"Then you're coming back to see me again, too, Set!"
"Grull".

　Rey gets into a carriage parked in front of the Quent house, and Marka calls out to Sett, who stands nearby.
　Her expression was not that of a magical genius, or the daughter of the Duke, but that of a girl of seven years of age.

"Oh, I'll come and see you again. Let me have some delicious food then."
"Well, leave it to me. This time, my mistress lost in okonomiyaki, but next time I'll let her eat something she doesn't know!"

　As a member of the Duke's family, I can't stand being surprised that Ray had a dish that I didn't know. The next time we meet, Marka is proud to show it to her, and Corean, who is in the carriage with Ray, smiles a little.
　The smile was not a fixed smile constantly floating around Coan's mouth, but a hearty smile.

(It's necessary to have friends, after all.) Especially the daughter is smart for her age... No, she's too smart. Therefore, no one had ever been able to get along with him before, but it was worth the risk of coming to the city of Gilm.)

　With a deep sigh of relief, Coan calls out through the carriage window to his Lord.

"Well, my dear lady," I'll take Ray and Sett to the inn."
"Huh? Isn't it a guild?"
"That's what I thought at first..."

　She told him so and glanced at Ray, who was sitting opposite her, but when Coan looked at her, Ray shrugged his shoulders slightly and looked up at the red sky from the sunset.

"As you can see, it's already evening. Then the guilds who have cleared up their requests will come back and be busy dealing with them. As for the guildmaster, I shall see him again tomorrow."
"Huh? Is it because my mistress called me?"
"That's true, but when I went to the guild, there was no guildmaster in the first place. It wouldn't have changed anyway."
"Well, I hope so, but... see you later!"

　Finally, the carriage walked out of the Duke Quent's mansion.





"Thank you very much, Mr. Ray," It's been a long time since I saw her so happy."
"Well, it was worth my while to come this far,"
"If possible, it would have been even more interesting if I could be a colleague with Ray said. and I never expected her to like him so much."

　Coan muttered as he looked through the window at Sett walking next to the carriage.

"I've been invited before, but I've refused everything. Well, I thought it would be a bad idea to work with you... to be hired officially, let alone temporarily as an adventurer."
"Well, I thought it would be half the case when I collected information about Ray in this city. But this was a matter of great hope, and I wish you would only have made a friendship with your daughter."
"By the way, you said he was Duke of Quent, but what is the matter with the factions?"
"You're on the royal side,"

　Coan answers Ray's question with ease.
　He thought it was better to say it out of his own mouth, since there was nothing particular to hide and, above all, it would be easy to find out after a little investigation.
　And, in fact, the choice was also correct.

"The King's side?"

　The only royalists in Ray remember being hampered by the war against the Westian Empire. Of course, I knew that the majority of the aristocrats in question fought in the last war, but that was why I had such an impression.

"Ah! Well, Ray must have a lot of thoughts."
"Well... why did you think Coan would serve Marca, though, as far as you could see, he seemed to serve the Duke of Quent, rather than the Duke of Quent."
"Well, there's no doubt about it's for sure. It was only because I was a daughter that I was inclined to serve."
"Is it only 7 years old?"
"It may sound strange to see from the side, but it is true that the lady saved me."

　Ray didn't feel a lie in Coan's words.

"Can I ask you what happened?"
"Well, it's nothing interesting to hear, but ... is that all right?"
"Oh,"

　There was such a strong relationship of trust between Marka and Coan that Ray could see. A former Rank A adventurer, a person who could already be described as a superhuman to the people of this world, and a seven-year-old child. It was very interesting to see what kind of relationship these two would have with each other.

(No, from what I'm talking about now, it wasn't yesterday or today that they met.) Marka should have been much younger than she is now.)

　Coan opens his mouth, apparently unconcerned about Ray's inner feelings.

"I think your daughter told you that I used to be a Rank A adventurer, but the party I belonged to was also a Rank A party."
"Oh, the Rank A party?" All I know is the axe of Thunder God."
"Oh, they are famous in many ways, aren't they?" Besides, we're on good terms with each other because we're having a family party. ...but unfortunately the party I was having wasn't that close. No, I guess I should say I'm sorry. It was a completely calculated party."

　Ray looks surprised at Coan, who laughs at his stupidity.
　In Ray's eyes, Coan seemed rather good-natured.

"I really needed money at that time. --not just a little bit of money, but a little bit of money that even a Rank A adventurer could get."
"...money?"
"Yes, my sister... she's got a little bit of a serious disease. I needed medicine that used a few rare ingredients to treat it. That's why I decided to join a party connected by calculation, riding on the lucrative talk that I could make money quickly. I saved money well and almost reached the level to complete the medicine... I was betrayed by the party. No, in this case, betrayal is not accurate, is it? As I said, it was originally a party connected by calculating. Now that I've said I'm going to leave the job at the end, it's not strange for them to choose to kill me and take away the money I've saved."

　breathe out a small sigh and shake one's head from side to side
　as if showing his stupidity to Ray.

