Excuse me.
　After finishing spying on the rat monitor, I was sneaking little tricks into the cannon and flirting with Leena when a butler entered the room.
　Ah, a butler under the Prime Minister's orders.
　I steeled myself and surveyed the area.
　Okay. It's okay. It's clear.

What's going on?

We just wanted to see if there's any inconvenience for you.
　No way. I'm sure you came up here for something.

Yeah. She's all right.

That's good to hear. I'll call you for dinner afterwards, so please make yourself at home until then.

Oh, and ...... it's just a rumor, but it seems that His Highness Elemenane is planning to assassinate the Imperial envoy. It's only a rumor, so you can just keep it in your head, but ...... please be careful with it.
　Just as we were leaving the room, I remembered. As if to open the door, the butler opened it and then turned around to tell us exactly what he had been ordered to do.

"Why is His Highness Elemenane plotting an assassination?

'I know it's just a prediction, but I think you're thinking of starting a war with the ...... empire.　Oh, of course, not all of the kingdoms want such a thing . The selfish, jewel-crazed princess ...... of His Highness Elemenane's faction wants it.
　Self-interesting, hey ...... that's you noblemen.

I see ...... that's right. I'll be careful.

Yes. I'd appreciate it if you would.


Of course Elemenane isn't up to this, is she?
　Shelley asked me about it a while after the butler had left.

'Yeah. I don't think he even knows the assassination is going to take place, do you?

'Then the kingdom is going to put all the blame on Elemenane?

Yeah, I guess so. She doesn't seem to be well-liked among the nobility.
　The smart-ass king is no good to them.

That's sad.

Well, it's okay. I don't make a single successful assassination.
　Actually, I already killed one of the traps.


　Later that night.
　I was watching the monitor, telegraphing instructions to Hermann and Alma.
(Alma, there are people hiding in the front room and upstairs, so keep them asleep with poison.)

Yes, sir.

Hermann stays in front of the room. Herman's presence in the room makes it harder for him to get in.

(Yes!)
　So we knew something was up after the first night.
　They were trying to get us to sleep, but they wouldn't let us get close enough.
　Anybody suspicious that got within a certain distance was put to sleep by Alma.

(I neutralized the men in hiding with poison, just as you asked.)

Thank you. You didn't notice Alma approaching, did you?

Yes. I think he was okay.
　Your transparency skills are excellent. She can slip through walls and ceilings just the way she wants to.
　I'm so glad I sent them to the dungeon.

Copy that. I don't know if I can find anything else at the moment: ......)

Master, please go to sleep. We'll take care of the rest.

(That said, ......)

That's okay. I'll have regular rounds of the surrounding rooms.

(Still, I'm the only one who sleeps at ......)

No, as a knight I don't want my master to stay awake forever. You should go to bed early. We're busy tomorrow. Besides, Guire and the others will take care of things during the day tomorrow, so we won't have to worry about them.
　Well, yeah. Let's just follow the directions here.

(All right, ....... (But keep me posted if you find any new suspicious people.

Of course. Good night.

Yeah. Good luck, both of you.


Are you done?
　When I stopped the telepathic conversation, Belle, who was holding me, asked me if I was worried about her .
　I was actually telling her to sleep with Sherry and the others, but she said she wouldn't sleep unless I did, so I decided to just watch the monitor with both of them.
　It was surprisingly good to have Belle in my arms because she calmed me down and helped me make a calm decision.



''For the time being, I got the people in the surrounding rooms to sleep. Even if additional people came in, if they saw their friends all sleeping together, I don't know if they'd be able to set something up for us to do with the stones.

Yeah. So, you'll be safe for now.

Maybe. Yeah. Alma and the others told me to go to bed, so I'm going to bed.
　When I was relieved, I suddenly felt drowsy.
　Maybe it was a good thing I took Alma and the others at their word.

"Yes, sir. I think we should go to bed.

It's been a long time since I've been alone with Belle, though. We used to stay up all night together.
　When we were in the mansion in the Imperial City, we used to make magic tools until we both fell asleep.

''These days, we have Shelly-san and Leena-san here.

I think Belle is being too reserved with Shelly and the others. It's not that I'm not a maid anymore, I mean, I'm not normally a maid, but you can do what you want with your private time like this.
　It's always so sad to see Shelly and the others around, they don't want to take a step back and participate in the conversation.

