Reincarnated into a Game As the Hero’s Friend

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For the next few days, the capital seemed to have returned to normalcy on the surface but behind the scene, the clean-up after the demons’ infiltration event was still going on.

The kingdom’s officials had also been busy with their own work. There had been several events that happened in the capital. One of those events was new Marquis Knap, who had been holed up in his territory, finally visiting the palace. Both Count Zeavert, Ingo, and his heir, Welner, recently had also been busy going in and out of the palace.

On an ordinary afternoon, a guest visited the Zeavert mansion.

“Greetings. I am Rafed, an ore merchant. I have been doing business with Count Bachem and today I came here in the hope I will also be able to do business with Count Zeavert’s house in the future.”

“Thank you for taking your precious time to come here, Rafed-sama.”

Lily, who was the parlor maid, greeted the guest in the guest room. In a noble house, it was common for the person who was greeting the guest to change depending on who was the guest. A maid would greet a first-time guest while the butler would greet an important guest. This time though, Norbert, the mansion’s butler, was standing behind Lily. Norbert was here to evaluate Lily, not to greet the guest.

The man who introduced himself as Rafed had a rather slack appearance, but the lights in his eyes hinted at the fact that he was constantly assessing his surroundings. He then took letters from his pocket.

“These two are a token of an acquaintance from me. This is for the Count, while this one is for his heir.”

Lily received the letters and handed them to Norbert. Both letters were the inventory lists while the actual items brought by his subordinate were placed in the corner of the guest room. For security reasons, the items would not be brought further into the mansion until they were checked. That was the rule. 

Norbert then left the room with the inventory list in his hands in order to check the items. Seeing that Norbert had left, Rafed walked closer to Lily and whispered, “And I also have something else to tell you, Miss Lily. This is about your brother.”

“My brother?”

Lily’s face was painted with surprise.

“Yes. I have come across news that Mazell-dono has defeated a demon disguised as a lord in the neighboring country, Leslatga. Afterward, he and his party went to ruin in Poida Dessert and then they went missing,” Said Rafed, with a serious expression that was completely different from his earlier slack appearance.

“A ruin?”

“That is correct. I have some connections with Leslatga because of my trade relationship with Count Bachem. That was how I had come across this news.”

“I…I see…”

“You must be worried about him. If you like, I could tell you the details.”

As if wanting to press Lily, Rafed continued his words. With a nervous expression, Lily nodded.

“Will it be fine if I brought my parents along to hear about the details?”

“Of course, I do not mind.”

“However, unfortunately, my parents are currently outside of the mansion… They will return this evening at the earliest.”

Rafed pondered for a while before nodding.

“In that case, how about we meet in the back of the mansion when the evening bell rings? Of course, with your parents too. From there, we will then go together to a comfortable place for talking.”

“I…I understand. Then, I will leave the mansion from the backgate in the evening.”

“Please do. Also, although I understand that you might be worried since this is news concerning the disappearance of the hero, I think it will be better to keep it a secret for the time being.”

“I…I will do so.”

“I will see you later then.”

Once again returning to his slack appearance, Rafed left the mansion while being escorted by Lily and Norbert. When Lily returned to the mansion after escorting Rafed, she talked to Norbert and Norbert nodded.

“I understand. Then, be careful on your way.”

“Yes. Please contact them.”

After receiving permission from Norbert, Lily immediately went to the third floor with a magic lamp and mirror in her hands. She then entered her room which was located in the back, took out a note from her drawer, and began her preparation.

When the light of the dusk began to cover the capital, Rafed stopped his carriage and waited a little distance away from the Zeavert mansion with the coachman.

Seeing three figures coming out from the mansion’s backgate, Rafed chuckled inwardly. He and the three figures were wearing clothes usually worn by the citizens so they didn’t stand out.

“My apologies for keeping you waiting.”

“It is fine. Did you tell the Count about our meeting here?”

“I did not tell the Count directly but I did leave a message.”

“I see. I have prepared a comfortable place for talking so please get in.”

