--Klingbloom residence.

　The day after Huta's visit to Pasta's house. When Richter learned that Futa was looking for him, he decided to invite him over in his free time.

　As it was almost time for his appointment, he was finishing up his work in his office.
　He was staring at the materials coming in, one after the other.
　It was a pleasure to watch him work, and the pile of scrolls disappearing from the side where they were piled up was like a pile of snow on a steel plate.

"Shall we mix in some of the other work you've done so far?
Don't be so quick to say horrible things.
No, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
"...... day off, huh?

　My writing never rests while my mouth is moving.
　The work to be done by the scheduled time was done, but what could be done first should be done.
　I should finish what I can first, since I never know what kind of cajolery might interrupt my work.

That's right. Even in a blind date, what you do on your days off is an important factor. Look at you now, Mr. Richter.
"What do you mean?

　What do you mean?" When Richter looked up, the secretary in front of him held up his hands like saucers and made a joke out of them with a blank expression.

'A vacation?　I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one who's a little nervous about the whole thing.
I'm not sure what to say.

　He was dressed in a butler's uniform, his white gloves stretched tightly.
　As usual, the quietly competent subordinate is playing with Richter, teasing him with this and that, while keeping his emotions out of his face.

"So, rest is important. Let's have a little fun with it, shall we? What do you do on your days off, Mr. Richter?
"Go to .............
What?
Train with the sword, I suppose.
............ Hmm. Well, that's not a bad answer.

　She stroked her chin through her glove and nodded.
　But," she said, turning her gaze to Richter.

"You do that every day, don't you?
"Ugh.
I mean, it's a habit that Prim forced on you, right?
Yeah.
I'm sure he'd be uncomfortable if he found out it was a woman, even if she was his bodyguard, on an arranged marriage.
Ugh. ......

　After finishing his last task, Richter gently put down his brush and purred once more.

"Ugh.
Yes, yes. That's why it's impossible for Mr. Richter to have an arranged marriage.
"Is that so?

　Richter's shoulders slumped.
　His heart was so ripped apart that he decided to cancel the blind date scheduled for the end of the month.

If I turn down the blind date, I can have the day off.
Don't tease me any more, .......
No, it's not a bad idea to have a day off once in a while.
I don't know about that.

　It's a vacation that came out of nowhere. I'm not sure how she could have guessed that I was going to cancel the blind date in the first place, but there it is.
　It's always the same, so I just ignore it.

　Richter crossed his arms and pondered, but he couldn't come up with any ideas for the holiday.
　You'll be able to find out more about this kind of thing by visiting our website. Then Richter looked at his secretary.

"Speaking of which, Mion, what did you ask for?
I'm stunned that that word should come out of a conversation about holidays, but here's the information.
It's none of your business.

　The scroll that Mion had been holding from the beginning was presented to him.
　As he looked through it, Richter's gaze sharpened.

"I see.
"Well, I suppose it can't be helped, can it?
"......

　I gently lower my eyes and put the scroll in my desk drawer.

All right, let's see what we can find out about this.
Yes, sir. I'm working on it.

　The news of Futa's visit came into the room just as the master and servant were finishing their exchange.












So, we are currently thinking of these three items as the main costumes for Pasta-chan's YuYake Ongaku Kai.
"You're going to make her change her clothes several times during the concert?
"Yes. I had a hard time deciding which ones to use, but I thought I'd just change them to match the songs.
It's perfect except for the emotional strain on him. Just check with me. Maybe he'll balk and agree.
Yeah, I understand.

　Mion and Futa shake hands tightly.
　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

How did you come up with the idea of shaking hands with Moppy and the maid too?
How did you come up with that idea, you giant evil?


"Kyouaku!

　The giant evil maid's eyes widened in surprise.

But I thought Futa-san wouldn't like it, considering the burden it would put on her.
I don't know.　If he really didn't want to do it, he would have stopped it.
I see. So you know everything about Pasta-san.
I don't think so, but...

　I don't know how you came to that conclusion, but...
　I don't know how you come to that conclusion, but at least she's pretty stoic about making money. If so, Futa decided that it would be better to follow up with her later than to worry about her and lose the opportunity.

"Well, here's what I did. But ......
"What's going on?

　Mion stroked his chin in distress and looked at the scroll in his hand.

Oh, are you curious?
No, well, if it bothers you so much, Mion.
I'm looking at Pasta's measurements.
I'm not looking at it!

　Mion smiles happily, "Hmmm.
　What kind of street demon is this? The first thing you should do is to look at your eyes.

　I'm not sure if this is the physique of a 14 year old or not, but of course Pasta herself has looked over the measurements.
　It's really funny that her little note included a small request for a style adjustment.

