After being hurt so badly, I came to one psychological decision.
Yes, let's open it up.
I'm an old man, an erotic old man, and a lover, it doesn't matter if you accept it from the heart.
Even my MID (mind) is growing!

So, we're back.
You're early. You look so cute when you're down in the dumps.
"Hmm, Iris, you're cuter than me!
...it's still broken.

It's okay.
I have friends who'll tell you they love me, even though I'm not like this!

Uh ... master?
Hmm?　What's up, Wendy?
Why are you holding White so tightly?
Otherwise, it's going to fall apart!

You need to hang on to something because the damage is going to build up and it's going to get to your legs!

White is a perk. You can do what you want, okay?
Hmmm!　Shiloh!
''Oh, um, that's fine with me...?
Later!　I'll hang on to it plenty later!

Because it's hard to cuddle with him now that he's occupied on my lap.
White lets me cuddle at his mercy!

Whatever it is, you'd better watch the next game.
Hmm?　The next Aina and her friends?
Yes. You are one of the favorites to win, the best of the Order.
Huh....

Come to think of it, it was all about the adventurer's game.
I don't know how strong the Knights in this country are, and we'll see.

''Here, support the strawberries too.
I'm gonna give you both a squeeze, okay?
That's fine. It's a royal duty to comfort a wounded subject.

When did I become a vassal of Iris?
Oh well, okay, it's two people rather than one.
The warmth of people is so important.

Well, let's see what you can do. The next one will hurt you badly if you're not careful.

With me holding her, Iris threatens Aina and the others with a serious tone of voice.
I guess that's how good he is, or something like that.

"Oh, so Iris knows him too?

I don't have the impression that I know much about such things.

"Of course, there's nobody in King's Landing who doesn't know about them.
You're done...

I guess they're just called the winner after all.
The composition of the team is one heavy shield bearer, a man with a lightly equipped mace, and a woman with a wizard-like appearance.
In terms of balance, is it mainly defensive?
But right now the man with the mace is fighting in the front row and the shield bearer seems to be protecting the wizard.
I'm sure they're strong as far as I can see, but they don't look as strong as they say they are....
Ah, the man with the mace knocked one of them out of the field.

''A bit of a bad opponent, that's not helpful. Well, the more you win, the more powerful your enemies will be, so let's not show our hand yet...
Hmmm... each one of them has its own story.
Well, they'd have to be very nice to give you the information, you know.
'Yes. I want to fight fair and square.

Almost as soon as Aina finished, there were only three people in the ring.
What a surprise, the man with the mace had finally defeated all three of them by himself.
It would have taken three men to defeat the man with the prominent mace, but on the contrary, they were all out of the ring.

''The match is over!　Our Guardians, the elite of the Third Order, have achieved victory.

The man in the mace, the 'guardian' mace who Iris says is the favorite to win, raises his hand and smiles at the audience in response.
Nuh-uh, he's probably about the same age, but he's a refreshingly handsome man with a heart.
It's a good thing that the other two are only able to lightly raise their arms or give a small wave.

It's a very good idea to be able to have a good time with them.
It's in your head.
Hmm, Lord is better looking.
Shiloh!　I'll buy you anything you want later!
Are you sure that's what you want, parent?

It's okay!
Peace of mind is the most important thing!
Don't play with it too much, it'll end up starving.
Ha!　I'm just a kid, after all!

Well, I guess I like you better.
...Oh, dear.

I didn't think that such a young girl would use the technique of dropping and then raising it.
It's frustrating, but maybe the vice-captain felt the same way.
If you can mix in a carefree smile as well, it will most likely fall off.

'What is it?　How embarrassed are you?　Your reward should be ice cream. No need for vague love.
Oh, yeah, yeah. I'll go make some more ice cream. I'll make more tomorrow.
Hmm. Love in return is good.

I don't want to admit that's love....
But actually, it's amazing how people can say that they don't want anything in return for their love.
I think it's natural for people to want you to love them when they love you, and to want you to be nice to them when they are nice to you.
Maybe it's snobbish, but I think it's a natural thing to do.

"Ice cream, ice cream!

It looks like Iris is getting excited about it now, but if she likes it so much, I'll let her eat as much as she wants.
It's not my fault if you get a tummy ache, though.

