From the royal palace, after officially becoming a Holy Knight, Aaron and I headed out to the mansion of the Barbatos family… but before that.

  No matter how you saw it, it can’t be said as beautiful. But the size was unmistakably huge….

  The old wall was ‘decorated’ by all kinds of vine and plants, and the originally beautiful garden had become a small jungle. It’s really not that surprising to see the vegetation to grow to that extent.

  The garden reminded me of my time when I worked as a gardening apprentice at the Heart mansion. But the garden will have to wait, since we’ll start with cleaning up the interior first.

  Whilst trying to open the rusty gate, I glanced at the neighbors. They’re all about the same as the Barbatos mansion, but a lot cleaner on every corner and looked wonderful.

  Well, of course I knew the condition of the mansion next door because I was there before. Yes…the mansion next door, belongs to Heart family.

  I was upset when I realized this. There is no mistake, Barbatos mansion is just right next to the Heart family mansion…..who would’ve thought that Roxy’s house was right next door? When I was still working as apprentice gardener, I always wondered why the garden next door was always so dirty. Apparently there was something I missed because there were too many things to remember back then.

  Dammit, if I knew in advance, I would’ve prepared my heart for this!

  I left such a letter for Roxy back at Gallia, what kind of face I should show her now that we actually ended up as her neighbor!?

  That’s it…..I won’t take off this skull mask…..I don’t want to.

  In my frustration, I ended up fiddling around the rusted gate without actually opening it, which netted me a scolding from Aaron who was standing behind me.

  [Are you going to enter, or are you going to get out, which one is it?]

  [I’ll enter! I’ll enter now! !]

  However…. When I ended up doing the same thing all over again, Aaron grabbed my shoulder.

  [What’s wrong? You cannot possibly do that every time you want to enter the mansion, right?]

  [Hahaha, of course not…]

  Aaron then said with a firm expression.

  [Fine, I understand. The place you just glanced at….the Heart mansion. That Roxy Heart succeeded the family head at such a young age.]

  Then Aaron gave me a coy smile. Eh….no way, he actually noticed? Damn, did he already see through me!?

  He’s the sword saint after all. His insight is topnotch. While I was feeling impressed with that,

  [When I was rebuilding Hausen, I met Roxy who was heading to Gallia at that time. She helped me in various ways. So I taught her some swordsmanship in exchange. That girl was quite good. Like Fate, she’s also a young Holy Knight who is part of the great families, which worries me a little. Let’s give her a visit next time! Young lord is interested in sparring with her, aren’t you?]

  Whoops, I guess I misunderstood. He’s still the battle-loving Aaron! He’d rather talk with his sword than his mouth.

  The idea of greeting her didn’t even cross my mind, let alone sparring.

  By the way, Roxy did forced me to some agreement back at Gallia. I suppose being pushy was the nature of all holy knights. Don’t really want to be reminded of that though.

  Feeling relieved, I opened the gate and got in. There were barely any plants growing on the walkway leading to the mansion. Since Aaron found cutting them down conventionally was troublesome, he had used the holy sword mastery technique――Grand Cross to instantly create a clear path.

  It was an opportunity to raise my (gardening) skill level. So couldn’t help but to regret not stopping Aaron at that time.

  We proceed through the wasteland-ish aftermath, and entered the mansion.

  Then a black axe was thrown at us.

  [Watch out!?]

  Me and Aaron crouched down as low as we could and managed to dodge the thrown axe. The black axe dug itself deep into the ground as it landed. Ooooooh, the garden……the garden is…..what the hell! Can’t anyone be more careful with the garden?!

  The owner of the black axe showed up with a sullen aura.

  [Late]

  White hair with a pair of daring red eye. The ridiculous girl――Myne.

  I’m quite familiar with her already, so despite the expressionless face, I could somewhat gauge her anger level. Right now it’s about level 2, I guess?

  And the reason behind it was quite easy to deduce. I didn’t even need to mention it, since Myne herself already said it.

  [I’m hungry]

  Un, I thought so. Me and Aaron left the mansion early in the morning, and we returned much later than expected. Myne had been waiting for us all the while.

