It's getting colder and colder.

　It's almost winter in Brunhild. It's not as cold as the Elfrau Kingdom where I've been before, but it seems to be getting cold here too, in its own way. I've heard it can even snow.

"Will you be prepared for the cold?
I think it's safe to say that every house in this country has a fireplace. There's enough firewood to last a lifetime. You have to be careful about fires, don't you?

　Indeed. We have a fire brigade and a pump to put out the fires, just in case there is a fire. That's what I like about you, Mr. Kosaka, you're very astute. The water from the moat running through the town will be useful for putting out fires. I think I'm going to have her go around the town, just in case. Let her carry a clapper or something.
　I finished the paperwork and headed to the training grounds in the courtyard, where Hilda and Rebecca-san were having a meeting.
　After we officially became engaged, Hilda started living in the castle. It's a bit late now, but even though they're usually fiancées, they're still princesses from other countries, and I think they're separate until marriage.
　It's like the state of affairs with Yumina is continuing without end, and both Lou and Hilda have settled in. Only Sue doesn't live with us, as expected, but she comes to stay with us twice a week.
　Of course, they don't sleep in my room, they sleep in Yumina's room. It seems that she's been sleeping with Renee as well lately. I don't mind you coming to stay over, but please don't come to wake me up in the morning the next day. Flying body presses in bed twice a week are hard.
　As I remember that pain and sigh, Hilda, who has finished training with Rebecca-san, comes running up to me.

'Fuyu-sama!'
Good job, Hilda.

　Chanting "Refresh" relieves Hilda's fatigue. Whenever she has time, she comes here to train. As expected of a princess of a knightly kingdom.



　Hilda was wearing Brunhild's light armor instead of Restia's armor when they met. She's a knight, but she's not from our knighthood. According to her, it's because she's my knight, not my country. Well, if someone too close to me, it's going to be hard for the leader of the group, Rain-san and others to do it.

''Are you going somewhere?''
I'll just go to the Guild of Adventurers. I heard that a branch of Brunhild has opened up, so I'm just checking it out.
Um, can I follow you...?
All right. I'll come with you.

　It won't be much fun to come, but there's nothing wrong with seeing the town. Besides, I want you to get used to the country as soon as possible.
　I take Hilda with me and leave the castle. I headed straight for the castle's bottom, and there were children running around, not caring about the cold.

'Hee-ka, hello!
Hello, hello!
Oh, hello. Don't go too far.
"Yes!

　I greeted them cheerfully and the children ran towards the plains. I've been thinking about this for a while now, but I still think we should build a school. It would be better to be able to read and write, and learn all sorts of useful things. Well, I don't have any teachers to teach.
　There's still a shortage of people in those areas.

"The kids seem to be enjoying themselves. That's a good thing.
Well, I've managed to keep my kids out of the work force.

　Brunhild can be described as a relatively wealthy country. We don't starve for food, and we have a decent amount of work. But we don't have any industry. There is no industry in Brunnhild, except for bicycles. We have been experimenting with various fields such as agriculture, industry, and commerce.
　We've asked Flora to improve our crops, so we'll start with that. But we don't have a lot of land, so I guess that's not going to be our only option.
　While I was thinking about this, we arrived at our destination guild. The adventurer's guild, Brunhild Branch, has already begun operations and is showing a good amount of activity.
　I put on my hood and go inside. I could hear the bustle of activity. As usual, there are crowds of people in front of the request board. It's nostalgic, this atmosphere.
　Hilda was restless as she scurried about, perhaps entering the guild for the first time.

''Welcome. Are you new here?''
'Oh, no, I'm just here for a quick visit. Do you have a branch manager?

　I answer vaguely to the cat-eared lady at the reception desk and secretly show her my guild card. It's a gold-ranked guild card, one of the only two on this continent.

''Gosh.........! Wha...! Hey, wait a minute!

　The other colleagues watched the cat-eared sister hurriedly climb the back stairs with a scowl on their faces. For a moment, she attracted the attention of several people in the guild, but quickly turned her gaze back to the board and others. A few of them were looking at Hilda, but I guess it's not unreasonable. It's pretty conspicuous, isn't it?
　After a while, Nekomimi-san came down from the stairs and secretly spoke to me in a whisper.

''I will show you to the branch chief's room. His Majesty the King!

　Nekomimi-san took me up the stairs at the back of the guild and led me to the back room. Someone I know was waiting for me there.

''Huh? Are you the head of the chapter, Relisha?

　The elven guildmaster, Relisha-san, was standing there with a smile on her face. As I recall, she was one of the guildmasters of the Western Region. A demotion?

''It's not. The guildmasters can choose which branch they want to be based in, but I hadn't decided yet. So when I heard that this place was going to be opened, I was happy to come on board.
Oh, that's what I'm talking about...

　He removed his hood and sat down in the recommended chair. The room was surprisingly clean and tidy, with various documents and books lined up on shelves. There are also a few items here and there that are filled with magic. I'm sure that's what the guild master is all about.

I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this as well. Congratulations.
'Ah..... Thank you.
Oh, thank you very much!

　Hilda, you're too loud. Without noticing the intent of my gaze, Hilda wriggled around in embarrassment.

''However, the Euron incident has come. Most of the guilds in that country were destroyed, and those who managed to survive were seriously injured. Even so, there is still a need for adventurers, so we are rebuilding the guild. It's going to take quite a while, though.

　It was quite a blow, after all. The information about Fraise had spread to the other guild masters, but it hadn't made it to the staff at the end of the line. If they had been that thorough, they could have run away or something.

