The Protocol formalizing the plan for the recapture of the country.
　Although the general outline of the plan to recapture it has been made, the work of deciding what steps each country will actually take from now on will be done in coordination with the armies of each country.

　Even so, it was predictable that the single mages would still have to travel back and forth between countries in the future.

　The public meeting saw a brief end, and in the blink of an eye, the inside of the great hall took on the appearance of a standing party. Speaking of a place of exchange, is it pretty?
　In fact, compared to before the meeting, there are somewhat calmer expressions lined up. Still, in a sense, those left behind may have been sacrificed as an appearance.

　Once their business was done, a few heads of state left this Barral Castle. Of course, one could infer that it was probably to take their future plans back to the military.......but....
　It's also true that there's actually not much to do even though the head of state has remained here. Rather, he would be fed up with just the greetings of important people from other countries.

　However--.

　Using the edge of his gaze, Ars casually looks around the great hall. There was one place where it was extremely lively, and even the sound of dynamic laughter could be heard.

'I'll have to stay out of that one.
You know, I can smell it up here.

　It's a good idea to have a good time with them. It's a very good idea to be able to have a good time with your friends and family.
　It would have been manly to say that he was drinking with me, but it was hard to do anything about it because he was the head of the state.

　In addition, the single wizard of his country, Vaget, has already disappeared from this place.

　It's a good thing that you can't get drunk, but the current state of affairs is enough to make such words a delusion.

　Now," said Ars, shaking his gaze once more, "I have no use for you. In fact, if I were to speak frankly, I would like to leave immediately as I have no use for it, but as expected, I felt that leaving without a greeting was a lack of common sense for a person who attended as a substitute for the association.

　With Loki in tow, Ars walked up to the person he had spotted.
　As a matter of etiquette, Loki casually looked at Ars's proffered elbow and crossed his arms to accompany it.

　After all, many heavyweights were rubbing up against the former head of the house as if it were a tame cat. The cuddly, unpretentious cats that swarmed around the group reverently folded their waists and retreated when they saw Ars and the others.
　The person in the center of the crowd greeted Ars and Loki as if relieved.

''It's been a while. Lithia-sama.

　Following Ars, Loki elegantly plucked the hem of his dress and bowed his head lightly.

''Well, Lord Ars. I've been shown some interesting things earlier. But as expected of you, aren't you tired too?
Yeah, some...

　The upper-class-like Lithia, dressed in a gorgeous dress that bared her shoulders, was released by her cronies and took a deep breath.
　Perhaps it was because she had invited him to a tea party once, but there was no diplomatic probing, and her cheeks naturally relaxed in the uncomplicated conversation she had with her acquaintance.

'But the real exhaustion may be ahead.
That's true. And it seemed to be the main purpose of this event that we would like to look to Lord Ars-dono as a fighting force for our association.

　Not feeling very comfortable, Lithia was like a small talker, even though she lurked the information that had been decided between the heads of state.

'The association doesn't have anything that can be called an achievement at the moment,' he said.

　Lithia dared to watch Ars, who was divided as such an acceptable thing to do, in silence. Those glossy lips were lifted slightly.

　As intricate as it is for a standing conversation, Lithia announces her proposal to the association. Rather, her mouth already seemed to be looking for an opportunity for the proposal to pass as a necessity.
　I'm not sure I've ever heard of this, but I'm sure I've heard of it.

I see, that's a practical necessity, isn't it? And considering the role of the association, it's a perfect fit.
I'm sure Lord Arus would agree. We're going to put all of each country's investigation reports on the outside world in one database. When you think about the future plans of each country, the fact that each country will have all the information about the outside world is to be expected.
So we'll have our own database to organize and control what's going on in the outside world.

　Lithia nodded with a big smile.
　After all, this ex-head was also different from Cicernia in a different way. He can see what he needs, he can detect what he will surely need in advance.
　Naturally, when it came to investigating the outside world, the national armies were closed to the outside world. Therefore, no matter how much the Association asked for it, it was hard to believe that they would comply.

　But when the head of state actually led the way, the conversation became more realistic.

　Then, as I remembered, Loki also had a few words. It's not so much a head of state as it is a casual tone of voice to a good-natured boss.

''Al, perhaps the countries have not been able to fully grasp the situation like the Hydrangee that we investigated this time.

