Thanks to Norris, the nature of the discomfort Aldis was feeling was clear.
　It's probably not something that can be done about right now, but it's not a problem that can be left alone either.

　However, it is not easy to solve the problem because the cause is just the superstition of an abominable child with no basis in fact.
　It's not like we can just use force to defeat monsters and be done with it.
　The roots are very deep because of the fact that there are goddesses and beliefs involved.

　The other cause, the relationship between Nere and the territorial army is also completely strained.
　It's hard to believe that this can be resolved peacefully if the platoon leader has his eyes on you, and even the territorial army is backing you up.
　If you ask them, it seems like they might be making enemies with the lord as well.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a great deal more to say about it.
　She sinks into the living room and sinks into the sofa.

　If you can, you want to doze off like this.

You're not going to be able to get out of the house. Let's just get out of Tria.

What's the matter, my Lord?

　Sighing, Nere comes from behind Aldis, tray in hand.
　He puts two cups of tea on the table and sits down next to Aldis and sips from his cup.

　The squire, who had somehow come to live under the same roof as Aldis, had established a firm position in the house by demonstrating his versatility in cleaning, washing and cooking.
　Nowadays, she also shows her squires' attention to detail, such as making tea for Aldis when she takes a break.

　On the other hand, the careless way of speaking is still the same, and instead of calling Ardis master, he sits down next to her and starts drinking tea before his master, which makes me doubt whether he really has the awareness of a servant.
　But at least he acts in accordance with Aldis's wishes, and he also takes good care of the twins.

　Lately, the twins have finally gotten used to it, and I've even seen them talking to Nere.
　This time, we found out that they had a terrible bomb in their pockets, but even so, they're beginning to feel friendly enough not to get rid of it right away.

"It seems that the marquis and the territorial army have their eyes on us.

　Aldis said, moistening his mouth with tea.

'So what's the harm in that?　Such a small thing, so insignificant. If it is my Lord's life, I will now destroy it?

Please don't.

　That's not what I want.

　If it's a problem that can be crushed, that's fine.
　It's not necessary to ask Nere to do it, Aldis can go to the lord's house by himself.

　The problem comes after that. The Marquis is the opponent, and behind him is the Kingdom of Naglas.
　Destroying the Marquis of Tria is the same as picking a fight with the kingdom.

　Aldis is only a mercenary.
　It is not that he wants to start a civil war against the state.

　If push comes to shove, he can move his base of operations to another country, and as long as the only people still working at the moment are the marquis and the territorial army, the country may not be involved yet.
　As long as they leave the Trier, the problem will naturally subside, won't it?
　This idea has led to the phrase, "Let's just leave Trier," which means, "Let's just leave for a while.

"I'll just be quiet for a while," he said. I don't feel safe to leave my home under these circumstances.

　With time, the residents might calm down, and even if the marquis and the territorial army had bad intentions towards Aldis and the others, there's only so much they can do as long as they're in a position to make them obey the law.
　Of course, as long as the other party is obeying the law in good faith.

''Nere has met the Marquis before, right?　What was he like?

　Ardis knows the general's work ethic.
　Although he was arrogant, he was the type to try to keep law and order.
　If the lord is in control, he will not go out of control.

　But he had never met the Marquis, the highest authority in Tria, in person.
　As far as the reputation of the residents was concerned, I got the impression that he was a competent politician.
　Nere, who had met him in person, would have a more accurate assessment of his character than Aldis.

'A vile, greedy pig without intelligence.

　Aldis's hand stops as he brings the cup to his mouth.

'What about ......?'

'That's why you heard about my lord, isn't it?　'Vile, greedy pigs with no intelligence,' he says.

　It was an unexpectedly venomous character review.

'Oh, well, ............, by the way, what did you think of the General?'

"Barking at stray dogs.

　Hearing this, Aldis is convinced that he understands.
　The evaluation of the general is not so different from that of Aldis.
　So, it seems that Nehre's evaluation of the Marquis is not simply a result of prejudice or feelings of good or bad.

　If that's the case, it would be better not to judge based on 'the law allows or does not allow'.
　There is a possibility that they may use underhanded methods.

