Thank you for helping my daughter Natasha!
Thank you, thank you.

　Count Torrius and his daughter Ofelia bowed to us in unison.

We thank you for your hospitality.

　Odette and I also bowed.

　We are now in the house of the Countess of Torrius.

　We had planned to get off the ship and find a place to stay.
　But...

We won't be able to face our lord if we let the two benefactors, the powerful sorceress and the young lady of Duke Suley, pass us by!
Please. I would like to visit the Countess' house and thank her for her help...

　And I asked Ofelia and the captain to do me a favor.
　They both looked so desperate.

　We decided to stop by the Countess' house partly because I was curious about Ofelia's song.
　Whether that was my theme song or not, I should make sure she's related to 'Fira Village' or not.

　Besides, this Torrius territory is a neighbor of 'Fira Village'.
　It's possible that the villagers may have left a message for me in one of their songs.
　If that's the case, I need to check that out as well.

　I am very good at finding hidden messages.
　I've always been the one who grades the children's writing.




'Here you go. Bon appétit.

　This is the parlor in the house of the Count of Torrias family.
　The Count of Torrius is smiling serenely behind a table of dishes.

This Torrius territory is rich in seafood, you know. I'm not sure if this is to the liking of those who have come from the capital, but I hope you'll enjoy the food!
Please.

　Count Torrius' words were taken over by his daughter Ofelia.
　She stretches out her thin arm and explains the dishes, "........this is grilled 'Loro-Rogai'" and "......this is sautéed 'Alaumid Cod' and 'Huenai Wakame'".

　The table is lined with an enormous array of seafood dishes. It's too gorgeous for me, a country aristocrat.
　Count Torrius seems to be really welcoming us.

How are we going to eat this...?

　Odette rolls her eyes in front of the sautéed 'Alaumid Cod'.
　She's never eaten anything like this before, probably because her family is inland.

Ugh, I can't get the skin to come off properly. What should I do?
I'm gonna need your help.

　With a chop, Ofelia gets off her chair and comes towards us.
　With a knife and fork in hand, she cut up Odette's "Alaumidala".

　It was a familiar hand.
　In front of Odette's astonished eyes, in the blink of an eye, the skin and bones of the fish are stripped off, leaving only the meat.

It's a good idea to have this........how is it?
It's amazing. That's an impressive feat.
So, Tru... no, I'd like to treat Yuki-Grossaria-sama as well...
Hmm?

　I look to the side and see Ofelia stiffening up, knife and fork in hand.
　With a horrified face, she's staring at me and the plate of food.

........Yuki-Grossalia-sama. You are good at eating fish.
I ate a lot of river fish in my hometown.
... 'Alaumid butterfly' is difficult to peel off because it has spines, but it's such a beautiful skeletal specimen of a fish... It looks like this. The 'lorooro shrimp' next door has only the shells cleaned off...

　I was inadvertent.
　Now I'm the second son of a glossy baronial family living inland. There's no way I'm familiar with seafood.
　Should I have eaten more clumsily?

　I cut up the fish with care, just like I did in the past....
You know, those kids in Fira Village were so clumsy.
　When I was little, they couldn't eat the fish well unless I took the bones out of them.

　And the Alaskan Cod was a birthday treat for them every five years.
　I'd sneak out to sea and catch them.

　And then I'd give them to the village cook, and they'd sauté the whole thing.
　I had to take the bones out of the fish for the kids to eat.
　That's what made me better at eating fish.

''Yuki-Grossaria-sama, you are very good at eating seafood, aren't you?
I tried and I got it.
You know that fish wrapped in wakame seaweed is delicious.
Well I tried it and it was delicious.
..........
We can catch river fish in my hometown. But I've never seen anything so delicious.
I'm honored by your praise. Mr. Yuki-Grossaria.

　Countess Ofelia is staring at me.
　But she doesn't ask me if I'm the 'Dean-Nosferatu' of 'Fira Village' or not.
　Maybe it's because Odette is there, or maybe it's because Count Torrius is present.

　The Count across the table, stroking his white beard, looks like he's looking at something smiling.
　The Count himself doesn't seem to have any doubts about my identity.

''This, Ofelia. It would be difficult for our guests to eat calmly if they were too close together.
Yeah, yeah I'm sorry.

　Ofelia's cheeks turn red and she goes back to her seat.
　After laughing at such a girl, Count Torrius asks me and Odette.

''Speaking of which, how did the two of you from the 'Magic Guild' come to this Torrius territory?''
Actually, I'm just looking for something.

　I told him the answer I had prepared on the ship.

