Temma, you're in our custody for a while!
'Oh please show Jeanne, Aura, Jin and the others to their rooms.

　A few days after the party, the Sword of Dawn arrived in the King's Capital, and we were to stay at the Otori family's residence. I had sent a letter beforehand informing him of the situation in King's Landing and leaving him to decide what to do, but a letter was soon brought to me by Ted with a reply saying that he would be in trouble at our house. But there was more trouble for me than the djinns. It was.

'Before we go, I have to ask you, Temma-san, is it true that you and Primera are engaged?

　I thought that the topic of King's Landing was going to be the only topic of discussion in King's Landing during the dungeon attack of the djinn and the others, but after me and Primera danced at the party, rumors started to circulate that me and Primera were engaged to be married. The daughter of a nobleman and an S-ranked adventurer who is currently undefeated in tournaments are engaged to be married, and moreover, they have known each other since the time I officially started working as an adventurer. They say it's the story of

'It's only a rumour about it but it's entirely because I was a complete stranger to things. I feel sorry for the Primera and the Duke of Sangha.

　My fault it was that I chose an unmarried woman as my dance partner. And, of all things, the first song partner........

Come to think of it, the first song in a dance is the one that you should do.

　The first song of the dance is basically a dance with a spouse, fiancé or lover, and this is especially true of a nobleman's party. In other words, the fact that I invited Primera to the first song of the dance in such a situation means that I showed Primera with my attitude that I wanted to have such a relationship with her and she accepted it.

''Hmm?　Then why didn't you make a scene when you danced with Amour?

　So far, the first song was danced by Maria-sama, Amour, and Hana-san, in that order, and since Maria-sama and Hana-san are married and what kind of relationship they have with me has already been spread around, people around them would have understood that it wasn't that kind of relationship, but since Amour is single and a noblewoman, I don't know why it wasn't rumored that it was. And then you think.

I suspect that they thought they had to make it in time with their teammates to be without a partner for each other.

　And then Leena said and I thought about it for a minute....

'Sure, it was probably the same scene as usual. And the dancing was a mess.

　It was like Amur hanging around me like usual, and since it was a dance between people without skills, I was also dancing quietly in the corner and trying to be inconspicuous, so I guess it wasn't a topic of conversation other than that I was a bad dancer.
　Incidentally, when I was with Maria-sama, I had to do my best not to fall down because the level of dancing was so different, and in Hana-san's case, it was because she was the only one dancing a samba rhythm while everyone around her was dancing a waltz, so I had to do my best not to fall down even then.

'Anyway, just don't do anything that might make Primera-chan cry, please.

　Leena concluded, and Aura, deciding that the conversation was over, tried to show Jin and the others to their room.

It's not easy being a man of color.
I don't envy you, my dear.

　Jin and Garratt teased me. So.

'Aura, take Jin and Garratt to Joubert and the others. In the corner, Joubert and the others will forgive you. Jeanne, show Menace and Leena to the guest room as planned.

I understand.

　As Aura flippantly replied, Jin and Garratt began to panic, and Menace and Leena followed Jeanne past them with a thin smile on their faces.
　After that, they played with the djinn and Garratt for a while, and when they were satisfied, they instructed Aura to show them to their room.

　Once we greeted Jin and the others, there wasn't much to do, so we headed to the dining room to mass-produce a snack, and in the dining room, Chris had been drinking since midday. When Chris came back the day after the party, he was devastated to learn from his colleagues that the men were very popular, and that their time was short.

'Mr Temma I wonder what my worth is...'

　It was a hassle, but they caught me. I wish I could have gotten away before they noticed me, but I was thinking about it a little too much and it took me a while to notice Chris.

'Well?　I don't know what people are worth, because everyone's worth is different, so I don't know.

　I responded blandly and ran away to the kitchen to stay out of it. And as I was in the kitchen preparing to make a snack.

'Jeanne, go further back!
No, no, don't push me, Aura... what?

　Jeanne and Aura came over, looking flustered. They probably ran away from Mr. Chris as much as I did.

'If you have something to do, I'll give you the place, okay?

　If the two of you have a job to do, I could always go somewhere else to get out of the way, but

'No, well I didn't come to the kitchen to work...'

　I saw that Jeanne was having a hard time saying it, and I understood that the two of them were running away from Mr. Chris, not from their work.

