It's been a few days since Aldis began working from his new base in the royal capital.
　Although he went out to hunt a few times, he didn't have any contacts to introduce him to jobs like Tria did.
　Aldis continued to do uncharacteristic things, such as bringing in daily necessities to a house in the forest.

　Then one day.
　Cesare, an informer, offered him three coppers for a piece of information.　

He said, "It seems that Marquis de Trier is not attached to you, but the mercenaries do not think so. Some of them want to kill you.

　It seems that along with the transmission of Nere's story, Ardis' name is also being conveyed to the royal capital at the same time.

　According to the information obtained by Cesare, the target of the Marquis of Tria and his army is Nere, and they have not shown any movement against Ardis personally.
　But the mercenaries who don't know this, and those who know about it and are still reading into the background of the situation, seem to be moving to present Ardis to the Marquis de Tria.

''In a way, the rumors we spread are working.

　Just as Cesare had said, the rumor that the 'female mercenaries have drifted off to the Empire' that Aldis had requested and had circulated was spreading among the mercenaries through the informants.

　It seems that there is indeed no one who is going to follow Nere to the Empire.

　It's not like there was an official request to begin with.
　It's a very curious thing to think about going on an expedition to another country, because even if you capture Nere, there's no guarantee that you'll be rewarded by the Marquis of Trier.
　But if Ardis is regularly appearing in their home turf of King's Landing, ...... It's natural that some people would think that this is a good idea.

　Of course, even if you successfully capture Ardis and present him to the Marquis of Trier, you won't necessarily get a reward.
　However, those who are unable to understand this, those who are optimistic, and those who think in their own way, may see Ardis as nothing more than a "prey of umami".

　It's not only that, but it's also that he's a good friend of mine.
　For this reason, Ardis' own strength is probably not conveyed to the royal capital.

''You'd better be careful just in case. ...... Well, you wouldn't be so easily beaten, though.''

All right. I'll be careful. I'll thank you.

I don't need to thank you for paying me for .......

　Cesare said with a complicated look on his face.

'But well ....... Aside from being attacked, it's a pain in the ass to fight them off one by one.

You don't mind being attacked: "You don't mind being attacked: ......

　Even if they were attacked by relying on numbers, Aldis had no intention of losing to those mercenaries out there. But it was still a hassle in the sense that it was an extra hassle.

''Then why don't we just show them how strong the mercenaries are so that they won't even want to touch them beforehand?　I hear we're taking down some well-known demons.

Conquering demons.

　Until now, Aldis had been indifferent to making a name for herself.
　It was because she didn't want to get into trouble, but as of now, Aldis is already in trouble.
　There is no point in pretending to be ordinary now.

　If that was the case, it might be better to show off his overwhelming power and not inspire Aldis to try to get his hands on him.
　This is because if Aldis becomes a recognizable figure among the mercenaries, it might be a deterrent to protect them both when they find out about the twins.

''Cesare. What kind of demons are there that are famous around the King's Capital?''

One copper.

　My informant will give you the money.

That's pretty cheap.

That's the kind of information the average citizen knows about. You don't have to ask me, you can just ask around.

Then tell me about it for free.

My pride as an informant wouldn't allow me to do that.

　He was a man of professionalism in an odd way.

'All right, one copper, I suppose.

　With a bitter smile, Aldis took out a copper coin from his pocket and placed it on the counter.

''A famous 'named' demon around the royal capital. Moreover, there are three opponents that can make a name for themselves just by defeating them. First of all, the 'bell-neighbor' that has its territory at the foot of the Canobis Mountains, north of the King's Capital. It is a mutated version of Tron, a demon with two bruises on its face. Next is the Four Feathers, which nest on a small island visible from the capital. It is a giant bird demon with two heads, four legs and four wings. Finally, there is the Red Eater, which nests in the ruins by the sea. It is a humanoid demon whose entire body is dyed blood red.

　Cesare counted on his fingers and spoke of the characteristics of the three bodies.

''These are sometimes called the 'Three Powerful Demons' collectively. All of them are monsters that have killed numerous challengers in the past. They're as strong as the grinders you fought in Tria. If you can defeat one of them, there won't be any mercenaries who will think of messing with you in the future.

Is there a bounty on your head?

Of course. It is said that there are veins of heavy iron in Suzuichi's territory, but thanks to him we have not been able to even investigate it. If we can extract heavy iron in the area around the capital, it will bring great economic and military advantages, so the country will want to destroy it somehow.

　Currently, the only place where heavy iron can be mined in the Kingdom of Naglas is in the hills near the border with the Empire.
　As long as the relationship with the Empire is not good, it's great to be able to produce heavy iron outside of the border area, which is likely to become a battlefield at the start of the war.

''What about the 'Four Feathers'?''

They attack ships in the surrounding waters, so trade ships have to make a big turn around. If they are gone, it will be a great opportunity to open up the neighboring waters as a fishing ground. When it comes to "red-eating", it is a security issue. Even though it's called a ruin, it's said to have been used as a fort in the past. The fact that an unknown demon is nesting in a fort right next to the royal capital is also a problem for its members.

