A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation

Stud’s day off began just like any other.

He woke up at the usual time and got ready. Only the guild master and Stud were staying overnight at the guild, but neither of them prepared meals. Or rather, they couldn’t, so they ate the bread they had stocked up.

After all, it was a time when almost no shops were properly open. Since the guild master hadn’t gotten up yet, Stud sat alone at the table by the window in the living quarters, nibbling on bread.

His bread was accompanied by coffee. He had no particular attachment to how the coffee was brewed but made sure not to brew it in a way that would ruin the beans.

After finishing his meal, he headed downstairs to the guild.

No one had arrived yet, so he opened the guild’s doors and windows to air out the place. Stud didn’t have any sentimental feelings towards this act; he was just calmly carrying out what he had been taught as a child.

He wiped the desks with a cloth and swept the floors. Then, he checked the stockroom for any missing supplies and replenished them if necessary. He sorted the quest papers received the day before by rank and posted them on the quest board.

These tasks, repeated for years, were done smoothly and finished quickly. After that, all he could do was wait for the first adventurer, who might come at any time.

“Oh my, thank you again today, Stud-kun.”

The person who entered the guild with sleepy eyes was a staff member who had been there since the time when Stud was taken in by the guild master. Stud responded with just a glance to the deep wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and then sat at his own seat.

Gradually, other staff members began to appear. Usually, they showed up between five and six o’clock with the ringing of the bell, though it wasn’t strictly fixed. It was just about the right time for the morning rush of adventurers requesting jobs.

“Today is your day off, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any plans?”

This question had only started coming up recently.

Stud spent his days off sitting in the guild chair. It was because there was nothing else to do. It was more meaningful than just letting time pass by quietly doing nothing, so other staff didn’t forbid him from working.

However, recently, there was someone who took Stud out. Someone Stud himself wished to spend time with.

“Yesterday, I asked if you could spend time together.”

“You invited her, huh?”

Stud just looked back at the watchful smile with no expression.

“The Noble is free, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’re going out to play.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll ask someone else to do the shopping.”

“Please.”

The staff sometimes asked Stud to do shopping so he could take a break on his day off.

Stud himself felt neither grateful nor troubled by this. Since it was something necessary to do, he simply complied. He kept looking at her kindly smiling eyes and then glanced down at his arm.

Looking at the watch wrapped around his wrist, his heartbeat seemed to quicken slightly. He was finally beginning to understand that this meant he was looking forward to it.

Still, until he met Rizel, there was nothing to do.

Stud handled the morning rush of adventurers as usual and focused on guild duties until the promised time. By the way, Jill was also among the morning adventurers, taking on a request alone.

Stud had wanted to confirm Eleven’s presence as well. After all, he was going out with Rizel and didn’t want any strange interruptions.

“Oh, Stud, you’re going out?”

“So what?”

“Uh, nothing.”

Just as he was about to get up and was removing the badge from his collar, a voice called out.

The staff member sitting next to him, who had been stretching her back as if leaning backward in the chair, looked at Stud as if to say it was unusual. She nodded as if reminded that it was his day off, then said “Good work” with others joining in, and Stud replied with a very businesslike greeting as he headed to his room.

He took off his uniform and changed into casual clothes. The clothes other than his uniform were chosen by Rizel for him.