Dawn

　After the fishing boats and Transportation Corps left, we began to work on the pier, and the end of it was finally in sight. The pier was made to look like a rocky place, but I didn't want to use explosives at night, so we all worked together to make it look tough. The next time we docked, it would roll the ship in and collapse.

''Ryota, do you hear me?　The wagon was slow and I followed the ruts. I'm sorry for the change in direction. I did find a post, though. And I found a couple of hidden Transportation Corps outposts, maybe Meade won't arrive until tomorrow. I'll be there in a few minutes.

　Well, the opponent is a wagon, and the road is just a relatively flat ground.
　Ares' horses are tough for their magic power. Even so, 10 kilometers per hour is the best I can do?
　I'm sorry that I didn't use my imagination and pushed you too hard, and I'm sorry.

"It's safer to do it during the night, and this time it was my mistake for not realizing it was late. But in the future, you'll check in with me, won't you?

　Orders are absolute, etc., and in this day and age, even the military is inflexible, and to some extent, field decisions are allowed. And we're civilian exterminators, and we deserve a reward for what Midia has forced us to do. But I wanted to get ahold of you, and I don't want you to do anything more dangerous than you're supposed to.

"I've been trying to get a signal, but next time I'll be more careful.　And then I remembered the ritual. Mead and the goat would be in the style of the sun gods, so they would sacrifice at noon. It's a mid-morning feast, and the bandits will be off when the drinks arrive.'

All right, be careful on your way back. Be safe.
"Yes!

　It's a report of Midea's return, but it must be a major ritual because it's so recognizable by the style.

'Ryota!　I didn't think it was on our file!
"....the absence of God... and the absence of a god... for 300 years... and the recent creation of a ritual... of unknown duration...

　I don't have any thoughts or feelings, but somehow the back door of my mind is exposed. It's well sunny today, so the satellite communication is fine, and I've been complaining about it since a while ago.

　　As far as boring things are concerned, even divine divination and tsukkomi... As far as I'm concerned, it's been so sober lately, with no battles, that I wonder if the Goddess is bored as well?

　But, you know, killing time when your men are working so hard?
　It's haunted.

　This time he warned her firmly, just in case. The Goddess's communication stopped dead in its tracks.
　Now let's finish the work on the pier before Midea returns.


★Midia has returned.

　After a four to five hour nap, we worked all night long.
　Tired and painful, but we all had a strategy meeting while looking at the map.

　The map that Midia brought back marked about 5 km south-southeast from the northern end of the Speckled Forest. It was a depression, a forest with a spring in the middle, he said.

　But there was no river in sight, it was a hollow and the spring was probably fed by a spring. With the spotted forest at its back, it would not be the first place to be attacked from behind, the water is plentiful and the hollow makes it difficult to see from the eastern plains. It's not that easy to defend, but it's easy to hide in and you won't have any trouble finding drinking water.

　It's a good place to hide a base of operations.

Let's move to an easier place to watch first, then sleep. Window flower, is there a relatively safe place in the spotted forest near the target?　If there wasn't, we can increase the danger to the forest.

"There's a place in the woods two kilometers from the base where the wolves are holding territory. The audio is subtle, but visibility is good. With the armored vehicle's optical sensors, it's a good distance to diagnose skin conditions.

　It's early in the morning, but everyone is tired and driving is dangerous, so we sleep first.
　The plan is to leave afterwards and arrive at the forest of spots before dawn tomorrow.
　You're going to lose your internal clock, but it happens to exterminators, craftsmen, and military personnel.

　The first thing we need to do when we arrive is to set up a listening device in the base, the pre-dawn darkness is invaluable. The method of installation is to attach a listening device to a hooked rope, hang it on a drone and fly it near a branch of a tree. He said that if it's a window flower, he can hook up to the branch he's aiming at with it.

'Then let's go with that. The mead that's waiting for you will be waiting for you when we arrive, have a drink with Dominique at Manya's. I'll stand guard from arrival until noon, so you two can sleep until noon. And I want you to limit the amount of alcohol you have left.

