On that day, Rona was separated from Ardis.
　Even so, they were in the same royal capital, and the distance between them was no more than five hundred meters.

　The reason why Rona was keeping a distance was because of Ardis herself.
''I want to confirm the identity of that girl clearly.''
　That's because Aldis asked me to monitor the girl as she uttered that.

''Mm-hmm~. It's funny, it's like playing hide-and-seek. It's kind of exciting.''

　Carefree and enjoying the situation, Rona is following the girl further back as she follows Aldis.
　So the girl is watching Aldis from a distance, and Rona is watching the girl.

　As Rona, she doesn't care about the girl, but it's hard to say no if Aldis asks her to do so.
　Of course, he is not doing it reluctantly.
　It's a good idea to have a good time with them.

　The girl, of course, cannot be seen by the people of the city, so Rona uses her magic to deceive the public into believing that she is being followed.

　It has already been three days since Rona began following the girl.
　It is still early in the morning when she left her forest home and began to separate from Ardis before entering the royal capital.
　Rona began to follow Ardis as she entered the royal capital, keeping a large distance from the girl who immediately began to follow her, so that she would not be noticed.

　Aldis showed up at the babbling pavilion, visited the blacksmith, met the man who served as her face, and stopped at the sorcerer's shop.
　All the while, the girl was watching Aldis from the shadows.
　The girl does not feel any harm to Aldis, and she keeps an eye on him throughout the whole time, trying not to miss his movements.

''As I thought, you're still skinny no matter how many times I see you.

　Rona murmured as she looked at the girl from a distance.

　She was dressed in the clothes of a very commonplace town girl, but at a glance, everyone would raise an eyebrow at her appearance.
　It's a good thing that her appearance is one step short of being a slum dweller, even if we were to underestimate her appearance a bit.
　The flesh of his body is not flattering, his cheeks are burned and his dark brown hair is so shaggy that he looks as if he might collapse at any moment.

'You're wobbling again,'

　The girl who made her feet tangle as soon as she said it makes Rona, as expected, feel indescribable.
　While sprinkled with a certain amount of danger, the girl still continues to keep an eye on Aldis.

''I don't understand. ......

　Rona's mumbling doubts were partially resolved by the time the fifth day of tailing passed.





It's no wonder she's so skinny.

　On the one hand, she understands, but on the other hand, she doesn't feel at all refreshed as she bites into the dried meat she retrieved through the "Gate".

　It's been ten days since Rona started watching the girl.
　During that time, Rona watched the girl from a distance at all hours of the day without returning to Aldis.

　There are a few things we learned from that.
　The girl's roost, the ruins of the former tavern the girl occasionally visited, and the girl's eating habits.

'What does that mean?　It's possible that I'm monitoring Al personally - but it's already close to sick that he's so indifferent to himself.

　The girl was unusual in Rona's eyes.

　The girl rarely eats.
　Rona would occasionally take preserves from The Gate Door and eat them even while she was on watch, but the girl on the other hand hadn't eaten at all while Aldis was on watch.
　In the worst case, from the time Aldis left the Seseragi Pavilion until she came back in the evening, she would even keep watch all night long and not eat for two whole days.

　Rona began to think that this was a strange thing to do.
　When the girl returned to the roost, there was no sign of her food, even though she had paused her surveillance of Aldis.
　An old woman, unable to see her, seems to give the girl alms from time to time, and this seems to be a valuable source of nourishment for her.
　Naturally, that's not enough to fill your stomach, and Rona even saw her raiding the leftovers of a restaurant on the way back to the roost after finishing following Ardis.

'What do you mean?'

　Rona didn't understand.

　Having worked with Ardis for so long, Rona was also somewhat familiar with human society.
　Clandestine, covert, grass, inter-intelligence. There are many ways to call them, but Rona knows that there are people who work behind the scenes like that.

　However, they often ride into enemy territory by themselves, and the loss of their own health can lead to the risk of death.
　That's why they never neglect their own health care.

　But right now there is a girl in front of me who looks like a picture of ill health and continues to watch Ardis without a care in the world, without regard for herself.
　It seemed to me that the mercenary who still lived for the day would have better self-control than that.

　The girl interrupted her surveillance of Aldis that day at midnight, when the hustle and bustle of the tavern was gone.
　Before returning to her roost, the girl made her way to the ruins of the former tavern, which she had visited several times during Rona's watch.