''Me and Odette are trainees in the 'Magic Guild'. From now on, we will be learning about magic in the guild. Therefore, we wanted to see the world with our own eyes before entering the classroom for classroom study.
'Oh, that's studious!
''In particular, this Torrius territory is also a place that was once involved in the 'Eight Kings War'. As someone involved in magic, I thought it would be instructive to look around the ancient battlefield to learn from the 'Sanctuary Church' as a counterpoint.
No, I'm impressed. The young man is wonderful!

　Count Torrius clapped his hands happily.
　Odette looked at me sideways and laughed, "Nice work, sir.

''I would love to help you. If there are any places you want to go, I'll let Ofelia show you, but........
'Well...'

　I thought about it for a minute.

'I'd like to walk up into the northern mountains.
The northern mountains?
Yes, there are records of a small village in that area. There's a record that there was a small village in that area in the past. It was close to and influenced by the power of the Sanctuary Church. We want to find out what kind of life they led at the feet of the fearsome Sanctuary Church.
It is true that there is a record of a village in that area. But there's no one there now.

　Count Torrius said.
　He had a serious look on his face.

Around the time of the War of the Eight Kings, there was a landslide," he said. The road to the village was lost. I've heard the legend that the villagers had left the mountain long ago and there were no casualties.
Is that so...?
There is no one to visit the site of the village now. Unless they're in the air, they'll never get there.
Thank you for this valuable information.
No, no, I'm sorry I can't help you.
'Outrageous, very useful. You can't get there unless you're flying, can you?
Yes. That's what I've heard.

　No problem then.

　Me and Odette exchanged a glance and nodded.
　We've made up our minds.

　We'll rest at the inn today and tomorrow, and then we'll leave early in the morning after tomorrow.
We know how far we are from Fira Village and which direction we're headed.
We know the distance and direction to Fira Village and if we use our flying skills, we should be able to reach the site of the village in a few hours.

As I recall, Ofelia's mother was very fond of singing in that village.
Yes.

　Ofelia held her mouth shyly and nodded.

I heard that there was a man in that village who was a very good singer. In order to heal the hearts of the people who were hurt during the "War of the Eight Kings", he would go around with a lyre in his hand, singing gentle songs to heal their hearts...
'I didn't know that happened...'

　I knew it. Those guys.
　They were thinking about the world, weren't they?
　And that's how they left their culture to us 200 years later.
　That's amazing. It's truly amazing. It's amazing.

Can I sing a song?　Yuki-sama, Odette.

　The small Ofelia slowly got out of her chair and looked at me and Odette.

'Ka-sama died when Ofelia was little but Ofelia was taught a lot of songs. Some of the songs she was told to sing when an important visitor came. So, may I sing them?

　Ofelia is staring at us.
　I look for her to see if she has any resemblance to the guys from 'Fira Village'.

　Her sleepy eyes and light pink hair remind me of someone.
　Who was it.........
The one who sang well in "Feela Village" was Rosalba, the farmer's daughter........

　Come to think of it, she was close with Alice.
　She was about ten years older than Alice, but she looked up to me like a big sister.
　Ofelia looks like her. Only in the color of her hair.

"Dear Yuki, dear Odette. May I sing a song to welcome you?

　Ofelia looked at us and bowed.

'Of course. 'You can have Yuki too, right?'
'Yes. I'd love to hear it.

　I nodded.
　If Ofelia's song was a message from 'Fira Village', I couldn't miss it.
　If it's something that has survived to this day and age, it's even better. We have to listen to it.

Then I will sing the song my mother taught me to welcome the important people.

　Ofelia said, and me and Odette clapped.
　Then Ofelia began to sing - with her little body shaking - and began to sing.




'Oh, my darling My Lord. My favorite guardian god. My lover──





"'Gee-ho-ho-ho, goo-ho-ho-ho, goo-ho-ho-ho!'

　Odette and I coughed at the same time.

What can I do for you two?
No, no, no, there's fish scales in his throat and shellfish juice in his windpipe...

　I could barely answer that.
　Odette, too, is holding her mouth and trembling.

　Staring at us, Ofelia-Torius continues to sing.



"Everything about me belongs to my true master, the True Lord.
　I always want to look into his eyes...



　Ofelia-Torius' expression remains the same.
　Just a slight stain on her cheeks, she continues to sing quietly.

　My village guys, what a song they left behind........
　No, it's just culture. These songs, though, are sometimes left over from time to time!

　This ... is probably the song that Alice had Rosalba write for her.
　Come to think of it, I once saw Alice begging him to write a song for her before the last village festival.

　In the end, because of the outbreak of death-crisis, the village festival wasn't held that year, and I died soon afterwards in my previous life.

　And now, 200 years later, it's still in Ofelia's mother's family.
　So she, Ofelia, is also a descendant of the "Fira Village"?
　I suppose.... No one else in the village would leave a song like this, right?

