Chapter 202

The moment Albert saw the Lizardman coming out of the kitchen, he froze solid, his friendly smile to the receptionist stuck in place.

Because the appearance of that Lizardman from the kitchen…

With its vivid green skin, impossible to forget no matter how hard you tried.

And the eerie, spine-chilling feeling as if every cell in his body was sounding an alarm.

It was an instinctive fear emanating from the Lizardman before him.

“Ah… Aah… Aahh…”

At that moment, Albert’s mind went completely blank, unable to think of anything as he faced Kurt.

“Hmm? Your face seems familiar… Ah. You’re the person I had dragon nuggets with before, right?”

‘We’re screwed…!’

Why the hell does that damn Lizardman remember the face of someone he only met once?

Albert cursed Kurt’s memory in his mind, muttering swear words he rarely used.

‘It’s too late to play dumb now that we’ve made eye contact…! What should I do?’

By then, thoughts of the mission had already taken a backseat in his mind.

‘Steal a relic from a master-level fighter? No way, no way, no way!’

While it was true that his loyalty to the empire was high, even with such loyalty, throwing his life away on a mission with no chance of success was just plain suicide.

But there was someone who couldn’t possibly know Albert’s thoughts.

It was at that moment that Louis began to act.

“Captain.”

Unlike his usual high-tension demeanor since arriving in Astram, Louis’s voice was completely calm.

Hearing that voice, Albert snapped back to reality.

‘Oh no! This is bad. Louis is one of the most hot-tempered knights in the Holy Sword Knight Order. If he picks a fight with that Lizardman now…!’

Desperate to stop Louis, Albert tried to move quickly.

But the words that came out of Louis’s mouth were completely different from what Albert expected.

“Um… about this mission. Could we try to avoid using force as much as possible?”

“…What?”

“If possible, could we negotiate or talk to get the item? I have memories of enjoying a meal with that Lizardman, so I’d rather not resort to violence…”

‘What? What is he talking about? Who’s sparing who? Is he out of his mind?’

Perhaps because it was so unlike Louis.

It took Albert longer than usual to process Louis’s words.

Louis, noticing Albert’s silent stare, looked back at him with anxious eyes.

But soon, Albert realized.

‘Is Louis really suggesting we complete the mission without violence…? But this is an opportunity! If we use force, we’re all dead! In that case, it’s safer to negotiate non-violently or even buy the item with money!’

“That’s it! Let’s do it that way!”

“So you agree with me, Captain?”

“O-of course!”

Having reached a conclusion, Albert finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like he’d found a way out.

“Hmm… You’re not reacting, so did I misread the situation…?”

‘Oh no! While I was thinking, I delayed responding to that monster Lizardman! If that monster thinks we’re ignoring him, he’ll kill us all!’

“N-no, it’s just that I was surprised to see you after so long. Really, it’s been a while. Um… Mr. Kurt.”

“Ah, is that so? I almost thought I was mistaken and felt embarrassed.”

“Hahaha…”

‘What? If he felt embarrassed, would we already be dead? Is he metaphorically talking about our deaths!?’

“Hahaha! Lizardman friend! It’s been a while!”

*Thud!*

*Thud!*

As he spoke, Louis patted Kurt’s shoulder enthusiastically.

‘That lunatic…! It’s over now! That crazy Lizardman is going to kill us all!’

For a moment, Albert felt his heart stop, but fortunately, Kurt didn’t seem particularly bothered by Louis’s actions and laughed it off, asking,

“So I heard you were looking for me. What’s the matter?”

‘Huh? We’re not dead?’

“Ah, that’s…”

At that moment, Louis stepped in between Albert and Kurt.

“Rumor has it that you went deep into the ruins.”

“So we came to hear about what happened back then.”

“What? I thought I was careful to keep the information from leaking… First the Sister of the Holy Kingdom, and now this. Where is this rumor coming from…?”