It's not like that: ......

Come on. What do you want?　Now, whatever you want to do. By the way, I'd like Belle to sleep with me for the first time in a long time~

Okay, well, I'll let you sleep with me, then.

Yeah. Okay.
　I couldn't help but laugh because Belle was so cute when she blushed and agreed to it.
　No, Belle was really cute.


　Then I put the monitor away and we crawled into bed.
No matter how uncomfortable I felt in the past, I could always fall asleep in bed with Belle next to me.

Yes, ...... and also, for some reason, I get up early.

Hahaha. Maybe it's because it wants to see Belle sleep. I mean, you always say you sleep with me until I fall asleep and then you sleep with me until morning.
　You're always a terrific early riser, but when you sleep with me, you definitely oversleep.

That's because ...... I'm comfortable and fall asleep too, and ...... when I wake up in the morning, Leo-sama, who is usually asleep, catches me stiffly and won't let me go. So I give up, sleep twice, and then Leo can see me sleep.
　Oh, I've been told that before .

Yes, ...... it's the only way. Bells are soft and comfortable to the touch.
　They make great hug pillows. Yeah.

"Ugh, ...... I'm starting to feel embarrassed. Shall we go to bed?

I guess so. Good night.

Good night.


　The next day.
　SIDE: Gert.

The magic cannon didn't work?
　When I woke up in the morning and went to work, I was taken in by a knight and informed by the vizier that he had used his magic cannon last night but it did not work.

'Oh, may I ask you to tell me what's going on?　And my men were put to sleep, was that your doing too?
　A soldier being put to sleep?　What do you mean?

Well, it can't be. I don't know if I've ever seen a magic cannon, but how do you think I put my soldiers to sleep?

It's easy. You tampered with the magic cannon and tried to put the soldiers to sleep, didn't you?　You can do it.
　You can ...... do it, but you can .......

...... what does it mean to me to do that?

"Come on. You're just a traitor. You don't have to betray us anytime soon.

I wouldn't do that to betray you!
　Betray the kingdom, and where am I going to go?

Well. So the magic cannon that you were so adamant about killing Leons is no longer working, what do you do?　If this fails, then yes, I'll keep you in criminal slavery because I'm not going to kill you ...... . Well, if you want to be a slave, I can do it now.
　A criminal slave?　Don't be silly. I'd rather die for that thing.

Well, no. I'll find out why now and I'll have another plan in place by tomorrow.

Yeah, it's all yours. You have a week, at the most, to keep them here. If you don't kill them by then, it'll be the end of your life, right?

Yes, sir.
　d*mn it, ......, whatever it is, I just have to find out why.
　I rushed to the room with the magic cannon.


What does ...... mean?　No scratches on the outside: ...... magic stones are fine, no problems with granting them.


　This magic cannon is a custom-made item that I've granted to the limit.
　It's all about killing Leons, and I couldn't believe that it malfunctioned when I added five abilities: Instant Death, Additional Attack, Wide-Range Explosion, Increasing Power and Decreasing Required Magic Power ......
　To begin with . I don't remember making something that could break that easily.
　It worked fine on the last test run last week.
　So how did it break?

'The magic circle is ......?　It's just the firing part that's been erased.
　This is artificial. They don't naturally disappear in the first place.

I see ...... that guy figured it out and destroyed it beforehand.
　Leons, who had learned magic tools from his father, would know where the firing part of this complex magic circle was .

''d*mn ...... I guess I wasn't thinking straight.
　But still, it's really a cheat guy to break only the internal magic circle without anyone noticing it .

''...... When it comes to this, you can kill him with a high degree of certainty like before.
　I knew we couldn't use bombs inside the castle like we did before, but I guess we don't have a choice in the matter.

I won't let that happen.

Hmm?
　Suddenly, I heard a woman's voice and turned around and before I could even turn around, I was handcuffed to my hand.
　I'm sure my strong arm would have been able to make this a breeze.

What do you mean, it's not going to break under my power?

Master Leons made these cuffs. They have no skills and no magic.

Leons: ...... So that's what it is.
　He built a cheat sheet. That makes sense.
　d*mn it. That's dead.

That's about it. Well, go to sleep for now.

Hmm. I don't care what you do anymore. ......
　I gave up and let go of my consciousness.