Water Magician

Capital Aberdeen. Adventurer’s Guild.

“Welcome. How may I assist you?”

Ryo showed up at a vacant reception booth.

“Excuse me, I’m an adventurer from the Kingdom of Knightley …”

While saying that, Ryo passed his guild card to the receptionist.

“Good day, Ryo, D-rank adventurer from the Kingdom of Knightley. How may I assist you?”

“Actually, I’m looking for an escort request from a caravan heading to the Kingdom.”

“I see. Certainly, there are some … but all of them require C-rank or higher … I’m sorry.”

“I knew it …”

And that was as Ryo expected.

To be exact, it was as Sue expected.

Ryo was depressed.

(Is there no choice but to borrow money from Ra-san … I was careless … there’s no other way …)

It was against his belief, but Ryo thought that it would be better than inconveniencing other people, so he should just put up with it.

Then, a person called out from behind.

“A D-rank at that young age, you should be quite skillful? Would you like to accept an escort request to the Royal Capital of the Kingdom of Knightley?”

Ryo was surprised. He turned around and there was a man in his mid-thirties who looked the definition of an adventurer.

“Cohn-san?”

The receptionist showed an inquisitive look. The man’s name was Cohn.

“Yeah, it’s that request. His stature is almost perfect. To be honest, I thought it wouldn’t be possible anymore, but this must be a god’s guidance or something like that.”

“Hmm …?”

Ryo was completely lost.

It sounded like a strange request or a suspicious employer?

When he thought so, the receptionist told him in a small voice.

“This request itself is formally through the Adventurer’s Guild. Moreover, both the Duke and the Guildmaster have notified the receptionists to cooperate as much as possible. Cohn-san here is assigned to assemble the adventurers to be hired as escorts.”

After Ryo heard her explanation, he looked toward Cohn.

Cohn probably heard what she explained.

Yeah, yeah, he nodded many times.

And he added further.

“However, although it is an escort request, it is a request 『to be escorted』.”

“…… Huh?”

In the end, Ryo still couldn’t understand the request.

He told Ryo that he would tell him the details while on the move so they were now in a carriage.

The Switchback party bade him farewell from there …

He thought Ryo was perfect, but it wasn’t definite until the client approved.

Therefore, he wanted Ryo to meet the client immediately.

After all, the departure was tomorrow morning, so today was the only time to do so.

As such, Ryo was traveling in a carriage with Cohn.

“In other words, you want me to travel to the Royal Capital together as the body double of a VIP.”

“Well, that’s right. It comes with meals and you just have to stay in a carriage and not walk. When we get to the Royal Capital, you’ll get 500,000 Florin as a reward. How is it, isn’t it a great request?”

It was certainly a wonderful request … but he was sure many other people would like to accept such a tantalizing request …

“First of all, you would have to be indistinguishable from the VIP, at least from a distance. And all the so-called adventurers are all well-built and brawny …”

“Oh, true, I’m pretty slim as an adventurer.”

“That’s right. Oh, no, I’m not trying to be insulting. You appear to be a Magician? Magicians often look like that and appearance and ability are completely different matters.”

When Ryo nodded, he hurriedly denied it so Cohn didn’t seem to be a bad person.

During such a conversation, the carriage arrived in front of a particularly large gate.

“Here?”

“It’s the Castle. The client is staying here. So? Isn’t it a decent request?”

The Castle was the residence of the Duke who governed the Inbury Duchy.

A person staying there would be related to some royal family or a high-ranking aristocrat.

The carriage entered the castle without being inspected much.

After passing through several gates, they got off the carriage in a corner next to the Duke’s official residence and guest houses.

“The client is on the second floor of that guesthouse.”

Then Cohn took the lead and started walking.

Ryo followed after him.

But before entering the building, Ryo encountered a surprising person.

“Eh, Ryo-san?”

“Ah, hello Gecko-san.”

He met Gecko who he had just completed a request form and parted ways.

“Why is Ryo-san here?”

“On a request to return to the Kingdom …”

“You’re going home already? You could enjoy the Duchy a little more.”

“I’m sorry, I have various circumstances as well.”

(Mainly financial issues.)

Ryo cried in his heart as he talked to Gecko.

Ryo, who parted with Gecko, entered the guesthouse with Cohn.

“Ryo knows Gecko-dono?”

Cohn asked about what happened just now with interest.

“Yes. I just arrived at this city from the city of Rune, the Kingdom, under Gecko’s caravan escort request.”

When Ryo said so, Cohn nodded many times.

My eyes weren’t wrong … that was how he looked like.

The two went upstairs and arrived in front of the innermost room.

“It’s Cohn.”

Cohn knocked on the door.

“Please enter.”

A voice was heard from inside and the two entered the room.

It was a suite with two rooms, and the first room had a table for hosting.

On modern Earth, it was like a suite in a luxury hotel.

