It was almost coincidental that Ray noticed the merchant's movements.
　The moment the merchant pulled out his dagger, he was faintly murderous.
　And as soon as he felt the murder, Ray moved almost reflexively.
　He kicked the knight, who was about to be stabbed with a dagger, and grabbed him by the wrist and threw it, avoiding the blow of the dagger that the merchant had thrown down.
　The move was really a matter of seconds, but enough time for Ray to move.

"Ray!"

　Another knight, different from being kicked off, runs up to Ray, who is holding down the merchant.
　Then when the knight came up to Ray's side, he immediately received the man he was holding back.

"I'm sorry, I'm saved."
"Well, I'm just wondering why he took action at this time."

　Ray questions the knight who is holding down the man on his behalf.
　There is no doubt that the man who pretended to be a merchant was an assassin.
　I was too used to the movements I had just made to doing it all of a sudden with blood in my head.
　But then of course you know what Ray is like.
　He pretended not to know Ray when he was a merchant, but it should have been a pretense.
　Then why did you bother to act when you were there?
　It's only natural that you should question it's natural.

"Maybe it's because Ray's here. What do you think? No?"

　The knight holding the man back asks, but there is no answer.
　Seeing them, Ray finally kicks the knight up and approaches them with a slight wobble.

"Well, now that Ray's here, I've turned some awareness over there, and I've lost consciousness from him. ... I never thought he was an assassin."

　a knight who wobbly and irritably announces
　However, the irritation was mainly directed at myself, who had been off guard.
　As a knight and gatekeeper, it was probably the worst thing for him to do to distract from strangers.

"Well, this guy was good at it. He didn't feel any murder until he pulled out his weapon."
"I didn't feel it at all, even though you said very little."

　A knight kicked by Ray says with a mixed look.
　Knights... not just knights, but also knights of remote Guillum, whose ability is worthy of being called elite.
　That being the case, I had to notice the man's murder, but I couldn't do it at all.
　With that in mind, it's no wonder you look depressed.
　But this has to do with Ray's sheer superiority in his ability.
　Ray's body today, originally made by the Zepail family, is of very high specifications.
　On top of that, Ray has gone through a battle that makes it ridiculous to count.
　Monsters, people, Rank S adventurers.
　When you think about them, it's only natural that your ability to feel murder increases.

"Anyway, I think we'll need to hear a lot of information from him first. ... Do you think he'll make you do it?"

　The moment the knight holding the man down utters information, the man holding the man down makes a suspicious move.
　Seeing it, the knight quickly reaches out one hand to the man's chin and locks it in.
　Did you try to bite your tongue or drink the poison you had hidden in your teeth or somewhere?
　Ray couldn't figure it out, but he couldn't do it because the knight fixed his chin.

(If my back teeth were poisoned, I think I could drink it with my tongue... wouldn't it?)

　Ray wonders when he sees the knight resting on his chin.
　However, if you swallow after touching it with your tongue, you probably end up eating or drinking with your mouth, so you decide not to say anything.
　While Ray was thinking about it, many knights and soldiers came to him to hear what was going on in front of him, filling the assassin's man with monkeys and tying his arms and legs.

"Ray, I'm saved this time thanks to you. Thank you. ... I hope you'll save me in a way other than kicking me next time if you know."

　The knight bowed to Ray and thanked him, and finally jokingly said so.
　In fact, it's true that Ray kicked me right out of the way.
　The armor is dented in evidence, indicating how powerful the kick was.
　Although he endured the pain when he was kicked, his ability to speak and move in this way showed that he was so trained as to be called an elite.

"Oh, I'll be careful next time, but I hope you'll be careful next time... ...and the question is, why did the assassin come?"

　The knight shakes his head to Ray, who tells him as he looks at the assassins being taken by other knights.

"There's no way you'd know that if I told you that. ... Why do you need me to be targeted in the first place?"
"Are you getting a grudge from a woman?"

　It was one of the remaining knights who told me so.
　There are now several knights beside the gate of the lord's house, besides Ray and the two former knights.
　I suppose you're trying to defend this place just in case you've been attacked by an assassin.
　Ray knows that, so he doesn't say anything, but it was the Knight who was kicked by Ray who complained about his words.

"Why are you getting a grudge from a woman?"
"I heard about Rocinante in the bar."
"...and Rocinante sent me an assassin? I can't think so."

　Ray was a little concerned about what had happened to a woman named Rocinante, but now he says he will need to speak more thoroughly.

