A few days after the arrest of the lord.
The arrested lord was handed over to the lord of a neighboring territory (apparently named Eilden) to be executed. Due to an "accident" that occurred during the transportation, the lord was already in a state of disarray when he arrived at the neighboring territory, but he was going to be executed anyway. But he was going to be executed anyway, so there was no problem.
As soon as I saw that, I left Dilmere and moved on to Soiel.
You never know what kind of trouble you'll get into if you stay in Dilmere forever.
Soil is a safe place to stay.
Unlike Dilmere, I'm too far from Basis to keep up with my movements.
From the time when I was contacted, even if the information that I received was that I had requested reinforcements from the Decibatoreans, it would not have told me if the reinforcements were actually coming, who they were, or the incidents they were involved in after they arrived in Neurel. Information travels not that fast in this world.
I'm sure it is.

As I used flight magic to follow the map, I saw a town that looked like Soiel.
It seemed to be a very cold city, with snow on the ground. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it in this world.
Thanks to my magic and status, I don't feel the cold.
If I hadn't been protected by magic, I might have frozen in the sky.
Thankful for the magic, I lowered my altitude and arrived at the gate of Soiel.

"Master Kaede!　Welcome to Soiel!

As I entered the city, three guards at the gates greeted me with a pose like a salute.
It's a very polite city .......
Why do these guards know my name?
Why do some people run into the large building that seems to be the lord's mansion when they hear the greeting?
Why is there a sign on the high-class inn near the entrance of the town that says, "Closed for five days due to the stay of Lord Kaede"?
...... Ah. This time it really is the same person with the same name, Kaede.
Perhaps I was mistaken because I arrived at the exact time he was scheduled to arrive.
I have to hurry up and clear up the misunderstanding of the guards.

I'm an adventurer from Basis. ......

You must be Kaede, the one who came to us about the demon outbreak. I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one.

...... is right.
The man who came out of the lord's mansion ran up to me in surprise and told me, "The lord is ready.

It seems that the lord is ready. This way, please.

I don't know what's going on, but it seems that my name has already been passed on to Soiel, and for some reason, he's going to give me extremely good treatment.
I may have come to save the city, but I'm still an adventurer sent by the guild. I feel like I'm not being treated right.
Well, I guess I'll find out when I get there.
Following the man's lead, I entered the lord's mansion.
He led me to a reception room where I was to speak with the lord.

Welcome, my lord. My name is Sophia and I am the ruler of Soiel.

To my surprise, the lord of Soiel was a woman. She was also quite beautiful.
I've never heard of a female lord in Basis. Well, if you ask me if I'm familiar with the situation of lords in Basis, I'm not at all.

"Thank you very much. I'm Kaede. By the way, I'm just an adventurer, so please accept my hospitality at .......

I return the greeting and try to find out the reason for this treatment.

No, sir. No, it's because you are the one who will save Soiel.

Sofia replied to my question with a look that said, "Of course not.
Does this mean that this is the culture of Soiel?
Or is there some other reason? As I don't know the culture of Neurel, let alone Soiel, I can't decide.
Mercia might be able to tell me right away, but unfortunately she's seven hundred kilometers away right now.
Okay. Hold off on the conclusion. I'll let it play out.

Now, let's move on to the reason why I invited you, Kaede.

"Why ......?

I don't think it's a ...... question about the response to the outbreak.
If it was related to the outbreak, he would have said so from the beginning instead of starting off like this.

This is about Zoemers. I received a call via a message bird.

My guess, which has been off for some time now, seems to have come true.
My guess, which has been wrong for some time now, seems to have come true, though the accuracy is still a bit sketchy, since neither the content nor the method of transmission of the information is correct. I'd say my batting average is about 20%.
[Information Manipulation Analysis], do your job.

Is it possible that we shouldn't defeat it?

If you think about it, Dilmia is like a rival company to Soiel, cultivating the same seyou.
The top leader of Dilmia had become an incompetent like Zoemers, and the competition was getting easier, and I might have intervened in an unnecessary way.
Huh?　That's no reason to be hospitable.

No, not at all. You're more than welcome. Actually, the lord of Eilden is a relative of mine. Thanks to Zoemarth's fall, we're going to get Dilmere.

...... You mean you're going to take the whole territory in the wake of the fall of the lord?


It's a bit of a stretch, though.

Is that even possible?　I mean, if it were, you'd be talking to me about it at .......

"No problem. Neurel is such a country. It's a lot different than Basis, where there's a lot of power at the center.

Too different. .......
Neurel seems to be a country beyond my imagination in many ways.
In fact, I wonder if it even exists as a country anymore.
It seems that there are laws that can judge the lords, so there must be at least some restrictions.

"So, I've decided to give you a gift. You can choose one of these.

As she said this, Sofia took out four boards with letters on them.
I don't know. This was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but I had a feeling that it would be troublesome.
But I can't say no.
At any rate, I turn one of them over.
On it was the name "Barumia" and an explanation.
According to the description, "Barumia" is ......

"City!

It was the name of a city.
In other words, a territory. I can understand weapons and artifacts, but I don't think I'm getting a territory. Rejected.
I passed that board and turned to the next one.
The name on the board is "Noble". It's a town in the south of ...... Neurel.
I ignored the board and flipped the other two boards together.
One of them is the name of a city in the south of Neurel, like the other two.
The contents of the other two were different from the previous three.
It was not in the south of Neurel, but in the north. Incidentally, it seems that all these four territories belong to Eilden or Sophia.

...... I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm afraid I'll have to pass!

Even though it doesn't seem to be a very big city, I have a feeling that getting a territory from another country would be troublesome. I'm confident that this premonition will come true.

Hmmm, ...... is no good. So what territory do you want?

...... Why is it assumed that I will receive the territory?
I think there is a limit to how much you can take, even if you have defeated the lord.
Or perhaps this is an attempt to extract you as a thank you.
If you think so, this treatment makes sense.
Yeah. I think we should keep our distance.

As for me, I prefer Seyou.

Okay. Then go to ...... where the seyou is grown.

You don't need a territory.

I'm sure you'll be able to figure out how to get the best out of it.

...... I understand. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results. The only problem is that when they are transported by ordinary people, they tend to lose their freshness. ......

I understand. I'll come and pick it up.

Okay. It looks like we managed to avoid being taken in. And they say we get good seuils every year.
Excellent. Negotiations were a great success. There's nothing to blame!

The rest of the conversation was just the usual stuff about the range of demons, places to protect, places to stay away from, and the schedule for the day.
The meeting ended without any problems, and I was on my way to the inn for the day.

"Miss Kaede!　I'll take you to the inn!

...... By the way, I wonder how long this treatment will last.