An Uninvited Guest

Just as they had when they saw Reed off,

the two of them accompanied Duncan a long way.

He would follow the main road north, where a merchant caravan bound for the Imperial Capital, Eisberg, was waiting for him at the outpost.

Duncan had arranged a ride with them the day before.

After all, they only had to take one extra passenger, and in return they would have a powerful mage to protect them on the road.

No merchant in his right mind would turn down a deal like that.

After all, the going rates for hiring mercenaries and adventurers

were still high, especially with the remnants of the Demon King's Army growing increasingly rampant and incidents on the trade routes becoming more frequent.

If they had to hire someone else to escort the caravan, it would cost them a considerable sum.

Galan and Lia watched him climb into the carriage. Then, with a sharp crack of the whip, they watched the back of the carriage recede into the distance.

Only when he had disappeared completely at the end of the road did they turn and head home.

"Haa—"

Lia raised a small hand to her mouth and breathed out deeply.

Wisps of mist rose into the air at once.

At the rate the weather was changing, it might snow here before long.

This was only Galan's first year in this world.

Strange as it sounded,

he still felt an inexplicable sense of pride.

Even here, I'm living a good life.

For most people, spending a lifetime in peace and stability was already a wonderful thing.

That was true anywhere, in any era.

The same went for Galan.

For him, being able to live peacefully in this world,

occasionally seeing something new and enjoying life,

was already enough to be thankful for.

What was more, he was no longer alone in his life...

"We're leaving tomorrow too," Galan said.

Galan and Lia strolled along the road, chatting on and off.

Since Lia was a head shorter than him,

it felt to him as though he were taking his own child home after school.

"Huh? Where are we going?"

"To the Royal Capital in the south, with Frieren."

"South again..."

She murmured, once again focusing on something Galan couldn't understand.

Come to think of it, shouldn't she normally have been more interested in the second part, about Frieren...?

"Frieren's an elf too, just like you, Lia."

"She'll be your magic teacher from here on out."

"Hmm—"

Lia paused.

"Is she the elf mage from the Hero Party that defeated the Demon King?"

"Oh, you know her?"

Galan had imagined

that Lia must have lived in seclusion deep in the forest all these years, with little contact with the outside world.

Just like Frieren had back then.

He hadn't expected her to know anything about what was happening outside.

Still, he had underestimated how quickly news traveled in this world.

Besides, defeating the Demon King was a major event worthy of the history books.

It wasn't strange that she knew about it...

"Hmm—I heard about that decades ago."

Seeing the look of reminiscence appear on Lia's face,

he finally remembered that she had experienced and learned no less than he had over the years.

Compared to her, a native of this world with a long life span,

he was the outsider whose soul had transmigrated here, and he knew very little about this world.

Much of his knowledge and information was still limited to what was in the manga.

It was rather ridiculous, when he thought about it.

"Frieren's a very skilled mage. She might even be stricter than Duncan."

He recalled watching Frieren teach Fern before. She had been very strict.

"I'll do my best."

Lia raised a clenched fist after hearing that, as though making a vow.

Her cheeks puffed out.

"I won't disgrace Duncan!"

The two stopped less than a hundred meters from the cottage.

"Yo, Galan."

In Lia's eyes,

the Dwarf standing in their way seemed quite familiar with Galan, so she thought nothing more of it.

She simply assumed he was an old friend who had come to see him.

But after a brief flash of surprise, Galan's eyes filled with wariness.

He spread his left hand and pushed Lia behind him.

He crouched slightly,

placing his right hand on the hilt of the Alchemy Longsword hidden beneath his coat.

The aura Oris gave off now was completely different from the one he had in the shop.

If the Oris Galan had met earlier was a craftsman with somewhat well-developed muscles,

then the man before him now was a smiling Asura with a faint murderous aura,

a top warrior who had trained his body to its absolute limit.

He didn't remember telling Oris where he lived.

Glenn was the only person in Rogley who knew his address.

But despite his injured leg, Glenn had insisted on going to instruct the knights stationed in a nearby village in swordsmanship and wasn't even in town.

That left only one possibility: Oris had followed him all the way to his home.

And Galan hadn't even noticed him.

Whatever the reason,

this wasn't the sort of thing a guest would do.

Besides, the faint murderous aura coming from Oris suggested he was no harmless visitor.

He didn't understand

why Oris had set his sights on him.

Galan turned it over in his mind, but in the end, only one answer remained.

The answer he least wanted to hear.

"I don't understand... why you've come to find me..."

"No, I think you know perfectly well."

Oris smiled.

He drew the longsword from the scabbard on his back.

Its pitch-black blade glimmered with an uncanny, dark light in the air.

"That is—"

Memories surged through his mind like a tide.

Just like that day,

the moment Galan had regained consciousness after arriving here.

A blade, a sword.

A warrior in the shadows.

This was the situation he had always tried his hardest to avoid.

The situation he least wanted to see.

Have I been exposed...?

"Why are you here?"

Now that Oris had shown his hand, there was no need for Galan to keep beating around the bush.

"Aren't you all supposed to remain within the Empire? How did you end up here?"

"Not all of us. Just me."

Oris shook his head.

Galan breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

That meant the others might not know about his existence yet.

There was still a chance.

"I was originally ordered to come here and keep watch for Lady Frieren, who might pass through the area."

"Frieren? You've even put her on your list of targets?"

"Why? She's contributed no less to the Empire than you have, hasn't she?"

Oris seemed to hesitate for a moment at Galan's question.

But then his expression changed to one of puzzlement.

The look he gave Galan was also somewhat intriguing.

"You don't sound much like a Shadow Warrior."

"...How strange. Aren't we only supposed to follow orders?"

"If someone could tell me why, I'd be more than happy to hear it."