Lying there, Allen looked up at the familiar ceiling.

　Although he was looking very disheveled, that's okay.
　After all, it's the first time you've been home in about six months.
　No one can take away your right to relax like this, I'm sure.

　And there's no one in the house now.
　All the more so if you were alone.

And yet, well, ...... there's a lot going on this time, too: ......

　Depending on how far you consider the sequence to be ......, it may still start when Akira returned from the Empire and brought Chloe with him, saying he had found something interesting.
　It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're going to be doing with your life.
　It's a very good thing that you're able to have a good time with them.

　You're going to be able to get a good deal more information about the company.
　I'm sure that Henriette, Milene, Akira and Noel also intended to do so.

　But it was only Leeds who wasn't so sure.
　I want to help the church, even if only in a small way, as it is going to be in trouble from now on.

　Certainly, he could see that the church was in trouble.
　The church still hadn't decided on a successor since it lost its actual leader, the archbishop.
　Still, it was only manageable because of the Pope, but now the Pope is gone too.

　Moreover, the body of the pope was erased without a trace, so there is no way to prove that he is dead.
　All we can do is say he's missing.

　But there is a big difference between being there and not being there, even if we are barely seen.
　The deception may be a little deceptive, but it's a sure bet that the game will fall apart at some point.

　What's more, there is the fact that the cathedral was attacked.
　There are few people in the cathedral to begin with, and since they don't come there, it may be deceptive, but the magic Akira used was a problem.

　It's enough to make a big hole in the ceiling of a corner of the cathedral.
　Because of its location, it couldn't have been invisible from the outside, and I don't need to confirm that there were many people watching.

　The cathedral was attacked and the pope was missing, it was impossible not to be confused.

　So Rees said he wanted to help because he was definitely partly responsible for it.
　In fact, Leeds, who was only kidnapped, is not responsible for any of it, and the pope is responsible for everything.
　But the pope doesn't exist and therefore cannot be held accountable, and just because the pope is responsible does not mean that everything is wrong in the church.

　Although the Church has done a lot of things, such as teaming up with the devil, the Church has served many people, including the Blessing Ceremony.
　Leeds' statement that the church can't be left in turmoil is certainly not wrong.

　Or rather, he said that, but at the end of the day, Leeds just couldn't leave people who he knew would surely be in trouble.
　And that was the right thing to do as a person, and everyone knew that Leeds could be stubborn.
　It was easy to imagine that Leeds would try to help, even if it was just Leeds alone, and we all had no choice but to help.

　However, it only took about a month to help the church.
　It's true that the older two are gone and it's hard work, but there are others.
　It's a good idea to have the right kind of handlers in place to take over: ...... It's a lot of work because of their disappearance, but it's enough.

　You'll be able to find out more about the best way to get the most out of this article.
　They say they can't help because they're not from the church, but they did help restore the cathedral, found a hidden room and secretly delivered materials stored there, and quietly delivered some dark and cumbersome materials to the right place, but that's about it.
　Although the confusion was still not over, there was a degree of stability, and they decided that it should be left to the church's people alone, so Allen and the others chose to return home.

　But as soon as they returned to the frontier, the trouble that followed came.
　In a sense, the trouble was self-inflicted.

I wonder if it would have been different if I hadn't tried to go to the guild then: ......

　As soon as I got back to the frontier, I remembered that I had left the reporting and communication to the guild.
　I was wrong to think that I should check it out before returning home.

　I was brought in to see what it was like to find two demon strongholds.

At least if I'd gone home then, I could have breathed a sigh of relief. Well, I guess it wouldn't have changed after all.

　But even if he was taken away, there was nothing he could say to Allen.

　I thought it would be Akira who should be listening, but at that time, he wasn't with me.
　He was on his way back to the frontier and had left again.
　I still suspect that he got lucky in such a place, or that he felt something and ran away.

　Anyway, I managed to get out of the situation by imposing everything on Akira, but I couldn't escape.
　I was taken straight to the Raygraaf frontier county.

