After defeating the grinder, Ted and the other 'Byakuya no Meisei' got fifty gold coins as a reward for defeating the grinder.
　Considering that it's only 10 gold coins per person, it's not a bad income.

　With the threat of the grinder gone, logistics will be back to normal before prices start to be affected.
　The praise of the marquis and his army for taking swift action can be heard in taverns all over the place.

　Of course, there were casualties in the defeat of the grinder.
　The main unit that was first attacked, and the squad that was attacked afterwards, together with the squad that was attacked, nearly twenty people were killed in battle.

　But the reason we were able to make such a sacrifice against the Grinder is because of Aldis and his team.
　If Ardis and the others hadn't participated in this defeat, the main unit would probably have been destroyed and each of the squads would have been defeated, and the number of casualties would have been incomparably higher.

　However, it was only the territorial army that defeated the grinders.
　Ardis also has no complaints about that in itself.
　It was the territorial army that set up the defeating force, and Ardis and the others have received rewards for their work.
　There is no denying the fact that the main body of the defeat is the territorial army.

　Even if the territorial army was completely useless, and it was actually Ardis and the others who fought against the Grinder.




　A few days had passed since the defeat of the Grinder.
　Aldis was still hunting with Nele, but gradually began to notice the distant atmosphere that surrounded them.

　At first I thought it was just my imagination, but apparently that's not the case.
　The inhabitants of the city, who used to be friendly to us, are now avoiding Ardis.

　When I was walking down the street, I was frequently accosted by guards and questioned by them.
　When going in and out of the city, they have become strangely strict.

　When I went to the stores I was familiar with to buy groceries and daily necessities, I was greeted with annoying looks.
　In the worst case, they would be turned away and told not to come back.

　The looks cast on Aldis and his friends as they walked down the street could not be described as friendly.
　They were not particularly harmful, but they made me feel uncomfortable and gave me a creepy feeling that I didn't know why.

　One day, a voice calls out to Aldis, who is walking alone in the city.

Mr. Aldis. Mr. Ardis, over here.

　I looked towards the voice and saw a woman beckoning me from a side street.
　It was a familiar face.

　Aldis walked into the side street where the woman beckoned to her, with a measure of caution.
　You will find a vivacious-looking woman with Tobi-colored hair.

Let's see, ......, I think it's ...... kashiha?

'Oh, you remembered. I'm a little glad you did, sister.

　She was the daughter of the "Haruki-tei," the inn where Aldis had stayed for a while with the twins.

'What do you want from me?'

'Uh, yeah ....... Really, you know, it's not a good idea to interfere with guests who have pulled out of the inn ....... Well, there it is, ....... It's a bit of a situation in Aldis's case .......

　He opens his mouth, slightly slurring his words as he stops himself.

''Aldis-san. Hasn't the guards been paying you a lot of attention lately?

...... What do you know about it?

Yes, with ....... A few days ago, a soldier from the territorial army came to our inn. The other day a young soldier by the name of Dekken came to our inn. He was asking a lot of questions about you: ......

You didn't tell him about the twins, did you?

　Kasiha shrugged when Aldis glared at her with a sharp look in his eyes.

''No, no, no way. If the inn blabbed about a guest's secrets, then it's a trust issue. I can't lie to a soldier, so I told him how long we stayed, but I didn't tell him anything about the twins. And in the case of Ardis, I talked to her and asked her to stay the night. It's not a good idea to sell, but it's also a good idea to be polite. It's just .......

"Just?

They've been talking around to our guests and residents in the area: ......, and they've probably found out about the twins, too: ......

　Ardis felt like sticking her tongue out as hard as she could.
　He endured it with a pained expression and took out a silver coin from his pocket and handed it to Cassiha.

Thanks. I finally understand the reason for the uncomfortable feeling I've been feeling these past few days.''

I'm sorry. I can't help you. ......

'Never mind. It's good enough that you're telling us what happened. It's business as usual at your place, and I know that bad news can be fatal.

　'Bye,' said Aldis, and turned his feet to the front street.

'I'll have a word with Ted and the others: ......

　We changed our plans and went to the inn where Ted and his friends were staying to talk about the situation over the past few days.

　The details of the defeat of the Grinder were not known to the general population.
　Of course, the fact that the territorial army was completely helpless, and that the mercenaries had eventually defeated them, was also unknown to the ordinary people.

　However, the soldiers of the territorial army who were on the scene knew.
　Especially for the company commanders and platoon leaders who were in command, they were completely crushed.
　He thought about the possibility that this had turned into hostility and resentment towards Aldis and the others.

　But from what Ted and the others had said, they hadn't felt such a change.
　That being said, it's reasonable to assume that the cause of the change is also Aldis personally.
　Since he was originally stared at by the territorial army and its commander, the general, it's not surprising that his ill feelings have developed into hostility.

　Nevertheless, then I can't explain why the gaze directed at me by the residents became unfriendly.
　In the end, Aldis talked that day and went straight home, but two days later he was called out by Ted and the others.

'I think I know why,'

　Norris opened with a straightforward statement: "I don't need to ask what the reason is.
　There is no need to ask the reason now.
　Aldis nodded with her eyes without saying a word.

'The direct cause is that the existence of those children has been discovered. And the root cause is her in Aldis's place - Nere.'

　Apparently, Norris had spent the whole day yesterday looking into it.

　The direct cause itself had been predicted by Aldis.
　Just what he heard from Kasiha at the Stoptree Pavilion was enough of a guess.
　However, if the trigger for the soldiers to come to the Stoplight Pavilion was the recent defeat of the grinder, then why was Ardis the only one who was being sniffed at? I didn't understand this.

