Damn it! How could all this have happened?!
Best give the soundproofing devices a second thought.
That voice...
Prince Conrad!
And now it's gone.
As far as I know, this world doesn't have gunpowder.
So maybe that was magic and not fireworks.
But for what purpose...?
Aw, after I lined up to buy these...
Get away from her.
Damned rogues.
The likes of you ought never dare lay a hand on a woman of her station.
Sanctuary!
Eto!
The backlash from Sanctuary is never this bad...
I am telling you to get away from her. Now.
You really think we'd listen to a madman like you?!
Sanctuary!
I will say it again. Get away from her.
What?
Ryo!
Ryo?
Mind explaining...
what you're doing to my friends?
Shut up. And you lot, get away from her.
What's the meaning of this?
You die first, then.
Ice Wall 10.
Impossible.
What? Is that all you've got?
Because if so, then it's my turn.
We're not done here.
Don't get cocky!
Ryo!
Hold it!
Both of you, sheathe your weapons!
Abel!
No one asked you, Abel.
If you butt in, I can freeze you solid, too.
J-Just give me a moment, Ryo.
You with the white hair... You're Oscar, right?
Oscar Luska, a lieutenant in the Debuhi Empire's Magic Division.
Who are you supposed to be?
My name is Abel.
I'm in town acting on behalf of Lune's guild master.
The four men you're fighting weren't part of the attack.
They're adventurers of Lune's guild.
Adventurers?
Yes, exactly.
They're not the sort that would've taken part in the raid on the lord's manor.
I fully understand you're acting out of concern for Her Imperial Highness.
So please, just hear me out.
Abel.
You've said your piece, haven't you?
So I'm going to kill him now.
Wait, why?!
After what he's done to my friends,
do you seriously expect me to go "Oh, okay" and make nice?
I'm not opposed to freezing the woman before giving her back, either.
The Fall of Heaven and Earth!
Water Jet.
Impressive, for a human, but that looks like the best you can do.
I can kill him now, right, Abel?
You idiot!
Of course not! This is an international incident!
If you keep it up, this could lead to war!
As for you, Oscar...
I was at the lord's manor.
Prince Conrad sent me here on orders to ensure Princess Fiona was all right.
He did?
That's right.
Your priority should be the prince and princess's safety,
then investigating the attack.
Does this skirmish serve any purpose whatsoever?
Ryo, I understand why you're mad, but I'm asking you to put your sword away.
Would you be convinced to stand down like this if someone had hurt Rihya?
Yes, I would.
Because I know she wouldn't want war between our kingdom and the empire.
Talk certainly is cheap.
Ryo!
Why didn't you dodge?
Because I refuse to see war ignited with you as the cause, Ryo.
I'd give my life stop it.
So I won't let things come to that.
Fine.
Out of respect for Abel, I'm willing to stay my blade.
Abel, can you take the princess to him?
Okay.
Nils, I'll take the princess off your hands!
Hey, help me out over here!
You mean the Rihya healed me?!
Yeah. At one of the temple clinics.
She stayed by you until you recovered.
I don't believe it...
She's truly a goddess!
Well, I'm just glad you're all feeling better.
All's well that ends well.
You're really saying that, Ryo?
Abel!
You look more tired than usual.
And whose fault is that?
I had a real mess on my hands after that.
Um, do we need to worry about any reprisals?
No, that won't be an issue.
I explained the situation to the prince and princess when she woke up,
and they understood.
Oscar even gave an apology.
Last night is being chalked up to a mutual misunderstanding.
Really?!
I was worried they might take our adventuring licenses.
He actually took responsibility? That's good to hear.
Seriously, Ryo? After you almost started a war?
Well, you guys may have made out all right,
but there were a fair number of casualties at the garden party.
That means no shortage of diplomatic complications in the near future.
Doesn't that fall on you,
considering you were present but didn't do anything?
It wasn't my fault!
I was doing business for the guild master in a separate building,
and by the time I returned, it was already a disaster.
Unbelievable. There's never an Abel around when you need one.
O-Oh, right! Princess Fiona wants to extend her thanks to the three of you.
The princess said that?
You saved her from smashing into the ground
and risked your lives to protect her from the raiders.
She's offering a monetary reward.
All right!
That would be appreciated!
Can we really accept?
There's nothing in it for you, Ryo.
W-Well...
By the time I arrived, the bad guys were already down,
and there was only some weird fire mage to deal with.
I wish you could appreciate the audacity of you calling the Inferno Magician
"some weird mage."
Looks like the festival's over.
Which means our first escort job is over, too.
Not yet.
The escort's not over until you arrive safely home.
Let's head back to Lune.
When? When's he going to be back?
Ah, I just can't get my spirits up.
All when I didn't even know Ryo existed a month ago...
I should really just think of it as going back to those days.
Why do I feel this way?
So this is the forbidden archive...
Normally you need to be a B-rank adventurer to get in here,
but I got special permission for you.
There's something I really want you to see.
This is about alchemy!
