Princess’ Request (Part 2)

When we came outside of the dorm buildings, two people—one man and one woman—clad in navy blue uniforms were standing in wait.

“Princess! Please don’t run off to the boy’s dorm like that... “ The woman chided as she held her head.

“Ah good day, Lisa.”

“Don’t just ‘good day’ me like there’s nothing! Please restrain yourself even just a little. We’re your bodyguards! “

As expected, Alyss-san felt bad about what she did, and bowed her head lightly.

“I’m sorry.”

When I think about it, Alyss-san came out of nowhere in the boy’s dorm when normally someone would have informed us of a guest, especially from the opposite gender which you’ll need to ask for permission first before entering.

When I looked at the woman’s face, she was about to say something but instead let out a sigh and glanced at me and Raiz who were standing behind Alyss-san. The other man beside her remained quiet.

“You must be Sir Hiro. We met the other day and the other person... “

“My name is Raizen Ember. You may call me Raiz.”

The woman thought for a moment then opened her mouth to speak.

“We haven’t introduced ourselves, have we?” She said, “My name is Lisa. This man here is Rion. As you already know, we are princess Alyss’ personal bodyguards.”

During Lisa-san’s introduction, Rion-san remained quiet showing no reaction at all. I could feel Raiz beside me feel uneasy as he stared at the serious-looking man. Lisa-san might’ve noticed and assured us.

“Don’t worry about this stone-cold expression guy right here. He’s not scary, he’s just always like that.”

I noticed Rion-san’s eyebrow briefly twitch when Lisa-san said that.

Then, Alyss-san, who had been waiting for us to finish, raised her voice from impatience.

“Enough of that! Let’s go to the adventurer’s guild already.”

Alyss-san walked off fluidly and left us with no choice but to follow her lead.

Lisa-san was about to say something but then let out a sigh again.

“Uhm, sorry about this.” Lisa-san said quietly.

“It’s fine really.” Me and Raiz couldn’t help but smile wryly.

After that, we quietly followed after Alyss-san and headed towards the adventurer’s guild which was located within the city.

◇◇◇

I saw a certain building with a sign of a sword and shield hanging around its entrance. So this is the adventurer’s guild. When we arrived at our destination, Alyss-san immediately entered. We followed as well but Lisa-san and Rion-san stayed outside. I glanced at them curiously.

“We’ll just wait here outside. You go on ahead.”

I tilted my head to the side wondering what’s wrong, then Raiz, who was walking beside me, answered my questions in my mind.

“It’s because they are knights, not to mention royal guards. Adventurers and knights are completely opposite in nature. They would rather stand out if they’re here.”

It seems that knights and adventurers don't go along well together. It might be because knights are mostly binded under order and discipline while adventurers basically have desired freedom.

When we entered, the smell of alcohol drifted up into the air as well as the bustle and hustle of people. I then noticed that all eyes were gathered in one person. And that person was obviously Alyss-san. The princess of the kingdom suddenly walked into the crowd without a care, of course anyone would be surprised.

I ran up to Alyss-san and whispered.

“Alyss-san,” I said. “Is it okay for you to show up in public like this?”

My eyes darted around the groups of what looked like adventurers peering into our group.

“Hm? Ah, it’s fine, it's fine. It’s not like I’m hiding or anything.”

I recalled the time when I first met Alyss-san, she was wearing a robe to hide her face from the public. But now, she basically just walks around the public like it's normal. It really is difficult to understand royalty... or wait, maybe it’s just Alyss-san?

Alyss-san walked up to the receptionist while ignoring all the people staring at her. Since Lisa-san and Rion-san are not here, me and Raiz closely followed behind her.

Alyss-san handed the paper to the receptionist who watched in bewilderment and she nodded once when she received the request form.

“Will the 3 of you be doing this quest?” the receptionist asked.

Alyss-san confirmed while me and Raiz nodded along.

“Yes.”

“Then, I’ll briefly explain the details.” the receptionist said. “You’ll have to gather 20 Alyssia flowers. Since this is an F-rank quest, there’s no time limit so you can finish it at any time. Any extra flowers will also be considered for the rewards or you might keep it if you want just as long as you meet the minimum requirements for the quest.”

After the receptionist’s explanation, she handed back the paper and told us to return with it when we finished the quest.

“Do you have any questions so far?”

Alyss-san shook her head lightly.

“No. Everything is perfectly clear. Thank you very much.”

“Then, I wish you goodluck with your quest.”

The receptionist bowed her head and gave us a gentle smile.

As we were about to head back, we were suddenly approached by a voice.

