"Thank you, Master, for taking the trouble to visit us today.


　The head office of the Southard Trading Company in King's Landing. Miroslav bows his head in one of the rooms.

　The meeting with the princess was over earlier than I expected, so I left the palace and headed for the Sauzal Trading Company. Then, as I had planned in Ithaca, I told the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Miroslav's father, that I wanted to tailor a formal dress for him.

　I had also told Claudia at the royal palace, so it would be for two people, the Dragon Slayer and the Duchess of Dragnoth.

　When the head merchant heard this, he was so delighted that he thought it was a dream, and he offered me hospitality that I could not even put down... To be more specific, there were expensive drinks lined up in front of me and beautiful ladies sitting on either side of me.

　I smiled at the impromptu hospitality, and exchanged a few words with the chairman of the board.

　What I found out was that Miroslav's father was almost exactly as I had imagined him. One word, "greedy merchant," seemed to be enough to explain the whole story. In fact, most of the topics that came out of the merchant's mouth were related to money, power, and womanizing, making him easy to understand in a sense.

　However, he was a merchant who had built up one of the three largest merchant associations in the capital from nothing. It is possible that he is just pretending to be so.

　However, based on what I heard from Miroslav beforehand, I don't think my impression of him and his real image will diverge greatly.

　The party went on for a long time, and I ended up staying at Southard's main residence that day. The Chairman of the Board of Trade strongly recommended that I do so. I was curious to see what he would do with me in his pocket, so I accepted his suggestion.

　Miroslav uttered the opening line just after showing me to my room.

　I responded with a fluttering wave of my hand.


I made the trip myself. You don't need to worry about it.

But it's true that I've caused the Master some trouble with my house.


　With that, Miroslav bowed deeply. In response to his movements, his distinctive red hair swayed easily.

　Seeing Miroslav like that, he narrowed his eyes slightly. Recently, I've gotten used to this condescending attitude, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten the way the sorcerer in front of me used to treat me.

　While picturing the Miroslav of the past, who always stared at me disapprovingly, I motioned for him to sit next to me.

　I tap the sofa with my right hand, and Miroslav follows my instruction with a slight reddening of his cheeks. The redness is probably due to the fact that he is expecting me to do something like that, whether it be soul-searching or s*x-searching.

　In fact, under normal circumstances, he would have just roughly held me in his arms and gone ahead with it.

　However, the reason why I came to the Sauzal Chamber of Commerce this time was to repay Miroslav for all his hard work. I must try to refrain from any forceful actions.

　With this in mind, I opened my mouth.


"Did your father ask you anything while I was at the palace?

"Yes. He was very persistent about his relationship with the Master. ......

What exactly?

The ...... master will undoubtedly be given a title in the future, and will be ranked as a noble. If that happens, he will have to take another wife in addition to Master Claudia. My father was very concerned about whether I would be able to stay in the second wife position. He said he would give me all the help I needed to make that happen.

"I see.


　When a daughter becomes the wife of a dragon slayer, the name of Southall alone will be widely publicized. In addition, it will be connected to the Dukes of Dragonaut, and the Chairman of the Board of Trade must want to push Miroslav into the seat of the wife at all costs.

　I smiled sarcastically and asked him.


"And how did you respond?

I said that I would try to make it happen as much as possible, ...... of course, just so I could get some help from my father!


　The reason I was in such a hurry to add that was probably because I thought it would put him in a bad mood.

　Seeing Miroslav like that, I twisted my mouth in a nasty way.


"Pretext, huh? I think I've heard before that you don't intend to be a concubine or a concubine to anyone, but is that really a pretext?


　He asked, remembering the time when he dragged Miroslav into the Lord of Flies' lair shortly after he had mastered the mind-dress.

　Miroslav then closed his mouth and turned his head as if he was in trouble.

　--This response suggests that he is not entirely without hope.

　I don't think that's surprising. It would be foolish to think that Miroslav's stubborn devotion to me to this day consists solely of fear and atonement for me.

　However, it is not a genuine favor or affection. It's just that the emotions that have arisen in the course of the relationship between Miroslav and me so far have been twisted and taken on a form that resembles fondness or affection.

　That's what I thought, so I didn't respond to her feelings, nor did I reject them. I welcomed Miroslav's willingness to serve me, even if it was a product of illusion, so I took advantage of it as much as I could. It was an outrageous idea, but it wouldn't hurt Miroslav's feelings - at least, that's what I thought at first.

