Chapter 258: The Trio

Editor: Tseirp

The day after the surgery.

“How are you feeling?”

Ryo asked as he entered Abel’s bedroom.

He then made a quick gesture to push his glasses up.

He was living up to the stereotype that doctors wear glasses.

Ryo had a good number of childhood friends and classmates who went to medical school…though only four of them wore glasses….

Well, it’s all about the impression. Yup, the impression matters.

“Oh, Ryo. I feel great, it’s unbelievable. I haven’t felt this good in months…maybe more.”

Abel’s complexion was looking better, completely different from yesterday.

He also seemed to be eating well. All hail magic.

The trouble with cancer is that while the cancer cells themselves are gluttonous, they also reduce the appetite of the human host.

Moreover, on Earth, the treatment process often resulted in a loss of appetite…treating the illness is extremely difficult.

“All you need to do now is eat well, no need to rush, just take your time to regain your strength.”

That was quite decent coming from Ryo.

He was sounding like a doctor.

“By the way, Abel…”

“Hm?”

“You’ve been buried in paperwork pretty much ever since you became king, isn’t that right?”

“The phrasing is a little…well, yeah, I guess.”

Ryo felt like he had only ever seen Abel signing documents every time he saw him….

“I can’t imagine you being able to so much as write your signature as you are now, or a while ago for that matter, whatever happened during all that time…?”

“Um…?”

When Ryo asked, Abel shifted his gaze to the side.

He averted his gaze, seemingly.

People act like that when something inconvenient is pointed out to them.

“Noah is still very young, and I don’t recall ever seeing Rihya buried in papers…”

“Well, um, you know…I got Marquis Heinlein to take over for me….”

After the liberation of the kingdom three years ago, Marquis Alexis Heinlein had been placed in the position of Prime Minister of the Kingdom by Abel.

Even though Abel had intensively upgraded his knowledge necessary for a king with the previous crown prince Cain’s impromptu king training exercises, he had suddenly turned king from an active adventurer.

As one might expect, it was not realistic for him to take the helm of the country by himself.

Hence, he asked fellow adventurer Phelps’s father, Marquis Heinlein, a great southern noble who had played a leading role in the liberation of the Kingdom, to serve as his prime minister.

Marquis Heinlein was apparently very reluctant at first.

It’s quite understandable why he was reluctant…when he found out that he’d pretty much be swimming in paperwork.

“My condolences, Marquis Heinlein…”

Ryo said, feeling sorry for his situation.

“Actually, Ryo, as the leader of the nobles, you should have been the one to take on this role…”

“I profusely refuse!”

It was a classic demonstration of with nary a pause.

Before Abel could say anything else, Ryo shot him down.

“That was fast…”

Abel was quite taken aback by the sheer speed.

“I only accepted the title of the premier duke and the leader of the nobles, because it’s an honorary position!”

“With your knowledge, Ryo, you would be most suitable…”

“I profusely refuse!”

Shot down for the second time.

Ryo then absconded the room.

The smartest thing in a tight situation is to beat a retreat.

There are many cafes in the royal capital.

Among them, Ryo’s favorite is ‘Cafe de Chocolat·Royal Capital Branch’.

It is the main branch of the cafe in Rune city.

What sets it apart from the others is the quality of its cakes…he especially likes the Mont Blanc and strawberry shortcake.

Needless to say, he’s dressed in his usual robe, so at a glance, he appears to be a magician adventurer.

Thus blindsiding the staff from the fact that he was a duke.

However, since he visits the store quite often and alone, most of the staff recognized him as a regular customer.

By the way, it’s privileged information that he treated himself to a cake there, to celebrate right after the surgery.

For some reason, Ryo has been called “cute~” behind his back…the fact that it is never “cool”, probably reflects how he is….

Of course, Ryo himself doesn’t know this.

Today, too, on his way to escape from the royal castle, he had stopped by the royal castle library to borrow one alchemy-related book before coming to this store.

