Blacksmith-san and her escorts took me to the streets for a short stroll and to purchase some supplies for the return trip. I didn't mind the walk. Rather, I was glad for it.
It was late in the morning before we were ready for departure from the city. Well, that was our plan anyway.
I was ready to leave the inn for the convoy when the Boy Knight, followed by the Princess, stopped me for the purpose of another contract of some sort.
The beginnings of the discussion were pretty dry, so I'll spare the details, I'm not one for the pleasantries of nobility. The point was that the Princess was thanking me for saving her the previous day.
That said, the fact that I am an Ogre sitting next to a Princess holding a conversation is a pretty good ordeal if I had to say so. Thus, I decided to give this situation my utmost patience.
I looked over to see what the Boy Knight was carrying. In his arms was a bag half his size that rattled like the sound of gold coins. At that moment, I got a troubling premonition of what I was going to be asked to do for such a payment. I have to say that I was a bit on edge to hear what sort of mission they had for myself and my group.
Then, the Tomboy Princess stated what she wanted. She was worried about her safety, given that her escorts had previously failed to protect her, and wanted us to escort her back to the Royal Capital.
That idea sort of made me annoyed, given our current situation. There was quite a bit of gold, but several children were going to be born soon.
I was just about to leave when I was told that the bag of gold was only a down payment and that the reward would be a Gold Plate. Once I heard that it was worth one million gold coins, my mind was set to help.
According to Redhead, you can take plates, such as silver plates given as quest rewards, to the royal capital where it can be traded for ten thousand gold coins.
To put it into terms that can be understood. I put a gold coin at around ten yen, so a silver plate is worth one-hundred thousand yen whereas this quest to escort the princess had a reward of ten million yen. I don't even have the slightest concern about taking the money of Royalty, even if it is taxpayer's money. The nobility just spends it on indulgences anyway.
That said, since the balance for the risk and reward is quite generous even if you put the plot against the Princess into consideration, it isn't a bad excuse to get into the royal capital.
Since I could always train the children as they were born, there shouldn't be any problems. Since the objective of our visit has already been achieved, I contemplated if we would be able to convince the Princess to allow us to drop off the non-combatant women at our settlement.
We waited an hour at the Demuki Gate as per the arrangement. When they did arrive, it was only the Boy Knight and the Princess. The Carriage was filled with various luxury goods to accommodate the Princess during her travels.
When I asked what became of her bodyguards, I was merely informed that they were suspected of plotting to aid in the kidnappings and were sent away separately after our contract was made.
When I pressed for further explanation, it seems that the two flat out ditched the escort team to come with us. Hearing this, I broke out in a cold sweat.
Honestly, the logic of these two gives me a major headache, but the contract was already made so there isn't any pulling out on it now. From now on, I just need to be vigilant.
*Sigh* This mission just got far more unreasonable.
After hearing this, I decided it was necessary to head to the royal capital as fast as possible. With my future war chest in mind, we set forth. For this mission, I am going to keep [Luck] and [Golden Rule] activated. Hopefully this prevents any further obstacles from obstructing this mission.
As we were going, I noticed pursuers chasing us. Once again, I pressed the two for more information. They told me that these people were some members of the escort team, along with a multitude of thugs.
When the pursuers had caught up, I was urged by the Princess to protect her.
This is the worst. I ended up having to slaughter all of them. This situation does not improve my civil appearance by any stretch of the imagination, though I can always pass the responsibility for the death of the escort team on to the Princess if the need ever presents itself.
I wonder how many days it will take before we reach the royal capital.
Since we needed to move at a constant rate, I moved the Princess' baggage in to my item box and left her carriage behind. The Princess was moved to my carriage because it was the safest location for her. Even so, the Princess apparently liked my shoulder, wanting to sit on it like a chair, she quietly sat there for quite some time.
The overall mood was not that bad, but my mind was on making sure the Princess arrives unharmed.
Hmmm, a tall Berserker with a girl on his shoulder... I think I've seen this from somewhere.