-- Inside the Duke of Leengrande's mansion.

　In the shade of a tree in the garden, Alecia lets out a swallowing voice, "It's a nice day.

　Bathed in the pleasant sunshine, Alecia's slit eyes narrow in a huff.

　A breeze that caresses her skin and shakes her glossy red hair and her crimson dress.

''I suppose we can watch the game safely here.

　As I muttered that, the maid who was waiting by my side started to prepare the tea.

　Something interesting will happen today.

　Aleixia was thinking that in her mind while looking at Bram in the center of the garden.

　Out of the corner of Alecia's eye, Bram was standing there with a wooden sword in his hand.

　Bram would wait here for the strong enemy to come.

　The time is the time for the second bell to ring.

　As for the promised morning time, it's about time for Alfried to come.

　Suppressing his fluttering heartbeat, Bram waits patiently.

　Although that boy is seven years old, he is Elinora's younger brother. Bram thought that he must have some skill in his own right, even in his condition.

　After all, he was even nominated by Elinora herself, it is hard to believe that he is half-skilled. Even if he's not as good as Elinora, he must have skills that are unworthy of his age. You can't be too careful.

　Bram meditates and conjures up a vivid image of the duel in his head.

　And so, while Bram is sharpening all his nerves like a sword, speaking of Alfried.


　--he was sleeping comfortably in his bed at the inn.



　× x x x



　From then on, the couple beside me wrestled on the couch and I had to stand up for fear of getting involved.

　At first, what was the point of lying down in such a public place and sharing a hot embrace!　The people looked at each other, but looked away as if they were relieved to see the couple slapping each other in a foul-mouthed manner. The ones who liked things seemed to be watching it, though.

　I was terribly disappointed that he thought I was that couple's kid and gave me a sorry look over the faint whispers I heard.

　A few moments later, Eric came in late, just as the woman was closing in on the man.

'Sorry. I'm late.

I'm late, I'm starving.

　Eric shakes his shoulders and lets out a ragged breath. Did he apparently come running?　I'm sweating uncommonly well for that.

　It doesn't just look like he ran from the inn, it looks like he did a more intense workout.

　The inn where the nobles stay is in the northern part of the noble district. Even if it's the farthest end, though, it's not that far away.

''It's just that I ran into some troublesome people. I'll buy you a skewer of wussy meat to make up for it.

Eh, I'll take the more expensive one.

　It's not like it's a piece of ousy meat or a copper coin.

　If I'm going to eat for free anyway, I want something more expensive.

'What's an expensive guy going to eat?'

'I'd rather have the neo-woosey meat I've heard about anyway.

Hey, that's a rare commodity that they don't sell very often.　And unlike Wussy's, it's one silver coin for one. Give me a break with a wussy skewer.

Well, the skewers at Wussy's are pretty good too, so there you go.


　I ate one skewer of wussy earlier, but I think I could eat at least five of those.

　I'm not sure if it's because I ate one halfway through, but I'm starving.

　I compromised and walked out in a straightforward manner.

　At that moment, a cheer went up around me.

"........what is that?

　Eric looks at the voices and makes a dubious noise.

　In the center of the cheering crowd, there was a man on the ground, white-eyed, and a woman roaring in victory.

''Well I don't know. Anyway, let's get to the stall quickly.

Oh, oh. Speaking of which, how's the duel going for you?

... "Ah, it's over. Successfully solved.

　You can do whatever you want with your Elinora sister by fighting her already uncontested.

　By the way, please get her as a wife as well.

　Oh, but I don't like it when that is my brother. I'd rather have someone better than that.

I wish I could have seen you without a scratch on you. Let's go.

　In the south main street of the royal city, there is a sweet and savory smell from the area today.

　The south main street, which was lined with many food stalls, restaurants and shops, was filled with countless people coming and going, probably because it was lunchtime.

　At a nearby stall, a large piece of meat with plenty of spices was being slowly grilled and dripping with gravy. Beyond that, many vegetables were being stirred in a pot.

　One wraps various ingredients around something that looks like naan.

　Something kneaded and baked. Something steamed. Something fried. A variety of dishes are sold.

　Are the unusual dishes you have never seen before exotic?

　It's not strange to find yourself in the mixed-race capital.

It smells good.

　When I turned my head to Eric, who was walking next to me, his face was scurrying around.

　It's different from the way he was looking at the stall earlier, as he was seriously wary of the area itself.

''What's wrong?''

No, no, it's nothing. Just checking. It's all good.

　There's something wrong with Eric, but I remind myself that Eric is always funny and I don't care.

''........hmm?''

　Then I suddenly notice a suspicious presence from behind and turn around.

　It's like there's a being that's been following me at a certain interval since a while ago.

　Since I've been able to use spatial magic, my ability to grasp space is sensitive. In any case, if you don't have a firm grasp on it, an unexpected accident will happen when you transition.

