'I don't mind meeting you but of course, at the very least, Albert is going to be present, right?

　The other party is a married man, so it's unlikely that we'll be alone when we meet with the opposite s*x, but without Albert, there's a good chance I'll be the only target of the attack, and if I can successfully sacrifice Albert, the damage to me might be minimized.

'That's only natural. According to Primera, it's Albert who's to blame and Temma-kun is the one who's been set up, so there's a reason why Albert has to be present.

　I guess that means I'm going to have to take the brunt of it, now that I'm involved.

So, do you have any idea when it will be soon?

　Now that we have the shield and sacrifice (Albert), all we have to do is get the projected date of arrival and information about the person in question. But.

'Honestly, it's unpredictable. That ... Angela has a feisty side, and she's the one who was the strictest on Albert, so maybe it's just around the corner.

　　



Yeah, make it easy on him.

　I have to gather information about my sister and I have to take measures to deal with that. If that's the case, I'll have to ask Duke Sanga or Albert, who knows a lot of information about his sister, to tell me a lot of things, but since it's impossible to hold the duke in custody for a long period of time, naturally the only choice is Albert. Even though Albert has a job to do, he can still make a substitute.
　The two of them seemed to understand that very well, and Duke Sanga immediately agreed to lend Albert a loan, and Albert nodded without saying anything.

''I'll have someone from the house deliver Albert's change of clothes, lodging and other expenses later.

　As expected, I told him I didn't want to pay for my lodging, but he asked me to accept this much for the trouble I was causing him, and even told me that it was a matter of my face as a nobleman, so I decided to accept it.

''I'm not asking you to take it in lieu of lodging, but you can take this home as a souvenir.

　I gave him some yuzu as a souvenir and told him that it smelled good but was sour, so I told him to put it in his bath or in his drink, and he left, happily saying that he would try it this evening.

'Temma-kun, duke-sama.........................What's left of Albert?'

　Mr. Chris called out to me in the corridor when he saw the carriage in which the Duke of Sangha was riding leave, but he was wondering why Albert was still there.
　Chris-san has a bit of a connection with the matchmaker, so I told him the story of my conversation with the Duke of Sanga in a nutshell.

'Is my senior coming?　Rachael?　Or is it senior Angela?

　Rachel is the name of the oldest sister, but as Chris-san called her 'senior', they were both graduates of the school and were five years and three years older than Chris-san, so they didn't know each other directly, but they knew each other because they were famous.

''Would you like to meet them too, Chris-san?''

　I told her that it was Angela and suggested that it would be better to have at least one more person with me on the road, but Chris refused, saying that he might be angry with me for not stopping Albert, so I wouldn't see him this time.


'Albert, the first thing I want to ask you is the nature of the two of you. If I don't know that, I can't take action.

　However, even though they say they can't stand up with their mouths, no matter what they choose to do, they have decided to sacrifice Albert in the end.

Sister Angela is a devil who attacks people physically and mentally with her bishops.

Okay, I get it!　I'll offer this to Angela. The witness is Slarin.

　Showing me a piece of paper with Albert's words transcribed verbatim, "Did you call for me? I pointed at Slarin, who was peeking at me as if to say

'I'm sorry!　Just kidding!

'For God's sake, don't joke around at a time like this. If you try to joke around again I'll have your sisters give you this paper via Primera.

　I decided to keep the paper I wrote down the bad words on as one of my cards in case something went wrong and asked them to tell me their personalities again.

Whenever she tries to hide something, she pursues it until she's satisfied, and even after she's confessed, she keeps trying to find out why she's cheating. Angela's sister has a strong and savvy side, but when she gets angry, her fists fly out of her mouth and she yells at them without allowing them to stand upright and move even slightly.

　I thought there might be a problem with both...

Is that real life experience for Albert?

　When I asked him about it, he nodded, so it was possible that there was simply a problem with Albert.
　I don't know how true it was, but I decided that it was a reference to the extent that there was such an aspect from my own brother's point of view, and I tried to think about how the discussion would go.......

'After all, it's going to be what you think of Primera... or rather, that's all I can think of as a goal.

　The most likely topic was the Primera story, followed by an apology for what Albert had done, then the pipeline between the Otori family and his wife, and finally small talk. Well, all of them seemed possible, but I don't think he would come to talk about anything other than primera alone, so if he did, it would be after the primera story.

'Rather than faking it poorly, I guess we'll have to talk about it just like we did to Maria-sama and Duke Sanga-sama.

