The next morning after defeating the "false holy" in a village near the border and being seen off by the villagers, Aldis and the others finally arrived in Leytin two days later.
　It's a good idea to have a good time with your friends and family.

　You will be able to get a good idea of what you want to do, and then you will be able to get a good idea of what you want to do.
　After the hospitality tea was served, five minutes later, three people arrived.

　The one in the lead is a young woman. She has a gray short cut and large chestnut eyes. Her appearance suggests that she is well-to-do.

　The next two are men.
　One is a middle-aged man dressed in neat clothes and looks like a servant.
　The other is probably a bodyguard. He didn't wear any protective gear, but he wore a sword at his waist.
　He had deep green hair and eyes of the same color. Although slender and slender, he seemed to have acquired the muscles necessary for a swordsman, and he had a well-proportioned body.
　The seamless way he carried himself also gave me the impression that he was more than capable of being a human being.

　As soon as he came into the room, he looked at Ardis and let out an incomprehensible "ugh!".
　Hearing this, a middle-aged man standing next to him turned to look at him accusingly.

''Sorry to keep you waiting, Kirill. It's good to see you've returned safely.

　Not caring about the situation behind her, the young woman sat down on the sofa while talking to Kirill.

'Yes, Marida. I'm back now. Oh, um, here's ....... It's the sword you requested.''

　Kirill held out the sword he was holding so carefully to the woman he called Marida.

''Yeah, sure. Thanks for your help.''

　Marida took it in a light tone, glanced at it, and placed it on the table.

　It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get it.

　It is a sword that was made to be fetched from deep in the forest, even after going to the trouble of doing someone. Normally you would at least pull it out and check the sword barrel.
　I'm not inspecting the decorations on the scabbard and hilt, nor is there a look of satisfaction on his face as he obtains the item he wants, but rather it looks as if he has completed the receipt procedure in a mere form.

'Oh, um. You're going to finance me as promised with this, right?

Of course. You'll be rewarded for your hard work, Kirill.

　Kirill looked visibly relieved to hear Marida's words.

'Who's that boy, by the way?

　Marida asks Kirill as she looks at Ardis.

'Well, and ....... This person is Aldis. That ......, he helped me with a lot of things in Naglas .......

That's great. It sounds like Kirill-kun has been a great help to me. I want to thank you for your help.

　Marida said with a smiling, but unguarded look in her eyes.

'Not really. I just did it because I felt like it.'

　In contrast, Aldis replies sullenly.
　If this is the person who let Kirill hold the small envelope with the card in it, you can't take his words at face value.

''Well, Kirill-kun. You and your husband will talk about the loan at a later date, but for now it's best to get some rest. Oh, but Ellie is waiting for you in the Chairman's office, so you might as well show your face to her as soon as possible.

'What?　............ Why is your sister here?

　Kirill asked, his eyes fluttering, as if that was unexpected.

'I'm sorry ............, I got caught.'

　Marida says while sticking out her tongue as if to say "Tehe".

'Huh?　Ehhhhh!

Oh, it would have been nice if I could have kept it to myself one more day. It seems that he heard the news from somewhere, and he shouted at me just now.

　Immediately Kirill begins to fret.

"Come on, come on. You'd better go while Ellie's patience is still free. If you don't hurry, Ellie might come to you.

Yeah, oh, ya, but ......

　Kirill, who was almost half floating on his haunches and scowling, was busy turning his head in and out of the direction of where Marida, Aldis, and the Chairman's office would be.

'Never mind about me. Just go ahead and go and reassure that sister or whatever it is you're doing.

Yeah, ......, uh, ...... yes.

　Kirill, who seemed to be uncomfortable with leaving Aldis out of his seat, finally left the room after hearing those words.
　After looking away from them, Marida checks with a man who looks like a servant.

''That room in the example, it's ready, nee?

Yes, sir. I'm ready to go, as you say.

Okay, keep this with you.

　Saying that, Marida handed over the example sword that she had left on the desk.

I'd like to talk to this boy alone, so could Nicole be excused from her seat as well?

　A servant man objected to Marida, who was directing her to the other guard.

'Hold on, miss. I thought we should leave Nicole behind, as expected.

Don't worry about it. You don't have to worry about it.

That's not how it works: ....... Hey Nicole, you can't even--

Oh no, it's impossible. I can't handle that thing. I don't think we can win.

　The guard who calls Aldis a 'thing' refuses to wave his palm (palm) at high speed.

