In the morning, I was waiting for Iris at the castle gate.
　She had overslept and rushed in just in time, but for some reason she was wearing the dragon bracelets on her finger.
　When I asked her why, she replied

''Riu, the dragon bracelets are equipped with the 《Auto Size Adjustment A+》, right?　In fact, don't you wonder how far the size changes?　You're curious, aren't you?　Yeah.... so I was experimenting. Yeah, an experiment, an experiment.

　Yes, experimentation is important.
　As a former gamer, I can really relate to that idea.
　When you get a new item, you'll want to try things out.

　Iris seems a little strange, but it's probably because she's been running as fast as she can because she was in a hurry to be late.
　Her face is red and she's breathing heavily.
　Iris removed the dragon bangle from her finger and, once again, put it back on her left wrist.
　It's really useful, 《Size Adjustment A+》, that it can be both ring size and bangle size, .......

　Oops.
　I came up with one good idea.
　I take out the "Black Dragon Shield" from the item box.
　This one has "Disguise S" attached to it, and its shape can be changed at will.
　How about using it as an arm band for everyday use and then changing it back to a shield when needed?

Let's go to ...... and see what we can do.

　As I reminded myself, the shield immediately changed its shape.
　The shield, which should have been a reasonable size, was now a small bracelet.
　I tried to make the design almost identical to the 'dragon bracelet'.
　The only difference is the presence or absence of rubies.

''Now we're matching Iris.

　You're going to be traveling together for a while, so it would be nice to increase the sense of solidarity with something uniform.
　I'm sure Iris would be happy to hear that they are ...... matching.



　* *



　Let's make sure we have a plan for the trip.

　Our destination this time is King's Landing, but if we try to go overland from Onen, there are many mountains in the way.
　Why don't we go to the port city first, and then take a boat to the King's Landing from there?

　I talked to Iris about it and she replied in favor.

'We'll be fine with that plan. It's not practical to keep going over the mountains. ...... Or rather, Ko is quite used to traveling, isn't he? A new adventurer can only think of land routes and not sea routes,

　Maybe it is because I am from modern Japan.
　School excursions and school trips in school, and even after I entered the workforce, I had to go on business trips and assignments.
　I've heard that people in the olden days often ended their lives without ever leaving the village or town where they were born, and compared to that, I may have experienced a tremendous amount of travel.

　There are regular horse-drawn carriage services from Onen to many places, and we board one of them.
　We didn't get attacked by any monsters or bandits, and eventually, as the sun was setting, the carriage arrived at the inn town of Thue.

　The inn town of Thue.
　Today we will spend one night here and tomorrow we will travel by carriage again.

　Milia had told us beforehand that "Whispering Star Pavilion" was recommended as a place to stay, so we decided to head there.
　It's a three-story brick building with an overall stylish atmosphere.
　Apparently it suited Iris's taste, and she seemed a bit happy about it.

'Ko, are you staying here tonight?'
Yeah. If you don't like it, let me know and I'll find someone else.
'No!　It's so good!　I mean, how could you possibly know such a wonderful place as ......?
I got it from someone I know.

　I replied and walked into the building.
　I asked the lady at the receptionist if there was a room, and she replied

Yes, we have a room for you. Would you two like to share a room?

　For some reason, Iris was confused by the lady's words.

'Uh, yeah, well, what do we do, ko?'
Separately, please.

　I answered immediately.
　As expected, it's not a good idea to share a room with a man and a woman.
　Besides, I wouldn't feel comfortable either.

　The landlady was giggling and tapping Iris on the shoulder for some reason.

　

　
　The inn was for breakfast only, and we had to find our own restaurant for the evening.
　According to the landlady, 'Silver Bull House' was the best, so we headed there.
　The signature dish is the "Toro Beef Toro Kakuni", and when we tried it for a test drive, it was really tender.
　The braised cubes melted on the tongue, letting the fat and flavor melt away. ......

　We left the Silver Bull Shop with great satisfaction, Iris and I.

''Oh, that was delicious!　Ko, what do we do now?
I guess we'll have to go back to the inn early tomorrow.
'Yes!　You'll be tired before you even realize it, and you'd better get to bed early.

　Iris seems to be in a very good mood and is humming "~♪" as she walks next to me.
　She hasn't been drinking, but she's probably drunk and jolly with the air of the trip.

　Soon we were on the big street.

　...... We were almost to the lodge when we heard something that sounded like a rant.

　What was going on?
　I was curious and turned my attention to it.
　The trouble was happening on the other side of the main street.
　Two middle-aged men in robes were tangling with a silver-haired girl while looking drunk.

