Creeeak.
"Whew... I'm telling you, things were seriously awful in the great forest..."
"I mean, sure, we're used to forests, but that place was just too much, wasn't it?"
"...I can still picture all those monsters swarming everywhe—"
Eren, Kabal, and Gido stepped into the [Guild Master]'s office.
They had fully intended to use this expedition as leverage to squeeze out a long vacation for the first time in ages, so the moment they opened the door, they started complaining at once, trying to seize control of the conversation somehow, but...
"Looks like all three of you have gotten pretty used to life as adventurers."
...the person waiting for them was not Fuze, but an ash-gray-haired man wearing a faint smile.
"...Huh?"
The man known as the [Hero] who represented the West, and as the fiance of the [Heavenly Emperor].
It was that very man, the one they had seen several times back when they were still in [Sarion].
"...H-[Hero]?!"
"[Sword of Spirit] and... [True Flame Emperor]...?!"
Adelio thought the reaction of the men, supposedly ordinary humans "from [Magius]," was a bit excessive, but the one who truly overreacted was Eren.
"...M-Ms. Shizu, and... my brother-in-law?!"
Brother-in-law.
For a brief instant, she completely forgot that she had been hiding her "real identity" from Fuze, and used the same form of address she had always used for Adelio.
"...W-wait, what? Brother-in-law...? Sir Adelio...?"
Of course, Fuze, who knew nothing about Eren's true identity, stared at her as if asking what in the world she was talking about, but Eren lightly ignored his gaze.
"Why are you here?!"
"...Shouldn't you be calling me something more normal outside [Sarion], Eryun...?"
Eren's real name was Eryun Grimwald.
Her true identity was the only daughter of Elaludo Grimwald, the head of the Grimwald family and uncle to Ermesia, and a member of the [13 Royal Families].
In other words, her status was higher than that of most kings in the West, and she was the only cousin of Ermesia, the current [Heavenly Emperor].
At the same time, that also made her Adelio's sister-in-law.
"When Er sent people from [Magius], you didn't show your face even once..."
She was the only [High Elf] who treated Adelio, Ermesia's fiance, comfortably enough to call him her brother-in-law. She was also the kind of person whose line between public and private was so thin that, despite even Elaludo respectfully addressing Ermesia as Your Majesty, she simply called her "Er" because they were cousins.
"...You've been sending Er letters regularly, right? Every time there's a tea party, she starts talking about you first, so if you have the time, please come visit [Sarion] too."
"...I've told other people the same thing, but I am trying my best. Once I finish dealing with the great forest, I do plan to visit [Sarion]."
"Oh, that's a good idea. You hardly ever came by after the new [Homunculus] you requested was completed—"
"W-wait a second!"
Fuze, who had been staring blankly as Eryun chattered away on her own, finally snapped back to his senses and raised his voice.
"I haven't been able to follow this conversation for a while now, so what in the world are you all talking about?!"
Three members of the [Hero Party], one member of the [13 Royal Families], and two people from [Magius].
Compared to those six, Fuze was nothing more than an extremely ordinary man, so stopping the conversation like this was the only thing he could do.
They had been throwing around major topics like brothers-in-law and [Magius] for a while now, yet the actual owner of this office had no idea what any of it meant.
"...I'm not asking you to explain every last detail... but please, at least tell me enough so I can understand a little...?"
Seeing Fuze practically clutching his head as he pleaded, Adelio gave a bitter smile and nodded.
**
Adelio's explanation did not take as long as expected.
Once he revealed Eren's... no, Eryun's identity, there was hardly any need to explain anything else.
"...A m-member of [Sarion]'s [13 Royal Families]?!"
Realizing the true identity of Eryun, whom he had believed to be nothing more than an ordinary adventurer, Fuze turned a stunned gaze on her.
His expression clearly said he could not understand why someone of such exalted status, someone who could punish foreign royalty if she wished, was working as an adventurer in a remote country like this.
"...Why would someone who's basically royalty..."
As Fuze trailed off, Eryun nodded as if she understood perfectly, then opened her palm and gestured toward Shizue.
"I just admired the tales of adventurers going on adventures. Especially the stories of Ms. Shizu and Heinz."
The reason she had cast aside the power of the [13 Royal Families], a status envied by all, and set out on an adventure had begun with a very simple admiration.
And the reason she had specifically chosen to become an adventurer in [Blumund] was simply because she admired the legendary adventurer Heinz.
And the trigger for that admiration was...
"..."
...the "change" Adelio had created.
The reason Eryun, who originally should have admired only Heinz's adventure stories, already knew Shizue's identity and called her "Ms. Shizu" was because Shizue had often visited [Sarion] together with Adelio.
"Whenever my brother-in-law came to see Er, Ms. Shizu was the one who'd tell me stories about her own adventures and Heinz's whenever I hovered around nearby."
Because Shizue's fate had changed, the point at which Eryun and the others first met Shizue had happened much earlier than it had in the original story.
"That just made me admire adventuring even more, and that's how I ended up like this!"
At last, Eryun placed her hands on her hips and declared it proudly, then beckoned to Kabal and Gido before speaking to the still-tense Fuze.
"Now then, since I've revealed all my secrets... it's your turn, [Guild Master]!"
"...W-what? M-my turn for what...?"
"Obviously—"
"—it's your turn to give us a vacation!!"
A request driven entirely by instinct, and completely unrelated to everything that had come before.
They were all still exhausted to the bone.
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