## Chapter 183 – 183. Amelia Clarisse Orsia
#183. Amelia Clarisse Orsia
By the time I regained my senses, Sylvia had already fled.
She ran away so desperately that if I had tried to stop her, she might have broken an arm.
Of course, I wasn’t in the right state of mind to stop her anyway.
Left alone on the bed, I was dazed for a while. Then, I checked the recording on my phone.
It vividly captured Sylvia’s cuteness, as well as the scene of her bursting out the door and running away.
Unconsciously, a smile spread across my face.
“…She’s kind of cute.”
That cold knight, who hated humans and men alike, acting cute? Even Iris would faint at the sight of it.
I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t tease Sylvia more, but I decided to take my time.
As long as I had the video and Sylvia didn’t ditch the party, I had all the time in the world.
‘I’m looking forward to dinner.’
Thump.
To calm my unusually excited heart, I lay down on the bed.
Looking out the window absentmindedly, I saw the sun gradually setting.
***
The hotel we were staying in, being an exclusive accommodation for nobles, had its own restaurant.
Hearing that guests could use it for free, we headed to the restaurant for dinner.
The interior of the restaurant didn’t seem much different from the European restaurants I had seen on NewTube.
“Where’s Sylvia?”
“She said she wasn’t feeling well and would have to skip dinner.”
“Oh, really?”
An Aura Master not feeling well?
That was a lie so obvious that even a passing dog wouldn’t believe it.
She must have made up an excuse to avoid meeting me at all costs.
“Are you feeling better?”
Whether it was because she had taken a nap, Amelia looked much better than before.
“Yes, I was able to rest comfortably, thanks to you.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
She was still wearing her hood up.
Didn’t she realize that it made her stand out even more?
‘Well, I guess blue-gray hair and blue eyes aren’t exactly common.’
But if blue-gray hair and blue eyes were a characteristic of the Orsia Grand Duchy, then I could understand why she was doing that.
Even Choi Hyena, for example, had red hair and purple eyes, which were undeniably one of the characteristics of the Seongbuk Choi family.
I wanted to cast some kind of perception-blocking magic on her, but I still couldn’t cast any magic.
It felt like something was interfering with my magic.
“Um, would it be alright if I asked you something?”
“Yes?”
Amelia cautiously opened her mouth.
“Are you an adventurer, Hyunwoo?”
“Ah, well… something like that.”
As I had heard from Balan, the guard captain of Wavele, the profession of adventurer existed in this world.
Large cities had adventurer guilds, and adventurers affiliated with the guild would take on quests. They mainly handled tasks such as dealing with magical beasts or escorting merchants.
Of course, I had no intention of registering as an adventurer.
If I were to join anything, I’d rather join the Continental Magic Association or something.
There was no reason for me to become an adventurer, who were treated like mayflies at the bottom of the ladder.
“…Then, I’ll be bold and ask you something.”
I felt a sense of unease at Amelia’s heavily subdued voice.
I had a feeling what she was about to say.
“Could you please accept my request?”
Sure enough, my unease and expectations became reality.
Even as I met Amelia’s gaze, which seemed desperate, I had no choice but to harden my heart.
“No.”
Amelia looked at me with trembling eyes, as if she was taken aback by my refusal without a moment’s hesitation.
“Why…”
“I’m sorry, but our party is currently on a break and not accepting requests.”
“Ah…”
Looking at Amelia sighing, I felt like I was weakening for a moment.
She was too pretty, which was a problem.
Just making eye contact was enough to captivate people. It was hard to block, even with a mage’s solid mental defenses.
“…If you really need an adventurer, why don’t you visit the Adventurer’s Guild in Mayfeld? There might be higher-ranked adventurers than me.”
From the start, it was strange that Amelia had asked me for a request.
Asking an adventurer whose exact rank she didn’t even know to take on a request? It was hard for me to understand with my common sense.
Defeating those thugs was something that any man who could fight a little could do.
“This is the appetizer.”
A waiter set the food on the table.
It looked quite appetizing at first glance, but thinking about the food I had eaten at Count Hessler’s mansion, I didn’t have high expectations.
We started eating quietly.
Fortunately, there were some dishes that Iris could eat as well.
Of course, the portions seemed small, but I could always take care of it separately in the room later.
After all, Sylvia would have to eat dinner too.
Throughout the meal, Amelia seemed to be deep in thought.
However, her eyes were alive, like someone who hadn’t given up.
That made me feel a headache coming on.
Why was she so fixated on me?
There were plenty of adventurers she could ask for a request, even if it wasn’t me.
‘…Does she not have any money?’
A reasonable deduction flashed through my mind.
Based on my guess, she was currently a fugitive. Naturally, she wouldn’t have much money on hand.
On the other hand, the request fee for a high-ranked adventurer wasn’t cheap. Of course, the request fee was usually paid later, but there was a deposit involved in the contract.
Perhaps she was planning to use our flimsy acquaintance to pay even the deposit later.
I felt sorry for Amelia, but even if she paid the request fee in advance, I couldn’t help her.
I simply couldn’t afford it.
Not only did we have to go to Count Partal’s territory early tomorrow morning, but we also had to cross the border several times.
Our future schedule would change depending on that.
In that situation, to carry around a princess whom the Orsia aristocratic allied forces were desperately searching for?
