We left the Adventurer's Guild and arrived at the marketplace in Invahannes, where we found a row of stalls full of people and goods, even though it was out in the middle of nowhere.

　In a city with a warmer, more humid climate than Juggernauts, we saw fruits, vegetables and animal meat that we had never seen before.


'There's a lot more people here than I thought there would be,'


　The market had just coincided with lunchtime and the rush of people coming to eat lunch at the stalls that served food.


'Yes. The alleyways aren't too narrow, but ....... With the number of people here, I think we're going to deviate. Susana has asked me for some condiments and ingredients, and if it's okay with you, Flick-sama, I'd be grateful if you could accompany me to buy some of my clothes. You see, this robe is made from yugha knots, and it's a bit hot here, so I thought I'd change it at this time.


　Come to think of it, you looked pretty hot when you came back, and you were wearing light clothes.

　Anyway, Susana said I should be home by nightfall today, so I guess I can at least go out with her to buy some clothes.

　Well, I'm going to look over some clothes anyway.

　Even though I'm washing them, I don't want them to smell like sweat.


The first thing you need to do is to buy some clothes, because it's not a good idea to get out of the crowd. I guess we'll have to start shopping for food first.


　I didn't want to get lost in the crowd, so I was holding out my hand to Noelia.

　She looked at my proffered hand and blushed a little embarrassed.


　I wondered if she thought I was treating her like a child or something: ...... holding her hand.

　I think this is the best way to avoid getting separated.


'I'm sorry, that sounds childish and embarrassing.


　When I mumbled that, Noelia, whose face turned red, buzzed and shook her head vigorously and squeezed my hand back.


''That's not true. Please.''


　For some reason, I was both happy and embarrassed at the same time when Noelia squeezed my hand back.


'I see. Then let's get on with it.


　I pulled Noelia's hand away and walked into the alleyway, which was filled with people.



　The alleyway was more crowded than it looked, and the short Noelia walked in a protective manner, holding her hand tightly so that she wouldn't get lost in the wave of people and become invisible.


'What were the ingredients and condiments you asked for?'

Let's see, you want dried meat for storage, dried vegetables and dried fruit. For spices, they want salt and pepper, nutmeg, garlic and ginger. There seems to be only a small village we're heading to now, so I thought we'd better replenish our supplies here.

It's supposed to last a long time. I was just curious, but I don't see how that's possible.


　I know that dried food is the only thing you can carry with you on a long journey without it going bad, but the alleyway in front of me was filled with fruit of a color I'd never seen before, cut into pieces, and that bothered me.

　I've been an adventurer for five years, and having spent most of that time in charge of cooking, I can't help but be curious about the taste of an unknown ingredient.


Would you like to just have a taste?　If it's good, you can take it home for dinner and Susana won't be mad at you.


　Noelia looked at my gaze and smiled at me as she said that.


　Oh, right, a taste of it. Tasting.

　As an adventurer, knowing what ingredients are eaten and what they taste like makes a difference in your survival rate.

　This is a study of knowledge called tasting.


'Well, let's have a taste. You'll try Noelia, right?

Yes, I'll have the same as Mr. Fricke.


　I called out to the owner of the stall.


"Uncle, can you get me two of these?

'Oh, your hair color. Is it the rumored Lord of the Tongan Adventurers?　Ah, a date with your fiancé. It's nice to be young. When I was young...


　The moment the uncle at the stall said 'fiancé' about Noelia, I could feel the hand I was holding get hot.


　No, no, no, no, there's no way someone like me is my fiancé or anything like that.

　Right now, I'm a companion on the journey, but once the Abyss Walker thing is over, I'm just a mere man who's only a mere adventurer.


'No way am I the fiancée of the Ygghanotes Frontier Countess. I'm her bodyguard. A bodyguard.


　As if in response to the word 'escort' that I said, Noelia had clasped her hands together.


''The guard's knight-apprentice and the warrior's daughter decking out is not only a story, you hear about it in people,''

I mean, it's not like that. I'd rather have two slices of your brightly colored fruit.

Hey, hey. I'll serve you two hot guys.


　I paid the man at the stall and held out the fruit in front of Noelia, who was looking down and looking depressed.


I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mind if I said something weird, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't mind. I'm going to complete the job I've been asked to do, so don't worry about it.

That's right. Nah, I was wrong about something. ...... Yes, that's right: ......


　I looked at Noelia as she turned her head down and watched her voice grow low, and for some reason I couldn't help but feel an irresistible ache in my chest.


''Oh, it's not. It's not like that. It's just that shopping with Noelia is fun, but it means I have to do my job right!


　For some reason it seemed as if I had done something wrong and my mouth was dripping with words on its own.


　This feels like asking for a date, depending on how you ask.

　Suddenly, what am I saying?


　I was surprised at the words that came out of my mouth so quickly.


　I didn't think I'd feel that way anymore after the Alfine situation. ......

　No way, no way.


　When I looked up and saw Noelia's face looking at me with moist eyes, my heart suddenly began to beat fast.

　At that moment - Alfine's face and Noelia's face overlapped with Alfine's face that was cursing me in my brain.


　Why? Why is Alfine now .......


　The negative emotions from being abused by Alfine erupted all at once, and my vision began to spin around in circles, and eventually I lost consciousness and fell to Noelia.