'Well I don't really remember much about that time...'

　Because of the shock of the sisters' letters on top of being stared at by the Duke of Sangha and Lady Maria, Albert probably subconsciously didn't want to remember what happened at that time, or almost sealed off his memory.
　Even after that, because of Albert's allegations of bias and memory loss, the discussion didn't turn out to be very useful. So.

Seniors Rachel and Angela?

　I asked Chris for information. Chris-san gave me a look like why he was asking me when Albert was there, but when I told him about Albert's condition, he looked dumbfounded and told me about them.

''First of all, you're Rachel-senpai. You're a beautiful woman with a laid-back, receptive, and long silver hair that catches your eye. Normally you are a ladylike person with a nice smile, but when the time comes, you also have the strength not to back down, even if your opponent is a teacher.

　He was popular with both men and women on campus, and he had a few unofficial fan clubs that were very popular with the boys, among them. It was quite different from Albert's story.

''Angela-senpai, you're a beautiful woman who seems like a wispy older sister. She has a strong temperament, and when she saw a junior female student being teased by a senior male student, she slapped him on the cheek, and even when he yelled at her, she didn't even make a gagging sound.

　He thought it was consistent with Albert's story, but the truth was that he had heard both sides of the story before he slapped her, and in addition to hearing both sides of the story, he had decided that the boys were worse off, and that the boys had slapped him because he had done something threatening while the girls were talking to him. The boys didn't like him at times, but he was very popular with the younger girls.
　After listening to the story, I thought that Angela might be the same type of person as Chris. Maybe Albert's weakness to Chris is because he feels that Chris is similar to Angela-san.

''So, when is Angela-senpai coming to King's Landing?''

　Chris probably doesn't plan to come when Angela's arrival date approaches, but as far as I'm concerned, the more road warriors I have, the better. That's why.

The letter came today, so it's a long way off ... maybe.



　He had no idea where he was married, etc., so he replied vaguely, "Maybe, According to her father and brother, it's possible that they may have arrived earlier than they imagined... but I don't need to tell them that. Even if Angela-san arrived earlier than expected, it doesn't necessarily mean that Chris-san would come to visit her that day, so if they ran into each other, it would just be Chris-san's bad luck.

　When I was about to go back to my room after we finished talking, Chris-san said, "I'm going to stay the night, so I'll rent a room for you," and went to the room I usually use. It's brazen enough to compete with the kings, but I don't mind it too much since it's already a part of my daily life. In the meantime, I have an aspect of being a liaison with the royal family, and I also pay for food and other expenses. And above all.

'Temma, I'm waiting at the gate because the person who brought the letter has to give it to me in person. Just so you know, I've been shown the family crest of the 'Sanga Dukes' as proof of identity, so I don't think the letter is from a strange place.

'All right, I'll be right there. And, Jeanne, don't tell anyone that the duke's people have brought you a letter. It's an order(...).

　For some reason, there was a pretty good chance that something unfortunate would happen to Chris when he stayed at our house. And this time, too, a shadow of misfortune had crept up on Chris.
　When I received the letter, the sender was Angela, just as I had expected, and at the beginning of the letter she apologized for sending the letter out of the blue, and also apologized for the trouble Albert was causing her, saying she wanted to apologize in person, thank him and talk to him once, and would like to visit him at a day that was convenient for me. Incidentally, the letter was written after arriving in the capital, so it also said that if today is okay with it, I'll come over right away. I asked the person who brought the letter to me to tell me, albeit verbally, that today was too urgent and I would invite him tomorrow morning.

　That night.

This yuzu fruit is the best!　You can float it in your bath, or you can put it in your drink!
Some people say that adding yuzu ruins the sake's natural flavor, but it's nice to have a different flavor in this way. The downside to this is that it increases the amount of sake you can drink.

　Chris and Leni were frolicking around with their yuzu-infused drinks. They seemed to think that Angela was going to be here for a month at the earliest, and they were completely caught off guard.
　He's a grandfather, and he's supposed to be drinking alone while taking a bath. He took a large amount of yuzu, sake and snacks with him, so he's probably enjoying himself in various ways by now.
　Albert says he's tired and goes back to his room. When he returned, he also said he had a bad feeling about something, so he must have sensed Angela's approach on instinct.
　Jeanne looks at me from time to time, as if she is concerned about the letter from the dukes (which she mistakenly thinks is a letter from the dukes), and Aura seems to think that Jeanne's reaction to her has led her to believe that something has happened between her and me.
　Amur seemed to have finished his share of the snacks Leni had made and was rummaging around the kitchen for something else to eat.
　Shiroumaru and Solomon kept Amur in their sights as he scavenged in the kitchen, trying to find something tasty to eat.
　Slarin collected the empty plates and other items and carried them to the kitchen. He occasionally gets the remains of strained yuzu and eats them, so maybe he likes the yuzu.