''Hee hee, you're a magician too, aren't you, young lady?　Let's have a long talk, sorcerers, until morning, shall we? At the inn.
You're not going to say no to me, are you?　We're both great magicians.　If you disobey, you'll know ...... right?

　The men smiled fondly at Nimanima and turned their lustful gazes to the girl.
　People on the road were just passing by fast, watching from a distance, perhaps not wanting to get caught up.

　With no help from anyone, the silver-haired girl could do nothing but cringe and be confused.
　The girl was probably around 14 or 15 years old.
　She looks quite young.

　...... I can't leave her alone.

　If I go back to the inn without looking, I'm sure I won't be able to sleep at night because I'll be worried about what happened to the girl.
　For the sake of my restful sleep, I'm going to have to intervene here.
　I don't want to pretend to be on the side of justice, but it's my duty as a member of society to protect my children from bad males.

'Iris, I'm going to go for a minute.'
...... Yeah, I know you're that kind of guy, Ko. I know. What can I do?
'Call the city guard. The trick to this kind of trouble is to use the public authorities to your advantage.



　* *



　I cross the street and head towards the girl.
　The girl seems to have noticed me too and gives me a probing look.

　--Can you help me?

　That's the look he wanted to give me.
　I nodded strongly.

　We haven't spoken a word at all, but it seems that's how we've been able to communicate.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

"Ta, please help me!
What's going on?
Oh, they just kept bugging me about ...... and I was scared to death of them.

　The girl hides behind me and begins to buzz and shake as she grabs the hem of her suit, as if she was really scared.
　I turn my attention to the guys and they turn red and yell at me.

'What the hell are you!　We're sorcerers!　Well, don't let an ordinary person who can't even use magic get in the way!
Yeah, yeah, give me the boy!　Oh, come on!　No, you're going to do something nasty!

　You're the ones who are going to do the nasty things.
　...... I'm tempted to tweak a lot of things, but I don't dare say anything.

　It's not a good idea to be able to communicate properly with a drunkard.
　It's a waste of time to talk.
　Eventually, Iris will bring the guards, and I'll just be the girl's shield until then.
　As long as the sorcerer doesn't make a move on me, I'm going to end this peacefully.

　Yes, I was going to end it peacefully.

'Wha, I'm hey!　[Fire Magic] I'm the guy who raised his skills to rank 8!

　One of the sorcerers held out one hand towards us.
　In a somewhat louder and more suspicious voice, he chanted an incantation.

''My magic power, gather in my hands and burn and pierce the enemy, Fire Arrow!

　Then, with a small sound of a pop, a fire arrow appeared and flew towards me.
　I immediately returned the 'Black Dragon Shield' to its original form.
That's because if I left the "Disguise S" activated, the "Magic Reflex S+" wouldn't activate.

''Hahahaha!　How can magic be prevented by a shield?!

　The sorcerer lets out a condescending laugh.

　Now, how about that?
　As Fire Arrow hit the shield, it flipped 180 degrees and headed towards the sorcerer.

''Uh-oh!

　Fire Arrow turns the hair on the sorcerer's head to ashes and then disappears into the sky.
　It seems that this was an unexpected situation for the sorcerer, and he sits back and falls on his ass on the spot.

''Hiiiiiiiiiiii!　Fire, fire, fire!　Fire is good!

　He apparently panicked, holding his head and screaming around, and eventually passed out.
　The other man was staring at us with an angry expression on his face, but his eyes were unfocused and he was losing his judgment due to the alcohol.
　His eyes were unfocused, though, as if the booze had impaired his judgment.

You dare to defy us?　I'll blow you away with my dark magic!　-Darkness of the abyss, annihilate my enemy without a trace of ashes!　Dark Burst!

　Should I take this one back with my shield?
　No, there's more appropriate equipment for dark magic.

　I select the Diabolos Armor from the item box.
　The jet black armor quickly wrapped around my body.
The Dark Lord S+ activates and I become the highest-ranking dark magic user in this moment.

　I extend my right hand.
　The dark magic that the man was going to use for the Dark Burst, I take away its control.
　Unleash.

　A flash of dark color bursts out and the man is blown away.

'Whoa!

　For what it's worth, I've gone easy on the power.
　It would only take some bruising.




　Soon after, Iris brought the guards to me.
　I only had to do a light questioning.
　The silver-haired girl, the victim, had told me a lot of things.

　It seems that the two men are being escorted to the sorcerer's association in the capital, where they are being held in prison.
　I've heard that using offensive magic in the city is a major sin and will be severely punished by sorcerer's law.