After reuniting with Rona, Aldis returns to the royal capital with Sorte.

　Rona, who looks like a large beast, naturally stands out.
　There was a dispute with the guards at the entrance, but Solte, who is a well known candidate for the saint, interceded for them and they were allowed to pass.
　This is probably one of the reasons why the party bringing the beast is Aldis, who is widely known in the royal capital.

　Pulling Rona, who seemed to be drawn to the bustle of the royal capital and the delicious scent wafting from the stalls, Aldis sent Sorte off to the church.



'I see ....... I'm sorry to scare you, Sister Solte.'

　The one who came out from the church to respond was Father Blessed Sacrament, the one who had guided Ardis through the church the first time she had visited.
　It's time for lunch and in the deserted dining room, Father Blessed Sacrament, Sorte and Ardis at the other end, and Rona squatting at his feet.

'Oh, Goddess ......, forgive me for my uncertainty and immaturity,'

　After explaining the consequences of the attack by the mercenaries, Father Blessed Sacrament began to cross his arms and ask for forgiveness from the goddess.

　Aldis thinks that he is the wrong person to ask for forgiveness from.
　But he knew it would only lead to more trouble, and he knew that this is how followers are supposed to be.
　So I'll just point it out in my mind.

'I was thus safe, so please don't worry too much about it.

　More than anything else, Solte herself has said so, so it's not something Aldis, a third party, should be able to say about.

''So what were those guys after all?''

　From the circumstances before and after, and the words and actions of the mercenaries, it seems that they attacked Sorte at the direction or request of someone else.

　According to what Father Blessed Ears explained to me, the documents for hiring the guards had been forged.
　The mercenaries who attacked Sorte had brought in the forged request form and pretended to be his guards.

　There were many who claimed it was just a mistake, but after launching an investigation led by Father Fukumimi, they succeeded in finding the culprit easily.

''I don't know. The friar who is believed to have written the request form in question has already been taken into custody. Since the number of people who handle the request forms issued by the church is limited to begin with, it was easy to track down the suspect. It's just--

"Just?

'I've lost track of their motives. The people who were interrogating me assumed that they were doing it for money, but from what I've heard, I don't think it's even a coincidence that the fake request letter was passed to the mercenaries who attacked Sister Sorte.

Did the monk himself confess?

　Father Blessed Ear shakes his head.

'He has been mute from the beginning of his captivity. But now that he's come under arrest, his interrogations will naturally be more rigorous. I'm sure he'll start telling the truth in less than three days, but I wonder what kind of statement he'll come up with. ...... The story may not end with just one monk's injustice.

What do you mean?

　A probing look is given to Ardis.

'I'm beginning to suspect now that maybe there was someone else pulling the strings behind the scenes.

　There was a faint hint of alarm in his eyes.

'Okay.'

　Ardis passed it off as a casual remark.

'Well, I understand the situation. Or perhaps I should say that I found out that the background is not clear. Either way, the rest will be a matter to be resolved in the church. It's not for me to say.

　Aldis stands up as if he's just asked what he should have asked.

'Oh, wait a minute!'

　Solte stopped Aldis as he started to walk away.

'We have not yet paid you for fulfilling your request. Father, what is the reward for your request?'

Yeah, I've got it right here.

　Father Blessed Ear holds up the leather bag that Father Blessed Ear had placed on the chair next to him, so that it is visible to Sorte, who checks.

'I don't want it,'

What?

　Leaving Solte unaware of what was said, Aldis began to walk to the entrance of the dining room.

'What do you mean?　For the guards-- I mean the luggage handlers?　Why don't you want it?

If I say no, I mean no.

So why?

　Sorte rushes over and grabs Aldis's arm to hold him back.

'I don't deserve it,'

　To Solte, who won't let me walk away honestly, Aldis reveals the reason for this.

"I'm not unqualified, that's not true. This is how you got me back in one piece.

It's just a coincidence that you're safe. If it weren't for Rona, I wouldn't have made it in time. It was my mistake to put the target of my protection in danger. So I won't get paid.

But that's because ......, I followed them myself and ......

But that's my fault for creating that situation.

　Solte, who looks dissatisfied with Ardis' stubbornness and refusal to budge, has a dissatisfied expression on her face.

　The candidate for the saint, who had the same cherry-red eyebrows as her head hair, has no intention of withdrawing her claim here either.
　At the end of the barren shouting match, Solte unusually raises her voice.

''No!　You should still receive your reward. Regardless of what happened to me, I came back safe and sound, and Mr. Aldis was protecting me all along. To not reward is not humanity!　Mr. Aldis is obligated to receive his reward!

　Aldis looked troubled for a moment by the unexpectedly stubborn Sorte, but the next moment he sighed briefly as if to say, "It can't be helped," and then offered a compromise plan.

''Then do that reward, Rona.

'What?　God--, Master Rona?

　Sorte, who was about to say God Beast-sama, rushes to correct him.

　Even if it's just Rona's presence is eye-catching.
　Moreover, if Sorte, who is said to be a saint in the future, calls you a divine beast-sama or something like that, no matter how you turn it, you will attract people's attention.
　On the way to the King's Capital, I've been careful to call her by name 'Rona' instead of 'Divine Beast-sama', but it seems that I still can't get rid of the first way of calling her.

''That's right. It's Rona who saved the dangerous part. Rona deserves to receive that reward.''

'What?　Err, ....... That's ......, if you say that's what you want to do, Mr. Aldis.

　Puzzled, Solte agrees.
　With an expression of bewilderment as to whether this is the right thing to do, Solte receives the leather bag from Father Blessed Ear and stands in front of Rona.