　So the night has gone by almost as usual, but to me it didn't seem like the calm before the storm. Well, my road companion No. 1 is nourishing his spirits as he takes on the storm, and No. 2 doesn't seem to be able to escape, so for me, I'd like to welcome the storm as it is.

　And the next day.

Greetings, my dear Otori. My name is Angela von Cagliostro, the second daughter of the Duke of Sanga, Lord Arthas.

　The storm(...) came to our house, as if in anticipation, just as breakfast was finished.
　We led him to the parlor and when the tea had survived to each of us, we discussed the matter, but Angela only had one maid with her, while this one was facing me, Grandpa, Albert and Chris (but Chris and Angela's maids were not (They each stood in the back.)

'My father and brother have always been very helpful to me.
No, we're in your debt, too, so it's mutual.

　After introductions, there was some bland talk for a while. However, during that time, Albert and Chris-san were still nervous, and Angela-san was freaked out if she moved a little.

'And yet, we hear about Ootori-sama in so many places, I don't feel like this is the first time we've had it. Especially the one I hear about most often........how my brother is causing so much trouble.

　Angela hesitated for a moment and laughed as she stared at Albert. The glare made Albert reflexively try to run away, but when he floated halfway down, Angela-san coughed and he sat back down and sat back down. Well, I'm sitting shallower than I was before, and I think it's unconscious, but I was only a few centimeters away from Angela-san than I was in the first position... Honestly, I think I'd want to run away even if I wasn't Albert if he gave me a face like that.

After hearing the story, my husband and others in the mansion told me that I was about to take the sword that was displayed in my room with great speed and head for the royal capital. Well, I was about to get on my horse, but my husbands stopped me and brought me back to my senses.

'Just so you know........the main stalker wasn't Albert. Rather, I thought he was just involved.... and you can call me Temma. That's what everyone close to me calls me.

　The moment I heard Angela-san's story, my first thought was "Albert is lucky that Angela-san isn't in the royal capital"....... However, I couldn't bring myself to say such a thing, and I couldn't think of any way to return it, even if I wanted to talk about other places. The result was a word that came out in defense of Albert.

'Feel free to call me that. I found out later that it wasn't a initiative, but since we were acting together, Albert is just as guilty. It's nice to see two legitimate sons of the same age getting along, but too much of a good thing...''

　As expected of a family member and former school student, he seems to know that Albert and the others are rotten girls' idols.

''To be honest, half of the rumors about Albert and the others are about that (...)... I wish I could put myself in the shoes of those who are told.

'Oh, sister, I think we're going to talk about me in that area and I'm sure you're not here to talk about that today, but something else.

　Albert, who couldn't stand Angela's teasing anymore, unexpectedly tried to use me as a shield.

Well, we're getting off on a tangent. The reason I'm here today is to talk about the Primera.

　Finally, we're talking about this........

'First of all, I want to say that I'm not asking you to take responsibility for the primera, Temma. If you're going to take it, that's great, but I don't think both of us would be happy if we got together on responsibilities and such.

　It was a little ... well, a lot different than what I was expecting.

'Well, for that matter, the boy is unlikely to marry, and you can think of Temma-san as your brother-in-law, which is the most likely outcome.

　I thought it was much different, and then he came back with a change of pace.

'Sis, that's...'
'I don't tell others what I think, just because I think so. And you are the one who caused it to happen, do you deny it?　I just think, you tried to use people's weddings to get Temma to marry Primera, didn't you?　Which of us is more sinful?

　Just when I thought he was back, he went back to Albert for a change....

'By the way, I've been wondering since earlier, but the one standing behind me is Christina the Kingsguard...no, it's Chris? Why is she here?

　I thought Angela's eyes went to Albert, but then she passed by and went to Chris.

'Ha, nice to meet you, Angela-senpai!　Today, well I felt I had to apologize for going along with Albert's plan, and imitating my sister by setting her up, so I thought I'd sit in!

　Chris stepped forward and quickly assumed that Albert was the main culprit and bowed his head, making it look like he had come to apologize voluntarily.

