A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation

In Capital City Parteda, in a small shop located just a little better than the areas aimed at the general public, a tiny sign in front of the store that weakly proclaimed “Confident in appraisals” swayed gently in the soft wind.

Warm sunlight poured through the window into the shop, and time seemed to flow at a leisurely pace. Judge, who had just finished dealing with a visiting high-ranking adventurer, let out a soft sigh of relief at having completed the appraisal safely.

He stretched his slightly stooped tall body backwards, removed the monocle over one eye with practiced fingers, and set it down on the workbench. The fine chain gave a delicate chime.

On the workbench lay a dungeon item he had bought because the client had wanted it sold rather than kept. Holding it carefully in his hand, Judge looked down at it and thought, Now, which route should I use to move this along? Most dungeon items that his shop did not deal in were collected in bulk every few months by a familiar trader who visited regularly. If someone in the central district, who had nothing to do with adventurers but wanted dungeon items, had requested such things, he would pass them on there as well.

“Excuse me.”

“Ah, yes.”

A voice called from beyond the door.

Putting down the dungeon item in his hand, Judge walked over quickly and opened the door. Standing there was a person in the uniform of the postal guild. With a large bag slung over one shoulder, the man took two envelopes from it and handed them to Judge.

Judge thanked him and accepted the letters, then closed the door and looked down at what he held. One was the letter that arrived at least once every month from Insai, and its contents were easy to imagine: words worrying over Judge, doting on him, offering advice, and the like.

“Ah.”

And the other one—when Judge flipped that letter over, a note of delight slipped from his lips.

The envelope had that wild, nature‑rich Astarnia design, yet the delicate craftsmanship lent it an air of refinement. On it, in beautiful script, was written Lizel’s name. Smiling broadly, Judge kept staring at the envelope, thinking it almost felt wasteful to open it.

Then he noticed a faint crest drawn in one corner. Tilting his head, he raised it to the light for a better look, feeling he had seen that crest somewhere before. When he suddenly realized it was a crest favored by the Astarnia royal family, he wordlessly lowered his hand.

“…He must’ve been given these.”

Judge nodded, nailing the truth exactly. He remembered Lizel writing the letter first and planning to prepare envelopes later, only for Arim to say, “We have a lot anyway,” and give him some as if it were nothing. Lizel was not the type to get dragged into troublesome matters, and if Lizel was fine with it, then that was all that mattered.

He probably thought, “It looks Astarnia‑like, he’ll like it,” and sent it, Judge thought, his smile going soft and loose as he sat down on the chair at the workbench. Picking up a paper knife, he set Insai’s letter aside for now and opened Lizel’s.

“So polite.”

The writing was on the formal side, yet it did not feel distant or cold.

The contents were a reply to the letter Judge had sent not long after Lizel and the others left the Capital City, along with a report on recent events including Gill and the rest, and what they had experienced in Astarnia. Whether because Lizel had read a great many books or not, it was an easy, enjoyable letter to read.

Judge skimmed to the end, then once more went back to the beginning and read it slowly, carefully. He was smiling happily at the line where Lizel wrote he had cooked for the first time and Gill had called him dexterous—“For a first time that sounds risky, but I can picture him being good with his hands. As expected,” Judge thought fondly—when it happened.

“Excuse me.”

The shop door opened together with a familiar voice.

The one who appeared, speaking in a flat, toneless voice with no expression, was Stud. Unless he was going out with Lizel on a day off, he basically only ever wore his guild uniform, so with him in the same uniform as always, Judge couldn’t tell if today was a day off or not.