Sacu ザa's specialty was a hot pot dish with river fish.
　When Ray was in Japan, he would go into the river in the summer and catch fish such as sweetfish, yam, Ivana, and swordfish, so he wouldn't resist river fish that much.
　In the first place, fish were river fish in guillem, far from the sea.
　That's why Ray was a little disappointed when he was told that the dish was made with river fish, but the actual dish was very different from what Ray had expected.
　Surprised by the richness of its taste, Ray told us in detail that he uses river fish that can only be caught in this neighborhood.
　In fact, Ray also showed me the fish before cooking, but it was a fish I had never seen even in the guillem where many merchants gather because it was a remote area.
　It looked like a long, narrow fish like a saury.
　Of course, there were many differences from Ray's known autumn swordfish, so I guess it's not exactly saury.
　In fact, the taste was very different from saury.
　The saury and seasonal vegetables... the hot pot dish with plenty of early summer vegetables satisfied Ray to the full, even though it was summer.
　...the villagers we ate together were sweating in the summer because it was a hot pot dish...but in Ray's case, there's a dragon lobe, so you don't have to worry about it.

(I'd like to eat zosui at the end of the meal if possible, but I don't have any rice.)

　If you were a former Japanese, you might as well be obsessed with white rice.
　But Ray had no strong attachment to that point in the first place.
　If you don't have white rice, you can eat bread. That's what it was like... even for Ray, after cooking hot pot dishes, he doesn't hate cooking.
　No, when I was in Japan and I ate hot pot dishes at home, I often left the ingredients for zosui, and the next day I ate zosui using the remaining ingredients.
　But as far as Ray knows, he has never seen rice in the kingdom of Milliana.
　Of course, it's true that Ray goes to various places as an adventurer, but the vast majority still don't.
　We could never deny the possibility that rice was the staple food in such places.

(Well, rice is not necessarily called rice.)

　While thinking that way, as a postprandial joke, Shiller and Regula were told about their childhood, and suddenly jazz spoke to them.

"Dear Ray, thank you so much for helping Schiller this time."
"You don't have to use such polite language. I told you before, but it turned out to be the case."
"But if it weren't for Lord Ray, my daughter would have been asked by her mother, and I wouldn't see her."

　The words remind Ray of his wife of jazz and the absence of Shiller's mother.
　But I wouldn't ask where my jazz wife was.
　In the first place, Ray stopped by to really enjoy the specialties.
　Having accomplished the purpose, I couldn't ask anything so uninteresting.
　We could have predicted that he was probably dead by now.
　However, Ray's attitude was as good as listening to a man close to jazz.

"Calm down, this is no longer the Earl of Lerdacht,"
"...what?"

　The words that come out of the man's mouth include words that Ray could never miss, given his current request.

"Count Leldakt?"

　The man who spoke to jazz probably didn't expect Ray to react to those words.
　I was a little surprised by Ray, who was staring at me... no, he opened his mouth, feeling a little frightened.

"Oh, oh, the Jazz originally lived in the Earl of Lerdacht. But there were a lot of things that made me run away here."
"Oh, that's interesting. May I ask you some specific questions?"
"...why is Mr. Ray so interested in my story?"

　Ray's words make Jazz questionable.
　The Earl of Reldakt, though he has some power among the nobles, is still only a little.
　What is more, why Ray, who is said to be a neutral, is interested in the aristocratic Earl of Leldakt?
　Ray doesn't know how to answer that stare.
　I can't go so far as to say that he is going to retaliate for his absurdly obstructing the extension of the building.
　In the end, he coughs a little mischievous, then opens his mouth.

"I know from my presence in this place that I am based in Gilm, that I am now engaged in some business in the Earl of Lerdacht on a small request. That's why I was worried because I was told the name of the place I was going to. I don't have to worry about any amount of information."
"... I see,"

　Jazz didn't fully trust Ray's words, though he nodded just in case.
　Ray's words are not false, but they are not true.
　I felt that way probably because of my intuition as a former jazz adventurer, albeit rusty.
　A former Rank C adventurer can be said to be a competent person.
　Exceptions like Gilmoo, it's not surprising that an ordinary village or town would be treated as one of the best adventurers.
　That's why jazz has realized that there's something behind Ray's words, but it doesn't mean to pursue them.
　On the contrary, he opens his mouth pretending not to care.

"The tax rate on the Earl of Lerdacht is quite severe. That's the last thing I can do to survive... like that. That's why I left the Earl of Lerdacht."
"Well, I suppose so,"

　Under normal circumstances you wouldn't want to live to the fullest.
　But not many people still move their own places of residence.
　In the first place, many people spend their lives in villages and towns where they were born.
　They don't have the perception that they're going away from where they live.
　A profession such as a merchant or adventurer would override the common sense of the area, but not many people would get such a job.
　What's more, the tax collection is so severe that if it's too much to live on, we might consider some means, but the people of the Earl of Lerdacht are not on the verge of starvation.
　It's a sign that Leldakt is far from incompetent around here.
　However, it seems to be Lerdact that he only uses his talent to satisfy his own greed.

