The next day. I was sitting in a room in the Adventurer's Guild.

　What happened last night........well, the person in charge of the brothel was very angry with me because I pushed the other woman beyond her limits, yes.

　I paid a no small amount of apology to the brothel and the brothel mistress, and managed to get things settled.

　The prostitute was quite weak, but she didn't seem to notice that it was because I had eaten her soul, as expected. Well, that's not surprising.

　And I was banned (banned) from the brothel. Well, that's just as well. I'm very glad that she was saved. He could have been a murderer, you know.



　So, I wasted no time in getting tired before I had to deal with the important stuff, but this is where the real work begins.

　I pulled myself together and faced the guild's receptionist and the members of The Falcon Blade.


◆◆◆




'I've been telling you that for a while now. Don't make me say the same thing over and over again.


　He snickered at the receptionist's words and pointed at the four men facing each other across the table.


''The 'Falcon Sword' used me as a bait to save themselves. He even used a killing spell, politely!　I'm not going to withdraw this claim. Why should it be withdrawn in the first place?　Even these guys aren't denying it.

'That's true, but when there are discrepancies in the testimony of both sides, there has to be confirmation.

Then check the testimony. I don't need to know if you're going to withdraw it.


　The receptionist fell silent as I said this.

　By the way, this receptionist is the girl with the braids who fired me the other day.

　Instead of her silence, Lars opened his mouth.


'........Sora.

What?

'Did Milo really use magic on you?　I can't believe it.


　Lars looks at me with suspicious eyes.

　At that time, Lars had been knocked unconscious by the attack of the Lord of the Flies and was being carried by the priest warrior Ilia. Therefore, he had not seen the scene with his own eyes.

　I gave a light shrug to Lars.

'I don't need you to believe me. Or rather, ask the person in question before you ask me.

'Milo admitted that he used magic. But he says he didn't mean to hit you. Didn't the magic you unleashed on the Lord of the Flies hit you by bad luck?


　When I heard that, I couldn't help but blurt it out.


Phew!　Ha, ha, ha, ha!　Bad luck!　As expected of the leader of the C-ranked party 'Sword of the Falcon', that's a great deduction!


　I clapped deliberately crackling and clapping, and Lars's face flushed with vermillion. Beside him, Miroslav and Ilia were staring at me with eyes that looked like they were going to kill me, but I laughed at their gaze.


''Then I have a question for you, Leader-sama. At that time, you were being pursued by the Lord of the Flies. And I was standing in the direction of your progress.


　From Miroslav's point of view, the demon was in the rear and I was in the front.


''With this positioning, where do I go wrong and how do I misfire my magic?　Did the magic you shot behind you inadvertently fly forward?　What the hell is that?　Even a kid just learning magic wouldn't make a mistake like that.


　Lars smiled and pulled his lips together in a wry smile.

　The receptionist furrows her brow and interrupts him.


''Sora-sama, this is not the place to blame the other party. This is a place for both of us to confirm the other's point of view and, if possible, compromise. Please do not speak in a manner that is intentionally hurtful to others.

'That's rude. I didn't know it was such a noble place. I only thought it was a place to think about how to end my appeal in a vague way in order to protect the guild's precious high-ranking adventurers.

Do you intend to insult our guild?

'If it's not, then get on with it and get rid of these guys. If you don't mention that at all, and you're told to drop the lawsuit, or watch your tone, I'm tempted to make an evil assumption.


　Just the other day, I'm going to roll my lips and smack the sarcasm out of the person who sentenced me to be fired with a clear face.

　Let's be honest.......that feels super nice!

　The blame lies with them. You can blame them as much as you want if you want to.

　If you want to extract some advantage, such as medical expenses and hush money, a little concession is necessary, but the advantage for me now is to make the Falcon Falcon Sword and the guild (the receptionist) suffer as much as I want.

　There's no need to concede a single thing!

　Then Ilaria, seeing me like that, opened her mouth bitterly.


