After that, I don't know how far the carriage traveled. We passed several towns, used money to register Alice as an adventurer, and even switched drivers along the way—Grace took the reins for a while, then after lunch, Jacob took over again.
During lunch, I noticed people looking at us strangely. It was probably because our group was such an odd mix: an adventurer, a knight, a merchant, an assassin, and a cleric.
Five professions with little obvious connection sitting at the same table—the most reasonable explanation was that we were friends. That was why I'd said that as long as we didn't reveal our purpose, no one would know what we were really doing.
Still, the most eye-catching one was Alice. Her white cleric robes and long golden hair made it obvious she wasn't an ordinary person. I should have her change into normal clothes tomorrow.
After that, we passed a few more towns. I started wondering—if it would take six days to reach the border, how many towns were still left? Ten? Twenty?
During this time, Jacob mentioned that the Zereil Merchant Guild had branches all over Aimebisalon, basically like a nationwide chain store. Because of that, he didn't need to stay in Aimebisalon to build connections—his real goal was expanding into other countries.
That was when I realized a fatal problem.
From Dex's commission yesterday, I'd received one quarter of the total reward—746 gold coins. The remaining three quarters were credited on account and received by Lina.
That one quarter alone was almost all the liquid funds the guild currently had. Of course, the guild accepted many requests every day, so it would earn the money back soon enough.
But that wasn't the real issue.
The real issue was that I now had a lot of money. Did I really still need a merchant to earn funds? Even if we went to the capitals of other countries, we probably wouldn't spend even half of it.
And when I collect the Brave power, I need to fight from level 1 to level 100. The beasts that come to challenge me just turn into my income. The next dungeon will be the same. If this cycle keeps repeating, do I really need a merchant at all?
When I looked at Jacob now, I felt a bit guilty.
But even if I didn't say anything, we hadn't actually discussed what goods we'd be selling later either. Honestly, I had no idea about that myself, so I decided to just take things one step at a time.
Then I suddenly remembered something—and after thinking it through, I turned toward Grace, who seemed to be teaching Alice some basic common sense, and interrupted her.
"Grace, was your vomiting this morning because you're not used to seeing killing?"
That was what puzzled me. A knight with combat experience throwing up at a killing scene—being unaccustomed to it was the only explanation that made sense.
But speculation was just speculation. The best answer could only come from the person herself.
"Huh!? N-no, that's not it…"
Grace looked startled and hurriedly denied it. If it wasn't because she was unaccustomed to it, then what was the reason?
"Then what was it?"
Grace showed an uncomfortable expression again, probably recalling the scene. She placed her hands on her thighs, clenched her fists, and trembled slightly. After lowering her head for a while, she finally spoke.
"I… it was my first time seeing something like that…"
"What!?"
Jacob and I both shouted in shock. Ethefelis didn't change her expression, but her head snapped toward Grace. Alice, on the other hand, looked completely lost.
I didn't give anyone else a chance to speak and immediately fired questions at Grace.
"Aren't you a knight? Don't knights hunt down monsters to gain combat experience? How could that be your first time?"
"I… I've actually never participated in a hunt. I was never selected."
No strength meant no qualification. No selection meant no hunts. No hunts meant no real combat experience. And no real combat experience meant no killing.
"So you've never killed anything before? Not even once?"
"No."
This was bad… The Sword Saint's daughter had no experience killing, and the king didn't know about this? But since she was already here, I couldn't send her back. All I could do was ask about her resolve.
"Then if I ask you to hunt monsters, can you do it?"
"I… I think I can…"
Her tone clearly said she couldn't.
"Really? You understand the consequences of lying, right?"
"…I can't."
Grace stayed silent for a long time before answering honestly.
That raised another question—why did Grace choose to join in the first place? She should have known that this journey would be far more dangerous than staying in the knight order.
Knights exist to protect the people. When a knight needs to protect someone, it means an enemy has appeared. Once you face an enemy, it's either you die or they do—there's no outcome where the loser lives.
Choosing to become a knight means accepting the resolve to kill. Without that resolve, you're just a citizen who can swing a sword, not someone who can protect the country.
So what was Grace thinking?
"Tell me everything. Why did you choose to join?"
Grace took a deep breath before speaking.
"Ever since I was young, everyone around me said I was suited to wield a sword. But my father always said I wasn't, because it was dangerous. Still, I wanted to become a knight he could be proud of, just like him, so I kept pestering him until he agreed."
A classic doting father situation—nothing strange there. I could practically imagine that he only agreed after Grace said she hated him.
"But after I joined the knight order, all I did was train. My name was never on the list whenever there was an expedition. My strength is already second only to my father, yet I was still never chosen."
Second only to the Sword Saint!? With strength like that, and still not chosen to hunt monsters? That had to be favoritism. The culprit was definitely the Sword Saint.
"I asked the knight commander why, but the answer was always that I still wasn't good enough. The truth is, though, that I feel fear the moment I hold a real sword. That's why the commander never chose me. Then someone asked if I wanted to join the Brave's party. I thought I could change myself, so I agreed right away."
No, no. First kills are supposed to be done under a senior's guidance. I didn't have the time to wait for Grace to slowly build experience. And feeling afraid just from holding a sword—how was she supposed to be a knight like that?
"Why are you afraid?"
"Because my father always said swords are dangerous and can hurt others. Over time, I became afraid."
Again with the Sword Saint. I was definitely going to complain to the king later.
Still, when I told Grace to draw her sword this morning, she hadn't hesitated much. Was she really afraid? I hadn't paid close attention then—maybe I missed a lot of details.
"And yet you were able to draw your sword immediately earlier. But since you chose to become a knight, you should've been prepared for this, right?"
"I am prepared, but… I'm still scared."
Her tone was both ashamed and sincere. Seriously—we weren't out here on a pleasure trip.
But it was already too late. All I could do now was train Grace. First, she had to overcome killing itself. We'd start with creatures that couldn't fight back.
"If I ask you to kill a fish with a kitchen knife, would you be afraid?"
"…Yes."
Grace showed a deeply uncomfortable expression, her fingers trembling nonstop. Afraid even of a single clean cut—then all her knight training had really done was strengthen her body.
Honestly, Grace's personality wasn't suited to being a knight. Whether the Sword Saint had seen that—or caused it himself—I was more inclined to believe it was the latter.
Since I'd decided, it was time to act. Tonight, we'd stay somewhere near a river. I'd catch a live fish and force Grace to do it.
"I have no more questions. Take some time to sort out your feelings."
"Yes."
After that, Grace stayed quiet and didn't say another word.