The time has come for us to finally begin our mission.

Yes. And I'm sure we'll get him, if we do.

Wow, I'm here to help in any way I can!

'Cousin, wait for me!　I'll give you my first!

　◇ ◇ ◇.

Wow, I haven't slept well in a long time.

Ew.

　The day after the conference to which the kings of the world had been invited had ended. I was stretched out on my bed groggily. Lately I've been preparing for the conference by cutting down on the time I've been sleeping. Yesterday was the first time in a long time that I'd been able to sleep slowly.

　Next to me, Ekla, who was sleeping with me, was stretching out and yawning as well. Haha, that's cute. As I'm patting Ekla's head and soothing her, there's a knock at the door. This time of day.

And excuse me, Master Ray!

　I knew it was Krona. I think there's something wrong with her. Is it my imagination?

'Good morning, Master Ray!　You seemed to be able to sleep right away last night, are you feeling okay?

Good morning, Krona. Yeah, I'm fine. I haven't had a good night's sleep lately. I got a good night's sleep for the first time in a long time yesterday.

　When I say that, Krona smiles, too, which is good, and she gets ready for her usual morning. But sometimes she glances at me and blushes when she glances at me. What is it?　What's going on?　But before I could ask.

Come on, Master Ray. Let's get ready and head to the mess hall. They're waiting for you.

Yeah, yeah, I'll be there in a minute.

　Krona got ready as usual and left the room. I didn't hear it. Well, I'll ask him later. I'm going to get dressed too.

　I wash my face and change my clothes. I put Éclat in his usual position and continue down the hallway. As I proceed down the corridor, I am bowed to by a group of handmaids passing by.

　Come to think of it, their contract is about to end. They were hired by the Nanor Kingdom's head maidservant on the promise that they would only work during the conference. I have to prepare for that as well.

　I also have to return the desk and other items I borrowed from the Nanor Kingdom. There's a lot of things to do when you think about it. The only thing I need to do in a hurry is to take care of the handmaidens, so I'll take my time.

　I need to build an additional transferable magic circle to prepare for the war, but I'm still in the process of having them gather materials for that as well.

''Kyu, Kyu, Kyu, Kyu, Kyu, Kyu!

　Ekla purring happily above my head. You are in a much better mood today. Did something good happen? When I opened the door to the dining room while petting her, everyone was already sitting there waiting for me.

''Good morning, Ray. Did you sleep well?

"Oh, good morning, Alexia. Good morning everyone. I slept so well. You look like you were really tired.

　I take a seat in the top seat, my usual fixed position. Everyone else doesn't have a fixed seat except me, and the sooner the better.

　Today, Alexia is sitting right in front of me and Caro is sitting left in front of me... Huh?　Come to think of it, May and Roy don't have Phelia and the others. I'm sure they were still in this territory.

''Well then, Ray is here too, so let's eat.

Hey, what's going on with Mei and the others?　I should be here all the time.

Oh, May and the others have gone to the Lanwalker Frontier County. Filia-chan invited me.

　Pricia replies. Really? Well, if you're going to play, you'll be fine. And if you're in run-walker territory, you don't have to worry about it.

　Then everyone starts eating their breakfast. Except for me, the people here are Alexia, Ferris, Caro, Helen, Aeris, Merlin-san, Pricia, Ekra, Kana, Mari-chan, and Krona.

　A few less than usual, but still quite a few. I was thinking about that.

Ray. What do you have planned for today?

　Alexia asks me. Everyone looks at me in response. Hmmm, plans. For now.

''I guess what we need to hurry up with is the return of the handmaidens we have been hired by the Nanor Kingdom. It's almost the end of my contract.

'Come to think of it, I'm sure you did. But you don't have to be in such a hurry, do you?　Your father will forgive me if I'm a little late.

'Hmmm, even so, they say there's decorum in intimacy, right?　My contract is up until the end of the meeting, so I need to get you all home by the end of the day.

　When I say that, Alexia chokes on her words, giggling. What's going on?　What is it?

'So you don't have anything in particular after that, then?

　Then Helen asks her to help Alexia. So that's what it's all about. Sure, the hurry is to return the maidservants, but there are other things I want to do, too.

