“We hermits have no interest in worldly riches or fame. Those we happily give to Your Majesty and Mister Milon.”
I showed him a smile. The merchant would get the money, and the king would get the fame. Good. It had to be this way. My only job here was to try and correct the course of history in this world distorted by the hero, as much as I could.
“Sir Eiji... Master Hermit!”
Jumping off of the couch, King Reinhart fell to his knees.
What’s happening? Where is this going?
As I stood there, dumbfounded...
“We thought that your intentions were to destroy this country! That the strange ailment was caused by the wrath of the Hermits!”
He shouted out his confession.
What? You thought I was some angry Daimajin or something?
“We planned to summon you to my castle to kill you!”
Yeah, I know. Because you already did.
“But you didn’t answer my call. Nor did the Hermit Beans help my soldiers. I thought that I had enraged the Hermits.”
“Your Majesty. Please stand up. An intention is not a crime.”
I stood from my seat and helped King Reinhart to his feet. Anyone could have a passing thought of wanting to kill someone in a moment of anger. I’m sure that many fantasize about how to do it when they do. But as long as that thought isn’t acted on, it isn’t a crime.
“And there’s no need to apologize for something that hasn’t happened.”
“Sir Eiji...”
“So, please, save them. They are your people.”
I gave him another smile to break the tension. He was trying his best... to be the best ruler he could be. That’s why he couldn’t keep me, who could threaten the king’s power and the entire nation, alive. That’s all it came down to.
“I have bestowed you with the wisdom of the Hermits. You must put in the work from here.”
With that, I looked upon the people of this land. It was time to leave. Even though King Reinhart seemed moved now, he would soon loathe my existence. That’s how the cookie crumbles. Sharing hardships comes easy for humans, but sharing fame or wealth? Not so much. We are envious creatures by nature.
“Tia and I will be on our way out of the country soon.”
This was something I had discussed with Tiamat before. If we were to save the world, we couldn’t remain in the Kingdom of Azur forever.
“Sir Eiji?!” Mister Milon squealed.
Right. I hadn’t told him anything.
“Sorry, Milon. We can’t stay in one place for too long. I wish we could.”
Tiamat came in for the rescue. That’s my partner, all right. Her excuse was bogus though.
“But it’s our mistake to surprise you with this on such short notice. Not exactly as a token of apology, but we will leave you with one more piece of wisdom.”
And so, Tiamat began explaining how to make bran pickles. Smooth. Since she had kept that information until now, we wouldn’t have to taste-test the pickles. Good job.
According to her explanation, it would take about twenty days to build the setup required and another twenty for the vegetables to pickle. We were off the hook.
“Of course, we’re not leaving tomorrow or anything. We do have to pack for the journey,” I said, concealing my internal smirk of sly victory.
All joking aside though, no good would have come from us staying in Lishua any longer. If we wanted to succeed as a ruler or merchant, we would have been much better off with a set base of operations, but we were neither. I just figured it would take us a few days to prepare all of our equipment and supplies for the journey. Naturally we would need some money in our pockets, too. No one can travel with an empty wallet.
“Now, now. Don’t you think the government of Azur and Milon’s business would help us with that?”
Tiamat cackled, as she always did.
Time flew by, and the morning of our departure arrived. As Tiamat had said, the government, Mister Milon, and even the Adventurers’ Guild gladly contributed. They gave us warm clothes, sling packs, and even a donkey to carry our things. I was beginning to feel bad at how much they had gifted us.
While their support was heartfelt, thankfully so were their goodbyes. The prime example, by the way, was Syfer. He insisted on following us, demanding to know why we were abandoning him, and even started saying nonsense like he’ll fix whatever it was about him that we didn’t like. In the end, he was bawling.
Tiamat and I had a hard time choosing our expressions at this. I did feel grateful for his offer and couldn’t brush him off, knowing that he admired us this much. A part of me didn’t want to leave either.
Still, Syfer was an adventurer based in Lishua. He had family here. He had to protect his younger brothers and sisters with his own hands and feed them meals he put on the table. We could not allow him to accompany us. Besides, there was much work to do and many responsibilities that fell to those left behind.
The project to save Azur from beriberi had only just begun. With the variety of new products, Mister Milon’s business would rapidly expand. In the process he could very well clash heads with the royal government. While Mister Milon himself was a kind man, others may wish him harm.
“So, Syfer. I want you to protect Mister Milon and Miss Millia.”
“...I will, Sir Eiji. With my life.”
With that, the young A-rank adventurers of Syfer’s party agreed to guard Mister Milon’s business. From now on, the business and the Adventurers’ Guild would fight the outbreak of beriberi hand in hand. Alongside the Azur government too, of course. My job here, for the time being, had concluded.
“Are you ready?”
After a rather violent bang at the door, a large man entered... Who was he? He was about thirty centimeters taller than me, and his muscles were built like armor. His skin was tanned dark, and his long hair was a spectacular silver. My impression was that he was a seasoned warrior. But, for real, who was he?
“It’s me, dude. Baze.”
“Huh?!”
The Fenrir of Azur Hallow? Wait. This was no time for a mafia game. Mister Baze, as I recalled, didn’t exactly look like a human.
“Transformation magic. He’s rather conspicuous in his Fenrir form. I taught him the spell over the past few days.”
“It transformed his diction too...”
I thought Baze had a rather archaic tone to how he spoke, like a male version of Tiamat.
“It did not. You simply hear him differently because your impression of him has changed.”
Okay. I was pretty easily convinced. While the difference may have been more subtle in, say, English, the variety of speech patterns in Japanese made the transformation more jarring to me.
“Is Hieronymus also...?”
“Indeed. Incredibly perceptive as ever, Lord Eiji.”
A handsome gentleman popped his head out from behind the hunk of muscle. He wore a cool cavalier hat and a stylish cape with a rapier strapped to his belt. Under his slit black eyes he even had a fancy mustache. He looked annoyingly good.
“Perceptive... I just saw it coming...”
I gave my partner a look.
“Hm. There’s no sense in I alone retaining my form. I will also transform.”
With a poof, Tiamat’s appearance changed. Not into that of my fiancée as I remembered her to be on Earth, but into a beautiful young woman with silver hair and blue eyes, and with a glamorous body as well. She would have fit right in with Hollywood actresses.
Why did she choose that form? Why couldn’t she have looked Japanese? It seemed really off-kilter for me to be the only one looking like the average Japanese person.
“Lost in my eyes?”
“I’m lost for words.”
I was already exhausted, early in the morning. With a large sigh, I extended my right hand.
“Well, in any case... Bring it in.”
“Hm.”
“I got your back, bro.”
“I shall aid you with all of my might.”
Tiamat, Baze, and Hieronymus each put their hand on top of mine.