Published: February 1, 2026
In the dim room before dawn, Gill sat on the bed without even lighting a lamp.
What came to mind was yesterday—what had happened at the guild, nothing else. While Lize was talking with Stud, some man had barged in halfway through. Picking a fight. As usual.
Lize didn’t so much as direct his awareness toward the man, while the man spewed abuse. Abuse. From right behind him, conversation and insults blended together.
“However,”
The air had changed. From that moment on, Lize had shifted from the existence Gill knew into something on an entirely different plane.
He’d always thought Lize “seemed” like a noble, but realized that not once until then had Lize actually existed as a noble.
“Lining up something of mine to be compared with someone of your level is… deeply unpleasant.”
For the first time since appearing in this world, Lize had manifested his self as a noble.
What had been dragged out in front of the enraged man was a quiet passion close to instinct—protect Lize. At first, when the man started harassing them, Gill had only been thinking that if the guy came at him, he’d just knock away his weapon and lightly knock him out. But he hadn’t been able to stop there.
He’d chopped through a thick greatsword right at the base, then kicked the man with enough force to crush his organs rather than merely knock him out, and even shattered a door he’d had no intention of breaking.
He, who had always refused to serve under anyone and walked alone, had been made to submit in an instant. Smothering the laughter that welled up, he felt sure yet again that taking employment under Lize had been the right decision.
This time he’d been swallowed by the pressure slammed down on the room, but from now on, he should be able to act according to his own reason. Still, even then, he would move the same way as this time.
This time, by his own judgment.
“Since when the hell am I a knight.”
He muttered the words and ended up laughing anyway. Hearing that term come from his own mouth struck him as absurd.
“I feel like our start today got a bit spoiled, but the weather’s nice and it’s a perfect day for adventuring.”
“Eighty percent of the reason it got spoiled is you.”
The two of them walked, their feet crunching softly over the open grassland. At this distance from the city walls, monsters almost never appeared, and in the gentle sunlight Lize was more relaxed than usual.
The chance of monsters appearing wasn’t zero just because they were near the capital, but he didn’t care.
“The military police in this country are very diligent, aren’t they. Personally, I found it entertaining, so I don’t mind.”
They were talking about what had happened that morning. It wasn’t a rule that they had to eat breakfast together, but if they were going out together like today, there was no reason to avoid it either.
It happened while they were leisurely enjoying the cooking of the innkeeper’s husband, the landlady’s man.
“Pardon the intrusion! We’ve received information that there is a man staying here who is falsely claiming to be a noble!”
At that time of morning, when people had only just begun their daily activities, the voice rang out, and Gill glanced at Lize with a grimace.
When Lize had first come to the inn, there’d been a fuss about a noble arriving, but he had properly denied it himself, and now everyone around them understood. The kids from the neighborhood still squealed “Lord Noble! Lord Noble!” every time they saw him, but it seemed that had spread in a weird way.
“At present, there are no nobles of this country secretly slipping down into the city. Come quietly and present yourself!”
“What d’you think you’re doing slapping weird suspicions on my guest! I won’t have you doing as you please in my place!”
It was on the verge of turning into an armed clash between the landlady and the military police. When Gill glanced at Lize, he only looked amused. Even when he himself was at the center of a commotion, if it was something he could observe from the sidelines, Lize would quietly observe.