Chapter 53 – Labyrinth City Lartania (2)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Serenea, the secretary who had worked under Rine for more than a year and a half and served the owner of Merd, the undeniably unrivaled magic appraiser in the labyrinth city, was always tired.

Objectively speaking, her work was not that exhausting. She only greeted guests and handled reservations.

But the fatigue she dealt with was not really physical. It was psychological.

To put it more precisely, there were too many difficult customers.

Of course, Merd’s level was so high that the truly extreme lunatics were rare.

But that did not mean there were none who steadily gnawed away at her sanity.

Sometimes, she even thought that the absolute worst kinds might be better than the ones who slowly wore her down.

Because of that, today had actually been a fairly peaceful day for Serenea, and her mood had remained reasonably decent.

That lasted only until a man who looked like a noble arrived with a knight.

In truth, that man himself was not particularly troublesome.

He had used the same old line many other nuisances did, claiming that he knew Rine, but Serenea had already heard that kind of statement hundreds of times. To her, that did not even qualify as a real problem customer.

The reason her mood plummeted vertically was the pig, no, the noble who came next.

Even Serenea, whose professional smile was as solid as steel, found her smile threatening to crack whenever she looked at him.

He’s back.

Lavald Greystone.

The son of Lucimore Greystone, the current lord of Labyrinth City Lartania, and human trash so infamous that there was no one in the city who did not know him.

A clueless delinquent who thought there was no one above him but his father and wielded power that all came from that father as if it were his own.

The way he insulted the noble who had arrived before him without even caring who he was and tossed money around arrogantly almost made Serenea frown, but she barely restrained herself.

In the first place, she had no right to frown.

No matter how troublesome he was, he was still the son of the only lord the labyrinth city had.

Even Rine, the owner of Merd, usually gave Lavald some room, so Serenea silently opened the door.

What happened next left her gaping.

Rine, who until now had maintained a smiling face no matter how much that trash son of the lord swaggered and made trouble.

“Get out.”

Not only did she tap his shoulder as if everything about how she had treated him until now had been a lie.

The more shocking part was that.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Godfather.”

Rine bowed her head politely in front of the man Serenea had just assumed was another similar guest.

W-what?

Without realizing it, Serenea wore a confused expression and wondered if what she had seen was a dream.

Because the Serenea who had watched Rine for nearly two years knew this.

Even if the lord of the labyrinth city came.

Even if a high noble from another country came.

Even if a prince of the Kingdom of Ashtalon came.

Rine had never bowed her head to anyone.

And so, Serenea dropped her smile without even noticing and stared with her mouth hanging open.

Then she saw that Lavald and the mercenaries behind him were staring the same way.

“What did you just say to me?”

Lavald, who had stood frozen as if his brain had stopped, finally seemed to process what Rine had meant and now displayed clear displeasure instead of blank shock.

But.

“I told you to leave, didn’t I?”

Rine answered him as though it were the most natural thing in the world, and Serenea’s expression changed from confusion to alarm.

Because anyone looking could only read that statement as open hostility toward Lavald.

At that, Lavald let out an incredulous laugh. Then his face twisted like that of an evil spirit.

“I don’t know what makes that nothing noble so important, but you’ll regret turning your back on me.”

With that, he turned and left Merd.

* * *

Only after Lavald Greystone, son of the lord of the labyrinth city, had left with that malicious look that promised trouble did Alon finally get to speak properly with Rine.

“I received your letter. You had a hard time coming all this way, Godfather. You too, Mister.”

Unlike Deus, who never spoke as though silence were gold, or Seollang, who spoke too much, Rine’s voice was quiet and calm.

Looking at her, Alon nodded lightly and asked.

“…More importantly, is this really all right?”

“Which part?”

“Lavald.”

Alon asked using the name of the labyrinth city’s lord’s son, which had only just come back to him.

Naturally, that was because Alon knew that the lord’s authority in Lartania was very strong.

And since the lord openly shielded his son, Alon worried Rine might be harmed by what had just happened.

“Ah, if you mean that, you don’t need to worry.”

“…Is that so? Still, he’s the lord’s son. It seems like that could cause you trouble.”

“He probably won’t be seen again. More importantly, I didn’t expect you to know that delinquent, Godfather.”

At Rine’s words, Alon paused for just a moment, then answered naturally.

“…Lartania’s delinquent is famous. In appearance and personality both.”

