Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. We're having a party. Cheers.

　The party started with a very brief introduction by the king.
　Hundreds of nobles and special guests were present in the large room used for the event in the castle, and at the king's words, everyone started to move in unison.

　The place where I am right now is in the corner of the hall, and this is where the same special invitees as me have been gathered, away from the nobles.
　This is a kind of escape zone, as we can't have the special guests and the nobles waiting in the same place until the start of the event. This created a similar place on the nobleman's side as well.
　This was mainly to protect the special invited guests from the nobles' forceful solicitation. Sometimes the pattern is reversed, but in that case, the aristocrats don't have to retire to the escape zone too much, as they often go straight to the dungeons.
　And since food is prepared here as well, there is no need to leave.
　Moreover, the only people who can enter both places are the waiters prepared by the organizers, so as long as you are here, you will almost never get into trouble....

'It's better than I thought it would be,'

It's good, too.

Hey, Blanca. This is the perfect drink.

Oh, that's good.

　Currently, Amur, Jinn, and Blanca are frozen around me.
　Several nobles were watching us from the very edge, so I decided not to move from here.
　In case you're wondering, Grandpa said, "I found some good liquor over there, let's go get some," and left.

'So, will Temma stay here forever?

　Jin asked me as he chose his next drink. Although he didn't say it out loud, the people who had been listening to us seemed to hear him and the place became slightly quiet.

I don't intend to stay here forever. I'm sure we'll have a pickup in a little while and...

　Before I could finish saying all that, one of the waiters came up to me and gave me an earful.

'Looks like you've been picked up, so I'll go.'

I'm coming with you.

Sweetheart do me a favor and stay out of trouble.

　Blanca puts her hands on both of Amur's shoulders as she tries to follow me, telling him with a serious expression. He glanced at my face at that moment, so I guess he's asking me to follow him.
　I thought that if I was that worried about it, Blanca should have followed me, but there seemed to be a situation, so she didn't come after all.

''If there's something that looks good, bring it to me~''

　Beside Blanca, who was making a bitter face, Jin was waving his hand carefree. It seems that the drinks have been passed around.

''Sorry for the wait. Duke, and Primera, too.''

　It's the Duke of Sangha who has come for me. Behind him is a beautifully dressed Primera as well.

''No, I'm not waiting that long, so it's fine. More importantly, you're still the center of attention.

'Father, that's only natural. In fact, I think it would be more aristocratic not to draw attention to it here.

　Unlike the usual, I shook hands with Duke Sanga and walked away, feeling uncomfortable with Primera, who looked properly like a duchess.
　The destination is the place where the kings are waiting.
　At their appearance, the aristocrats who are considered to be royalists are smiling, and the aristocrats who are considered to be reformers are making bitter faces. Among them, I'll make sure to remember the nobles who are clicking their tongues and glaring at us.

　As it is, we walked among the participants and arrived in front of the king's eyes.
　It's a good idea to have a good time with the other participants.

''Oh! Temma, you're wearing the clothes Isabella gave you earlier in the day!

　Before the king could even open his mouth, Maria-sama was pleased to see the clothes I was wearing. Because Maria's voice was so loud, the noblemen who were watching us were buzzing around us.
　As if to ignore those nobles, Maria-sama is looking at me as if to confirm my outfit and nodding with satisfaction.

''That's nice~ but I'd like to see you wearing the clothes I gave you.

　He nodded and came to tell her what he wanted in a natural way. He'll probably tell me to come play in those clothes next time.

　At Maria-sama's words, the king came tapping me on the shoulder with a laugh. And.........

"Congratulations on your victory, Temma. And thanks for defeating the Earth Dragon!

　At the king's words, the nobles around him said, "So the rumor was true! I can hear a voice saying, "I don't know what to say.
　It seems that the king who draws attention to me by saying things that don't need to be said in a place like this, is still not in good character. In fact, you're smiling like you've just successfully pulled a prank.

Don't get too carried away, dear...

