What kind of nonsense is this, that you'd be chosen by the gods and favored by all the gods?

"Hahaha—"

Elsa, who was being lifted up, seemed a little dizzy, her cheeks were flushed, and she was swaying unsteadily, it was unclear how many drinks she had had.

Only then did she realize who was in front of her, and she grinned:

"Ah! Lyle!"

"What nonsense are you spouting... What happened to you? How did you get so drunk?"

Elsa is very drunk right now; she gets excited whenever she hears someone talking, and she gets happy whenever she hears Lyle speak.

"Ha! I'm so happy now! I drank so many cups! The banquet... Ah! My sister became the city lord! I'm so happy! Doesn't that mean I'll never have to work again—?"

"Okay, okay..."

Lyle held down Elsa, who was jumping up and down, feeling rather helpless. This little one really couldn't handle alcohol; she turned into this in the blink of an eye.

"Sigh...finally found it...this guy is really..."

In the distance, walking out of the city lord's castle, was indeed Adele herself.

She covered her head, her face flushed, indicating she had also been drinking quite a bit, but she was still much better off than Elsa.

Adley came up to Lyle and slapped Elsa on the butt.

"I told you not to run around everywhere!"

"Wow! How could you do this!"

Elsa blushed instantly and ran to the side.

Lyle glanced at it, smiled slightly, and then looked at Adley.

"How does it feel to become the city lord?"

"Not good... To be honest, these people talked way too much. I barely understood what they were saying for the second half of the banquet..."

"Perhaps... I should find a suitable assistant, someone smart, capable... and preferably strong..."

At this moment, Adley lowered her brows slightly and looked Lyle up and down.

"How about it? I think you're pretty good. Why don't you stay with me?"

"Forget it." Lyle's expression shifted slightly. "You see all these people around me. It's a long and arduous journey to get them away. We should set off as soon as possible."

"I see... Hmph, fine, whatever you say."

Adele was a little disappointed, but still waved her hand.

"But if you need help, feel free to tell me anytime."

"certainly."

After they finished speaking, the two fell silent. To avoid an awkward silence, Lyle turned and looked at the church in the distance.

"This loss must have been devastating for you."

"Yes, it's a bit... We spent a lot of extra money to appease the tourists and performers from outside."

"Most importantly...this ruined our celebration, and I hope God won't blame us."

"Where is Dr. Kintail?"

"...According to tradition, he was buried. Although he was a sinner, we will not desecrate the dead."

"Let the gods judge right and wrong."

"oh..."

At this point, the two fell silent again.

"And you? What are your plans?"

me?

Lyle was taken aback, realizing that he had been so focused on wrapping up the celebration that he hadn't thought about his own affairs.

Yes, of course, the idea of ​​going to the royal city of Hotema remains unchanged, but the details have not yet been considered.

I'm going to...

"Wait... isn't that cartographer, Hab Yorn, dead?"

The two were taken aback, realizing that the most crucial part—the map—could not be solved for the time being. In this chaotic era, without a suitable map, they would be lost on the road and might encounter unnecessary trouble.

We already learned this lesson the hard way just by finding Reed City.

"Ah... this is a minor issue. I'll check my father's collection later; it shouldn't be a problem."

"If all else fails, I'll hire an outside cartographer to prepare the map..."

"It's a pity... you'll probably have to stay here for a while longer."

She chuckled softly and reached out to pat Lyle hard on the back of the shoulder.

Even so, Lyle was still somewhat upset by this unexpected situation.

"What bad luck... The impact of everything Kintae did is just too terrible."

"However... I suddenly have a question."

"Where did he get this dragon blood from?"

Dragons, just as described in most of Lyle's previous fantasy novels, are mysterious, powerful, and rare.

This is true even in this world.

Lyle has never seen anything related to dragons to this day, but the dragons described by bards are more like giant birds.

Sharp claws and teeth, wings on its back, it breathes fire, and so on...

"What you're talking about... I've thought about that too. When I went to check the site, I found Thompson's warehouse records."

"And in this, I discovered a problem."

At that moment, Adley took a piece of paper out of her clothes, approached Lyle, and showed it to him.

"Look, these records clearly document the barrel of wine we found, but the problem is that the barrel we found had actually been in the cellar for a long time."

Lyle frowned.

"You mean... Kintail didn't put the dragon blood barrel in the cellar during the festival preparations? He... started planning this a long time ago?"

"It couldn't have been earlier than a year ago," Adley shook her head. "I'm more certain that it was a spur-of-the-moment decision."

"It is normal for a qualified herbalist to have some medicinal occult materials on hand on a regular basis."

I see...

Lyle nodded and continued listening to Adley.

"But here's the problem: if he didn't obtain this dragon blood through foreign trade, then it should have come from this surrounding area, but I've never heard of it."

"I need more professional help. If I rely on myself, I'll be like a headless fly, and there's absolutely no chance of finding it."

"That's why I want you to stay and help me."

"It's nothing."

Since I can't leave now, I might as well lend a hand and verify whether my speculation about the covenant principles is correct.

"Thank you." Adrie smiled slightly and reached out to lift Lyle's chin.

Then, before the latter could react, he gently kissed Lyle's cheek.

Feeling the delicate touch on his cheek, Lyle was quite surprised, but then smiled and accepted the gift.

"I must thank you... Without your help, this matter wouldn't have been resolved so easily... This is just a small token of my gratitude."

Adley raised her eyebrows boldly, then chuckled and waved lightly in front of Lyle.

"Hehe... I won't say any more, lest your little lover get upset. That's settled then, let's discuss the relevant matters again tomorrow morning."

She put her red hood back on, then turned and walked toward the lord's castle.

Lyle turned to look at Helena, whose face was also flushed, and for a moment she didn't dare to look Lyle in the eye.

"This is ridiculous... Don't listen to that guy's nonsense. Let's go, Helena, let's go back and rest."