A carriage stopped before the Larkus frontier's house, and the door opened to Ray, Arla, and Elena.
　Also, Seto appears from behind the carriage and stands next to Ray.
　Three of us and one of them.No, including the adventurer employed as a coachman, Dusker, the Earl of Larkes, came forward to greet four and one of them.

"You have come back well, Mr. Elena.Ray has been very protective of Elena, too."
"...no, if I were stronger, I could have killed fewer people."

　At Ray's words, Dusker confirmed the number of people who had come out of the carriage.
　Indeed, the figures of Custe and Ver have disappeared from their faces compared to when they left the city of Gilm, and a new adventurer has been added to the coachman instead.

"Nevertheless, it was the bodyguard of the Lord Elena who asked Ray.I have no complaints about the safe return of his bodyguard, Mr. Elena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

　Elena nodded to Dusker's words and turned her eyes to the coachman.

"I beg your pardon, but leave the carriage with the Count of Larkes.After that, I plan to leave before the 9 o'clock bell rings tomorrow morning, so please be prepared.This is a lump sum separate from the reward.Take your time and stretch out your wings today."

　He said so, and with a wink, Arra hands a few silver coins to the coachman

"Oh, is it okay? Apart from the reward, like this..."
"I don't care, I'm forcing you to do a lot of course.Keep your spirits alive."
"Thank you very much.I'll take your word for it!"

　The coachman bowed his head and carried the carriage as the people in the house guided him.Seth followed the carriage in a familiar way.
　Seeing them off, Dusker enters the house as if to show them around.
　and came to Dusker's office, where he had spoken before.

(... come to think of it, Custe attacked me as soon as I entered here.)

　Ray also stands with Arra behind Elena, who sits on the guest sofa face to face with Dusker, bringing back memories that are not pleasant but that are deeply impressive.
　If Ray is in the position of guarding Elena at the request of Dusker's nomination, it may be right to stand behind Dusker.but he had not yet been told by Dusker that his request had been completed, and he therefore assumed the position of bodyguard to Elena.
　Dasker laughs inwardly at Ray's manner, but gets his maid to bring him tea and starts talking right away.

"Well, may I congratulate you on your safe return?"
"Well...Although many things turned out to be half-finished, I think it is right to say that a completely different problem occurred while achieving a certain degree of goal."
"...what a strange expression.Can you tell me the details?"

　Elena hesitated for a moment over whether to speak Dusker's words, but it happened at a dungeon in the territory of the Count of Larkes.

(And...)

　Elena looks at Ray standing behind her.Ray, the adventurer of the city, had refused Elena's invitation to join the Knights, so he was sure to remain in the city of Guillum, and he judged that Dusker, the lord of the town, would find out what had happened in the dungeon.
　He spoke without much hesitation, because Elena understood that it was a natural choice for a lord to rule over the land.

"First of all, the main purpose of this ceremony was the succession ceremony, which was successful at about 70% of the time.Even though it's about 70% of the time, it's not so unexpected because the magical stone that we inherited was the magical stone of our family treasure, the Ensent Dragon."

　muttered Elena, releasing for a moment the magic which had been suppressed.At that moment the cup of tea, which had been sitting upon the table with a torrent of magical powers, centered on Elena, fluttered, and Dusker felt frightened by the intense pressure of the Duchess before him.

"... not yet controlled, but like this."
"Well, you ought to say it's wonderful.It certainly seems that he has gained considerable strength."

　Dusker replied, but there was a chill of sweat on his back.
　and among the knights of the Count of Larkes, who perceived the magic of the present day, there was no small disturbance among them, except Dusker, who knew it.

"But that's 70 percent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"...yeah, does Mr. Dusker remember my men?"
"Yes, to Custe, who came as a harbinger, did you say the other was Ver behind the scenes?"They were both subordinates of Mr. Elena, and they seemed to be quite capable."
"Among them, Ver was found to have been more familiar with the Empire of Bestia."
"...what?"

　He was well versed in the Empire of Bestia.Dusker made his face look grim when he heard the explanation.

"Is that true?"
"There's no doubt that he was proud of himself."
"...wait, then, didn't you mean that Mr. Elena asked for it?"
"Yes, I was stunned by the shock of Ver's destruction of the magical stone in the middle of the ceremony.Originally, he intended to assassinate me on that occasion, but Ray saved him.In that sense, I am grateful to Dusker for choosing Ray as my bodyguard."

　Dusker's gaze suddenly turns to Ray, who stands behind Elena's small head.

"Is that true, Ray, that what Mr. Elena says?"
"Yes, when Ver himself turned to the Empire of Bestia,"
"... Mr. Elena, what about the Duke of Cellevel?"

　Elena nodded to Dusker's question, taking it for granted.

