The 18th day of the month of light. I woke up at the usual time, and as I was heading to the dining room as usual, Luna Maria was waiting for me on the way.
　No, I didn't meet her by chance or anything. She was gazing at us in the middle of the corridor.

''Oh?　This is a good morning, Mr. Miyama. It's a 'coincidence' to see you here.
'No, it was obviously intentional, wasn't it?　You've been waiting for me....
Ha, ha, you're joking again...

　What is it?　What kind of nefarious scheme are you up to this time?　His smile is stinky.

''So ... so what do you want to do with me?''
You are very quick to talk, Lady Miyama. I admire his cunning, this Lunamaría.

　I'm starting to feel uneasy. What kind of recklessness is he going to do?
　It's not going to turn out to be a rogue situation, my mind is screaming out from my thick trust in Lunamaria-san.

''........Actually, I have a favor to ask Miyama-sama in advance......''

　Here we go. Another troublesome thing....

''I would like you to choose my mother to accompany me at the Sixth King Festival....
...Yeah?

　Huh?　It's not what I was expecting. I had thought again that it was a request for me to ask Lilia-san to be in a good mood or to follow me to apologize to Lilia-san or something like that.
　However, what came out of Lunamaria-san's mouth was something about Noah-san.

''When you say........companion, it's a thing, isn't it?　I'll apply in advance and take them with me.
''Yes. As I'm sure you remember, Miyama-sama, the rank of the invitation also limits the scope of your companion's activities.
...Yes, you said that.

　I think it was the cat-eared demon tribe that came to explain that the Iron Rank invitation that Luna Maria-san has is limited to one person accompanying her, and it seems to be very restrictive about the range of activities.......did Caraway-san say that?
　I see, that makes it difficult for Noah-san to act freely, so you want him to apply as my companion.

　The black-ranked invitations I have can take as many companions as I want, and there's no limit to the range of activities.
　For Lunamaria-san, it's probably better for Noah-san if she asks me to apply as a companion than if she were to apply as a companion herself.

''........Yes, of course I don't mind.
Thank you!
I was just about to apply for a companion...

　I tell Luna Maria, who bows her head at a nice angle, that it's okay to not worry about it. By no means do I feel guilty or anything like that for suspecting that I'd misbehaved again earlier.

　Lunamaria-san thanks me repeatedly for my response and then leaves, and I'm left with a hand on my chin to suddenly think about it.
　But yeah. Companions................................I certainly feel like it's time to make some decisions.
　Not to mention Anima, Eta, and Theta, I'll invite some of the servants I'm close to in Lilia-san's mansion, but the problem is people outside of Lilia-san's mansion.
　If they're my acquaintances outside of Lilia-san's mansion, I'm sure most of them would have accepted the invitation.

　Orchid and Lasse-san would definitely be invited, and Noah-san would be invited via Luna Maria-san. Ray-san and Fia-san........will Zeke-san invite them?　Then I'll suggest that you apply for a companion on my invitation.

　The rest............oh, yes!　There's Dr. Fear!
　I'm pretty good at this, and I'm indebted to him for the tea and his help.
　Maybe he'll say no when he's busy with his doctor's work, but if that's the case... I'll ask him out first.

　It's still a bit early in the day, and I decided to go to the clinic once it was around noon, and I started walking towards the cafeteria.

　........What about Eden-san?　I feel like I may or may not have been invited... maybe I'll just invite him?　But I'm kind of scared to meet with Mr. Eden one-on-one. Okay, I'll ask Black to contact me in a roundabout way next time.







　When I visited the clinic a little later than lunchtime, Dr. Fier greeted me with his usual gentle smile.

'Welcome, Miyama-kun. What's wrong, Miyama-kun?　I don't think today was the day of Mr. Noah's treatment, was it?
'Hi... no, I have something to do for Dr. Fear today.
Me?
Yeah, do you have a minute?

　I ask if I can take a little longer to find out if Dr. Fea could take a little longer since she may not know about the Six Kings Festival.
　Then Fea-sensei flips through the notebook she had placed on the table.

''.......Yeah. I'll be fine. I don't have a visit this afternoon.
Well, then....
'Let's have a cup of tea and talk. One of my former patients gave me some great cookies.

　Smiling at that, Dr. Fear leads me to the living space adjacent to the clinic.
　Yeah, at least he's friendly enough to let me into the kitchen like this, and it wouldn't be funny to ask him out.
　While thinking about that, Dr. Fear urges me to sit down in a chair.

"...and then what?　What is it you want to talk about?
Yes, actually...

　I listened to the words that were announced while preparing to brew the herbal tea, and I was about to tell them the main point as it was just a good pass... but at that moment, I heard some kind of hurried footsteps, so I shut my mouth that I was talking to and tried to hear the sound He turned around.

　Then the kitchen door opened vigorously and a familiar figure appeared.

'Fear!　I'm here to visit!　Look at the very tasty yokan........come in........huh?
...Well, um, hello Mr. Noin.
...Mr. Kite?
Yeah, yeah.

　Noin-san appeared with a big smile on her face, but immediately afterwards she stiffened at the sight of me and gradually turned blue in the face.
　

''........I can't marry you anymore.......''
....

　The drop in tension was so great that I couldn't react on the spur of the moment!　Nah, I'm feeling a mess and depressed.
　Then, Fea-sensei approaches to Noin-san and calls out to her with a bitter smile on her face.

Hica........Noin. What's the matter with you, are you suddenly depressed as soon as you come?

....

　No, I'm sorry Mr. Noin but that's a little late for that, isn't it?　At the time of first contact, you showed up carrying a dragon, you know....

.........Huh?　I mean, do you and Mr. Noin and Dr. Fea know each other?
'Oh, oh, yeah. I've known her for quite a while. Hikari and I.
'What?　What's Hikari now?
Oh no, I mean...

　Noin-san's real name that came out of Fea-sensei's mouth..........................That means that Fea-sensei knows that Noin-san is the first brave. But why is he in a hurry?

'....Oh, right!　It's okay. I know about Mr. Noin's identity, too.
Huh?　Oh, oh, I see.......good. That's a relief.

　I see, you were upset because you thought I knew that the first hero was alive.

''Even so, if you know the identity of Noin-san.......could it be that Fea-sensei is.......''
Huh?
Kite?
''Did you help Noin-san during his heroic days?
....
....
'What?　What's going on?
No, it's nothing.
''Yes, as Kite-san predicted, Fea was very helpful to me during my heroic days, and we are still friends because of that connection.

　Huh?　What is this?　Nein-san and Fea-sensei both have very normal expressions and voices.
　However, I could feel a strong sense of impatience in the emotions conveyed by the sensory magic. That too, from both of them........

　While I felt a strange tug, there was no particular reason to pursue it, so I nodded my head in a way that said I was satisfied.

　Dear Mom, Dad--I visited Fea-sensei to invite him to the Hero Festival, and I also ran into Noin-san there. They seem to be friends, but it's weird. Yes, it's like they're hiding a big secret.