Looking at Macal, who kept denying it, Ogre remained silent.

Then he took back the paper and continued to write swiftly on it before handing it to Macal.

"But I... just see her as..." Macal looked at what Ogre had written and fell silent.

'A girl in her twenties from the village should have been married by now...' — This was what Ogre wrote to Macal.

Anyone with eyes could see that.

"I should go back and confirm..." Macal glanced at the young girl in front of him and finally sighed.

'Brother Carl, are you leaving... Well, I like... never mind, I'll tell you when you come back. Good luck, Brother Carl, you will definitely become an outstanding knight!'

Memories that had been dormant for years unknowingly resurfaced in Macal's mind...

The promise from childhood shot like an arrow into his future self — that tomboy who used to follow him had grown into a young lady.

Yet he never took the initiative to seek her out...

"Miss Geling... do you think I'm a bit dense?" Macal silently put his hand back into his pocket — clutching a gemstone pendant he was about to take out.

Ogre looked at the knight in front of him, lost in thought.

Finally, he shook his head.

"Thank you, Miss Geling — you really are a kind girl." Macal finally smiled to himself and stopped muttering.

Ogre adjusted the scarf around his neck and followed along.

He held no prejudice against Macal.

He felt that such a person wasting time on him was not worth it.

...

"What! You say there's no carriage?!" Macal's fist pounded heavily on the wooden counter.

"Don't be angry, honorable knight, it's like this, there were quite a few carriages available... but just now, a merchant rented all the horned horses, so..." The receptionist wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead.

He shrank back a little in fear.

He was just an employee, how could he dare to offend a knight, even a relatively friendly Paladin of Dawn.

Ogre stepped forward and tugged at Macal, indicating he was fine.

"Really..." Macal was already in a bad mood, and now even arranging a carriage was problematic.

"Sorry, Miss Geling... I should have booked one for you earlier."

Macal cursed himself inwardly: 'Can't even handle this, yet always thinking of taking care of others... damn!'

"No... it's fine..." Ogre shook his head, indicating he didn't mind.

He was only concerned about whether they could return to the city later and the matter of the bell tower.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"What a hassle..." Macal had to start rethinking how to get to the town...

He couldn't just go straight home.

Just thinking about Eve possibly being at his house gave Macal a headache; he hadn't figured out how to handle it.

He really found it hard to see Eve as a girl he could pursue.

Besides, he had promised Miss Geling to help get some books, and even if he wasn't pursuing her, he couldn't break his word — one of the standards of becoming a Paladin is integrity!

'Maybe I should ask Brother Fra for help?'

But to disturb the church's operations for such a small matter, Macal couldn't bring himself to do it.

After all, this was just a trivial matter.

A personal matter he had impulsively agreed to.

'Forget it... sigh, Macal, oh Macal, how can you mess up even such a small thing...'

In the end, Macal decided to take Ogre home first, then go to the town alone to buy books.

He'd rather go through some trouble than inconvenience others.

"Geling..."

Just as Macal was about to speak, the receptionist spoke up: "Um... dear guest, if you're heading to Rock Town, you might want to discuss it with that merchant, he's resting in the back."

"Why didn't you say so earlier, Miss Geling, wait here for a moment..." Macal's eyes lit up, and he immediately prepared to enter the room to talk to the merchant.

Receptionist: "..."

You didn't give me a chance to finish.

Of course, he didn't dare say that, after all, he was just a temp worker and couldn't afford to offend a Paladin.

Even their boss wouldn't casually provoke a Professional.

"I've rested enough." At this moment, the curtain of a side room was lifted, and a human merchant in a brown robe emerged from the room provided by the stables.

Clearly, he was the merchant who had rented the horned horses in advance.

In the Empire, merchants engaged in itinerant business (non-productive merchants) held one of the lowest statuses.

Most nobles looked down on such non-productive professions, so merchants were often goblins or dwarves from civilized foreign races.

This also facilitated the formation of the black market.

It's rare to see humans directly engaging in commerce.

Especially in the borderlands — almost no humans were willing to be itinerant merchants.

Who knew if a few profitable trips would be outweighed by a single loss to marauders.

The borderlands had plenty of marauders and rogues.

