Chapter 71 – Side Story: Nicknamed Ted
Chapter 71 – Side Story: Nicknamed Ted
My name is Ted Riivan.
Commonly known as Ted.
I’m the grandson of the current Pope.
Marie has no idea about this.
It’s not like I’m hiding it, but I haven’t exactly told her either.
Thanks to Grandfather’s connections, I’ve been training under Gain since I was a kid.
Sid, Heart, and Fernet have also looked out for me in various ways.
One day, Gain mentioned something about escorting the Saintess, and I jumped at the chance.
I’d been assigned to the Fourth Holy Knights—the assassination unit—after my aptitude test, but I was curious about the protector side of things too.
I learned later that Grandfather had insisted on limiting those who knew the Saintess’s secrets to family only.
Hahaha.
He never imagined his own grandson would be included, so it came as quite the shock to him.
Well, thanks to that, I got picked, so it was really lucky for me.
But somehow, these days I’m doing requests alongside the Saintess I’m supposed to be protecting.
This feels less like escort duty and more like being comrades.
“Yo.”
A rough-looking adventurer stuck his foot out in front of Marie.
Trouble. These guys are A-rank. What a pain.
I always get super tense whenever we enter the Adventurer Guild.
If a bunch of A-rankers came at us, I couldn’t protect her alone.
Thanks to that, checking escape routes has become a habit.
And yet, Marie—the Saintess—doesn’t give a damn.
Sigh.
The guys around us are grinning as they watch her too.
Guess it’s up to me… I started to step forward, but then Marie suddenly kicked that foot up.
Eh?
“Ow, that hurts!”
I was a step too slow as a burly brute suddenly scooped Marie up.
By the time I panicked and reached out, his buddies had already grabbed my arms.
As expected of A-rankers—they reacted to my killing intent.
They weren’t budging an inch. What now…?
“Come on! I told you, we’re here for work today!”
“Still as cheeky as ever! Here.”
The rough brute set Marie down and handed her a black stone.
“Eh! You found it? Kyaa! Gobas, you’re amazing!!”
Huh?
Marie was bouncing with joy, leaping straight into the arms of the brute called Gobas.
I stood there dumbfounded, eyes wide, when I realized my arms had been released at some point.
“Gobas had us all out scouring everywhere for it, on his orders.”
“Yeah, yeah. He told every last one of us. Right?”
“Uh-huh.””Yeah, yeah.””Yeah. We looked.”
The adventurers were all nodding one by one.
“Shut up, you lot! I told you to be quiet!”
Gobas yelled to hide his embarrassment.
Marie smiled at him with a “Thank you,” then turned to the group.
“This stone is made of lightning, you see. It’s an incredibly rare mana magnet. If you extract just the mana components of each attribute with it, you can make all sorts of medicines!”
Marie happily explained the stone to the adventurers.
I remember learning about stones like that in school. Lightning stone… or something.
Half the adventurers here probably don’t even get what she’s talking about.
But the fact that “Marie is happy” seems to be all that matters to them.
Each one boasts about her like, “My girl’s smart, huh?”
Just how many dads do you have, exactly?
“I’ll make sure to create some great medicine for all of you!”
” “”” “””Ooh!””” “”” “
“Count on ya!””We’re expecting big things!””Thanks!”
The adventurers pumped their fists, getting all rowdy and excited.
Gobas was grinning ear to ear, scratching his head happily too.
I’d heard this place was like “family” to Marie, somewhere she’d been coming since she was little.
But in the capital, with so many newcomers, you can’t let your guard down.
As I stayed on alert, one of the adventurers chuckled and patted my back. “No one’s gonna touch her here.”
“Loosen up, kid.””Relax.””We won’t let ’em.””Don’t worry.”
The adventurers took turns patting my shoulders.
Sorry, but coming from tough mugs like you, it doesn’t carry much weight.
We picked out our usual request from the bulletin board and left the Adventurer Guild behind.
“Today it’s collecting White Lion pelts in the forest. Hunting magical beasts feels so adventurer-like—I’m excited!” Marie said with an innocent smile.
White Lions are adorable magical beasts that appear in winter, with beautiful white fur that’s super soft to the touch.
She’ll probably charge right in like she did with that Horned Rabbit.
I couldn’t help but remember, and a smile slipped out.
Marie saw it and said, “Don’t you think so too, Ted?”
Hahaha.
Here, I figured I’d just agree with Her Saintliness: “Yeah, you’re right.”
Thank you for reading.
To everyone who bookmarked, rated, or liked—thank you so much!
And thank you always for the typo reports!!
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thanks for the chapter