''You call it punishment, but what exactly do you want me to do?　Would you be happy if we all rubbed our heads on the floor?

What's the matter with you?　Don't reopen the door after you've thrown someone else out with a stone. I don't care if we go to the Temple of the God of Law to appeal to him.　Your priest-warrior has turned others to stone for his life.


　I said back, and here I deliberately crossed my arms and thought about it.


''........No, I see, I'd rather go that way. If it's the temple of the God of Law, there are probably priests who can use the miracle of 'Lie Detection (Sense Lai)' and they should know that my words are not lies. It's a lot better than having a bunch of stupid questions and answers in a place like this.


　Hearing that, Ilaria's face changes color.

　Ilia looks at me as I stand up with a thin smile on my face and tries to say something.

　There was someone who opened his mouth before her.

　It is Miroslav.


''Wait!　I'm the one who cast the spell on you. The rest of you have nothing to do with it!

Doesn't matter?　Doesn't it matter that they didn't even try to help the victims of their friends' unreasonable attacks, but instead used them as bait for the demons to get away with this and that?　What a joke, 'Murderer'.


　I'm going to give you a new alias in return for the parasite you've given me.

　I'm sure that Miroslav has realized my intentions, and his beautiful face is twisted.


''..........　In the first place, emergency evacuation is allowed, even for adventurers. Two people cannot be caught on a single board!


　Miroslav uttered an old story.

　A sailor on the wrecked ship found a plank and was holding onto it when another sailor came along and asked him to let him hold onto it too.

　The plank was so small that if two men grabbed onto it, they would both sink.

　The first sailor who grabbed the plank was forced to push the second sailor away and drown him.

　Later, the surviving sailor was charged with murder, but was acquitted at trial....

　So Miroslav superimposed his actions on this sermon.

　I snickered.


'Lars, did you hear that?　When you use the word "emergency evacuation," it's obvious that this guy intended to attack me. That's what I'm talking about.

...Ah!

...Milo.

I'm sorry, Lars!　But, but then, I was desperate to help you!　I had to do something about it. That's all I could think of...!


　Miroslav covered his face with his hands and began to cry.

　Seeing his companion, Lars quickly put his hand on Milo's shoulder, put his mouth close to his ear and spoke softly to him.


'I know, I know. Milo is not the kind of kid who would hurt people. And it was my fault for pushing him to that point. It was my fault, too. I'll make up for it with him.

"...Oh, Lars!　I, I.....I'm sorry...!


　Miroslav embraces Lars as if he was overcome with emotion.

　And Lars, who gently accepts it.





　.........I watched the trifecta that had begun so abruptly with blank eyes. What's this?

　I mean, if you're going to apologize, apologize to me before Lars does.

　I can't remember anyone apologizing to me since I've been back in town, here.

　Even Lunamaria, who seems to have the most common sense, is silent.

　If you look at the elf who has been silent from earlier, he has a pale face and is slumped over. Perhaps it was my imagination, but it also seemed to be trembling in small increments.

　It's not like he's tortured by guilt now, but what is he doing?

　Ilaria is in Ilaria, looking at Lars and Miroslav in an embrace, wondering if she should pull away or watch.




　Are they all in their heads, these guys. They don't understand the meaning of what Miroslav has done, as if they don't know what they're doing.

　I sigh.

　Then Lars opened his mouth as he and Miroslav hugged each other.



'Sola, you heard me. It's not just Milo's fault that this happened. I'm responsible for it, too.'

And your leader is willing to take responsibility for that?

Yeah, yeah.

'It's superimposed. So how exactly are you responsible for that?

'That, of course, you can do as you please. If you ask me to bow down, I will.

I see. So you don't even bow to me unless you're told to? You really don't know what's going on here, Lars.

What... what?

'You said I could do what I wanted, right?　Then I'll take you up on your offer. Get out of my way. I'm going to snake that woman to death and that will be the end of it.


　Then I pointed to the red-haired wizard (Miroslav) with tears in his eyes.