　Correctly, the countries are guessing. We have a rough idea of the situation, but unfortunately there is no way to know everything about it. Although the information is shared among the nations, it tends to be kept secret in part. The details of Ars's achievements in Alpha, for example, have been kept under wraps until now.

'I understand. I'll let President Ilyce know about it next time.
That would help. I may not be able to do that now, but eventually...
No, we need a draft as soon as possible. The question is, will the other countries agree to it?
'That part will probably be fine. It's part of the protocol.

　Yes, countries are willing to provide information. It contains an article similar to this one.
　In fact, it includes a number of things that remove concerns that might be detrimental to some co-operative relations, most of which were advocated by Lithia.

　That's why Lithia has now presented a proposal for the association.
　Now that the plan to recapture it has been approved, it is hard to imagine that the military will be as difficult as they have been in the past.


　And since then, it was supposed to be just a greeting, but Ars unexpectedly ended up playing a role in gathering information.
It was. But from the middle, both Ars and Loki have given up and can be seen taking a meal.
　It's a good thing that the heads of state are gathering, so even though Ars is indifferent to food, the coloration alone is enough to whet your appetite. Loki and I went around the various dishes.

　It's a good idea to have a good time with the person who came all the way to apologize earlier.
　It was Exeles, the first-ranked explorer held by Krevidito. He didn't know if it was natural, but Fanon's uninteresting appearance, glancing at Ars and the others throughout, had passed through his vision.

　She provided some information about her own oddities. He could probably expect Linne's input, partly because she mentioned Linne's name a few times in conversation.
　Of course, he honestly didn't know the intention of revealing to Ars the abilities that would be considered a secret matter even for the mages in his own country. However, this may also be a sign of trust in the association, or in the number one mage.

　While speaking so, he was desperately positioning himself to hide Fanon behind him, and he seemed to be concerned about Ars and Loki.
　Even though it was called a different ability, it was certainly an explanation of the extent of what it was, and it probably didn't reveal everything.

　--even so, the sensing of magical information? It's a detection method similar to mine.

　It's not the same as detection sonar, which senses magic power itself, but the ability to identify it by magic power information. This is what that bruise like mark seems to have.
　However, it also seems to have limitations, so it's not something that can be used haphazardly. At the end of the day, the reason she's ranked first in exploration is undoubtedly due to her high normal detection ability, rather than her unusual ability.

　However, unlike Ars's method of detecting information as an object by projecting it into the brain, it is a far more accurate detection ability. I'm not sure if I can call it magic, but rather an accurate and incomparable super-sense.



''Even so, it was an unexpected harvest.

　After leaving Barral Castle, Ars and Loki had a feeling that it was a more enjoyable time than they had expected, even taking into account the anxiety that they had heard about beforehand. It was probably just as Linne had said at the beginning, and it had the appearance of a get-together without a figure.

　There was quite a bit of anticipation for the association. There were also quite a few positive opinions about the upcoming test operation. If it succeeds, the Association will be recognized by both ourselves and others as a force for good among the seven nations.

　On the carriage ride home, Loki, seated across from me, looked up gradually and gave me a small smile.

''I'm sure the Association has high expectations for Al.

　Loki, who spun his words in an amused manner, was happy about it. His achievements were recognized and the world began to turn.
　But still, Ars--.

'I'm just hoping you won't get your hopes up for me. I'm busy as hell.

　Loki returned the chuckle and smile and put the back of his hand to his mouth as the words he had been expecting came back to him.
　Ars didn't look directly back at Loki, but instead looked at the distant view from the carriage.

'An association is an association. The next time you take two poorly made men into the outside world. I don't think I'll ever feel at ease.
'Yes. But the two of you seem to be motivated only. That's exactly what I was going for in the first place.

　Ars looks depressed, but the purpose of training both Tesfia and Alice is to be able to fight the demons. All is well, and Loki watched with amusement as Ars's profile turned into an awkward expression.

　Even Ars, whose mouth is agape, lets out a sigh as if he immediately accepts it. No matter how many times he went out into the outside world, it was only the experience of Ars fighting for himself alone.
　He thought at the time that he was just willing to die for someone else, and that is exactly what he was willing to do, to die for his troops. As it turns out, just like them, Ars has to send them back to the survival zone as a unit to keep them alive.

　--Now, I have to brace myself.