  [If I knew this would happen, I would’ve followed you. I could’ve get some snacks at the palace.]

  Get some!? More like stealing food. She’d also smash everyone who attempted to disturb her with the black axe while she’s at it. She’ll definitely do that!

  I’m glad. I’m really glad that I didn’t bring Myne along with us. Moreover, Myne wouldn’t lower her head to someone else, so if she also was present during the audience, I’m afraid she’d be charged guilty of being unfaithful to the king. Myne was no different from Aaron after all, she’d rather fight than speak.

  Well, I’m also famished, so what should we do now~? There were only few dried foods left. Since the audience with the king was over, why don’t we eat out before cleaning the mansion?

  Un, let’s do that. As soon as possible.

  I told Aaron and Myne about my plan, and the two voiced their agreement.

  However, I added one condition to Myne. She’s to leave the black axe here at the mansion. With that, I hoped that she could act a little bit mature.

  Myne miraculously relented although with some reluctance. Feeling relieved, I decided to go to a familiar place.

  =====

  The place I went to was hardly a high class place, as it’s just a regular bar that one could find nearly everywhere. The customers were sparse during the lunch time.

  Instead of going for one of the table, I went to sit on the bar counter, along with Myne and Aaron……

  This was my regular spot. Since there wasn’t any flower decorations yet, I guess they hadn’t considered me dead yet.

  Myne sat next to me, and Aaron next to her.

  [Fate, why don’t you sit on one of the table?]

  [Pardon me. I feel calmer here. If you want to sit on the table, we’ll move place there]

  [I am just saying. It’s up to the young lord to decide.]

  Aaron said so and started to look through the menu. When I asked Myne, she said that she’ll just follow through. I didn’t even need to look at the menu.

  The barkeep came to take our order. However, his face seemed a little more stiff than usual.

  Ah, right….when I first came here, the reaction of other customers were also like this.

  The reason was simply because of me and Aaron. Holy knights never bothered to come to such a common tavern. Us sitting on the counter probably scares the hell out of the owner.

  And so, I removed the skull mask and showed my face to the owner. It’s should be alright now, since the recognition inhibition effect is not active if the mask is taken off.

  [Long time no see.]

  [Oooh, it’s Fate, isn’t it!? Eeeeeeh, what happened!?]

  The bar owner rushed to me, dropping the water pitcher he had brought along the way.

  I couldn’t tell him the detail, but I told him that I’ve been adopted to the Barbatos family. The bar owner became astonished after hearing that, and stared at Aaron as if he was about to devour him.

  In the next moment, he kneeled deeply on the spot.

  [Uaaaaaaaaa, I knew that honored guest is a holy knight, but….to think it’s Aaron Barbatos-sama]

  [There is nothing to fuss about it. I come here as a customer. Please treat me as you treat your other customers.]

  [But…]

  Aaron ordered after looking at the menu while smiling bitterly due to the awkward situation with the bar owner.

  The bar owner took the order while seemingly intoxicated. I could almost imagine steam coming out from his head. He’s different from the usual playful guy who liked to tease me. In a way, it kind of saddened me.

  I just ordered for both of me and Myne since I’m unable to dissolve the awkwardness. This bar had delicious fish dishes, so let’s just pick that.

  After a while, returning with our orders, the bar owner also brought a bottle of wine along.

  [It’s to celebrate your success. I don’t know the detail, but a congratulatory celebration is in order. As promised, I brought you the superior wine.]

  [Ah yes, of course.]

  When I left for Gallia, owner gave me a cheap wine. At that time, he also promised to give me a better wine if I managed to return. I never expected that he still remembered that promise after all this time.

  Whiff of wine fragrance was spread as he poured the wine into four glasses. Although he’s still seemingly nervous about Aaron, owner smiled at me with a real celebratory smile instead of his usual playful smile.

  [For Fate’s return, and, his future as a holy knight, cheeers! !]

  [ [ [ Cheers! !] ] ]

  I never thought that I’d get to taste this wine and eat here again like this, but I guess it’s not bad at all.

  On the contrary, I was reminded of the comfort that I’ve forgotten for a long time. Nothing had changed here. It’s still as comfortable as I remembered it to be.