We kept a distance from Jack, who was dismantling the bear, and rested by the campfire.
“Maria, be mindful of how you address Lloyd.”
Lisha also seemed concerned and advised Maria.
“S-Sorry. It’s just… difficult… I received thorough education to avoid any lapses when entering the aristocratic school, so…”
Being the daughter of a poor baron in the countryside, she had to avoid any disrespectful behavior.
However, she calls Lisha “sewer,” so their relationship is quite close.
“I understand, but try your best. It would be disastrous if you referred to him as ‘Your Highness’ in front of Tail nobles.”
“Yes. Lloyd-sama… Lloyd-sama…”
Is she going to be alright?
“Maria, and Lisha, stop using honorific language.”
“Huh!? T-Then, how should I address…?”
“Just address us casually. And drop the honorifics.”
“I-I can’t… I am a faithful subject…”
Whether she’s faithful or not is debatable, but it seems difficult for the timid Maria.
“Well, then, drop the honorifics at least, even if you use polite language.”
Treating us like important people creates a certain atmosphere.
“Um, calling you Lisha-san and Lloyd-san… works?”
“Sounds good.”
“Well, that’s fine, right? After all, you’re classmates, it’s natural.”
The school had a rule about not bringing up social status.
Otherwise, people like me and Lisha could defy teachers and seniors.
There are limits, though…
“Lisha, Lloyd… Uh, calling you Lloyd is… well, it’s nothing, Lisha-sama.”
Maria blushed slightly, looked at Lisha’s face, then paled and averted her gaze.
“Lisha, you’re… speaking normally.”
She wasn’t speaking like a young lady.
“I can switch it up when needed.”
Upper-class nobles are quite different.
“What about our backstory?”
“Backstory?”
“We’re concealing our noble status, so it’s about the setting for our journey.”
Commoners wouldn’t go on a journey much.
And with two women and one man…
“Why not be adventurers like Jack? Or maybe put Maria upfront as a pilgrimage priestess with her entourage.”
“I object to being upfront.”
Certainly, that would be too much for Maria.
“Alright, adventurers it is… But how does one become an adventurer? Do we just introduce ourselves?”
“I’m not sure. Let’s ask Jack later.”
That sounds good.
Since we have Jack right in front of us, might as well make good use of him.
“Of all things, crash-landing in Tail…”
“Crash…”
“It can’t be helped. Let’s get out of Tail quickly.”
“Agreed.”
We stared at the campfire.
“Hey, you guys, ready to eat?”
Jack, who was dismantling the bear, called out.
“I just realized, we haven’t had breakfast.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m hungry.”
With the morning’s unexpected events, we hadn’t thought about having breakfast, but indeed, our stomachs were empty.
Yesterday’s unpleasant wolf meat just wasn’t enough.
“Let’s eat!”
“Hold on a sec.”
It seems Jack is going to treat us to a meal.
He’s a good guy.
I should reward him someday.
But not now.
As we waited, Jack approached us with a chunk of meat.
“What’s that?”
Pointing at the meat Jack brought, I asked.
“It’s bear meat. I’ll cook it for you.”
Oh…
“Is it tasty? The wolf meat yesterday was tough and smelly, the worst.”
“Oh, that’s because wolves have tough muscles. Stew them, and they’ll be fine, but it takes time. Also, have you bled it out?”
Bleed it out?
Drain the blood?
“We haven’t. We stabbed it with a sword, so some blood came out from there. Look here.”
I pointed to the carcass lying around.
“Hmm, looks like you didn’t eat the organs? That’s good. Well, if you eat it right away, it’s fine, but without bleeding out, it’ll smell and spoil quickly.”
Hmm.
“I don’t know.”
“Guess not. This one is properly processed, so it’s fine.”
Saying so, Jack took out a legged grill from his bag, placed it over the campfire, sprinkled some spices on it, and handed us wooden plates.
“This is messy.”
“Is this cleaned?”
“Um, where are the fork and knife?”
“Nobles, really… Bear with it. You ate wolf meat, so you can endure this.”
Well, I guess we’ll endure it.
“By the way, what did you sprinkle on it?”
“Just salt and pepper.”
Pretty standard.
“You carry that around?”
“It’s essential for adventurers. It doesn’t take up much space, and with these, you can eat most things.”
That makes sense.
“Hey, how does one become an adventurer?”
“Huh? Becoming an adventurer?”
“It’s for camouflage. We don’t want our noble status to be revealed.”
“Uh, pretending to be adventurers won’t fool anyone looking like commoners… How about setting up as a son of a certain merchant?”
Merchant?
You mean a merchant’s son?
“Would that work?”
“Merchants have dealings with nobles, so having a somewhat refined manner and language isn’t unusual. Say a well-off merchant’s kid running away from home or something like that.”
I see.
“What will they be? Are there female adventurers?”
“It’s common. Bodyguards, ladies-in-waiting, friends made along the way, slaves… Choose the setting you like.”
“Hmm…”
What to choose?
“Go for a believable setting. If it’s too out there, it’ll be hard to cover up later. How about your relationship?”
“We’re classmates. This is… my fiancée.”
I point to Lisha.
“My wife.”
Well, we’re not married yet…
“Alright, that works. They probably think of it as a run-away or something. Adventurers don’t pry into the past much—they often make assumptions easily.”
Sounds good.
“What about Maria?”
“A nun from the church.”
True…
“Is their group a bit awkward?”
“Hmm… It’s subtle… Well, those clothes should be disposed of, buy some new ones in the village, and Maria could pass off as a simple companion or as the second in command.”
Well, it doesn’t matter what others think.
As long as we’re not mistaken for nobles.
“How does one become an adventurer? Do you just introduce yourself?”
“No, you need to register with a guild. Your country has guilds too, right?”
It does? I’m not sure.
I look at Lisha and Maria, both of them shrug indicating they don’t know.
“Hmm, I don’t know.”
“Ah, maybe Edeltalt has fewer guilds… In most countries, there’s a guild in every village. Register there.”
So, we just need to go to the guild.
“Do we need anything? Like identification to prove our status?”
“No. If you need that, I, an orphan and an itinerant, couldn’t have become an adventurer.”
Oh, right, I remember reading that in a book.
“So, if we go to the guild, can we simply register?”
“That’s right. Want me to take you there? I’ve got to report about the Giant Bear anyway.”
Makes sense.
“Let’s go with that.”
“…You serious about hiding it?”
Just joking.
