How to Suck Honey at a Warrior’s Party

In fantasy novels, not all of the warrior’s companions have a strong presence.
If there were three companions, only two of them were active, and the third didn’t have much dialogue.
A role of filling in the number of people!

This is exactly the kind of role I was aiming for: a one-man show with no dialogue and little to no action.
If I wasn’t going to be a fugitive for the rest of my life, I had to be a companion to a warrior, so a companion with zero presence that would give me time to be lazy was perfect.

Digging into my past life memories, I realised that I had loved that zero presence position!

The thought of fulfilling my dreams in this life made me even more excited.

I returned home to find the villagers debating whether the country should collapse or not.
I immediately packed my things.
I had a lot of stuff for three years.

‘Should I throw the whole house into subspace?’

It seemed like a good idea.
The remaining space in the subspace was exactly the size of the house.
It was meant to be.
Smug in the knowledge that I had made a lazy decision, I unpacked my belongings.

I put my books in the bookshelf, my flask in the drawer next to my study table, and my long pillow for snuggling back on the bed.

‘I’ll find a mattress later, when I get to the capital.’

Finally, I threw on a dark robe befitting of a zero presence.
It was perfect!

“Huhu….”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

I ran out of the house and cast the spell.

It was an inarticulate spell that I had devised while lying in bed, wondering how I could make my mouth move less.

Oh, I’m so lazy!

I was pleased to see the ruins of the house in an instant.
I felt a brief sensation of subspace filling up and then it was gone.

Before leaving the village, I sneakily went to the village chief to inform him.
I was planning to leave quietly, but the village chief shouted out that a great man had arrived in the village.
After the expected reaction, I spatially shifted before the villagers heard the commotion and gathered around.
I also left a note with a drawing of him waving at me.

My blurry vision cleared and I saw a huge gate.
I had travelled through space and landed in front of the gates to the capital.

With a little effort, I could have walked straight into the capital, but I didn’t.
Not only because I didn’t like the idea of having to make an effort, but also because I wanted to leave a mark that I had officially entered the capital.

Of course, I knew that the whole world would be outwardly sympathetic to the Warrior Party, even if they were trying to drive it out of existence.
No one would blame me if it was later discovered that I had entered the capital without permission.

But to be invisible, one must avoid even the slightest attention.

The queue to enter the capital was long.

I left the bushes by the side of the road and stood at the end of the queue.

The village was on the edge of the empire, so I was probably the last to see the announcement.
I don’t know if they all got the mark at the same time, or if they all got it at different times, so maybe I was the last one.

‘Being the last one is daunting….’

But I didn’t want to run straight for it because it would seem too diligent.
Riddled with internal conflict, my turn soon came.

“Name!”

“Cylon Hale.”

“Why did you come to the capital?”

“…Do you even ask questions like that?”

“The country is a mess these days, with all these beggars coming in and out of the capital, thinking they’ll be safe.”

The administrator’s eyes flicked over my body.
He gestured to a knight in the back of the room, apparently unconvinced by the drab colour of my robes.

It was afternoon when I saw the announcement, and if I didn’t get out of here, I wouldn’t make it into the capital before the end of the day.
Furthermore, if the official in front of me was on duty, I would not be able to get in anytime.

If I can’t enter the capital as it is, and I’m mistakenly accused of running away, will they tear off my limbs and tear off this administrator’s limbs as well?

The knight approached, his armour clanking.
I felt a sense of crisis.

‘Sigh, I didn’t want to be seen here!’

I hastily unbuttoned my shirt inside my robe.

“What! What are you doing!”

In a world with dozens of different types of magic, elementalism, and other mysterious powers, the administrator’s fears must have been realized.

In an instant, I was surrounded by knights guarding the gates.
Spears and sword points surrounded my throat from all sides.
The people in line behind me screamed and scattered.

I smiled awkwardly and bared my collarbone.
A faintly bluish mark was revealed.

“…I’m here at the behest of His Majesty.”

It was a creeping voice.
Gazes pierced me from all sides.

Shiva, I have done nothing wrong.

“Very well, pass.
I suggest you go straight to the palace.”

The administrator who had embarrassed me with his unwarranted suspicions glared at me.
He seemed to take it out on me, not wanting to admit he was wrong.

I just nodded and walked through the gate.
My past life was too dirty for me to react to such things, and my present life was even worse.

I opened my clothes as soon as I was through the gate.
It’s nice to have an inconspicuous collarbone, but it’s inconvenient to have to unbutton it every time I need to prove something.

I wondered if I should buy something that fastened at the collarbone with a string.

On the way to the palace, I passed a row of shops that looked expensive.

After a satisfying shopping spree, it was evening.

I moved out of the capital and put my new bed straight into the house.
I also changed my clothes.

By the time I got back to the capital, all the people working at the palace had gone home.
I had no choice but to find a place to stay.
As much as I wanted to go out of the capital and sleep at home, I couldn’t.
What if some nosy person at the palace wanted to investigate what I had done before I entered the palace?

I didn’t want it to turn out that I could be in and out of the capital at any time.

The accommodation closest to the imperial palace looked too good to be true.
I’d just spent the night sleeping on all sorts of fluffy things, so I didn’t want to settle for anything less.
I knew it would be a splurge, but I felt better knowing that I’d have plenty of support when I became a warrior party.

A good night’s sleep was a must if you wanted to be lazy.

Rattle-.

“Welcome!”

“Give me a room.”

“Sure, go to room 101.”

The clerk’s eyes swept over my entire body in a flash and he handed me the room key.
He didn’t ask me if I wanted breakfast, and he didn’t ask me the size of the room.

His brow furrowed.

“Room 101, is the bed fluffy?”

“Yes? …How much do you want?”

“Just enough to sink into.”

I said, remembering the mattress I’d just purchased.
It felt addictive.

“…Sir, if you want a bed like that, you’ll have to take the top floor, and the price is….”

“Please.”

“What?”

“I want it.
Top floor.
Are you sure there’s no room?”

Bam.

I held out the pouch that was inside the robe.

The clerk’s face went a little white as he heard the heavy sound.

“Since you don’t seem to trust me, I’ll pay the price up front.
I don’t need breakfast, what else do you have?”

“The, the… baths….”

“Ah, yes.
I’ll take the bath, please.”

“How long will you be staying….”

“One day.”

The clerk fidgeted and took the money.
He dropped the key a couple of times, which was a first for him.
Whatever.

I paid and followed the clerk to the top floor.
Unlike the other floors, which had as many as ten rooms, the top floor had only three rooms.

“The bath will be up shortly!”

The clerk, who looked deeply stooped, quickly went downstairs.

The room I was shown was as large as I expected.
As expected for a hotel in front of the Imperial Palace, there was a separate entrance hall, living room, and bedroom.
The bed was also very large and easy to roll around in.

Satisfied, I took off my robe and draped it over the sofa.

A large window overlooked the darkened capital.
Unfortunately, there were no windows on the palace side.
Probably for security reasons, but the boss here seemed to be quite a brave man.
Building a building taller than the palace walls right in front of the palace.
It hasn’t collapsed yet.

Knock knock

“Come in.”

Two clerks who came in with their heads bowed left the bath in the middle of the living room.

The steaming water was a welcome sight.