Lily opened the carriage’s door and hesitated after seeing a robust man sitting inside. 

“All of you are members of the hero’s family so I have prepared a guard. Please don’t be alarmed,” With a smile on his face, Rafed reassured Lily.

“I… I understand.”

“Speaking of which, what did you bring?”

“Ah, this is…”

Lily showed Rafed what she was holding. It was a perfume bottle made of ceramic. Since the glass was expensive, the perfume bottles used by nobles were sometimes made using ceramic. Of course, this kind of perfume bottle was still a luxury item.

“Welner-sama gave me this.”

“I see. It looks like it is quite important for you so hold it with care so it will not fall.”

“Of course.”

After such an exchange, the three obediently entered the carriage. Rafed then closed the carriage door and firmly bolted the lock from the outside. The carriage did not have any window so no one could tell who was inside and the passengers could also not tell who was outside. After confirming that the carriage was fine, Rafed sat beside the coachman and gave him a signal.

The carriage then started to run slowly.

After a little time passed, suddenly a man, who was walking staggeringly, walked to the middle of the road from the side. The coachman, who almost ran over the man, yelled, “What are you doing!? It’s dangerous!”

“You ask what I was doing? I drank, of course!”

Seeing the man, who was seemingly drunk, nonchalantly sit down in front of the carriage, the coachman yelled again.

“Do you know that this is the carriage of Count Bachem!?”

“Hu..uh?”

The man acted as if he didn’t hear anything, then, several other men hurriedly approached and they picked up the drunk man.

“Sorry! Looks like this guy drank a tad bit too much!”

“We’re really sorry!”

“Shut up and just get out of the way!”

In response to the coachman’s words, they stepped aside carrying the drunk man with them. The carriage then swiftly took off as if the people inside were in a hurry to go somewhere important. With a low voice, so the coachman did not hear him, one of the men that was carrying the drunk man laughed sarcastically.

“Hah. A high and mighty Count’s carriage he said.”

“We confirmed the message. Let’s go.”

“Roger.”

After exchanging that conversation, they, including the drunk man, walked in the direction of the palace as if nothing had happened.

On the other hand, even though a minor incident happened, both Rafed and the coachman judged that they should still follow the plan. As the coachman led the carriage to circle around the capital, the night fell and they arrived in the warehouse district where there were no people nearby.

Rafed made a preparation to light the magic lamp and the coachman took out a Skywalk.

Just like that, the group along with the carriage disappeared from the capital.

After recovering from a somewhat dizzy sensation, Rafed and the coachman laughed as they turned on the lamp and checked their surroundings. The coachman shook his head and started to speak.

“The problem now is the fact that the gate is closed at night.”

“No need to worry. We have made some preparations so we can leave from a side entrance though we can’t bring the carriage with us. Losing a carriage or two is not a problem.”

Still, they were currently outside of the town walls so they never knew when the demons would attack them. As the light of the lamp swayed, more than 10 figures wearing hooded cloaks appeared from the forest. They took out their weapons and surrounded the carriage.

Rafed and the coachman got off the carriage and smiled at the group.

“Everything went well. Well then, esteemed family of the hero, if you obediently come out of the carriage, we won’t harm you.”

As if in response to Rafed’s words, the carriage shook. Hearing a thud, Rafed smiled and tried to approach the carriage in order to unbolt the door but then…

Clank

One of the people who surrounded Rafed threw a ceramic bottle toward the carriage and as it came into contact with the ground, it broke. With an annoyed look, Rafed turned toward the people that surrounded him.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, I was just being careful you know.”

Hearing an unfamiliar voice, Rafed unintentionally raised his voice.

“W…who are you!?”

“You should introduce yourself first before asking for someone else’s name… is what I want to say but anyway…”

Although his tone was relaxed, the unknown man held his spear and gave a small fearless smile. The coachman who recognized the unknown man’s face gasped in surprise.

“My name is Welner von Zeavert. Well then, how about you return Lily now?”

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