"...huh? Jazz moved here a long time ago, right? Schiller said he was born here."

　Considering Schiller was about twenty years old, jazz came to Sacuニャa before that.
　If so, Leldact, as Jazz knew, did not appear to be the same person as Ray's target.
　Ray heard from Dusker that Leldakt is now in his thirties.

(In general terms, the Earl of Reldakt, who is the object of retribution in this case, is probably the son of the Earl of Reldakt, whom Jazz knows.)

　Of course, it's not a son, it's a brother, a relative, an adopted child... it could be that kind of relationship, but it doesn't matter to Ray.

(No, the aristocratic group seems to be proud of their lineage, so even though they may be brothers or relatives, they may not have adopted children.)

　He could not have been a feudal lord since he was about ten years old.
　Jazz nodded to Ray's prediction.

"Oh, it seems so," However, according to rumors circulated from merchants, minstrels, adventurers, the only thing that changed was the feudal lord whose territory policy had not changed."

　Jazz nodded to Ray's words.
　The policy remains the same when the lords change.
　Jazz even remembered the irritation when he heard it.
　But it's strangely convincing to think that this is the result of education.

"And if you have any information on the Earl of Leldakt, will you tell me?"

　Ray, who never thought he'd get information about where he was going to go in a village that happened to stop by like this, asks Jazz so.

"What I know firsthand is that it was more than twenty years ago. I don't think it'll be of any use to you, Mr. Ray."
"That's not the case," There's an old and new version of the information, but it's not that it's useless at all."

　As someone who lived in Japan, Ray understood the natural importance of information.
　Whatever you do, there's a big difference between having information and having no information.

"Okay, but there's nothing so different about it than the territory of other nobles. although the tax rate is severe As far as I know, there is a good knighthood in the Earl of Reldakt. though he did quite well just because he was good at it.""Ah... I see,"

　Ray nods convincingly at the remark.
　As long as they are heavily taxed, some people will resent their lords.
　It was only natural to have reasonable military strength ready to deal with such a person.
　And if, being the sort of person who cooperates with Leldakt, he was asked if his knighthood was worthy of the name of the knight... to be normal.

"They are knights only in name, and they are practically like private soldiers?"
"Well, it seems that there are many confident people in the arms."

　It was a group of private soldiers who were responsible for this incident that passed Ray's mind.

(But the fellow I caught was quite loyal to his employer for some reason or other, and since he was sending me to Gilm, it was only natural to think about it.)

　I guess they chose the people who spoke so hard, but they didn't expect everyone to be caught so easily.
　There are many adventurers in Gillum who are able to overcome Ray, who has actually moved this time.
　The reason I couldn't dwell on the situation was because I looked down on it as a small neutral.

(I don't think he would be such a fool if he had studied Gillum thoroughly.)

　Neutrality is by no means a major force in comparison to the king's faction, which is the largest faction, or the nobility's faction.
　But there is no doubt that they are called the three powers.

"Well, whoever you may have, I'll just do what I ask for you know.
"Well, I don't mind if Mr. Ray says so. ... oh, yes. If you want to know anything over there, visit a man named Dostrite in the city of Hazlouis. They'll probably help me."
"…Dostrite?" May I ask who he is?"
"It's my brother,"

　There's a bitter color in the expression of jazz that says so.
　He must be guilty of being the only one living here peacefully.
　However, given the fact that her only daughter was taken away by an oak, it is doubtful whether she will live in peace or not.

"I see,"

　That's why Ray gives it back small.
　He knows that even if he says something, it won't be a comfort to jazz.

"…I'm sorry." It's getting a little wet. And the next thing to be particularly careful of is the town of Java, where the Earl of Lerdacht lives."
"Well, it's home,"
"Yes, that's why there are so many soldiers and knights. If anything happens, I'll catch him right away... but for Ray, there's nothing to worry about."

　One, two, ten, twenty, one hundred, two hundred is not enough to catch Ray.
　Of course, a person of high individual skill would not have been able to talk about it, but... Lerdact, who was by no means a prominent figure in the aristocracy, could not have had that much military power.

"I'll be careful, just in case." I don't want to make a big fuss without thinking."

　I'm actually going to cause the commotion, but I'll tell you so for now.
　If by any chance the people of this village knew Ray's purpose, it would be inconvenient.

(Moreover, there is jazz in this village. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

　When that happens, I want to avoid harming jazz and the people of this village as much as possible.
　That's what Ray said.

"Oh, yes," If you were an adventurer, you could write, and you could carry a letter to your brother."

　He casually said so, watching Regula fail to win over Schiller.