Only after we’d put enough distance between us did I pull the hood back up to hide my face.
I also tucked Bati’s stray strands of hair back under the robe.
“You pull off the act surprisingly well.”
“It’s not that hard. You could probably do it too, if you just acted like your usual self.”
Bati does tend to come off as arrogant.
He’s got this refined aura, like he refuses to hold a conversation with anyone beneath him—he’s practically noble material already.
But really, Bati’s just someone who got hurt by Gaspar and has a hard time opening up to others.
“That’s not your real personality, though.”
“Meeting a lot of people means observing a lot of people.”
And remembering those observations and copying them?
That’s not hard for me at all.
But Bati has zero interest in other people, so I guess this kind of thing feels novel to him.
“Well, I’ll handle things like this from now on, so don’t worry. I’ll make sure we’re never found out until the mission’s over.”
If I wasn’t confident, I wouldn’t have brought him along!
I wanted to protect the cute warrior who said he wanted to admire me.
Ah.
Suddenly, Bati grabbed me in his arms and kissed me.
It was an intense, passionate kiss—thank goodness we were somewhere secluded.
My face flushed bright red.
Even after our lips parted, my cheeks were still burning.
Though the robe covered my face, I was so flustered I clamped both hands over it.
“W-what if someone sees us…?”
“If someone’s standing there watching that intently, they’re a pervert.”
…Okay, fair, but that’s not the point!
No one would believe a knight and a noble were acting like that!
“Did you not like it?”
“…No.”
Definitely not. I loved it.
The fact that Bati likes me so much that he wants to kiss me?
It makes me insanely happy.
I’m just worried it might cause trouble for him.
“That was my way of cheering you on.”
Bati hugged me again—this time, a warm and affectionate embrace.
He wasn’t wearing his usual leather armor, just casual clothes.
As we pressed together, I could feel his body heat.
Also… the firm press of his thick chest muscles made me feel a little hot and bothered.
How can someone be so strong and so sexy from just a hug?
No, no—stop thinking like that.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to pull away from Bati’s arms.
If I got too dazed, I wouldn’t be able to do my job.
“I’ll be back as fast as I can.”
Gotta finish quickly so I can jump into his arms again!
“I got everything!”
“Well done.”
One place.
“That one was super easy.”
Two places.
“Ugh, that one took a while. I missed you!”
Three places.
Bati and I started completing our objectives at lightning speed.
With Bati’s legs—faster than anyone’s in the world—our travel time was drastically reduced.
And any monsters we ran into along the way?
Bati handled them in an instant.
That left only my most important role.
But there was nothing to worry about.
Dieter had gotten us detailed building layouts, and I was loaded with artifacts, so my chances of failure were practically zero.
We’d quickly swipe any incriminating evidence and be gone before anyone saw us.
By the time the local lord realized their office had been ransacked and sent people to track us down, Bati would’ve already carried me far away.
Whether they locked down the estate or raised a fuss, we wouldn’t end up on anyone’s suspect list.
I was getting used to this high-speed lifestyle.
Laughing in Bati’s arms, I felt the cool wind on my face.
“We might actually make a great team!”
“Took you long enough to say it.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve thought that for a while now.”
…God, I’m so happy!
At first, a lot of people tried to get a good look at Bati, clearly intrigued.
But over time, that faded away.
Thanks to the evidence I gathered, Dieter had drawn his sword and gone on the offensive.
And it wasn’t just Dieter.
Even the Marquis of Zeppelin had joined in—an absolute disaster for the aristocratic faction.
The marquis had initially wanted to avoid stirring up trouble in such unstable times, but after seeing his son’s sincerity, he decided to lend his support.
It was obvious that if the power of the noble faction weakened, the royal faction would gain, so the other nobles aligned with the royalists joined in on the momentum.
Even the king, who had always wanted to cut down the nobles’ power at least once, stepped in—turning the situation into complete chaos.
Weaker nobles were purged and stripped of their titles.
Even those with power were exiled if they were too deeply involved in corruption.
In all that uproar, no one had the time or attention to spare for intimidating a mere adventurer.
“What on earth did you bring back to stir up this much trouble?”
Bati asked.
“Huh? I didn’t tell you?”
He shook his head.
I guess I was too focused on executing the plan to explain properly.
And honestly, it’s so like Bati to just follow the plan without asking for details.
“Tax evasion evidence.”
“……”
“Things like exploiting their territory’s citizens or making unfair contracts with nobles of lower status—there’s plenty of that too. But, to be honest, that kind of stuff doesn’t cause much of a stir.”
That’s exactly the kind of corruption Dieter wanted to fix, but unfortunately, the reality is harsh.
After all, even the royal faction nobles are doing the same things.
If I exposed that kind of evidence, they’d just cover it up.
“But those greedy bastards doing shady stuff? You think they’d be honest about paying the enormous taxes that vanish in one go? No way. Their envy wouldn’t allow it.”
Let’s be real—there’s no noble you could shake down and find nothing.
But trying to catch every single one would never end.
So Dieter and I decided to focus our efforts on gathering evidence against the worst of the bunch.
Of course, scumbags exist in both factions.
But because Zeppelin was aligned with the royalists, we had no choice but to mostly target the noble faction.
Dieter was really disappointed, but I was satisfied.
After all, the ones who tried to crush Bati were those noble faction jerks led by Count Covington.
There’s no way to wipe out all the bad guys in one go, but this was still a solid win!
Besides, this helped us build connections with House Zeppelin, which will definitely come in handy once Bati becomes the Hero.
We took down some villains and gained an ally?
That’s a perfect ending.
“You’re honestly…”
Bati chuckled dryly and stroked my cheek.
I closed my eyes, smiling and leaning into his calloused but gentle hand.
“You’re so clever with everything…”
Oh? Was that a compliment?
I feel good.
“…So why were you such an idiot when it came to me?”
“……”
His unexpected words stunned me for a moment—then I burst out laughing.
If this had been before, I probably would’ve said something like, “Someone like me isn’t good enough for you,” or “I don’t think I can be the one you truly love,” and made Bati angry.
His gentle expression would’ve twisted, and he’d have smacked me on the back, saying I was spouting nonsense again.
But fortunately, now I could give Bati a different answer.
“I guess I was so in love with you I turned stupid. My brain just shut down whenever I looked at you.”
Bati gave a soft smile—one of those rare ones I’d barely seen even after we started dating.
“You pass.”
Then his lips, which had just spoken those kind words, pressed against mine.
This time, we kissed slowly, without worrying about our surroundings or what had to be done.
It really felt like we could do anything.
