Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Parting with the Mercenary King

“Rose... could you move away just a little?”

“Absolutely not!”

“No, people are looking at us weird.”

Ever since I got out of bed, Rose had been glued to me.

And that wasn’t a metaphor. She had both arms wrapped around my waist, hugging me with nearly her entire body pressed against mine. Nearly, because her chest kept certain parts of us from touching.

“And your chest is definitely pressed against me.”

“So? How is it? Feels nice, doesn’t it?”

“Forget I said anything.”

“Why? Why? Tell me how it feels!”

I was telling her that since she was touching me like that, she should have some shame and let go, but...

“And who exactly is looking at us weird?”

“Pretty much everyone?”

When I pull my gaze away from Rose and look around, I can see most people passing by while stealing glances at us.

By tomorrow, rumors will have spread across this tiny territory and caused a commotion.

“Where! Who!”

Without letting go of me, Rose whipped her head around like she was ready to bite anyone who stared.

Needless to say, rotten fish is still fish—or rather, Rose isn’t rotten at all—and she is the baron’s only daughter. Naturally, everyone instinctively avoided her gaze.

“See! Nobody cares.”

For the record, Rose doesn’t realize why. Even now, she wears an evil grin as she buries her face against me.

“If rumors like this spread, you won’t be able to get married.”

“Really? I don’t particularly care.”

“Please say something that makes sense.”

Never in my life did I think I’d hear the protagonist of a romance fantasy say that.

“And I’m going to marry a gloomy big-breasted beau—guh!”

Before I could finish the word beauty, a sharp, powerful fist drove into my stomach.

I staggered and almost collapsed, but I’m not the old Henry anymore. I’m Stage 4 now, so I endured it.

“Henry.”

And the culprit who punched me still hadn’t moved away. She remained in the exact same position, patting my back.

“Want to be hospitalized a little longer?”

“No! What do my preferences have to do with you?!”

As we started arguing, I heard people whispering nearby.

“Oh my, again?”

“Obviously Henry cheated on her.”

“He’s only been here a few days, and they’re together every day. How could he cheat?”

“Young man, are you curious too? Well, apparently he already has someone, yet he went after another...”

“Oh my... Perhaps it’s because of their difference in status.”

“No, no, if you ask me...”

“That’s not true!!! I’m single! Completely single!”

“Oops! I think he heard us!”

You were talking loud enough for me to hear!

I sighed quietly as the neighborhood ladies wandered away.

Henry’s reputation falls again today. Rose’s won’t, of course, because she’s the baron’s daughter. Is this the sorrow of a commoner?

As I gave a hollow smile, Rose looked up at me with amusement in her eyes.

“Our poor Henry~ Your reputation has fallen into the abyss. What are you going to do?”

“Yeah, I wonder whose fault that could possibly be.”

“Henry, if your reputation gets so bad that nobody will marry you, come to me. I’ll find someone good for you.”

“There’s no communicating with you.”

“Only the strong get the right to speak.”

“Aren’t we about equal now?”

“You should always listen to your seniors.”

“That reversal was fast. Learn Bear Stance, Boar Stance, Mountain Goat Stance, and Phoenix Stance while you’re at it and you’ll be perfect.”

“Oh my, maybe I should.”

“...Why does it feel like you actually could?”

Imagining Rose rapidly switching stances like some game from my previous life sent a chill down my spine.

“According to your plan, I’m supposed to learn magic, sorcery, and all kinds of other things too.”

“Right. Once we start traveling. Though I think we’ll probably learn them properly at the academy.”

The purpose of our journey was to travel the world, collect fortuitous encounters ahead of time, and find things that could become problems during the academy arc so we could prevent them.

Like I said before, a romance-fantasy protagonist is like a magnet. Opportunities come to her, but trials follow along with them.

“Still, I’m a little scared.”

“Don’t worry. Protagonists don’t die easily.”

Even if I say that, if Rose and I are both in danger, I’ll probably have to sacrifice myself. And being romance fantasy doesn’t mean bad endings where the protagonist dies don’t exist.

“I’m worried about you.”

“Me? Why?”

“Because whenever you make plans, you always build them around me. Never around yourself.”

“Well, you’re the center of the world. It’s easier to plan around you.”

That is romance fantasy! Even if I insist I’m another protagonist too! Our passive abilities are different!

“But if you get hurt again like this...”

“That won’t happen.”

“Henry.”

“You know why this happened.”

At that, Rose leaned toward my ear and whispered quietly.

“I know, Henry. Because as the childhood friend, you were supposed to die and awaken the protagonist. But Henry, that’s not what I mean.”

Rose gently ran her hand down my back, over the wound that had already been healed by magic.

“You never know what will happen in life. You survived a cliché and an event from the original story. From now on, the original story you talked about—the parts you didn’t know—will start collapsing.”

“But its foundation is still intact. The story’s progression may change, but most of the characters and most of the events will still happen.”

“But now you’re no longer in it. I’m scared that those clichés, that knowledge you possess, won’t be able to protect you anymore.”

Rose’s voice gradually began to tremble. I patted her back as I answered.