This led to the control of goods transportation rights and city businesses being almost entirely in the hands of the nobility — they didn't understand commerce, but as long as they were strong enough, these matters could be handled by their servants.

"If you don't mind, Sir Knight and the lady behind you, please come in and we can talk..." The brown-robed merchant politely gestured for them to enter.

"I think I recognize you..." Macal stared at the merchant's face for a while but ultimately couldn't recall, only feeling a vague familiarity.

Macal was somewhat face-blind.

If it wasn't a familiar person or someone as strikingly outstanding as Ogre, he found it hard to remember or distinguish.

"I do recognize you — Sir Carl, you can call me Kakafil, I've been in the borderlands for the past two years, often doing small business between villages, so you might have seen me occasionally." Kakafil introduced himself.

As the saying goes, don't hit a smiling face, seeing Kakafil's respectful demeanor, Macal couldn't say much.

He just glanced back at Ogre — asking if Ogre wanted to go in.

"Mm..." Ogre nodded cooperatively.

To be honest, he didn't really need that broken carriage...

It's just that to some people, he seemed a bit delicate?

"Then we'll trouble you, Mr. Kakafil."

Macal decided to clarify things, willing to pay extra if it resolved the issue.

It was better than going back to face all those messy matters.

After a brief conversation, Macal quickly explained his purpose: "That's roughly the situation..."

"I completely understand you... but I really need these horned horses, how about this, Sir Carl, you can join my caravan — I'm heading that way too, and I can offer my private carriage to the lady, free of charge." Kakafil said after a moment of thought.

"I can pay extra." Macal saw through Kakafil's plan — this guy wanted to get him for free, using him as a bodyguard for the journey.

"No... it's not about the money, I need these horned horses to help transport goods to other towns and villages, so the most I can agree to is for you and the lady to travel with us."

Kakafil's attitude was surprisingly firm in the face of the offer to pay more.

"You transport goods for money, don't you?" Macal instinctively used a disdainful tone.

It wasn't until Ogre nudged him that he realized his arrogant mistake...

Kakafil paused for a rare moment, then shook his head: "I'm really sorry, Sir Carl, I'm afraid I can't meet your request, but if you need any books, I can bring them for you tomorrow."

Kakafil didn't argue with Macal; as a businessman, he understood one thing best — it's best not to have unnecessary conflicts with anyone.

"Sorry... I was rude earlier." Macal sincerely bowed his head in apology.

He was just upset about being used by a merchant.

But after Ogre's reminder, he calmed down and realized his mistake — no stranger has any obligation to help you.

Exploiting relationships is common, it's normal.

"It's fine, merchants occupy resources to make money, but... this time I really can't give you the horned horses."

Kakafil's insistence surprised both Macal and Ogre.

However, they didn't dwell on or question it, as it was someone else's private matter.

"Go..." Ogre wrote 'agree with him' on the paper with his graphite pen.

"Miss Geling..."

Macal didn't really want to mix with the caravan.

He, a dignified Paladin of the Church of Dawn, mingling with merchants, would be embarrassing if word got out, but it was Miss Geling's request...

It put him in a difficult position.

That's why he wanted to pay to secure a horned horse from Kakafil.

But Ogre didn't quite understand his thoughts.

To Ogre, merchants were no different from others — even though this group often had some bad reputations.

"I can pay you for your trouble..." Kakafil seemed to realize that the real negotiator was the girl who could only be seen through her eyes.

"That's not what I mean, I just..." Macal was at a loss for words, he couldn't just point at someone and say it was embarrassing.

"I have cloaks and masks to conceal your identity, you only need to act when facing enemies you can't handle." Kakafil saw through Macal's concerns.

"Alright... alright." Macal felt a bit frustrated, but ultimately accepted the proposal.

...

'So... what happened to the promised date for two?' Macal was extremely frustrated — this was nothing like he imagined.

He wanted Miss Geling to hold his waist as they rode, or to chat with her in the carriage.

Not to sit next to Kakafil, the middle-aged man driving the carriage and have a conversation...

"Hahaha, Sir Knight, how do you find my driving skills..."

"Not bad, not bad..."

Macal was already numb.