Published at 20th of November 2020 09:24:12 PM
It seems we are going to have lunch at a different place today . Good grief . There is no winning against Alan’s desire for good food . I am of the opinion that the dishes Alan makes are the most delicious, but it seems Alan believes otherwise .
We went to a restaurant located near the Adventurer’s Guild . It looks like we were going to have our meals on one of the tables placed outside the store . To think we would dine with a full view of the bustling city streets outside . What a novel dining experience .
The food we were served with was certainly delicious . Compared to my time in the royal capital, it’s the first time I’d had local food this delicious . I did order a large serving, but it’s unfortunate that even with that, the amount of food served was lesser than your average restaurant .
“That was great . I was honestly not expecting the food to be this delicious . ”
It looks like Alan was also fond of this stew . However, I still think the food Alan makes is the best .
“It certainly was quite delicious . But I still think Alan’s dishes are more…”
I started speaking but noticed a young girl approaching us from behind Alan . She was a very beautiful girl .
Those clothes!? They really resemble the clothes I saw Alan wear one time before! What is going on!?
The lady stood right behind Alan and started speaking . Those words!? They also resemble the words Alan spoke when we first met . It can’t be!?
Alan turned around and the young lady made a gesture resembling a salute while facing him . I am not familiar with this way of saluting .
“Y-Your affiliation?”
Alan seemed flustered as he posed a question to the young lady . Afterward, the young lady spoke in the language I am familiar with . However, I still could not understand the meaning of her words .
Red fleet? Spica Sector? 283rd Division? I do not believe any navy in this world has that many fleet divisions . Even the naval power, Degreet Empire, only has two active naval fleets . Something is definitely amiss . Iris Conrad? I could only understand a little bit of what the lady was talking about, such as her being some kind of soldier .
Just what is this lady saying?
“Is Iris alright?”
“Of course . We have been in search of you all this time . ”
Just what is Iris? And ‘Your Excellency’? Is she referring to Alan?
“Um, Alan?”
“Um, sorry about that . She was one of my former subordinates . ”
Subordinate? So Alan is actually a soldier!? Oh, I should have asked him about it when I had the chance .
After that, we went back to the inn . Alan and the lady called Selena kept silent along the way . When we arrived back at the inn, Alan said he would like to talk with Selena alone first . I wanted to listen in on their conversation, but it can’t be helped .
I went with Elna back to our room and waited .
“Elna, did you manage to understand what that young lady was talking about earlier?”
“No . Unfortunately not, milady . I did understand about her mentioning some sort of fleet though . ”
“Is that so . It’s the same for me . ”
Oh, I wonder just what Alan and her are talking about right now . I’m utterly curious .
After a little while more, we heard a knock on the door . Alan entered together with that lady .
He apparently came to introduce her to us . As I thought . Alan and this lady really were from the same country .
We introduced ourselves to each other, but this Selena lady seemed hateful for some reason . Alan said she will be joining us from now on .
I do not understand the need to include a lady from Goddess-knows-where into our party though . I cannot accept having her as a comrade before getting to know her better .
“Alan, just who is Selena?”
It did seem rude to ask another person when the person in question was just in front of me, but I cannot rest easy if I do not confirm it .
“I told you about coming to this continent on a ship before, right? That ship has sunk, but she’s one of the crew members of that ship . ”
“Is that all she is, Alan?”
“Hm? Yes . Why?”
“Really?”
“The one called Cleria over there . I’ve been thinking about this since earlier, but your conduct is overly familiar . And, moreover, to think that you have the gall to doubt His Excellency’s words . ”
It was the first time I was addressed in such a blatantly rude manner! I was so shocked that I couldn’t react for a few moments .
It seems the one she refers to as ‘His Excellency’ really was Alan . But Alan told us he wasn’t a noble . In other words, she was addressing him as such because he was a high ranking officer in the military? In the Starveek Kingdom, the only officers referred to as such were our generals . Alan was a military general!?
“You! Just who do you think you’re speaking to!?” Elna exclaimed .
“Just who is this Cleria?”
She actually mimicked my tone earlier . And she did sound quite similar too .
“I will have you know that Clerisama is the crown princess of the Starveek Kingdom!”
“Hmph . Compared to His Excellency’s esteemed self, a mere princess of a kingdom is far too…”
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Alan got in between the two of them in a panic .
Elna ended up revealing my former status, but the lady called Selena didn’t seem to be fazed one bit .
I became curious about Selena’s words . ‘Compared to His Excellency’s esteemed self, a mere princess of a kingdom’ was what she said . Alan cut in halfway, so she couldn’t finish her sentence, but this basically means that Selena thinks Alan’s status was greater than a princess of a kingdom .
What does this mean? In most countries, a princess surely ranks higher than a general . And even if Alan was part of the royal family, we would be of the same rank at most . Was Alan actually a king!? No, that can’t be . The address of ‘His Excellency’ will not be appropriate if he was the ruler of a nation, and a king certainly cannot serve as a military general at the same time . Ah, there is too much I do not understand .
It seems Alan wants us to introduce ourselves to each other again .
After we did so, Alan confessed his standing himself . And it seems Selena also has a sister, and that sister was also coming here .
I looked at Selena once more . She really was an incredibly beautiful lady . Her age seems to be the same as mine . Could her sister also possess such beauty? I felt frustrated for some reason I could not quite place .
