This is a certain room in a corner of the royal castle.
　Looking at the interior, it seemed to be a woman's room, with furniture and furnishings that were decorated without being too flashy.
　In the center of the room, a woman was sitting on a chair next to the bed.

　Her name was Maria von Bluemail Krustin.
　She was the first wife of the king of this country and the woman who was known as the queen.
　Maria was sitting in a chair, sipping her wine and listening to the report of the maid by her side.

'Yes, there are several other women in Temma who are good friends.

Yes, there were nine in all. I think we can exclude three of them.

Why?

'Of the three, one of them is still a child, a sort of disciple of Master Tenma. The other two are members of a group of adventurers I know, and it seems more accurate to say that they are close peers rather than women.

　Their conversation seems to be about Temma's female relationships, and the maid reporting on it is Aina.
　I don't know where they got their research from, but it's quite detailed.

'What about the other six?'

''In order of how long they've known each other, they are the three adventurer sisters, the deputy head of Gunjo City's guild, the woman who rescued them from the bandits, and the three daughters of the Sanga duke family. The first three sisters are of the beast race, and they've known each other since the time Master Temma started living in Gunjo City, so they've spent the most time together among the candidates. Next is the deputy chief of the guild, but because the amount of prey that Tenma-sama hunted was unnatural for a newcomer, he was first put in charge of it as a form of surveillance, and even after the misunderstanding was cleared up, Tenma-sama often nominated him to be in charge of it.　

What do you mean by the Temma appointment?

Since the person who knew most about Tenma-sama's abilities was the deputy guild leader, I believe the purpose was to save him the trouble of explaining.

The point is, it was a hassle... what's next?

The woman I rescued from Banza's gang of bandits who were building a hideout near Gunjo City at the time.

From the bandits?

'Yes, the Banza gang had taken over a village and then killed most of the villagers, replacing themselves as the inhabitants of the village. That's how they were going to attack the travelers and adventurers who came to the village, and the first person to fall for the false request was Lady Tenma, he said. The woman was held in captivity with several other women for her use as a woman, but she was rescued after Lady Tenma and her team destroyed the Banza gang.

It's just an extraordinary thing to have Temma as your first prey... but why is this woman one of the candidates?

According to my research, the woman had gone to greet Master Tenma before he left, and begged him to take her as his squire. Lady Tenma refused at that time, and she accepted, but from that, we decided that she should be considered a candidate.

'Oh yes and the last one is the third daughter of the Duke of Sangha, Primera.

Yes, it seems that the encounter was an argument with one of her subordinates, but Lady Tenma seems to be on good terms with the Duke of Sangha, and she and herself do not seem to be on bad terms. In addition, she herself seems to respect Master Tenma.

'Well what does that conclude?'

Taking all that into account, it would be a good idea for the royalists to have Primera first, Chris the Kingsguard second, and Luna third.

'If Primera is okay, why is Chris and Luna's name in there?'

Chris is a kinsman, so he is loyal to the royal family and knows the situation of the Temma-sama. Therefore, he's easy to control. Luna is simply easier to understand in terms of his connection to the royal family.

'For the record Chris is your best friend, isn't he?

He's my best friend.

　Maria fanned the remaining wine in her glass and poured a new one.

'So, how's Jeanne, as it turns out?'

Out of the question, sir.

　Maria's eyes seemed to light up at those words.

'Go on,'

''Ha, I personally would like to support her, but in spite of that, she's too lenient with Tenma-sama right now. I think there's a good chance that both of us will be unhappy if she stays in the flow.

'You're thinking like me I don't hate her by any means, but she's not a good enough actor for the job now.

'Jeanne wasn't like that in the old days, though.

　Aina's face clouded over for a moment. And it wasn't Maria who missed it.

'What was Jeanne like in the old days?'

'I didn't spend as much time with her as I did with Aura, but my impression was that she was more of a tomboy than a quiet one. I remember that when I was little, Aura and I used to run around the garden together, and would often get into mischief, and Jeanne's parents would get angry with her, and then she would get into mischief again. I used to scold them both, too.

　'It was when I was really little, though,' said Aina, who seemed to be reminiscing nostalgically about the past.

''As I recall, Jeanne was the eldest daughter of the fallen Viscount Almeria... what caused her downfall?

''Yes, from what I've been able to find out, after a skirmish between the nobles, there was a rebellion in the territory. It seems that this caused the family to fall, and the decisive factor was the abandonment of the Viscount Armeria by a branch of the family, Associate Viscount Podolo Il Chloride. Although nominally a form of independence, it appears to have been a secession, and at one time it was rumored that he had supported the rebellion in the Almerian territory from behind. Most importantly, we don't hear much of the rumors now, due to lack of evidence...

'It's difficult ... anyway. I understand that Jeanne may have a situation, but that's not the same as this. If I don't see any change in Jeanne, I will use any means at my disposal to get her away from Temma.

'Ha, I'll do my best to make sure that doesn't happen.

　With that declaration, Maria poured another glass of wine and handed it to Aina.

'By the way, didn't you include Aura in that list?

''Maria-sama that's disrespectful to Temma-sama, no matter how much it means to you. Besides, if it wasn't for that, I would have given Jeanne a little more credit.

''Well you're really amazing...''

'Thank you but isn't it necessary for Mary to go so far as she does with Lady Temma?'

　Aina took a sip of her wine and questioned Maria.

'Oh my God, she's my dearest and best friend's (Shelia and Ricardo) child. It's not natural for me to look out for them instead of you two... and since it was done by her (His Majesty) subject during the time of Caesar and the others, it's a little better.

　Hearing Maria's voice that sounded like she was enjoying herself, Aina sighed.



　Aina's voice contained a fair amount of sympathy for Tenma.


　In this way, Tenma's first night in the royal capital was deepening.