''Has there been any information on the appearance of Frase since then?
'So far, I haven't heard any reports from any of the branches. Does Your Majesty think there's a chance of something like that happening again?
'I don't think we can say this is the end. I don't know if that's tomorrow, or a year from now, or even ten years from now.

　Relisha-san puts a hand to her chin as she drops her gaze and thinks about it.

'Well, I guess we'll just have to pay close attention now. I just don't want you to show up in Euron again when you're done rebuilding, though.

　Relisha-san laughed jokingly, but in fact, I'm glaring at the possibility of it. It's clear that the world is tearing apart in that space over there. It's not necessarily true that it won't open there again for some reason.
　They target humans, sub-humans, demons and other intelligent life forms. That's why there are some parts of the town itself that are not so damaged, but they don't want to live there if they think there was a genocide there.
　The exiled Euronians flee to neighboring countries, some become bandits and brigands, others become adventurers who make money by defeating them. All their lives have been changed by that event.

''Within Euron, there are still voices within Euron that say that the great raid was the work of His Majesty. But once you step out of Euron, no one believes it. The exiles who have gone to other countries know the truth better. You can see that the more they talk about it, the less trust they have in it, and the less powerful they become.
Well, I'll just say what I have to say. I'm not interested in Euron.
"Don't allow Brunhild, the avenger, to garner the support of the people! Or maybe they'll harass you in some way?
I'll crush the leader then. I'm not a saint enough to keep silent after being hit. I'll pay back with courtesy and fist for fist.

　The only way to get rid of the fire that's coming down is to pay it off. I certainly have sympathy for Euron, but that's not the same thing as this. I don't want to be lied to and be accused of being lied to.

''Let's let that rumor circulate from the guild as well. ''King Brunhild is generous, but he has no mercy on those who do harm to his country.''

　That's something. It's going to be an unnecessary tailspin. Well, it's a little late for that, but.... Let's change the subject.

How's the guild management?
It's not so bad. There are quite a few miscellaneous daily jobs, and there's also a fair amount of fight scenes in the Belfast and Regulus areas. The problem is that there aren't any requests for advanced players. I guess that's how peaceful it is.

　It's true that there are no demonic beasts around here, and there are no bandits or bandits of any kind. It might not be enough for those who want to make a killing, right?
　At that time, I heard some arguing downstairs. What is it?
　When I asked Relisha-san about it, she told me that it was an everyday occurrence in the guild, and that there were several times a day when there were disputes like this.
　Come to think of it, I got tangled up with them a few times too.

I've been tangled up with him a few times too. This is not your place.
"Hey, buddy, don't get your panties in a bunch with a girl, huh?
"I'll teach you how to be an adventurer. I'm gonna teach you how to be an adventurer.


　As far as I'm concerned there were none as far as I could tell.
　Basically, the guild does not interfere in disputes between adventurers. That is not the case if the guild is harmed, though.
　Well, if you're going to go on a rampage, you're going to have to do it outside, I guess. In anticipation of that kind of thing, they must have built a guild here, where the front street is wide.
　Eventually, I heard some footsteps going out to the front with a thud. I wonder if the people from the guild have kicked them out.

''Oh, it looks like we'll be continuing out front.

　Looking down the street from the window of the room, Relisha-san muttered to himself.
　Oh, I've been told that a lot, too. 'Get out front!' I mean. I guess that was more about embarrassing the guild in front of the public rather than causing trouble for them. Of course, I embarrassed him, but the opposite is true.

Of course, I embarrassed him. "Mmm, isn't it embarrassing for one person to be in front of so many people? And the other person is a woman.

　Hilda looked out of the window beside Relisha-san, as if her interest had been piqued.

''But in terms of ability, that woman seems to be better than you. See, one of them got beaten.
''Indeed. He seems to be an axe user from the weapon at his waist, but if he can use that one, he must have a lot of physical strength. His movements are good. Rather than trained movements, that was something that came naturally to me. But he's an odd looking guy, isn't he?
As I recall, they are the native dress of the Lauri, one of the tribes living in the Sea of Trees. I didn't expect to see it here.

　Hmm? Some tricky words flowed out........ Huh? The Lauri tribe, I believe....
　Peering down from the window that was separate from the two of them, I looked down and saw a brown-skinned girl who had four men crawling to the ground and making a big stand against the fifth.
　Wait! Who is that girl?

Lady Winter's Night?

　With Hilda's voice at her back, she ran out of the room and went downstairs through the guild reception area to the front. Just then, the girl's brilliant kick had just exploded into the other man's side.
　Ooh~, the onlookers around her cheered, and the girl took one look at the five men who were sprawled out in an annoying manner and let out a single breath.
　Then she meets my gaze as I come out of the guild. Ah, I knew it. This girl, the grandson of the chieftain who bit me in the Great Sea of Trees...was her name Pam, if I recall?

...we found it.

　Huh? Huh? Did you just say that? I'm pretty sure she didn't speak Common Tongue.
　Duh! I ran out and suddenly Pam hugged me, and even though the momentum made me fall down, she just gave me a cheeky hug.
　Wait, wait! She's wearing some kind of cape, but underneath it's just a breast covering and a lower sash! I mean, it's so many things to hit! You are so big, as always!

What are you, what are you doing?

　When I turned my gaze toward the guild entrance while falling down, I saw Hilda, whose face was red, trembling wananly. Ah, it's some kind of bad atmosphere. Yeah, I know. I've experienced it a few times.

'Hey you! Get away from Master Winternight!
What do you want? This is Pam's. Pam is going to bear his children.
What, what, what, what?

　I turn even redder and Hilda flinches.
　I don't understand why it's happening so rapidly. I demand an explanation!