‘That’s crazy.’
We might get caught at the border checkpoint, or we might have trouble with the allied forces while passing through the Orsia Principality.
Amelia wasn’t close enough to me to take on such a risk.
‘…Ha.’
But I couldn’t help but feel complicated throughout the meal.
In the end, Amelia didn’t say anything until the end of the meal.
All she did was occasionally glance at me or give formal answers to Iris’s questions or food reviews.
It seemed like she wanted to say something to me, but we were only going to be together until tomorrow anyway.
To cut things off for sure, I pretended not to notice Amelia’s gaze.
Amelia didn’t seem to have any intention of bringing it up right now, so she didn’t look at me anymore.
I was tilting my teacup while listening to the conversation between the two when.
“Excuse me.”
An uninvited guest barged in.
It was a man with a bright smile. Clean skin, handsome appearance, and expensive-looking clothes.
‘A noble.’
I swallowed a sigh.
I had a rough idea of what was going to happen.
It had happened often in the cities I had visited so far.
“What’s the matter?”
The man not only ignored my words but didn’t even give me a glance.
Instead, the men with fierce expressions standing behind him glared at me.
Judging by the swords they were wearing at their waists, they seemed to be bodyguards.
The noble man treated me like I was invisible and went straight to Iris.
“Would you please give me the honor of hearing your beautiful name?”
With a cheesy line that sounded like he had swallowed a whole stick of butter, the man suddenly tried to grab Iris’s hand.
‘This bastard?’
I usually didn’t mess with nobles if I could help it, but if they crossed the line first, things would be different.
Snap!
“Aaaagh?!”
I snatched the hand of the man who dared to touch Iris.
I didn’t realize I had used too much force. The man’s scream echoed throughout the restaurant.
Crack-
There was a sound that shouldn’t have come from the man’s hand. Of course, no bones were broken.
If he wasn’t a noble, I would have made his hand look like it had been crushed in a hydraulic press.
Did he even know that he wasn’t an amputee thanks to his well-off parents?
“It’s my first time holding hands with a man… I’m a little embarrassed.”
“Aaaaaaaagh!!!”
The man writhed like a fish out of water.
Was he enjoying it too much?
“Young master!!”
“That crazy bastard!!”
“What are you doing! Make him let go of that hand!”
The men who had been glaring at me rushed toward me.
“If you move even one step from there, your young master will become an amputee, got it?”
“Ugh…!”
“You! Do you even know who he is?!”
In this sudden hostage situation, the men couldn’t do anything but shout.
Well, if they didn’t want to see their precious young master’s right hand get wrecked, they had to do as I said.
“Ah, I can’t stand this anymore, it’s disgusting.”
I felt sick to my stomach from holding the man’s hand.
“Cough?!”
Thud.
I roughly threw the man to the ground. He didn’t even know how to break his fall, so he rolled on the floor like a pill bug.
Only then did the bodyguards rush to the man’s side.
“Y-Young master, are you alright?”
“Ugh! My hand…!!”
“Hey, waiter! Call a doctor quickly!”
What a fuss.
His hand was swollen, but it wasn’t broken or even fractured.
Considering he tried to hit on my woman, this was the most lenient treatment I could give him.
“K-Kill that bastard right now!!”
But the man, not knowing my consideration, shamelessly shouted with a vein popping out of his neck.
Immediately, two of the bodyguards placed their hands on their sword hilts and approached me.
They seemed to be trying to make up for their mistake by dealing with me now, but I was dumbfounded.
Wasn’t it obvious that I was the victim here?
“Stop!”
The commotion in the restaurant had attracted not only the guests but also the staff. Among them were several men who looked like guards.
The guards immediately stepped between us to mediate the fight.
But I had no intention of ending it here.
I had to give them a warning to avoid any future trouble.
“Excuse me.”
I tapped the guard on the shoulder and passed through the gap.
The noble man was lying on the floor, glaring at me as if he wanted to kill me.
In my hand was the knife I had been using to cut my steak just a moment ago.
Of course, it wasn’t sharp. I doubted it could even cut a leaf.
People’s eyes were focused on me.
Especially the guards’ gazes were intense enough to sting.
Were they worried that I might do something rash?
“I’ll forgive you for trying to hit on my wife.”
It was true that I had been avoiding trouble as much as possible because I had a long way to go.
But that didn’t mean I had learned magic and martial arts to cower and hide like a stray cat.
“However.”
I heard people gasping around me.
The gazes directed at me were filled with shock.
“There won’t be a second time.”
A clear blue aura blade formed on the knife.
It was enormous, several times the size of the knife, even at a glance.
Swoosh-
As I lightly swung my hand, the table right next to me shattered into pieces.
“…”
The man swallowed hard, his mouth shut like a clam, at the clean cut that looked like it had been made with an industrial cutting machine.
Aura, called Aura in this world.
The man slowly lowered his eyes, speechless, at the feat that could only be shown by a superhuman who had reached at least the level of Aura Expert.
“Use this to repair the damage.”
I handed the employee a pouch containing a few gold coins and left the restaurant with Iris.
My eyes met Amelia’s for a moment as she followed me.
‘…I’m screwed.’
Amelia’s eyes were shining several times brighter than before.
Like someone who had made up their mind.