There were two men, a boy about 16 years old sitting in a chair and a man well over 60 years old, who was sitting diagonally behind the boy and had the feeling of an 『elderly butler』.

The boy about 16 years old was probably who Cohn referred to as the VIP.

True, although he was not delicate, he was slim and had a similar atmosphere to Ryo.

Gentle, soft facial features, chestnut hair, and dark gray eyes that were very close to black.

He would definitely arouse the desire of many older women to protect him.

“Your Highness Willy, Rodrigo-dono, I’ve found the perfect man for your request. This is Ryo, a D-rank adventurer from the Kingdom of Knightley. He was just looking for a request in the guild to travel to the Kingdom. Furthermore, it was a passing conversation, but he knows the major merchant of this country, Gecko-dono, through being his escort. In that sense, he is a reliable person. Also, I gave a brief explanation about the request.”

“I’m Ryo.”

Ryo bowed.

“Hm.”

With just one word, the 『elderly butler』, probably Rodrigo-dono, looked at Ryo from top to bottom and nodded.

“He’s perfect. To be honest, I had given up halfway because we were leaving tomorrow. Ryo, this is His Royal Highness Willy, the prince of the Kingdom of Ju. This time, he will be studying abroad in the Kingdom of Knightley and is heading to the Royal Capital for that purpose. Our request is to hire you as one of the escorts. Do you accept?”

“Oka ……”

“Wait, Rodrigo.”

After receiving Rodrigo’s explanation, when Ryo tried to accept the request, His Royal Highness Willy interjected.

“That explanation is insufficient. You should explain the dangers of this request properly.”

“But Your Highness …”

Rodrigo frowned and looked at Cohn.

Cohn was also frowning. There seemed to be something wrong.

“If they don’t wish to explain, I’ll do it. Ryo-dono. This request is, frankly, extremely dangerous. In fact, Ryo is not the first to be hired as my body double. When I left the country, the Adventurer’s Guild recruited an adventurer who looked like me, but we were attacked by bandits and the adventurer was abducted …  and found dead a few days later …”

His Highness Willy appeared truly regretfully.

He felt that he caused the death of one person because they acted as his body double.

“At his sacrifice, we managed to get some distance and reach the Capital Aberdeen … but there is no guarantee that we won’t be attacked again, so this request is dangerous.”

“I see……”

Ryo nodded when he heard His Highness Willy’s explanation.

Neither Cohn nor Rodrigo lied in their explanation.

But they just didn’t tell him the most difficult part.

They thought that if they told him that, Ryo, the right person they finally found, wouldn’t accept the request.

It was a terrible story, but it was also a common story.

That was why they wanted to get the prince’s body double in front of them no matter what.

“I have one question …”

Ryo decided to ask a question.

“Yes, ask me anything.”

His Highness Willy nodded and urged Ryo to ask his question.

“Your Highness said that you are heading to the Royal Capital to study abroad … If it is such a dangerous journey, why not abandon the idea of studying abroad?”

Upon hearing Ryo’s question, His Highness Willy’s face had a pessimistic look for a moment.

“I can’t do that. On paper, I’m studying abroad, but I’m actually going to the Kingdom of Knightley as a hostage. If I don’t go, it’s going to be a very difficult situation for my country … I can’t abandon my journey just because it’s dangerous.”

Abducting the person sent as a hostage along the way.

(It’s like Ieyasu Tokugawa.)

That was the first thing Ryo thought when he heard the story.

Chiyo Takechi (later Ieyasu Tokugawa) was sent to the Imagawa clan as a hostage, but was abducted on the way and sent to the Oda clan in Owari. That was the story.

However, history worked in mysterious ways because he made friends with Oda Nobunaga in the Oda clan, who was still young, and that would later move the world.

At present, the purpose of those who were attacking His Highness Willy was unknown, so it was natural to think that he may be attacked again.

But …

“Thank you for your explanation, Your Highness. I have to return to the Kingdom of Knightley by any means. It is a fact that there are not many cross-country escort requests for D-rank. I had the good fortune of encountering this request. I understand that it is dangerous, but I will accept this request.”

“Oh!”

When Ryo announced that he would accept the request, Rodrigo and Cohn cheered at the same time.

“I see. Then, Ryo, I will be in your care.”

His Highness Willy shook Ryo’s hand and smiled.

After returning to the guild, Ryo reported to Ra and his friends that he found a request.

However, it seemed that he would take a long time returning to the city of Rune from the Royal Capital, so he wanted them to tell that to Rune’s Adventurer’s Guild and send a letter to Sera in the Lord’s mansion.

Ra was surprised, but Sue received the letter beside him and promised to deliver the letter personally.

At that time, it was impressive that Sue was nodding seriously.

Ryo didn’t know the reason, but … perhaps they might have misunderstood something.

Thus, the request to escort His Highness Willy to the Royal Capital began.

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