As might be expected, Liberte was furious to hear that someone had broken into his mansion, let alone attempted to attack Ray's servant Seto, who treated him as a guest.
　Attacking the patron Ray's servant was probably because he judged the Duke and Duchess of Quevel to be contemptuous.
　As a result, the captives will be investigated severely using even magic items...

"Stupid! Why do you behave like this? ...I can't laugh at you."

　Before the messenger from Liberte, the man... a man of considerable influence in the aristocracy, the Earl of Caseres says so with a convulsed smile.
　In a letter brought by the messenger, it was stated that Count Casseres would be expelled from the nobility and would no longer be allowed to call himself a peer.

"I don't understand, you know, because I only brought a letter from Mr. Liberte."
"Then I shall see the Duke of Quevel in person to clear up this misunderstanding!"

　If I were to be expelled from the nobility, I would be doomed.
　The aristocrats who belonged to the aristocratic faction looked down on him, and the only way left was to choose whether he belonged to the royal faction or to none of any of the three major factions.
　Nothing could be more acceptable than the attack on Ray's demons, the sword of Dusker, who led it.
　Count Casseres, however, still has the means of exile, but it is doubtful whether he will be able to live as a nobleman if he does so, and above all, he has no means of communicating with foreign countries.
　Being in such a position, the decision to expel him from the nobility had to be done by all means.

(Well, the Duke of Kelebel, too, ought to put more importance on his niece than on such a neutral little fellow!)

　There is a great deal of irritation in the Count of Caseres, but as long as there is a messenger of the Duke of Quelebel in front of him, he can't speak of it.
　In the first place, if asked who was to blame in this case, Count Caselez would immediately declare it Ray.
　In mock warfare, he pretended to be a Gryphon or something like that.
　It's unforgivable that mere adventurousness makes such a rare monster his own.
　That Gryphon would have been happier if it had become his own.
　...and it was fortunate for Count Caselez not to have it known to Ray, as he recognized Sett as something.
　At any rate, when I saw Sett in a mock game, I heard that he was going to do a lot of work tonight, and I put the plan into practice, but it all backfired.
　The Earl of Caseres never thought that his actions would go unnoticed by the Duke of Quevel, but it was unexpected that he would push things so hard.
　And the most deadly mistake was that... the Duke of Quelebel had given preference to Ray, who was only one adventurer over the Earl of Caseleth.
　If he had clearly given priority to the Earl of Caseres, he would not have taken the measures of expulsion from the nobility.
　If you don't go that far, but care a little, you'll have to wait for the Count of Caseres to cover up the evidence before you get in touch with him, as if you were wondering if he knew it, not if you were expelled from the nobility.

"d*mn it!"
"...what is it?"

　The servant of Liberte turns his head to the Count of Caseres, who has vented his irritation in spite of himself.
　However, it's just a pose.
　The man who came on an errand knows what the Earl of Caceles actually meant.
　He said he made a fatal mistake because of his poor vision.
　If this had been done not by the Earl of Caseres himself but by his relatives, he could still have recovered.
　But if it were the head of the Countess of Caseres himself who did it, there was no excuse for it.
　From the perspective of an errandman, there is a question as to why the head of the family himself acted foolishly.
　If you really want to do it, you should have cut the other person between you and me.
　In the end, however, men are just Libertese messengers, and there is no need to be intrusive.
　Does the Earl of Caseres know that, shaking his loose cheeks grumpily, and saying nothing more? ... No, I can't.
　If you're going to say something here, it's only natural because it could all end badly for you.

"Nothing, but... isn't the content of this letter a little too exaggerated? If possible, I wish the Duke of Kelebel would be a little more calm."
"My husband is calm. No, I think it's fair to say he's too nice."
"What?"

　Perhaps he thought his master had been made a fool of, the man says so, offendedly.
　In response, Count Casseres replied grumpily, but if Liberte really understood him to be an unforgivable person, he would have led his men directly, not by letter.
　But Casseres seems to be out of his depth about it.
　cast an unpleasant glance at one's messenger
　Did the messenger not wish to speak to such a Count Casseres any more, but bowed instead.

"Well, I'll leave now,"
"Wait! Is it true that what is written in this letter!? Give an explanation to the Duke of Quevel!"
"I'm sorry, but I just came to deliver the letter, and I have no authority to do so."

　The messenger bowed and left the room.
　The Count of Caseres glared disdainfully at such a man's back.

"d*mn it! Who do you think it is!? I've worked so hard to help the aristocrats... to cut it off so easily!?"

