When I finished meeting with Mr. Lex.

Well, you certainly have the goods. I'll take the information on The Nightmare for 100 gold pieces.

　The mare said this without changing her expression.

I'll pay you for the 100 gold coins. I was originally going to pay you a thousand. A hundred gold is easy.

Thank you, Mea, ...... and Lex, .......

　I will return the 100 gold coins to Mr. Lex, one of these days.
　I didn't want to betray Mr. Lex's goodwill by saying so, so I kept it in mind.

'It doesn't matter. I just have to make good on my promise. You can thank the loser over there for that.

No.

　Mr. Lex frowned at the name of the loser.

　Mare told me to come back the next day and that's it for today.

　I told Lex-san that I belonged to the guild Tempest.
　He had never heard of the Tempest.
　Apparently, Lloyd and my father are acquainted, but not with Lex.

　...... and I can tell you that Dad has the trust of many people.
　Not only is your father an accomplished swordsman but he's also very well-liked.

　That's probably the reason why your father, a swordsman, has risen to the level of a swordsman.

　If you want to become the world's strongest...you have to surpass your father to gain this power.
　That's not just about skill. It's also about cultivating your personality to be liked by many people.



　◇



　Midnight, a few days later, I was in The Tempest.
　From now on, The Nightmare's plans will be carried out.

　The information Ms. Mare gave me was quite helpful.

　They're after Ral, who's bunking with the guild.
　Today is our target date.
　And that it's a way in: a grimoire.

　I knew right away what the magic was.
　It's because when I looked behind the desk where this man Noah sat, I saw that it was rigged.

　A tag stuck to the back of the desk.
　It's also a transparent tag that most people can't see.
　To recognize it, you have to sense a hint of magic it emits.
　Moreover, the tag is coated with transference magic, which tells you it's a very high quality magic tool.

　The reason Noah was visiting The Tempest was to set a target and to put this tag on it.

　I realized that, but I didn't dare take the tag off.
　If I took it off, he would have staggered the date and attacked again.
　It doesn't help.

　So I chose to end it today.

Well, here we are.

　It was Lex who spoke to me in the dark.
　I asked him for some help, and he was happy to oblige.
　I'm sorry to keep you out this late at night, but you are most welcome to help us.

Yeah.

Does Revell ever get nervous?

I'm afraid. But we can't do anything if we're afraid.

Sure, you're right.

　Just then, the bill suddenly began to glow blue-white!
　A strong light was emitted, illuminating the darkness brightly .
　It was clear that the magic tool had been triggered.

　When the light disappeared, two men appeared.
　One was the man who called himself Noah and the other was smaller than Noah and not much taller than me.

"It's strange, I didn't think anyone was still around.

Oops. So that's it then. I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you.

　The little man with the corner of his mouth hanging up said that.

"Wait.

　The little man doesn't listen when Noah says that, but he lunges at me, knife at the ready.
　He's fast, but not invisible.
　On a speed scale, he's the fastest I've ever seen, but that's about it.
　It was a monotonous move, and compared to Lex, it was a far cry from his strength.

　The smaller man doesn't attack head-on, but rather accelerates right in front of me and gets behind me.

''Well, that's true, isn't it?

What...?

　He dodged the knife, grabbed the man's head, and slammed him to the ground.
　Now he's out of it.

I never learn to listen, do I?

　Noah let out a sigh.

'It's been a long time, Mr. Noah.'

Yeah, it's been a while. Didn't expect to see you again like this.

'Yes . I felt uncomfortable when we first met, so I had to take a lot of measures.

"Okay, so Revell is more than I thought he was. I didn't think I'd get there by mentioning the name "Nightmare" but ...... that's great. And this guy next to me looks pretty strong too. All I can do is run for it.



You could attack me like this guy.

"I see the situation better than that guy. I can't win. Will you let me go?

Good.

　When I said that, Lex looked surprised, but didn't mention anything .

"...... Seriously? It sounds like you're serious, and thanks to Revel's good-naturedness, I'm going to get the hell out of here.

Is this man good?

Yeah. It's a pain in the ass to take care of a bunch of idiots. We're not that close, and it would be nice if you could just take care of things as they come.

Okay. So instead of letting it go, would you please just give me one message?

It's no problem.

Tell the person who tried this case that 'next time I won't condone it'.

Okay. I'll see you later.

　With that, Noah used his magic tool and left.

'What a stupid ending.

Yes.

'I'm surprised you chose to miss it, but I have a feeling Mr. Aden did too. What about this guy at ......?

For now, I'm going to give this man to the Order.

It's a good thing you're a criminal and you have a record of doing so. Well, I'm just glad you're all right.

Yes. Thank you so much for your time today.

Come on. I didn't do anything.

It's been a big help just to have you here. I don't think I would have made the choice to miss it if Mr. Lex hadn't been there.

"Hahaha, well, I'm glad I could be of help then.



　...... That's why I was able to safely prevent the attack from the Nightmare.
　The next day, I handed the small man who attacked me over to the Order.

　Although Johnny said it wasn't public knowledge, the crime itself was investigated, and I was officially treated as a grade A offender after an interrogation.

　As a result, he received 150 gold coins as the bounty and returned 100 of them to Mr. Lex.