Published: July 3, 2025
"Hello, King Abel. I heard from the marquis that I would be able to meet you... Wait, Ryo? Oh, my apologies, even Duke Rondo is here?"
Hugh, who seemed to be using polite language that didn't quite fit his appearance, spoke somewhat casually.
"Ah, Hugh-san, it's been a while. I'm a c-rank adventurer now, so please call me Ryo as usual."
"Is that so? Then I won't hold back..."
While they were having this conversation, coffee was served to Hugh as well.
Abel's bed had a built-in table, but beside Ryo and Hugh's beds, an ice-made makeshift table had been created.
The coffee was placed there.
"So, the grand master didn't come all this way just to pay a visit, did he?"
After taking a sip of his coffee and pausing for a breath, Abel began.
"Well, not exactly. The expansion work at the Royal Capital Adventurers' Guild has finally finished, and various facilities have started operating. The second training ground, the second dormitory, and an affiliated school."
"Affiliated school?"
Ryo murmured that, tilting his head slightly.
And thought to himself.
(Could this be the start of the school arc?!)
"It's an expanded version of Run's dungeon seminar. It's a school to hold a three-month beginner course for newly minted f-rank adventurers. We'll hire retired adventurers as instructors, so it will also serve as a reemployment opportunity for them."
"Um… would that mean someone like me…?"
"Ryo, you're already a c-rank adventurer, right? Besides, special cases like you won't be hired as instructors either."
"But, the school arc…"
As he murmured that, Ryo hung his head in disappointment.
Seeing this, Abel whispered.
"You were planning something bad again, weren't you…"
Ryo, whose hopes for the school arc had been dashed, found solace in the new cake, the Improved Mille-Feuille, at Café de Chocolat, which lifted his spirits.
"I won't be defeated by the persecution from you and Hugh-san!"
For some reason, he stepped out of Café de Chocolat, spreading defamation towards his majesty the king and the grand master, and headed back to the Royal Castle.
However, back at the Royal Castle Library...
As Ryo was searching for a new alchemy book to read, he was called from behind.
"D-Duke Rondo…"
"Yes? Ah, Chief Librarian, hello."
Ryo greeted him cheerfully.
The middle-aged Chief Librarian Gasparnini was in charge of the Royal Castle Library.
He was someone Ryo always relied on, who answered questions accurately and recommended good books.
However, Chief Librarian Gasparnini was sweating profusely.
At a glance, it was clear that something was not right.
"Um, what seems to be the problem?"
"I-I would like to ask without angering you, but it seems your grace still hasn't returned the book 'Alchemy: Its Future and Outlook - Alchemy in Everyday Life,' borrowed two years ago…"
"Eh…?"
"Actually, yesterday, Viscount Kenneth Hayward came by, hoping to borrow that book… No, of course, there is no due date, but the viscount wanted to confirm some content that should be in there due to his position, so he just stopped by to take a look…"
"Ah…"
This time, cold sweat began to fall from Ryo's back.
He certainly remembered borrowing it.
He certainly remembered reading it.
But he certainly… did not remember returning it.
Viscount Kenneth Hayward was the person Ryo imagined as his alchemy master and a genius alchemist representing not only the Naitorei Kingdom but the Central Nations as well.
Though still young at twenty-five, he stood at the pinnacle of alchemy in the Central Nations, and he was a rare talent expected to have an even brighter future.
He wouldn't get angry at all, so he would probably just smile wryly about this matter... Nonetheless, Ryo still held some responsibility for having kept it so long.
Moreover, the Chief Librarian conveyed this with a look that suggested he was prepared for anything, appearing visibly cornered.
It was understandable.
Despite his position as the first duke, Ryo was still someone to whom it was perhaps unprecedented to ask to "return a book."
That was the reason Ryo was drenched in cold sweat.