After receiving detailed reports from his men, Dusker looks out the window half-fetchedly, feeling that he was in trouble.
　It was springy weather and warm sunlight, spreading scenes that could not be seen during the winter.
　The greenery of the trees in the garden is gentle to the eyes.
　It seemed to Dusker that such a scene was spreading as if he loved the feeling of exhaustion.
　A few minutes pass.
　The man who brought the report...the man who actually saw the lake with his own eyes, understands that Dusker was busy with his work day after day, but he doesn't say anything about it.
　Then Dusker turns his gaze back to the man, perhaps after a frenzy of escapism.

"I'm sorry,"
"No,"

　After a brief exchange of words, they return to the subject of the lake.

"And is there any danger in the lake other than the slime that Ray burned?"
"Mr. Marina examined it with spirit magic, and found that there was no one in the lake of the same size as the slime."
"I see,"

　Dusker is upfront with the words.
　Marina and I have known each other since we were little, so we understand how much spirit magic is.
　Dusker had worked in the royal capital as a knight, but he had never seen such a spirit wizard as Marina.
　...when he first went to the royal capital to become a knight, he judged that the magic of spirits was not as good as Marina's, but could not be so bad as Marina's, which caused a great disturbance.
　It was almost impossible to believe that there was no other marina in the lake that had such an extraordinary skill in spiritual magic, but a huge slime or equivalent.
　I don't talk about it directly where Marina is.
　If I had to say, how would that be made fun of?

(In that sense, Ray is a great guy. That's enough to be respected.)

　It's not so easy to make Marina... to make her fall in love with you, or to make her fall in love with you from the bottom of her heart.
　That alone was enough of a feat to honor Ray.
　If I say it in front of the marina, I'm not going to say it in person because I'm sure it'll reveal my embarrassing past.

"For the time being, if Marina looked it up, it would be safe. The problem is the slime that Ray burned it."
"No, Mr. Dusker. It's not exactly burning, it's burning."
"Oh, yes. I've heard it was such a huge flame that I could see from Gilm."

　The flames Ray magically created unfortunately -- or fortunately -- Dusker couldn't see them.
　But you can understand how magic it is just by listening to it.
　It's no wonder I want to say what kind of monster it is, given that it's still burning under such a spell.

"Should I be sad that the dangerous lake inhabited by such monsters has spread, or should I be happy that Ray has knocked them down so quickly? I'm just wondering."
"For the time being, if you think that the giant slime is no longer dangerous, and that there are no monsters like it in the lake, it will benefit and delight you?"
"But if the lake were to remain as it is... if there was no current of water, the water would stagnate in due course. If we wanted to make sound use of it, we would have to do something about it... I can't afford to do construction to connect the lake to the river."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. Marina told me that she had listened to the water spirits, and that new water was pouring in out of nowhere..."
"Well... that's a happy story, isn't it?"
"Perhaps,"

　Now Dusker would have been happy without fear if he had been connected to the river.
　However, if you don't know exactly where the water is flowing out of nowhere, there is a possibility that the water will stop suddenly in the worst case, so you can't feel at ease from the bottom of your heart.
　Maybe forever... there's a possibility that water has been gushing out for decades or even hundreds of years, but on the contrary, it might stop tomorrow.
　In addition, it is easy to understand if you can directly check the amount of water flowing like a river, but if water comes out of nowhere, it is very difficult to check it.
　Still, Dusker is not so worried because of the reckoning that Marina will listen to the water spirits.
　The spirits of the water in the lake must know the flow of water as a matter of course.
　...although it's not really wrong.

"I think I need to go directly to see the lake. The question is, how do you make that time?"

　I'm already busy now.
　Moreover, some time ago there was contact from the royal faction.
　The truth is that given the circumstances, it is still difficult to make time.
　Still, given the current situation, there is no option not to see the lake directly with your own eyes.
　Or the king's faction... but without contact with the royalists, they might have put the lake off the table on the lake.
　However, under the present circumstances, unfortunately I couldn't do such a thing.

(Even in a carriage, you can process the documents. Isn't it really that hard? Of course, the guards need to do their best.)

　Dusker is still strong enough.
　That's the strength of few of Gilm's knights to fight head-on against Dusker.
　Gilm's Knights on the frontier are known as the elite of the elite.
　The fact that most of those knights could not beat Dusker demonstrated how powerful he was.

