Back at the Stopwood Pavilion, Aldis calls out to Kasiha, who is writing at the counter, and tells her that he intends to vacate the inn tomorrow at noon.

'What?　Ah ......, yes .......

　Kasiha, in contrast, rolled her eyes in surprise for a moment, but quickly responded apologetically.

　Aldis had noticed a mixture of disgust in the looks directed at him by the other guests over the past few days.
　At the same time, Kasiha has also changed from her initial hurried demeanor and is now showing a troubled expression.
　It's a good thing that you're not going to have to worry about what you're going to say.

　Aldis suspected that the twins had begun to spread rumors about them.

　The twins are always cooped up in their room and Kashifa carries their meals to their room.
　They are rarely seen by others, but they must have been spotted by the other guests on their way to the bathroom or something.

　Of course, I've told the twins not to leave the room as much as possible, and when they do, not to leave both of them at the same time.
　But even though the twins have never disobeyed Aldis's commands, they may not have been able to bear the thought of being separated and alone.

　Although not heard directly from Kashiha's mouth, Aldis can sense from the gazes of the surrounding guests and inhabitants of the inn, as well as the occasional snippets of conversation that the inn has a bad reputation.

　The Stop-marked tree pavilion is a small inn.
　If the number of customers goes away because of such an ugly rumor, the business will quickly become unsustainable and even the foodstuff supply will be affected.

　Kashiha wants to do something about the twins, but he is the one who brought them to the inn, so he can't say anything about it.
　It was inevitable that when he said he was leaving the inn, he could not help but see a look of relief on his face.

He said, "Prepare dinner for today and breakfast for tomorrow, and prepare hot water before dinner. Also, I'd like some hot water before dinner.

All right. I'll bring it to you later. Sorry about that .............

I don't mind. I'm the one bothering you. I'm sorry.

　It was also because of this that Aldis ended the hunt with Grechet and the others prematurely.
　It was only a rumor now, but if they continued to overlook the situation and sit on their hands, it would eventually become more troublesome.
　That's why Aldis decided to move out of the hotel and arrange a house by herself as soon as possible.

(Thanks to that, though, his wallet was almost completely wiped out.)

　The gold coins, which had been steadily increasing during the past few days of hunting, were about to run out.

　To be honest, if Ardis was alone, one room in a cheap hotel would be enough.
　But if you think about the twins staying in the room, even from the standpoint of safety, I'm worried about the inn with other guests.

　If it is a house where there are no other people's eyes, as long as you don't go out of the building, you won't be seen.
　It would be a big expense, but there are more lucrative jobs to be had when you can leave the house in peace.

　The next day, after finishing the morning meal, Aldis lies down in bed and sleeps until noon, then leaves the stoplight pavilion, letting the twins put on their children's robes.

　They went to the merchant who had brokered the house to pick up the keys to the house and bought a late lunch from a stall on the way to their new bunk.

　The twins did not complain, but followed behind Aldis in silence.
　Thanks to their hoods being pulled over their eyes, the people around them wouldn't know they were twins.

　It takes thirty minutes to walk slowly to match the young twins' feet. Finally, they arrived at the house Aldis had signed a contract with.
　It was a single house of average size in the city of Tria. The layout of the house, with six rooms on the first and second floors, is too large for Aldis and the others.
　But the house is surrounded by a high wall, far from the slums, and has a guardhouse in the neighborhood. As long as those safety aspects are prioritized, it's inevitable to some extent that the rest of the house doesn't live up to their wishes.

　After inviting the twins into their new home, Aldis began to talk to them about the future.

'From today, this will be our home. Unlike the inn we were staying in this morning, there will be no one else in the house except us three, so from now on you can roam freely inside the building. For the time being, if you want to go outside, I will accompany you. It's not a problem inside the house, but make sure that when you leave the building, the two of you are not seen together.

　As usual, there was no reply from the twins.
　They stare into Aldis's eyes while he speaks, and when he finishes speaking, he nods with a coy smile.
　They may have been able to communicate, but they may still be on guard. The twins rarely spoke aloud.

　For the next three days or so, Aldis concentrated on setting up the living quarters of the house.
　She bought and brought in beds for herself and the twins, a set of kitchen utensils, a table and chairs for eating, and various other miscellaneous items from the Chamber of Commerce and the market.