Thank you. I'll put it in the fridge and chill it.
Mead is quick to fall off the grid and gets overtired. Useful!
Ryota-sama and Midia-sama will be on guard after we arrive, right? Leave it to us to take turns.
I'm the 20-year-old rule... Ryota, you're going to play the father in an armored car instead!


We have a plan and we need to sleep first.

　However, I could hardly sleep. The reason was that I played the father, and Midea's request was to sleep with him. I managed to get her to approve the impromptu curtain partition, but I regret the promise I made to her during the Kong Troll battle that the father role was a trap.

　After all, I'm a single old man. Midia calls herself my daughter for convenience, but I can't help but be aware of it as I switch between others and my daughter at will. So far, reason hasn't made me bleed, but I can't prevent the physiological phenomenon.

　If I am found out and despised, I don't have the confidence to live with it.
　I need a countermeasure to play the role of a father, as soon as possible.
　Even in this environment, my body is relieved, but my brain is still slow.


Arrival at the observation point

　Passing through the Mottled Forest, we arrived at the planned location.
　It's a hardwood forest, but the trees are widely spaced and there are shrubs and grasses.

　It was originally wolf territory, but right now there is no sign of them at all. The cause is probably the pungent smell wafting from the self-driving car... Anya and Dominic's drinking session was short, only about half an hour, but the speed of consumption of alcohol was too unusual for that.

　Furthermore, the spiced mead was imported from Perlonia. It's supposed to be sweet, but it's so hot and spicy that it betrays all expectations with its many spices. Such a strong pungent smell makes my nose hurt. And since the amount of mead we drank was excessive, there was a thick atmosphere of alcohol in the air.

　Even a human wouldn't want to get close to it, and a wolf would be quite a challenge... If he could speak human language, he'd be sued for violating the nuisance prevention ordinance. This is downwind right now, but when you're upwind, the bandits will find you, won't they?　Well, the banditry party will be starting soon, so we can fool them.

　Before the sun came up, Window Flowers had already set up a sound collector tied to a hooked rope in the trees. Midea and I will approach in the dim light to monitor and wait for an immediate response. This time, Midea's manipulation of the trees and plants will conceal them, so they won't be seen in the first place.


We have movement in the bandit stronghold.

　After about an hour of surveillance, two people who appear to be important people and a fake mead arrive at the base. They probably came before the others, and the base is in a hurry to prepare for the ritual. Then the mercenaries and supplies they saw on the pier also arrived in the morning.

'Ryota. Looks like Mike 1 and Mike 2 have already started the feast?

　I'm close!　The range of the vegetation manipulation is small, but the Midea does the disarming. So you could say it's a prison for Midia made of plants and trees. After a series of snuggles, she's awake now, but in a cage. I can't stop sweating cold with a sense of urgency....

'It's such a remote place, the only entertainment you've got is alcohol.

　So far, there's nothing wrong with just saying that the party is going to be early.
　However, as for Midea, I've been getting reports from Window Flowers.
　It seems that she's been watching me and Manya's driver's seat the entire time, except while driving.

　Anya is very attentive, just like that. If I feel [I'm thirsty], she'll offer me a cup to drink. If I start to get tired, she'll let me eat some sweetness. Since it's like that, I try to provide the same service to Anya as much as possible.

　But I heard that this was the reason why Midea felt a sense of urgency [her father might be taken away], and her demands escalated from kneeling to playing babies. If it's Window Flower's guess, I'm sure it's a sure thing first.

　But things still get worse. It's the way we switch drivers by swapping bodies. Physically, I'll be in the driver's seat from the bottom, and Manya will be in the passenger seat from the top. After this, I heard that Midia was completely alerted and was on high alert.

　The only thing that stopped her was me taking a nap in Anya's lap. And while she was napping, she was patting me on the head and seemed to be in a good mood. So we slept together and now we were in the grass and trees.

　Baked rice cakes for Manya?　That was just a favor, okay?
　I understand if you don't believe me, I thought it was somewhat of a bargain and...

　Besides, I think even she has a preference for quicksilver.
　It's just that Midia's taste (fazakon) is too special...
　What's going on?



A certain place in Japan

Isn't this surprising.... that Anya is in the race?　Is Ryota surprisingly popular?
"....a father figure and a lover of bad boys...

Even I think that's a horrible description.