'What is this?　Is there something in that place?

　It's the kind of place that a girl who is indifferent to her own affairs would go out of her way to visit.
　There was no way she was visiting it for no reason.

　Entering the ruins, the girl stepped into the room on the second floor as she always did.
　Rona moved to the top of the building across the street.
　After ducking into the shadows of the moonlight on the roof, she turned her attention to the second floor of the abandoned building.

　Normally, he wouldn't bother going this far.
　But just today the situation was different.
　Because on the second floor of the ruin, a human being was waiting for the room the girl stepped into.

''Yo, long time no see, red osprey.''

　The little man who had been waiting for the girl opened his mouth.
　Rona's hearing is much better than humans', so she can hear it at this distance, but an ordinary person wouldn't even notice a human being there first.

'Message Pigeon ....... You're alive.

　With a slight puzzled look in her eyes, the girl uttered what seemed to be the little man's nickname.

'Well. I was fortunate enough to be in Albarn on business. But when I came back, the organization was destroyed and most of its members were dead, so now they're no more than just hoodlums. I was so close to reaching the top brass. ......

　The little man sighs heavily.

''I guess that means it was a mistake to mess with a thousand sword sorcerers in the first place. Who could have predicted that a single sorcerer could destroy the organization in a few days?

　Shrugging his shoulders, the little man regained his composure and sat down at his moldy office desk as a chair.

"By the way, you look terrible, red osprey. Are you eating right?

If you're not eating ...... you're dead.

It's easy to see why you're not getting enough to eat. That's the problem with being an expert, isn't it? No matter how good they are, they aren't even taught how to earn their daily bread. Without the support of the organization, even a highly skilled swordsman isn't much different from the scum of the slums.

　The little man put his hand into a bag on the desk and took out a large piece of bread from it.

'Here, eat up,'

　As soon as he said that, the little man threw the bread to the girl called the red osprey.

'What, you don't want it?'

　The little man smiles bitterly at the red osprey who won't take the bread he's received.
　He takes the bread out of the bag again and this time he takes a bite of it himself.

'You want some wine?　I don't have any glasses, so I'm drinking straight from the bottle.

I don't want it. It's a distraction from the mission.

Mission?　What's the mission now?

My mission is to keep an eye on a thousand-sword sorcerer. I have not received any change in orders.

There's no one left who would give that order, not even the top brass, nowadays. What's the point of sticking to an old order when the organization itself has ceased to exist?

　The little man gave him a look of dismay.

'Still, a mission is a mission. I'm not one to judge on my own.

He's a real stickler for flexibility. I mean, who the hell trained this guy to be like this: ......

　The little man blurts out, half to himself.

'So?　Is that you?　Foolishly carrying out the instructions given to you at the end, and you're still keeping an eye on the Thousand Swords sorcerer all this time?

Yes.

For more than a year?

Yes.

And you have no one to report to?

I will not be compromised in the performance of my duties.

With your mood swings like that, like you don't eat or drink?

That's not part of the mission.

''Don't tell me you were watching this place the whole time it was attacked by a thousand sword sorcerers?''

Because that's the mission.

You didn't even think about helping out?

　The little man asks, his dismay growing even darker.

''I was ordered to keep an eye on the thousand-sword sorcerer, not to fight off the attackers.

'Kah!　You're a golem who can only follow a single order!

　The little man scratches his head, showing a slightly irritated expression.

'This won't keep the diving swallows afloat, will it?

　The red osprey's eyes wavered slightly at the words the little man uttered with a blur.
　Unaware of the change in the red osprey, the little man crossed his arms and began to mumble.

'What should I do? Shall I stop?

　This time the red osprey asked the little man.

'Why did you come back now?　We hadn't heard from him in a year. I just assumed you were dead like the rest of us.

Why now?　Well, that's a lot of things. The reason I didn't come back until now, though, was to ensure my personal safety at first. Now we know that a thousand-sword sorcerer attacked us, but at that time, not only in the kingdom, but also in other countries' bases were destroyed by unidentified attackers. It's only natural to be wary of them.

　The little man sipped directly from the wine bottle and drank, thirsty.

"I didn't plan to come back here in the first place, but when I found out you were alive, I went out of my way to recruit you. I came all the way over here with the intention of recruiting you.

