A dingy corner near the outer wall, away from the main street of the royal capital.
　It's not so bad as to be called a slum, but it's not a place for wealthy people either.

　The people who pass by are divided into the gloomy eyes of the exploited, the gleaming eyes of the exploiters, and the intelligent eyes that swim between the two.
　At the time when the city was at its most vibrant at night, Aldis, his face hidden by his hood, stepped into a certain tavern.

　The people drinking at the tables in the tavern are all people with glazed eyes.
　They are not just drunks.
　The people here are not just bastards, they are all scoundrels who make a living out of other people's misfortune.
　In the sense that they make a living out of other people's misfortune, the public's opinion of mercenaries is not so different, but at least Aldis is not so rotten that he would voluntarily spread misfortune like the people in this place.

　The interior of the restaurant is simply decorated without a hint of decoration, as one would expect from a bar at the end of the day.
　It appears to be a place for customers who would rather get drunk cheaply than the quality of the alcohol.
　Of course, Aldis knew that was just an appearance in disguise.

　As soon as Aldis entered the restaurant, he was met with blunt stares from all directions.
　It was probably not simply because of the arrival of unfamiliar first-time customers to the regulars' shop.

　To them, this is not just a bar.

　The people who live in this neighborhood know that this is not a place open to everyone, just a place to keep up appearances as a speakeasy.
　That's why the people who live in this area never set foot in here.
　Occasionally an outsider wanders in by mistake, but unless you're a very dullard, you'll be quick to dig your heels in at the sharpness and abundance of the gazes directed at you.
　There are not many people like Aldis, who wears a tense atmosphere and stinging gaze, but still walks unhurriedly towards the counter.

　Eventually, a man with a bald head, who appears to be a clerk, spits at Aldis as he walks up to him from across the counter.

"We don't allow people to come in here at first glance. Don't leave.

　Whether that is the utmost kindness to the man or whether the words come from a desire not to cause trouble, Aldis does not know.

　But no matter how outwardly, this is not the manner in which one would address a customer in a place that is set up for the appearance of a tavern, even if it is outwardly.
　It's a good idea to have a good time with your friends.

'Hey, didn't you hear me?　I want you to turn around and go home!

　Aldis felt a few people standing up from their seats behind him.
　Thinking that they have a very low boiling point, Aldis told them what he wanted.

'We have an errand for the person in charge here.

What?

　The man, whose expression was momentarily taken by surprise, asked back.

'What?'

I said I wanted to see the man in charge.

　The bald-headed man showed his displeasure as he yelled at Aldis for repeating it.

'I don't care what's on your mind!　Unfortunately, we don't have any business with you. Get the hell out of here!

I'm supposed to be here for you, not him.

I'm the master of this tavern!　I'm the one in charge of the store, aren't I?

　Aldis responded to the man who was shouting at him to leave unilaterally with a flat voice.
　The number of people standing up from their seats increased behind him.

I'm talking about the person in charge here, not you Sanshita," he said. I'm talking about the person who can order all of you to 'go die'.

　Aldis sighs deliberately and tells them with emphasis on the word 'here'.

　He knows that this tavern was originally the base of the organization to which the Minerva attackers belonged.
　After crushing the organization's strongholds in the Ermenian Empire, the Union of City States, and Tria, Ardis finished up the last of the three strongholds in the royal capital in just one hour, and this was the last place he came to.

'Temae ......'

　The bald-headed man, who understood what Aldis meant by 'person in charge', had a look of alarm on his face.
　At the same time, the sound of a sword being drawn from its scabbard could be heard behind him.
　Some of them seemed to be moving into a position to block the entrance in order to cut off the retreat.

''It would be troublesome if they could escape, so I thought I'd at least check the face of the master.

　As if to say, "Oh dear," Aldis takes off her hood to reveal her face.

'Nah, that face is ......!

'Huh, I knew they'd know my face. Good thing I kept it under a hood.

　The bald-headed man who saw Aldis's face exclaimed.

Thank you for the fancy greeting the other day. I'm sure it's not polite to leave the greeting unanswered. It's my way of returning the favor.

Tsk!

　The man was quick to react.
　As soon as he recovered from his surprise, he took out a black knife from under the counter and without hesitation tried to swing it out to hunt for Aldis' head.

'Too late,'

　However, the tip of the blade did not reach Aldis.

　The reason is that before the knife was drawn out, the Sotensaika, which Ardis pulled out of his waistband, had slashed the man's neck sideways.
　The blood that spurted out of the cut stained the area around the counter red.

''Te, te meh!''

　The humans in the store colorfully recognize Aldis as an obvious enemy.

　Turning around, Aldis saw the hostility and killing intent that filled the entire store.
　Everyone inside the store stood up and surrounded Ardis with their weapons at the ready.