　As for the stronghold to the south, it's no problem as long as I tell you where it is, but that forest is completely unexplored territory, and it's also a dangerous place.
　I was told that I would need a guide to investigate.

　To be frank, there was no need to follow it, but ignoring it would be the equivalent of sending the soldiers of the Raygraaf frontier county to their deaths.
　As expected, I had no choice but to do it due to my poor sleep.

　However, we've been there once, and we know how strong the monsters are.
　The hardest part was getting the soldiers of the Reigraf frontier county to do what you told them to do.

　To them, Allen was a stranger.
　They had no right to listen to his words and were understandably reluctant to follow him.

　But considering the situation in that forest, it could be fatal.
　We came all the way here to say that it would be a bad wakeup call to send her to the dead, and now we're going to end up killing someone.
　I've been trying to get them to listen to me, and for some reason, this resulted in a mock battle with all of the soldiers against one Allen. ...... The result was that the soldiers became more submissive, so that's good enough for me.

　It's still not clear to me why the enemy had Henriette in the mix with Milene and Noel.
　I'll just have to resign myself to the heartache I suffered.

　I was able to successfully complete the investigation without a single death. ...... For some reason, Ray Graff, the frontier lord, took a liking to me.
　He told me he was going to introduce me to his granddaughter, but I couldn't see a good future for her, so I continued to avoid it, and eventually escaped with my life .......
　The last time I saw Ray Graff, he seemed to have a look in his eyes as if he hadn't given up, but that was probably just my imagination.

　When you think about it, about half a year has passed, and you are finally back home in the frontier land.

When I think about it like this, a lot of things have happened. A lot of things have happened since I came here. ......

　I think it's bad that I'm here, but I don't think it's a matter of location, since I've been to the Empire.
　I don't want to think that I'm doomed to do so, but--

Well, okay. Well, for now, for a while--
"--Mr. Allen, there's a lot going on. ......!

　I was just about to relax when, for some reason, Rees came in, out of breath.
　Oh, I remember this pattern, I thought, but I couldn't just ignore it here.

...... Um, what's up, Leeds?　What's going on?　I'm sure you were at Noel's, right?



　The reason Leeds had gone to Noel's store was to keep an eye on Noel, who started saying that he had been away from blacksmithing for a while and was trying to catch up with his dullness.
　

I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this in the future. Noel was taken.
...... Sorry, I don't know how that happened.

　Sophie is the name of a female demon whom I met during the incident at the cathedral.
　She had disappeared before I knew it, but one day she wandered over and told me her name.
　She seemed to have taken a liking to you, and ever since then she's often shown up to mess with you.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work for you: ...... Really, I don't know how that happened.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work for you. The moment I said I wanted one, they took Noel away.
...... I can imagine the scene. What about Henriette and Milene?
Ms. Henriette said she's tracking where Noel and his friends are going. Milene can't leave the workshop unattended, so clean it up.
The only thing you need to know is that it's not a good idea. Hmm ...... I feel like if I leave her alone, she'll come back when she's satisfied, but, well, she's a demon, too, for what it's worth. As long as we don't know what's out there, it can't be that way, can it?

　Muttering that, Allen sat up.
　Leeds, who was watching Allen, has a somewhat apologetic expression on his face.

"Leeds, what's wrong?
No. ...... I thought you'd be happy to take a break, Allen. ......
Oh, no, you don't have to worry about it. The person to blame is the one who acted like an a**h*le ...... and I'm kind of getting used to it.

　The words are not comforting, but rather sincere.
　I'm not sure if it's because of all the things that have happened recently, but it's pretty serious and I'm not sure if it's because I'm serious again.

　And ...... I suddenly think.
　It's certainly noisy, busy and exhausting, but I don't dislike spending slapstick days like this with ...... girls.

　Or .
　I'm sure you'll be able to find the peace that you've been seeking for a long time.

　I smiled and shrugged my shoulders, thinking about that.
　Allen and Leeds were heading to the noisy place.