“Is that so. In any case, as I just said, you don’t need to worry about that part.”

Her tone was blunt and showed little emotion, unlike the others Alon had met, and yet it still carried a remarkable sense of confidence.

“Then that’s good, at least.”

With that, Alon simply nodded and had a light conversation with Rine.

Naturally, there was nothing special in the content.

How long had it been since Merd’s business in Lartania began doing well.

Did she still speak with the children from the orphanage.

Ordinary, light questions of well-being.

And yet while exchanging those ordinary words, Alon felt unusually good.

It was slightly funny, perhaps, but to him it felt as though Rine had grown up properly and ordinarily.

That did not mean Deus and Seollang had not grown well.

But compared with them, Rine felt like the sort of daughter who had matured very diligently without needing much attention from him.

Because of that, Alon even began to feel proud of her in some vague way while continuing the conversation pleasantly.

After a little more time passed and the small talk came to a natural end, Alon finally brought up the real reason he had come.

“Actually, the reason I came to see you today is because I have a favor to ask.”

“Please say it without burden.”

“Has an expedition to subjugate the Outer God already been formed?”

At Alon’s question, Rine seemed to think for a moment and answered.

“Hmm. Yes, I think it has probably been formed by now.”

“Then could you help me join that expedition?”

That was the real reason he had come to find her the moment he entered the labyrinth city.

If one was not at least somewhat famous within Lartania, joining an Outer God subjugation expedition was difficult.

Of course, given his outside reputation, it was possible he might have been accepted if he went alone, but he wanted to make sure of it, so he had come to her.

With what just happened, this may be a little difficult.

“Of course, I understand it may be somewhat difficult….”

Alon was about to say that, remembering Lavald.

But.

“I think that much should be possible.”

“…Hm? Is it?”

“Yes.”

“…But didn’t your relationship with the lord’s son get a little worse just now?”

In truth, little worse was far too mild a description, but Alon did not add that part.

“Don’t worry about that. It’s not something hard to handle. More importantly, are you concerned about him, Godfather?”

“By him, do you mean Lavald?”

“Yes.”

“He’s the son the lord cherishes. I thought he might make things troublesome for you.”

At that answer, Rine gave a small nod.

“In any case, please don’t worry too much about that part.”

“Hmm. Then I leave it to you.”

Because of her blunt but dependable air, Alon once again felt a strange kind of pride and nodded.

Then, after more small talk passed between them.

“By the way, why Godfather?”

“Pardon?”

“No, I was just wondering. Deus calls me benefactor, and Seollang calls me benefactor or teacher, so I became curious why you call me Godfather.”

At the question that had suddenly come to him, Rine thought for a moment and then said.

“…Because Godfather is the word that suits you best.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes.”

That was all she said.

A little later.

“For now, please rest today. You must be tired from the long journey.”

After giving rooms inside Merd to Alon and Evan, Rine vanished off somewhere.

“Wow, she really matured.”

Evan said that the moment she left, as though he had been waiting to say it.

“Did she?”

“Yes. She’s blunt, but she was always like that. If you ignore that part, she might be the most mature out of all the kids we’ve met so far.”

At Evan’s words, Alon nodded as well.

“She certainly feels like the one who grew up in the most textbook way.”

Rine said she’d handle it, and not much time has passed since the north. I should just rest for now and check over the plan a little.

Thinking that, he turned toward the room Rine had prepared.

By the time he entered it, it was already late evening.

* * *

The next day.

Though he had slept a long time, perhaps because he had ridden to Lartania almost without rest, Alon’s body still complained of fatigue when he forced it up and confirmed that the sun had risen.

After blanking out on the bed for a short while and then getting dressed, he stepped outside and was soon guided by Serenea, Rine’s secretary, to where Rine was eating lunch.

And then.

“I already took care of what you mentioned yesterday.”

“…That fast?”

“Yes. There’s a regular meeting today, so you should be able to go if you attend it.”

For a moment Alon looked at Rine with admiration at how quickly she had moved.

Then.

“Ah, and I also neatly killed Lavald Greystone yesterday, so he won’t bother you anymore.”

She bit into a sausage and said something monstrous in the exact same tone one might use to say, Ah, today’s weather is really sunny.

Alon was about to answer without thinking.

“Hmm. I see.”

Then.

“Huh…?”

A flood of question marks filled Alon’s head, and he could only stare at Rine.