Then I settled down and listened to Bram's story.

　Bram was at a party that Sister Elinora was attending and he fell in love with her at first sight and asked her to marry him.

　However, Elinora's sister refused to accept the proposal and said no.

　Bram, who couldn't give up, made several advances that day, and, moved by her enthusiasm (and perhaps reluctantly because it was too exasperating), the Elinora sister said to Bram


If you can beat me with a sword, I'll make you my fiancée.


　 .........

　That's not possible unless you can pull a dragon slayer's Nord father.

　Even the martial artist Count Merna and the B-ranked adventurer Lumumba can't match him these days, it seems.

　It's hard to say, but I don't think Bram is skilled enough to beat Sister Elinora with a sword.

　Then Bram challenged Sister Elinora to a duel and was killed instantly.

　It is said that even after that, Bram sent letters and party invitations, looking for a rematch opportunity, but apparently he never received a response to all of them.

　Come to think of it, I've seen Sister Elinora burning some paper in the garden a few times, saying she was practicing her fire magic or something.

　It must have been incinerated without being looked at.

'And this time, when I heard that the son of the Slaulet family was going to participate in a social gathering, I saw this as an opportunity to send a bunch of letters to Elinora!

　Bram says proudly, but to me he seems like a stalker of bad nature.

　And what do you know, Elinora's sister sent me a reply the other day.


"If you can defeat my brother, Alfried, who is participating in the social gathering, I'll give you a rematch.


　............

　Elinora sister, when you were leaving the mansion, you gave me a warning like "don't get involved with some strange nobleman", and then you forced me to deal with the trouble you sowed yourself?

　Maybe the letter from Bram would have arrived at the same time I was leaving the mansion.

　If I had known then, sister Elinora would have said something more blatant.

　d*mn, the harm of leaving the mansion early would appear here.

　By now, Elinora sister must be incinerating the large number of letters that arrived and taking a bite of a cookie in the living room.

''So let's play the game!

'Absolutely not. Because it has nothing to do with me, does it?

But the letter has your name on it!

　Bram opens the carefully folded letter and sticks it right under my nose.

　Ugh, it's been painstakingly punched out. I'm sure he wrote it at his desk, wrinkling his brow as he wrote it at random.

'Well, what about this?'

Well, I don't like it when it's written in a formal letter from your people...

　I looked at Eric's face for help, but he responded more in the affirmative.

''Certainly a duel is inevitable if this is the case. However, tonight is a social gathering of the nobles with Princess Couderia in attendance. I suggest that the duel be held tomorrow morning in the gardens here.

'Well that's certainly true too. That's fine with me.

　Bram nods in agreement with Alecia's words.

　I mean, why is Alecia taking it up?

'Err, do you really do that?'

"You're touring King's Landing tomorrow afternoon, right?　Just get it over with and then come on, okay?

　Naturally, there's no exchange of lives, but a duel in the morning is a pain in the ass.

　This is how my second day of the nobleman's exchange party came to an end.


　And the next day.

''........I overslept.......''

　I whip up from my bed at the inn.

　The sun has already risen to the middle of the day, and morning, the time of the duel with Bram, is long past.

　No, I don't think it's a problem because it's not perfectly noon yet, but it will be exactly noon when I head out now.

　I open the window's shutters and squint at the pleasant sunlight.

'It's a nice day,'

　And when I stretch out, I hear a popping sound coming from my body.

　Then I lean my elbows on the window and gaze blankly at the scenery.

　It's a clear day in the capital today. The sky is so blue that there is not a single cloud in the sky.

　When I look down, I see the streets of King's Landing bustling again today.

　Thanks to the fact that it's lunchtime, I can see that many people are walking towards the shops that look like eateries and the main street in the south.

　Such a crowded scene is nice, but I feel more at home in the green village of Coriat.

　After all, I am a country man. The countryside.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a great deal more to say.

　Are you sure you're okay with a fight with Bram?　I didn't say I was going to take it once, and I don't see a problem with it. I think it's worse to go somewhere without properly listening to the other person's response.

