A few minutes later, I grabbed Friede’s head with both hands and lifted it up.
“Ugh….”
“It’s time to get up, Friede. It’s morning.”
Special service ends here.
Even though it was obvious she was fully awake, she showed no intention of moving her head from my thigh, so I had no choice but to get her up myself.
“Ugh….”
Friede whined a bit, wanting to stay in bed longer, but that was a request I couldn’t grant.
If you’re awake, you shouldn’t be lazing around. You need to get up and kickstart a vibrant day; we can’t waste time aimlessly in this cave!
Laying around until noon, only beginning to move leisurely after the sun is high in the sky? That’s a luxury for rich kids or jobless folks who’ve given up on life. We had no right to indulge in that.
◆◆
After dragging Friede out of bed and having breakfast with fox meat, we sat side by side against the cave wall to discuss our future plans.
Before taking action, you always need to plan.
Of course, once you try to execute a plan, it often goes completely awry due to unforeseen variables… but still, having a plan is worlds apart from charging in blindly! You don’t hear the phrase “be prepared” for nothing!
And they say the best plan is no plan at all, right? But, honestly, the last time someone said that, their life ended in complete catastrophe.
To be fair, I think that dude’s life was a bit better than mine now, but still, that’s not the kind of ending I want to aspire to.
So, for now, let’s draw up some plans. We need to figure out our next moves.
“Friede. I have a plan for the future….”
“A plan?”
Friede looked at me with a warm, lukewarm gaze.
It was as if she didn’t know whether to believe me or not. Considering our previous adventures, trust was in short supply, but still, her expression seemed to suggest she might be willing to believe me one more time, since our hidden dungeon exploration had gone relatively well.
I mean, after preparing a special morning service, seeing that face made me want to pinch her cheek!
“Just listen for a moment. I’ve got three ideas.”
“Three ideas…?!
Friede covered her mouth in shock. I bet if a woman from a one-night stand showed up with three kids, she wouldn’t be that surprised.
In other words, I was just messing with her.
How infuriating!
“Friede, no more jokes, okay? This is important.”
I impulsively stretched her cheek and gave it a shake.
“Bweee…”
Friede groaned and shook her head. Her cheeks were so soft they stretched easily, almost making me wonder if she had transformed into a rubber doll or something.
Squishy.
Squishy.
Uh, this might be more addictive than I thought. I unconsciously started pulling and rubbing her cheeks for quite a while.
“N-noo….”
“Oh? Ah, uh. Yeah. That’s right.”
After enduring my teasing for a while, she finally stammered out a request to let go, and only then did I finally realize what I was doing and let go of her cheek.
Man, those cheeks were surprisingly soft! I just started getting lost in the sensation!
◆◆
After I apologized to Friede for going overboard, I returned to the main topic and began explaining the three plans I had thought out.
Normally, without hesitation, I’d have gone to explore another hidden dungeon, but after last night, my thoughts had shifted a bit.
The information about Heid’s assassination plan given to me by Ord’s doppleganger was too tempting to just ignore.
The Abyss Priests are planning to assassinate a prince and a hero of a nation to incite conflict between two kingdoms. That’s some top-secret intel, you know?
And it’s not just any secret—it’s time-sensitive! Once they execute their plan, that info will turn into useless garbage.
If I wanted to make use of that info, it meant I had to set everything else aside for now.
But just taking action solely based on that information felt a bit risky.
Now that my plans are known, there’s a possibility they might cancel their assassination attempt or change their plans altogether. That could create a total mess!
In short, this information was a double-edged sword for me—too risky to toss aside but hard to utilize effectively.
Thus, I drew up three plans.
Should I ignore their information or make use of it? If I decide to use it, from which kingdom will I benefit?
“So, what about the plans?”
“Listen, first….”
Plan 1: Completely ignore it and continue along our path. It’s a safe choice with no benefits, but also no risks.
Well, I guess there’s a benefit to quickly developing Friede’s skills, in a way?
“That could work. As long as we have that helmet, we don’t have to worry about being chased.”
“Right. But I can’t go flaunting it too much since the disguise will break if I stand out.”
To summarize, the effect of the disguise magic just makes people mistake me for an average dude like ‘Local Citizen #1’.
I could blend in with the townsfolk or have simple conversations, but if I try to do anything too eye-catching, the magic will wear off.
People eating or shopping in the market? That’s common. A town inhabitant swinging a sword around? Not so much!
“Anyway, the second plan is….”
Plan 2: Find a major noble of the Kingdom of Rhine who wouldn’t try to imprison us upon seeing us and sell them information.
If it goes well, this could help us escape being wanted.
By providing the information, I could ask them to back us up if they gain a significant advantage.
While it might be tough to lift the bounty entirely, just obtaining a cover identity as a knight under such a noble would make it far easier to enter cities or dungeons.
After hunting down some dungeons and gaining strength and reputation, I could leverage that to strike bigger deals.
I would turn the false accusations of treachery against the kingdom into part of a classified mission that the Kingdom of Rhine intended all along and ask to be reinstated as a member of the hero party in the kingdom.
