Spend a relaxing time looking at the magical stones, and it's normal time to sleep in a few more hours. Ray was receiving a call from someone in his room.
　I understand that Ray is an adventurer whose name is well known in his own way.
　That's why I knew that people could come to see me at that time, though it was still a little too early to call me this kind of late at night.

(Some sudden request...or someone who tries to beat me and make a name for himself, or something else?) Now, who could it be?)

　They approach the door, making sure they can do the least they can, and speak to the person behind them.

"What can I do for you?"
"I have a confidential story to tell you said. Would you mind letting me into the room?"

　The voice was unfamiliar to Ray, too.
　open the door thinking that perhaps I've never met someone before...
　And standing in front of Ray, who opened the door, was naturally unfamiliar.

"...who is it?"

　A man in his mid-20s, of medium build and height, bowed deeply to Ray's words.

"How do you do, Mr. Ray?" My name is Siesto. Actually, a certain person brought me a suggestion for Mr. Ray. Would it be possible for you to listen to me?"
"... well, I don't mind. Well, why don't you listen in the dining-room?"
"The dining-room?" If possible, I don't want anyone else to talk to me."
"That may be said," Then there's only my room in the other place."
"Yes, I don't mind," No, it would be helpful if you could do so. It would be the greatest pleasure if I could have Mr. Ray's room."

　With exaggerated delight, Ray invites her into the room with a somewhat mingled gaze.
　It's very careless of me to put a man up in my room for the first time.
　But in Ray's case, he was confident that he would be able to deal with any unforeseen situation immediately.
　That's not like the noise of a Rank S adventurer whose opponent fought in the Westian Empire.

"All right, then, put it in." Unfortunately, there is nothing like a sofa, so I want you to sit on that chair."

　Ray invites Siesto and tells him as he sits down on the bed.
　She was a momentary expressionist, but the next moment she wiped it clean and opened her mouth.

"Thank you very much, and I'll excuse myself,"

　Siesto enters the room and, as Ray says, sits on the only chair in the room.
　When Ray confirms it, he immediately opens his mouth.

"And at this late night... I don't mean to say, what did you come to do at this hour? And you came to me for the first time."
"Yes. Actually, Mr. Ray is going to fight a duel in three days..."

　Now that he's said that, Ray has a slight bad feeling.
　But they don't say it out loud, and they encourage you to speak with their eyes.

"He wants to pull out Mr. Ray. and he paid a few white gold coins for his preparation."
"Of course,"

　Ray's mouth leaks such words with a sigh, just as I had expected.
　Siesto probably didn't understand what Ray said. He looked at Ray with a mystified look on his face.

"that is to say, if the duel had actually taken place, you would have thought it impossible to beat me, and you would have tried to buy it, too, with all due respect, just like a white gold coin?"

　There is no doubt that white gold coins are expensive to the general public.
　However, it is by no means rare for an adventurer with more than a certain amount of ability.
　And most importantly, there are quite a few white gold coins in the mystery ring.
　The newest would be the recent Gamerion hunt.
　Then Ray came in... more precisely, he's ripping up white gold coins from adventurers who tried to steal the carriage of the former squadron.
　For Ray, it was a problem before the joke that he was told to betray his muet with a few white gold coins.

"In the first place, if we win this duel, half the property of the Earl of Eriel will belong to the Baron Cisne. I don't think I'll be paid a few white gold coins after winning the duel."
"That's... but it's the Earl of Eriel's family, and if we keep fighting like this, Mr. Ray will have a lot of trouble."

　Yes. Ray opens his mouth with a smile when he tries to say so.

"Do you think so? I don't think it's inconvenient for me as long as I'm in Gilm. If you go to the royal capital, it will be a different story. And if we really can't do anything about it, we can disappear from the kingdom of Milliana. I am, after all, a light adventurer."

　It won't be that simple, to be exact. 　
　In the first place, it was certain that he would find it difficult to meet Elena if he had to leave the kingdom of Milena.
　I talk to Elena fairly frequently, not every night, but it's only natural that I want to see her in person if I can.
　But not knowing it, Siesto could only be surprised by Ray, who said he would abandon his country easily.

"Well, it's over," Go home, then. I can imagine who your master is now, but I will not pry into it."

　Having told me to serve in the keep, it was easy to imagine whose hand Ciesto was.
　But Ray shrugs it off because he knew he'd be in trouble if he told him.

(But you're the first to come and buy me. I thought he would launch an attack on the Baroness of Cisne... my misreading?)

　Looking at the man in front of her, Ray is relieved by his misreading and has mixed feelings of regret.
　They have already attacked, and because of their failure, they have come up with the means of acquiring Ray, but Ray doesn't know.

"Are you serious!? You're the Earl of Eriel, a nobleman of a certain power in the royal faction." And yet, if you refuse the request of the next head of the family!?"

　I guess he couldn't believe what Ray said. Siesto mutters with wide eyes.
　But Ray's answer to such a siesto was a fierce smile.

"Why should I go out of my way to serve such a fellow? If you want to follow me, you show your power, not your parents' power or your family's money. Then you'll have nothing to think about. though most vessels would not be able to hold my water."

