Well, in that case, you'll sleep in the stable. I don't have any food for you.

　The old village chief said so, and gave me permission to do so.

'Thank you, sir.'

　Val thanked him and headed to the stable he had been taught.

'Hey, old man. What are you going to do for dinner?

Yeah?　I'm not afraid to skip a meal.

　He responds to the boy's question with a look of strength.
　It's actually a problem that can be dealt with, but the boy doesn't know that.

'Seriously? Do you want to share my food if you want?

You can't do that.

　Val thanked the boy for his kindness, but declined.

'Really?　Do you want me to get you a blanket or something?

If I need it, I'll ask the chief to take care of it.

　Val answered and then asked him.

'Why are you being so nice to me?'

Because my mom says. We all need someone to help us at times, and you should help us when you can.

　Kyle replies without hesitation.

'I see. You're a good mother.'

Yeah, I get pissed off a lot.

　The boy smiled shyly at Val's words.

'I think it's time for you to go home or you'll be pissed off.

　Val says and he looks out in a hurry.

'Shit, I'll see you tomorrow then. If all goes well, I'll bring you some leftover food.

　Kyle waved his hand and was leaving in a great hurry for his home.
　After seeing him off, Val lay down in the corner of the stable and Meena appeared without a sound.

'You really are in the stable, aren't you?'

　She looks around and says with a mixture of surprise and dismay on her neat face.

'Well, that's the kind of man everyone knows Val to be.

　When Val answers, she silently takes food from the bag.
　The food in it is odorless, hard to litter with food debris, and berries that would not be a problem to eat in someone else's stable.

But I'm glad I came. I've learned that you never know where humanity lives and breathes.

　Val talks about one kind boy.

'I suppose that's partly because there are more opportunities to help each other in these places.

　Meena gave her impressions in a matter-of-fact manner.
　Val finished his meal and sipped at the water bottle she offered him, cleared his throat, and made his remarks.

'I heard that Ingway encountered a certain enemy, and I'd like to hear your opinion.　

　When Meena heard the situation, she responded with a faintly sullen expression on her face.

It's probably witchcraft. It is something that interferes with the opponent's brain, tampers with their memories and makes them die if they meet the conditions. The matter of the dark summoning technique is good, and it looks like an outlaw group is behind it.

...... How difficult is that spell?

　Val asks the point that the Emperor and the Eight Divine Hues would probably be concerned about as well.

''Out of the ten levels, I'm about second from the top. If you think about it in terms of magic skills, I think he might be at least the court magic director of the empire.''

It's tricky.

　Val frowned at Meena's answer.
　The court sorcerer's director was a position that was considered the highest attainment of sorcerers in the empire.
　The current director is undoubtedly the best in the empire in terms of magic except for Yagami Akira, and even in terms of fighting ability, he is competing with several others for the title after Yagami Akira.

''By the way, what business do you have here today?

　As silence fell, Meena asked him.

'His Majesty the Emperor sent me. He said that the next move would be in this vicinity, and so I came.'

　There was no need to hide it when dealing with her, so Val confided the truth.

''I'm surprised. That man, did you allow Master Bal to leave the Imperial City?''

　Meena seemed sincerely surprised.
　The current emperor as she saw him was staggeringly cowardly, not a man who could withstand the situation of not having the strongest Val near him.

''I can't deny that he's quite cautious, but he's not the kind of man who would put his own safety ahead of his people.

　Val chuckles and corrects her misconceptions.

'If you say so, Master Bal,'

　She gave an answer that avoided any argument with him.

'By the way, have there been any events around here where adventurers have been called in?'

　She nodded at Val's question.

'Yes. They saw a herd of firewolves in the grasslands near this neighboring village. That's probably why a sixth to seventh class adventurer was called in.

''Come to think of it, Tanya is a seventh level, and I believe there was a sixth level sorcerer in the party.

　He muttered.
　He hadn't looked it up himself, but Roy, the teller, had spoken up on his own.

''If there's a sixth level, I don't think I'll fall behind the likes of Firewolf. If you trust the guild's rank system,''

'That part will be all right. Though there may be others like me who dare to stay low on the scale.

　The system where you have to meet certain conditions to move up in rank is a way of not being promoted by deliberately not meeting the conditions.
　The higher the rank, the better the request for a good rate and the more fame you get, so you don't normally do it, but Balu himself is doing something he wouldn't normally do, so you can't ignore the possibility that there are others of his kind.

'...... Should I go and see those Tanya's?'

　Meena preempted Val, who seemed somewhat reluctant to say anything.

'Will you do me a favor?'

Adventurers are supposed to be responsible for their own deaths due to the content of their requests: ......?

　She gave me an unusually groping look.

'I've never heard of a firewolf in this vicinity. Maybe it's a harbinger of something, or maybe it's just the effect of a massive demon summoning.

I see. So we have to do a precautionary look-see.

　Meena is convinced that she's not being overprotective because she's the lover of someone she knows.

'Yeah. Come with me.

"......, which is fine by me,

　She responded to Val's invitation after a moment's pause.