　Whether he realized my intentions or not, Miroslav continued to work hard for me. His selfless devotion to improving the antidote and his use of self-destruct magic to protect Seal and Sparrow are now more than enough to make up for the incident with the Lord of the Flies.

　This is the reason why I've refrained from having night games with Miroslav and eating his soul recently. More to the point, this is also the reason why I decided to reward Miroslav for his work.

　As you can imagine, when one is treated with such sincerity, one's poor conscience is aroused.

　The weight of the night's soul-eating has been lightened by the fact that it has eaten Hydra, Demigod, Behemoth and other illusory species in succession. Like Lunamaria, perhaps it is time to settle the relationship that has continued since the Lord of the Flies.

　Thinking about this, he opened his mouth to Miroslav.


"On a different note, is there anything you want?


　When Miroslav heard this, he raised his head and blinked his eyes in confusion.


"What do you want?

You've been good to me lately. I was going to give you a new cane or robe, but I thought it would be better to give you something you want.

It's a good idea." "Thank you for that ....... It's an honor to be recognized by the Master for my work.


　Miroslav responded with a puzzled look on his face, and shrugged his shoulders as if he were afraid.


I'm not sure what I want, but ...... I've already been paid too much. It would be greedy of me to ask for more than that. Above all, I am satisfied enough to work for the Master.


　Looking at Miroslav's apparent reticence, I inwardly thought that this was going to be a wand or a robe as originally planned.



　At this point, Miroslav suddenly looked up and stared at me. He continued to speak with a look of desperation on his face.


If I may be so bold as to ask for a moment of your time this evening, Master. I have not had a chance to be with you since you returned from Belka. ......!


　When I saw Miroslav's face turning red, I silently embraced him.

　I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do it, but I'm going to have to.

　At this rate, he must have been very worried about not being called to his bed. As I mentioned above, my decision not to call Miroslav was the result of my own concern, but it had the opposite effect.

　Realizing this, I chuckled a little outside Miroslav's sight. I don't know about anyone else, but in the relationship between Miroslav and I, it's better to act as you are and not be overly cautious. It was because I understood that.

　--I don't need to tell you why the gift from the Chairman of the Board of Trade did not arrive at my room that night.


◆◆◆


　At the same time that Sora and Miroslav were exchanging words at the Sausal residence, Seal was standing with his bobcat ears up, watching the outside world warily.

　The sparrow, who had been Seal's companion until then, tilted her head curiously.


"What's wrong, Seal?

"...... Sparrow. Didn't you just hear the doorbell ring at the gate?

No, I didn't.　I didn't notice it. ......


　I didn't notice it, but " The sparrow said, and listened closely to the seal. But still nothing.

　It was already late in the day, and ringing the doorbell at this hour would be considered insane. If I were to ring the doorbell even then, it would be in case of an urgent matter. However, in that case, he would not stop after one or two rings, but would continue ringing the doorbell until someone from the house came out.

　Considering how good Seal's ears are, it is unlikely that he is imagining things. At the same time, it is unlikely to be a bad prank. At the same time, it is unlikely to be a bad prank, because it is widely known that this is the residence of the Dragon Slayer, and it is unlikely that anyone would go to the trouble of playing a prank at night.

　Sora and Miroslav have gone to the royal capital, Ilaria to Belka, and Lunamaria and Wisteria to the forest of Titis. Aside from Seal and Sparrow, Priestess Sela and her three children are the only ones in the house at the moment.

　Seal, who had been told by Sora to take care of the house, decided to check the gate just in case. Although he was still inexperienced compared to Sora and the others, he hadn't been trained so well that he would be fooled by some moocher.

　The sparrow was behind Seal, who was getting into the swing of things. Sparrow has also been working hard on her magic and physical training since the attack by the Onigashima forces. I didn't mean to drag Seal down.


I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.

"Sora and the others will laugh at us later. Sora and the others will laugh at us later, but I think it would be better if nothing happened.


　While exchanging such a conversation, they left the mansion. They walked through the large courtyard to the outer gate.

　At first, they were walking slowly and cautiously, but when they spotted a figure lying at the gate, they broke into a run.

　The person's hair and clothes were covered with mud and he looked like a vagrant, but that did not stop them.

　No matter how much mud he was covered in, there was no mistaking his distinctive white hair. The arrow-gas patterned kimono and the scarlet hakama were also unmistakable.

　It was definitely Kreia Belch.