"Is this...?"

　Ray and Sett were on their way to the headquarters to report that they had killed General Castom, the general commander of the Imperial Army. But when Ray arrived at the battlefield, he saw nothing but a scene of fierce fighting... but the army of the Kingdom of Milliana. That, too, appears to be suffering considerable damage from above.

"Glu?"

　Fortunately, when Sett, who is turning around crying, looks toward the headquarters of the royal faction, patting his head, he does not seem to be suffering from any damage unlike the troops who were on the front line.

(Well, if the enemy had damaged him twice or three times, he wouldn't have done any good.)

　mutter inwardly and ask Seto to head to the headquarters.

(But why is the battle over? And above all, I came straight here from the enemy's headquarters. But why didn't you have any contact with the enemy army that you would have withdrawn? Perhaps you learned of the general's death in battle by some means, but can you withdraw from the air so that you won't be found out by the flying set? It's as if it were not an unexpected event, but an event that you had planned from the beginning... No, I don't think so. Is there any need to go out of their way to miss the killing of their commander-in-chief?）

　In the meantime, Seto descends to the ground and arrives near the main tent.
　Ray was familiar with the tent. Renojis, who said he was not convinced that Ray had been chosen as the vanguard, sued and the tent was called out at the time.
　And, as before, there are two guards in front of the tent.

"This is Ray, who is assigned to a surprise attack unit. I would like to report to the Earl of Arius, and ask him to act as an intermediary."
"Oh!? Did you succeed?"
"Well, then, that withdrawal..."

　a guard with a look of amazement on his face as soon as he hears Ray's voice Eventually the surprise turns into admiration.

"Oh, I hope you' but I'd rather go to the Earl of Arius."
"Oh, oh, wait a minute."

　Revealing to Ray, one of the guards sees him into the tent and calls out to the rest of the guards.

"And what's going on in the battlefield? It seems that the army of the Vestian Empire has already withdrawn."
"...you were riding on the Gryphon, I mean, you flew through the air, didn't you see the Vestian army that had retreated?"

　On the contrary, when Ray tried to open his mouth to the guard, who was questioning him in wonder.

"The Earl of Arius has called," Come in."

　The guards who entered the tent come back and say so.
　It's an extraordinary speed. Of course, there was a reason why it was a battlefield and why he wanted to hear about the surprise troops as soon as possible, but Ray was prepared to wait for a certain amount of time, so it was almost unexpected.
　Still, as long as it works for Ray himself, he goes into the tent without hesitation. Of course, it's only after I've left the misril knife on my waist.

"Well done, Ray. The withdrawal of the enemy means that the surprise attack is a success?"

　As soon as he saw Ray, Arius asks.

(...that's why the situation has become so unclear.)

　Ray nods, muttering in his heartily.

"Yes, Mr. Siminar ... successfully killed General Castom, the supreme commander of the Imperial Army."

　I almost call him Siminar and say it again, but the royalists don't seem to notice him and smile.

"All right! Did the surprise attack defeat the general?" This will save face for the King."
"No, that's far from it," It is safe to say that defeating the enemy commander is the greatest achievement. ...I think your name was Ray. Do you think that our royalists are the most successful in this war?"

　A nobleman near Count Arius asks Ray as if he had something in him.
　Of course, it's not that this aristocrat doesn't recognize Ray's achievements. But in order to save face in the royal faction, one adventurer cannot take the greatest achievement of the war as a whole.
　So I tried to get Ray to admit it himself. He asked Ray, blushing that he would act as a royal if he were to go against his words.
　But Ray nods without hesitation to such an important question.

"Since it was indeed Mr. Siminar who killed the enemy general, I think that the greatest achievement in this war could be attributed to him."

　A nobleman who hears Ray's words twitch his cheeks for a moment. No wonder he was told that the greatest achievement belonged only to the Siminar individual and not to the King's faction.
　But before the uncomfortable-looking nobleman can say anything next, the Earl of Arius says:
　It was an honest feeling for the Earl of Arius to grasp what was going on, and to engage in any communication that would satisfy his personal pride afterwards.

"And did you come here to report that you flew in the air on the Gryphon? Didn't you see the Vestian army withdrawing along the way?"
"...no. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it at all. When I arrived here, I was surprised that the battle had already ended."

　A few nobles frowned at the phrase "me," but they probably understand that this is not the time to worry about the adventurer's language. I'm not saying anything in particular, but I'm going to urge you to move on.

"And I would like to ask you again, how long ago exactly did the Westian army withdraw?"
"How long, I said. I can only say that it was a long time before you came here."
"... a long time ago?"

　muttering and frowning Ray
　The clock is an expensive magic item, so we don't know exactly the exact time, but if the whole army had already gathered and completed the retreat, it would not be ten or twenty minutes, so when Ray broke the earth dome and rushed inside... if he hadn't done so, it seemed that General Castom had already begun the retreat by the time his bracelet had absorbed so much magic and died.

(In other words, was it designed from the beginning?)

　I thought I had caught him in a trap, but he was caught. It passes through my mind that Theoreum was reading a surprise attack by the Royal Army of Milliana, which I had been talking about before the raid.

(But what are you going to do by killing the commander-in-chief of your own army?)

"What's the matter? Is there anything you can think of?"

　Ray, immersed in his inner thoughts, comes to himself with the words of Count Arius.

"I can imagine that if the army of the Vestian Empire had withdrawn, and if I had retreated in a roundabout way so that I could not find myself in the path of bringing reports of the success of the surprise operation... it must have been all in someone's hands."
"Stupid! Is that because the army of the Kingdom of Milliana was well used?"

