Looking at Macar, who was denying it over and over, Ogre fell silent.
Afterward, he took back his notepad, scribbled away on it, and handed it to Macar.
“But I... I only see her as a...” Looking at what Ogre had written, Macar trailed off.
“A girl in her twenties in the village should have gotten married long ago...”—This was what Ogre had written to Macar.
Anyone who wasn't completely blind could see it.
“I'd better go back and double-check later...” Macar glanced at the girl in front of him and ultimately sighed.
“Brother Carl, are you leaving... Um, I li—never mind, I'll tell you when you get back. Do your best, Brother Carl! You'll definitely become an outstanding Knight!”
Memories that had lain dormant for years resurfaced in Macar's mind before he even realized it...
A childhood promise struck his current self like a sharp arrow—the tomboy who used to run around behind him had long since grown into a young woman.
And yet, he had never taken the initiative to look for her...
“Miss Gelin... tell me, am I really that dense?” Macar silently thrust his hand back into his pocket—his palm was clutching a gem pendant he had been about to pull out.
Ogre looked at the Knight before him, having no idea what was passing through the man's mind.
In the end, he simply shook his head.
“Thank you, Miss Gelin. You really are such a kind girl.” Ultimately, Macar chuckled to himself and stopped dwelling on it.
Ogre pulled his scarf up a bit higher around his neck and followed behind.
He harbored no prejudice against Macar.
He just felt it wasn't worth it for a person like Macar to waste time on him.
...
“What?! You're saying there are no carriages left?!” Macar slammed his fist heavily onto the wooden counter.
“P-Please don't be angry, respected Knight. You see, there were plenty of carriages left originally... but as luck would have it, a merchant rented all the horned horses just a moment ago, so...” The receptionist wiped away non-existent sweat from his forehead.
He cringed and shrank back a little.
He was just a low-level worker; how could he dare offend a Knight, even if it was a relatively friendly Paladin of Dawn?
Ogre stepped forward and tugged on Macar's sleeve, signaling that he didn't mind.
“Seriously...” Macar was already in a bad mood, and now even securing a carriage was going wrong.
“I'm sorry, Miss Gelin... I should have reserved one for you earlier.”
Macar cursed himself inwardly: 'I can't even get something simple like this right, yet I'm always thinking about taking care of others... Serves me right!'
“It's... fine...” Ogre shook his head, indicating that he didn't care.
He only cared about whether he could return to the city later, as well as the matter with the clock tower.
“This is troublesome...” Macar could only start rethinking how to get to the town...
He couldn't just go straight home, could he?
At the thought of Eve, who might already be at his house, Macar felt a headache coming on. He still hadn't figured out how to handle the situation.
He really found it difficult to view Eve as a girl he could pursue.
Besides, he had already promised Miss Gelin that he would help her get some books. Even if he wasn't pursuing her, he couldn't break his word—integrity was one of the standards for becoming a Paladin!
'Should I go ask Friar Fula for help?'
But Macar didn't think he could bring himself to bother church operations over such a trivial matter.
After all, this was just a small affair.
A personal promise he had impulsively agreed to, no less.
'Forget it... Sigh, Macar, oh Macar, how can you mess up even a little thing like this...'
Ultimately, Macar decided to bring Ogre back home first, and then go to the town alone to buy the books.
He would rather inconvenience himself than trouble anyone else.
“Gelin...”
Just as Macar was about to speak, the receptionist spoke up: “Um... esteemed guest, if you are heading to Roke Town, you could actually go discuss it with that merchant. He's resting in the back right now.”
“Why didn't you say so earlier? Miss Gelin, wait for me here...” Macar's eyes lit up, and he immediately prepared to enter the room to speak with the merchant.
The receptionist: “...”
You didn't give me a chance to finish!
Naturally, he didn't dare say those words aloud. He was just a temp, after all, and didn't dare offend a Paladin.
Even their boss wouldn't provoke a Professional without good reason.
“I've rested enough.” Right at that moment, the curtain of a nearby room was lifted, and a human merchant dressed in brown robes stepped out of the room provided by the stable house.
Clearly, he was the merchant who had rented all the horned horses beforehand.
In the empire, wandering merchants held one of the lowest social statuses.
Most nobles looked down on professions that produced nothing, so merchant roles were often filled by civilized non-human races like gremlins and gnomes.
This had also encouraged the formation of black markets.
For humans to engage directly in commerce was quite rare.
Especially in the frontier lands—almost no humans were willing to be traveling merchants.
Who knew if the earnings from a few trips would even cover the losses from being robbed just once?
If the frontier lands lacked in anything, it certainly wasn't raiders and thugs.