　It was not like an inn with the furniture and beds provided.
　Aldis, who had no intention of settling down in this house, did not want to spend too much money, but neither did she want to leave the young twins in a bad environment.
　I didn't care if my wallet was empty, saying that I would be able to make some money soon anyway, so I went out and bought some household items.

It's not like I'm going to be home every day. Sometimes I'm not home for work for days at a time. I'll stock up on food that will last for a long time and basically prepare it so that I don't have to go out. So get yourself ready to take care of yourself.

　After spending the next five days teaching the twins how to build a fire, boil water, fetch well water and cook simple meals, Aldis finally begins to think about returning to his daily life as a mercenary.
　The first three days are day trips, and then they spend more time out and about, going out for a full day or staying overnight.

　Fortunately, the twins were quick to swallow and seemed to be able to take care of themselves just fine.
　Normally, young children of this age would feel uneasy or lonely in a situation where an adult is not present, but perhaps because of their unique upbringing, such an appearance was not seen. In fact, the twins alone seemed to be more comfortably at ease.

　Basically, they don't even complain, which is why things are going so well that it makes Ardis feel weird.
　As usual, Aldis barely opens her mouth when she returns home. Still, it's a little better than before, and she can now hear the affirmative and negative words "yes" and "no".

　They eat at the same table, but they won't start eating unless Aldis touches them.
　The bed they had bought for the twins did not seem to be used at all. When I looked into their bedroom at night, I found them huddled together in the corner of the room under a blanket, asleep.

(We'll just have to take our time.)

　Aldis couldn't take care of them forever, and she didn't plan to.
　But I was going to at least look for someone to take in the twins in between my mercenary work.
　If I, who owed a debt that I had no way to repay, couldn't do even that much, I wouldn't be able to match up with my former comrades.

'Well then, I'm off. I'll be back in two days. I've stocked up on food for five days as usual.

Yes.

　The twins nodded in unison, shaking their platinum blonde hair, which was now shining with the dirt removed.
　A short reply, but better than before just to have a reply. Thinking about this, Aldis left the house.

　Thanks to the removal of the restriction of a day trip, there is now more choice in the requests that Aldis can undertake.
　He can accept requests such as escorting or investigating for a short period of time, and even if he simply hunts, he can go far away and visit various hunting grounds.

　There's no doubt that hunting 'Hounds' and 'Whips' in the Caucasus Forest is more lucrative than hunting the Beast King in the nearby grasslands.
　Thanks to this, the pocketbook situation that had once hit bottom had been resolved in less than half a month.

So, can you help me with my business soon?

　The strong-faced swordsman approaches Aldis with enthusiasm.

"Ted, Ardis is pulling away. If you get too close to that bad guy's face, he'll run away.

　At Orphelia's words, Ted distanced himself from Aldis with an annoyed expression.

"You're awful, Orphelia. You don't have a 'bad guy face' when you get your party members, do you?

'Haha. Because it's true. With Ted and Aldis, if you don't know them, they look like the bad guys and the victim boys involved.

　Norris laughed out loud with a caracara.

'd*mn, I don't agree ....... Well, be that as it may, Ardis. Do you have a commission right now?

No, not at this time.

Well, that's perfect. You'll get it.

　As he said this, Ted walked into the tavern with Aldis, and when they got to the nearest table, he immediately began to order a malt liquor.

Hey, Ted, I'm at work! I'm at work!

That's nice, Orphelia. It's just one drink. It's not even that bad, I can't get drunk.

Already .......

'First of all, I don't have any choice. It's not a good idea to sit at a table and not order anything. There's no other place to sit and talk.

So why don't you just have some fruit water and a light meal instead of alcohol?

'Haha. That's a good argument for Orphelia, Ted.

'Keh!　Come on, a little pick-me-up. Right, Aldis?

What's more important than that?

　It's a good idea to have a look of annoyance on your face and not to ask for consent at such a place.

"You're a pain in the ass, too,

　After a word of frustration, Ted changed his attitude and said to Ardis.

'It's a request Norris took yesterday--'

　The story Ted told was that he had received a request to search and rescue the students of the Marieles School who had come from the capital.
　The target of the search is the students of the Marieles School who came from the royal capital.

''Marieles Academy?''

It's an academy in the royal capital that was created to find and nurture talent.

　Norris answers Aldis' question.