The next step is the knights. I'll have to get back into the swing of things.
Yeah. It's not going to be the same.
The wizard is a nuisance. I'd like to defeat them as soon as possible, but it doesn't work out that way...

Aina and the others are already thinking about the next game with serious eyes.
That's right. The next match is the semi-finals, so to speak.
If we win here, it's the final, right?

''Come to think of it, is the Lord betting money on us?
Oh, of course. I've got 10 million knolls on the table.
Well that's even more reason to get fired up.
Don't worry about it too much, okay?

The team game is a high payout bet just to win first place.
I bet on White, but I bet on Aina and the others that I wouldn't be able to not bet on them, but I wouldn't want them to get overawed and get seriously injured....

''I don't think that's going to happen. You have your lord's precious funds staked on us.
'Yes!　I'm going to win properly!

Aina is energized and Renge is snorting.
For me, it's fine as long as everyone comes back safely, but.......

If that's the case, let's upload it.
Right. I'll try to go full throttle from the start.
We need a plan. My lord, we're going to be there a little early.
Yeah. Really, just don't do anything rash....
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.

Aina and the three of them only replied back and walked directly towards the players' waiting room.

''Well you're a worrier.
Of course....
Hmm......

I wonder.
I don't feel like it's very complimentary to say.

　　　　-The Red Front SIDE

Hey, what do you think of what you just said, Lord?
What? I mean, I know you're worried about me, that's all.
I know... "I'm just worried.
What do you mean...?

I'm not sure if I should say it or not.
It's just how I feel about it, but I've been wondering if I should say this, or if it's really okay.

''.........You mean 'expectation', not?'''
Yes.
He doesn't trust me yet.

I see, you two felt it too, didn't you?
I think they trust me.
But I didn't think so when I asked if they trusted me.

"After all........there's a bit of a wall between us.......
'You mean to tell me you're not as close as White and Wendy?　I know that, too.

Yes.
I feel like the feelings I feel from the Lord are not favors.
There's a lot of s*xual harassment and such, but they don't actually love me like Wendy does.
In fact, Aina said she was not loved even though she was in the same room with me.

'So that's why you're going to show your husband the good parts of this competition.
'Aye. If we're strong, our lord will continue to need us.
'Yes, you're right. Show me the good stuff and I'm sure I'll be by your side forever...

We are criminal slaves.
And maybe the Lord is stuck there.
Maybe he thinks that because we are criminal slaves, we adore the Lord out of guilt.

But I'm the one who caused that to happen.
I feel like I deserved to be a criminal slave, and I still regret what I did then.
I'm also really sorry that I got Aina and Renge involved in the situation.
Still, neither the Lord nor Aina and the others blame me, and they are treating me just as kindly as before.
Besides, the Lord was also hesitant to make us slaves.
That's why I think that the kindness from the Lord is being taken care of.......

''I'm sorry........ If I hadn't done something weird, things could have been more normal........
'Solte, in the end, I could have stayed by my lord's side if I'd seen the results, and I don't care about anything.
I just acted violently on my own, and I'm rather sorry that I got you two involved...
''No, it's because I sent a weird letter to Renge...''

Renge was only acting out of concern for us.
I will be the source of all this.

'Can we stop mourning?　It's true that you are closer to your master than you were then. That's a good thing. If you take one more step, one big step, you'll be fine.
'Yes!　If you don't get excited before the game, you'll lose.　I think there will be a winner's comment after the victory, so maybe the three of us should make a bold confession of love then.
'Yeah......... 　No, no, no. I've got to get back into it.　I'm going to go ahead and move my body!

Forcing my body to blackmail me, I left the room to hide the tears that were about to flow down, and ran to the players' training room.
If I kept this up, I wouldn't be able to stop at the kindness of the two of them.


''Well it looks like your wounds are deeper than I thought.
''That's right.
'Hmmm, what can I say, I was the first one to open up to my lord.
That's surprising. Then I'm going to do it for both Solte's sake and our own.
You can't win if you're not ready... You're up against a 'guardian'.
The kingdom's strongest lord, in other words, is a living fortress that can't get ahead of them in a retreat.

They slowly follow Solte with motivation and fighting spirit.
Hoping that their precious companion has stopped crying.