　This is a children's book, so there is no need to worry about it.

"Kusa no shiru".
"Why do you bring my teacup?
"Maid, you're in the kitchen.
I can't have you messing with my kitchen!
How rude of you to ruin it. Well, drink up. The princess will love it.
"What kind of tea makes you choke?

　And Corona, who had been gone for some time, returned with a tray in her hand.
　She served tea for the three of us and took a position behind Futa.

　Richter lowered his eyebrows, thinking that as usual, she was fulfilling her role as a maid.

　The taste was indeed good, but he was annoyed, so he kept quiet.

"So, Futa. I heard you wanted to talk to me.
Oh, yeah. Well, to put it bluntly, it's about Prim.
"......, huh?
I don't know what to do. It's a little uncomfortable to watch, don't you think?
Yeah.
Oh, come on.

　I was expecting him to be a little more friendly.
　I was expecting him to be a little more friendly, so I was surprised.
　Huta rolled her eyes.

"Am I the only one who thought they were pretty close, despite their flirting?
I'd say it's wrong to classify the guard and the master as good friends, but ......

　For a moment, he compared Huta and Corona and shook his head.
　I'm sure it's pointless to talk about it with Futa.

You're right, let's not go around saying that. Let's get something straight, Futa.
"Oh, yeah.
Isn't it up to you to give him the upper hand now?
...... What?

　I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, but it's a good idea.

　I'm not sure what to make of it.
　It's not the same as a martial arts tournament, but it was familiar to Futa.

　It was like the time when he had asked Futa for a hundred bucks when they had first met.

I know what you mean. I know what you mean. He put down his spear. Even with all that talent.
Yeah.
But it's up to us to feel sorry for him. Isn't it?
It's .......
If he doesn't think it's a shame - no, he's got the wrong guy. He doesn't think so. Then you're just imposing your ideas on him.
"So you say.

　Richter took a breath and sipped his infuriatingly delicious tea.
　A few seconds later, he closed his eyes and swallowed, feeling the mellowness in his mouth.
　He gathers his words together, slowly. "He turns his noble tongue to Futa.

"To those who don't know him, he's just a cute little salesman, isn't he?
"No, I suppose not.
There are many things that make a good swordsman, but he's the most charming of them all. It is said that he is easily liked by people. If you have that talent, don't you think you'd be happier if you put down your spear and sold it happily like that, and eventually someone who fell in love with you would give it to you?


"......
"Is it for him that you're worried about?　Isn't it for you?　Aren't you just trying to move on because of your feelings of disagreement?

　If you ask me.
　There were a number of things that came to mind.

　Prim Lancaster. It's true that I feel guilty about the day I faced her in the Colosseum and followed her to King's Landing.
　He remembers that she helped him a lot in order to save his loved ones behind him, who smelled slightly of the sun, and he doesn't need to look back.
　And then there was that fight at the martial arts tournament. I know how she felt going into that fight. And it's not hard to imagine how she felt when she lost.

　So, if you say that I'm taking the liberty of getting emotionally involved and working to make her stand up again, that may be true.

　After all, I am not asking. "Do you want to pick up the spear again?
　There was no way I could have asked her that. But if you ask me if I wanted to ask her about her intentions, I would have to keep my mouth shut.

　I know...

　But...

But I wouldn't have come all the way to Mr. Richter if I really wanted to be a salesman.
"......

　You'll be able to find a lot more information on the web.
　I'm not sure what you mean by that," he says.
　What she was thinking. What she was thinking.

　And most of all.

　A broken heart. As someone who's felt it before.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what to do. I could have stopped there. But he didn't. He's thinking about it even though it doesn't suit him, and he's trying really hard to figure it out.
......

　It doesn't matter if he can give you the answer or not.
　To be honest, I don't even think it's possible. You're alone, thrown into a world with completely different values, and you don't know what the right answer is. You have to experience the horror of starting out only to find out later that you were going in the exact opposite direction.

　But... Yes.
　Richter's right.
　If she can stop, she probably has other talents and could just live beside someone as a pretty wife with a kind smile.
　If she chooses that path, there is no reason for Futa to hold her back. Because that would make her happy.

　--But it's not.

　She's not going to choose that path.

Maybe she's a vendor because she couldn't stand still. That's what Mr. Richter told me.
......
I'm trying to pick up a lot of values in my own way. He's... So I don't think it's an imposition to reach out.

　I felt Richter's eyes widen slightly.

　I don't think it's an imposition to reach out.
　That's Futa's value system. As a result of reaching out, his hands were now holding someone else's, even though they were hurt.

