"Vichela, you came only yesterday, and it's quite early again."

　In the maid's office, Dusker calls out to Vihela, who comes into the room cleaning up her papers.
　Dusker's tone is not so formal, as Vihela asked him to treat her as an adventurer, not a princess.

"Yes, there's something a little troubling going on. in the interest of reporting Do you mind?"

　Dusker had expected a smile on his face, but Vihela replied with a serious expression, and Ray and Bune, next to each other, were no more playful.
　As they look, Dusker urges them to sit on the sofa with a bad feeling and orders the maid who has guided the Vihelas so far to bring them some tea.
　Then he put the papers he had read on his desk, and came to the sofa and sat down in front of the Vihelas.

"And what's the matter with you, as far as you can see, it seems quite troublesome."
"Well, I think it's right to say it's troublesome... or rather troublesome."

　Vichela's sighing expression is full of grief, and Dasker glances at her for a moment.
　It's a momentary fascination, but it's probably the resistance of marina that makes it easy to come back to life.

"It's not troublesome, it's troublesome. ...to be honest with you, I don't really like that kind of trouble. So? What trouble did you have?"
"There is a possibility that the Alchemists of the Vestian Empire are trying to do something against him."
"... of the Vestian Empire?"

　The words that came out of Vihela's mouth frowned upon Dasker's eyebrows.
　The trouble was that Ray and other adventurers, aristocrats, and merchants caused trouble over Vichela's good looks, and I thought it was too much trouble.
　But what actually came out of Vichela's mouth was the word Alchemist of the Westian Empire.
　It makes me realize that it's the most unexpected and annoying thing out of Vihela's mouth.

"That's certainly troublesome," Why, however, should the Vestian Empire now try to put something on Gillum? No, for some reason, I can imagine."

　Dusker's gaze turns to Ray.
　last year's civil war in the Westian Empire Ray's involvement in this is something that only a little bit intelligent knows.
　And of course, it is understandable that Ray cooperated with the Third Prince to win the civil war.

"I can predict a few things, but I think the most likely of them is revenge against Ray."

　Following Dusker, Vihela's gaze was directed at Ray.
　Ray was caught staring at them, but without saying anything, he fell silent.
　Bune, too, is silent without a word, and the office is shrouded in silence.
　Such silence lasted for several tens of seconds... and it was the knocks that came from outside the room, not from inside.

"Excuse me,"

　The maid brought me a plate of tea and sandwiches for several people.
　The setting sun has already set and it is completely night, and the maid's concern is that she may be hungry.
　Understanding this, Dusker thanked her, and the maid bowed and left the office.

"...well, even if you think hard, you don't get any good ideas. Shall we get ready for dinner first? You're going to eat Vichela, too.
"No, I ate in the bar before I came here..."
"I see. What about Ray and his daughter?"

　Dusker understood that maintaining Vihela's figure must be hard.
　In the eyes of women, you can only say that you are envious of the fact that there is almost no fat in the place where you go out.
　However, since Dusker is a man after all, I can only imagine how much an ordinary woman yearns for a Vihela-like figure.

"Oh, then I'll feed you,"
"Yes!"

　Originally a glutton, Ray, and Bune, who doesn't fit in with their little bodies, nodded to Dusker's words and reached for a sandwich.
　Vichela watches them over a cup of tea with a little tea.
　Eating sandwiches makes the air lighter in the office than before, leaving the alchemists first in the mouths of Ray and Vihela to talk about today's Cyclops extermination.

"There are seven cyclops in total, and are they rare or superior? How dare you beat such a group?"
"In my case, it was only the red cyclops, so it wasn't that difficult."
"In my case, I was a regular cyclops, but I guess they were compatible with each other. It's easy to avoid an attack, no matter how powerful a blow you may have, that you're just swinging around."

　The easy-to-tell signifies that he had no trouble at all when he actually fought.
　Realizing this, Dusker breathes a stunned sigh.
　I knew he was strong enough, but it was only natural to be surprised when he actually acted in such a way as to prove it in front of me.
　Dusker was a member of the Knights in the royal capital before he assumed the lordship, and he was confident in his power.
　That's enough confidence to think that even against the soldiers, adventurers, and knights around them, they can beat most of themselves.
　Even now, training is essential beside his duties as a lord, and he is by no means less skilled than he was when he was a knight.
　If Dusker's dominion had been a more peaceful place, Dusker himself would not have had to be so strong.
　But Gilm... and the Count of Larx is a frontier, and the inhabitants ask their lords to fight through the frontier.
　That's why it's established in the family motto that the heirs of the Larkes should join the Knights when they're young.
　Even in the eyes of such a dasker, Vihela is strong in the eyes of such a dasker.
　I didn't know if I could win or not... I knew instinctively that I was almost certain to lose.
　Living as a knight does not mean that I don't feel frustrated.
　At the same time, however, it was a great pleasure for a lord to have someone as strong as Vihela in Gilm.

