Vol 2 Chapter 12.2 (2/2)

「In other words… you want someone like a friend?」

「What about it? Is it wrong?」

It was slightly unexpected.

「It’s not wrong. Then, why didn’t you honestly say so from the start?」

「I… don’t know anything about the world outside, but I intend to learn a lot from the tutors or books. The people called Adventurers accept quests and receive rewards. I know about their livelihood, too. Therefore… I thought I would pay in exchange for listening to their stories.」

Aah, because she only reads books in the house, is that why she looks more mature than her age? At this point, it was necessary to tell her one thing straight.

「In the relations.h.i.+p called friends.h.i.+p, money doesn’t exist.」

「That… may certainly be so… Then… honorifics don’t exist either, right?」

Marita bloomed into a smile.

Wasn’t it so easily said?

Here, if I got carried away and dropped honorifics, wouldn’t Logins-san 『Insolent!』 just kill me?

Even more so, after realizing that this person was wearing a slender sword; Wasn’t he a butler?

「…Going so far in expecting the adventure tales would be troublesome, but there would be no problem in coming here every now and then for storytelling.」

「Un, that would be enough.」

「Still… To have never gone outside, are you not being overly protected? Don’t you goshopping with your mother?」

Father, being the lord, would be busy with his work. However, mother and daughter must be on good terms――

「When I wasn’t even 1 year old… Mother pa.s.sed away. That’s why Father cherishes me so much, I think…」

What do I do? I seemed to have stepped on a landmine.

Even though my legs were already full of wounds.

――I, who had somehow succeeded in changing the topic, thereafter told Marita a few adventure tales.

What especially piqued Marita’s interest was the exhilaration of riding Rook and bustling about. Or was it the scenery of such a place as Paudal Wetland Belt?

As for Lim, she talked about me, Arnold-san, and Mister and Missus Dario… She hardly talked about herself. That said, the att.i.tude of earnestly stepping up could be seen in her.

I wonder if it had to do with their mutual aspect of both of them having lost their mothers, or has she started recovering from the shock of the attack on the village?

It was a good thing.

‘Because the fish we ate back in Pascam Port Town was so tasty, I learnt a fish recipe from Dario-san, but it didn’t go so well’――and so on. It developed into a warm conversation.

It was not an adventure tale. Rather, it was a conversation which the girls of the same age would normally hold.

Above all, because Marita was enjoying it, it was for the best.

At the black tea which Maid-san brewed and served to the room, Logins-san nodded seemingly satisfied.

By the way, Logins-san had been working at the lord’s mansion for more than ten years. He had been looking after Martia in one way or another ever since she was an infant.

‘Because his abilities stand out, he serves also as a guard’――These were Marita’s words.

‘It’s fortunate that we are on good terms’――I thought, while sipping the black tea, the flavour of which was extracted at the right temperature.

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