''Well then, that ...... Rona-sama. Please accept it.

Woof!

　Rona's deliberate squeal, as if it were a cliché.
　The beast wrapped in golden body hair puts the leather bag handed to him in his mouth and turns his head to Ardis.

''Let's go then.''

'Mr. Aldis. Thank you very much for helping me out on such short notice. If you ever need any help, I will do my best to help you, and you are always welcome to visit me.

...... Yeah, if you feel up to it.

　To tell the truth, I never want to come to a place that worships a goddess again.
　But Aldis has enough sense not to mention it here.

　He makes a simmering reply to Solte, and then leaves with another word to Father Blessed Ear.

'Pay attention to Solte's affairs for a while.

　Father Fukumimi, who took those eyes straight into his own, looked away from Aldis while returning his challenging gaze.

''Of course, of course.''





I'm getting a bad feeling about that.

　After leaving the church, Aldis and Rona were out on the main street lined with street vendors.
　As expected, it's not possible to talk openly in the middle of a busy city, so both Ardis and Rona are talking while hiding their voices.

'It's something like that. We won't be seeing each other again anyway, so don't worry about it.''

'Yes. Well, Sorte is the only one I'm willing to see again. I don't like that priest or whatever he's called. He looked at Al with suspicion. Did you do something to attract his attention?

That's out of character.

I mean, I didn't even have to do anything to deserve that look of yours. Hey, Al, come on. Let's get one of those. I have money. I can pay for it. Here.

　Rona puts the leather bag containing the reward into her mouth before she knows it and offers it to Al.

　The destination of Rona's gaze was a single stall.
　Chunks of meat on two thick skewers were being grilled over an open fire, scattering fragrant smoke around them.
　Apparently it was chicken thighs that had been grilled.

　Aldis purchased a roasted chicken thigh on behalf of Rona and offered it to her golden partner who pretended to be a meek beast.
　As an added bonus, I bought the same thing and dipped into the hot meat.

　The seasoning was simple, just salt, but the juices oozing out of the meat filled my mouth with a lot of flavor.
　Was it the meat of the ingredients, or was it the way it was cooked?
　It wouldn't taste this good if Aldis had grilled it.
　When Ardis finished eating a serving of thigh meat while being satisfied with the taste, Rona had already eaten five servings of thigh meat.

It's easy to make enemies since long ago, isn't it? It's easy to make enemies, or perhaps you don't mind if they turn against you.

　Rona, licking around her mouth as she walks, resumes the conversation just as a continuation of what she just said.

'I didn't mean to do that, but ......

That's even more of a problem, isn't it? A constitution that's prone to making enemies on the bare minimum, that's a terrible thing, isn't it?　I think we need to work on not making a few more enemies.

Shut up.

　Aldis makes a huffy expression.
　The tiredness in her expression is not due to Rona's strangely petulant words.

''Grace said it too. ''It's a good commander to reduce the enemy before fighting. Al should pay a little more attention to reducing the enemy.''

I know.

　The reason why the boy, who has the ability to be called the "Three Great Goma Defeaters", is showing a tired expression on his face is because--.

I'm not going to be able to get the same thing from you. Al, go get me that one.

　This was because Rona would thus push the leather bags containing the rewards in between conversations.
　Each time this happened, Aldis and the others stopped in their tracks, and the distance to their destination did not decrease at all.

　Baked goods with a sweet and crispy texture, freshly picked fruit, and meat wrapped sticks tangled in a rich sauce.
　Each one was reasonably priced, but the amount of food Rona ate was basically incomparable to humans.
　The silver coins in the leather bag were quickly transformed into the bosom of the stallholders.

Well, it doesn't look like that priest is a clear enemy yet. I wonder if he thinks that Al was in league with those mercenaries.

　Aldis laughs at the ridiculousness of it all.

'It's not reasonable. It was Solte who made the request to me in the first place.　On top of that, she and I only met once, months ago. I wouldn't have even gone near the church if Solte hadn't asked me to.

People like that have a narrow perspective. First of all, it's impossible for people who revere a madwoman to be sane.

'I agree with you on that, but by that logic, does that mean that Sorte isn't sane either?

　It's a good thing that you're able to get a good idea of what you're looking for.

It's not the same with Solte. She gives me sweets.

"Don't judge people by the presence or absence of candy. You trust people too easily.

'Sorte is a good girl, okay?　Even if you don't have any candy.

Where does this confidence come from?

　Feeling like sighing, the dark-haired boy uttered a throwaway question, and Rona gave him a scowl.

'Wild intuition, I suppose?'

　Aldis looks at Rona's figure in dismay.

'Wild intuition, hey ......'

　The golden beast carried a large shopping bag around his neck.
　Whenever he saw something interesting at a stall, he would stop and say, "Al, buy that one," as his partner pleaded with him.
　Aldis, annoyed that they were not getting any closer to their destination, made Rona carry a shopping bag around her neck and tossed all the food she had bought into the bag, saying, "Buy it, but eat it later.

　This allowed her to move a little faster, but the bag around Rona's neck continued to swell.
　It was a good thing that the bag was not overflowing with food because Rona was snacking on the food that was about to fall out.

　She walks, talks, pokes her mouth into the bag in between, eats, and walks.
　It's no different than the drummer's son of a well-to-do family who wanders the streets buying and eating disheveled, and it's no different than the wildness of the beast.
　There is no element of the wildness of the beast, much less the wildness of the beast.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

''You're not at all convincing .......