Today (November 30), the second chapter of "The Isekai Reincarnated Adventurer" will be updated on Magukomi.
Merlin and Ricardo are quite the heartthrobs.
Including Celia, you'll get to see all three of them in their younger days.
Ricardo gets angry.
That's the real highlight of the second chapter. It was a great read, so be sure to check it out.
Despite the various mishaps, we managed to wash off the grime from the wyvern battle and had finally made it to dinner—or so we thought. The innkeeper and other guests had rushed over upon hearing Chris's scream from earlier, surrounding us and demanding an explanation. Fortunately...
...the proprietress, who knew we were associates of the
future lord,
managed to convince everyone, so it didn't become a
big deal. She did say some form of apology was still necessary, though, so I asked the proprietress to arrange some kind of service for the guests at dinner.
"Still, Grandpa... you knew Aura was going to barge in, didn't you?"
Back then, while we were all in a complete panic, Grandpa had been the only one calmly drinking his sake. Even for a seasoned old man with plenty of life experience, it's hard to believe he'd show absolutely no reaction to a young girl barging into the bath in what could very well be a state of undress. He probably at least glanced her way, but looking back now, it's strange that he didn't say a word to Aura and instead chose to lecture us.
"Truth be told, Aura came to me and said she wanted to barge into the bath to surprise Tenma. It sounded like fun, so I gave her permission—on the condition that she wasn't naked, of course."
His cheerful little explanation really set my blood boiling. But either Grandpa was too drunk to notice my anger or he was simply ignoring it, because he turned his back on me and started rummaging for snacks to go with his drink. So...
(Divine retribution!)
I decided to carry out a little prank of my own.
"Well then, might as well have a few more drinks while Chris finishes her lecture."
Grandpa, who could hear Chris's voice carrying all the way to our room, set the plate of snacks in front of himself and reached for the sake decanter—but...
"Grandpa, Aura is technically a viscount's daughter, you know. What would you have done if Albert and Cain had caused some kind of incident?"
As I said that, I casually grabbed the sake decanter first and poured sake into Grandpa's cup.
"Hey, Tenma!"
"I'm not Lion, so I wouldn't do something like that!"
"I wasn't saying you'd cause trouble on purpose, dear..."
Grandpa was too busy retorting at me and keeping the noisy pair in check to notice anything amiss about the sake he'd been poured. He then downed it in one gulp...
"Gugh! Gah! Bleagh!"
He thrashed about in agony.
Truth be told, I had stuffed several dried chili peppers into the sake decanter beforehand. Not only that, I had amped up the spiciness and heated the sake to just the right temperature for downing it in one go.
"To poison Lord Merlin..."
"Tenma... what a terrifying child..."
"Tenma, I'm sorry... so, water..."
"Water apparently won't do anything, so have some milk instead."
Ignoring the two of them staring in shock, I handed Grandpa the milk he was pleading for.
Grandpa seemed to figure out why I had spiked his drink with chili peppers. As I handed him the milk, he apologized once more and began sipping it carefully.
"Gagh! This could kill someone with a weak heart!"
Cain, who had taken a sip of the chili-spiked sake he'd made Grandpa drink, said that while pulling a disgusted face. Just one look at his expression told us he was up to no good.
"Haaah... sorry I'm late. Have you eaten yet?"
Just then, Lion returned from the meeting at the perfect moment. At that moment, every man's heart but Cain's was surely united as one: 'Lion, it's over'...
"Not yet. There was a bit of trouble, so we're waiting on the women. The plan is to drink and wait until the women finish getting ready."
With that, Cain poured the chili-spiked sake into a cup and handed it to Lion. At some point, he had already prepared a cup of water for himself in his other hand, and the instant Lion accepted the sake, he brought his cup close and said, "Cheers!"
Caught up in the momentum, Lion lightly tapped his cup against Cain's and gulped the whole thing down in one shot. And then—
"Burf—! Gufh! Gafuh! Guhoh!"
He suffered the exact same fate as Grandpa. I figured Cain, who'd been watching the whole thing, must be laughing his head off... but instead—
"My eyes—my eyes, my eyeeeees!"
Lion was rolling around on the floor, having taken a direct hit from the chili sake he'd sprayed everywhere.
As it happened, Lion's spray had reached all the way to Albert, who was sitting a little farther from Cain, and Albert was rolling around on the floor just the same.
"Tenma... from now on, you must neither produce nor use that chili sake. It's far too cruel."
