After a long stay in King's Landing, a carriage is driving down the road in the night.
　My father and I have been taking turns being the coachman, and now it's my turn.
　I've been in a bad mood for a while now.

I'm sorry. It's not that I've forgotten our date. I was hoping we could make time for a day or so.
Yeah. I know that much in my head. That's why I don't complain. But I'm not complaining about the emotional side of things. I can't help but sulk.

I had promised a date in the royal capital to thank him for his hard work in developing magic to kill demons.
　However, the invitations from the nobles that Touahade's rank couldn't refuse were received one after another, so he couldn't make even a single day of free time.

He was quiet in his father's presence, but afterwards he asked for a secret meeting.
　I had no idea he was thinking about something so daring.

I'll make it up to you. When I get back, I'll be in Murteu, and this time it's a real date.
'Murteu!　Last time I was there, there was a place I couldn't get around.

His face lights up quickly, as if his earlier grumpiness is a lie.
　I was going to head to Murteau about the report from Maha at the dance party.
　I'll take Dia there as well.
　There are some things I want to get for Dia.

''But are you okay with that?　As soon as the Holy Knight turned rogue-sama gets an order from the castle, he has to head there, right?
That's okay. It's just a night and two days. We won't be staying that long.
　The position of the Holy Knight is to be dispatched to the area when an outside enemy appears.
　To some extent, there are restrictions on movement.

''Hmm, this is going to be fun. Where do you want to go?
'If you don't have any hope, I'll escort you out. That's my yard.

I spent two years as Irg Balor.
　It's my second home.

So do me a favor. I know you're going to need an escort. If you can't make it through the next one, I'll be in a real bind.
I'll do my best to make sure that doesn't happen. If the demons show up before we get to Murteau, then we'll have a date there.
I'm looking forward to that. I don't have much to do in the country.
You don't have to, you know.

Unless they are very fond of things, not many nobles would set foot in another territory.
　Dia rubbed her eyes. She looked sleepy.

You must be tired. Take it easy, go to sleep.

At the party, perhaps because of her beauty, she was tangled up with a nobleman's bonoboons for quite a while.
　As the daughter of the great aristocrat Vicone, she's used to being treated well, but that doesn't mean she doesn't get tired.
　Besides, it's already late.

Then I'll take you up on your offer. Good night.

As soon as he did, he started sleeping with my thighs as a pillow.
　I said I'd be spoiled, but this was too much.
　But it's not bad.
　You can see Dia's cute sleeping face this close.
　The tart looks at such a Dia with envy.
　That Dia opens her eyes thinly.

'You always look at me like you want things. If you want it, you can have it. That's a bad tart habit. If you think you're being shy, you need to be very thorough about keeping it out of my face. You're being too picky in a different way and too thick, waiting for something tasty to fall out of your mouth in the hope that the rogue will intuit you like that.
Oh, I didn't mean to.
I wish you would trust me and Lug a little more. Rougu isn't going to be bothered by the tart's selfishness, and I won't be mad at him either. Look, if you want Rougu to give you a lap pillow, just say so.
...Um, are you sure you want to do this?
'I'm good. I don't know about the rogue, though.
I don't know.
You'll know it when you ask.

That's a pretty harsh statement, but it's a good one.
　That kind of thing is also a cute part of Dia's personality, though.

''Oh, um, Rougu-sama, can I have my knee-jerk reaction as well?''

The tart asks with a sense of trepidation.

"Oh, that's fine. "Yes, that's fine, but when it's time for you to take your turn, let me use your lap.
Yes!　I'm really looking forward to it.

Then he puts his head up to the tart. Dia changes the position of the tart's head so that it's easier to put it on.
　When both of them are on their knees at the same time, it's heavy as expected, but I feel like there's a weird happy component to it.
　Now, I'm feeling energized. Let's hurry up to my old home.

◇

After returning to Touahade territory and refreshing himself after a day of rest, he had come to Murteau.