Truly fascinating.
Isn't it? You can understand why I wanted to show you.
I'm sorry. I know you must've been waiting for a while.
Oh, no, it wasn't a big deal. Don't worry about it.
I really appreciate it.
Okay, I'm going to get to work on my notes.
You can't make a copy with Transcribe, considering it's sheepskin.
This would be much easier if it were on paper.
Did you just say something about transcribing?
Indeed, I was talking about Transcribe.
So this "Transcribe" lets you copy anything that's written out on paper?
That's precisely what it does.
And from the way you're talking, I'd wager you didn't know about the spell.
You really are something.
You seem to know so much, and you're really strong,
but you're clueless on certain fundamentals.
So Transcribe is a basic spell?
There, all done.
Good work.
There's something I've been wondering for a long time.
Sera, you're here in the library a lot, right?
Yes, I am.
Doesn't the entry fee add up rather quickly?
Well, you see...
Since I work for the lord, they waive the entrance fee for me.
I am so jealous!
I-I paid it at first, I'll have you know!
But when the lord learned that 90 percent of the admissions here were just me,
he found that excessive and waived the fee.
And he's also the reason I was able to get you into the special archive!
You couldn't even get in here with a chaperone normally.
And, of course, I'm grateful.
Oh, that reminds me.
I'd like to take you to a Transcriber after this
so you can see what the spell looks like.
I'd love that. I'm afraid my magic knowledge might be a little too specialized.
I'm not particularly knowledgeable when it comes to human magic either,
but it's also been a while since I left the forest.
That makes me wonder old she actually is...
Ryo, you were thinking something rude just now, weren't you?
Oh, no!
I'll have you know I'm about 200 years old.
Two hund—
What? Is it that big of a surprise?
No, it's just surprising that you're still so pretty, considering.
P-Pretty?!
Wh-What an embarrassing thing to hear so directly.
And here's our Transcriber.
Hey, Sera. And if it isn't Ryo.
Abel... It's been a while.
Rare to see you working, Abel.
I work plenty, you know.
What are the two of you doing together, anyway?
Sera is sort of like... I guess you could say my teacher.
And Ryo is sort of like... I guess you could say my student.
Whoops, I'm in a hurry.
I've got to deliver these, so...
Oh, hey, Abel.
What?
I wanna talk, so mind if I drop by later?
Yeah, sure thing.
I'll see you then.
Ryo.
Can we talk?
I thought we already were, Sera.
That's exactly what I mean.
About the way we talk.
Before now, I thought that, because I'm B-rank,
you were just a little nervous around me and that it was only natural.
But you were so casual with Abel just now.
Now that you mention it, yeah.
It's not fair.
Huh? What was that?
I'm saying you should be friendlier with me, too!
I-I guess I wouldn't mind...
Then let's start right now. Say we're friends.
We're friends...
Great!
Sorry to keep you waiting, Ryo.
What did you want to talk about?
You owe me something, and I'm hoping you'll pay up.
What did I borrow from you?
Remember that promise to treat me to dinner for a week?
B-B-But of course! It's not like I forgot!
I swear...
I expected as much.
To make up for it, I'd like your help with something.
A-All right.
What is it? Sounds like this might be a bigger deal than dinner.
Since my roommates, Nils, Eto, and Amon,
are going to be leaving the dorms and moving in together,
I think I'd like to try living on my own.
You're not going to be moving in with them?
No, there's a lot of experimenting I have planned with magic and alchemy,
so I'd like a house with a big yard.
And I was hoping you'd help me find the kind of property I need.
I see. I can lend you a hand with that.
I sold more of the wyvern magic stone, so we'll have a sizable budget.
This sort of setup often leads to winding up in an old-timey noble estate
or a haunted house.
That's what I'm expecting, anyway!
I'm not sure where you get these ideas from.
And I hate to break it to you, but that's pretty unlikely.
I'm terribly sorry.
Even with Sir Abel's introduction,
we cannot allow someone of lower status to purchase a noble's property.
Well, there you have it.
Mr. Riplait, Ryo's looking for a property with a large yard.
And he's prepared to pay well for it.
Is there anything available?
I see. But in terms of what's out there, I'm not sure if anything is suitable...
Did you find something?
This seems to meet his requirements.
There's just one problem...
What's that?
The property is outside of town.
It is?
Here we are.
It's a farmhouse, but the owners were well-off.
A cleaning company has maintained it, so it's in rather pristine condition.
Accounting for the various transaction fees, it would cost 50,000,000 florins and—
I'll take it.
That was fast!
It's a great house. I like it.
Ryo Mihara has finally clashed with the Inferno Magician, Oscar Luska.
This amounts to little more than first contact,
but their conflict I see in the future will be quite significant.
My, not to mention certain other matters...
I must say, his path seems a complicated one.
Most people don't end up in such situations just because they've been reincarnated.
The peaceful, safe life he wanted will be the furthest thing from what's in store for him.
Ryo Mihara... I hope you survive the experience.
I can't wait!