(My frustration is more important to Gilmoo than to me.)

　Ultimately, that concludes, the next thing that comes to mind is what to do with this matter.

(Protesting against the Empire of Bestia? If you go out of your way to ruin it, you'll have another war. If that's the case, we need to get in touch with them from behind the scenes. ...it's profitable for us to get this done. If you secure an alchemist, you will get that skill."

　a dusker reaching for a sandwich
　In the face of such a dusker, Ray and Vichela remain silent and reach for sandwiches and tea.
　...and Bune quietly ate his sandwich, saying it had nothing to do with it.
　The view of behavior that should be described as muk-muk-muk-muk-muk-muk-muk-muk-muk-muk-muk-muk-muk-muk-muk-muk.
　The expressionless but hard work of carrying sandwiches to the mouth is lovely, reminiscent of a small animal.
　Dusker was worried about how best to deal with an alchemist, but seeing Bune like that makes him look foolish.

(That's right. We need to catch them alive after all. No, it's no use killing me in the worst case, but it's in my interest in many ways if I keep it alive. and if we were to make the most of the alchemists, we would need a very good one.)

　Alchemists alone need not worry too much about their fighting power.
　Alchemists are not necessarily fit for battle.
　Of course, as long as I am an expert in magic items, I understand magic items more than anyone else, so I have the ability to master them.
　But it was the general perception and majority opinion that if you were to deal with a first-class...or half-class warrior, you would lose without doing anything.

(if it were an ordinary alchemist)

　There's no way an alchemist would give Cyclops a magic item.
　He must have been good at fighting, or he must have had friends who were good at fighting.
　That's who has the ability to do something about Cyclops.
　Considering that, not many people can be entrusted with this matter.
　... yes, like the people in front of the Dusker now.a person who has been involved in this matter from the beginning and whose ability is perfect.
　In addition, Ray has a demon named Seto, and Vihela has the ability to beat five Cyclops.
　Bune, who is now devoting himself to eating sandwiches in front of Dusker, could understand that he was no doubt a great thief.

(It seems a little harsh to Vichela when it comes to the Alchemists of the Vichela Empire...)

　Even so, there is also the feeling that the disturbance caused by the Alchemists of the Vestian Empire may well be helped by Vihela, who is involved.

"My dear Vichela, Ray and your child, Bune, will you accept the nomination?"
"Is it the arrest of the alchemist who planned this case?"
"Yes, I'd like you to catch me alive as much as possible."
"...what are you going to do? It's a little hard for me to refuse from my standpoint, but I don't think Ray has to force me to accept it."

　Ray shakes his head to Vihela, who turns to ask.

"No, I'll take it, too." If you're dealing with an alchemist, you might be able to get a good magic item."
"That's the reason, isn't it? Ray is probably one of the people who are being targeted."
"You may say so," If you're going to be targeted anyway, you'd better pay even a little more, wouldn't you?"
"As for the magic items possessed by the alchemist I captured, I don't care. Needless to say, the magic item will not cause any strange disturbance. Of course, if there are any magic items that I don't need, I'd like to buy them here."

　That's probably because Dusker knew that the magic items Ray was collecting were basically practical.
　Many magic items are of rare value just by themselves.
　Some things Ray doesn't want, or some of them are invaluable from Dusker's point of view.

"All right. It's better for me to buy some magic items that I don't need than to have them.

　As long as there's a mystery ring, no matter how many magic items you don't need, Ray responds to Dusker's suggestion because it doesn't make sense to just store them.

"Then I'll contact the guild about the nomination request, so don't worry. Dear Vichela, and Bune too." Also, it is unsavory to bring this matter to light. Keep it to yourself that the Alchemists of the Bestian Empire are involved. I'll try not to tell Ray about it, either who taught Ray about it."

　Vichela nods to Dusker's words, and Bune nods back over a sandwich.
　Thus Ray is caught up in the Cyclops uproar the day after he returns to Gilm.





"Isn't Ray too much loved by the commotion?"

　On his way home from the lord's house, Vihela muttered.
　Ray has no counterargument, because the words are correct.

"I suppose he was born under that star,"
"Glu".

　For some reason, the set rings as if to agree with Ray's words.

"Yes,"

　and Bune, walking next to Sett, muttered in agreement.k.a.

"Why don't we eat something warm?"

　a mumbling Ray
　It's dark around, and it's not that warm at night just after spring.
　In that sense, Ray's proposal was by no means wrong.
　... except...

"I've eaten so many sandwiches, but you still eat them? ...and Bune?"
"Yes!"

　At Vihela's words, Bune nods back that she wants to eat.

"...what the hell is going on with your bodies? Of course, you eat a set, too?"
"Gruly!"

　Seto agreed to Vichela's words and screamed... and Vichela had no choice but to go out with them.