Ray talks to Ajas for about 10 minutes, but decides that he will be suspicious if he stays by Ajas' side, and then he opens his mouth looking at the surrounding forest.

"Well, I'll have to go and see what the others are like, so I'll be going now."
"Huh? Oh, I see. I want to check the surroundings as closely as possible. It will help me to do so. Whatever I do, I would be distracted if I had a celebrity like Ray here."
"... distracted, eh?" I didn't think that way at all. Well, it's a great help to have a skilled adventurer as a bodyguard in the forest of Trent. I should be glad if you could escort me here a little longer, not just to-morrow."
"Hahaha, that depends on what you earn." If I cut down trees while guarding them, that would be money, wouldn't it? It would be quite a lucrative request, if I were to say so... If it were such a lucrative request, I wouldn't normally recruit additional people."
"Well, I'm sure there are more monsters these days. "Well, it's more unusual to have few monsters in the forest of Trent."

　Exactly, the forest of Trent itself was calling monsters, resulting in the uprooting of the surrounding monsters.
　But new monsters are slowly coming into the area where the monsters have disappeared, which is why they have recently begun to grow in the forest of Trent.

(Well, there's no doubt that the workmen's bodyguards are getting smaller, but they're not that desperate. The reason for this incident is to put pressure on Ajas while searching.)

　Ray turns his gaze to Ajas' left hand, looking at him in front of him.
　a snake tattoo that appears to be up one's arms
　Its distinctive tattoo is the biggest reason why Ilze thinks Ajas is the enemy of his family.
　Of course, Ilze may not have forgotten Ajas' face, but after a few years his memory will fade.
　The decisive blow to the situation was Ajas' tattoo.

"Huh? What's wrong with this tattoo? Isn't it unusual?"

　I guess he saw Ray's eyes and understood where he was looking.
　Ajas doesn't hide the tattoo on his left hand, but rather makes it look proud.

(Even if you don't know that Ilze is targeting you as an enemy... but if you've been doing any wrong, will you show off your conspicuous tattoos like this, or is there any proof that you'll never know if you're doing wrong?)

　I didn't know why, but it was completely unexpected for Ray to show such a confident look on his face.

"Oh, that's unusual," I've seen many adventurers, some of whom have tattooed, but it's rare for them to be so flashy."

　Suddenly, Ray's mind has passed out to some of the most outstanding figures in the Church of the Holy Light, but now he thinks it has nothing to him.

(No, by any chance, neither Ajas nor any other member of the Church of the Holy Light?)

　I remember Ajas saying the holy goddess of light in the cliche of the Holy Light... but Ray could not imagine it very much.
　In the first place, Dusker is naturally aware of the dangers of the religion.
　I didn't think such a dusker would bother to put the Sacred Light into the guillem.

(Well, I haven't heard much of the Holy Light lately.)

　From what has been the case, it has become difficult to operate in the kingdom of Mileana at least.
　Of course, even if religion was prohibited, it would only go underground...but the aristocrats would have judged that it was rather than the spread of the religion openly.
　At any rate, for Ray, the Holy Light is nothing but a nuisance.
　He immediately erases the presence from his mind and looks back at the tattoo on Ajas' left hand.

"Is that so? I guess so. I'm the only one with such a great tattoo."

　Adjas, who looked calm, smiled and said he was happy to be praised for his proud tattoo.

"Well, I've never seen a tattoo the same as Ajas did. Is there really any other person who has the same tattoo?"
"I don't know all the people with tattoos, so I can't say for sure... but I've never seen them."
"Well... I see,"

　If you know someone who sculpts the same tattoo as you do, do you brag about it or answer that you don't know it?
　Ray couldn't tell which of them Ajas was, but it didn't seem to him to be lying.

(It is not yet certain whether anyone else has carved the same tattoos. But... can we still think that the possibility of Ajas being Ilze's enemy has increased? If so, why don't you put a little more pressure on Ajas?

　When he decides so, Ray opens his mouth, pretending to be casual.

"I forgot how many years ago, but there was a time when the tattooed man killed the peddler... did you know the story?"

　When he heard Ray's words, Adjas was upset in his eyes, though for a moment... yes, definitely only for a moment.
　That's enough evidence for Ray, and he decides that the person in front of him is almost certainly the one Ilze is looking for.
　Needless to say, the murder of a merchant is a rare occurrence around Gilm, in the kingdom of Mileana, and even in the world of Elgin.
　It's not uncommon for people with tattoos to be the culprits.
　But... if I had any idea of myself, I would take it for granted that I was being told about myself.
　I suspect that's why Ajas got upset.