　There were approximately thirty of them.
　Some of them seemed to be in their teens, some were young and some were primitive, probably over fifty.
　About four of them were women.

　There is no doubt that all of the people present here are members of the organization, as they have turned against Ardis without a single exception.
　But that doesn't indicate a desperate crisis.
　In Aldis's opinion, it would be "easy to understand".
　In a way, it was even pleasantly easy to feel that there wasn't a single ally, or even a single civilian, and that there was no need to choose who to cut.

　When Aldis turned around and showed his face, several of the enemies showed their agitation.

''That guy, he's a thousand-sword sorcerer!

He's getting in!

　In the course of business, he must have gotten information about strong people, and after all, he was the one who prevented Minerva from doing so when she was attacked.

　The complexion of the enemies in the tavern changed.

''Pack it up!　Don't make me cast a spell!

Go on, cut down!

　Without anyone else, instructions flew out and several people right beside him slashed at Ardis.

　Of course, this is not a wrong way to fight a sorcerer.
　As long as the distance between them is only to the advantage of the sorcerer, it would be an effective response to continuously slash at them.
　Of course, that is if the opponent is not Ardis.

''The closer you get, the better--''

　As a matter of convenience, Aldis swept through Aoten Ayaka and easily cut them both down first.

　It's not just the fact that it's a good idea to be able to escape from this place, but also the fact that it's more troublesome for Aldis to be able to escape from this place than to be clung to.
　I'm not going to be able to get a good idea of what I'm talking about, but I'm not going to be able to get a good idea of what I'm talking about.

　Ardis slips his sword like a caress and rips at the attacking enemy.
　With a single swing, he reliably slices through his opponent's neck while simultaneously using two flying swords to hunt down the enemy.

　Eventually, when there were more than twenty people falling in a pool of blood, some of the enemies finally understood their error of judgment and began to try to escape.
　But of course, they were prevented from doing so by the two flying swords.

''Whoa!　Help--

　As if to interrupt the cries for help, the blade of the moonlit blizzard slashed at his throat.

　The enemies, whose entrances and exits were blocked by the flying sword, were defeated one by one by Ardis.

　Of course, Ardis had no intention of letting any of them escape.
　There was no thought of mercy to be shown to the enemy in front of him, although those who were not here could not help themselves.
　They were never doomed when they messed with Aldis himself, and above all with his student, Minerva.

　Just three minutes.
　That was all the time it took to slaughter all the people in the tavern.

'Reinforcements are at ......, didn't they come?'

　The tavern is a two-story building.
　I couldn't get a glimpse of the inside from the outside, but the head of the organization is probably on top.

　They have already crushed all of the organization's bases, both inside and outside the country, except this one.
　Ardis thought that since it was not possible to pick out all at once with a large number of people like the guards, a certain amount of take down was inevitable.

　What is necessary is not to eradicate the people in the organization, but to show them that they are so overwhelmingly powerful that they will hesitate to mess with Ardis and his protection targets in the future.
　Of course, Aldis isn't merciful enough to bother to let the enemy in front of him escape.

'There's still a lot of them up there. Thirty ......, or maybe forty.

　The fact that none of them came down despite such a big stand-off means that they understood that it was an attack and were waiting for it.

　At the same time, it probably means that they knew in advance that there was going to be an attack.
　No matter how much Ardis crushed the organization's base in a short time, the other party is a professional who also does intelligence work.
　Although the report of the destruction of the bases outside the country may not have reached you yet, there is a high possibility that information about the other bases in the royal capital that were destroyed an hour ago has reached you.

　The company has been preparing to intercept the attackers after knowing that they are coming, while not hesitating to offer a helping hand to the useless Mitsushita and the others who were in the tavern.
　The current situation showed that the head of this organization is someone who is capable of making such dry decisions.

''Did we fail?''

　Thinking about the possibility that the chief could have escaped, Aldis asks himself if he should have beaten the chief and the executives first.

'But that would have been a whack-a-mole: ......

　It would be an unnecessary hassle if the organization was split up due to a poorly organized lack of cohesion, and there was the hassle of hitting the people who were rising up each time.

　Originally, Aldis' goal was to destroy the organization and make them hesitate to mess with us in the future.
　Naturally, it is also meant to be a warning and an example to other competitors.
　From that point of view, it can be said that the objective has been sufficiently accomplished at this point of time.

　All of their major bases at home and abroad have been crushed, and their opponents have been hit hard as an organization.
　Even if the head of the organization were to flee, it would be quite difficult to rebuild.
　They won't be able to easily reach out to Aldis or the surrounding area again.

'Do we need to demand perfection?'

　Aldis said to herself and began to climb the stairs to the second floor as a final touch.