In the Marquis Seysall's mansion, Geiska places his glass of wine on the table and looks at the man before him... the man who mediated with the Black Wolf.
　His eyes were not very pleasant, and anyone who worked in the estate would not approach him.
　The middleman stood in front of such a geyska with a condescending stare.
　Geiska was not aware of it, but the man acting as an intermediary was only pretending.
　For a man acting as a go-between, Geiska is a man who is supposed to be misled.
　And it's not really wrong.

"And what was the uproar that happened today? The only person I ordered to hire was the Black Wolf."Do you think Ray's going to be able to do anything about it?"

　Geiska looks down on Ray and even hates him, but he has to acknowledge his power.
　Ray showed that much power in today's mock battle.
　But that only added to his hatred of Ray.
　When Deotres next to Ray told him that it was probably the work of the black wolf that had done so, Geiska called the man who acted as an intermediary to listen to him. ... No, it would be more appropriate to say that he was questioning him.

"If you ask me that, I can't answer it. I'm afraid I can't ask the black wolf for this request. Then I won't be able to get involved in my work any more. I don't think that's the case this time, if you're acting completely meaningless to my work?"
"Why? You must have fully understood Ray's power in today's mock battle. Then you don't need to wait and see anymore. Tell him to kill you."

　As he said, the man acting as the intermediary glances at him in contempt, albeit for a moment.
　Deotres was the only one who noticed the gaze, though Geiska did not seem to have noticed it at all.

"Well, I don't understand that kind of logic, but... I think it's strange to think that in the end, mock battles are only mock battles."
"And why did you go out of your way to do such a farce?"

　Discontentedly, Geiska places a glass of wine on the table.
　Normally, it would have been quite natural to throw it at the man in the middle, but it might have been because I had some patience for not doing so, or simply because it was not worth doing it to the man in front of me.

"After all that groundwork, all I did was to make Ray famous!"
"Calm down. I don't think that the mock war was meaningless. Isn't it possible that Ray's power was determined in the mock war that ended up causing that uproar?"
"... besides adventurers, there were knights and soldiers employed by nobles. On the contrary, there were even knights and soldiers with the same nickname as Ray. But when I saw that he could not fight against Ray well, I doubt if he was true."

　The middleman is careful not to express his feelings of amazement to Gaiska, who tells her from the bottom of his heart that he is uncomfortable with.
　After all, today's game is only a mock game.
　It wasn't really a serious fight, and we avoided attacks that would affect each other off the stage.
　I couldn't stop thinking that I couldn't understand such a simple thing.
　Still, they manage to hide it with willpower and carry on the conversation.
　It's hard to have a proper conversation with such an idiot, but I'm telling myself that this is also a job.

"For the time being, you have convinced me of the Black Wolf's conduct. May I think so?"

　Talking to Geiska like this is just a waste of time.
　The man acting as an intermediary says so to finish the conversation.
　That being said, I didn't expect the man acting as an intermediary to understand me so easily.
　But... contrary to the man's expectations, Geiska waved troublesomely, telling him to leave now.
　The middleman, who had always wondered if he had been told more and more, was just a little surprised... and was about to leave the room, as if to say that he didn't want to be accused again."

"Hey,"

　Words from Geiska's mouth stop the movement.
　He has a troublesome expression on his face, but fortunately, the man acting as an intermediary is looking backwards, so he can't see his face from Gaiska.
　Geiska calls out frustratedly on the back of such an intermediary.

"Do you mind? I'm paying you dearly. Don't try to screw me up."

　In response to the voice, the man acting as an intermediary turns around and nods humbly.

"Of course,"

　Feeling satisfied with the man's answer, Geiska says nothing more and tells him to go away quickly.
　It was just the sort of move you would make to get rid of a stray dog.
　In fact, to Geiska, a man acting as an intermediary is probably equivalent to a stray dog.
　The man acting as a go-between still thinks it's boring, even if he knows it.
　What never made Gaiska realize until the end was that the man acting as a go-between had that kind of skill... and above all, the man acting as a go-between wasn't the one he should have cared about.
　Hmmm. The middleman sniffs uninterestingly at the door that disappeared.

"You fool. It's quite useless. Wouldn't it have been better to find someone more competent?"

　Geiska muttered grumpily, looking at Deotres.
　Even though it is unpleasant to deal with a nobleman or anything, it cannot be interesting if that person becomes incompetent.
　But Deotres opens his mouth to calm the uncomfortable Geiska.