"It looked like the assassin didn't aim at any particular person, he tried to kill anyone for the time being like that."
"Who was it and that's why I was targeted? It's not funny, is it?"

　a discontented knight
　If for some reason you were clearly targeted, then you are dissatisfied but understandable.
　But it's OK to kill anyone for now, and it's only natural that if you're targeted at them, you'll be offended by their irrationality.
　At least Ray would have been mad if that happened.

"But it's just my prediction that anyone could have done. I'm afraid I don't know what it really is. That's what we need to ask him about."
"...yes,"

　Complaining as it may be, the knight agrees with Ray.
　It's not clear that things are not clear.
　It was a fact that, though it was not clear, there was nothing we could do about this incident.

"So do your best about the assassin. I would have liked to know more about it, but I can't leave the tower alone."
"I know. I'm the one who's been targeted this time. I'll get this matter over with."

　When the knight kicked by Ray says so, the other knights nod their heads off.
　In this fight -- not so warm as to say -- the knighthood was sold.
　In some cases, it's no use thinking that you've made a quarrel with your lord.
　Given that, there was no doubt that Dusker would have to make sure he had a tight schedule.
　Because if you continue to cry yourself to sleep, Dusker will be despised.
　If that happens, it will interfere with Gillum's administration.
　Above all, it was a mental health problem for Dusker to leave the person he was trying for his life.
　I'm already living a daily life of work, work, and work.In such a situation, if you allow the person who is aiming for your life to move freely with guillem, the stress that is already accumulating will increase.

"I see. Good luck, then. I hope it goes well."
"Do so. ... Oh, and this case..."
"I know. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

　Without letting him say it all, Ray says so.
　Fortunately, there was no one around the lord's residence.
　Unlike last year, merchants never gathered in front of the lord's residence because they were not allowed to see merchants.
　It prevented anyone from watching the knight being attacked by an assassin.
　...that is why the knight may wish to keep this secret if possible.
　By handling it in secret, it is possible to cause confusion and embarrassment to the daskers... or to those who try to target the Knights.
　Ray accepted the request not to talk to anyone because he knew it.
　Now, if the assassin had any kind of magic item, he might have popped his head for it.
　Luckily for the knights trying to do something about the matter themselves, the assassin had nothing like magic.
　For Ray, who has a hobby of collecting magic items, it might have been better to say that he was unhappy.
　At any rate, as Ray himself said, the Tower of Birth now... I don't really want to leave the underground space in the middle of the forest of Trent.
　That's why Ray tells the knights to do their best, tells them to get in touch when they really can't do anything about it, and walks away with Sett in front of the lord's house.





　Ray and Sett, who had finished their errands and had left Gillum, returned to the forest of Trent as soon as they had told the knights... to be exact, to where the tower of birth was.
　Before leaving Gillum, I stopped by several stalls and bought a lot of things, but Ray doesn't get on the way.
　In fact, the food I bought at the stall will be served as a meal at the time of the camp, and I will receive the price from Dusker later.
　In other words, it was safe to say that the approach was half a job.
　Food is supplied by horse-drawn carriage, but the food delivered is rather poor, perhaps because Ray knows he's serving the food.
　That's a lot of preserved foods, such as dried meat and baked bread.
　Many of them are stored in the tower of birth and used as preserved food for lizard men.

(The dried meat is only salty. At least, if we could use spices, we could make a better dried meat... like beef jerky that's sold in Japan.)

　When Ray was in Japan, he once ate beef jerky that his father had bought as a snack, but the beef jerky he ate at that time was clearly different from the dried meat in this world.
　But it's only natural.
　Dried meat in this world is the most important thing in terms of its preservation.
　In comparison, Ray's known beef jerky is more concerned with its deliciousness than with its preservative properties.
　In fact, when we looked at the expiration dates of beef jerky sold in stores, it was too short to be called preserved food.
　Until now, there had been no spice... no, it was so expensive that dried meat made from guillem was considered conservative and tasted secondary.
　But now, thanks to the greens, it is possible to produce spices.
　That would definitely give priority to preservation, but there was a good chance of a better taste of dried meat.

"Ray? Are you back?"

　One of the adventurers calls out to Ray as he moves on a set.
　Other adventurers and lizard men were aware of Ray's presence, talking to him and bowing to him.
　Ray was going to the tower of his birth, saying hello to them, but suddenly stopped.

"Glu?"

　What's wrong with you? Set eyes on Ray.
　As he caresses Seto on the head, Ray looks toward the lake.
　A pretty big fish...about two meters long, with apparently sharp tusks.

"Well, what about that fish? Was it caught in the lake?"

　Adventurers and lizards nod to Ray's question with satisfaction.
　If you look closely, some of them are slightly injured, and that's probably the answer to Ray's question.
　The adventurers and lizards who heard Ray's words nodded with smiles.