Slam—
“Aaah!”
The door opened before he could mentally prepare himself, so a scream burst out first.
Jake leaped back a step and wrapped his arms around his head defensively.
“What are you doing.”
“Klad!”
Despite his startled scream, the one who opened the door and entered was Klad.
“You didn’t run away, Klad.”
“Sorry to disappoint if you were hoping I’d run away, but I can’t do that. We still have things to settle between us.”
“That’s not it. We need to get out of here right now, Klad. The owner of this place seems to have figured out my identity. By now, my location might have been revealed to my father.”
Klad handed Jake a large loaf of bread instead of answering.
Jake, who had been chirping about needing to escape immediately, remembered he was starving when he saw the bread and wolfed it down without a word. As Jake stuffed the entire large loaf into his mouth, he finally realized he had shown an unseemly sight to someone else.
“Ee’m sowwy for uh disgwayful—”
“Can you keep your mouth closed when you eat?”
He never thought he’d show such an unsightly appearance to others in his life.
Jake was flustered, but he didn’t refuse another loaf of bread that Klad offered.
“I’m sorry for showing you this state, Klad. It’s been a while since I’ve had the luxury of eating this fully… Did I eat your share too?”
“Forget it, just put this on.”
Klad cut off Jake’s words and tossed what he was holding. It was new clothes.
“You went out to buy these clothes?”
“I don’t need thanks.”
“I’ve never worn clothes like these, Klad.”
Klad, who had expected an answer like “my debt has increased” or something similar, frowned at the unexpected response.
So what did he want him to do about it?
“Since you’ve never worn them, what. Do you want me to dress you?”
“You haven’t forgotten I’m a noble, have you? Nobles have clothes befitting nobles.”
“…?”
He couldn’t even be grateful for the trouble of getting him clothes, and now he was throwing a fit because he didn’t bring sparkly, flowing, expensive clothes? There was a reason for the saying that if you meet a noble, avoid them, and if they’re a West, absolutely avoid them.
“If you don’t like it that much, then keep wearing that rag.”
“These clothes are not rags.”
“Ha. If you’re going to refuse new clothes and insist on wearing clothes dripping with filth, I suppose they must be made by some renowned dwarf craftsman from dragon leather with mithril coating?”
“Oh, you knew about my robe?”
“?”
If it was true, he had nothing to say.
“Unfortunately it’s not dragon leather, but it’s made from the rare wyvern leather. How could one think to make clothes from dragon leather when it’s hard to even catch a glimpse of a dragon in one’s lifetime?”
“……”
“Still, to immediately recognize the mithril coating even after seeing this dirty state—you have good discernment.”
Discernment, indeed.
“I’m sorry if it’s clothes you treasure, but that robe needs to be burned.”
“Why?”
“Because the Duke remembers what you were wearing right before you escaped.”
“I see, I understand.”
Jake nodded obediently.
If he was going to escape while avoiding the Duke, he needed to erase all traces that could remind anyone of him. Since he had been wearing these throughout his imprisonment, it was only a matter of time before he was discovered if he walked around in them.
For now, it was best to do as Klad said.
“Very well. Where should I change?”
“Just change here.”
“But,”
“But what but. Are you planning to travel somewhere to change clothes? No one’s here, so just change.”
“No one’s here? You’re here, aren’t you?”
“If it bothers you that much, how did you manage to bathe?”
“I was alone in the bathroom. Isn’t it common sense that people don’t enter a bathroom while someone is using it?”
Klad decided to omit the explanation that this inn’s bathroom was communal, and that Jake had been able to enjoy his alone time only because there were no other guests at this hour.
He didn’t want to hear questions about who created such a dreadful space and why if he mentioned it unnecessarily.
“I’ll close my eyes, satisfied?”
“This is my oversight for not knowing that lodging establishments without separate changing spaces exist.”
Jake muttered nonsense while taking off his wyvern leather robe and high-quality clothes, then changed into the commoner’s clothes Klad had brought. Feeling the unfamiliar texture for the first time in his life, Jake held and fiddled with the hem of the clothes.
“Hmm.”
