Liberte smiles brightly at the greeting from her daughter and her lover.

"Well, don't worry. I'm late, but it's still before the party begins. ... Well, Elena and Ray both look good together."

　When Liberte says so with satisfaction, Ray and Elena... especially Arcadia, who was looking at Elena, smile with satisfaction.

"Elena doesn't often come to these kinds of parties, but I think she should come to these parties more, you know?"

　Arcadia's appearance of asking her husband so appears to be nothing more than an ordinary aristocratic wife.
　Of course, having given birth to Elena, her beauty is noteworthy.
　However, Arcadia's attitude is not exactly behind the scenes, and her attitude when she first met Ray is probably one of her features.
　Anyway, how many people know that Arcadia has such a character?
　Suddenly, when Ray sees Arcadia, who is happy to see her daughter dressed up like an ordinary mother, he thinks so.
　Noticing Ray's gaze, Arcadia looks at him the same way she looked at him for a moment.
　Ray's eyes made her cold, but she soon returned to her usual Arcadia, and she didn't have to be particularly upset. ... though Liberte looked pityfully at his wife's playfulness.

"Duchess Kelebel, was this man mentioned...?"
"Well, you've heard of his name. He's a crimson ray."

　A man talking to Liberte nods convincingly, looking at Ray.
　The man is somewhat powerful, if not as powerful as Liberte.

"Well, you are... the Marquis of Saysor, Zascar Saysor."
"... Marquis Seysore?"

　Ray gazes at the man who says so with a smile.
　I'm probably about forty years old, not much different from Liberte.
　Liberte, however, is actually older than he looks.
　Anyway, Ray is now focused on the man in front of him, not on Liberte.
　the Marquis of Saysor, Zascar Saysor
　That means that he is Gaisca's father, who is believed to have hired a black wolf.
　Zascar, of course, knows Ray, but at least he doesn't seem to know anything.

"Well, I'm the head of the Marquis Seysore family. Oh, you and my son seem to get along well. They seem to be short-tempered. Aren't you bothering me?"
"That's..."

　Are you talking about black wolves?
　Ray was about to say so, but Zascar resumed to control it.

"But you seem to have been a little too naughty. Unfortunately, Geiska is on probation."

　Ray was not sure Zascar knew that Geiska had hired a black wolf.
　But it's safe to assume that you know that Geiska has thought something bad about Ray and done it.
　At least in Ray's eyes, Zascar looked like that.

(And if you are acting in this way knowing that you really employ black wolves, you may be bold enough to have a strong influence in the aristocracy.)

　You can't say it in a situation where they're in love with you.
　In the first place, it is only circumstantial evidence that Geiska hired a black wolf.
　I didn't say that a black wolf had been hired by Gaiska, nor did I hear from Gaiska that a black wolf had been hired.
　It could be thought that Ray was accusing him of hiring a black wolf in such a situation.
　However, seeing Ray arm in arm with Elena, such a fuss could antagonize even Elena, nicknamed the Princess General, and the Duke and Duchess of Kerebel.
　There is no way that the head of the Marquis Seysore family could do so.

"The naughty, you know... if the naughty doesn't go in a strange direction, I'll be saved."

　It was a semi-provoked word, but for Zascar, who has been fighting with aristocrats like Kaisenzen, Ray's attitude doesn't need to deal with him properly.
　Zascar nods with a smile.

"Well, I think I've given my son a little too much freedom. Considering that I've caused him trouble, we'll need to educate him a little harder. I don't think he'll see Geiska anymore, but I'll remember this case very well."

　Oh, yes.
　Ray is a little surprised.
　It was because the words that came out of Zascar's mouth were not explicit, but it was the same that he acknowledged the fault of Geiska.
　He thought that if he was Gaiska's father, he would defend him against him.
　Nevertheless, to admit that Gaisca is wrong so easily is more likely to be honest.
　But Elena, listening to Ray next to him, nodded convincingly.
　As the head of the Marquis Seysore family, Zascar has a strong influence in the aristocracy.
　Zascar is one of the five most influential members of the aristocracy, if not as powerful as Liberte, the leader of the aristocracy itself.
　Such a scull cannot be incompetent.
　Although he had failed to educate his son, Geiska, he was definitely competent as the head of the Marquis family.
　That's why I know exactly what it means to be hostile to Ray in this situation.
　That's why we've been insinuatingly demanding a hand strike.

"Ray,"

　As Elena says, she puts a little pressure on Ray's right arm.
　Elena's conduct wakes Ray out of surprise and opens his mouth.