'Well, can you help me, then?'
"Gladly!

　I could tell they were both bored, and I felt bad about sending them back to Chris' place, so I decided to ask them to help me make a snack. They both replied with a bite of food, just as if they had a reason not to return to Chris-san's place.

'I'd like to focus on the quantity of sweets I have in my magic bag, because I'm not sure I'm ready for them. So, Aura and Jeanne are baked goods, mainly cookies. I'm going to make pancakes. Any questions?

"Mm!　I'll take care of the tasting room!
I'll be joining you for the baked goods.

　I thought I was speaking to Jeanne and Aura, but before I knew it, Amour and Leni-san were nearby.

'Leni-san, please. Amour, unfortunately, we're not looking for a taster. Well, if you help out, you're not limited to that.

Copy that.

　Amour felt like he was unsure of himself, but he decided to help out for the sake of eating the sweets.

'Well then, once again........Jeanne and Aura will be doing baked goods other than cookies, Amour and Leni-san will be mass producing cookies, and I will be making pancakes. Then you can each begin.

　I decided to team up with Amour and Leni and limit them to relatively simple cookies, which would be fine, so I decided to have Jeanne and Aura, who were used to it, take charge of the other sweets.

'At times like this, you feel lucky to have a large kitchen.

　I don't know if the king built this mansion for his grandfather, and whether he intended for the people of Kukri village to use it as well, or whether he thought the people of Kukri village would also use it, but the dining room and kitchen are spacious in comparison to the size of the building. Thanks to that, they can make three different kinds of sweets at the same time.

''It's kind of like baking Dorayaki crusts rather than pancakes.

　When you put several small pieces of batter on a large grill, some of them become too dark in color. The dark browning makes them look more like Dorayaki crusts than pancakes.

The one with dark brown color can be separated to put bean paste or cream between them.

　We have azuki beans from the south of Japan, so if you make red bean paste, you can make something like dorayaki. Well, I have never made anko, but I have made zenzai, so if I boil it down, I can make something like anko.

　Since I could make a crust to some extent, I lowered the temperature of the griddle and started to mass-produce pancakes. Then

'Temma-kun what do you think of me...'

　The ghostly Mr. Chris came in.

'You're Chris, Chris,'
'That's not what I'm asking!

　As I was fed up with the unusual teasing, I sensed by the signs that someone had entered the dining room. There were three people who came in, and the one who came in at the front seemed to be Albert, so it must be three idiots any time.

''Hey~ Temma-kun, are you listening~?　So, who would make a better wife, me or Primera~?

　While I was slightly distracted, Chris's conversation was taking a strange turn.

'So that's primera. I don't have to get drunk and make fun of me like Mr. Chris does.

　In the case of Primera, she often gets drunk before she can tease, so it's probably not the standard of a good wife that's often used, but it's an important standard for some people.

'So, then, mother!　Which one do you want?
'Primera. I don't think a woman who frequently gets drunk in the daytime is going to be a good influence on her children.
Whoa!

　I'm sure Chris has an idea about this. Well, just because you get drunk frequently doesn't mean you can't raise your children properly.......but it doesn't sound good.

'Well, then...'
Primera.

　I don't know what he was going to say, but I don't think he should have to deal with drunks in a decent way.

'Chris, you're interrupting me, go back to the dining room.
Yes.....

　I turned Chris away and went to bake one pancake after another with the remaining batter.

'We're out of batter, so that's about all we need.

　I made a large quantity of batter, so I could make a hundred pancakes about ten centimeters in diameter and fifty Dorayaki crusts of the same size. However, there were fifty pancakes that were misshapen or badly burnt, so I decided to turn them into a snack to be tasted.
　Some time after I finished baking the pancakes, Jeanne and the others seemed to have finished making their own snacks. Out of the ones they made, they decided to turn in the failed ones for tasting first, and the rest were stored in the magic bag.



　With a large amount of cookies in front of him, Amour is being quiet. Moreover, when I called out to him, he didn't respond at all, on the contrary, he didn't even seem to open his mouth.

''Actually, well........I chewed on a few freshly made cookies and my mouth was burned.
"...Amur, turn around and open your mouth... 'Aquaheel'.