''It was originally a story we brought in, but there was a request to take Nere to the lord's hall, wasn't there?

Yeah, that's when you met Nele.

'So Aldis's role is to guide Nere to the lord's house. You didn't accompany her from there, did you?

That's true. I don't have any obligation to go that far, and I don't think they'd let me into the mansion in the first place.

Yeah, I know. I guess that's the problem.

From there?

　Naturally I didn't know what had happened between the time I took Nere to the lord's mansion and the time she came to Aldis' house.
　I had never asked her about it because I wasn't interested.

''Well, I heard there was a gagging order in place because it would be a disgrace to the marquis and the territorial army, but that Nere guy seems to have done a lot of things back then.

A lot?

It is said that after showing disrespect to the chief political officer and the general, he also beat up his platoon leader, who was called the best user of his army. Moreover, the marquis, who came out afterwards, also did not thank him very much and left after hitting him with a one-sided word.

　What is that woman doing?

　The self-proclaimed squire of Aldis, whom he now trusts in his own right as a partner, sometimes acts in a manner that easily subverts his expectations.
　To be honest, I'd like to excuse myself by saying that it's none of my business what happened before I came to Ardis' house, but I can't just ignore it now, can I?
　While pretending to be obedient, you came with a hell of a bomb in your hand.

The best wielder in the army is a platoon leader named Dekken, who was there when we took out the grinder. Do you remember him, Ardis?

　Aldis shook his head in silence.

It's a good thing that Dekken's platoon commander was beaten hand and foot by the marquis, the chief political officer, the general and his fellow captains. At the end of the day, more than half of his men were killed in his attempt to regain his honor in the defeat of Grinder, and all of his successes were taken by mercenaries. ......

　'You'll want to resent him,' said Norris with a lighthearted laugh, and Norris continued his story.

'Maybe the target wasn't Aldis, but Nere.　So I was doing a background check on Aldis, who lives in the same house, and I found out that he happened to be protecting those kids.

'But that's a personal vendetta against the platoon leader, Deken, isn't it?　Isn't it funny how the guards are looking at me so hard, aside from the rumors in town?　I'm sorry to say, but a mere platoon leader doesn't have that much authority, does he?

''The thing is, Ardis. I heard that the reason they called Nere to the lord's mansion in the first place was because the lord's company commander had lost to her.

What?

'When she challenged a passerby on the street to join hands, one of the defeated people was a company commander in the territorial army.

That's .......

　Aldis frowns.

'Yes. I mean, you summoned Nele to the mansion to cover up your company commander's loss, and you hit the strongest guy in the house, but you lost again, and you took the grinder's defeat with you. In addition, he took all the advantages of defeating the grinder. It's no fun for a territorial army, is it?

You mean that one?　Does that mean we're being stared at by the entire territorial army?

'Hmmm ....... Is that a funny way to put it?　I think it's just a matter of Nere stirring up the situation where Aldis was originally being stared at by the territorial army," he said.

　Aldis plopped down on the table.

　Nere was the one who started the fire, but Aldis, who had been staring at him before that, was partly to blame.
　This couldn't be a one-sided blame for Nere.

　The fact that he had previously given a bad impression to the general and captain's rank for slavishly refusing to give instruction in sword and sorcery, the synergistic effect of his resentment towards Nere has probably led to Ardis being viewed as an adversary in combination with him.
　That's why it resulted in the leaking of the twins' information.

The majority of the territorial army would think that we are a bunch of miscreants who skimmed off their achievements, and if the top brass gave us twisted information that was not true, the guards at the end would believe it.　In this case, the platoon leader's personal vendetta against Nere has been compounded by a systematic vendetta from the ranks of the army.

　And Norris concludes his story.

'Be careful, Ardis,'

　Deciding that the conversation is over, Ted opens his mouth.

"It's not going to get any worse now that the word is out about those kids. There's a chance that some of them will resort to direct violence against the kids.

　Of course, that possibility has been considered by Aldis.
　But being able to understand and being convinced would be a different story.

'That doesn't mean there should be a law that says it's okay to hurt them.

I know what I'm talking about. Ordinary people don't do that. But the goddess's devout followers wouldn't understand. Religious beliefs are worse than the average demon. And even if you don't resort to violence, the offense against the abomination will bite you in other ways.

Another form?

You've felt it. The rejection, the unwillingness to engage.

...... Yeah.

　I know that. Aldis felt badly about it too.

　The looks that are suddenly thrown at him as he walks down the street are to avoid Aldis.
　The gaze that is averted when you talk to him is to get away from Ardis as soon as possible.
　The look that is shot and stared at is to show that you are different from Ardis.

　The reasons may be different, but the underlying intent is one of rejection.

'Even farmers and merchants are ordinary citizens who believe in a goddess, you know?　If you can't sell your bread and weapons, I don't care how strong your arm is, you can't make it.

　Aldis neither denies nor affirms it.
　If he were on his own, he could manage food and live outside the city.

　But it's hard to ask the twins to do the same.
　Weak people who can't defend themselves, like the twins, can only live inside the city.

'In a group, you don't need a sword to kill someone. Even if the person who kills you has no intention of killing you, a gathering of distorted emotions can easily lead to your death. Don't forget that.

　Aldis knows such things. He also knows that human impudence is a far more tricky threat than demons and the like.

'Don't worry. We don't grow up in a world so peaceful that we underestimate the malice of humans.