Hmmm........that's weird.
White isn't coming back........
After the hot game I just had, it's time for lunch, but White still hasn't come back.
Did something happen?
Do they actually have a shot at it and are they making that treatment?

'Oh my God!　Fidgeting!　Calm down!
I mean, it's a little late for that, don't you think?　I didn't know when you were home earlier, and now it's lunch.　Funny how slow White is, isn't it?

Normally, he would have come back without making a straight detour.
After all, today, they had a special menu with a lot of meat at White's request, so it would be strange if he didn't use that black shadow thing to come back.

If you're that worried about it, why don't you go pick him up........ "If you're so worried about it, why don't you go and get him.......
Yeah, you're right!　I'm going to go pick you up!
Ayame, go out with him.
'What, huh?　Me?　How could ... me!
You don't know what will happen. I'm sure you can show him around if he gets lost.
But I'm afraid I have Lady Iris' bodyguard.
There are other shinobi. And it would be a sight to behold if any of those stupid aristocrats were to attack us here.
Okay, okay. Here, if we're going to go, let's go fast and get it over with.
Ready when you are, sir. Oh, and Iris and Wendy can start eating first, if you want. I'll be right back!

I put the rice I made earlier on the table.

It's really gorgeous..... Are you going to hold a lunch, or rather a party?
'Well, well, there's more...'

I've laid out as much as I could on the table, but there are still many dishes left in the magical space.
I've left a full portion for White, so there's no problem at all, even if he eats all of them.

'Oh, and dessert is another thing. If the other Shinobi people eat it too, they can eat it too!　So long!
'Oh, wait a minute!　Do you know where the waiting room is!
I don't know!　Lead the way!
'Originally that plan, ah!　Hands!　Let go of my hand, please!
This will be quicker. I'll be off then!

I wave my unlinked hand to Iris and the others and start running at once.
For now, I was in a hurry, so I kept taking Ayame's hand.

''Oh my god!　See you right there!　It's on the right!
Aye!　Come on, Ayame, move your legs!
We're moving it!　This level of speed.... or rather, could you please not lick Shinobi's legs!
It's hard to believe.
Do you have a rotten brain?

That's a terrible way to put it.
But you might be right.

"Look, it's over there on the left.
Okay.
'I mean, can we just stop running?　And will you let go of my hand?
Hmm?　You want to stay with me a little longer?
Let's go full speed.
I can't keep up...
It's okay. You won't let go of your hand, will you?　Follow me properly.

Um, Ayame?
He squeezed my hand tightly, but he wasn't........delirious, was he?
That cute smile of yours is very scary.

Come on, move your legs.
'Wait!　You're going to break your arm!　Let me go, I'll freak out!
'You didn't listen to me earlier when I asked you to let go, and you think I'm going to listen?
'I don't think so!　Oh, my God, my leg is twitching!　I can break my arm!
People die easily, but you can't tear your arm off just by pulling on it.
'Because that common sense is about to be overturned right now!

It's stuck!　No, but first, my arm comes off!
That's what I'm talking about.
No, I'm too slow to begin with.

Huh. You don't even have the strength, do you?

Let's start with that. Here's your water.
Thank you. Hmmm, thank you...

I put my mouth on the water bottle I received and drank the water very happily, which helped me calm down a bit.
But still, you're not breathing unsteadily or sweating at all, which is what Shinobi is all about.

''Huh ... I thought I was going to die.''
You're exaggerating.

No seriously.
I've always thought that we shouldn't base ourselves on people who are mainly fighting.

"Oh, is that Lord White?
Oh.

It's hard to look up in my current state, but when I looked up at Ayame's words, Shiro was indeed there.



''That's........''
Oh, hello, Hayato?
Ah, yes. I'm sorry, could it be that I've been keeping you waiting?
'Oh, no. I don't mind that, but what in the world is the number 110 in this world?
'What?　110 is 110, but........I mean, there are no phones or police in this world.......well, what's going on?'
Well then, I'm going to have to f*ck that old man...
"Mr. Itsuki!　Grandpa, you mean... oh!　Where are you now?　Ikki-san!''

