I woke up from my short nap and walked out of my bedroom to find Theresa waiting outside my door.

'You've been there the whole time?　Theresa can take a break too, you know.

　Theresia shook her head and stared at me - I guess that means she wanted to wait until I woke up.

　Her magic power was a bit low as well, but Igarashi-san was using her skills to the limit, so she was even more fatigued. It would be nice if there was a way to recover her magic power quickly, but for now, potions were hard to come by, and sleeping in a high-class bedroom was the most effective way to do so.

　When I went to the living room, Elitia and the others were talking. When Suzuna notices me, she gets up from her seat and tries to greet me, but I restrain her before she can.

'No, you can stay seated. I'm going to go out for a bit, do you want me to get you something or something?
It would be nice if there was a convenience store or something, but it's not that convenient.
The necessities of life are provided in the royal suite rooms. They replenish them every day.

　Women have more necessities than men - I had been disappointed in such things, but the problem of household items was naturally solved by the increase in the rank of the room.

'If you are missing something, just let me know and I can arrange it for you at any time.
''Oh, the hundred gold coins each can be used freely as an allowance for each of you. There are still more than ten thousand of them, so if we have a large amount of money to spend, we should all agree on whether or not to spend them together.

　With 9500 gold coins from the juggernaut's prize money and materials, plus the prize money from Death Coming from the Sky for 1600 coins, that alone was over 10,000 coins.

　I want to avoid a situation where I don't have enough gold coins when I have a big expense, so I'm thinking of it as if half of the gold coins are party property and the rest are divided among individuals, but I want to be frugal in case of an emergency.

''Wow........I think brother Alihit's party has the most funds in the eighth district.
'In the Eighth Ward, yes, but we're already seeing the Seventh Ward. And with the two red boxes we've got, I think we'll have a few more depending on what's in them.
When Madoka-chan is around, she gets a discount when she buys things and a little more money when she sells them. It's also more economical to sell the leftovers!

　The large amount of beginner weapons and armor that came out of the black box will have little impact on the sale price anyway, since the sale price is two or three pennies, but when selling high value items, if you can sell them for even 10% more, it will make a big difference. Although I think it's important not to negotiate the price every time since we have to deal with the merchants, and only when it's crucial.

''Aricht, why don't you look at everyone's skills?　And I think your skills are increasing, too.
'Oh, we'll be fine later! If we ask you to do it all at once, your brother will have a hard time.
Misaki and I were talking about going to ask her after dinner.

　You can look at them all at once, but you want to ponder and decide what skills to acquire, so you should take time for each of them.

　Speaking of which, Madoka joined the party, so I'm going to sleep alone - well, since I'm the only man, it's natural to say that it's natural.

''........Are you going to visit each of us in Arihito's room?　If I leave you alone with Misaki now, I think Aricht is in danger.
''That's not true! Your brother prefers a girl like Suzu to me, and to top it off, he's the one who wants to be stepped on by sister Kyouka.
No, I don't want to get stepped on but what kind of image are you looking at me for?
Kyouka's sister and her brother are very close, aren't they? I don't think it would ever happen that a big sister would bully her brother.

　I almost get a distant look in my eyes - even though Igarashi-san had a lot of things going on, she tormented me with a cotton ball for a long time, and it's an undeniable fact that she was the so-called tundra, the kind of person who doesn't have a tsundere delicacy.

''Ah........Kyouka. What's wrong, if you're not feeling well, why don't you take a little more rest?
Igarashi-san, are you okay?

　Igarashi-san, who was coming out of the room, is exactly listening to Madoka's remarks and is damaged. If she gets depressed every time she remembers the past in this way, it's because she's sorry for what she did to me - but since her pent-up energy has already gone down, that's exactly why it's like I'm torturing Igarashi-san Shake it off.

I, no ... it's nothing. It looks like you haven't fully recovered your magic power yet.
Even in this room, I need a night's sleep to recover... hmmm... maybe I'm starting to get sleepy too...
Ellie, do you want to sleep too?　Suzu, do you want to take a nap?


　Misaki is also in good spirits since she hasn't done anything to use her magic power, but Suzuna is also quite worn out from 'Minnaka' and 'Heaping Salt'.

　That's why they all went for a nap, leaving Igarashi and Theresia behind. Madoka also seems to use magic power when sending orders to remote areas through the license, and when I checked the reduction in the magic power of the party members, it had decreased by a quarter.