"Yeah, you're right. I'll try to refrain from making or using it going forward."
I only agreed with the latter half of Grandpa's statement, and he kept saying "At least don't use it on me," but I deliberately pretended not to hear. This ought to keep him from going along with Amour's pranks in the future.
"Sorry to keep you waiting~... Wait, what happened here?! And why do my eyes sting?!"
Chris, who'd apparently finished lecturing Amour, was surprised to see three men writhing on the floor. On top of that, the chili sake particles Lion had sprayed were apparently still floating in the air, because she started complaining about eye trouble too.
"Well, the three of them got into their usual little scuffle, and this is what happened. Also, Chris, it seems like rinsing your eyes with oil or milk works better than water."
Following my advice, Chris, Cain, and Albert washed their eyes with milk, while Lion sipped his milk little by little, just like Grandpa.
After Chris recovered, she interrogated the three of them about what had happened. It came out that my chili sake was the cause, and her anger turned toward me—but when I explained from the beginning why I'd ended up making the chili sake in the first place, in the end, only Cain ended up getting scolded.
"Ugh, my eyes still sting."
"You're lucky, Albert. My mouth and throat are wrecked on top of my eyes."
"Still, looking at it this way, it's pretty rare for Cain to be the only one getting chewed out by Chris. Usually it's just Lion alone, or all three of them together."
"Tenma, you really do talk like it's none of your business..."
"Because it *is* none of my business. I mean, if someone gets killed with a kitchen knife, they don't punish the craftsman who made it, do they?"
The three of them heard my words and wavered, muttering "That's actually a fair point... No, but in this case..."—but they couldn't say I was wrong, so they just fell silent.
"Tenma, it's about time... wait, why is Lord Cain getting yelled at now?"
Maybe it was because Chris had been too slow fetching us, but this time it was Jeanne who came to our room. It seemed like Chris had planned to call us and then head straight to the dining hall. Apparently, Amur and Aura hadn't arrived because Amur's legs had gone numb from being forced to sit in seiza while getting lectured by Chris, so Aura was carrying him on her back, which slowed them down.
"So, what's the current situation at the border?"
After Chris finished her lecture to Cain, we moved to the dining hall. Once we'd placed our orders, we immediately asked Lion about the content of the meeting.
"Right, for now they're keeping each other in check, and there's been no movement. But our side's reinforcements have been gradually increasing, so apparently they can't rule out the possibility that the other side will try to force their way through."
"So what you're saying is, we need some move that'll keep them too scared to act?"
"But if we rashly launch an attack, we'd be giving them a just cause to retaliate... That's the tricky part."
Grandpa raised the issue in response to my words, and the nobles starting with Chris (excluding Amur) all nodded in agreement.
"Since they said we're here to 'support,' I was thinking we could just put on a simple show of force with magic from behind our lines, but that could backfire, couldn't it... What a pain. How about we just say 'there's nothing we can do' and head home?"
"I'm in favor! Let's go back and lounge around!"
"I'd like to side with Amur on this, but... since we've taken the job, we at least have to show our faces at the scene and come to some kind of conclusion. And besides, we need to meet with the Margrave and discuss the Wyvern situation, don't we? Just going home like this really isn't an option."
At Chris's reminder, Jeanne and Aura quickly lowered the hands they'd been about to raise.
"Oh right, that's true. Fine, let's at least go and take a look. Lion, you got the layout of the terrain where they're facing off, right? Let's plan our strategy based on that."
"Yeah, ready to go anytime! ...is what I'd like to say, but let's eat first. I'm starving."
Lion noticed from the corner of his eye that the landlady was bringing our ordered dishes to our table.
His words met no objection from anyone, and we plunged straight into a lively dinner party. Halfway through the meal, Grandpa insisted on pouring everyone drinks, which meant we never got around to discussing strategy afterward — but among it all, we heard Aura murmur, "If you're eating something delicious somewhere they can't fight back against you, that would be an absolutely infuriating taunt." That planted a useful seed — it seemed like it could be a powerful tool, depending on how you used it.
"Ugh... I think I'm gonna be sick..."
"Lion, if you're going to throw up, at least go somewhere far outside!"
"Why is Lion, the one on the client's side, the one with the worst hangover?"
"Because he's Lion. Besides, doing nothing, saying nothing, just standing there — that's what he's most efficient at."