　It was nothing, it was just that it was the usual Amur. It's just that he was so greedy that the freshly made cookies would be delicious, and as a result, he was burned in the mouth and unable to speak.

'I thought I was going to die ... freshly baked cookies are a deadly weapon!

　After treating him with an aqua heel, he returned to his usual noisy amour and complained about the danger of cookies.

'You've kept me waiting, Albert, Cain and Rion are going to eat too........?

　When he lightly apologized to Albert for leaving him alone and called out to Cain and Rion to proceed with the snack as well.......it wasn't Cain and Rion sitting near Albert, but the Duke of Sanga and Primera, who were sitting near Albert.

'Mr Temma, which way did you mistake me for someone else?'

　Duke Sanga asked happily, but even if it was Cain, he wouldn't be able to say that he had mistaken it for Rion. Well, Albert and the others originally just didn't confirm it from the image of three people in one set, so they didn't mistake it for either Cain or Rion.

''No, I didn't confuse them with either of them or anything like that, I simply made a mistake because if Albert came to our house as a set of three, there was almost a hundred percent chance that the other party was Cain and Rion. Well, it's down to ninety-nine percent after this incident but.......I'll be more careful in the future.　

'Oh, it can't be helped, then. In fact, I suppose it could be said that Albert and the others are the cause of so much intrusion.

　Duke Sanga laughed when he heard why I made a mistake, and Albert smiled bitterly, as if he thought the Duke had told him that he was going to play around too much.

''So, duke, before you say what you want today..., what's up with the primera?''

　Primera plopped down on the table and didn't look at me. The way she looked, oddly enough, she was dressed exactly the same as Chris-san... but I don't know what caused Primera's, but Chris-san is just drunk from drinking too much, so the only thing that's the same is the way she's dressed... which should be... ...

Don't you understand... really, don't you understand?

　Duke Sangha asked me to remind him, but I didn't remember it at all.

''Temma I could hear your exchange in the kitchen with Chris-senpai, all the way to the dining room.
The diner ... exchange?　........Ah!

　Come to think of it, she asked me questions about whether Chris-san or Primera would be a better wife or mother, and I answered them all as Primera. It was a hassle, but even if I'd thought about it seriously, my answer wouldn't have changed... or rather, if there were two options and the other person was Chris-san in that state, I wouldn't have gotten any other answer than Primera.

'There are rumors in the world that she is engaged to Temma or something. Even if you don't care about the rumor itself, you're probably embarrassed by the favorable words that came out of Temma's mouth. Leave him alone.

''Well, when it comes to rumors, there's a part of Primera that's self-inflicted. Even if you don't care... no, in this case, it's probably better for Primera if you care about it...

　Duke Sanga was muttering thoughtfully in the middle of the conversation...........but he was close enough to hear it all. Perhaps it was on purpose.

''So, Duke Sanga-sama, what do you want today?''

　When he asked in a slightly stronger tone, the Duke of Sangha interrupted his muttering to take up residence and turned serious.

''Actually, I'm here about the rumors of your engagement.

　I knew it.

''It's not a lie to say... but I'm here today about The Sword of Dawn. Bringing Albert and Primera with me was a camouflage, and if they come together, the world will think they came here on their own to talk about the engagement, and that's the kind of excuse we can give to the reformed nobles...............So, could you call the 'Sword of Dawn' people?

　What he really wanted was to meet Jin and the others. I think you've been enjoying messing with me for a while now.

"Aura, go get Jin and the others.

　That's how the djinn were brought in.......they were extremely nervous. Well, they were just relaxing, when they suddenly got a call from the Duke. No matter how much he knew about the Duke of Sanga through me, I don't think he would have the opportunity to talk to me directly, except for Leena, so it's no wonder he was nervous.

''First of all, congratulations on your conquest of the Seigen dungeon,''
Oh, thank you.

　Jin thanked him, and Garratt and the others followed suit.

''So, you wanted to offer the dungeon's core to the royal family, what do you want in return?''

　In exchange for dedicating the nucleus of the Seigen dungeon, they would give each of them an official title and a fiefdom. However, Djinn and the others declined on the grounds that they didn't have the ability to run the fiefdom and that they had no intention of becoming nobles in the first place.

''That's troubling.......because if the price is money, it's no different than buying it.......you don't want jewels because they're bulky, right?