"Yeah, but... someday, together with her...

　The song is over.
　I managed to keep my composure, but it's almost torture.....this.

It's going to make my mouth go sweet.

　Odette plops down on the table and groans.
　But the song ends now. I can finally get her to calm down and talk...

Here's the second number. The second song is called "A Festive Song to Honor My Lord...

　It's still there!
　I don't know this song either.
　What have the guys in the village been doing since I died?

Odette.
...What is it? Yuki.
Will you sing this song to him when you return to King's Landing? As payback.
...It can't be revenge. Won't they be delighted?
....

　Then I kept listening to Ofelia-Torius' songs.
　She was very good at singing.
　If only the lyrics were decent, I think I would have been deeply impressed.

　At any rate, I was convinced that the site of the "Feela Village" was ahead of us.
　Perhaps the song itself is a message to the reincarnated me. You can find 'Fira Village' near here.

　But...you should know better than that.
　The people in my village are all excellent, but they're not using their power in the right way....

Thank you.........thank you.

　After five songs in a row, Ofelia bowed deeply.
　I managed to keep a cool face and clap my hands together. I did my best.

'You had a very, very beautiful voice. And your melody is wonderful.'
It's been a pleasure to listen to you sing, Your Majesty.
My mother has taught me the proper way to sing this song.

　Ofelia said, and then smiled kindly.

''When you meet someone you think is a he (........), I'm told to sing it over and over again and observe his expression.
Watching their expressions?
He said, "The True Lord in the song is kind and shy, and he's going to have a reaction when he hears this song.

　You're not sure.

That makes sense.
Hey, hey. What are you talking about, Ofelia? And I've never heard a song like this before either.
'The maiden has a secret song. Father.

　Then Ofelia put a finger to her lips.
　With a sideways glance, looking at me.

''It's just that this Ofelia-Torius wants to be on the side of Yuki-Grossaria-sama, who saved Natasha-nee-sama, that's all.

　Then Ofelia laughed with a mischievous look on her face.

　It's confirmed.
　Ofelia knows who I am.

　And Ofelia's mother's side of the family is a descendant of "Fira Village".
　I'm sure she left a song telling them about me in her previous life and telling them to be on my side when they meet me.

''Thank you. Ofelia-Torius-sama.

　I turned my head towards Ofelia.
　The lyrics are a thing, but this is a song left behind by the guys from 'Feela Village'.
　I have to thank them for letting me hear it.

''We've heard a valuable song.
It's natural. Natasha, she would have said the same thing, wouldn't she?

　Ofelia laughed with embarrassment as she said this.
　Then I looked at Count Torrius.

Speaking of which, Natasha went to King's Landing, didn't she?
''Yes. I've told Natasha to go to the Royal Palace and the 'Magic Guild' while she's trading. I've been a little nervous about the borders lately.

　Count Torrius said.

'As a matter of fact, there has been a recent increase in imperial activity near the border.
The Empire?
Yes. The Gaiul Empire in the north. We've been conducting military drills near the border. That's why the demons are becoming more and more active. That's why I've sent Natasha to the capital to ask for assistance.

　The Gaiul Empire, huh?
The remnants of the Sanctuary Church alone are troublesome, but a troublesome opponent has begun to move in.

Well, it's not like it's going to turn into a battle any time soon. Don't worry about the two of you.
Speaking of the Empire I picked up something like this once.

　I took out a piece of parchment from my pocket.
　On the parchment, there is an inscription that resembles a crown.

This is the coat of arms that was found on a coin that was found in the demon's lair called an armed ogre when we rescued Natasha.

　To be exact, it's the emblem that was engraved on the coin Odette picked up.
　The real one has been submitted to the Adventurers' Guild. It should have been sent to the 'Magic Guild' by now.

''Since we don't see this coin in the kingdom, I thought it might belong to the Empire...''
'I've seen currency in the Empire but I don't recognize this one. The design is very specific, and I believe it is Imperial.
...I see.

　Then we talked for a bit and the luncheon was adjourned.

　Afterwards, Odette and I decided to stay at the Count's house.
　It's a good idea to have a good time with Odette rather than staying at an inn.

　Besides...



　Konkatsu.



　I knew this might happen, because I knew it would.

　Late at night.
　There was a knock on the door of my room.
　When I opened the door...........................there stood Ophelia-Torius in a dress, as I expected.

Yuki-Grossaria-sama.........
What's going on? It's late.
Ouija. Are you ... the guardian deity of that village up in the mountains, My Lord?

　In a whispering voice, Ofelia-Torius said.

'If you are My Lord, I have something to tell you........ Could you...............................?