In the northern part of the adventure city of Isshka, there is an upscale residential area lined with grandiose mansions. It's a place where you'll find government officials, trading tycoons, guild masters, and other city giants if you throw a stone at them at random. These days, dragon slayers are included among those bigwigs, and they've come a long way.

　As I was walking along the streets thinking about this, I heard a bouncy voice from next door.


'I can't wait to see your house, Sora-san!


　The voice was that of Claudia Dragnaut, Duke and Duchess. The reason why Claudia, who was ordered to be the Pope's maid of honor along with the Crown Prince, was here was to greet the Pope coming from the Holy Kingdom in the south in this city. Of course, this was with the king's permission.

　Meanwhile, the Dauphin remained in the royal palace, preparing to greet him.

　Perhaps the king's original aim was to have his son and Claudia move together under the guise of being a maid of honor, and to restore the relationship between the two. And when I was thinking that we would eventually get engaged again, Claudia made it clear that she intended to bring me to live with her in the future.

　The person who broke off the engagement brought a new fiancé - the king must have decided that. If he were to try to break this, the gap between the royal family and the Dukes of Dragnaut would be impossible to ignore.

　In this case, it would be a bad idea to have my son and Claudia working together. I'm sure that the king thought so and made the two men act separately - well, it could be said that Claudia led the conversation that way.

　When he beat the Dauphin, I also thought that Claudia is a member of the duke family. When the time comes, her words and deeds, which are a mixture of hard and soft, are really bold and powerful.

　I'm not sure if it's because of the age-appropriate innocence that I feel when I'm wearing a soft girl's face like I am now, but it may be because I feel that way even more. If she continues to age like this, she will eventually become one of the most beautiful princesses in the kingdom, combining beauty and intelligence. His Royal Highness was going to bite his teeth at the size of the fish he let loose.

　Of course, I would never utter such a vision of the future. I kept a livid expression on my face and responded to Claudia.


I'm sure you'll be able to find a solution to this problem. I don't think you'll be able to live up to your expectations.

What I'm looking forward to is to see what kind of house you usually live in. No matter how big it is or how it looks, you won't be disappointed. And...

And?


　When asked back, Claudia put her index finger to the meekness and said.


''I think the house in King's Landing is too big for you to live with someone you love.


　It was a casual word. The expression on Claudia's face has not changed in any particular way.

　But there was a feeling that this was coming from deep within the girl in front of me, and I was pondering what to say. I had a feeling that I shouldn't just answer randomly or let it slide.

　Claudia was looking at me with a smile on her face.

　We continued to walk in silence for a while. If this was the main street of Issaquah, it would be noisy with the touts of street vendors and shops, but as I explained at the beginning, this is a high-class residential area. But as I explained at the beginning, this is a high-class residential area, and the noise is far away, and the curtain of silence is still there.

　It's not awkward at all. It's just that I felt somewhat embarrassed. Such a silence.

　When my house came into view, I let out a breath of air without realizing it.



　When I stood at the gate of my house, nostalgia did not spring up in my chest.

　It was only natural. At any rate, I practically only stayed in Onigashima for one day. I spent a lot of time looking back on the past on the way to the island, but on the way back, I walked lightly with the joy of eating the demon god. Even in the royal capital, we only spent one night at the Dragnaut Mansion, and we rode Claudia's Winged Beast (Clarent) to the front of Ishka.

　In other words, the trip to Onigashima this time, aside from the density of the events that took place, if you just look at the date and time that passed, it's just a bit of a long trip. There is no way to feel nostalgia.

　So I quickly unlocked the door and walked through the outer gate. If I leave this gate unlocked, people who are looking for Clan Solas will enter the gate without permission, so I always keep it locked. By the way, if you have business with Clan Chikemuri no Tsurugi (Sword of Blood Smoke), you can ring the doorbell at the outer gate - the type that rings when you shake it - and people will come out from inside.

　However, of course, this is not the case when the house is empty. As I entered the premises, I opened my mouth when I saw the building with no sign of people.