'See, Nicole is saying this too, and she's gone quickly.

My lady--!

　The servant man, who was still voicing his opposition, was pushed by Marida to leave.

I'll be waiting outside the room for now. If you need anything, please yell out. I don't know if it will help or not.

　The man guarding him said in a hailing tone and left.

　Then there are only two people left in the room, Aldis and Marida.
　It's not just a matter of time before you get a chance to see the world.

'Well,'

　Marida, seated on the sofa, sipped her warmed tea and broke off the conversation.

'Greetings again, I guess. My name is Marida. I'm a hapless merchant who works as the chairman of this litte trading company. It's nice to meet you, 'Senken's Magician'.

　At the name he'd never heard it called, Aldis's questioning look into his dark eyes.

''The Wizard of a Thousand Swords?　What's that?

　After moving his activities from Tria to the royal capital Gran, Ardis no longer tries to hide his abilities.
　As a result, the existence of sword magic and the name of Ardis, who uses it, has spread throughout King's Landing, and he is accustomed to being called "the master of sword magic".

　Also, because of his achievements in defeating the three powerful demons in the area around the King's Landing, there are those who call him the "Defender of the Three Powerful Demons".
　But I've never heard him called 'magician of a thousand swords' before.

''Well, hey, hey, I understand,''

　When she replied with a smiling face, Marida let the conversation slide.

The first time you've been to Leitin?　This is a trading town and you can enjoy a variety of foods from all over the world. You might find some interesting things to eat while you're here. It's a long way from the ocean and we don't have much in the way of sea fish, though.

　Marida brings up small talk that Aldis is not at all interested in.
　Apparently, she doesn't seem to have any intention of starting the conversation herself.

''There are some ingredients that come in from the Kingdom of Naglas, but there's no need to eat them here--''

Who are you?

　Ardis asked straight away, as if she was too lazy to keep up with the unimportant conversation.

　Marida smiled as usual and replied in a matter-of-fact manner.

Yes?　You introduced yourself earlier as Marida of the Litte Trading Company, didn't you?

That's not what I'm saying.

'Well, well, don't look so scared. First of all, I'm not your enemy, Ardis.

　Aldis glares at Marida, who says in a light tone, 'You have?

'Yes?　You can't trust me, huh?

Of course. Do you really think you can trust a man to send a child into a forest full of demons all by himself?

　Kirill's case and Marida's humanity might originally be two separate stories.
　But it was this woman, of all people, who sent Kirill to the forest where demons roamed.
　No one with decent nerves would do such a thing unless they had malicious intent.

　As it turned out, Kirill was safe, and he was able to get the sword he wanted.
　But that was because of his chance encounter with Aldis.
　Without Ardis' help, he would not have been able to survive in the Caucasian forest, find the underground entrance to the ruins, or fight off the deformity that possessed the sword.

　If they had any common sense, they would have had a sufficiently competent bodyguard like the swordsman named Nicole mentioned earlier, or they would have prepared the necessary money to hire a guard in the city.
　But before that, I wouldn't order a 12-year-old child to explore the cave: ......

"But Kirill, you did your job well, didn't you?

That's a consequence of what happened.

Of course I would have wanted to provide you with an escort and more roadside silver. Then, Kirill, did you miss seeing you, Aldis?

(What are you talking about, this guy?)

　Aldis is confused by Marida's unintelligible talk.
　The way Marida speaks, it even sounds as if her goal was to get Aldis and Kirill to meet.

　But how could that be?

　It was just a coincidence that Aldis had entered the forest of Caussus that day.
　The sword he had ordered from the blacksmith happened to be finished, and as it happened, Ardis had not undertaken the request at that time, and he happened to think of trying out the sword in the Caucasus Forest.

　And Kirill's also happened to go into the forest that day, and he happened to be abandoned by the guards he had hired, and Ardis happened to come to where he had fled.
　It was not something he could do by aiming.

　Indeed, if you knew you were going to meet Ardis, you might be able to find the entrance to the crypt in the ruins, get rid of the deformity haunting the sword, or make your way safely back to Leytin.
　But Kirill didn't seem to know about Ardis, and even if he knew beforehand, it was too much of a coincidence and unnatural to rely on it in the first place.

　And most importantly, the words on the little card Kirill had been handed.
　That was definitely a message written to attract Aldis' attention.

'That card you were handing Kirill. What the hell do you mean by that?　How do you know what it is?　Who the hell are you?