As the girl called Philia looked down in embarrassment, Alan, sitting across from her, grinned with amusement.
"So you actually have a sense of shame, Philia."
"Ngh, this is all your fault, Alan! Because you're always, always slacking off..."
While Alan and Philia continued their bickering, the bell above the door rang, and another man walked into the cafe.
"That's enough making a scene inside the shop, you two."
"Ah, Big Bro..."
"Roan-san, I'm sorry..."
The newcomer was clearly an acquaintance of theirs.
After offering an apology to Sara-san at the reception counter, the man walked over to our table.
"Are you the friend Alan was telling me about, Erik-kun?"
"Yes. I'm Erik, an adventurer."
"I see, I see. I'm Roan von Strict. Nice to meet you."
A family name.
That meant the person standing before me was a noble.
I hurriedly pushed back my chair and rose to my feet.
"Ah, please, don't stand on ceremony. I may be a noble now, but I'm merely an upstart who married into the family as a son-in-law a few years back."
"Even so, that doesn't change the fact that you're a noble, sir."
At my reply, Roan-san's eyes lit up as he looked at me.
"Hearing you were Alan's friend, I was wondering what sort of troublemaker you might be, but you're quite a polite young man, Erik-kun. How on earth did you end up befriending a rascal like Alan?"
"Well, we originally came from different villages, but we shared a carriage on the way to the royal capital and hit it off there."
"Is that so? From the way Alan talked, I assumed you two had been friends for years..."
Roan-san shot Alan a pointed glance.
"The blessing ritual feels like a lifetime ago, so that practically counts as way back, doesn't it?"
"...Honestly, Erik-kun, I'm glad you're willing to be Alan's friend. Just make sure you don't catch his foolishness, all right?"
Roan-san added with a look of genuine concern.
"Hey, isn't that a little harsh?"
"It serves you right! You're always slacking off and fooling around."
Facing the sulking Alan, Philia chimed in with a sharp rebuke.
Shortly after, Roan-san rounded up Alan and prepared to leave.
Before stepping out, he gave me his address, telling me to drop by if I ever had some free time.
"Erik-kun, did you know that man?"
"I was already friends with the boy, but that was my first time meeting the girl and the gentleman. Do you know Roan-san, Sara-san?"
"I sure do. He's quite famous around the royal capital, you know."
With that, Sara-san filled me in on who Roan-san was.
True to his word, Roan-san was originally a commoner who had risen to the nobility.
His path upward had been rather unusual—he had started out by enlisting as a soldier in the kingdom's army.
The military offered more stability than adventuring, and while the training was grueling, the facilities were second to none.
Drawn by those benefits, Roan-san had joined the ranks and developed his skills by leaps and bounds.
"And then, a few years ago, bandits were running wild along the kingdom's frontier."
At the time, Roan-san was traveling across the kingdom on leave.
During his journey, he came across a carriage under attack by bandits.
Acting on his duty as a soldier, he threw himself into battle to protect the carriage single-handedly.
He completely wiped out the band of over a dozen outlaws, saving the members of the House of Strict who had been inside the carriage.
The House of Strict was so taken with his heroic valor that the entire family set out to secure him for themselves.
Won over by their relentless pursuit, Roan-san eventually married the family's young lady and joined the nobility.
"...That sounds like something straight out of a storybook."
"In fact, Roan-san's deed was turned into a play, and the theaters in the royal capital still perform it from time to time. Roan-san is far too embarrassed to watch it himself and never promotes it, but practically everyone in the capital knows the story."
"I had no idea. I'll have to go see it the next time I have some free time."
After finishing my chat with Sara-san, I made my way to the Adventurer's Guild to check the request boards before heading outside the city walls for the afternoon.
"Ah, there you are!"
"Oh... Um, Philia-san, right? Are you waiting for someone?"
"I was waiting for you."
When I reached the guild entrance, Philia, who had been bickering with Alan earlier, was standing right by the door.
"For me?"
"Yes. Actually, there's something I'd like to consult you about."
At her request, I stepped inside the Adventurer's Guild and sat down at an empty table with her to hear what she had to say.
"So, what did you want to talk about?"
"...I know it's strange to ask someone I only met today, but... would you go monster hunting with me?"
"Monster hunting? Are you asking me to form a party with you?"
"Yes. To be honest, I was planning on forming a party with Alan to head outside, but since he keeps skipping his training, there's no telling when that'll ever happen... I want to grow stronger as fast as I can and start hunting monsters, but Roan-san forbade me from going out alone, so my hands are tied."
Philia looked at me and bowed her head earnestly.
"Please. I won't get in your way, and I'll follow your orders to the letter."
"I understand the situation. However, it's difficult for me to jump into a party with someone I just met."
"Ah... Yeah, that makes sense..."
Philia's shoulders slumped, her disappointment plain to see.
"That's why I'd like you to tell me more about yourself, Philia-san. I can't team up with a total stranger, but if we take the time to get to know one another, I'd be glad to form a party with you."
Philia, who had been staring dejectedly at the table, suddenly snapped her head up.
"I will! I'll tell you anything! Whatever you want to know about me, just ask!"
"You don't need to tell me your life story. Just enough for us to trust each other will be plenty."
I tried to temper her enthusiasm, but she was so overjoyed that my words didn't seem to reach her at all.