"What's wrong with you? You look kind of upset. Do you happen to have any idea?"
"Oh!? ...nothing. The shape of tattoos may be different, but I just thought it was a shame that someone with tattoos could become a thief."
"Well, there's still a lot to be investigated in that case, and it might not be that difficult for the criminal to be caught." and of course it would be difficult to live as an adventurer."

　Ajas assumes that the culprit is a thief, and Ray assumes that the adventurer is the culprit.
　In that sense, it was a completely incongruous conversation, but Ajas didn't mention it, perhaps because he didn't realize it.

"Well, I'm sorry to have taken up your time. Well, I'll have to see what the others are like, and I'll be really sorry this time."

　Tell him so, and Ray leaves.
　Ray's back... Ajas stared hard at the dragon lobe's back.





"Well, how will this turn out?" I'd be comfortable if you'd put out your tail quietly. But that would be difficult, too."

　At a distance from Ajas, Ray mutters, looking at the forest.
　It was obviously Ray's behavior, which everyone could only say put pressure on, but the person who did it was wondering if it was not enough.
　I was obviously upset, but that didn't kill me.
　I could have clearly judged that Ajas was Ilze's enemy if he had acted as if he were running away from Ray.
　Ray, however, sees with his own eyes the agitation in Ajas' eyes.
　Of course, since I've lived as an adventurer, I can't afford to be completely blind.
　But... yet the agitation was too suspicious in Ray's eyes.

"Oh, Ray! Where have you been? This way, this way!"

　As Ray walks through the woods, he hears a voice like that.
　Looking to his voice, Ray saw Rugulno teaching other adventurers about the forest of Trent.
　Many people looked down at him when they started working, but now... at least those on his side don't seem to think so.

(Did you use your power to silence him?)Some time has passed since the construction of the guillem began.
　In the meantime, Lugluno, who guarded the woodcutters in the woods of Trent, probably had reasonable know-how.
　The Trent Forest, however, has changed considerably in this short period of time.
　At first, there were no monsters, and the guards of the woodcutters were almost nominal, and in fact, they mainly cut down trees with the woodcutters.
　However, the number of monsters gradually increased, and adventurers changed their behavior to accommodate them.
　Knowing the know-how of the area, Lugluno was looked at with respect by other adventurers... and even if he didn't get that far, he wouldn't be looked down upon.

"It seems that things are going well there. That's the best."
"Ah! They're all good adventurers." If you explain it in a proper way, you will understand it well."

　Rugulno's words subtly distract some of the adventurers around him.
　They would have looked down at Rugulno just because he came out badly.
　But Lugluno made others recognize him by his ability.

"Well, then the woodcutter's bodyguard will do well,"
"Well, I hope others will think the same. I hope the rest of us will come over here, too."

　Mumbling regretfully, Rugulno turned his gaze to the sound of an axe cutting wood.
　If the woodcutter was cutting, the sound would be more rhythmic.
　In fact, the sound coming from several places has a certain rhythm.
　It was easy for Ray to imagine who was producing the off-rhythm sound.
　Those who were the first to enter the forest of Trent.
　There was no doubt that they were cutting down trees in order to make even a little money.

(It's easy to say that I'm not used to it... but I guess that's how much money I want. but... the problem is that, as far as I can hear this sound, I seem to be concentrating on the woodcutter.)

　The original job was to guard the woodcutters, and the cutting of trees was just an accident.
　Nevertheless, it seemed dangerous for Ray to concentrate on the other side of course.
　No, if only adventurers are involved in danger, Ray thinks it's only his fault.
　But if the workmen are attacked by monsters because of the adventurers, their mismanagement will fall on all the adventurers who receive this request.
　In particular, Ray forced the guild to arrange this kind of situation to investigate the incident of Ajas.
　That would also make the guild's gaze on Ray more severe.
　Needless to say, there have been times when woodcutters get injured because they can't defeat monsters.
　That's not why it's all Ray's fault if he's attacked, but... Ray's position and, above all, his desire to finish the extension of the guillem as soon as possible, it's not interesting to see any damage done to him here.

(I don't think I'll hear it, though, if I look at what happened before.) -- well, I suppose they'll regret it later on.

　Regret in this case doesn't mean Ray will do anything.
　It was purely that the workmen would report this matter to the guild after the request had been made.
　If the woodcutters were not harmed, the guild would not punish the adventurers who left their jobs untouched.
　However, the adventurers would have had difficulty receiving any other reasonable request.
　It's only natural for the guilds to prioritize adventurers who work as hard as they can.

"Mr. Ray, let's go round to the bodyguard anyway. Other people are guarding us, but I don't think that's enough."
"...really? Well, I have a lot to do here. Shall we let them have their own way?"

　Adventurers are basically self-responsible.
　Whatever you do, the profits are yours, but... of course, even if you make some big mistake, it belongs to the adventurer.
　Thus each of the laymen began to move to do his job.