This resulted in transportation rights and city trade being controlled almost entirely by nobles—they didn't understand commerce, but as long as they were strong enough, leaving such matters to servants worked out just fine.
“If you don't mind, Sir Knight and the lady behind you, please come in so we may speak...” The brown-robed merchant gestured politely.
“I feel like I recognize you...” Macar stared at the merchant's face for a while, but ultimately couldn't place him, only feeling a vague sense of familiarity.
Macar was somewhat face-blind.
Unless it was an acquaintance or someone with strikingly stunning looks like Ogre, he found it difficult to remember or distinguish faces.
“I certainly recognize you, Knight Carl. You may call me Kakafiel. I arrived in the frontier two years ago and often do small business among the villages, so you might have seen me by chance at some point.” Kakafiel introduced himself.
As the saying goes, one does not strike a smiling face. Seeing Kakafiel being so polite, Macar couldn't say much either.
He merely turned to glance at Ogre, asking silently if Ogre wanted to go in.
“Mm...” Ogre nodded cooperatively.
Truth be told, he didn't strictly need that carriage...
Was it just that in certain people's eyes, he appeared somewhat delicate?
“Then sorry for the intrusion, Mr. Kakafiel.”
Macar still decided to make things clear. As long as the problem could be solved, he was willing to pay a little extra.
It was better than going back right now to deal with all that mess.
Following a brief conversation, Macar quickly explained the purpose of their visit. “That's roughly the situation...”
“I completely understand... but I truly need these horned horses. How about this, Knight Carl? You two can accompany my caravan—I happen to be passing through there as well. I can let this lady use my private carriage, free of charge,” Kakafiel said after a moment of thought.
“I can pay extra.” Macar saw through Kakafiel's scheme—this guy wanted to freeload off him and use him, a Paladin, as a bodyguard along the way.
“No... This isn't a matter of money. I need these horned horses to transport goods to other towns and villages, so at most, I can only agree to let you and this lady travel with us.”
Faced with the offer of extra money, Kakafiel's attitude was surprisingly firm.
“Isn't transporting goods just for money anyway?” Macar said in an instinctively dismissive tone.
It wasn't until Ogre nudged him that he realized he had fallen into the trap of arrogance...
Kakafiel fell unusually quiet for a moment before shaking his head. “Then I am truly sorry, Mr. Carl. I'm afraid I cannot meet your request. However, if there are any books you need, I could bring them to you tomorrow.”
Kakafiel didn't refute Macar. As a businessman, he understood one thing best—it was always wise to avoid senseless conflicts with anyone.
“I'm sorry... I was out of line just now.” Macar bowed his head and offered a sincere apology.
He had just been annoyed at being taken advantage of by a merchant.
But after Ogre's reminder, he calmed down and realized his mistake—no stranger had any obligation to help you.
Relationships of mutual utility were commonplace and entirely normal.
“It's fine. Merchants consume resources for the sake of making money in the first place. But... I really cannot relinquish the horned horses to you this time.”
Kakafiel's persistence caught both Macar and Ogre slightly by surprise.
However, they didn't dwell on or press the matter further, as it was someone else's personal affair.
“Go...” Ogre used his portable graphite pen to write 'Agree to it' on the notepad.
“Miss Gelin...”
Macar actually didn't want to travel with a merchant caravan.
As a proud Paladin of the Church of Dawn, mixing together with merchants would be embarrassing if word got out. Yet this was Miss Gelin's request...
It put him in quite a dilemma.
This was why he had wanted to pay money to acquire a horned horse separately from Kakafiel.
It was just that Ogre couldn't quite understand his train of thought.
In Ogre's eyes, merchants were no different from anyone else—even if infamous stories often arose from such groups.
“I can pay you a fee for your trouble along the way...” Kakafiel had realized by now that the person who could actually make decisions seemed to be the girl beside him whose face was mostly hidden.
“That's not what I meant. It's just...” Macar was at a loss for words; he couldn't very well point at the man's nose and say it was embarrassing to be seen with them.
“I have cloaks and masks that can thoroughly conceal your identity. You only need to step in if we encounter enemies my men cannot handle.” Kakafiel saw through Macar's concern.
“A-Alright then.” Though somewhat frustrated inside, Macar ultimately accepted the proposition.
...
'So... what happened to our date for two?' Macar felt overwhelmingly gloomy inside—this was completely different from what he had envisioned.
He had wanted Miss Gelin holding his waist while riding along, or chatting pleasantly with her inside a private carriage.
Not sitting beside Kakafiel, who was driving the carriage himself, chatting with a middle-aged man...
“Hahaha, Sir Knight, what do you think of my driving skills?”
“It's fine... acceptable, I guess...”
Macar was already numb.
Rate on N.U.