　At the low, quiet voice of Mary, the temperature around her seemed to have dropped.
　The nearest whispered king nodded quietly, cold sweat pouring from his forehead.

''I'm sorry, Temma. I'll excuse myself for a moment. I'm going, dear.

　Saying that, Maria-sama took the king to the royal waiting room.
　We were left there, and we could only be stunned.

''Well, as usual........''

　At my muttering, the Duke of Sangha and the Marquis of Samonsu nodded lightly. But for me, it's just the right time.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of it.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most out of your time with the help of a few of your friends.
　Normally, the act of interrupting a place where there are nobles above you would be considered impolite, so the Duke of Sangha and the Marquis of Samoens frowned for a moment, but after checking out the other party, they quickly returned to normal.

''What, you guys?''

You don't even have to talk to him before you come over.

　Approaching us were a pair of men with an air of resemblance to the Duke of Sangha and the Marquis of Samoens, respectively.

''Brother, where is Brother Leon?''

　Primera called out to the taller of the two men.
　The man scowled for a moment, then

'I don't know. He's probably down in the dumps again.

　I said.
　At those words, the Primera and the others had a look of approval on their faces.

''Well, let's leave that guy alone, so let's start by introducing ourselves. I am Albert von Sangha, the heir of Duke Arsus von Sangha. You can call me Albert. I'm going to be Primera's half-brother who is causing a lot of trouble. I look forward to working with you in the future.

　He's one of the stalkers who used to follow me around, and he's the most beautiful of the trio. Apparently, he has the blood of the Duke of Sangha in his veins.

''Nice to meet you.......is it strange to say that? I'm Cain von Samons, son and heir of the Marquis de Samons. I'm sorry about everything that happened to my brother. And you can call me Cain, too. You don't have to call me by my title.

　This light-hearted man has the most childish face of the trio. He's about the same height as me, but his thin body lines make him look younger. He doesn't look much like Gary, and he doesn't have much of the Marquis de Samoens look to him.

''It's nice to meet you too. And over there.........

Stop! It's still more interesting to ignore that one.

　When I was about to ask about the man who was far behind the two of them and was checking on us, Albert stopped me. Apparently, he's going to leave it alone until he comes over here himself.

'By the way, Temma. Have you ever met your brothers?

　From the atmosphere of our greeting, Primera asked me curiously. The dukes seemed to be curious about it, so when I told them amusingly that I had been stalked before, the two fathers struggled to hold back their laughter.
　And as for Primera, she looked at them with a somewhat disdainful look.

''Brother Albert, Brother Cain.......did you both prefer men.......''

　He also said.
　By the way, it seems that Cain and another man named Rion are childhood friends of Albert, and Primera, who is close in age, used to play with him when he was a child. That's why he calls them both "elder brother" as well.
　Incidentally, she barely knows Gary, Cain's younger brother, she said.

"You're wrong!
'Yes! It's a misunderstanding!

　Seeing the two men in a hurry, Amour pointed at them....

Tenma, are you a faggot?

　He asks me, tilting his head. I immediately shake my head to the side and point to the man who is still looking at us in the back.

'It's not me, it's those two and that guy over there.

　They are shaking their heads violently at these words, but they hear "I knew it" and "I thought it was suspicious" from those around them. Among other things, an excited yellow voice can be heard from some of the strange aged women.
　They seem to be rotten ladies. They seem to inhabit this world as well.

　I'm not sure if they misunderstood that I was called out for pointing my finger at them, but the rest of them (Stalker No. 3) come up to me.
　His gait is light and his face is smiling.

'You called me!'

　No. 3 placed his hand on No. 1 and No. 2's shoulders as he let out a happy sound. At that moment, the three of them and the rotten ladies who were close to their age were overjoyed. Some of them even collapsed with their noses spewing blood and others broke down in tears.

''Wha, what! What's going on? Hey, Albert! Cain! What's going on?!