"Anyway, at the very last moment I was nearly killed by them. Still, it was good to fight desperately to see if I could die, leaving my sister behind, and to avenge all of them...however, they are also Rank A and Rank B adventurers. I couldn't have been hurt... No, I was dying. When I was walking half dead on the road to get back to the city, my daughter's carriage happened to pass by, and her recovery magic saved my life. After that, she introduced me to a very skilled alchemist and made me a medicine to cure my sister's illness."

　Koan talks about his encounter with Marka with the expression of a child gently showing his treasure.

"Well, that's why I came to serve Marka.""Yes, I owe you my own life and my sister's life." And above all, I fell in love with the size of your daughter's bowl. How far will your daughter go and how much will she accomplish? I really want to see it with my own eyes."
"... it's amazing to fall in love with him that much."

　I wonder if it's Lolicon, if I were to twist it inside, but I wouldn't say it after reading the air. Or if he had said it, the second act of the battle in the Duke's garden would have been... without any moderation.

"Well, that's why it's very unfortunate that Mr. Ray won't be my colleague. and yet I am glad that you have formed a friendship with my daughter. To be honest, your daughter is capable in many ways... No, she's too expensive to talk to the sons of the nobility of her age. However, I don't want my younger sister to beat me when I'm older than them, so I don't approach them. If we get along well, we'll have to be very far cry from each other."

　When we talk like that, the carriage stops moving.
　While listening to Coan's past stories, the carriage continued to march, arriving in front of the dusk Wheat-tei, where Ray was staying.

"Oops, I think we've arrived already." I'm sorry to keep talking about me. and I beg you will continue to be good friends with my daughter."

　Ray nods to Coan, who bows his head deeply, without changing his expression.

"Now that you've become friends, don't do it like that. Marka wouldn't want you to be good friends with me until you do that."
"...that's right. It was definitely my first move."

　Coan laughs bitterly at Ray's words and opens the carriage door and goes out.

"Here you go,"
"Oh, thank you for your help,"

　Say hello to Coan, and Ray goes straight into the inn right in front of him where he feels nostalgic.
　Seeing it off, Coan also drives back to the house. I'm glad that the person I've become a friend of my dear daughter has the personality I expected.
　If Ray had tried to use Marka in some way... perhaps Coan would have stopped him at the risk of his life.

(I honestly don't think I can beat him in a normal battle, though.) if I had to do it, I should have taken it unexpectedly.)

　Only one of them had a direct sword in the Duke of Quent's garden battle. But considering the tactics in front of him and the power he felt when he cut with death-size, it was easy to predict that his pure fighting power would surpass that of himself, a former Rank A adventurer.

(That's why it's currently ranked C, so there are a lot of strange things about it. But in a way, it's not surprising, considering that you need something other than combat power to be above rank B.)

　Coan muttered inwardly and drove back to the Duke of Quent.





"Oh, welcome home," I've been away for quite a long time this time."
"A little way to the city of Emocion," How long do you pay for the hotel now?"

　The middle-aged, stout woman who greeted Ray was Lana, the landlady of the Wheat House this evening.
　Lana looks over the papers at the counter and then opens her mouth with a smile.

"The amount you have given me in advance will be the end of the month." What would you do?"
"Well, that's for a while, then," Please let me know when the term of the inn approaches."

　Tell him so, and put three pieces of white gold from the mistling on the counter.
　Seeing it, Lana didn't get so upset because she was the proprietress of a high-class inn in the town of Gilm, but she still looked at Ray with a look of surprise.

"Well, you're quite a man of course. Did it go so well this time?"
"Well, I'm sure it's been a lot of unexpected things, but it's fair to say that it was profitable in the end."

　A small nod is made to remember the vast amount of seafood in the mystery ring, or the food that cooked them.
　If Ray's goal was to make money, he could make a fortune out of seafood.

"That's the best of all," But for me, it is most important that Ray has come back safely."

　Lana smiles and tells me that, but she smiles shyly in the hood, and as if to mislead it, she takes out five relatively large fish about 30cm long from the mistling and hands them to Lana.

"It's a souvenir of Emocion. It's a sea fish, so it's relatively bigger than the fish around here, but you can eat it grilled with salt."
"Well, it's certainly big," Thank you very much. Let me say thank you, but I'll give you a free meal today. We can't refund the fees while Ray is away, but we'll refund them to you at the meal."

　He smiled and said, and headed straight to the kitchen to preserve the fish.
　On this day, Ray will enjoy the evening food he eats at Wheat-tei after a long absence.