'It looks like we'd better be on our guard.




　Aldis' fears would come true a few days later.

　It had been cloudy since the morning and did not seem to clear up until after the night had spread.
　The starlight was obscured by the cloudy sky, and the evening was darker than usual.
　There was a knock on the front door of my house.

"My Lord.

I know.

　Aldis could sense the presence of a large number of people surrounding the house.
　From the size of their magic power, they were almost no different from ordinary people, probably the guards.
　It's a good thing that they're not going to be able to get away with it at this time of the day.

"Shall I go and repel them?

　It's easy to drive them back or repel them, with the help of Aldis and his team.
　But the problem comes afterwards.
　I'm not going to be the only one who has to deal with it.

I'll go out and deal with them. Nere, get ready to leave the city with those kids.

　I'd like to be as conciliatory as possible, but that's probably not going to happen.
　Considering the number of people surrounding the house in a circle, they must have come to confront us with a demand that we would resist.

　With the backdrop of Nere and the twins starting to pack up their belongings, Aldis headed for the entrance.

''It is an examination!　Open up here!

　The voice of a man who looked like a guard was heard banging on the front door.
　The voice is already shouting, if you can call it that, and the atmosphere is such that they could come bursting through the door in less than a few minutes if this is the case.

'What is it at this time of night?'

　As soon as Aldis opened the door while calling out to her, someone's command sounded.

''Enter!''

　Prying open the door, a group of fully armed guards attempted to enter the house.
　But that attempt failed spectacularly.

'What the hell?

　Blocked by the wards that Aldis had momentarily deployed, the guards stopped, bumping their heads as if they were blocked by an invisible wall.

　This was an application of physical barriers, magic that blocked the passage of moving objects with malicious or hostile intent to the surgeon.
　Naturally, it is Aldis's original and not the magic known to the public. It was more magic than magic, so to speak.
　Since it was deployed to cover the entire house, it prevented other windows and back doors from entering the house.

'Quite an unbecoming way to visit, isn't it? If you want to be invited into the house, there's a certain amount of protocol and decorum, right?''

　Ardis says in a condescending manner.

'Ki, you!　You're defying the guards!

'How can I disobey you when I don't even know what you want? I may be able to help you, depending on the content.

　Ardis replied in a blunt manner.

'So?　What can I do for you today?

　An older man stepped out of the murderous guards. He was probably the commander of his unit.

I have orders to capture the mercenary woman living in this house!　No good comes from hiding it!

'Hou ......, is it a capture order?　What exactly is the reason?

Assault of a territorial soldier and alleged kidnapping of an infant!

It's also ......, which isn't peaceful.

　A look of contempt dwelt in Aldis' eyes.

　It is a very good idea to be able to have a good idea of what to expect when you are in the middle of a battle.
　In addition, the kidnapping of an infant. It seems that they even plan to use the existence of the twins as an excuse.

　If we listened to them, they would not only take Nere, but also the twins as victims.
　This is something that Aldis can't accept at all.

''Do you have a warrant for your capture?

Look at this!

　An elderly commander unfolds a large sheet of paper in front of Aldis.

　A warrant of capture is an official document issued by an official body of the country.
　According to the laws of the Kingdom of Naglas, the guards can arrest a person on the spot if he or she is guilty of a crime.
　However, in order to detain a suspect who is not guilty of an actual crime, it is necessary to issue a capture warrant based on the circumstances of the investigation.

　In practice, capture without a warrant is widespread, and sometimes a warrant is issued after the suspect has been captured. Even though the system was in place, it was practically a mere shell game.
　However, when a suspect is of a privileged class, such as the aristocracy, the warrant is required, and when resistance is expected, such as for powerful mercenaries, the warrant is often issued for psychological effect on the attacker. In this case, the latter would be the reason.

''It's certainly a warrant of capture ......, but it doesn't seem to have the mark of the Houjyuin (Houjyuin) on it?

It's ......!

　The commander chokes on an unexpected point.

　The Court of Justice is a state institution that guarantees the legitimacy of the warrant of capture.
　In order to prevent the provincial lords and nobles from fabricating warrants, it examines the contents of each warrant and checks whether there is anything suspicious about the charges or suspects.