Cain and Albert sounded a bit irritated, their voices sharper than usual. Well, that was hardly surprising. After all, Lion — the one who was supposed to be pulling the most weight — had gotten so drunk at last night's dinner that he was completely useless today. And to make matters worse, having someone nearby constantly groaning "I'm gonna puke, I'm gonna puke" was enough to put anyone on edge.
That said, Chris, Cain, and Albert all still had a fair bit of yesterday's alcohol lingering in their systems, but since it wasn't impairing their ability to travel, it fell within acceptable limits.
"Ugh… Tenma… give me medicine… blegh!"
For the record, Amour was also suffering from a pretty nasty hangover, but since Amour held a different standing than Lion, a simple warning about drinking too much was all anyone gave him.
"Both of you — I'm stopping the carriage, so get out and do your business somewhere far away. I'll have medicine ready by the time you get back."
With that, I brought the carriage to a halt. The pair bolted into the nearest thicket and unloaded the contents of their stomachs with impressive force.
The sounds they produced didn't seem to reach Chris and the others inside the carriage, but since I'd been driving, I heard every last bit of it crystal clear.
"I'm going to give them the bitterest stuff I've got."
While waiting for the two to return — looking slightly better in color than when they left — I rummaged through the hangover remedies I'd brought along for Grandpa and picked out the most foul-tasting one.
"That was awful…"
"Tenma, you're a demon…"
"Stop complaining. Good medicine is bitter — that's how it goes. It worked, didn't it?"
They grumbled plenty about the taste of the hangover cure, but its effects were immediate, and they seemed to have recovered enough energy to at least complain about it.
"More importantly, we should be spotting the margrave's army any minute now, right? Someone's probably going to come check on who we are, so Lion, make sure you have something ready to prove your identity at all times. Whatever you do, don't let anything like what happened in that town happen again."
"…I know."
As he spoke, Lion pulled a wooden plate carved with the crest of the Houst Margrave family from inside his coat.
"Chris-senpai, just to be safe, you should have something that identifies you as a Royal Guard too. We'll each prepare our own family crests as well."
"Right. That's the safest approach."
Lion looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't, shut down by precedent. The other three each began preparing documents to prove their identities. I did the same, just in case — the commission letter from the margrave and a plate bearing the Ootori family crest.
A few minutes after everyone finished their preparations, a group of knights on horseback appeared just as we'd expected. Being so close to the front lines, they weren't brandishing weapons outright, but they were clearly on alert, ready to shift into combat formation at a moment's notice.
"Get ready, Lion."
"You got it! Leave it to me!"
Lion was raring to go, determined to clear his tarnished reputation once and for all, but behind him…
"I'm betting a thousand gold that they won't recognize Lion."
"Then I'll go with Chris and bet a thousand gold on 'won't recognize' too."
"That's sneaky! Me too! A thousand gold!"
"Hmm… then I'll bet two thousand gold!"
"I'm in. Five hundred gold!"
"Come now, if they're knights, they ought to at least know the face of the next lord… five thousand gold."
"Umm, I'll match Merlin with five hundred gold."
They were getting fired up over their bets. Hearing all this, Lion seethed under his breath, too quiet for the group behind him to hear: "Don't mock me." The fact that he didn't shout about it probably meant he wasn't so confident himself.
"You there in that carriage—Lord Lion! We are terribly sorry!"
The knight at the front had tried to flag down our carriage as soon as he drew near, but upon spotting Lion standing right next to me, he dismounted.
"Ha! Did you see that!"
Though it was only the expected outcome, Lion exploded with joy and barked at the five behind him who had all bet on "won't recognize."
The knight who had dismounted watched this scene with visible confusion, but to move the conversation along he presented the commission letter, confirmed my identity, and relayed that we had come as reinforcements.
Incidentally,
the five knights who had come to
meet us numbered five. Of those, three appeared to have recognized Lion's true identity immediately. The other two seemed to hesitate for a split second before falling in step with the first three. Well, I probably didn't need to tell Lion that. He'd only feel sorry for himself.
"This is the operations room. The supreme commander of this operation is Vice Commander of the Haust Border Count's Knight Order, Lady Lyra Aglissa."
With that, the guiding knight opened the entrance to the tent serving as the operations room and ushered us inside. We'd been told it was best to pay our respects to the person in charge of this battlefield first, so Chris, Cain, and Albert joined Leon and me. Grandpa stayed behind at the carriage with Jeanne and the others—insect repellent, he called it, though it was really just an excuse to slack off. When I asked if he wanted to come, he said, "Too much of a hassle. Think I'll stay here and have some tea. Besides, I'm worried about Jeanne and the rest."