He ordered his favorite set of Mont Blanc and Kona coffee, and took a bite.

“Mm~m, this mellow, yet light-tasting, indescribable texture…”

He muttered words that seemed to describe the taste in his mouth.

It would seem that the sight of him eating the pastries in such a delectable manner makes him popular, including among the pastry chefs.

They say that watching him motivates them to do their best the next time.

Human sentiment is so difficult to understand….

Then, after finishing the cake, he opened the book he had borrowed and started reading it over a cup of coffee.

One of the traits of ‘Cafe de Chocolat·Royal Capital branch’ is that the coffee is served in a decanter.

Ryo’s favorite perk was that he could drink about three cups of coffee from that.

“Honestly, getting away from Abel’s clutches and having a full set of coffee for a change is the best…”

He also mumbled that too, but no one heard him.

When Ryo had finished pouring the last of the coffee left in the decanter into his cup, the commotion began.

“Hey, don’t you fuck with me!”

He heard the voice from a larger table two tables over.

“What do you mean you’re out of Mont Blanc!”

(Well…the Mont Blanc does taste quite yummy. I can understand why you would want to scream out if you came all the way here to eat it and it was sold out! )

Ryo nodded placidly with a triumphant look on his face because he had just eaten the Mont Blanc.

While thinking that it was not acceptable for them to be so loud and annoying to others, Ryo could understand how the young adventurer trio was feeling.

And he felt a little sympathy for them.

Sympathy is free after all.

But the next words they uttered were….

“I’m a C-rank adventurer just so you know! And I’m going to inherit a dukedom in the future! I can do whatever I want to a place like this!”

Ryo nearly spewed out a mouthful of coffee.

Why would they say that just because they couldn’t get a Mont Blanc?

Would saying that solve the problem?

And in the first place, that’s…so uncool….

The commotion must have been heard all the way inside.

A calm man in his fifties who appeared to be the manager came out and began to deal with the situation.

However, it didn’t go the way the young adventurers wanted it to go…seeing as the Mont Blancs were sold out and there were   no more, obviously.

One of the fellow adventurers was sympathetic to his agitated companion…but the other was silent.

The silent one said nothing, his expression and the way he observed with his eyes was calm.

From his outfit, he’s probably a priest.

The other two people began to rant and rave, and as expected, the customers around them began to frown at the bunch.

“What! You got a problem with it or something?”

Naturally, these were the kind of words that the people involved would begin to say…to the decent customers who were giving them suspicious looks.

And when this happens, it begins to inconvenience the store.

“Sir, you are disturbing other customers.”

“Shut up! ”

The young adventurer said, and took a step toward the owner.

Slip.

“Uh…”

Suddenly, he almost slipped and fell…but the priest supported him.

“Ooh…”

Ryo muttered and was impressed.

The priest’s reflexes were quite good.

Ryo’s impression of ‘priests’ is like Etho from ‘Room 10’…and he can’t exactly say that he’s got good reflexes even as flattery.

Of course, that doesn’t diminish Etho’s strong points in the slightest…but then again, he’s not exactly athletic….

But the priest reacted.

“So you didn’t become a C-rank at such a young age by sheer luck.”

Ryo muttered and nodded slightly.

Naturally, it was Ryo who tried to make their companion fall by generating under his feet.

“Dammit. Enough of this shit! Let’s go!”

With that, the young C-rank adventurer trio left the store.

Needless to say, everyone was relieved, customers and staff alike.

Only Ryo, however, was somewhat dejected.

Outside the window, he could see the three of them walking.

()

Two of them fell spectacularly.

The only one who avoided falling…was the priest in question.

“As I thought, that priest has good reflexes.”

But it didn’t end there.

The priest not only avoided falling, but also looked around.

He didn’t think the falling was an accident.

But of course, he couldn’t find anything suspicious….

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