One day, while I was having lunch alone at the dining hall, a youthful man approached me. He was quite handsome and didn’t seem like an adventurer at first glance.

“Hey, hello there,” he said, sitting down at the opposite table and casually greeting me.

I was a bit taken aback, but I returned the greeting. Then, I asked, “Um, who are you?”

“Me? I’m… yeah, I’m a friend of Guldo’s. I’ve heard rumors that he’s with a child lately, so I’ve come to see him,” he replied.

If he’s a friend of Guldo-san’s, he doesn’t seem like a bad person.

“I see. Sorry, but Guldo-san is currently working, so it might take some time for him to return,” I said.

“Oh, I see. Actually, I’ve come to see you today,” the man said with a smile, staring at me intently.

…I suddenly felt like this person might be dangerous. We both fell silent for a while. I couldn’t bear the situation and sought help from the adventurers around me, but for some reason, they all just shook their heads and didn’t come to help. Just as I was thinking of pretending to have an urgent matter and running away, Guldo-san appeared in the dining hall and came over to us.

“Lark, you’re here at the cafeteria… wait, why are you here!?” Guldo-san shouted loudly when he saw the man while the latter continued to smile as usual.

“Hey, Guldo, long time no see. I heard an interesting rumor, so I’ve come to visit.”

“Tch, anyway let’s move quickly,” Guldo-san grumbled.

With that, Guldo-san took the man’s hand and mine, and quickly pulled us out of the cafeteria. I wondered where we were going, but as we climbed the stairs, I guessed we were heading to the guild master’s room.

As expected, Guldo-san stopped in front of the guild master’s room, entered without knocking.

“What’s up? Oh, it’s you.” Fia-san, who was working at a desk, raised her head and made a bitter face when she saw the man. It was unusual to see Fia-sanl ike that.

The man stepped forward and bowed to Fia-san, greeting her. “Hello, it’s been a while, Master. Oh my, that’s terrible. I’ve been asking you to tell me if there was anything interesting happening, but you’ve been keeping something so interesting a secret,” the man said.

“Hmm, I was expecting you to drop everything and come poking your nose in if you heard about it, so I was being careful…” Fia-san replied with a sigh.

I pulled on Guldo-san’s clothes and whispered, “Um, Guldo-san. Who is that person? He called Fia-san ‘Master’, so is he Fia-san’s disciple?”

“Well, you could say he’s a disciple, but… he’s technically the king of this country,” Guldo-san replied.

“Huh?”

Guldo-san placed his hand on my surprised head and continued, “His name is Ars A. Recommetys. He doesn’t look like it, but he’s the current king of the Recommetys Kingdom.”

“Is that for real?” I asked, unable to believe it. I had always thought that kings were like old men with white beards, so it was very surprising. Then I asked Guldo-san a question that suddenly occurred to me, “But isn’t he Fia-san’s disciple? Even though he’s a king, he studied magic?”

“That guy likes to stick his nose into various things. Moreover, he had a genius talent for everything from magic to swordsmanship and all sorts of things. However, he has only one flaw.”

“A flaw?”

“His personality.”

“I see…I understand now,” recalling the king’s actions and words so far, I nodded in agreement.

Guldo-san chuckled wryly at my reaction. “You understand it too, huh? Ars loves fun more than anything and will do his best to enjoy whatever he is interested in, even if he has a mountain of kingly duties.”

As I talked with Guldo-san, the king, Ars-san, who finished his conversation with Fia, joined in. “Thanks for the introduction, Guldo. Nice to meet you, Lark-kun. Oh, we’re outside the castle now, so feel free to call me Ars-san.” reaching out his right hand.

As I hesitantly shook his hand, Guldo-san punched Ars in the head with full force.

“Ow! What are you doing, Guldo?”

“Does Emma know about this?” When Guldo-san asked him, Ars-san froze for a moment. He later pressed his forehead as he watched Ars-san’s reaction.

‘Who’s Emma?’ I wondered. But it didn’t feel like the right atmosphere to ask him now, with him scolding Ars-san.

“So you really did sneak away silently…”

“Well, you know, I was doing my job properly just earlier. But then I heard about Guldo and the others from the investigation department…”

“Tch, those guys from the investigation department. If I see them next time, I’ll beat them up… Anyway, Master, please teleport Ars to Emma, who is at the castle.”

“Understood,” Fia-san nodded at Guldo-san’s words and quickly grabbed Ars’ shoulder, and they disappeared in an instant.

At the moment he disappeared, Ars yelled, “Wait, just not to Emma’s place!”

Fia then returned about five minutes. After that, I continued to study in the guild master’s room as usual. Although it had been several days since I started studying, I’ve learned quite a bit about this world.

When it was time to finish, Fia-san called out to me, saying I was going to have a review test tomorrow. I needed to review everything to prepare for it. Later, I returned to my lodging and reviewed my lessons before praying to the gods and went to bed early.