“Rose, it’s fine. I told you. Even if someone enters a story with an original work and completely ruins that story...”

“The clichés still happen.”

“Right.”

“I hate you. If someone worries about you, just shut up and let them worry!”

“I’m trying to ease your worry.”

“I don’t know whether I should be happy or annoyed.”

“I’d prefer the happy option.”

“Ugh...”

Rose puffed out her cheeks and thought for a moment before burying her face against me again.

“Then I’ll do that.”

“Okay. Also, this is seriously embarrassing now.”

“So it wasn’t embarrassing earlier?”

“That’s not what I—haa... forget it.”

“Mm-hmm. It’s about time you gave up trying to make me let go.”

Exhausted by Rose’s persistence, we eventually reached the village outskirts where the mercenaries had gathered.

The mercenaries who first saw me whispered, ‘That’s the hero,’ among themselves, but the moment they noticed Rose hanging from me, they all turned their heads with awkward expressions.

Thank you. Honestly. Please keep looking away. I think I’m going to die of embarrassment.

If my body were still as weak as before, maybe I wouldn’t care. But since my body had improved as I advanced, the fact I could physically endure Rose hanging from me only made it sadder.

Meanwhile, I could see Eril staring at me from far away with obvious envy. Then you take her!

Actually, Rose had been like this since childhood. Back then I had sometimes wondered whether she liked me...

But when she kept acting like this, I eventually realized this was simply how Rose was. Especially after becoming aware of my previous life, I decided it was just a child’s possessiveness toward something they considered theirs. Probably because I was her childhood friend. Her personality itself was very romance-fantasy-heroine-like anyway.

There has to be a gloomy black-haired big-breasted beauty in the capital instead of someone like this. Actually, if that kind of beauty clung to me like this, I’d love it!

A fist drove into my side while I was thinking that.

“Why this time...”

“I don’t know. I just suddenly got annoyed.”

Can I return this mind-reading feature?

After much suffering? we finally reached the Mercenary King’s tent.

When we entered, the Mercenary King was already seated in a chair, apparently waiting for us.

“Welco...me?”

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

“You two seem very close.”

“This? Isn’t this more like dead weight?”

“Henry.”

Instead of answering, Rose raised her fist.

“You’re completely henpecked! Completely!”

“I’m not!”

“I think you are.”

“Sit down first.”

“Yes. Rose, if we sit on chairs, this position will be uncomfortable.”

“Don’t worry. There are chairs without backs.”

“I don’t need that kind of help.”

“I do.”

“Then rank matters.”

“Damn it! The suffering of the commoner! I feel the proletarian revolution rising within me.”

“Do you have children? Do you sell your labor to earn money? You’re not part of that class, Henry.”

“The ruling class is stealing everything from me.”

“Henry seems really sick.”

“Anyway...”

At this rate, we’d never even get to the main topic.

“Thank you.”

“For what exactly?”

“For carrying me to the orphanage and making sure I could be treated.”

At those words, the Mercenary King suddenly burst into laughter.

“That really is funny. No, that’s not it.”

“What isn’t?”

“The one who saved you was you. I was the person who let the bandit escape and put you in danger. The one who saved you and made it possible for you to reach the orphanage was yourself.”

“But...”

“There is consequentialism and there is process theory in this world. If the outcome is good, then it was good. If the process was good, then it was good. What do you think?”

“Uh...”

“The outcome!”

“I think both are wrong. If the process was good but you failed, others condemn the result while the loser takes comfort in the process. If the reverse happens, others condemn the process while the person involved celebrates success. You cannot escape that.”

We fell silent and listened carefully.

“But in our case, both the process and the result were acceptable. I’m someone who stands at the result. So I should praise the process. Once again, I commend you for what you achieved. Thank you for keeping my mistake from becoming a burden on my heart.”

“And thank you as well. Because in the end, you helped me survive. Thank you for watching over me until the final moment.”

We looked at each other and smiled brightly.

“My business here is finished. I’ll return to the capital, report what happened, and continue living as a mercenary. Mercenaries aren’t meant to remain tied to one place.”

“Then we may meet again someday.”

“You’ll be leaving here in two years as well, won’t you?”

“Yes.”

“With Henry!”

“If you ever encounter me, come find me. I’d like to sit down for a while and hear what stories you’ve gathered.”

“Even if we don’t happen to meet, we’ll probably meet eventually.”

“Because as you said, upheaval will come at the academy, or sometime afterward.”

“Yes.”

“Rose. Henry.”

When he spoke both our names clearly, Rose hesitated, then finally detached herself from me, dragged over a chair, and sat beside me.

We silently looked at the Mercenary King.

“Don’t see me off when I leave. If you do, I might end up returning here and training you together with Eril. I fear I would stop living like a mercenary.”

“Understood.”

“Okay.”

To an outsider, it might have looked as if he were cutting us off because we were burdens.

But put another way, it meant we had become that precious to him.

“The time was short. But I truly enjoyed it. I was happy. Thank you.”

“Thank you for everything.”

“Thank you.”

“Then go.”

That was the end of our conversation. We stood and left the room.

And the next day, the mercenaries departed our territory.