I Was Kicked out of the Hero's Party Because I Wasn't a True Companion so I Decided to Have a Slow Life at the Frontier

“Hau.”

Soaking up to her shoulders in the bathtub, Ruti’s facial expression melted and she sighed.

It was great seeing that moment of Ruti enjoying the practice that many people on the Avalon continent enjoy.

“It’s warm.”

“It’s a bath after all.”

The bath in Ruti’s mansion was huge.

We sat with shoulders touching as we stretched our legs and relaxed.

“I never imagined that a day would come that I could enter the bath like this with Onii-chan once again.”

Ruti closed her eyes and smiled.

“How do you find living in Zoltan?”

“Happiness.”

Ruti’s tone was gentle. That was something which was unthinkable during our journeys.

“I can meet Onii-chan whenever I want, even though the weather is cold, I can soak and enjoy the warmth of a bath, I can eat delicious food made by Onii-chan, and I even made important friends. The very kind and strong and reliable Tise and Ugeuge-san. I hold a sword in order to protect the tiny world that I cherish and only fight for my will. But when I put in an effort, I am thanked as an ordinary adventurer and nobody is afraid to look at me. I never imagined that I would be able to play Wyvern Race with the children. I can sleep at night, wake up with the morning sun and work out a sweat. Moreover, Onii-chan.”

Ruti came closer to me. Faint tears swam in her crimson pupils.

“This morning, when I saw my medicinal grass wilting. I-I was terrified.”

As soon as she said that, Ruti’s eyes were full of tears.

“This is the feeling of relief, right!”

Ruti, who had all her fears robbed of her since birth, digested the joy she felt when she knew that her medicinal grasses were safe. Her trembling voice certainly carried vivid emotions.

“I’m glad the medicinal grasses are fine.”

“Yup!”

I thought to myself once again after seeing that face.

I am truly glad I can be there for Ruti.

☆☆

After the bath, I made two cups of coffee milk for us in the mansion lobby.

I added plenty of sugar to the concentrated coffee that I made.

I only mixed in cow milk to that. I added my favorite ratio of four parts milk and 1 part coffee syrup.

The drink was simple but it was delicious with its sweetness and full-bodied flavor. It was probably one of the best drinks, especially after a bath.

Ruti took a sip of the coffee milk, her eyes sparkled and she drank half of it in a single gulp. She slowly sipped the remaining half slightly regrettably.

She has not changed since young.

“Do you want more?”

“Yup.”

The happiness that Ruti regained brought happiness to me too.

We laughed as we drank our coffee milk together.

After we finished cleaning the cups and pot, we took a breath.

“Now that I think about it, the High-Elf assassins that were caught are still in this mansion.”

I could still feel signs of them underground.

It was regarding the assassins who attacked Ruti and Tise but had the tables turned and were caught but ...

“I was certain they would come to free them when we leave the mansion unattended.”

Ruti tilted her head.

“I may have locked them in a room but they should be able to break it if they put their minds to it.”

“It would have been great if somebody came to free them.”

That would mean that the other party made a move. Since we have already finished our information gathering, we welcome any movement from the other party.

That was the reason why I didn’t leave Tise in the mansion when we went to find Mistome but it didn’t go as planned.

“Well, it isn’t a big deal but I just can’t relax knowing that there are other men living in Ruti’s mansion.”

” ... Is that so?”

Ruti looked down slightly and grinned.

I ended up getting laughed at, was I being too over-protective?

I coughed and reset my mind before continuing.

“So why do you think they never came to retrieve them?”

Ruti’s gaze lowered a little. That was Ruti’s gesture when she was thinking.

“I don’t know. They think it was a trap?”

The prisoners of war we caught were left alone without any guards. To the enemy, it might seem as though it is a rouse where we suddenly opened the gate to our castle.

To a High-Elf like Ririnrara who live three times as long as humans, against people like us with stronger military prowess, even if the assassins were captured and used as a negotiation card as the prisoners of war, it was only a means for her to observe our actions and she probably didn’t have any intention of getting them back.

Of course, that was given she recognized Ruti or Tise’s superiority in which they could single-handedly take control of the ship.

“Ririnrara might have become more careful so it would probably take some time before we see any action from their side.”

“Yup, I think so too.”

“At this rate, this will be addressed in the next negotiation table.”

Persuading the church to pass over the church register. That was the reason they used to set the next negotiation date.

Then, we will negotiate with Tise acting as the main negotiator and resolve the remaining queries before moving to the final resolution for this case.