And it seems like Alan really was a soldier . And surprisingly, the fine clothes Selena was wearing was actually a standard military uniform . Clothes of such fine make were actually military uniforms? It just seemed so unbelievable .
Alan and Selena went over to the inn Selena booked in order to get her things . Oh! There’s just so much I need to process .
It seems the inn Selena booked was located near the Adventurer’s Guild . We really didn’t need to go get her baggage right now, but the atmosphere back there was bad for some reason, so I took the opportunity to get them off each other’s backs for a bit to allow them some time to cool their heads . I really didn’t need to come as well, but I guess I could help carry the stuff if they turned out to be a lot . It was part of an officer’s duty to ensure their subordinate’s well being after all . Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve had some female subordinates .
“Your attitude back there was quite unbecoming, Selena . ”
“I am truly sorry . It was just that I couldn’t stand their attitude toward you Alan, so I flared up . ”
“I don’t think the way Cleria and Elna were treating me had issues though . I’ll be happy if you can treat me casually like the two of them do as well, Selena . ”
“Is that really alright!? …N-No, um… As I thought, I really cannot bring myself to do such a thing . ”
“You really don’t need to speak all formal with me you know . It may not be appropriate in our capacity as commanding officer and subordinate, but at least drop the honorifics while we’re on this planet, alright?”
“…I shall think about it . ”
“By the way, how did you manage to procure money?”
“The drones have managed to analyze the specifications of the currency used in this planet . They were manufactured inside the ship’s material workshop based on the collated data . ”
“In other words, you used counterfeit currency!? Well, I guess it’ll be alright as long as the material composition is the same . ”
That means that if I manage to record the material composition of the white gold coins I heard of a while back, I would be able to produce such currency . It would be great if I can somehow get a hold of some white gold coins then .
“You did bring other clothes aside from your uniform, right? Change into one of them once we get to the inn . ”
“………Understood . ”
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“Hm? Is there a problem with that?”
“Um… The clothes aren’t cute at all . ”
The reason for her hesitancy in changing her clothes made me gawk . Oh boy . I guess in these aspects, she really was a young girl just like her appearance suggests .
“The uniform stands out too much . You really do have to change . ”
“Understood . ”
When we arrived at the inn, Selena headed to her room and came out with a considerable amount of luggage . Most of it seems to be water and emergency rations though .
“Please take this, Alan . ”
Selena handed me a portable communicator she brought with her . The portable comm was about twenty centimeters long and five centimeters wide . At first glance, it looked like a simple metal plate .
“This is a spare I brought with me in order to give to you, Alan . ”
“Oh, nice! This is great . Thanks . And those clothes actually suit you after all, don’t they?”
“Is that so!? Thank you very much . ”
Selena smiled happily .
Selena said she could carry the luggage herself, but I insisted we split the load and went back to the inn I was staying at . The luggage was fairly heavy . Just what are contained inside these anyway?
“Alan, I managed to detect traces of Nanoms from that Cleria person earlier . ”
“Oh, right . I made her ingest them . It was an emergency since her arm and leg were bitten off . ”
I told Selena about how I met Cleria and our journey up until now .
“Are you not going to retrieve the Nanoms from Cleria?”
“I don’t think it’s a problem, really . She would be no different from a normal human as long as I don’t give them an order to create an interface anyway . Because it’s forbidden for civilians to use Nanoms, it’d probably always stay that way . ”
We kept conversing until we got back to the inn .
“Selena, would you be fine to share a room with Sharon?”
“Yes, there’s no problem . ”
“Sarchan, is there still a double room available?”
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“There is . Um, is she your friend, Alan-san?”
“Well, she’s more of a comrade than a simple friend . ”
“Is that so? Here’s the key then . The room is just beside the one Ria and Elna are staying at . And there’s no need to pay for the accommodations, by the way . ”
“No, I’ll pay for the room, alright . ”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept that . Father will grill me . ”
“……Can you call Verse out for a sec then?”
“Hey there, Alan . It looks like your comrades increased huh . ”
“Yes, that’s how it is . I’ll pay for their room, by the way . ”
“No, I can’t accept that . ”
“Why!? Just take my money!”
“Nope, Alan . You’re the benefactor of this inn . I will never charge even a single coin from you or your comrades from now on . ”
“Benefactor? But I don’t think I did anything that grand though . ”
“As you know, this is the first time in years since this inn has been packed with this many guests . And it’s all thanks to you . ”
“But that’s because this inn is a great inn . And we really shouldn’t occupy three rooms for free, right?”
“Now look here, Alan . We’ve managed to keep our business even in the times when we only had just one guest staying over . We’ll make a tidy profit in case there’s two .
But look at today’s situation . Honestly, We’ve made so much money that I can’t help myself from laughing out loud you know .
And thanks to the delicious food, we’re also clearing out our stock of alcohol quite fast .
Furthermore, the guests keep on making their next reservations before they check out .
That’s a first for this inn ever since it was opened you know . In other words, the guests are actually thinking that the inn might be full the next time they come over .
All of this is thanks to you . So don’t be a stranger and stay as much as you like . ”
“I think it’s thanks to Verse’s cooking skills though . Well, since you’ve said that far, I guess I have no choice but to indulge in your kindness . Thank you . ”
“Ou . No problem . ”