　With a smile on his face, Ray couldn't imagine himself serving a nobleman.
　In the first place, I often act independently, which can be interpreted as a dogmatic act, and I am an individual who acts effectively only when I act in accordance with the actions of other knights, so I have a strong feeling that I cannot fully demonstrate my abilities.

"... I see. If you're going to go that far, I'll excuse myself. But please understand that this kind of opportunity is not usually the case."

　With a completely incomprehensible glance at the person in front of him, Siesto stands up from his chair and bows and leaves the room.
　After seeing it off, Ray takes off his dragon robe and puts it in a mistling and lies on the bed."Well, you tried to buy me, and you knew who I was. I think it's a little slow."

　Thinking of what he would do from tomorrow, Ray would pick a book out of the mystery ring and start reading.





"...what? Say it again."

　What resonates in the room is that they don't understand what the other person is saying.
　As Furtos hears the words, he wipes the sweat from his face with his clothes.
　The sweat that emerges is not caused by the magic of the heating in the room, but by tension.

"Ray refused to serve Mr. Keep,"
"...what is that?" What's going on? I'm the next head of the Earl of Eriel's family. To me, the mere adventurous spirit of refusing to talk to the officer? Who do you think he is?"

　A fist wagged with an angry voice hits the desk.
　The skin ripped and the blood flowed, but Keep screams with no sign of pain from excitement.

"You're kidding me,"Oh, my! I'm going to go out of my way to serve you, and you're going to say no! d*mn, I'll never forgive you for making fun of the nobles!"

　In keeping, it's like being bitten by a hand that went out of its way to reach out to an adventurer.
　I...no, my position as a nobleman was no more than insulted by a mere adventurer, and I could never have forgiven him.

"Furtos! Get him in a duel... get him ready to kill that poor Ray! I'll make amends for the crime of insulting me with his life!"

　He ordered Furtos with an angry stare, but Furtos replied with a shake of his head.

"Forget it, Mr. Keep," The reason why we tried to get Ray over here was because we couldn't prepare the people who could beat him. That hasn't changed even now. This guillem was originally the home of the neutralists. We cannot exert our full influence as a royalist, or as the Earl of Eriel."
"Well, what do you want me to do with this guillem, a strong adventurer... Wait, wait, if you can't hire a strong adventurer here, you don't have to go out of your way to cling to it." There was another town nearby, Abuero and Subursta..."

　Keeping a smile on his face that he had come up with a plan to revive himself, he returned with a full toss of shaking his head again.
　When he thought he had to fight Ray, Furtos thought about it, too.
　But he was soon forced to dismiss the idea.

"Keep. This is Gilm. In other words, it is a place where adventurers of as strong strength as the royal capital gather in the Kingdom of Mileana. Even in such a guillem, if other city adventurers were to fight against Ray, who is well known as a talented man, there was little time left."
"Don't be silly! But you've got to do something about it! If things go on like this, half of our fortune will be taken away!"

　It was a screaming keep, but for Furtos, I'm tempted to ask why he pretended to bet half his fortune.

(At least, he could have evaded any verbal promise without taking legal action.)

　While murmuring inwardly, the rant of the keep reverberates into the room.
　While ignoring it, Furtos wonders if there is any way to break the current situation, he suddenly stops as if he had come up with something.
　Feeling bad about his lord's appearance, Furtos says.

"What's the matter, Mr. Keep?"
"...the reason why I've been through this is because there are papers under the Count of Larkes with my blood stamped on them?"
"What? Well, that's right. It's true that I'm in a situation where I can't get away with it because I have those papers."
"Then why don't we do something about the papers, for example, where some thief or something sneaks in and steals?"
"I can't,"

　Furtos asserts, holding back the temptation to shout, "Don't be silly!"

"It's the place where the lord lives. Of course, the guards are well guarded." The knights of the Larkes frontier, in particular, have a reputation for their elite performance. I don't think I can imitate scratching through his eyes and sneaking in."

　Furtos didn't say anything, but he also thought there was a possibility that Dusker was spotting their movements.
　If it's a keep, it's not surprising that we should act so short‐changedly.

"Then what do you want me to do?"
"That's..."
"The habit of having no alternative, and the complaints are full-fledged! But if it is difficult to attack the lord's house, will the guillem itself disappear? If we hire people to set fire all over the city, it will be far from a duel."
"Don't do it! If you do so, the Earl of Eriel will be ruined!"
"And if you want to complain, come up with an alternative!"

　When yelled at, no alternative comes out of Furtos' mouth.
　But nevertheless, I could not have made him sneak into the lord's house or set fire to the guillem.
　If you do that, you'll be sure to risk not only your life but also your own life.
　There's only one thing you can do to save your life.

"All right. I'll find someone strong enough to beat Ray. so please refrain from rashness somehow."

　a few days to go before a duel
　In the meantime, we had no choice but to find someone who could compete with Ray.
　Keep nods contently to the words that come out of Furtos' mouth.
　There was no need to worry if we could find someone to beat Ray.
　However, the keep doesn't understand how difficult it is to achieve.
　That's why I open my mouth to the idea that Furtos's opinion will be completely fulfilled.

"That's all I have to say from the start. I'll leave it to you."





　This is how time goes, and the day of the duel is finally.