With the possibility that Ruti’s identity as the Hero might come to light, this time she would probably don armor and standby behind Tise as before. Moreover, she was bad with words.

“Prince Sarius would be asking for an answer right away. There are people on his side who want to buy time as well. We have the advantage in the negotiations.”

Nevertheless, Ruti has excellent judgment. She did not fight against the Demon Lord Army with just the ability from her divine protection.

That was why I was comfortable leaving this case to Ruti.

“I will help if there is anything you need but you two will probably be fine, I entrust Zoltan to you two.”

“Leave it to me.”

Ruti nodded to my words and she looked very dependable.

☆☆

In a room on the Veronia warship.

High-Elf Ririnrara, once fear by various countries as the leader of the Fairy Pirates, still had a difficult expression on her face which still failed to spoil her beauty.

“The two are still unharmed.”

When she received the report that her two trusted retainers that she sent as assassins were captured by the adventurer called Tifa, even Ririnrara was unable to suppress her upset emotions.

Those two were, especially in fights among small numbers, the best talents in Veronia. Even if the opponents were to be an A rank adventurers, they shouldn’t fall too far behind.

(They continue to be confined in that mansion ... I am worried about their safety but just who is that adventurer Tifa?)

The information on the two adventurers Tifa and Ruru that she gathered from Zoltan these few days were completely unreliable.

(What is with this town of Zoltan?)

When investigating in a short time period such as a few days, she would opt for the method of obtaining information from those who have investigated them. Normally, with conspicuous identities such as theirs, there should be someone who tried to find out who they were.

But Ririnrara’s subordinates could not find people who investigated Tifa. There wasn’t even a Thieves Guild which specializes in information.

(Of course, there is a possibility that they were wary of my subordinates and concealed the information.)

However, Ririnrara can’t imagine citizens from a small country on the frontier unrelated to the conspiracy would be able to feign ignorance while concealing information from the intelligence agents that she gathered in order to protect King Geyserik who has many enemies.

(They are people that are significantly stronger than us? Such that they do not sense any threat from us?)

In the end, Ririnrara only knew that the two of them were great adventurers. She had no clue of their past history.

Ririnrara could only hold her head full of troubled thoughts.

“In that case, the person with the key is him.”

Probably the only person in Zoltan who knew about their past.

If she knew about it before the two of them were caught, she would have tried to capture him rather than the white knight called Ruru.

“Apothecary Red.”

Ririnrara stood up, opened a locked box and extracted a High-Elf-made pale shining green steel gauntlet.

“The blood of the proud High-Elves flow in my veins, lend me your power.”

Gauntlets of Swordsmanship. It was a Magic Item passed down in Ririnrara’s household and when Elves wear it, it will allow them to inherit their ancestors’ swordsmanship and turn into a master of the sword.

A master of the sword was strong but when a swordsman like Ririnrara, with her first-class techniques and high Divine Protection levels, wears it, her strength will go beyond that of a master and reach superhuman levels.

Furthermore, Ririnrara took out the cutlass she usually used as well as a different long sword from the box.

The sheath was white and adorned with bright golden decorations. Ririnrara drew the blade out slightly and the contained Wind Magic gushed out, causing Ririnrara’s gray hair to sway.

That was an Ancestral Magic Sword as well. A master swordsmith reportedly spent his life crafting and perfecting it. It was called Elf Sorrow.

The High-Elf master swordsmith named it so because he lamented the fact that with its incredible power, he could imagine the uncountable lives it would rob.

Ririnrara’s two treasured magic items.

“I have to take action myself.”

The D-rank adventurer Apothecary Red who is the white knight Ruru’s brother and whom Tifa is close to as well. However, there were reports that said he seemed to be hiding his true strength. He definitely had ability above that of a C-rank adventurer.

Of course, among her remaining followers, she had skilled ones who could easily capture a C-rank adventurer but ... assuming the opponent’s greatest threat level, Ririnrara decided to utilize the greatest force she possesses to capture him, herself.

(They don’t seem to want to obediently hand over the church register yet ... I have to end Misufia before they change their minds.)

Prince Sarius intends to prove his own origins with Misufia but in truth, Prince Sarius and Misufia do not have any blood relationship. Misufia’s return to Veronia would not make Prince Sarius a successor but instead deal a fatal blow to him and cause him to lose his royal status.

(Before that happens, I have to bury Misufia in secret without Prince Sarius finding out.)

Ririnrara held on to her ill-boding resolution and equipped her two magic items.