　If it's a safe place, I can at least tolerate wobbling a little and falling on my butt.

　However, even that is not allowed in a bad foothold, which is why we train regularly for transference magic. And thanks to the large amount of magic power it consumes, it's also a good training for magic power amplification.

　In other words, the fact that I was able to notice the anomaly is the result of my daily efforts.

　I'd like to think that it wasn't because of the days I kept running away from Elinora's sister when I sensed her presence.

　I don't like the power I've acquired by doing that or anything else.

''D-Does, what's going on?　What's that?

　Eric overreacts badly. Is this guy being chased by anyone?

　While I thought that, the suspiciousness faded into the distance.

Well it's nothing.

Yeah?


　As we walked along the street for a while, I found one of the stalls that had a particularly strong smell, and I muttered to myself, "That meat is so red.

"That meat is so red.

　A brown-skinned, well-built man with a large piece of meat with plenty of spices and herbs kneaded into it.


　The smell is so thick, even though we are far from the stall. I wondered what it tasted like.

That's the cuisine of the Kingdom of Rasul, the West. It's a dish with a strong flavor and spiciness.

　The Kingdom of Rasul. One of the countries that lies far west of the Kingdom of Misfirito.

　It is said that most of it is a desert, although it has a vast land. It is said to be a dry land with high temperatures.

　I know the country's name and most of the things I've learned in my studies, but I've never had the actual food.

'Wow, that sounds spicy.

It's spicy but I can't get enough of it. How about I buy you the hottest one you've ever seen?

　Eric's grinning smile says something like that.

　Hey, this is a pretty bad guy.

　Even a normal guy can be that red, but what happens when he's the spiciest guy?

　I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to taste the spices themselves.

'No, no thanks. You promised me a skewer of oussies, right?　Look, it's right there.

d*mn you gutless bastard!

　I overheard Eric's tongue-tied words and hurried to line up at Wussy's skewers.


　× x x x

　The third bell rang in King's Landing for a while.

''It's ... late!''

　Bram barked in the garden.

'Hey, hey!'　It's past noon!　The time for the duel was supposed to be in the morning!　The morning is already over!　Mistress Alecia, has he come yet?

'What?　It's already noon. I was playing with this panel and I totally lost track of time.

　Bram's face turns red and his voice is hoarse, but Alecia's voice is quite swallowing.

　The current Alecia does not care about Bram.

　I'm not sure if it's a good idea, or if it's just gone.

　I was curious to see how Alfried would fare against Bram, and that's why I came to the garden, but it's no good if Alfried doesn't come.

　While I was lounging here, thinking that he wouldn't come, something arrived.

　It's called a frame that Lazares has recently started spreading something.

　Coincidentally, Alecia's men found it and bought it.

　This is interesting because it's easy for anyone to play with. Alecia thought it was a simple but brilliant idea, as it was easy to make with just a piece of cardboard and a skewer.

　Who would have thought to skewer a piece of cardboard and spin it around?

　Reversi, chess, and Alfried's extraordinary ideas.

　It was somewhat inadequate in terms of strength to clash with each other, but that could easily be overcome on this basis. In fact, it would even be complete.

　The recent flurry of activity at the Lazares Chamber of Commerce shows that. The day when the coma would be sold would be near.

　Even this would only be a part of his mind. What other interesting things and things could he be thinking about?

　Just by thinking about it, Alecia's boring daily life is brightly colored.

''Miss.........''

　As I was thinking about this, I was coloring the panels when I was approached by a woman in black.

　It's a woman dressed in black. She suddenly appeared as if she was assimilating the shadow.

　At least that's what it felt like to Alecia.

'Lim, what is he doing now?'

"...I'm currently strolling down South Main Street with Eric-Silford.

.... and the duel?

　Alecia rolls her eyes at Lim's unexpected report and sounds her age.

　At this, Lim also reports a bit stuck in the back of his teeth, as if he's hard to say.

He left the inn before the third bell rang and headed for the square first.

　At this, Alecia was speechless for a moment, but she laughed as if she couldn't bear it.

''Pfft.....Hahahaha!　It's crazy that you would just shrug off a duel to go play. That's not normal!

'He skipped the duel and went to play!　What's that supposed to mean?　No, what do you mean?!

　Bram, who has heard Alecia's words, comes rushing over furiously.

　It seems that he is about to grab on to Alecia at any moment, but he seems to have a decent amount of reason left in him.

　Rim, the shadow, disappeared again, as if blending into the shade of a tree, the signs disappeared.

''Apparently you and Eric are strolling down the main street in the south, right?

"...what the hell?　Son of a b*tc*!　Then I'll be on my way!

　Bram's shoulders shook with a blue streak, but he quickly regained his composure, bowed his head and ran out of the garden.

　It would go without saying where they were headed.

'It's getting interesting again,'

　Alecia, left in the garden, smiled lustily to herself.