WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Potter
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Protagonist of a Romance Fantasy Only Likes Me ◈
Chapter 10: Warrior Marigold. (5)
──────
10.
What on earth was Marigold’s body made of? It was certainly no ordinary body.
As he looked at the crown of her head, which had somehow risen to eye level, Lancel could not help but wonder.
It had to be his sister’s fault. This was the result of that absurd one-line setting: “Training your body makes your body grow.” She had grown more than ten centimeters in less than a year.
“I can still grow taller, Master.”
Physical-type Marigold.
Lancel had been watching her brutal life as a mercenary from where he could not be seen.
---
[Fallen Noble Lady Simulation]
Creating the schedule for the first week of September.
Mon: Substitute guard patrol (mercenary).
Tue: Clearing out thieves in the Imperial Capital (mercenary).
Wed: Subjugating a beast that entered a stable (mercenary).
Thu: Standing in for a wealthy man’s duel (mercenary).
Fri: Academy training aid (mercenary).
Sat: Swordsmanship training.
Sun: Swordsmanship training.
※Training is best! Health is best! Muscles are best! (Strength, Stamina, Sensitivity UP!! Charm, Sex Appeal, Elegance Down!!)
---
Was she aiming for the top of the mercenary world? Marigold did not let go of her sword for a single day.
She was the very model of the Warrior Route.
“Oh, Mary! I’m counting on you again today!”
“Leave it to me!”
“Mary’s handling patrol duty today? It’s been a while since we’ve had someone reliable.”
“You flatter me. I’ll work hard!”
Watching her from afar, Lancel wiped away a cold sweat. She was even famous?
She had only been a mercenary for a few months, yet her reputation and reliability were already better than those of most silver-badge mercenaries.
Come to think of it, Marigold had been rather famous since the day she took the mercenary test. He heard her name everywhere on the streets.
‘It would have been hard for what happened that day not to become a hot topic.’
A woman who had worked at a mere inn had thoroughly crushed the spirits of mercenaries who strutted around claiming to live by the sword. It would have been stranger if rumors had not spread, even if it had been due to the Third Prince’s enhancement magic.
There was something even more frightening about Marigold.
She was still growing stronger at this very moment.
============
Imperial Year 818, September 9. Cloudy.
Marigold has mastered Intermediate Swordsmanship Training.
※Advanced Swordsmanship Training is now available.
※The Part-Time Job Interview List has been updated. Academy swordsmanship instructor, elite soldier, guard captain, magical beast hunter, noble guard, attendant, wanderer, sentinel, and rebel have been added.
============
“Already?”
It had taken her exactly three months to master Intermediate Swordsmanship Training, practically the first major hurdle of the Warrior Route.
At this rate, she would surely master Advanced Swordsmanship Training within two years at the latest.
By then, Marigold would no longer be ordinary. Through festivals, tournaments, wars, and sudden events, there was a chance her status would rise to that of an honorary knight.
“Take it, Marigold. A silver badge.”
“Is it really all right for me to receive this already?”
“Honestly, everyone else will be in trouble if you don’t.”
As a result, Marigold truly became a celebrity in the district.
At a dazzling pace.
Bang!
“Aaaagh!”
A man came flying out of the house Marigold had entered. Thrown through a window, he rolled across the ground dozens of times.
“Urgh!”
“You were stealing, weren’t you? Hand over everything you have.”
If one did not listen closely, Marigold sounded like the thief.
“W-Who are you calling a thief, you crazy bitch!”
“I already heard everything. Hand it over quietly, and this will end peacefully. Otherwise...”
“You damned bitch! You’ve really got some nerve!”
The thief could not even fully thrust the dagger he had drawn. Marigold’s sword blocked it with ridiculous ease.
The dagger flew up in a shower of sparks, then landed in her palm.
“You’re not someone who can be reasoned with.”
“W-Wait, wait!”
“If you don’t want to lose your teeth, bite down hard.”
In the end, the thief was handed over to the Imperial Capital guards with his face badly swollen.
Up to that point, Marigold was an exceedingly loyal and ideal employee for both Lancel and the Mercenary Guild.
She completed commissions every day, had a good reputation, and improved constantly. What better mercenary could there be?
There was only one problem.
“Master.”
After completing her jobs, Marigold began looking for Lancel as though it were only natural.
“Master, where are you?”
“Mary, what is it?”
“Have you seen Master, Hestie?”
“I think he’ll be back soon... Aren’t you tired? You should go in first.”
“I’ll wait here.”
Whether it was at the guild.
“Mary, what brings you all the way here?”
“I came looking for Master, Baron Shen.”