　The royal family would like to give the djinn some kind of special reward, but if it's money, it's no different than buying it as the duke said, and if it's worth anything other than jewels, they can't provide anything else worthy of the dungeon core.

''So in the end, as a royal family, it's quick and straightforward to give them a knighthood?
''There are people like Temma-kun who have accumulated numerous achievements, yet refuse the title. I'm sure everyone from the 'Sword of Dawn' will have a point...
'In my case, it's a monetary achievement, unlike the djinn's,'

　The dragon zombies are now unofficial, and the earth and running dragons are achievements as an adventurer, and I only sold parts of them that I didn't need without offering them. In the meantime, I've conquered dungeons in the south, but it was a small-scale achievement, and since it was in the southern autonomous region, I received the reward from Hana-san. The fact is, Hana-san wanted to give me Amur as a reward, but since the opinion of the Honorary Viscount Lobo and I unusually coincided, we settled on money and southern specialty goods.

'Maybe I should have given him a knighthood, even if I had to force him to do so during the coup uprising.
If the king tries to force things, he'll cry to Mary.

　It was a cowardly move, but if he could get Lady Maria on his side, he could manage most things when it came to royal relations.

''Well, let's leave Temma-kun out of it for now, so what shall we really do?

　The Duke of Sangha looks like he's not in trouble, and he says a series of troubling words.

'Why don't you just owe me?　The djinn don't seem to be interested in knighthoods since they're working as adventurers now, so why don't we just give them knighthoods when they retire as adventurers?

　The point was to postpone the reward, but I thought it would work as a reward as long as we were assured as a royal family.

''I suppose. That might be a good idea.''

　The Duke of Sangha readily adopted my proposal. Perhaps he was waiting for me to come up with the idea. The djinn were also convinced that they would receive the title not right now, but in decades to come.

''Could it be that you were planning to put me between the djinn and the royal family from the beginning?''

''Well, you're right. I could imagine that everyone in the 'Sword of Dawn' would reject the title. Therefore, the negotiation plan proposed by Mr. Temma, who is deeply involved with both the royal family and the Sword of Dawn, and who has influence over the nobility and the public, would allow us to restrain any opposition.

　I didn't feel used by the kings, but if I was the only one who could stand between the kings and the djinn, then it can't be helped... If my idea is adopted, I'll make a small request to the king.

''Temma-sama, you have a visitor.''

　I wondered who came at the right time with the Duke of Sangha.

You're in my way.

　He was my grandfather's best friend (Master Ernest). And, like royalty, he came into the mansion before I gave him permission.

'Go home!　Jeanne, salt!　Sprinkle some salt!

　At the sudden appearance of Master Ernest, my grandfather shouted angrily and shouted for Jeanne to sprinkle salt on him. Surprised by his voice, Jeanne hurriedly got the jar of salt... but she didn't know what to do and handed it to me.

''Grandpa, I don't want you to be turned away. The person who looks like the mastermind is finally here........For now, just sit down in the area. Jeanne, bring me some water while I bring this back.
'Jeanne, the cup you serve this snack in should be the second-hand Siloumaru cup from the sink... or rather, use it!

　Shiroumaru's old one - the one I was going to discard because it was no longer being used and had cracks in it. I'm sure I'm terrible at trying to treat him to water, but my grandfather was even worse.

'Jeanne, I knew you'd bring me a normal cup of tea.

　If I joked around any longer, it was likely that my grandpa would get serious, so I decided to stop here.

''So, today's objective is about the 'Sword of Dawn' reward, isn't it?　Then the djinn's wishes are settled. The Duke of Sangha will report to the king at a later date.

You've done your job, haven't you?　Why don't you just go home....or rather, go home!

　Grandpa is always trying to turn Ernest away, but if Ernest's business was about the djinn's reward, he should have finished his business already. Therefore, there shouldn't be any problem in turning him away here, but Ernest-sama ignored his grandfather as if he had something else to talk about and took a seat near the Duke of Sanga.

''Hmm, has that side of the story been settled, it's superimposed. So, Duke Sanga, what's going on with your main topic?
'Ha!　I was just about to tell you that story.