　When I tell them that, Alexia and the others gather at the end of the dining room and begin to discuss something. It's just me and Ekla eating breakfast.

　And Alexia and the others have finished discussing it, so they don't go back to their seats.......but stand to surround me. What, what?

'Ray, I'm sorry, but you're going to get caught.

'What?　Whoa!

　When Alexia said a disturbing word, she unleashed a spell at me. It's a capture-type magic. I immediately jumped away from the spot and avoided it, but why on earth!

d*mn, you're avoiding me. But you're not going to get away from me!

　Everyone is jittering down on me. Why?　What did I do?　I don't know why, but should we run away from this place? Or should we talk about it?

Hey, everybody settle down. Why are you doing this?　Did I do that?

'Yes, I did!　A mortal sin that must not be committed!

　Aeris jumps at me as she says this. What should I do? Should I avoid it or should I accept it?

　I decide to catch Aeris. I don't know what I did, but I'm sure I did something to make everyone this angry. I should honestly apologize here. I have to apologize for all the things I don't remember, including the things I don't remember.

''Heh?''

　Aeris pounces on me, and I catch Aeris in a hug. Aeris, as expected, makes a goofy noise. And.

'Ah!

　And then I hear my fiancé's screams.

'I'm sorry, Aeris. I don't know why you're so angry, I just don't know. I'm sorry, but can you tell me?

Okay, all right, squeeze harder!

　Oh, whoa?　My unexpected answer came back. Do I just have to squeeze harder?　When I squeezed as I was told, Aeris's face became more squishy than ever. What is this, it's so cute.

　I was holding the squishy Aeris in my arms, but Naosama, Alexia and the others had captured Aeris.

　And now Aeris is surrounded, and everyone is pissed at her. What you hear is a variety of things, like being unfair, or wanting to be done to me too, or even more than that. ........what the hell, more than that.

　Then I quiet everyone down and let them sit back in their seats. I need to hear better from everyone. Why was he so angry? I make sure Krona puts the drinks in front of everyone before I start talking.

'So, about earlier, I want you to tell me why I made you all so angry. It's enough to make everyone so angry. I must have done something substantial, but I don't remember it. I'm sorry!

　I bow to everyone. I don't think they'll forgive me for this, but I have to at least show them my sincerity. Then.

'Oh, lift your head up, Mr Ray!　We're not mad at you!

　Helen says. I lifted my head in horror and saw that everyone had a very annoyed look on their faces.

''It's not that I'm mad at you, Ray. It's just that Ray has been busy lately with the meeting and the demon race, right?　So we thought we'd give you some rest.

''But no matter how much I asked, my cousin kept saying work work work.

The construction?

'We really wanted to make out with Ray!　Especially those of us who were the stay-at-home crew!

　 It was true that he had been working hard these days and hadn't had a break.

　Besides, Alexia and Krona were able to spend time with him while he was in the Regalia Empire, but everyone else couldn't. That's certainly no wonder I'm angry. It's my fault.

''Well okay. We'll have a relaxing time together this afternoon. As I said before, I think we'll put an end to the samurai business. I'm sorry, guys. I didn't think about everyone else.

'Please don't apologise. We know we're being selfish, too.

　Pricia says so, but I still have to do this kind of thing from me. It's my fault, no matter where you look at it.

　Then, after finishing the meal, I gather the handmaids who have been sent by Nanor to confirm their contracts and pay their salaries upon their termination.

　There were some maids who wanted to work here, but I couldn't give them permission, so I asked them to go back to Nanor and talk to the head maidservant of Nanor and ask her to contact me afterwards. I don't want them to pull out without permission.

　We all had about thirty maidservants sent to us, and it was quickly turning into the middle of the day as I checked on each one of them.

　I've got other work to do, but I promised everyone else I'd do it. That's it for today. But, although I said I was going to spend the day mingling, what am I going to do? I haven't seen anyone else since I finished breakfast.

　Anyway, when I headed to the cafeteria, there was no one there, and there was a single letter potted on the desk. There it was.

"Wait for me in the bathroom!

　And for some reason it was written in bright red. Why red?　I'm a little scared. But, well, there's no point in sitting here thinking about it. Let's head to the bathhouse.