''Hmm, you mean the nobleman's little girls?''

''That's the Royal Academy. The Marieles Academy allows commoners to enter the school, so it seems that only a few of them are children of nobility.

So, what's the deal with the student?

Yeah. Well, it's a common story. The academy teaches students how to fight and magic as part of the military officer training curriculum, but it seems that every year some students who are overconfident in their own abilities always act recklessly.

What would you call reckless behavior?

I've heard that you're thinking of going out into the wilderness alone with no escort and taking down a demon.

Are you stupid?

Ha-ha. You're very direct, Aldis. I think so, too.

Does that mean you want me to go find those idiots and bring them back?

Simply put, that's it.

　Orphelia takes over Norris' explanation.

The request we received this time is to find and rescue students who have not returned after the scheduled date. The place is in the Caucasus Forest. It was supposed to come back in four days, but it didn't come back in the evening, so you sent out a search request.

You look as if you're not going to make it, don't you?

　Norris interrupts me after reading Aldis's expression.

'Why, of all things, would you be in the Caucasus Forest?　If it was King's Landing, there would be a more suitable place closer to home.

　The Caussus Forest is a dangerous place where even a full-fledged mercenary can be killed if he or she is not careful.
　It's not such a sweet forest that a newbie, let alone a student with no real combat experience, can enter and stay safe.

I'm sure he was vain. It's so much better to come all the way to Tria and enter the forest from here instead of from the capital.

What?　Did you walk in from Trier?

That's why there's a request for you to come here, not to King's Landing. It would be quicker than the Royal City's search.

　In a word, the Caucasus Forest is a large area. The level of danger varies from place to place.

　Various beasts and demons lurk in the forest, but their habitat is known to some extent.
　Demons that are dangerous enough to avoid fighting even for veteran mercenaries, such as 'Whips', are mostly found on the Tholian side, and not so much on the southwest side of the King's Capital.

　Therefore, even in the same Causus Forest, the danger level on the King's Capital side was relatively low compared to the Trier side.
　This is because the beasts and demons that appear on the King's Landing side are the ones that a full-fledged mercenary can deal with without a problem, such as the 'Double-sworded Beasts' and 'Murakumo'.

　Of course, even if the danger level is low, the word "comparative" is the first thing that comes to mind.
　Naturally, this is not an opponent that a mere student can fight and win.

　What foolishness. It's a good thing that you're not going to be able to get away with it.

I know what you're thinking. It's a job, too. If we can't rescue him, then the reward is conditional on the confirmation of his life and death and the recovery of his belongings.''

　Even for Ted, he probably thinks that the students' survival is hopeless.

''Normally we should have let them get away with it, but it seems that not only the academy but also the lord is paying them a pretty good amount of money.

　The man with a smirk on his face said that he would receive 150 gold coins if he succeeded in rescuing the victims. Even if the rescue is not accomplished in time, he said he will receive 30 gold coins if he is able to confirm that he is alive and recover his belongings.
　It's an unbeatable reward for an unknown group of students to be the target of a search.

　Norris' prediction: "I wonder if some of the students are the sons and daughters of powerful noblemen? That was the point.
　Indeed, if that's the case, it's understandable why the unusually high reward and the request for rescue was sent out immediately.

　Normally, just because the mercenary's return was after the scheduled date, no search and rescue request would be sent out immediately.
　And no mercenary anywhere would be treated in such an overprotective manner, even if they didn't return on the night of the scheduled date, so they should head to the rescue.

'What do you think, Ardis?　For me, I'd be happy if Aldis came with me. Even we would be in a cold sweat if we encountered the Whips while carrying their luggage.

'Well, ............ yeah. I was originally planning to go to the forest, and this time I'll be allowed to join you. But can I just come back home for once?

Hmm?　Home?

　Ted twists his head.

'Yeah, I ended up arranging a house. It's a bit of a publicity stunt. It seemed to cause a lot of trouble, so I signed up for a house on an annual basis. I told them I'd be back in two days, so I had to tell them of the change of plans. And I need to stock up on extra groceries, too.

Jesus. You should've just talked to Aldis at his house. You've wasted a lot of money.

'You can't convince me to waste my money on something that looks so good when you're drinking like that.

Absolutely.

　We don't have any liquor in our house, Aldis said lightly to Ted as he left the tavern and headed for home.