Kurt scratched his chin, looking troubled.

*Gulp*

Seeing this, Albert swallowed dryly and thought,

‘If that crazy Lizardman gets angry at our proposal and goes berserk, we’re dead…!’

Albert considered grabbing Louis and running away right then, seeing Kurt’s slight frown.

But fortunately, Kurt just let out a small sigh instead of going berserk as Albert feared.

“Sigh… No matter how much I try to keep my mouth shut, rumors will spread from the adventurers we saved back then. Well, since it’s come to this, let’s have a meal and talk. I was just about to make lunch anyway.”

“R-really?”

‘…We’re not dead?’

“Yeah. If you already know and came looking, there’s no point hiding it. Just make sure this doesn’t reach the ears of Astram’s nobles.”

“O-of course!”

‘He’s willing to talk…? Maybe we can actually negotiate or trade for the relic…!’

Albert felt the situation was resolving more easily than he’d thought.

‘Maybe this Lizardman is actually harmless…?’

…

…

…

With that, Kurt went back into the kitchen to finish cooking, and soon returned with a large plate of meat.

“Actually, my usual party members are all out on a request, so I was going to have lunch alone today. It’s a relief to have someone to eat with.”

“This Lizardman knows what’s up! Food always tastes better when shared!”

“Hahaha…”

‘Right… At first, I was just a bit shocked by the fact that he’s a master, but the more we talk, the more I realize. This Lizardman is more docile than I thought.’

Look.

Even now, Louis is patting Kurt’s shoulder, and he’s not reacting at all, just engaging in conversation.

Louis has a habit of patting shoulders and laughing when he likes a situation or person, and given that he’s the vice-captain of the Holy Sword Knight Order with no shortage of strength, even if he controls his strength, those shoulder pats are quite impactful, even if done without malice.

In fact, among the knights of the Holy Sword Knight Order, there are those who complain of shoulder pain during training after drinking with Louis.

Every time Louis patted Kurt’s shoulder, Albert felt as if Louis was patting his own heart instead.

But Kurt didn’t show any discomfort and naturally let it slide.

Even though Louis’s behavior could be considered quite rude, having only met twice.

This was proof that Kurt the Lizardman’s personality was surprisingly gentle, contrary to expectations.

‘On top of that, he’s willing to share a meal with us after only meeting twice… He seems quite sociable. In that case, negotiating to get the relic from him isn’t entirely out of the question.’

Albert privately assessed the chances of mission success.

And soon, Albert decided on his next course of action.

At first, seeing Kurt, he wanted to abandon the mission and run, but that was only because he thought the mission’s success rate was close to 0%.

But now, after talking to Kurt and realizing the mission wasn’t impossible, running away wasn’t the top priority anymore.

‘Right. For now, I’ll win his favor by pretending to enjoy his cooking.’

Although Lizardman’s taste is notoriously terrible, typical of an inferior demi-human race, I’ll endure it and pretend to enjoy it to build goodwill.

‘Even if he serves me bloody meat with bitter, dirt-covered grass in a bowl, I’ll eat it.’

Of course, Kurt’s cooking skills were far above the average Lizardman’s level, and Albert had actually tasted it before, but at the time, Albert was too busy fearing for his life to appreciate Kurt’s cooking skills, so he didn’t remember.

As Albert was thinking this, Kurt placed plates on the table for everyone.

*Clatter*

“Anyway, it’s not much, but eat up.”

It was a mysterious black lump of meat.

It was impossible to tell how the meat had been cooked to end up like that.

As if the entire surface had been charred.

But Albert steeled himself.

‘Indeed, Lizardman cooking. How grotesque and ominous…! But I’ll pretend to enjoy it, no matter how terrible it is. For the sake of the mission!’

Compared to the fear of being torn apart by an angry master, this grotesque, mysterious meat was something he could handle.

With that, Albert made a solemn, pointless vow, and the meal between the two from the empire and Kurt began.