　No. 3 can't keep up with what's going on around him, and he's shaking their shoulders violently, trying to get his face close to theirs to hear what's going on. And then, they're a-knocking again.

　I casually move away from them, watching the scene from the side. And following me, Amour and Primera.
　The Duke of Sangha and the Marquis of Samoens are doing their best to contain the commotion, but the ladies' momentum is hard to contain.

　In the end, the party was suspended in order to settle the commotion and the location was changed to the courtyard and the party resumed.
　There was no sign of the rotten ladies at the reunited party. Apparently, the ladies had gone home with their parents due to a sudden illness.　
　Their parents must have been in tears.




''It was terrible........''
'To be a slacker, unable to read the air, and even more of a plague on top of his brainpower...Rion is irredeemable.
It's not my fault.

　As the center of the commotion, the three people who were questioned by the kings were exhausted.
　However, in the end, the three of them are innocent, and it is said that they judged this to be an unfortunate accident that caused the sudden seizure... Otherwise, there were several ladies who looked like they would commit suicide because of their embarrassment, and it seems that even the kings thought it was a bad idea! .

　Now we are in a private room near the courtyard, where we are taking a break from the discussion of the accident we just had.

''So, now that the three of us are here, what was the purpose of following me around?

　I decided to ask the three stalkers who finally got together to ask the truth about their stalking in the city.
　The Duke of Sangha and the Marquis of Samoens are also in this place, and they are looking at the three of them with a grim face.

''First, let's clear up our misconceptions. Me and Cain didn't mean to stalk you, we were merely chaperones for Leon.

'I apologize for stalking you as a result, but our real goal was to get between you and Leon when he spoke to you. Me and Albert's family know you, so we were being taken around by Rion because he could at least listen to us if he met you out of the blue.

''Well, that's all because of Rion's sloppiness and I had to go along with the perverted act of stalking him for days, but...''　

　The two men were glaring sideways at Leon, protesting their innocence.
　Primera seemed relieved that her son and brother hadn't had any perverted thoughts about the Duke of Sangha and the Marquis of Samoens.

'I understand about the two of you, but what is the important thing, Leon-san's business?

Well, uh, well, you know...

　When I spoke to him, Rion began to squirm, mumbling and squirming as if he had difficulty saying it.

'That's disgusting,'
That's disgusting.

　Albert and Cain immediately rush in on the situation.
　Even though the two of them made me feel uncomfortable, Rion didn't want to talk about it, so I couldn't keep up with them for good.

''If you don't have anything else to do, I'll be back. Then I'll leave you to it.

　I bowed lightly to the Duke of Sanga and the Marquis of Sammons and walked towards the door.
　Grandpa, who had been quiet as air until then, greeted them lightly and lined up beside me. Amur followed right behind me, and Primera was a little confused, but was urged by the Duke of Sangha to follow behind me.
　And as I put my hand on the door, Leon finally spoke.

'Wait! I have a favor to ask of you!

　At those words, I stopped and turned to face Rion.
　Because I stopped so abruptly in response to Leon's words, Amur, who was walking right behind me, bumped into my back and didn't pull away from me in the midst of the hustle and bustle, but since it was going to be a serious conversation, I forcefully pulled him off and left him with Primera.

'Sorry for the wait. So, what is it you're asking for?

　When I stand in front of him and make eye contact, Rion finally seems to have made up his mind, and he's loud enough to be heard outside...

Temma, come to me!

　I said ... very seriously ...
　I slowly retreat and keep my distance from Rion.
　Amur is standing between me and Leon as if protecting me, threatening me.　

　Looking around, I see that Duke Sanga and his friends are also keeping their distance.

"Rion........I guess our friendship with you ends here.......

　Albert, among others, was moving towards me and Primera with a serious expression on his face.
　Cain also kept his distance with a dry look on his face and is at the side of the Marquis Samons.

''Heh? Why?

　Leon doesn't seem to know what's going on. I'm a little relieved to see that, but I'm still keeping my distance.