''........Hey, Roug. You've been human for a while now, but you've finally completely stopped being human. How can you get from Touahade to here in just two hours?
"Run and take Deere in your arms, princess.

If they had a lot of luggage, they would use the carriage, but otherwise, running would be faster.
　There was still plenty of room in the [Crane Skin Bag] and there was no need to worry about the luggage.
　So I did.
　Besides, I also wanted to test my physical abilities now that I had gained Epona's power.
''Rougu-sama, we can't do this anymore.

Tart sat down.

'No, it's enough to keep up with me.

I ran at the front of the pack as a windbreak, and although the burden was much lighter, it was still crazy to be able to follow me.
　There are probably less than a hundred people in this country who can do that.

I'm also surprised. I thought, "I don't want to be left behind by Master Rouge," and I did my best. As soon as I can, I'm going to go find a place to stay and run an errand. Good luck on your date.
Yeah, please.

The errand I asked Tart to run is to go to Maha first and ask for a hand turn.
　As expected, Maha wouldn't expect me to be here anymore.

◇

And so begins a date in Murteau.
　We enjoy a cake at our favorite patisserie.

'Mmm, I love the texture of this whipped cream,'
You can come here any time you want.

This is an expensive restaurant, but not an upscale one. However, the quality of the ingredients they use is second to none.
　Above all, the pastry chef's skills are excellent.
　Fresh cream and sponge. The foundation of everything is outstanding.
　It's not just the atmosphere of a high class restaurant, but it's rare to find a restaurant with such a strong background.
　I drink the herb tea I ordered with the cake.

This is Lug's favorite.
Apparently, this place has become a favorite of Orna's, too.

Orna, a makeup brand, sells not only cosmetics, but also herbal teas and sweets, mainly aimed at wealthy women.
　The tea leaves are made from tea plantations overseas that have been bought and bred from the tea plantations grown there, so you can't get them anywhere else but Orna.
　Come to think of it, Maha was also a fan of this shop.
　It's not the kind of tea you can get for the price this store offers.
　They must be selling them wholesale at a discount to promote themselves. It is a secret shop with a good customer base.

Drinking it with the best cake makes the herbal tea shine even brighter.
　Many customers are willing to drink this tea at home, and it's good publicity. Maha has done well.

'I'll have to buy her a souvenir.
Don't worry about it, I have a souvenir ready for you to pick up on your way home. But I didn't expect her to ask me to go on a date with another girl.
Normally I wouldn't say that. I can't help but wonder about Tart, he's too good a boy.

For what it's worth, Dia thinks of Tarto as a dear friend.
　The line in the carriage the other day was also said for Tart's sake.

''Also, you know, maybe there's room to say it in a bad way. I wondered if I could forgive Tart because it seems like I'm the rogue's number one, so I could forgive him. Otherwise, I'd probably be jealous.
I see. I'm glad to hear it. Now, let's get going. Let's get to the next place. I'll get our date up in a minute.
Yeah. Come on.

We hold hands and leave the store.
　It's not just Dia who was looking forward to today's date, I was too.

◇

Dia looks up at me with a look of excitement on her face.

'That was amazing. Even though I didn't use magic, it was all stranger than magic, I was still alive even though I was cut in half, and people were moving at a moment's notice. I suspected you were using magic in the middle of it, and I was detecting magic, but I really wasn't using magic at all!

What we were watching was a so-called magic show.
　We figured that Dear, the grand aristocrat, was tired of the theater, so we watched a magic show that had recently come in from abroad and had become popular.
　Apparently, she liked it more than I thought she would.

'Isn't it interesting?'
Did you find out how Lugue does it?
You've got it all figured out today.
No. Then tell me.
First of all, the mutilations were done in the bed, which had a cloth over the legs of the bed and a blind spot. That's it. Actually, there were two of them, bent at the waist like this, the upper body part, the lower body part, and the upper body part, hidden under the bed. The blade passes between the two of them, so it wasn't cut off.
Oh, come to think of it,

It's quite simple, but that's why it's hard to notice.