"If I don't have any extra work to do, that's all right. ... I don't know whose hand he is, but he's being targeted by a strange person in the process now?"
"...let's ask Geiska,"

　As soon as Ray left his mouth that he was being targeted in the ongoing, Zascar looked a little surprised.
　I knew Geiska was collecting money, but Deotles told me that money was not yet fully prepared to hire the assassins.
　Nevertheless, it is plain strange that Ray has already been attacked by someone.

(Was Deotre missing something, or was there anyone else besides Geiska who was aiming for Rey?)

　Think so quickly in your head, especially in the latter, who thinks it's highly likely.
　In fact, according to the information collected by Zascar, there was someone who acted foolishly, such as attacking Seto only yesterday.
　Why did the three of us think we could do something about a high-ranked monster such as a Gryphon?
　The Earl of Caseres was milking taxes by suppressing his territory, but it was by no means incompetent.
　...however, if they were really competent, they would impose a severe tax as if they were suppressing the people of the domain, and would not make it impossible for a rebellion to erupt at any time.

(or perhaps he misunderstood that because he was a subservient, he would never harm others.)

　That alone cuts off Zascar's thoughts about the Earl of Caseres and concentrates on talking to the person in front of him.
　As far as Ray and Elena's relationship is concerned, the Duke and Duchess of Kelebel's relationship with Ray itself is good.
　In other words, he wanted to avoid making the Marquis of Seysor hostile to Ray as much as possible because of Geiska.

"But now that you see it like this, Mr. Elena and Ray look good together."
"If you say so, it's worthwhile for me to do my best to put on makeup.
"That lord Elena... of course, it's not a bad thing for him to feel that way, but it's refreshing to see him with whom he's never been interested."

　There's no intention of disparaging Elena in her heartfelt manner.
　On the contrary, Elena seemed genuinely pleased with his interest in men.
　...as if nothing had ever instructed Geiska to get close to Elena before.
　Then, smiling, Zascar's eyes turn to Ray.
　I had been talking to Ray until a while ago, but I checked him again..."Well, to win over Ray in crimson. That's not to say that he wasn't interested in men, but that he had a purely strict eye for men. And it was Ray who caught his eye."

　After staring at Ray, Zascar smiles the next moment.

"No, the Duke of Kelebel has a bright future,"
"If you say so, it will help us, for the strength of the Marquis of Sethor will be indispensable for the future management of the nobility."
"I would be glad if you could say so,"

　Liberte and Zascar, both smiling, saw a variety of tactics going on behind the scenes.
　But Ray wasn't very interested in it.
　In the first place, Ray was neither a member of the aristocracy nor a member of the aristocracy.
　That being the case, it didn't matter what kind of tactics were going on at this party, where many aristocrats gathered.
　It would have been a different story if the bargaining resulted in yourself and your associates being harmed.

"Sir, it's almost time for you to go to the party, too."

　The butler tells Liberte, who was talking to Zascar, that he was approaching.
　Ray wondered for a moment whether he was a butler he had seen somewhere before, but he immediately remembered.
　He was eating with Liberte at a servant's party yesterday.

"Well, let's get started. Give everyone a glass."

　Directing the butler to do so, Liberte receives a glass of herself from a maid nearby and takes her to the stage one step up in the party hall.
　Ray could have predicted that it would probably be a stage for some kind of event.
　On the stage Liberte glances around him.
　I didn't do anything exaggerated, but strangely enough, the attention of the people at the party is focused on Liberte.
　Almost all the people at this party are aristocrats.
　That's why I'm so proud of myself... and yet no one is dissatisfied with Liberte's appearance.
　No, maybe some people were dissatisfied with Liberte, but no one was mimicking it to express themselves.

(This ability is probably one of Liberte's powers.)

　In a sense, Liberte's power was more effective than Ray's.
　At the very least, here it is.

"I'm very glad that everyone is here again this year. I think some of them have replaced me or look unfamiliar. Still, I want them to do their best as aristocrats. Whatever they do, they don't want to do their best as aristocrats."

　What does Liberte say about it? The aristocrats here will understand it.
　Ray, who is treated as a guest by the Duke of Kelebel, the Earl of Casselez, who tried to make his slave Set his own.
　Those who are here know that Count Caselez has, understandably, been expelled from the nobility.
　There was no doubt that Liberte was referring to the matter.

"I hope that everyone will spend the year healthy, develop their own territory, and act appropriately as a noble."

　Ray, who was close to the stage, was unaware, but Liberte's words were clearly audible to everyone at the party.
　It's the effect of magic items on the stage where Liberte is standing.
　However, since it's not big enough to carry around and it's quite a big magic item, it's not clear whether Ray wants a magic item that can be used in actual warfare.

"Cheers!"

　Then Liberte held up his wine glass high.