'I don't think you need to apologize for that first. I don't believe that your actions have affected the Primera in any way, and above all, I have already heard that the Queen has reprimanded you for your actions. If I were to accuse you here of anything, it might be said that it would be an act of disgrace to the queen's face.

　As for Albert, he had the right to scold her because he was a member of her family, but since he had nothing to do with Chris, Angela-san couldn't talk to him as long as Maria-sama, who was in a superior position, ended up scolding Chris.
　If Angela scolded Chris now, she might think that it was because Maria scolded her in a bad way and that she had to do it all over again.

'I'm sorry, over and over again!

　Chris mouthed his apologies one last time and returned to his original position. Angela, too, smiled at Chris-san, then broke her gaze and looked at Albert again.

(Can't we just leave once, at some point?)

　Angela-san didn't feel like she had any complaints about me or anything, so she wanted to avoid the possibility of hitting a stray bullet to Albert. Probably because I thought that if I left my seat once here, Angela-san would proceed to talk with Albert in the meantime, but the question was how to leave.
　But such a thought had gone to the heavens.

Oh, excuse me. Master Temma, you have a visitor.

　Jeanne came to announce a visitor, using unusual language as a maid of honor.

'A visitor?　Since you can't leave now, can you tell him to wait a bit?

　But in my mind, I was gutted many times. When I heard that he was a visitor, that person I knew from 'exploration' and 'appraisal'.......

It's...

　Jeanne said the name of her visitor with an earful to me, with Angela in mind.

'Angela, I'm sorry, but I have to leave the table for a moment. Chris, may I ask you to follow me?

All right. Excuse me, seniors, if you'll excuse me.

　Angela graciously agreed to take Chris with her, as she understood that her visitor was that much of a person. And.

For my part, I have a few things to talk to Albert about, so don't worry about this one.

　He smiled at her. On the contrary, Albert said, "Don't leave me! He looked so sad that I could almost hear a voice in my mind saying... well, I don't know what Albert and Angela talked about in the meantime, because both me and Chris completely ignored them and left the room and quickly left the parlor.


'Yo!　Excuse me for being a guest.

　The person who came at the right time was someone Angela couldn't complain about, Lyle-sama.
　Why did Master Lyle come?

'Hey!　Hey, Nami!

　He's kidding as usual, he's brought this fish species with him.
　After all, when Lyle-sama was passing by the river on his way back from the knights' exercise, the knight who was ahead of him found a demon jumping in the river and confirmed it was a Namitarou. Incidentally, the knight who discovered it seemed to know the existence of Namitaro, and when he called out to him from afar to try it out, he answered back and reported that he had been identified.

'So you brought me here!　I was going to sneak in at night like I usually do, so that was a huge help!

　When he said that, Namitaro said, "Souvenirs and stuff~! He began to make a pile with various seafood, shouting.

'Namitaro I appreciate it very much, but at least serve it in the kitchen... yeah?　What is this egg?

　As I was putting the pile of fish and shellfish into the magic bag, breaking it up a bit, a large egg appeared from the center of the pile.

''Mmm ... huge. How many egg rolls?''
I feel like I could make enough for a hundred or so people, let alone how many.

　When Amour and Jeanne saw the eggs, they were right, the eggs that came out were about a meter in size and weighed.......

'Wow!　It's heavy!

　It was so heavy that he couldn't lift it without magically raising his physical abilities.

'Temma, that's not a souvenir!　I'm owed something!　Don't you ever drop it!

　When Namitaro saw me lifting the egg, he hurriedly retrieved the egg into his magic bag.

'This egg is my friend's child.

　According to Namitaro's explanation, the best friend who laid this egg was ill, so he is keeping it instead. Even so, I thought it was a bit of a mess to handle, but since it's very sturdy, this much is normal, he said. In fact, it's better to give them just the right amount of stimulation to have a positive effect on them.

''Otori-sama, Angela-sama and Albert-sama have finished talking, and they would like you to show your face once.

I'll be right there. Jeanne, Aura, we're going to do our annual thing (...), so get ready.

　I handed them both a magic bag of seafood and I headed into the parlor by myself.

'I'm sorry I left you alone,'
No, I'm afraid we're on short notice.

　Afterwards, Angela and I made small talk, but not a single mention of Primera came up in that conversation.

'Oh?　I'm afraid it's getting late. I'm going to have to leave now, Temma-san. So I'd like to ask you to do a few things for me.

　I thought it was going to end like this, but at the last minute, Angela said she had a favor to ask.