That should do it for now about Ilaria.


　Miroslav muttered to himself as he returned to his room and let out a small breath.

　It was no coincidence that he went to the bathroom used by Ilaria and the three siblings. Originally, Miroslav had thought that he had to nail Ilaria at an early stage, and he had been looking for an opportunity to do so.

　He had heard from Sora's mouth that Ilia was aware of the truth about the dismantling of the Sword of the Falcon.

　It was unlikely that Iria, who was being poisoned by Hydra's poison, would go against Sora, who held the formula for the antidote, but there was no chance that she would explode with emotions at the drop of a hat, especially with the straightforward nature of Iria.

　That's exactly what might happen, and he might tell Lars what's going on at a moment's notice. If that happened, Lars' hostility towards Sola, which Miroslav had taken great pains to remove, would be rekindled.

　For those reasons, they felt the need to restrain Ilaria, but they had to be careful not to touch the ears of others because of the content of the conversation.

　Outside the house was out of the question. But that doesn't mean it's okay to be inside the house. There is no guarantee that children, priests, sparrows and seals will not hear us.

　That's why we chose the bathroom. It is a place where no one can accidentally enter. With this in mind, I went there just in time for the children to get out of the bath.

　Miroslav thinks back to his earlier conversation with Ilaria.

　If I had made it that clear, there is no way that Ilaria would have let the matter slip out of his mouth. I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that you're not the only one who has risked your life to get this done.

　In the meantime, I mentioned Ilaria's own position in that regard.

　Miroslav declared to Ilia, 'We have the right to live and die by Sola. He then told her that Sora had little hostility 'against Lars'.

　In other words, she warned that her hostility to Ilaria was neither thin nor pale.

　Miroslav believes that Sola has not yet retaliated against Ilaria, partly because of Hydra's poison, but even more because of the presence of Ilaria's mother, Priestess Serra.

　The fact that Sora has a shallow fondness for the priestess Serra is obvious to the sidelines. If it weren't for the priestess Serra's daughter, she would have made her move on Ilaria long ago.

　It was obvious that if Ilaria continued to spend her time rambling, it would be a situation where her mother - instead of her daughter - would be in charge. Regardless of whether it would be forced or consensual, Ilaria would definitely want to avoid such a situation.

　What should be done to make that happen? Miroslav was going to poke around in that area in the future to encourage Ilaria to act voluntarily. This was not a decision ordered by Sola, but rather one of Miroslav's own.

　The prey was to be used to feed on Sola.

　Lunamaria is a smart woman, but she is not very good at this kind of work. She also has personality fetters. Even if she were to come up with a way to keep others in line, she would not be able to do it.

　This is not the case with Miroslav. In fact, he drove the Sword of the Falcon to the point of disbanding the group as a poison to keep them buried, and as far back as four and a half years ago, he spread the notoriety of the Parasite in order to break the ice between Sola and Lunamaria. You could say that I am very good at this kind of dark move.


''........though it's nothing to be proud of....


　I didn't know it, but I smiled to myself.

　Today's action against Ilaria was, to put it bluntly, a point-scoring move against Sola. Miroslav is the same "provider" as Lunamaria and Seal, but Sola is less interested in him than she is in them. She will be mercilessly dismissed if she is displeased.

　He has yet to reveal the Parasite to Sola. It is clear that revealing it will enrage her.

　This is another reason for Miroslav's actions. It's not just the fact that he's not a good person, but also the fact that he's a good person.

　--And so, Miroslav's dark moves are also being made against people other than Ilaria.


◆ ◆ ◆


Master, I would like a moment of your time, if you would permit it.


　When Sola returned from the forest of Titis that day, Miroslav discreetly called out to her when her hand was free.

　Sola noticed that the tint in his voice was different from the usual, and she raised her eyebrows suspiciously.


'I don't mind - but from the look on your face, it doesn't look like it's something you can talk about openly.

As you may have guessed.

'Then I'll take my room. The little bastards will be with Klau Solas, so they won't just charge in out of nowhere.

Thank you.


　Miroslav, who bowed deeply, then spoke in Sora's room about the Adventurer's Guild.

　To be precise, it was about the guild master, Elgato, and the receptionist, Lidel, the two of them.


''Actually, Lidel-san has asked me to give a message to our ally (master). He wants to meet and talk to you in private.

...Liddell was talking to me?　If we meet in private, does that mean you're a secret envoy for the guild?