“Master? You mean Sir Lancel. I haven’t seen him in quite a while either, since he’s been so busy lately. I’d rather like to find him myself.”
“Please find him.”
“Pardon?”
Or at the estate.
“Master!”
Or on the street.
No matter where he was, Marigold always found Lancel in the end. She was like a large dog that could smell a scent only he gave off.
“I finished another job today, Master.”
“...Right. Good work.”
“...”
“...”
Marigold stared at him with shining eyes.
Only after he patted her head did she leave with light steps.
That was all. Nothing more and nothing less. Yes, just a little praise and a little recognition.
“Why do you always want praise from the Young Master, Mary?”
“Hmm.”
When Lancel had Hestie sound out what Marigold was thinking, Marigold thought for a long time before giving this answer.
“Because Master likes it... is what she told me.”
“What does that mean?”
“How should I know? Did you perhaps tell her to come find you sometime?”
“What would I gain from that?”
“...”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
Hestie narrowed her eyes, but Lancel was innocent.
‘Not because she likes it, but because I like it?’
Lancel still did not understand what that meant. If anything, Marigold’s behavior was making him uncomfortable.
“At this rate, you’ll marry me again.”
You are supposed to become the imperial consort.
It was not as though he could say that directly.
‘I need to do something.’
He was in the middle of thoughts that would make anyone who overheard him on the guild’s third floor tell him to stop being so embarrassingly full of himself.
Then the door flew open.
Speak of the devil. It was Marigold.
“Master.”
“Mary. Knock first.”
Hestie firmly corrected her, and Marigold’s face went pale.
“Knock! I’m sorry!”
Marigold stepped back out, then knocked.
“Come in.”
“Yes, Miss Hestie...”
As she came back in with a cowed expression, Lancel was once again struck by how much Marigold had grown.
‘She’s roughly a handspan taller than Hestie, so she must be just over 170 centimeters.’
For someone who could remain in the 140-centimeter range in routes that did not focus on physical training, this was nearly her maximum height.
It was not as though there were no routes where she could grow even taller, but then her ties to the princes would be over for good...
“If you come in without knocking again, I’ll pour water all over your face. Understand?”
“Yes...”
That is a little much.
Lancel was about to say so when he noticed the paper in Marigold’s hand.
“What’s that?”
“The client from today told me to give this to Master, so I brought it. This...”
She handed him a rolled document while thoroughly intimidated.
A familiar crest was stamped into the sealing wax.
‘The Imperial Household!’
It had come.
The escort event.
Unlike the advance notice, this time it was real.
‘Sooner than I expected.’
Lancel carefully unrolled the document.
At nearly the same moment, the door flew open again.
“Knock!”
Water splashed from the bottle in Hestie’s hand. The stream arced through the air and landed squarely on the face of the person who had just opened the door.
Splat!
The man had been drenched the moment he entered.
Lancel’s mouth fell open in a daze the moment he saw his face.
“Ahem. Did I not knock?”
“Court Count.”
11.
Court Count Iceford.
Within the Imperial Household, he was known as the Chief Chamberlain.
He was the most influential man among the Empire’s counts.
He now sat before Lancel, wiping his wet face with a towel.
“So, did you receive what I sent?”
“I was just about to read it, Your Excellency.”
“If you haven’t read it yet, return it to me.”
“Pardon?”
It was taken back.
“Could you give it back after considering that a face wash?”
“I’m grateful you woke me up.”
“Then why are you taking back the commission you sent...?”
“This man is trying to make me look petty.”
Court Count Iceford carefully wiped away even the water that had gotten into his nostrils before speaking.
“It is nothing much. I sent that commission because there was a gap in the escort procession for the Fifth Prince, who is recuperating.”
Lancel knew.
It was the escort procession that would accompany the train carrying the Fifth Prince.
One hundred mercenaries would be included, and Marigold joining them was the beginning of this escort event.
Then there would be a masquerade ball in the train’s banquet hall. Marigold, the protagonist, would join by chance and meet the Fifth Prince. All manner of incidents would occur. Romance would unfold aboard the swaying train.
Since the Fifth Prince was attracted to physically strong women, it was one of the easier routes as long as she trained her swordsmanship well.
That was also the decisive reason Lancel had raised Marigold as a warrior in this cycle.
But then...
“A good opportunity has come to you. I cannot say thanks to whom, so I’ll keep that confidential.”
A puzzled expression appeared on Lancel’s face.
“His Majesty will tell you the details.”
“His Majesty...”
The dying Emperor.
They were looking for Lancel.
“Prepare at once. Time is of the essence.”
Why?
[Illustration: Warrior Marigold, on a mission]
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