Soliciting?

Yeah. As a matter of fact, I'm in the process of setting up a new organization in Arvern. The number of heads is one thing, but if we want to keep the organization looking good, we're going to need a few skilled assassins as well.

'Albarn ......?　On an island?

Yes. It's an island nation just across the strait to the east from our northern neighbor, the Bronchell Republic. It's going to be rough there soon. There'll be plenty of behind-the-scenes work popping up.

　Hearing this, the red osprey remained silent and stared into the little man's eyes.

''Well?''　What do you think about throwing away the mission of a destroyed and hopeless organization and joining me for a fresh start?

I'm not going.

　The little man gives the red osprey a disgusted look as he answers immediately.

''Hey, hey, d*mn it, think for yourself. What are you going to do if you keep going on with this pointless mission?

Since the mission has not been lifted, my job is to keep an eye on the sorcerer of a thousand swords.

I don't hate you for it, but look at the situation. You are now just a stray cat without an organization. If you can't feed, clothe, and shelter yourself, how can you possibly leave the group and live on your own?

　The little man began to show his annoyance.

A carrier pigeon is a carrier pigeon. I don't have the right to give orders. That's why I'm only going to continue my mission unless the last order I received is withdrawn.

I'm telling you, there's nobody left who can revoke that order!

　The little man yells numbly at the red osprey, who hasn't changed his mind at all.

'This is the last time. Come with me to Arvern. Think hard before you answer.

　The air in the room felt tense as the little man stared at the red osprey and told him to lower his voice.

'I'm not going,'

　But the red osprey refuses the little man's invitation without hesitation.
　Just as Akamisago is about to leave the room, the little man sits down from his office desk and stands on the floor, thinking the conversation is over.

'Well, too bad,'

　The next moment, the little man took a dagger from his pocket and attacked the red osprey.

''d*mn!''

　The red osprey quickly jumped back to the side to dodge the first attack.

"You're not moving fast enough. It looks like he's pretty weak.

A private fight in the inner circle would have been sanctioned.

'Private fight?　Are you an idiot? There's no organization or anything, so what's the big deal? I was going to use you to work for me, but if you're not, I'll just deal with you right now. It's a good idea to keep you alive so you can get in the way when you move into the capital.

　The little man chases after it.
　The red osprey tangles his legs trying to avoid it.

Haha. A skilled assassin, said to be one of the ten most skilled in the organization, and now he's doing this?　You can beat me with my own arms right now.

　In an attempt to counterattack somehow, the red osprey took out an assassination stiletto from his pocket and held it ready, but even from a distance Rona could see that he wasn't in a perfect state.

''Bye. Goodbye, colleague.

　The little man says goodbye in a few words.
　A glowing black dagger is unleashed on the red osprey's vital point.

　Writhing, the red osprey tries to avoid the dagger, but his movements are lackluster.
　The little man's blade was thrust out without hesitation, aiming at the red osprey's chest.

　At that moment, the sound of a strong wind echoes in the room.

''What!?''

　Those were the last words out of the little man's mouth.

　Without understanding what happened, the little man's head is cut off and blood gushes out.
　The dusty floor quickly absorbed the little man's blood.
　Even the ceiling and walls are stained red by the spurted blood, and the object that was the little man loses its power and falls to the floor.

'Oh ....... I saved him on the spur of the moment, but should I have left him alone like that ......?

　The identity of the wind that reaped the life of the little man.
　It was the magic that Rona had unleashed.

　Rona, who read the danger of the red osprey from the scene she was watching and the voice reaching her ears, eliminated the little man before she could think.
　Both the red osprey and the little man are unimportant to Rona, but she may have instinctively judged the little man to be a foreign body that should be removed from the object of her scrutiny, as it was the little man who was meddling unnecessarily with her.

'Oh well,'

　Rona mumbled that in a tone that really didn't seem to matter, and jumped down from the roof as the red osprey left the scene.

''Hmm. Thanks to that, I've pretty much figured out what's going on, so let's get back to Al's place.

　Thanks to the little man, we now know the common name of Red Osprey, and we know who she is and what she's up to.
　It would be up to Aldis to decide what to do after this.

　Feeling refreshed and refreshed after enjoying the play, Rona turned to the Sesshoumaru Pavilion where Aldis was sleeping.