　The nobles around the Earl of Arius cried out loudly, and the like-minded nobles looked at Ray with displeased expressions.

"Wait, it was 儂 who asked this man's opinion, and he only said the possibility. There's no need to decide. ...but use? The general of the Imperial Army was General Castom, I suppose?"

　A subordinate near Count Arius nods to a confirming question.

"Yes. He is said to be one of the leading figures in the military field in the Second Prince's faction.""...the flash?"
"He belongs to the third prince group."
"Then it's decided...?"

　the Earl of Arius with a bitter look on his face It's no wonder that they look like that because they were used to eliminate their political opponents, who are even considered to be major figures in the military figures.

"If you say that it is highly likely that you have taken advantage of it, Count Arius, you have not yet confirmed it." It is true that, even if used for it, a surprise attack unit formed of our royalists overthrew the general of the Imperial Army. Then it would be wrong to say that this war was a complete victory for our army of the Kingdom of Milliana, which stopped the invasion, protected the land, and killed the enemy commander-in-chief."
"Stupid! Then, after all, it was used well by the enemy! Don't you have any pride as a noble in protecting your Majesty, to be pleased with the victory you have gained out of the enemy's mercy?"
"Wait, it is an unpleasant fact that the enemy has taken advantage of it, but it is. The enemy probably did so because it is worth taking advantage of. Then, can't you think that the purpose was to reduce the number of soldiers for fear of us? Of course, it's the same that the commander-in-chief was abandoned."

　The aristocrats around them clamor about their present positions.
　The opinion was roughly divided into three parts. The first is that it was used, but the second is that it was not allowed to be used, and that it would continue to invade the Empire of Westia, and the third is that the enemy feared the strength of the army of the Kingdom of Milliana, and abandoned the general in order to reduce the strength of the army.
　It would have been fortunate for Ray and for the kingdom of Milliana that the majority of those who listen to those opinions support the most realistic first.

(In other words, even in the present situation, even though damage has been done to some extent, a counter-invasion would be almost impossible. Originally, the Kingdom of Milliana is defeated in terms of national power.)

　The kingdom of Milliana is a great power compared to its neighbors. But the Empire of Bestia is even more powerful than the Kingdom of Milliana. In terms of national strength, there is a difference of about one and a half times that of the Kingdom of Mileana.
　Furthermore, as the king's order was to stop the invasion, if he got carried away here, he would be punished for violating the order.
　Ray, who was listening to the nobles with such thoughts, once again realizes that Count Arius's gaze was directed at him.

"Ray, I'd like to hear your opinion on actually fighting against General Castom's forces. What do you think?"
"In my opinion, I can't help but say that General Castom's death has been exploited as long as it can't be changed. Then should we make a minimum profit?"

　When Ray says something, most of the people present agree that he said it well, and a small number of people stare at him as if he didn't say anything unnecessary.
　However, it is true that Ray has no choice but to express his opinion, so I dare to ignore their views.
　The Earl of Arius also nods and makes a decision.

"Ray, who was actually in the raid unit, said that, so there's something to be heard about. ... all right, give instructions to the whole army. There is a possibility of the capture of prisoners of war captured by surprise forces, and of some important information or magic items in enemy positions. Anyway, there is no doubt that this war ended with our victory. Let's declare it and triumphantly return."

　They may have been exploited, but the result remained that they overthrew the general and repelled the Empire of Bestia. It would be more than a good achievement for Count Arius, who spent a great deal of money to become a general in this army. The attack of the enemy's secret weapon, the Mystery... and the repulse of a surprise attack using a new magic item, a metastatic stone, was definitely a great achievement for me.

(There was a blunder about a surprise attack on the headquarters... well, even though he had a hard time, he had never seen a surprise attack using a magic item called a metastatic stone.) He then carried out a similar surprise attack and killed the general commander of the enemy. then it should not be considered such a fatal blunder.)

　mutter inwardly, and turn one's gaze to the adventurer standing before him.
　Although it was a problematic battle, it was undoubtedly the adventurer who was in front of me that I was able to win this war. At first glance, he has a small build that looks like an apprentice wizard, but his hidden abilities are definitely first class. Moreover, he has an item box, which is rare in the world, and is accompanied by a famous Gryphon as a high-rank monster. If I dare to look for a negative factor, would it be lack of politeness toward my superiors?

(But we can change anything about it from now on. Is there no way to miss such a man?）

　He glances at the aristocrats around him who are happy that the war ended with their victory, and turns to Ray again.

"Ray, what are you going to do in the future?"
"What are you going to do? I'm going to report the success of the raid to Mr. Dusker."

　Count Arius shakes his head from side to side, telling Ray that it is only natural.

"That's not the case. It was after this war. Wouldn't you like to serve me?"

　As soon as I told him so, the eyes of most of the aristocrats around me were on Ray.
　This is because even other nobles knew of Ray's ability and thought he could not overlook it. But he was one step behind because he did not expect the Earl of Arius to invite him here.
　However, Ray shakes his head sideways, apparently unconcerned by the aristocrats.

"I'm sorry, but it suits me to be on the frontier as an adventurer rather than to serve the nobles."

　He told them so, and flatly refused the invitation of Count Arius, who would have been promised an honor by the nobles around him.

"...I see. Show your face when you feel like it. I don't hate influential people like you. Now, first of all, report to Larkes the matter of the surprise forces."

　The Earl of Arius would not push on any further, but would have put Ray out of the tent.