I arrived at Sharon's designated restaurant right on time for our rendezvous.
　If this was my date with Aria, I would arrive five minutes early enough. I didn't want to waste a second of my time seeing her.

　But this today was decidedly not a date.
　It is nothing more than the act of a general and a military strategist who have just met, lubricating their relationship with each other.
　Hence, I chose the right time to avoid any strange expectations, but not to be rude.
　Then.

'That's great, Master Strategist. You are so punctual!　War, however, is a fascinating profession.

　Sharon gave me an excessive amount of praise at the opening.
　

'Now, now, Henri. I'll treat you to a meal of the finest cuisine with an abundance of magical spices that can only be found in the witch country.
I'm looking forward to it.

　If it wasn't for this kind of tense situation, I would really be looking forward to it.

　As expected of the mayor, Sharon is the mayor of Nebula, and we were greeted with the highest level of service and shown to a private room with the best view of the city.
　In the magical city of Nebula, the lights of magic are turned on at sunset, creating a starry night view just like the starry sky on earth.
　It's a beautiful thing. If it wasn't for this kind of tense situation...

　I arrived at the table facing Sharon.
　She had changed into a dress.
　It was a bright scarlet design that exposed a lot around her shoulders and chest. It accentuated Sharon's spilling breasts and the whiteness of her well-groomed skin.
　Well, objectively speaking, she must be beautiful.
　To me, though, there's no woman more attractive than Aria.

　The veteran waiter crisply prepares a toast, and Sharon and I raise our glasses to each other.
　I'm a weak drinker, so I only lick it.
　Sharon, with her keen eyesight, pretends to be a weak drinker as she meets me.
　I guess you could say that she's a high level wizard, that she's skilled at observing in this area. Just as I was able to detect her "pretend" right away.

What do you think Henri does on his days off?
Mostly reading. And I'm a bit of a wizard myself, so I'm working on that.

　...Should I make it clear that I'm going to date Aria all the time on my "day off"?
　Will I be offended and have a problem attacking the "Demon Flame Warlord"?
　Ummm, I don't know what's in a woman's heart.

'Well!　You're just like me!
Are you sure?
We're perfect for each other!
I suppose you could say that.

　A plate of appetizers is brought in, but Sharon's barrage of questions continues.

'What's your favourite food?'
I don't have a favorite, but I'd like to have a little of the good stuff.
What's your idea of a woman?
An intelligent, cheerful but not boisterous man would be ideal.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Are you... maybe...

　Yeah, it's not you.
　It's about Aria.

"How many children do you want in the future?
I want to spend time with my partner, because I value my time and my partner's time. I don't want to have children, because I value my time and the time I spend with my partner, but I don't want to have children. Maybe I'm a heartless man.
'I know!　I know~!
Thank you for your understanding.

　It's tiring....
　How long do I have to go on with this "conversation between a general and a warlord" that is an absolute nay-sayer?
　Or, if I were a more sociable guy, I'd be like, "I'm lucky to chat with a beautiful woman! And can we divide it up?
　I don't know....

'May I ask you a question as well, Sharon?
Of course!　Keep asking your sister about it.
'There are several wizarding schools here on Nebula, with a large number of students and graduates, right?
'You have a lot of potential witches and many times as many unsuitable ones who couldn't be witches.

　Sharon corrected heartbreakingly.
　Those who could not be witches. The unfit. The flunkers - Sharon herself didn't think so much of them, but as if to admonish her that this was the general perception of Viverrahara.

　In this witch country - unthinkable in any other country - the facilities, institutions and environment for learning magic are excellent.
　However, only women from this country can learn. "The only ones who can learn are those who have the potential to pass on the bloodline of the Beginning Witch to another generation.
　Those who are judged to have no hope of becoming a witch will be branded as failures. Their bright futures will be cut off, and they will be left to fend for themselves.

Sharon. Sharon, why don't we recruit some of these failures you mentioned?　They may not have been able to become witches, but they must be wizards. They should be able to use an attack magic or two, right?
'To be honest, I don't think they're going to be very useful, though?　It would be impossible to compete with the dragon zombies and giant chimeras controlled by the Black Witches, wouldn't it?
One on one, yes. But this is war. Numbers are power. Each of them may not be able to hold your feet to the fire, but with a squad, they can operate as a fine firepower.
I guess I can understand the logic.

　Sharon cowered her shoulders.
　Even during the short dialogue so far, it could be seen that she was quite a flexible thinker here in Viverrahara.
　Still, she was unenthusiastic about it.

'Don't be offended, Henri?　But in my country, you know, war is witches' business. With golems and undead. So that the death toll is as low as possible. If they die, it's only the witches. That's why we witches enjoy the privilege. This is the noble duty of our noble-less country, the Noble Oblige.
''I have no intention of putting a wizard in the line of fire, either. It is to be operated only in support of firepower from the rear, only. That way, there will be no casualties.

　Unless it's an offensive magic shootout with the enemy forces, but the Black Witches also insist on 'witch-only war and pride by witches', so that's not going to happen.
　And by breaking the conventions that have nothing to do with their military logic, the inferior Sharon can turn the tables on them.

''........Let me think about this for a moment.''
Yes. Okay.

　It was a nice way of saying no.
　However, I don't ignore them. I do think about it. I can see that nuance in his tone.
　She said she respects her relationship with Sharon and is willing to make concessions so that I won't be offended, just as I respect my relationship with her and go along with her tiring conversations.
　That's still fine for now.

　　　　◇◆◆◆◆.

　At least one fruitful story was told, and I was satisfied.
　........well, the meal went on and on with no taste of anything, and we ended up with dessert.

　Now, what do we do after this?　Sharon got up from her seat when it came to the stage of

'Ohoho, I'm just going to fix my makeup.

　I walked out of the private room.

　I was alone, gazing at the night scene in a daze, when the door to the doorway opened.
　I thought Sharon had come back, but it was not.

　It was Chocolat.
　The restaurant's serving girl, in perfect disguise (a handy guy!) .

"Sharon, I saw you blasting away at yourself in front of the bathroom mirror.
...and what does it say?
"I'm going to bring Master Magnus home for sure.
..........

　Do you think I should just shut up and go home?

What do you think you should do about it, Chocolat?
I thought you were supposed to be putting him to sleep.
It was just a figure of speech, of course.
"A wild twill, isn't it?
Just tell me what you're gonna do about it.
'I'm sorry, Mr Magnus. We're out of time. Master Sharon has returned.

　Chocolat passes my screams and leaves the private room soundlessly like a shadow.
　Soon after, Sharon comes back in to replace me.

"You know what, Henri. It's hard to say, but--

　Sharon's corner of the eye snapped back.
　Is it the expression of a bird of prey in front of its prey? Or is it that of a daring panther?
　The first time I saw it, I was lost in the darkness.

We've got news. "The army of Beast Maniacs is hiding in the shadows of the night and advancing on Nebula. I'm sorry, but I think we're going to have to call it a date.

　It was indeed the expression of the female general's army who knew the noble duty of the Noblesse Oblige.