To do that, I need to pick a high noble who appreciates this information and can communicate easily…
“Do you remember Count Grain?”
“Grain…? Hm… Oh, wait, is it that Count Bilrod?!”
I had the perfect candidate.
Count Bilrod Grain. The head of an elf family that settled in the Kingdom of Rhine centuries ago.
◆◆
The Grain family originally lived as wild elves outside the capital Elfenland.
Rather than licking the feet of high elves to gain entry into the capital, they came to the Kingdom of Rhine, choosing a life of struggle with short-lived species.
Back then, humans had no clue about the wild elves’ situation, and warmly welcomed them—bestowing the utmost favor.
Of course!
At that time, elves were considered to be rare and elegant creatures, filled with mysteries, and to have one swear loyalty to a human king must have delighted him to no end.
It’s said that the palace is filled with depictions of that time, showcasing how delighted the rulers were.
Anyway, after that time, the Grain family rose to become high-ranking nobles in the Kingdom of Rhine, despite being a different race, blessed by the king’s favor.
As for the current head, Count Bilrod Grain reportedly holds a role as an administrative advisor to the royal family.
Though his title is Count, his actual power is said to surpass that of many with higher ranks.
…Of course, that only applies to past glory.
From what I know, the current Grain family isn’t in a great position. The king’s trust and their position within the kingdom have significantly diminished, right?
While they haven’t fallen as far as losing their title, their power has weakened to a point where even the advisory role is perilous.
The reason is simple.
They backed the wrong horse.
“Backed the wrong horse…?”
“Yep, haven’t you heard before, Friede?”
That was a grave mistake.
“Irina said that her father knew Count Grain. Thanks to that connection, she got a recommendation to join the hero party.”
“Ah! Right! I forgot all about that. It was so long ago!”
Indeed. The reason Count Grain lost the king’s confidence was none other than Irina Winter’s betrayal.
Count Grain probably never saw it coming.
Trusting a close friend’s daughter, especially one who was quite capable, he recommended her to the king, only to end up getting backstabbed!
The financial loss was merely the wasted funds granted to the hero party, but that single event cost Count Grain the king’s trust.
Losing favor with a monarch in a royal state naturally weakens the family. I can almost picture Count Grain gritting his teeth over Irina Winter’s actions.
With the stronger Kingdom of Burgund and their hero Gunther hovering around Irina, there’s no way he could dare protest or attack; he’s just left stewing in frustration.
Given the circumstances, a noble like him would likely be quite willing to accept our offer in exchange for information, thinking that stopping the Abyss Priests from causing a rift between the kingdom and Heid will help him regain the king’s favor.
Even if the assassination plan fell through and the opportunity slipped away, at least he could claim to have found the missing hero!
So it wouldn’t be a bad choice to approach him for negotiations.
But there was one thing pulling at my mind…
“The problem is, I can’t know for sure if that elf—no, that being will actually support me.”
What if he doubts my words, pretends to trust me, and hands Friede and me over to the king? That’s a possibility, you know.
In the worst-case scenario, he might share the same agenda as Irina.
Even if Count Grain’s influence waned in the Kingdom of Rhine, should he gain entry to Alfeim at least, leaving behind the title of Count would be trivial.
Although his family originally came to the Kingdom to avoid bowing to high elves, the current head’s feelings might differ from those of his predecessor.
In short, associating with the Grain family could provide many benefits, but the risks of things going south would also increase.
And finally, the last plan is…
“It’s somewhat similar to the second plan, but we’ll seek out someone higher up than Count Grain to negotiate with.”
“Higher up? You’re not talking about the king, are you?”
“No, not the king. No way would I be able to meet him in my current situation.”
I shook my head to dismiss Friede’s speculation and continued explaining.
“We’ll rely on this helmet and go back up—to the country we stayed in before, Hervor.”
There’s a human there who will show a lot of interest in this information.
Far beyond Count Grain in status.
He’s the kind of person who wouldn’t even flinch at my bounty but would be very attentive when it comes to matters concerning Heid.
“Who is it?”
Friede showed curiosity, and I grinned as I revealed the name.
“Argantir. Argantir Gardarik Hervor.”
The name of the second prince of Hervor, who had taken over the succession rights that originally belonged to his brother.
◆◆
After a brief surprise at the unexpected name, Friede showed skepticism, asking if such a thing were even possible.
How could we meet the prince of another kingdom while barely managing to approach the king of the Kingdom of Rhine?
“Yeah, that’s a reasonable thought. But….”
But that’s possible.
While it’s certainly impossible through ‘official’ channels, it can be done informally.
I explained Argantir’s backstory to Friede, taking care not to raise any suspicion.
She seemed unsure, letting out a low hum, but in the end, she nodded, indicating she would trust my words.
With that, I finished explaining the three plans and passed the choice to Friede. I asked her which plan she thought was the best option.
“Me?”
“Yeah, in a way, all three plans are geared towards me, so I want to give you the choice.”
It wasn’t because I didn’t trust my luck; it was genuinely the case.
And so, Friede’s choice was…