"Of course I have already written to you.I think that if we were lucky, we could go after the Viscount Sails, a member of Ver's family, before he escaped from the kingdom of Milliana... that depends on how quickly he acted."
"Well, then I have nothing to say.But from the aristocracy -- and if Viscount Sayles, who was close to the Duke of Kelebel, should turn over to the Empire, I suppose it would be a very poor situation."
"I don't think my father's centripetal force will be avoided.But it's already autumn now that we're lucky in our misfortunes.Even if the Westian Empire starts to fight, it will probably be next spring, so I hope we have time to get back together before then."
"...isn't there a possibility that they will attack you this fall and winter in order to make a short-term decisive battle?"
"I certainly thought of the possibility.But the Vestian Empire has never fought in winter, and, above all, soldiers will not be able to hold on to march in the snow.If there were, it would be sabotage by a few elite people, but even if there were only a few elite people in the Westian Empire, it would be possible to cope with it."
「…………」

　After hearing Elena's story, Dusker, who had been thinking about something for a while, nodded softly.

"Okay, I'll be ready to deal with anything as soon as possible.
"...is it okay? This is a battle that could be caused by our aristocracy.To the neutrality of Dusker..."

　Dusker shook his head at the words of Elena."Certainly, we are fighting for power separately from the royal faction, the aristocracy faction, and the neutrality faction.However, the power struggle is only possible if there is a kingdom of Milliana.At least I will not obey the Empire of Bestia."
"...I'm sorry,"
"Why, don't you mind... but if that's the case, you should say that the adventurer I sent you this time was Ray.If it had been in the ordinary rank of B or C, perhaps Elena would have been done by Ver."
"Yes. I am grateful to Mr. Dusker for sending Ray on that point."

　Just as Elena nodded, the room was knocked and the butler appeared.

"Sir, your room is ready."
"Good work, my dear Elena, to-day I hope you will get rid of the fatigue of your journey.I have a bath ready, too."
"Let me take your word for it, Mr. Dusker.Arra, here we go."
"Yes, Mr. Elena,"

　Elena and Arra try to leave the room, and Ray tries to follow them, but calls out to them.

"Ray, you've got to stay a little.I have something to tell you."
"... I see.Now, Elena, I am here."

　As might be expected, he could not use familiar language in front of Dusker, but instead saw Elena off with polite language from the beginning.
　Elena looked lonely for a moment when she saw Ray, but that was just for a second.He immediately nods and opens his mouth.

"Yes, Ray, thank you for your help this time.Without you, I probably wouldn't have been killed by Ver in the dungeon and returned safely.I'm proud to have acted with you, an adventurer."
"...there have been many things, but I can't thank you enough, Mr. Ray.Well, when I first met him, he suddenly slashed me... I'm sorry."

　After Elena, Arra bowed deeply and left the room.
　Watching her back off, Ray realized that the request had finally been completed.

"Ray, thank you to me, too. You've defended my lord Elena very well."
"No, I wish I had found out who Ver is earlier."
"Don't worry, you can't really see what people really are.Oh, look. Don't stand there. Sit down.It's hard to talk with you standing up."
"Well, I'll take your word for it,"

　Ray bowed to the dusker and sat down on the sofa.

"And I'll get right to the point..."

　It was a kind of guilt on Dusker's face.

"Given the importance of this request, you've done enough to be able to upgrade to Rank C.There is no doubt about that.But..."
"I can't make this request public."
"...to be frank with you."I'm sorry, but I'm going to impose a confidentiality obligation on you for a while."""
"To be more specific, is it a betrayal of Ver?"

　When Ray asks frankly, Dusker nods with an expression of bitterness.

"Yes, it is a low-ranking viscount in the nobility, but the nobility is still the nobility.and the bad news is that Viscount Sayles was a relatively famous confidante of the Duke of Kelebel.If such a person is known to have betrayed the country, there will be a lot of agitation.""But wouldn't that be the case for the Westian Empire to make a big announcement?"
"I'm sure you'll.However, it is not a big deal if the other nobles are to make the announcement before then.It's only a matter of time."
"All right.I won't reveal this request until Larkus gives me permission."
"...I'm sorry. I can't make you stand out for that, so I'll freeze the achievements of this request for a while.But I promise I'll pay you back in due course... all I can do now is add some color to my reward."

　When Ray heard that it was a reward, he remembered that it was two gold coins.

"Yes, sir,"If the reward increases, there is no problem.I'll be glad to receive it."
"It's a relief,"

　After that, he would report on the dungeon and the high level of alchemy in the Westian Empire and talk for about half an hour.

"Well, it's almost time, so I'll leave now."

　As I spoke, I turned my eyes to the window, and it was already dim.It's still a bright summer, but it's a sign that autumn is coming.

"Well, as I've said over and over again, this request was really helpful.Ray, what would happen if you hadn't been ranked D?"
"I suppose I should say that we are here,"
"Oh, I've become quite confident.Well, that's all for adventurers."Ah, but make sure you come to see me off when Mr. Elena leaves to-morrow."
"All right, you said it would be about nine o'clock tomorrow morning."
"Well, I see. ... Well, you've had a hard time anyway."

　After Ray had left his office, he returned to the inn with Seto and went to bed early to heal the fatigue of his journey.