'No, Mr. Liddell, it's a personal matter. Of course, it's not entirely unrelated to the Guild.

That's a very judgmental thing to say. Are you being specific?

Yes. I'm sure you've heard the general idea, since I can't give the master a call without knowing what's going on. Besides, I myself am slightly involved in the conversation.

Hmm, I don't know what that means, but I'm gonna listen anyway.

I'm sorry, sir.


　Nudged by Sola, Miroslav began to explain.

　In conclusion, Liddell's request was to stop retaliating against the Adventurer's Guild.

　The retaliation here refers to what he had said to Iria in the bathroom the other day.


''Our ally (master) intends to make the matter of the Lord of the Flies public and make us apologize in public.

I believe that in doing so, you intend to show them that the guild's judgment was wrong.


　The final step in Sola's "peaceful way of picking a fight with the guild" was "urgent". Liddell had offered to stop that,

　Miroslav says.


'You may recall that I told you the other day that Lord Sergei, who is in charge of the Adventurer's Guild in King's Landing, wishes to meet with his ally (master).　I believe that the offer at that time was intended to drive Lord Elgato away after winning the ally (master) over to his side. The master's refusal to do so crushed Sir Sergei's intentions.

This whole thing has flared up again, hasn't it?

Yes, sir. Stampede and Hydra poisoned. He's loudly blaming Lord Elgert for the chaos in Ishka because of his inaction. He has already sent a messenger to the guild headquarters in the Holy Kingdom. Lord Elgart and Liddell-san were too busy trying to resolve the situation to deal with Sir Sergei, and Liddell-san feared that if things continued as they were, Sir Sergei's claim might be unilaterally recognized.


　Sergei is skilled at accumulating money and has deep ties to the upper echelons of the guilds. There are also many guilds around the country that are helped by Sergei in terms of money.

　If it was a battle for swords, Elgato's victory is unassailable, but if it was a battle for money, he would be looking at defeat.


''In such a situation, if the Dragon Slayer, the Alliance (Master), openly blames the Ishqa Guild, Lord Elgart's position will become more and more difficult. In the worst case scenario, he will be sent to the penitentiary for being held accountable for failing to prevent the situation.


　Elgato had done his best in this one case, but that still didn't erase the fact that Ishka had suffered a great deal of damage.

　If this were a normal city event, a single guild master would not be held responsible.

　However, Ishka is an adventure city. It has a history of favoring adventurers as a city policy, and the guilds have benefited from it. As a public figure - the head of the Adventurer's Guild, Elgato is in a position where he has to take responsibility.


''Liddell-san is also aware of that. However, even so, he still can't agree that Lord Elgart, who did his best in a critical situation, should be executed.

It's even more so when the crime is compounded by Sergei's personal grudge. So you don't want me to do anything I don't have to do. Well, it's easy to understand.


　But," said Sora, crossing her arms inwardly.

　There was a question.

　It was true that Sola had intended to retaliate against the guild, and she had devised a plan to do so, a way to peacefully pick a fight with the guild, and had implemented it in stages.

　But after defeating Hydra, here, I have to admit that I had almost forgotten about that plan. Right now, honing my illusionary one-knife style against Cryer takes precedence over everything else. Besides, he didn't intend to let Sparrow, Priest Sela, and the children see him blaming the guild for his high-handedness in the face of the city's devastation.

　In the first place, Sola had never publicly announced her plans. Who on earth had Liddell heard about Sola's plans from?

　Moreover, the Adventurer's Guild had questioned Sora's "dragon slayer" achievements and had spread the derogatory term "false dragonslayer". It's no wonder that he's now asking Sora for a favor.

　There is no reason for Sola to accept Liddell's offer, not a single reason. It's not so much that I want to accept it as I want to laugh at the plight of Liddell and the others with my stomach in my mouth. It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for when you're in the market.

　-- and when I thought that far, Sora's right eyebrow twitched. There was a feeling in her current thoughts.

　Sola stared into Miroslav's eyes in front of her. Miroslav also stared into Sola's eyes.

　How long did they stare at each other like that? In Sola's vision, Miroslav's mouth slowly opened.


'Mr. Liddell, you have more than respect for Lord Elgert. If that Lord Elgert is in danger, he will give in to most requests. You can use it as a burial poison against the guild, or you can pull it out and use it for the Sword of Blood and Smoke, or you can use it as your nightly bread. Although it may not be in line with the Alliance's (Master's) original plan, I believe that it will yield sufficient results in light of that.