"Well, then, I'm going to see the lake tomorrow morning. If you load the papers into a carriage, you won't waste your time traveling."

　The bulk of Dusker's work is undoubtedly paperwork.
　However, there is no doubt that there are many other details besides that.
　Those jobs could be put off for now... making time for the lake tomorrow morning.
　Even so, I can't imitate spending an hour or two in the lake.

"All right. I'll get that ready."
"Do you do that? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What do you think about that?"
"I can't say anything about it because I'm not familiar with magic, so I think it's just as if I saw it, but I think it's going to probably go out in a day or two."

　I swear so
　I really don't know much about magic, but when I saw the burning slime, I didn't expect it to disappear soon.

"Well... but what happens when it rains? Even if it's a flame created by Ray's magic, isn't it any different from the flame? Then, wouldn't it disappear when it rains?"
"What do you think about that? I don't know.

　It's been sunny for the past few days, but it's still raining at night, and spring can be a changeable day.
　That being the case, it's no wonder that, in some cases, even the flames created by Ray's magic will disappear, and the slime that's been burning as a result will be released.
　It's actually a flame created by Ray's magic, so a little rain won't dampen the momentum, much less extinguish it.
　Unfortunately, Dusker didn't see the flames directly, and the civil servant didn't know that much about magic.

"If you go to the lake tomorrow, you'll hear about it... No, in some cases, the flames might go out tonight. I'm sorry, but let one of you go down and listen to me. If there's a slime that Ray considers dangerous, it's nothing but the worst."
"All right, I'll send you right away, and that Mr. Dusker will go to the lake tomorrow morning..."
"I don't mind saying that,"

　As a Dusker, I have no intention of hiding it, so I don't mind if Ray finds out about it.
　The civil servant bowed and left the office.After seeing it off, Dusker returned to the paperwork.





"I'm sorry, but a little... No, was I late?"
"Yes,"

　Viehla's words followed by Bune apologizing for the delay.
　But those who have been on patrol with the Vihelas welcome them without particular concern.

"You don't have to worry about it. And what was that... flame after all?"
"It was Ray's work,"

　It's true that the lake has spread, and a huge slime has emerged from it, and magic has been used to defeat the slime... but it's been stopped from talking about the lake.
　Therefore, I have to leave it out of course.
　Still, Ray is famous for his guillem, and above all, it's no surprise that powerful monsters appear on the frontier.
　I've used a powerful magic trick that is far from it, but I don't understand it from here, so I'm convinced of Vihela's words.

"A very powerful monster has come out,"

　mutter deeply
　As a Rank C adventurer, women have beaten a variety of monsters.
　Nevertheless, I've never overthrown monsters who have to use such powerful magic.

"As expected of Ray,"

　The man who was listening muttered convincingly.
　Others who watch with him follow suit... and before you know it, Ray magically knocked down a Rank A monster near the forest of Trent.

"Huh?"

　Bune glances at Vihela.

"Even so,"

　It was a rumour that came out of the blue, but the rumour is not at all wrong.
　The huge slime that actually came out of the lake could be classified as a high-ranked monster if it was applied to a rank.
　Slime is generally weaker than goblins.
　Still, a mountain or hill can be as strong as a goblin.
　It's not strange what we're talking about, but it's also true that there's something wrong with it.
　However, I can't say anything more unless I can tell the truth.

(I'm not saying the wrong thing... all right.)

　Vihela half forces herself to say so and decides for the time being not to mention the subject any more.
　If we were silent, we wouldn't be able to talk any further.

"But was there any particular problem while we were away?"

　It was a blatant change of subject, but it's not that strange to hear about it, given that the town patrol is today's job.
　A woman adventurer nods with a smile at Vichela.

"Yes. I don't think you'd say... but it's true that everyone was so distracted by Ray's flame that they couldn't afford to cause trouble. Some people said they were a little lost, but that's about it."
"I came to Gilmoo just recently, and it's amazing that the residents don't get confused when they see a fire like that."
"All I can say is that it's guillem. Normally, you can get confused the moment you see a flame like that, but if you live in guillem, you don't have to worry about it that much. And usually, if you're confused, people around you calm down, you calm down."
"... Gillum, that's great."

　The other adventurers, themselves a little surprised by the murmur of the man, had a subtle expression on their faces.