''Igarashi-san, you should get some more rest, too.
I'm sorry, Rear Admiral.
'I'm sorry to remind you of that. But I think Igarashi-san seems kind to Madoka right now. And she's actually kind.
Well, that's not... it's not enough to atone for your sins yet...

　After following my instructions so well and playing such a dangerous role, she still thinks it's not enough.

　I should make sure to tell her my thoughts here so that it doesn't lead to self-sacrifice.

''If it wasn't for Igarashi-san, I wouldn't have made it this far. I don't need to talk about atonement or anything like that anymore. If I fight with that kind of feeling, Igarashi-san might get seriously injured for me one day. If that happens, I won't even be able to regret it.
I'm sorry for being so impulsive. I keep making you feel bad about yourself...
I'm sorry, no. I'm worried about you, but it's not a bad feeling or anything.
If I were in your position, I wouldn't normally say that to myself.
Well, well, sure...

　I don't agree with Igarashi-san that it's easy to let bygones be bygones, even if I'm good at it. Then what should we do?

''..........''

　Theresia, who was watching the situation intently, went behind Igarashi-san and put her hand on his shoulder, wondering what she thought.

''Huh........Oh, you surprised me.
..........

　Theresia looks at me as if to say, "Is that so? As for me, I hadn't thought that much about it, but she doesn't have much of a decrease in magic power, so it seems to be a problem to have her accompany me.

''Ah, yeah. And I'd like to see Teresia's skills, too. I've accumulated enough new skills for two levels........Igarashi-san, it's not a hassle. I don't think Theresia is getting numb from watching it either.
Well, have a good day....
Hello?
That's why. I wanted to voluntarily ask you to apologize for what you did to your rear end...

　So, 'Good day' is like some kind of embarrassing punishment game, but to be honest, I don't feel bad about it - I don't want to be misunderstood, but it's not that I'm longing for a 'master' position. It should only be as good as the world.

''........Because I respect you, Rearward-kun. Even if you say that now, I don't think it would be easy to trust you, but.......can I try my best until you believe me?
'I've been working hard enough already, and I'm sorry I couldn't do more.
'But ... okay, fine. Then what I'm going to do now is something I'm going to do voluntarily. It's not like I'm going to apologize or anything.

　Igarashi-san was so embarrassed that she was red to her ears. Theresia kept her hand on her shoulder, but quickly moved away and came over to us. Then she discreetly tugs on her sleeve to urge me to take a seat.

'............'
'Well ... ah, ah. Teresia, you want me to pick a skill here?

　Theresia nodded dully. Back to the seriousness of the matter, Igarashi-san went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

　In the meantime, he produced his license and displayed Teresia's skills. Teresia, a former mercenary, doesn't have a license, so I had to display it for her.

　◆ Disclosure of skills of a slave, "Theresia"◆

　Lizard Skin 1: Axel Dash
　Enhanced search 1, Vigilance 1, Silent walk.

　Skills that can be acquired

　Skill Level 2
　Shadow Step: evades and disorients the enemy while leaving an afterimage.
　Hide: Makes the enemy completely unaware of his presence until he attacks. Required Skill: Silent Walking　
　Fingertip Technique 2: Remove keys and traps of moderate difficulty. Required skill: fingertip technique 1.

　Skill Level 1.
　Double Throw: Throw two throwing weapons at the same time.
　Assault Hit: Double your blows if you attack unnoticed by the enemy.
　Pick Pocket 1: You may be able to steal designated possessions without being noticed by your opponent.
　Rope Escape: allows you to escape from a captive situation.
　Fingertip Technique 1: Allows you to remove low difficulty locks and traps.

　Remaining Skill Points: 7

'You've got a whole bunch of offensive and auxiliary skills... ooh, double throws sound good.
..........

　I'll take the double throw and assault hit because it looks like it could be used. And to safely leave after the assault hit, take the shadow step - if you're going to take it so far, you'll also want to "hide" which can be reliably connected to the assault hit, but you can get the fingertip jutsu 2, so you'll learn it along with the 1. Or you could say.

'Can I leave the task of unlocking and disarming the traps to Theresia?
..........　

　It seems that Theresia is interested in the skills for combat, but she nodded her head when I explained that she was already planning to acquire three. 'Hide' is something we'll revisit after the next level.

'I need to get a throwing weapon for the double throw. I want to keep my shortsword for close combat, so let's find a weapon that isn't too heavy to carry around at the same time.
..........

　With a throwing knife, once you've thrown out a few, you're done, but Misaki also has almost disposable iron dice, so I can't help but think that's what throwing weapons are for. If there's something with an effect that comes back to hand, if you strengthen it with magic stones and runes, Theresia's instantaneous attack power is likely to increase considerably.