　By obtaining the seal of the Court Guardianship, the arrest warrant can finally be legally grounded.
　Conversely, anything without the seal of the Court of Justice has no legitimacy.

(In other words, this case is not in the hands of the state. )

　Aldis decided to gesture himself at this point.

''Ho, we'll be going through the Court of Justice's review soon!　It was determined that capturing the suspect was the top priority!

　The commander fumbled with a painful counterattack from the mercenary who only thought he was uneducated.

''So?　Who are you here to get?

A mercenary woman!　I know you're here!

What's your name?

'I don't care what your name is!　When I say mercenary women, I mean mercenary women!

(These guys ......, you're here to get someone whose name you don't even know?)

　The name of Nere was not listed on the arrest warrant, so I checked to see if it was possible, and sure enough, he didn't even know his name.

No, because if you don't know the name of the person you want to bring in, who can you bring in ......

'So just hand over the mercenary girl!

　Already, Aldis' mind is made up.
　What we need to do now is to stall for time while Nayle and the others get ready.

''There are three mercenary girls, though?　Who do you want me to hand over to?

What ......?

　Of course, it's a mouthful.
　But the guards do not know for sure how many people are in Aldis' house.

　The same is true of the city's inhabitants.
　Only Ted and his friends who have actually been in the house have any idea how many people live in it.

She's got long alice-blue hair and sky-blue eyes!

'Well, all three of us have the same hair and eye color: ......

No, it can't be!

'No, I know you're asking how that's possible, but it's true: ......

　Aldis scratched his head with his fingers deliberately and gave him a troubled look.

'So, who do we end up handing over to?'

'Gooooooooooooooooooooooo ....... Anyway!　Bring me every woman in this house!　We'll decide the rest!

(I guess it's about time.)

Okay. I'll bring him to the door and you can wait.

　Saying that, Aldis withdrew to the back of the house.
　Since Aldis showed an attitude of obedience in the meantime, the guards don't feel like they are forcing their way in either.

　When he returned to Nere and his friends, Ardis asked him.

I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to do that.

My Lord, you are already armed and armed with your personal belongings. Filia and Liana have already changed their clothes. We should have enough food for four days. There's no time to carry out any of this furniture, though.

　There were two huge backpacks and two bags that could hold an entire adult male.
　The bags were packed to the brim.

I'm not sure what to do about it. It's enough to take out equipment, money and food.

　You'll have to throw away the furniture you've bought all the time, but you can buy things again.

Filia and the others, are you going out?

Liana and the rest of the world: ......

　The twins grabbed Aldis's pants with anxious looks.
　For the two of them, the outside world must be nothing but bad memories.

But if you stay here, a lot of scary uncles will come to you. Both of you will have to be patient.

　The twins reluctantly shake their heads at Aldis' words.

　Both of them have been talking more lately and have become more assertive, but they still don't say anything selfish.
　If they were to cry out, it would be a problem, but Ardis was internally relieved to see the twins listening to what they said honestly.

''Well, let's go.''

　Aldis and the others went upstairs, through the attic and out to the roof.

Hold on tight, both of you. You might want to keep your eyes closed.

Yes.

Okay.

　Holding the twins in each arm, Aldis released the wards that surrounded the house.

　With the wards gone, she floated her body directly upward, blending in with the darkness as the guards rushed into the house.
　Within seconds, he rose to a height of a hundred meters above the ground and flew southwest through the night sky with Nere, who followed him with a bag in each hand.

　By now, the guards would be frantically searching through the house.
　In some cases, the walls might be broken down or set on fire, but they no longer have any use for that house.

　The Chamber of Commerce, which acted as an intermediary, may be a big loss, but I didn't have the compassion to spend on those who said, "We want you to terminate the contract or move out immediately" as soon as they heard about the twins.
　However, in case this kind of trouble happens, they may have taken a hundred gold coins as a deposit, and they may be able to break even.

　As it was, Aldis and the others flew to a distance of about a day's walk from Tria and landed at a place away from the city road and spent the night there.