'Rion, think carefully about the meaning of what you just said. For all intents and purposes, it sounds like you just confessed to Temma.

　I guess he understood what Rion was trying to say, and Cain started teasing Rion.
　Albert seems to have calmed down a little bit here and seems to have let his guard down.

''Huh? Hah! That's not what I meant! I just want Temma to come home to visit me!

　Rion is surprised and shouts out the meaning of his earlier words. Why didn't you just say that from the beginning...

'I understand what you mean, but why do you suddenly have to come visit me?'

　When Leon started to make a fuss against Cain, I put my doubts to him. I could still understand if this was Albert or Cain, who were friends with his father, but I couldn't understand why Rion would want to come and play.
　I've been thinking about it since I was being stalked, but I don't get the sense that Rion is trying to take me in, in fact, he seems to be guilty of it.

''You're from Kukri Village in Temma, right, that Kukri Village was located in the Haust frontier county (.........). And Rion is the heir son of the Haust Frontier Count.

I suppose that's why I'm trying to keep the economy of the Housto frontier counties from deteriorating.

　My question was answered by Albert and the Duke of Sanga.

''Are you saying that the economic downturn is a result of the incident in Kukri village that has caused the adventurers to leave?

　I brought up a story I had heard in the rumors before, and they nodded in affirmation.

''It's calming down a lot now, but there's a chance that it could go downhill again in the future.

　The possibility of a downward spiral that Albert mentioned is because I was active in the tournament.
　Until now, the economy has deteriorated simply because the adventurers who had befriended the Kukri village simply left, but now it has somehow stabilized. However, he said, 'in a diminished state'.

If it was under the same circumstances as before, Leon would not be in such a hurry, but Temma has made a name for himself with his first two divisional victories in the tournament, as well as defeating the dragons on his own, in addition to having made a name for himself at a rapid pace. When that happens, some people start spreading rumors about "the place where I drove out Tenma" or "the place where I tried to kill Tenma"... or rather, they start to appear. It's a good idea to have a good relationship with the nobles who are not on good terms with the Count of Husto, or who want to sell out to Temma.

　Apparently, Leon needs to make them think they're on good terms with me to keep them in check.
　But even if Leon were to approach me alone and ask me to do so, he would probably be rejected by me. That's why it was Albert and Cain to increase the chances of that happening.
　It's a good idea to have the two of them come along and listen to the conversation first, but it didn't make sense because Leon is even more lame than I thought.

It's fine to at least go out and have fun, but if the Haust frontier aunt family is trying to get me in, it's indeed impossible.

Cain and I will make sure of that. If Rion is going to do that, that's exactly what we're going to do, we're going to disown the House of Houst Frontier.

　He won't actually be able to completely disassociate himself from her, but since he's guaranteeing it, he's prepared to do so.
　

''I'm ... sorry. Just give me a minute.

　Albert approached Leon and Cain, holding their heads in his hands, and kicked them as hard as he could. He then sat them down and began to preach to them.
　After a certain amount of preaching, he pulled Rion over to me and held his head down.

'Why should I have to do what you asked me to do instead!

　After saying that, Albert moved away, leaving Rion in his place.
　The remaining Rion hesitated for a little while, and then he gathered his energy before opening his mouth.

''Right now, the Haust Frontier County is in a crisis. Even though the former is self-inflicted, we can't just leave them alone. Temma might resent me for being so convenient, but help me for the sake of my territory, please.

　With his head down, Rion comes to ask me for help. I couldn't sense the slack-jawed look from his appearance until just now.

''It's fine.''　

　I agreed without much of a pause. Rion's mouth was half open in surprise as I readily agreed.

''However, there is a condition. First of all, you must never think of adding me as a vassal. Besides, you must be able to help the people from Kukri village if something goes wrong. Lastly, I want to help them as much as I can. If you promise to do that, I will tell you at every opportunity that there is no separation between you and the Haust frontier county.

'Shuffle! I'm going to call my dad right now and get him to commit! If I say I won't, I'll make you chase me off!　