“Do you hate it that much?”
“These aren’t clothes I should be wearing.”
“Unbelievable.”
Klad snatched Jake’s old clothes as if grabbing them away and burned them without leaving even ash behind.
Jake watched as blue flames burst from Klad’s hands and instantly consumed the clothes.
That sight wasn’t surprising.
‘Klad is a mage.’
He simply thought that.
“We’re done with the clothes, so come here and continue the story from earlier.”
“The story from earlier—do you mean about the innkeeper figuring out my identity?”
“What you said in the dungeon. Tell me in more detail.”
At Klad’s urging, Jake answered as if he had no choice.
“Before that, I have something I want to ask.”
“What.”
“How did you tear through the underground dungeon?”
“Is that important right now?”
“It’s important.”
“I grabbed it and tore it out, satisfied?”
“The ducal castle should have dragon magic on it, making it impossible to even scratch.”
The West kid did spout nonsense about once an hour, but he didn’t say things unrelated to the topic. This bastard wasn’t really curious about how he escaped the dungeon. Of course, he might have been genuinely curious. But at least the reason for bringing up that question at this moment was different.
“Are you trying to change the subject right now?”
“You caught me.”
“Hah.”
He lost even the will to get angry at the answer that contained not a speck of malice. He felt like all the energy had drained from his body from the earlier conversation.
Klad sank into the small sofa across from the bed.
“I’ll apologize first.”
“Don’t create situations requiring apologies just because you’re willing to apologize in advance.”
“I made the request because I thought I wouldn’t be able to get out of there. Since I escaped the dungeon with your help, that matter is now my responsibility.”
“If you’re not going to explain, just leave.”
“Extensive explanation is difficult, but I still need your help.”
“What kind of selfish bastard is this?”
He’d never been treated like this in all his life.
‘Should I make him talk?’
Klad narrowed his eyes and glared at Jake. His gaze landed on the thin neck that would snap immediately if squeezed and twisted.
Did the West kid even know what the person sitting across from him was thinking?
Seeing him sitting there confidently without even avoiding his gaze made his motivation fade again.
“Forget it, I’ll pretend I don’t know even now, so get lost.”
He lost interest in what scheme the House of Duke West was plotting, or what this Hero was thinking when he crawled all the way here.
Klad sprawled on the sofa and closed his eyes.
Creak—
Jake, who had been sitting on the bed, approached Klad.
“But I need you.”
“Then explain.”
“I can’t do that. As you know, I’m the Hero. Won’t you accept the honor of becoming a member of the Hero’s Party starting today and follow me, Klad?”
How could he shake off this shameless bastard?
Would he leave on his own if he picked him up and put him outside the door? No, this bastard would pound on the door calling Klad, Klad.
He might leave if he broke his arms and legs, but he had no hobby of tormenting someone who couldn’t resist.
In the end, Klad covered his closed eyes with his hand.
If he ignored him, he’d leave on his own.
“Klad.”
“……”
“Klad, are you a noble?”
“Why do you ask that?”
He really intended to ignore him, but such a random question flew at him that he couldn’t help but ask about the intention.
“Even if I want to give you the position of mage in my party, the criteria become ambiguous if you’re not from noble or quasi-noble origin.”
“…What happens if I’m not of noble origin?”
“I’ll give you the position of servant in my party.”
He asked unnecessarily and only made himself feel worse.
“Ah, forget it.”
Klad pushed Jake away and stood up from his seat. He didn’t care anymore about how much he knew about the descendant of the West family, or what his reason for searching was.
All Klad wanted right now was for Jake to disappear from his sight.
But if the other person wouldn’t leave, then he had no choice but to leave himself.
“Don’t go.”
Jake, noticing Klad was about to leave, grabbed the hem of his clothes. It was weak enough to easily shake off without even using force, but instead of shaking Jake off, Klad looked back one last time.
Jake was looking up at Klad with quite a desperate expression.
“I need you.”
“You—”
Bang bang bang—!
The moment Klad opened his mouth to say something to this selfish brat, someone knocked on the door.
Jake and Klad’s heads turned toward the door simultaneously.