　I had originally agreed to tour the royal capital with Eric today first. I wouldn't have to change that to go out with him.

　If they couldn't have a duel, Bram just wouldn't be able to rematch with sister Elinora.

　That means Bram won't have to go through any unnecessary suffering. This is my way of being kind.

　I fill an empty glass with water magic and pour it into my mouth.

　Then I wash my face at the sink, prepare myself and put on some rough clothes.

　In the end, after arriving in the royal capital, I hadn't been able to do much sightseeing as far as Ra-chan's lost child incident and visiting Mother Erna's parents' house.

　The noblemen's social gathering just ended yesterday, so let's enjoy today's party to the fullest.

''Okay, the meeting was in the square, right?

　I hummed and ran out to the main street.



　The large square, located in the center of the royal capital, was peaceful today.

　Children playing around the fountain. The children jumped into the water, even though they were still wearing their clothes.

　Won't their clothes stick to the water and make them feel uncomfortable?

　I wondered in my heart whether they would not feel uncomfortable or not, but they didn't care about that and just smiled innocently.

　Around them, old men and couples were sitting on the couches, chatting and watching the children frolicking.

'I think we met up with Eric here around noon or so, right?

　There is no such thing as a clock or a cell phone in this world, so it's a pain to meet up with one.

　In the royal capital, bells are rung after a certain amount of time, but I think that's pretty sketchy too.

　One small bell in the early morning. There are three bells in total: one small one in the early morning, and a larger one at noon and in the evening. That's basically five bells at about the time of day that would be in between, once each.

　Probably, it is judged by the position of the sun and its shadow.

　Because of such a rough time format, the people of this world are rather loose with time.

　Of course, some people, such as merchants and knights, are very regular, but their daily lives are laid back.

　In front of the stone statues in the square and on the couches, there are many people who look frustrated that the person they are waiting for is not coming.

　Wow, it's very scary to see a woman in that area.

　If a guy comes, I'm going to have to punch him in the face first to make him feel better!　It's like.

　Just as I was watching it from afar, a man who looked like a boyfriend came running in.

　All I could see was that this man was approaching the gallows.

　The man put his hands on his knees to catch his breath and started apologizing to the woman with his hands together.

　I'm sure he said, "I'm sorry!　I'm so late! Or something like that.

　In response, the woman's twisted expression crumbles and she huffs a soft smile.

'Fine. In return, you'll have to take me somewhere nice today! And will it be a sweet and sour development that spreads?

　Everyone in the plaza is watching the scene with bated breath.

　Even a child frolicking in a fountain or an old man sitting on a couch.
　And time is moved by a sound.

　Gong, gong, gong, the solemn sound of the bells echoes through the royal city.

　It's the sound of the noon bell.

　And when the bells stop ringing.

'You said the rendezvous was for the second bell, right?　This isn't the third time we've done this!

Wait, wait!　Wha-ha?

　A woman punched a man in the abdomen as hard as she could.

　The children who were looking at it exclaimed in admiration.

''Oooohhhh!''

She finally did it!

She's been here all morning, hasn't she?

　Was that woman there this morning? She must have been looking forward to today's date. If that's the case, it's understandable that she was angry. It was that man's fault for being late. Arriving at the third bell is a terrible idea.

"Oh, nice body.

Good punch.

It's not going to get up again.

　Yeah, I agree with you on that.

　The man has been squatting in pain for a while now. It doesn't seem like he can get up very soon.

　Eventually the woman notices our gaze and becomes embarrassed, and her cheeks and ears quickly turn bright red in the blink of an eye.

''--!　Stupid!

　Then he gave the man a word of abuse and ran off.

''Qui........na.''

　The people around him stare at the man with a look that says, "Don't chase me," but the man is unable to stand up.

　It must have been a powerful blow.

　Father Nord also said. It's not just a matter of time before you're ready to go.

　If he hadn't rubbed his swollen and reddened cheeks, it would have sounded even better.

　Surely this time would be the same.

'Why aren't you coming after me!

　Oh, the woman from earlier came back.

"I'm sorry Quina. I wanted to chase her but I can't get up.