　As soon as he hears my words, Leon is shaking his head excitedly. I was too excited to hear what he said, but since I was speaking on behalf of the frontier count, I asked the Duke of Sangha and the Marquis of Samoens to serve as witnesses.
　The two of them willingly agreed, and they even made me prepare a written pledge and signed it with each other's family crests.

　Even if the frontier county objected to this, they wouldn't go back on this promise to the point of conflict with the two of us. Thinking that, Rion is thanking the two of them, but I saw it. I saw it. The moment Rion turned his gaze away from them, I saw them laughing with a bad face....

　Probably, the Haust Frontier Count family thinks that this makes the possibility of me being included as a vassal close to zero.
　The two of them may know that there is no chance of me becoming a vassal now, but since they don't know what will happen in the future, they want to leave some possibility for that time.
　That's why it's best to have one less rival, and to have the proof of it in our hands.

　Well, if this is how this conversation is going to be settled, there is no need to bother pointing it out.

''All right! Let's get right to it, Temma!

What?

　Rion puts his hand on my shoulder and tries to take me to the party hall dressed as he is.
　Just when I thought I was suddenly becoming familiar, Albert grabbed Rion by the back of his hair and pulled him.

''Whoa! What are you doing, Albert!

''You really are a brainiac, haven't you already forgotten what your Majesty and the rest of us were upset about a moment ago?

It's sad, but that's why Rion is a rion (brainiac)...

　Cain is making fun of Rion while pretending to be sad.
　Rion, too, seemed to have no way to argue with him after he brought up the matter just now, and he let go of my hand with a snarl.

'Temma, Rion only went a little out of control because he wanted to make it known that he was on friendly terms with you right away. As far as I know, you weren't interested in the Shudou, so you can rest assured....

"I'm not interested in that shit! I love women!　

　Leon refutes Albert's words, but I'm not sure how to argue with him. Well, I guess he's not wrong, but he should be more careful about how he says it.

''Well, since that's the case, let's all go to the venue.

　Cain said and tried to take up a position beside me, pushing me back, but this was stopped by Amur. On the other side was Primera, who was pushed by the Duke of Sangha, and Cain was holding his tongue.
　Actually, it wasn't possible that Cain was the one who had a sentient mind or something like that....

　I heard later that this Cain's action was simply to show that Gary was the only one in the Marquis de Samoens family who had a dispute with me (...) and that he was on friendly terms with me.
　When I heard that, I was truly relieved.　



　After we left the room, we went to the party hall together.
　The aristocrats who had been paying attention to me were more surprised that the next Earl of the Howst Frontier, Leon, was having a friendly conversation with me than the fact that I was having an easy conversation with the Duke of Sangha and the Marquis of Samoens.
　He probably thought it was a very unlikely combination.

　However, Leon was very pleased with that reaction. This reaction was exactly the situation that Rion wanted, because the more the other nobles made a fuss, the more signs of economic recovery in the Haust Frontier County's economy could be seen.

　The reactions of the people around us were a bit annoying, but we decided to ignore them and talked about a lot of things while enjoying ourselves.
　The only people present here are those who are in the top ranks of this hall, so other nobles don't interrupt the conversation, and if they do, it's only the royalists who come to say hello to the Duke of Sangha and the Marquis of Samos.
　But after the Duke of Sangha and his friends said something, they didn't come anymore.



　While we were enjoying our meals and chatting, we heard noises coming from outside the castle.
　It's a good idea to have a good time with your friends and family.
　The guy was streamlined and shiny in the light of the hall it was my acquaintance.

'Tee-hee, tee-hee! Oyabun~!

What's up with you, Namitaro?

　Nami Taro spotted me and stopped in front of me in a spectacular drift. He was holding a lantern in his fins, and a little bit of honesty is really no big deal, right? I thought.

'Oh my God! Temma, Jeanne and Aura have been kidnapped!

　Contrary to my expectations, things were really bad.