“Hey there, cute lady.”

A group of adventurers approached us. There were 5 of them and all appeared to be quite large in terms of body build. The slight smell of alcohol emanated from them as they walked closer to Alyss-san.

“I’ve heard that you're going to do a quest? Then how about you join our party instead of those wimpy-looking guys over there?”

It seemed that they were drunk enough already that they didn’t know it was the princess they were talking to or perhaps maybe they knew and probably didn’t care less.

I smiled wearily as I watched. Raiz gritted his teeth and was about to raise his voice when Alyss-san opened her mouth to speak.

“I’m sorry but I already have plans with them,” said Alyss-san. “So if you would excuse us.”

Alyss-san was about to walk past them when the man blocked her while his group formed a circle completely blocking our path.

“Come on, don’t be like that.” The man’s hand was about to reach out to Alyss-san then…

His body completely dropped to the floor.

“Wha... “ the man couldn’t understand what happened. While the alcohol had played a part in his hazy thoughts, it did happen so fast no one would have believed it.

Alyss-san was on his back with her knees locking him down while holding his arms preventing him from moving any further.

“...Amazing.” Raiz watched in surprised

The man pinned down on the ground, sent a glare to Alyss-san. Perhaps the hit woke him up a little. He then glanced towards his group.

“You...! Hey! What are you standing around there for?! Help me out here!”

The others delayed for a bit before attacking Alyss-san who was still holding down the man. They all came at the same time so it was difficult for Alyss-san to move. Furthermore, she couldn’t just use the sword hanging around her waist in a place like this.

“Hey, isn’t this bad? We gotta help—”

I swiftly entered between the group of adventurers and Alyss-san. Getting involved with these kinds of guys only spells trouble. I ran up to the guy behind who was muttering something under his breath and briskly hit his chin with my palm.

“Argh?!” The guy who was about to cast a magic spell unsteadily took a step backward as he gripped his chin in pain. Is he seriously casting magic here of all places?

The remaining adventurers stared dumbfoundedly at me but then immediately lunged at me all at the same time.

“Bastard! What did you do?!” The man swung his fist towards me, so I tripped him. The first one went flying into the ground beside me. I heard people who were watching the scene laugh at the man’s fallen figure after his pathetic tumble. But for me, who was still in the middle of it all, I had no time for that.

I stepped aside once and dodged the second adventurer who came right after. His arm went past me. I punched him in the abdomen and easily knocked him out.

“Watch out!”

Suddenly, I heard Alyss-san’s words. Immediately after, I sent the man whom I just knocked out to the floor and deftly bent my body backwards, the sound of something hitting the air could be heard.

I saw the last adventurer bring out his knife.

“So troublesome... “I sighed wearily.

“You asked for this.”

He instantly lunged at me while swinging his knife at my face. But I moved easily and dodged it. He kept swinging his knife hitting nothing but air as I kept reading their path and smoothly avoiding them.

“Don’t dodge, you bastard!”

“Don’t be unreasonable.”

He panted for breath but no matter how much he swung his knife, it would never reach me. Not at least when his drunk and impatient like that. From the beginning, I could tell that they are not just any normal adventurers and are decently strong and experienced. If it’s not for the alcohol clouding their judgment, this wouldn’t have happened or at least it could have ended differently.

He persistently kept swinging until he slowed down. I didn’t miss that chance and grabbed his wrist. I tightly got a hold of his wrist and twisted it.

“Aghh!”

The pain forced him to let go of his knife. Immediately after, I grabbed his collar and forcefully pushed him down. The force of falling to the ground knocked him out instantly.

Those who were watching suddenly cheered. Alyss-san and Raiz, who had been watching as well, came up to me, flabbergasted.

“That was so cool, Hiro-san!” said Alyss-san cheerfully.

“Man, you didn’t waste a single second... I couldn’t even do anything.” said Raiz.

Everyone watched in bewilderment until the door opened and Lisa-san and Rion-san who had been waiting outside must’ve heard the commotion finally entered. Though I can’t say anything bad happened, we did make a commotion in the guild so I anxiously waited for their reaction.

As expected, they were surprised by the scene we left.

“Princess... “ Lisa-san wearily held her head.

“Ah, What?!” said Alyss-san “Don’t act like everything is my fault!”

Though it did start with her... but this time it was all because of the drunkard adventurers. I’m sure that the knights would ignore drunkards in the guild and leave it to the hands of the guild’s staff instead.

One of the staff came out and explained what happened to Lisa-san. After that, we left the matter at the guild’s hand. It seemed that things like this are common in every place and they said to just leave it with them.