　As he spoke, his irritation must have increased. Count Casseres claps his fist against his desk in frustration.
　The next moment, however, he groans with the pain of beating his desk.
　But for the Count of Casseles, the pain calms down his mind, which had been unable to think properly with anger and agitation, and is a clue to some calmness.

"What shall we do? If we were to be expelled from the nobility in this situation, we would only have a hopeless future. Shall we switch to the King's side? ... But there is the Earl of Helkena over there. I would never go under him."

　the Earl of Helkena, governing the land adjacent to the Count of Caseres
　I have been on bad terms with the Countesses for generations, and I am still fighting with themselves.
　It is by no means tolerable for the Earl of Caceles to be under such a man.

"Then... Do you want me to move without belonging to a faction? Do you want me to be such a loser?"

　Some of the aristocrats in the kingdom of Milliana are not affiliated with the three major factions.
　Many people actually act in such a way on their own terms, but in the eyes of Count Casseles, such men are the only losers of the nobility.
　I would never have liked to be such a loser as the head of the proud Count of Caseres family.
　However, as long as he was known to have touched Seto, he could not belong to the neutral faction...

"What do you want me to do?"

　Once again, Count Caseres clapped his fist against his desk in frustration.
　...I don't know the Earl of Caseres.
　Liberte was concerned that he was imposing heavy taxes on the people of his domain, especially among the aristocrats.
　There was a high possibility of rioting in the Earl of Casseres' territory in the near future, and he coldly judged that if he remained a member of the nobility, it would be no small damage to the nobility, and cut him out of the nobility.
　If it had not been the Count of Caceles, but another person... who, while belonging to the aristocracy, did not harm the aristocracy, Liberte would not have punished him so much.
　Ray would have been punished enough to convince him, but it wouldn't have been expelled from the aristocracy.
　The Earl of Caseres, unaware of this, simply showed his irritation... the next day he told his wife and sons about the incident, and eventually was divorced from their wives and abandoned by their parents' home.





"...what do you think? I think Ray was satisfied."

　Ray was told in Liberte's office that it was about time the date had changed, which should normally be called midnight.
　After the party, Ray is at a loss as to whether he is still working.
　Still, considering the current situation...

"If the Duke of Kelebel decides that the punishment is acceptable, I am all right, and Sett was not injured in any particular way, but the expulsion of him from the nobility would make him think the same again?"

　For Ray, there's a question of whether being kicked out of the faction would be punishment.
　I'm having a party now, but it's mostly because I'm working as a soloist, and I wonder if a similar person will come again with that kind of punishment."Well, Ray may not know what to do with his independence, but for the nobles... especially for someone like Count Caceles, this case is a pretty big punishment, and that's probably enough to say that while Ray is in Annesis, no one will aim for Seto."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. In some cases, it is not surprising that there will be fewer people who will interfere in the case of Rey from Anesis."

　Now that you say that, Ray has to agree with you for the time being.
　If this were to happen again, I would be dissatisfied with Liberte's judgment, but... that's only after another similar thing actually happened.

"All right, then I won't say anything more, just... if there's someone who's going to do it the same way..."

　Ray said nothing more, but that was enough for Liberte.

"Well, in that case, you may do as you please, though, as I said earlier, I don't think anyone would carelessly touch Count Caseres when they see how he was punished in this case."

　The reason why there is no such thing as this is probably because some members of the aristocracy think that whatever they do, they will do well.
　That's the sort of aristocrat who would have thought that he could have done better if he knew about Count Caselez.
　In fact, Count Caselez made a number of mistakes, but at the same time he did pretty well.
　Some of them were intimidated by debt and gave guidance to the three who stole in.
　We have already learned about the situation in that area from the three men who were repulsed by the Set, and the guards have already been secured.
　If the men attack not Seto, but a more ordinary... quieter opponent, it is quite possible that the operation of the Earl of Caselez was successful.
　It's also worthy of praise that they moved ahead of others.

(though not incompetent in any way, by virtue of his capacity, he was to be dismissed, judging that the damage to the aristocracy would be greater.)

　Having a competent ability is meaningless if it is used to restrain the people.
　Moreover, there were many movements within the aristocracy, and there is no doubt that the situation would have been troublesome in the near future.
　That's why it turned out like this.

"For the time being, let's say that's all right with Count Casele. ... I've never had a chance to talk with Ray alone, and may I have a few words with him?"
"What? Oh, yes. I don't mind."

　Nevertheless, Ray understood that there was a bodyguard in the next room, and that some people were hiding under the ceiling and under the floor.
　Considering this situation, I would not call it two men... but for Liberte, the bodyguards would not count in this case.
　She smiled happily when she heard how Elena had been doing when she was in Gilm.