Standing at the far side of the entrance was presumably the supreme commander, a woman named Lyra—a large, powerfully built... woman.
"It's been a while, Lord Leon. And Lord Cain, Lord Albert. And my sincere thanks for the reinforcements—Lord Ootori, Lord Chris."
The vice commander apparently knew Cain and Albert as well. The three of them exchanged greetings normally, but as for me, I was a beat slow to react to the unfamiliar form of address, "Lord Ootori." Seeing this, the vice commander...
"No, I should have apologized before the introductions. Regarding the incident at Kukuri Village, it was entirely our—"
"the knight order's—"
"fault. I am truly sorry."
With that, she bowed her head and offered her words of apology. The subtle choice to say "the knight order's" rather than "the Haust Border Count's" suggested she had intended to do so from the start, regardless of whether she gauged my reaction first. It was likely a calculated move, but she did seem genuinely sorry. Besides, I'd already received an apology through Leon, so rather than point it out, playing along with the vice commander would make things easier going forward.
"I accept your apology. It would be a lie to say I'm not bothered, but that's in the past now. Well, now that the introductions are done, I'll take my leave for the time being. We only just arrived and haven't prepared anything yet. Also, please pass along an order not to attack my Familiars if you spot them. After all, they were originally vicious Monsters, so if they're attacked, even I can't say what they might do."
I deliberately chose a somewhat pointed tone, which sent an unfriendly mood rippling through the knights standing around the vice commander, but I ignored them all, shook hands with the vice commander, and walked out of the tent. As I was leaving, I glanced back for a moment and saw the vice commander still clutching the hand she'd shaken mine with while trying to calm the surrounding knights.
"Hey, Tenma. What was that about?"
"Nothing, really. I didn't come here to make friends, so that was about right."
Perhaps uneasy about how quickly we'd been summoned to the operations room tent right after arriving, I made my way back to the carriage at a pace that left the astonished Chris behind, weaving through the border count's soldiers, hired mercenaries, and what seemed to be adventurers who'd taken on commissions.
For the record, Chris was the only one who came out of the tent with me. The other three couldn't leave with me given their positions and had no choice but to remain inside. The atmosphere in there was probably close to worst-case because of me, but I figured they could put up with it—something they'd have to learn to endure as nobles anyway.
"Grandpa, what about the space we can use?"
"Oh, I've set it up just as Tenma specified—somewhere far from the other tents, with nothing around."
"Then let's move right away."
The spot Grandpa had chosen was free of any obstructions, with the nearest tent almost fifty meters away—close enough that anyone approaching would be easy to spot.
"Let's get started right away. Jeanne and the others, I need you to build a campfire a short distance from the carriage. Amour, keep watch for anyone heading our way. Grandpa, go build a fence so no one can pitch a tent too close. At least twenty meters from the carriage."
After giving instructions to the four of them, I set about installing a toilet for the lookouts outside... but,
"Hey, Tenma! What happened to that attitude you had earlier, like you were picking a fight? Could it be that once you actually came face to face with them, you started remembering old times?"
Since Chris was worried and wouldn't leave my side, I was thinking about having a little chat with her when...
"Tenma! What the heck was that about?"
"Your attitude changed so suddenly that Lion was completely thrown off."
Albert and Cain had come back. Apparently Lion was delayed because he had other things to talk about and was hesitant about returning to me.
"Welcome back, both of you. So, how did the knights react after I left?"
"Huh? Well, I'd say they mostly fell into two camps?"
"Right. One side had that 'I knew it—Tenma never really let go of the grudge' kind of reaction, like it was inevitable. The other side was more like, 'Sure, there's history, but that was still way out of line,' with a bit of hostility mixed in."
"And what about the vice-commander's reaction?"
"That's the thing—she didn't seem all that bothered. She looked surprised at first, but then she was busy calming down the knights who were getting riled up."
After hearing what they had to say, I figured the first phase of our plan had been a success, and I couldn't help but crack a smile.
"Whoa... Tenma's got a scary look on his face."
"So that means what you did earlier was deliberate?"
"Huh? Wait, Tenma—did you trick us or something?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Normally, this isn't really the kind of thing to discuss out here, but... the truth is,