'So what about instantaneous travel?'
'That's the twins. There's a hidden door on the stage, with room for one of them to hide. I would have flung the cards into the air as hard as I could and made the cloth flap. The audience's attention is focused on the card and the cloth. In the meantime, they hide behind a hidden door, and the twin appears through a hidden door at a distance. There's a hidden passage beyond the hidden door, and it's common for them to move and appear, but by taking advantage of the twins' advantage, you'd have appeared in an instant, which would have added to the impact.
How did you know you were having twins?
If you look closely, it makes a difference whether they're twins or not. It's not just their faces, it's what they're wearing. One look at their clothes and it's immediately obvious. The sheen of the leather, the stains, the stitching, it's all different.
''Well even if you take out all the magic and magic and physical abilities and all that stuff, a rogue isn't human, right?''

I feel like I've been quite rude.

Do you feel better now that you know the species?
Yeah, that's neat. But how can you spot it?
It's a habit. A magician's trick is, in the extreme, a combination of two techniques. One, you create a blind spot and manipulate it. Two, you show what you want to show, and you don't recognize what you don't want to be seen. It's the same with my day job. That's why I can't help but sense how the other person is trying to guide my perception and reflexively look the other way. Otherwise, I would die in my day job. So I look at what the other person doesn't want me to see and notice the seeds.

In addition to the basic philosophy, there are quite a few magic tricks in the methods of assassination.
　Because of that relationship, I learned a whole range of magic tricks in my past life. Training in conception, cognitive manipulation techniques, and manual dexterity.
　Very assassination and magic tricks go well together.

You really can do everything, can't you? .........could you possibly do more amazing tricks than this?
Sure you can.
Let's see it next time!　We'll have a party at the house. You know, instead of calling out to all these houses, it'll be like a family party. And Rouges does amazing magic.
Sounds interesting. Can you help me with that? I've got an assistant.
Well, unless he's about to be ripped in half or something painful.
'Oh, I'll set up a trick like that. It's reassuring to have an assistant, because the more beautiful the assistant is, the better the trick looks.
I'm a little embarrassed to hear that.

Deere squeezes and entangles her own arm in mine.
　We walk through the city as night falls.
　Our plans for the day are over and all we have to do is get back to the inn.
　After a while, Dia stops.

'What's going on?'
Hey, Roug, do you want to make a detour?

The place we stopped was in front of the inn.
　But it's no ordinary inn; it's a place where you can take a short break.
　In the countryside like Touahade, there's nothing like this, but in a little city, it's prepared.

''Well, as I thought, I couldn't ask the rogue for that tart or hey... in a mansion with your mother or something like that, I was a bit embarrassed to ask for that kind of thing, but here.''

He's so red that I feel sorry for him, and he's blubbering.
　Maybe it's my imagination, but he smells sweeter than usual.

'I don't mind, but as expected, I'm not sure I can stand it either if I go into a place like this. It's really good, isn't it?'
''Well stop asking me that. It's just so embarrassing, even to death.

As I said, he slumped down, as if he couldn't look at me anymore.
　I've wanted to make love to Diah for some time now.
　But I've been holding back because I felt that if I came into contact with her, my rational mind would lose its grip and I would go to any length.

But if you make me say this and still don't touch it, that's not a man.
　.... and there may be something else that may happen in the future.

'Dear, I'll be as gentle as I can.

He didn't even respond, but pulled his hand away.
　Dia stays face down, but she squeezes his hand back hard.
　Finally.
　I gulp and spit raw.
　I've experienced intercourse many times in my past life and here.

But this is the first time I've ever had thoughts and feelings of the person I love in my mind and body.
　I'm extremely nervous.
　...I've never felt this nervous. When I assassinated the president of a great country, I was able to do it without a care in the world.
　But he doesn't show any of that tension with his assassin's skills.
　Because when I'm nervous, Dia will be more scared.