　Looking down at his proud hands, Futa smiled loosely.

And...
...... And what?
What about you?

　I'm sure you'll be able to understand.
　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.
"...... that?
Yeah. It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

　The silence continued for a while.
　I let out a breath.
　I realized that I had been holding my teacup for a long time, so I gently put it back on the saucer and looked up at the ceiling.

　I looked up at the ceiling and wondered what I was thinking.

"What does that have to do with this story?
Of course it is. What makes you think you can stay out of it? Don't you have something he gave you? If you don't have anything, you can't keep ...... that idiot around.
One thing you're mistaken about.

　"One thing you're mistaken about," Richter muttered, staring at the ceiling.
　Mistake.
　I'm not sure what you mean by that," he said.
　As if to fill the void, Richter .



I'm a nobleman. I'm a nobleman. I don't live by emotion enough to act on such grounds. And above all, I give more than I get. I don't think it's an equivalent exchange.
...... I see.

　That's true, if you ask me.
　Richter is an aristocrat. He's a nobleman who everyone recognizes and admires.
　You'll be able to find a lot of people who'd like to have a look at it.

　The number of people who do this is overwhelming. That's also true.
　I'm sure Prim is causing more trouble than she's letting on.
　It's not hard to imagine that even if you were doing something good, there would be a lot of oversight.

　Then, sure. "Maybe the nobleman and Futa have different values.
　So, Futa smiled to himself.

"............ me.

　Just. But then, Richter muttered to himself.



"I thought 'sword fighting' was stupid."　




"Don't you enjoy sword fighting, Richter?

　He looked back at Futa from the ceiling.
　There was something softer in his eyes than before.

"Mr. Richter.
Don't get me wrong. Don't get me wrong. I'm just saying I'll give it some thought. The people will make the final decision. Not me.
No. But...
But," he said, "less ...... fighters is a loss for the arena.

　He sniffs, and Futa laughs.
　The girl behind Richter was also looking at him with a look of envy and fascination.

　Futa nodded, "Okay.

Well, that's all I need to hear.
I see.

　It's not like I'm going to do anything now.
　It's not that I'm going to do anything right now, it's just that my mind and body are full of energy, and I'm excited to do something.
　It was a fruitful conversation, no doubt about it.

　Huta stood up, thinking that Richter had a job to do.
　Richter opened his mouth as if he suddenly remembered.

Yes. It has nothing to do with this story.
"What?　What is it?
There was a jeweler you met at the last party.
Yeah. A friend of Mr. Richter's.
Not a friend. Has he been in touch with you at ......?
Contact?　...... No, he hasn't. You know, we've been talking about discussing jewelry, right?
Yeah. He's a shrewd guy, I would have thought he would have sent you the jewels and asked you to arrange a date.

　Richter crosses his arms and says, "Hmm.
　Hmm," said Richter, crossing his arms. Futa tilted his head, not understanding the meaning of this conversation.

　Because it is. It's not like you're trying to create a pipeline between Futa and the jeweler.
　There may be a reason to support him, but it's not something to ask Futa directly. It's not like he's a mouthpiece.

"What's the matter, Mr. Richter?
No, I haven't been able to get in touch with the ...... guy in a while.
What?
I hope he hasn't gotten into any trouble.

　I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one.

"Night run: ......
No, no, no, I don't even want to think about it!

　It's tough being a nobleman. I don't want to think about it!" Futa thought to himself.

I'm sure Mr. Richter will be the first to get in touch with you, but ...... I'll let you know if he contacts me first.
"Thanks. I've got a lot more work to do.
Oh, yeah? ......

　That's when it happened. It was then that the chamberlain was told of the sudden arrival of a visitor.
　It was reported that the Marquis of Boneless Hammot had come to ask for money.

"......?
"No, no, no. You're a dick!
He's a good guy. He's got his good points. He's no better than Prim.


"Seriously, man, .......

　Is Prim the same as a boneless ham hog?
　But Richter stood up as if he had no choice.

It's a good thing you got a little more work done, Mion.
"Shall I push him back like a billiard player?
You really hate ham pigs, don't you, ......?

　You really don't like ham pigs, do you?" "Oh dear," said Richter with a sigh as he left.
　Huta and Corona looked at each other and laughed.

"Good for you, Master Futa.
"Well, it's good, I guess. We have a lot to worry about.
"Well... Well, you know. It's going to be okay!

　She stuck out her tongue, and I smiled and said, "Let's go home.

　The two of us spent another pleasant time in the carriage, doing this and that, and ended the day.





　Hiccup.


　Heck.





　...... Kehou.




　Kahiku. .......






"Oh, ...... that ......?