whoa!''
'What do you mean?　Why is the Centaur King showing up in the streets!
And one... five... ten of them?

　Then they scream and go into a state of panic.
　Now they are having a "dream" in which they are surrounded by centaur kings.
　It's a nightmare that won't be easy to wake up from, though.

You may reflect on it there.

　Since Asil and the others were making a lot of noise, the people who were around them also paid attention to them.

What are those people?　They're making a lot of noise over nothing.
What do you mean, there's a demon out there?
'Haha, you're an idiot. There's no such thing anywhere.

　Everyone laughed or scorned Asil and the others who acted like clowns.

''Ten Centaur Kings, if you defeat them all, you might wake up from your nightmare. Good luck with that.

　He let go of Asil and the others who were fighting in the dream and went to the carriage.
　There, I found the money that I would have taken from Irene.

　I took it back and left in front of Asil and the others.

　◆ ◆

There was a time when ...

　I want the money back for Eileen.
　I was telling her what happened with Asil and the others.

"Thank you so much!　But Asil-san and the others....
''Yeah, probably at that rate, I won't have time to be in the adventurer's business anymore. You won't be punished for that much moxibustion.
Uh-huh.

　Although she replied that, Irene's expression didn't come to life.

　Is she worried about Asil and the others?
　No, at this rate.........

''What's the matter, Irene? Have you lost your confidence?

　When I asked a question, Irene got a huff on her face.

''........I knew Kurt could see everything. That's right. You can't even defeat a good demon, and at the end of the day, you're betrayed by Asil-san and the others. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it as an adventurer from now on.
"Mm.

　I popped my hand on Irene's head, which was in a slump.

'Sometimes I lose confidence like that. But the way I see it, Irene's still going to grow with polish.
But, but...
At times like that it's one thing to forget your day job and enjoy the entertainment.

　Then I took the and-are-ticket out of my pocket and handed it to Irene.

'What's this?'
A voucher for a crepe. I'm a student of the Rosanlila Magical Academy. I'm setting up a stall at the school festival.
'Yeah, yeah, yeah!　Kurt was a student!　I thought you were an adventurer?
'Come to think of it, I haven't told you yet,'

　I told her where the festival was taking place, and briefly told her about the "first" class.
　Then Irene's face lit up with a smile.

'Yeah!　I'll definitely be there!　I love sweets!

　I said out loud happily.

　It's going to be quite a lively cultural festival.