　I looked at Albert, wondering what he was talking about, and Albert seemed not to understand and shook his head. I looked at Primera for a moment but as soon as our eyes met, he fell face down on the table.
　The djinn seemed to have decided that they had moved from their own conversation to my personal one, so they declined to Lady Ernest and Duke Sanga and went back to their room.

'So, what is the real story?'

　I have a bad feeling about this, but it doesn't look like the two of them are going to make a move until they talk, so I asked them

'Actually, I was hoping to have more time to talk about it when I had some extra time to spare, but the reward talk went quicker than I thought it would, so we can talk privately.

　Duke Sanga's presence seemed to have changed to something completely different from the usual.

''To put it bluntly.......Temma-kun, would you be willing to get engaged to the Primera?

What?
Whew!

　Duke Sanga's words startled me, but Primera was even more surprised than I was. Other than that, Grandpa, Jeanne and Aura are frozen in place because they are too surprised, and Amour and Leni-san are frozen with their ears and tails upside down in surprise. Incidentally, Albert seemed surprised and confused at the same time, and was hovering around the primera, making strange movements.

'If you're uncomfortable with the engagement, you can just keep it close by. Well, to put it plainly, it's a form of 'mistress'.

　There's quite a gap between his fiancée and his mistress, and he's wondering if the father should ask his daughter to stay as his mistress.

''No, well........normally I wouldn't ask you to make Primera your mistress, even if it's Temma-kun, I wouldn't ask you to make Primera your mistress. However, there's a bit of a situation this time.......

　The Duke of Sangha was looking a little awkward to say.

When some of the noblemen saw the Primera dancing with Tenma the other day, they thought that the Primera was willing to marry her, and some of them were foolish enough to offer their own sons instead of Tenma's. The other day, some of the noblemen said that it was irresponsible for the Primera not to marry the Primera. And others said it was irresponsible for Temma not to marry Miss Primera. They don't talk about it, but they say it's irresponsible of both the Duke to neglect it and His Majesty to speak out, although they deny it.

　Master Ernest inserted his mouth on behalf of the Duke of Sangha. It's true that some of them may seriously think so, and some of them may say it out of harassment, but he said that it was still true that there were aspects of the aristocratic society that condemned me and Primera's actions.

''It is possible to physically silence those people, but doing so would not be surprising if it caused havoc that would split the country in two or three. I'm not saying it's a fault, but there are aspects of the aristocratic world that can't help but be considered strange, so I can't say that we are absolutely right either. So, if we pretend that Primera is Temma-kun's fiancée or mistress, we can avoid criticism.

　It's not uncommon for nobles to offer their daughters as mistresses to influential people, and some of the nobles who criticize them are doing so, so they can be silenced. Besides, they can also accuse me of trying to mimic something that would divide me and the primera.......well, I feel that I'm being somewhat forceful about it, but since it's like I've made it difficult for the royalty and great nobles in the first place, no matter what happens to the other party as a result. I think I deserved it.

'Since that's the case, would you be willing to keep Primera by your side, assuming she's your mistress?

　Duke Sanga said it plainly as if he was making small talk, but I feel like it's starting to become quite important.
　But still, taking Primera as your mistress........................I couldn't have thought of that when I first met her.

If you will do what the Duke of Sangha asks, I promise you that the royal family will take responsibility for dealing with those noisy flies.

　When I was troubled, Master Ernest misunderstood and said he was going to restrain the noisy nobles.

'No, well, I don't mind getting engaged, but I was just thinking that when I first met you, I had no idea this was going to happen.

'I see, can you keep me as your mistress?

　Duke Sanga seemed to feel uncomfortable with my words and stopped talking mid-sentence and started looking around.

''Uh........you're not going to make it a mistress, but an engagement?　Really?　You're not kidding?
Yes, I said that.
Primera, come here for a minute. Albert, come with me.

　Duke Sangha still couldn't believe it, and he called Primera and Albert over to him. They, too, seemed to not believe my words and approached the Duke of Sanga without making a sound of surprise. And then.

Hmm!
'Ow!　It's a dang thing!

　Duke Sangha gently pinched the Primera's cheeks, twisting Albert's cheeks up as hard as he could.

'Hmm ... from Albert's reaction, it doesn't seem to be an auditory hallucination ... congratulations, Primera.

　He threw away Albert, who had a bright red mark on his cheek, and sent his congratulations to the Primera.