'You're not home?　Unusual.


　It's not surprising since Ilaria has her gathering information on the King of Beasts (Behemoth) in Belka, but it's rare that Sparrow, Seal, Lunamaria, and Miroslav, as well as Priest Sailor and the three little guys, are all absent together.

　I wondered what I would do if a client came to visit me in the clan right now, but after thinking about it calmly, I didn't make a rule that someone should always be at home to keep the client from wasting his or her time. This doesn't give me the right to say anything.

　Besides, with the fame of being a dragon slayer, there's no need to devote your blood to clan activities. If you have things to do, then you can take care of them first, and I don't mind.

　However, since there is a possibility that something serious may have happened while I was away, I'll just check out the mansion - that was when I was about to enter the mansion with that in mind.


''Ah!　It's my brother Sola (ni)!

It's my brother Nii!

That's my brother Nii!


　I hear a very familiar trio of voices behind me and the sound of flapping footsteps approaching.

　I look back and as expected, I see Ein, Zwei, and Dora in my field of vision, followed by Priestess Sailor with a gentle smile on her face. Judging from the fact that he held a shopping bag in his hand, he must have been out shopping for groceries or something.

　Since the last disturbance, Ishka was much more chaotic in terms of security and logistics, but it seemed to be enough for a woman with a child to be able to walk out for shopping. If the Adventurer's Guild had played a part in that, it was worth missing Elgato and Liddell.


''Welcome back, Sora-san. I'm glad to see you're safe.''

I'm back, Priest Sailor. Did anything go wrong in your absence?

'There was nothing wrong with us. Thank you for letting us stay here with no inconvenience.


　The Serra priest bowed deeply as he said this, then continued with a slightly quicker tone. I suppose it's because he noticed that I raised my eyebrows when I heard the priest preface his question with a very specific 'about us'.


'The rest of you are doing well. However, now that you're headed to the Titis Forest, if you're asking if there were any problems...


　I can't even nod my head honestly. The Sailor priest put his hand to his cheek in annoyance and said so.

　Hearing that, the wrinkles between my eyebrows deepened. Needless to say, the Titis Forest is in a dangerous state right now. In the short time I've been away from Ishqa, I don't think the effects of Hydra's poison have disappeared, and the demonic beasts are probably still raging.

　What made me step into Titis at this time of year?

　After asking them carefully, the answer to that question was in the request brought to the clan to defeat them. Although the stampede has subsided, small groups of monsters and hexenbiests still come out of the forest, and soldiers and adventurers are said to be watching and sweeping the forest.

　And the request was also brought to the Sword of Bloodstain. At first, Lunamaria and Miroslav were planning to go to the site, but Seal and Sparrow insisted that they also want to go. They said that they wanted to be of service to the Clan as well.

　It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with them.

　

　Come to think of it, I don't know much about what Seal and the others are capable of. I know the two of them are working hard, but I've never fought alongside them and rarely work with them in the first place. In that sense, Lunamaria and the others are more qualified to be the judges.

　Unaware, Hou, he let out a breath.

　I don't care if they were forcibly commandeered by the Ishqa government, or something like that, we can't bring back by force those who headed there of their own volition. I'm not the protector of sparrows and seals. I didn't have the right to restrain their actions, even if they were out of good intentions.

　Of course, that was not the case if he was convinced that the two of them were lacking in competence as Clan Masters... but that was not the case, as mentioned above.

　I think it is the caliber of the Clanmaster to trust them and sit down and give a grand welcome to the four of them when they come back. I'll do that.




　----It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're going to do.

　Of course, we must not forget to greet Klau Solas in the stables. He's been away for a while and will be missed. It's not like I'm trying to get him in a good mood, but it's been a long time since I've had a flight.

　However, it's no good flying around aimlessly. We'll just go get Jiriah Ookus, Clau Solas' favorite food.

　I have no ulterior motive. We are only going to Titis to pick up the Jiriah Oox fruit.