I close my guild card and hang up the call with Hayato.

''Ya. Move.
Hey, please. You can have my money, my food, my whatever!　Join me in having a blast!
Let's do it. Let's kill it.
No, no. What's the craziest thing you've ever said to me?
'Cause!　White is being attacked by a pedophile thug!　Come on, Ayame!　You're on. Do it!
Why do I have to... And isn't he important to you?　What about leaving it to others?

Yuck.........
I don't have a choice. I guess I'll just have to go.

"Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!　Soldiers!　You pervert!　There's a pedophile pervert in here!
'You didn't expect a female voice!　It's creepy because you can't imagine what it looks like!

What? There's no problem, and Ayame is here too.
We'll leave the rest to the soldiers who came here and everything will be fine.

That's out of the question!　Who are you?
Oh. Lord.
Lord...?

White takes a moment to run towards me.
Oh, he must have been scared.
I hugged White tightly and caught him in my arms and glared at the old man.

What's the matter?
You pervert!　A pedophile pervert was closing in on my boy!

And when a soldier appears at the right time, he briefly explains the situation.
All that's left to do is to protect White and hope that the soldier will catch him quietly.

''That's why I said it's out of my mind.
What, Wha........Mr. Arnold?

Arnold.........
Huh, I think it's the same name as the Knight Commander of the First Order, but it can't be that he's such a pervert.

You are also good. Go back to your post.
Ha!

Huh?
What, you're going back?

What is this...
Well, you can't blame them for that when they're senior officers in the military service.
"Ahhhhh........it's rotten.......

So it's not my imagination after all, but this guy is the Knight Commander of the First Order.....
A battle-crazed, pedophile pervert is the leader of the knights.

I'm not doing what you think I'm doing, Lord.
'I'm not even interested in what the truth is. It's just that from the outside, you were just an old man closing in on a little girl.
...Yes.
Nuh-uh.
It's okay. I know you want to hide your s*xuality, and you need to live with it, but don't bother people. But don't bother people.
'So I say it's out of my mind.... Well, it's good that you're the master. I'm not...
'Ahhhh!　White, are you hungry?
Hey, don't listen to me!　I am!
Ayame!　I'm worried about Iris, let's go back!

There's no way I'm going to listen to the truth.
I've already got a sensor in my head.
Run!
You said to run before disaster strikes!

Bye. Hey, old man!　We must have lunch!

I was about to turn around and run away like a de-rabbit, but I felt the wind pressure on my neck and stopped dead in my tracks when I heard a high-pitched metallic sound.

'You're not going to run away, are you?'
"Don't point your sword at the Lord.

White seemed to catch the great sword that Arnold wielded.

'I'm sorry. But you're going to have to listen to me.
Again, I say. Lord, don't point your sword at me.
I'm gonna tell you again. I'll tell you again.

White's voice sounded very different from his normal voice, so low and clearly angry.
In contrast, Arnold's voice, too, was already a low, dossy, scary voice.

''........Even though you're a Knight Commander, there's a limit to what you can do, right?
I have no desire to guess. I have no intention of guessing, I just want to fight her for real. I want to use the same weapons I usually use, and I want to challenge you to a last-ditch, bloodthirsty, death-defying fight to the death!
'Oh, I can't, I can't. I can't. I don't know what that means.

Oh, what's he doing here, he's scary.
Suddenly dueling, dueling to the death, combat madness, and everyone is like this?
That's completely insane and dangerous thinking.

"I won't say free of charge, but I'll give you half the money I have if you're willing to die for me. I can't play with you for the rest of your life, but I'll pay you what you deserve.

It's not about the money....
And half, what's the other half?

''Well I want to keep the other half for my wife who is causing me trouble.
An old pedophile and his wife?
I'm telling you that's not true. So what is it?
I would like to politely decline.

There's no way I'd let White fight someone who's talking about deadly conflict.
It's true that we want money, but it's because we don't care how much money we have, and we'd rather work than put White in danger.

Chii...
'Why in the world are you so mad for battle in general...'
I'm sorry, but is there any reason other than to fight a powerful enemy?