"Baby, let's calm down a little bit. Isn't it really a boy's hand that Ray knocked us down by Ray today?"
"That's natural. I'm sure there's no one under me who's going to get addicted to drugs."

　the same snorting geiska as before
　But the emotions contained in it are very different.
　I had just met a man who acted as an intermediary in person, and I was dissatisfied with his irritation and spoke out.
　But... the assumption that drug addicts are his subordinates is undoubtedly frustrating, but it's still a little smaller than the assumption that he feels about intermediaries.

"Then there's nothing so angry about today's incident, isn't there?"
"Well, if you say so, what if you waste your energy like you do today, and as a result you don't have enough energy to fight Ray?"
"Ah... boy. This incident should have been about Ray's assassination, right? I don't think you need to worry about running out of military strength because you don't have to fight head-on."

　Originally, when you fight Ray head on, it's hard to beat him... or even the expression that it's difficult is based on wishful observation.
　Generally speaking, I wouldn't say that no one has the power to manage Ray, but it's hard to find such a person in the first place.
　Should such a person be found, there is also a question of whether they can be hired.
　In the first place, when it comes to hiring black wolves, they have already put a lot of effort into it, and it is impossible for them to imitate hiring new assassins.

(Are you sure you're a black wolf? If you're spending the same money, isn't that a more effective way to spend it?)

　This incident really makes me feel that way.
　What happens if he can't kill Ray... that's definitely fatal to Gaiska.
　In the first place, even this mansion is being used to collect rewards.
　Isn't the black wolf you hired so hard actually useless?
　Geiska's ideas create intense anxiety.

「……」

　Deotres, who has known Geiska in his own way, naturally understands what Gaiska is thinking and what kind of anxiety she has. Although he knows... he still doesn't say anything particular to Gaiska.
　In Deotres's view, it is a great hope that Geiska will become emotionally unstable.
　On the contrary, I even wonder if I'd be more anxious.I won't try to show it to you, though.

"Baby, let's calm down for now, for there is nothing particular we can do about it, so we have no choice but to believe in black wolves."

　Although Geiska still seemed a little dissatisfied with Deotres's words, he changed his mind half-forcefully, saying that his trusted subordinates still said so.

"Anyway, this is the end of the mock war. ... Then the next stage will be the New Year's party."
"Are you looking forward to seeing how Rey will appear?"
"I don't deny it. There's an adventurous atmosphere in the presence of the nobility. I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble they'll show us."

　Geiska looked happy at Deotres' words... he laughed so happyly and brought wine to his mouth.





"Well, like this?"
"No. This is how you move your feet. You're paying too much attention to your right foot."

　As Elena points out, Ray focuses his attention on the whole body, not just on his right foot.
　...but concentrating on the whole body naturally means concentrating on the face... ...that is, seeing Elena's face right in front of you.
　Ray and Elena have kissed each other several times, and yet when they see Elena's beauty so close to their faces, they can't help but feel embarrassed.
　Unlike Ray, who is conscious of it, Elena doesn't seem to notice Ray's feelings and gives him instructions one after another.
　Dancing is a matter of course at a party.
　Being part of the party, Ray should have had a chance to dance, of course. ... It's true, though, that Elena wants to dance with Ray.
　To Elena, dancing with Ray at a New Year's party means a lot.
　As a girl in love, it's only natural that you want to dance with someone you like, and if you dance with Ray, you don't have to worry about being approached by men who are not.
　At the same time, he wanted to show people that he and Ray had a special relationship if possible.
　Ray, if not as good as Elena, is also handsome.
　Some people might think that being in their mid-teens, and in some cases younger than them, was not a hobby, but others might have a strong interest in younger ones younger than themselves.
　Elena's beauty is a great help in terms of checks and balances against such opponents.
　That's why Elena was focusing on special training in dancing with Ray.
　It was too much of a postprandial exercise to call it, but Ray still continues to practice dancing, bewildered by his sudden approach to Elena.
　That would be Ray, who is naturally athletic.
　Dance techniques are rapidly improving, and the number of warnings from Elena is gradually decreasing.
　How long have I been practicing dancing... the dance that I've been doing without even taking a break has improved so much that I can't believe I'm a beginner.
　There was no music and only their rhythm depended on each other, but Ray and Elena were originally compatible and still able to continue dancing without any problems.
　The scene of the wild dance would even make you wonder for a moment whether it's a ballroom if you don't know anything about it.
　As they dance like that, they still don't seem to hold their breath at all.
　No, on the contrary, I'm only scratching a little sweat.
　In that state they would dance forever... until Arra came to pick them up.