Reincarnated into a Game As the Hero’s Friend

I said to everyone, “Be careful on your way.”

 

“You too, Welner” (Mazell)

 

“I’m with big bro Mazell, so you don’t have to worry about him!” (Feli)

 

I laughed at Feli’s words.

 

“Right, right.
I’ll be counting on you (Feli) to protect him.” (Welner)

 

“Leave it to me!” (Feli)

 

As I responded to Feli’s words while gently patting his head, Feli replied to me with a confident expression.
Was this how it would feel if I had a younger brother?

 

After my conversation with Feli was finished, I turned to Luguentz who replied, “I’ve made an arrangement about your request.
Also, Gekke said that there is still a half year period left on his contract with you, so he will follow the contract.”

 

“That’s good.
Thank you.” (Welner)

 

I was glad to hear Gekke-san’s answer.
I made the contract with him as the governor of Anheim but now I was no longer the governor, I was worried about what would happen to the contract.
I wanted to ask Gekke-san about it, but felt uncomfortable to ask him directly, that was why I asked him via Luguentz.

 

Although I doubt there would be any battle in the capital before the attack on the capital event, having a military power I could use would make it easier for me to make a move in case of an emergency.

 

Laura, who had been talking to Lily for a while, approached me.
She looked like she was in a bad mood.
Was it because she would separate from Lily, or were there any other reasons?

 

“Viscount.
Use my father or my brother’s name if something bad happens.
I will take care of the rest.”

 

“I understand.
Be careful on your way to, princess.”

 

Laura, there was no way I could do something like that.
However, I understood Laura’s feelings.
Lily might be the sister of the hero, Mazell, but she was still just a normal person.
For Lily to be pulled into a political battle and be targeted by the church, I could understand Laura’s anger.

 

The Crown Prince was the type of person who wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage and use others at times and would solve problems by manipulating things behind the screen, which made sense since he was the Crown Prince.
But I still felt safe with him since I could sense that he wasn’t the type of person who would squeeze people dry and then abandon them when they became useless.

 

On the other hand, Laura seemed to be thinking that they, as the members of the hero party and people of power, should have stepped forward and protected Lily who was a normal person from the church on forefront.
She probably still thought doing so was the best.

 

However, Laura’s position as the saintess would make things even more complicated if she made a direct move, and she understood that, but she still wanted to help Lily somehow, that was probably why she said that sort of thing to me.

 

“Then, Viscount, I will be looking forward to what you find in the exclusive library.” (Uwe)

 

“I will do my best.” (Welner)

 

As always, elder Uwe couldn’t read the room, though I was grateful for his timely intervention since I was having a hard time replying to Laura’s reaction.
In addition, it was true that I got a lot of things I wanted to research about Ancient Kingdom, so I was grateful to the elder for helping me get the position that allowed me to do so.

 

We all then chatted for a while, before Annete-san, the female knight who helped Lily before, came to us and told us that the carriage was ready.

 

“Please take care of my sister.” (Mazell)

 

“Y..Yes.
Please rest assured!” (Annete)

 

Annete-san replied with a bright red face.
Not only was Mazell handsome but he was also natural in making girls fall left and right.
Huh, this damn Mazell…

 

As I approached Lily with a bitter smile on my face, Lily looked at me with a troubled expression, so I ended up laughing.

 

“How about we go now?” (Welner)

 

“Yes.” (Lily)

 

After I lightly waved my hand to Mazell for one last time, I escorted Lily to the carriage.
The clothes Lily wore today weren’t on the level of the clothes worn by noble ladies, but they were still luxurious clothes, around the level of clothes worn by rich ladies of merchant families.

 

Lily couldn’t just go shopping for a dress wearing a maid uniform, but if she wore commoner’s clothes, that would tarnish the Zeavert house’s name… At least that was what I used to convince Lily to wear luxurious clothes like this.

 

As soon as Lily was convinced, Tirulla-san and the other maids started using Lily like a mannequin, making her try countless dresses.
Knowing that if I stayed who knew how many times they would have asked for my opinion on Lily’s clothes, I immediately ran away.

 

Today, when I said that Lily’s clothes looked good on her, she seemed happy.
Well, all was well I guess.

 

Since Lily was still just a maid of the Zeavert house, I couldn’t let her ride the carriage with the Zeavert crest, but if we walked to the store, people would look down on us.
That was why we were currently using a rental carriage.