It's been a long, long silence.
Besides, you need a reason.
I'm not a warrior, so I don't know, but are warriors that short-sighted?
As soon as you see a strong man, Oho!　Let's lock horns!　And that's too scary.

'Then why is it white...?　If he's stronger than Shiloh, there's probably Lord Hayato and the other participants in this tournament, too.
He's strong, but if I tell him to kill me, he won't kill me. As for the others I'd kill them all myself if they fought me.

I'm not sure what to make of it.
I'm not sure if it's better for the country or for him to quit his job as a knight commander and become an adventurer, where he can rampage as he pleases.

It's worthless to fight to the death without the possibility of being killed. The girl can kill me, can't she?
I'm not stupid enough or interested in fighting to be able to say that I understand for that reason. I know it's a shame, but give it up.
Well ... but I'm afraid you'll have to fight. For example, if I refuse, you will have to--

A shiver runs down my spine.
It's the same time the old man glares at me.
My legs tremble, and I know that I'm close to death.
It's a sensation similar to the one I had with Darwin, but deeper and more intense than that.
The only part of me that seems to remember the sensation is the warmth and sensation of touching White.

'What are you doing...?　Mr. Arnold?

In the midst of this air, a familiar voice sounded familiar, but somehow lower than usual, sounding angry.

"Hayato, huh? What, it's a bit of a child's play.
'I see. Then would you please put that sword away quickly?　I think you're mistaken.

Hayato, who appeared from behind, was holding his holy sword at the ready and pointing it at Arnold's back, without hiding his emotions of being calm and angry.

''........You've started to give off a good killing spirit. No, is it for your Lord?　Who the hell are you?

I guess he's being asked, but right now he's not listening to me when I try to open my mouth.
It's just that White is struggling in my arms, and I can't let go of this hand.
I can't let White get in front of that man.

I'm afraid you don't know the answer to that question. If I were to kill you now, would Hayato come to me with the same murderous intent as me?
'Isn't that enough of a joke...?　The king has allowed you a degree of freedom, but I don't think he's ever allowed you to lay a hand on innocent civilians?

When Ayame quickly interrupted between me and the old man, he stepped forward to hide from my gaze.

I'm not going to be able to tell you what to do, but I'm going to be able to tell you that I'm going to be able to help you out.

I told you twice I didn't want to do it!
No, you're dealing with an opponent and Ayame's original job is to protect Iris, so it's okay to abandon her at worst, right?

I'm not going to last 20 seconds. I'm afraid you have a lot of nonsense to answer to.
'Really?　I can at least buy you some time these days. Besides, if it comes to a battle, Lord Hayato will be joining you, right?　I'm just going to stand guard against any attacks on him from you and try to stay alive.
'Yes. In that case, I'll take you seriously, too.
Well that's all well and good, but I'm sorry about that. I was in a bit of a hurry.

The pressure from earlier disappeared from Arnold, and when he put his sword away, he took one look at me and said

It's the Lord. Sorry about that. And I'm looking forward to the game with you, did you say White?

After saying that much, Arnold left.
That's the game, right?
It's not a lethal match, is it?
It's a normal fight, fought with mock weapons, not the weapons you normally use, right?

'Puh-uh.... Ah, that was scary.
Well this is a hell of a way to go.
'I'm glad you called........' Mr. Arnold has been acting a little strange lately, so...
''Well that's true. Iris-sama seemed to be worried about you too.

Is it what I was saying earlier?
Anyway, there's no need to go to the trouble of challenging White to a life and death battle.
I think it's bad enough to quote Hayato, but if all goes well, you'll face him in the final.
Give it your all there!　I want to say.

'Hmmm!　Lord!　I'm glad, but it's painful...
Yeah, I'm sorry.

I let go of White in a tight hug and he hugged me back.

'Lord, why didn't you let go?'
No, no, no, no, no.

You can't let White out in front of a man who is so lightly into battle craziness (berserker).

It's a good idea to return to Iris-sama's place first.　I don't know if you have an appetite, but let's get some lunch.
Hmm, I'll eat...

Seriously....
I don't have much of an appetite right now, man.
I think I'll just leave it for dessert....