If that's the only reason, why don't you just let the army take them out?

'You don't want to inadvertently weaken the army in the midst of the ongoing tension with the Empire. It seems there hasn't been a large-scale defeat in the last twenty years or so.

　It is true that they would want to avoid having their army suffer greatly.
　If they are as strong as the grinder, then the number of deaths will only increase with the gathering of all the soldiers in the world.

''If we hunt those three, we can make a name for ourselves in King's Landing?

''There's no doubt about it. Besides, no decent mercenary would think twice about messing with such a powerful man.

I see.

　After that, Aldis paid an additional fee to get more information about the three bodies and left the tavern.




　After completing the necessary preparations, Aldis walked out of the north gate of the royal capital and headed for the foot of the Canobis Mountains on the 'Fuho'.
　He would save time by flying in the sky when he was out of sight, and would arrive at his destination before noon.

　Even though we are close to the capital, we are in the mountains, which are rarely visited by people.
　The leaves of the lush trees rustled in the wind.
　The sign of an active beast tells us that this is a rich mountain.

　Aldis pulls out a cheap bell from his pocket, bought in the royal capital, and gives it a light shake.
　The transparent sound of the bell echoes through the trees.

　Instantly, the signs of the beasts that had been around Aldis until then disappeared.
　According to what Cesare told me, the 'bell-neighborhood' is invited by the sound of the bell to appear.
　The normal 'Tron' doesn't have such a habit, but that individual, which seems to be a mutant species, is said to respond to the sound of the bell for some reason.

　When Ardis has been ringing the bell for a while, a white creature that walks on all four legs emerges from among the trees with rustling leaves.

'It really does come out at the sound of a bell, doesn't it?

　The face of the monster that appeared looked like a lion with a mane, but its legs were as thin as a waterfowl's, and it even had a waterspout between its fingers.
　It looks like a lion's leg was cut off and a waterfowl's leg was grafted onto it, but the figure itself is no different from that of an ordinary tron.

　The only difference is the color of the Tron. The normal Tron's entire body is dyed light brown, but the one in front of me is all white.
　Two bruises run from the forehead to the chin on the face.
　The appearance is just as Cesare had told me. It was definitely a 'bell-nearer'.

''Let's just get this over with.''

　I'm sorry for the "bell-neighbor" who has been at the top of the food chain here for many years, but Ardis has no intention of wasting time.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on in the world.




　A few hours later, Aldis was on a small island in the sea not far from the royal capital.
　The purpose of this trip was to defeat the Four Feathers, which live on the island.

　It's easy to lure this demon to the island.
　The Four Feathers will not tolerate any enemy who enters its territory.
　It's a good thing that you're not the only one who has been attacked by the Four Feathers, because they don't want to hide their appearance.

''It's bigger than I've heard.''

　According to the information I got from Cesare, the wingspan is five meters, but up close it looks like it's at least seven or eight meters long.
　The feathers covering its body were an almost blackish purple, and its appearance reminded me of a large bird of prey.
　It had two heads with sharp beaks, four large feet with claws, and two sets of four wings, from which its name is derived.

　The four wings rushed straight at Ardis.

'Oops.'

　It's a simple attack, but the huge body that collides with a sharp beak at its head is a deadly weapon in its own right.
　Aldis instantly gains altitude and dodges it.

　The four blades, which were able to avoid the first strike of the encounter head, turned around in a wide circle from a distance as it was.

　Just when you think a blinking light appeared around it, in the next moment the light turned into an arrow and struck Aldis.
　As expected, he couldn't avoid it in time, and the light danced around the surface of the magic barrier that Ardis had deployed without a chant, making a dry sound.

''Is it like an electric shock?''

　This is what Cesare had told me about the 'attack from a distance'.

"It's true that if you get shot by something like this from above, it must be hard on the sailors.

　It didn't matter how many bragging rights there were on board the ship if they were blitzed from above where the arrows couldn't reach them.
　The Four Feathers would always have been able to make a one-sided attack and drive the humans away.

　But that was the case with the humans on the ship.
　Aldis, who could fly, had the means to get close to the four blades, and once they were somewhat close enough, they could attack with magic or fly a short sword.

''Go!''

　Aldis fired his shortsword high into the sky.
　The two short swords flew in an arc to sandwich the four blades from both sides.

　As the four blades tried to escape from the unidentified object, Aldis slammed the shortswords into the four blades while using magic to check them.
　The shortsword dug into the bosom of the four blades and bared its merciless fangs, slashing off one wing after another from the base.

　The four blades, which had lost three wings, lost their ability to fly and crashed straight into the sea.

''Oh, not good.''

　If it sinks into the sea, it will be troublesome to take the head that is proof of the defeat.

　Aldis immediately freezes the sea at the point of the fall and incidentally changes its shape to look like a needle mountain.
　The four blades, which are unable to even control their posture, continue to thrust into the needle mountain at the speed of the fall, and after twitching for a while, they stop moving.