''Well, me next........''

　Display your skills on your license. It's about time for her to look at Theresia's skills and not show mine, because it's not fair, so I decide to let her look.

　And my eyes widen - because there were a number of skills on display that are exactly what I wanted these things to be.

　Skills I've Learned◆.

　Supportive defense1 Supportive attack1 Supportive attack2 Supportive recovery1 Supportive uplift1
　Eagle's Eye, Other Assist Backstand

　Skills that can be acquired

　Skill Level 2
　Supportive Defense 2: Put up a protective barrier equal to your defensive abilities on your companions in front of you.
　Tono Army General: The more companions in front of you, the more your abilities increase.

　Skill Level 1.
　Support Linkage 1: Activates a linkage technique on the companion in front of you.
　Support Magic 1: Apply a layer of magic to the companion in front of you at 50% magic consumption and power.
　Supporting Evasion 1: Activates an Absolute Evasion Strike on the companion in front of you on rare occasions.
　Call for Support 1: Summons the party nearby as back-up.
　Assist Charge 1: Distributes some magic to the companion in front of you.
　Rear Front: Spends 5 points of magic and has a fixed amount of visibility to the rear.
　Backdraft: Automatically counterattacks when attacked from behind.

　Remaining skill points: 3

..........

　Theresia silently pointed to the 'General of the Lord's Army' - the army of the Lord's Army, in other words, is the decisive role of fleeing while dealing with the enemy's attack at the back of the line when retreating. However, as a skill of the 'rear guard', it overcomes the weakness of not being able to provide support to you.

　Of course, as originally meant, if my defenses are increased when escaping, I can play the role of protecting everyone - depending on how much my defenses are increased.

　Theresia seems to be advising me that I should take up the skill of defending myself. I've been pointing my finger at the same spot the whole time.

'I'm running out of skill points in earnest.......For now, I'm going to take the 'Assist Charge' just in case. 'General of the Lord's Army'........'

　There are many more skills I'd like to take than that. ''Support Linkage 1'' - if handled well, it could raise the attack power of the entire party.

''.........''
Do you really think it's necessary to take that much...?

　Kok, Theresia nods. When I didn't choose, she nodded again - I can't ignore the opinion very much, thinking of how discouraged Theresia, who can't speak, would be if I chose another skill with this one.

''........Okay, I get it. I know it's not in the nature of the 'rear guard' to put themselves first, but I'm sure I'd like to take it one day.

　Theresia says nothing, but pulls her fingers back and places her hands on her knees, kaaah, and her lizard mask turns red. I guess she's refraining now from giving me her opinion on the skills.

'To be honest, I've always wanted at least one skill to strengthen me too. It wouldn't do me any good if I didn't have a companion, though. Having Theresia and everyone else in front of me makes me that much stronger.
'You have those skills...?　Rear-kun really is a profession that gets stronger the further back you get.

　Igarashi-san, who was listening to the conversation, puts the teacup in front of me. Theresia doesn't like hot, so she brought me a glass of stocked tea.

''That's right, Igarashi-san. I have some skills I just took that I want to try out, so can I ask you to stand with your back to me?
Yeah, yeah ... that's it?

(Share your magic power with Igarashi-san........Assist Charge!

Huh...!

　Magic power is released from my body and mixed with Igarashi-san's magic power and amplified - my magic power is reduced by about a tenth of the total, and Igarashi-san has recovered about twice as much. There is a difference between me and Igarashi-san's level, so the magic power value must be different, but it seems that the amount of recovery is greater than the magic power I consumed.

The only thing that can make you feel better is that you're not as tired as you used to be. Is this also a skill of Rearward-kun?
''Yes, that's right. I can now use my magic power to recover the vanguard's magic power. Now, if I don't have enough magic power to use the 'Blink Step', I can still charge it up.
''Well, you've thought that far ahead and taken the skill?　Because I'm in danger...?
'Avoidance is important, you know. Besides, it's good to see you still feeling better.

　Igarashi-san sat down across from us, trying to say something, but unable to speak.

''Well since you're this kind of person, Theresa-san, good luck with that. She doesn't let you return the favor very often.
..........
'Yeah ... is that what Theresa is thinking, too?　Or rather, don't you and I have a better chance of communicating with Igarashi-san...?

　Teresa just looked back at me, who was upset, and nodded at each other with Igarashi-san. After all, I guess it's true that there are things that can only be understood between women - a bit frustrating, but I didn't feel bad for watching their harmonious air.