 

The rental carriage we were using also had a metal plate that people could clearly see from the outside.
It looked similar to a car’s number plate but it wasn’t a number plate.
It was a mark that told people a noble was using this carriage since there were roads that only nobles could use.

 

“Wow…so this is how the streets of the capital look like from a carriage….” (Lily)

 

Lily seemed to be excited.
Her feeling was probably similar to a young child riding a car.
In addition, since Lily was rather short, seeing the streets of the capital from a high point inside of the carriage must be a pretty interesting thing for her.

 

“When we return later, how about we take the long route?” (Welner)

 

“Really??? Thank you very much!!” (Lily)

 

She thanked me happily.
This was nothing much though.

 

After we arrived at the store, I got off the carriage first and then helped Lily to get off.
I’ve already sent a notice that we would be coming to the store today, so there should be a designer waiting for us in the store.

 

Annete-san, who had been sitting with the coachman, also came down from the carriage.
She then carefully scanned her surroundings, as if trying to catch anything that could be potentially dangerous for us.
Unlike when she met Mazell earlier, Annete-san now seemed very serious.
I glanced at Annete-san, and after she nodded at me, indicating that there was no problem, we entered the store.

 

“I heard that dresses are unexpectedly uncomfortable to wear.
I think it’s best if you just choose the most comfortable dress.” (Welner)

 

“I…I understand.” (Lily)

 

Lily looked nervous, but the store clerk smiled gently at us while leading us to the store.
The clerk also chatted with us and that successfully relieved Lily’s nervousness.
As expected for a store targeted toward the nobles, their customer service was good.
I looked from the distance, as Lily was choosing the dresses, since I doubt I could help with anything related to choosing dresses.
Not long after, Annete-san approached me and started to speak.

 

“Viscount, may I be presumptuous to say a few words?” (Annete)

 

“Sure, I don’t mind.” (Welner)

 

After I replied to her, she showed a determined expression and said, “I fully understand your ability, viscount.
Even now, the memory of how you handled things at the border with Lestlatga still fills me with awe and respect, but, um, I mean, I hope you could be more careful about your usage of money.” (Annete)

 

“Ah.”

 

The reputation of the ‘debt-ridden viscount’ was this powerful, huh.
Annete-san seemed to have no malice in her words and was just saying this because of concern or maybe she was driven with a sense of duty after Mazell asked her to take care of Lily.
Well, who knew.

 

“I understand.
Thank you for your advice.”

 

She even spoke in a low voice carefully, so Lily didn’t hear our conversation.
All in all, she seemed to be sincere.
In that case, the only response I could give her was this.
That didn’t mean I wanted to hear her nagging though…

 

“For now, you go and accompany…” (Welner)

 

“It has been a while, Viscount Welner.” 

 

Another voice cut me off as I was about to say ‘Lily’.
This familiar voice… Urgh… I didn’t want to meet him because I had been ignoring the merchants’ proposals.

 

“It’s been a while, Bierstedt.” (Welner)

 

“The last time we met was when you created the merchant party, I believe? I know that it is late but, congratulations for your promotion, viscount-sama.” (Bierstedt)

 

“Thank you.”

 

Although he had sent me a congratulatory gift via the merchant guild, it had been a while since we actually met each other.
Part of it was my fault though.
I didn’t want to meet him since I had ignored all of the proposals from the merchants.

 

“Has the story about the night party spread?” (Welner)

 

“Yes.
Some noble ladies have already called merchants to their mansions.
Ah, Viscount-sama, is that young lady your companion?” (Bierstedt)

 

“Yeah.” (Welner)

 

I was sure that he already knew it and was only asking me for a confirmation, so I just gave him a short answer.
In any case, judging from the fact that he referred to Lily as just ‘a young lady’ without revealing her name or position, he seemed to know about the recent events.
As expected of him.

 

“I see! Then, I suggest preparing a dress that has a more calm design, rather than flashy ones.
I will make sure to prepare the best quality dress too.” (Bierstedt)

 

“Thank you.” (Welner)

 

I should be able to trust the recommendation of a famous merchant like him.

 

As I was thinking like that, Mr.
Bierstedt suddenly said something quite unexpected.

 

“May I request you to go inside along with your companion? I will not take long.”