Adventurer Life with Exiled Daughter

Chapter 73

Chapter 73

I was chosen—well, I volunteered—as Erika Solnzari's partner to run away together after she was exiled from the Faltarl Kingdom, and a lot has happened since then.

It was early summer when we left the Faltarl Kingdom, but before I knew it, there were more and more days that could easily be called summer.

At first, I used to count the days since we left Faltarl.

But before I realized it, I started measuring time by personal events instead.

In other words, today is the morning of the fourth day since we returned from the forest in the Demonlands.

And this morning, I was sitting across the table from Merceja, drinking tea.

Merceja is an adventurer hired by the Prime Minister of the Faltarl Kingdom—Erika's father—and serves as our contact despite our exile.

By the way, if I were to describe his appearance "right now," he's a stylish man in his early thirties with a fit build and a well-suited chin beard.

To add, when I saw him "two days ago," he was the same round-faced, kindly looking, slightly chubby man with a chin beard I had met when we traveled together from Faltarl to Orclah.

He's a Rank 6 adventurer, the kind of person the Prime Minister would hire as a bodyguard for a trip to Orclah, so I figured he wasn't ordinary—but he turned out to be even less ordinary than I thought.

He changed so much I almost thought he was a different person.

I didn't even realize it was Merceja until I heard his voice.

Apparently, Merceja had been investigating various things to write a report on our situation for the Prime Minister, and today he was going to share that report with us too.

Also, he was here to deliver a letter to Erika from the Prime Minister.

As for Erika herself, she had some errand to take care of and left the Prime Minister's letter on the table, holing up in her room.

Poor Prime Minister.

"So, did anything happen?"

Looking at the letter from the Prime Minister on the table, I asked while wondering if I should write a letter to the old man too.

"Well, to put it simply, there wasn't anything worth reporting to the Boss."

I raised an eyebrow at his suggestive tone and silently urged him to continue.

"The young lady's popularity is off the charts."

"Of course it is."

"I think you're the only one who'd respond that fast without hesitation, Boss."

I was honestly surprised by Merceja's words—were there really that many people out there with such poor judgment?

"I don't know why you're making that puzzled face... Anyway, the young lady made quite the impression among adventurers when she walked out of the Demonlands forest after burning through a horde of monsters. Beautiful and strong? Of course people are going to wonder who she is."

Well, even if it took people a while to notice, it's a good thing they're recognizing Erika's charm—I nodded along in agreement, and Merceja let out a voice full of exasperation.

"There aren't many exiled former nobles who'd be happy to stand out. Please, just take that a little more seriously."

"It's impossible for Erika not to stand out."

She shines just by being there.

"You too, Boss."

"Even if a roadside pebble sparkled, no one would notice."

"You should've made that joke before you were being hailed as a hero by adventurers in town. I honestly don't know what to report to the Prime Minister."

Saying that, Merceja put his head in his hands.

A sudden, almost certain thought slipped from my mouth.

"Wouldn't he be happy?"

Merceja looked up with a complicated expression that was hard to describe.

"If he found out his daughter was thriving even after being exiled, that Prime Minister would be proud."

Well, I've only met him once, but that's the impression I got.

"What's wrong?"

I asked Merceja, who still had that weird look on his face.

"I can clearly picture the Prime Minister being happy... and now I'm wondering if I took the wrong job."

*

Merceja looked like he'd just seen a vision he never wanted to see, but perhaps out of professional pride, he quickly hid it beneath a blank expression.

He warned me that while standing out might be inevitable, we had to be careful or Erika's origins might be uncovered.

Whether or not adventurers care about nobility from other countries, if her background gets out, there's a chance someone might dig deeper.

Whether they'd actually uncover anything is questionable, but if someone like me—both a noble and an adventurer—exists, then it's not impossible.

Well, someone who becomes an adventurer despite being a noble probably doesn't have strong connections to the capital, so the odds of discovery are low.

Counting too much on the Faltarl Kingdom's covert operations would be foolish anyway.

The rumor that she was exiled for trying to assassinate the Priestess of Light is definitely not something we want spreading.

As I seriously considered assassinating anyone who tried to dig into her past, Merceja once again held his head in his hands.

"I can practically read your mind, Boss, so please don't."

"Well, adventurers are basically all muscleheads anyway. I doubt anyone's going to care that much."

I ignored Merceja's words, and he muttered with a groan, "Please, I'm begging you, don't."

I just nodded in response.

"Ah, that reminds me."

Merceja responded to my words with only a sigh, then casually, like he was sharing news about a distant relative, said,

"Your mentor's apparently coming this way."

I shouted.