'Apparently they've been waiting for instructions from above for a long time. It's like they're keeping an eye on Al, which was the last instruction since there's no new instructions.

　In a room in the Sesshomaru Pavilion, Aldis heard from Rona when she returned.

'It was someone who was in that organization: ......

　Aldis felt an indescribable emotion at the story he hadn't expected.

'You never get instructions anymore, though.

　Rona let the facts speak for themselves in an emotionless voice.

　Rona was right.
　All the people at the top of the organization and those who should be called executives have already been sent to Hades by Aldis.
　Even the bases outside the country have been destroyed, and it will probably be impossible to rebuild the organization.

　There is no one left to give that girl instructions.
　Normally, the girl herself would be able to decide how to live her life from now on by her own will, but as far as Rona's story goes, and as far as the girl's actual actions were concerned, that didn't seem to be the case.

　If you are guided to think in a way that is convenient for the organization, given knowledge, taught skills, and cut off from everything else, what you end up with is a person like a doll with no will of their own.
　That's the way they were raised.

　For a girl who has been refined not as a human being but as a tool, "living" does not mean thinking for oneself, but carrying out the orders given by the organization and at the same time depending on the sustenance of life given to you.
　What Aldis did could be said to have freed the girl from the organization, and conversely, it is tantamount to forcibly cutting off the girl's way of life.

'Do you feel responsible?'

　Rona asked as if she had seen through his inner thoughts.

　Aldis silently shook her head and thanked Rona for her labor and announced the end of her surveillance.
　She initially suspected that the 'sign of something I felt in the forest house' that she had heard from Kirill and the others was the girl's, but from what Rona said, it seems that her surveillance is limited to Ardis herself.

　In the first place, the girl herself had left the royal capital after tracking Ardis, so it's unlikely that the person herself would suddenly appear in the forest of the Causus.
　Considering the fact that she was dying the other day, unable to get a hand or foot to the two lactors, there is little chance that that girl will reach the house in the forest.

The only thing that matters is knowing that someone didn't send you. If that girl only wants to keep an eye on me, then there's not much harm in it.

Yeah. If left unchecked, he'll die a slow death.

　Aldis looked at Rona, who said this in a light tone of voice, with a stern stare for a moment.
　But Rona pretended not to notice it and curled up on the bed, bit down on a yawn as she mouthed "good night" and went to sleep.





　Aldis continued to operate as usual from his base in King's Landing, feeling the presence of the girl who would be following him the next day.
　On the days when Minerva's instructions were given, Ardis was in the royal capital, and on the other days, she spent her days in relative peace while carrying out requests for defeats in the neighborhood.

　In the midst of all this, one thing that can't help but bother him is the girl who is constantly watching Aldis from a little distance.
　There is no reason to be wary of her now that it is clearly understood that she can't be a threat and doesn't mean any harm.

　When that happens, what I see is a girl who is so skinny that she looks like she's about to collapse.

　Indeed, that girl was probably a member of the organization that attacked Minerva.
　It's not just a matter of time before you get to the point where you'll be able to see the results.
　But he is not so unreasonable as to take out his anger on a child whose way of life has been twisted for the convenience of adults.

　After finishing her studies with Minerva, Ardis returns to her regular place of residence, the Seseragi-tei, and orders a meal for three for the girl who runs the restaurant, Meryl, and leaves.

'I'll be right back.'

　I'm not going to be the only one who can do that.

　The location of the girl is cylindrical for Ardis, who can grasp the location of humans through magic power.
　It is not possible to identify the target only by the magic reaction like Nere, but if there is a person lurking in the shadows as if spying on us, I have a general idea.
　It's even more so if there is no other person who is moving to watch Ardis.

　It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

'Whoa, don't be so alarmed,'

　Aldis controls the girl with one hand as she puts her hand in her pocket.

'I know you don't mean us any harm. Like I said before, I'll tolerate you if you just want to monitor us, and in fact, you've done that before, haven't you?

　Aldis's mannerisms brought a probing color to the girl's eyes, as if she were searching for something.

'Or is that it?　Are you actually stalking me or anyone else around me with the intention of attacking me or the people around me?

　The girl shakes her head a little after three minutes of breathing silence.

Then we have no intention of doing anything about you. If you don't want to be hostile, you don't need to be sneaking around and watching me from afar.

What does ............ mean?

　The girl asks with a look full of caution.

''The bottom line is, if you're going to keep an eye on me, it's more convenient to stay close to me, right?

What about ............?

"We're going to have dinner at the inn from now on, so in the meantime, you can keep an eye on me inside for now. That's easier than observing from the shadows at a distance, right?

What are you talking about?

'I'm telling you, if it's harmless, it doesn't make much difference if they're watching you from a distance or right beside you. Well, just follow me. You do realize that there's no point in trying to escape, right?

　The girl, who could not hide her expression of incomprehension, was forcefully pushed through by Ardis.
　The girl, who knows Aldis' abilities from the previous incident, hesitantly but reluctantly complied with it.

　When Aldis returned to the Seseragi-tei with the girl, she was approached by Merrill, who came out of the kitchen.

'Oh, thank goodness, Aldis. It's just about ready. Today's menu consists of chicken breast grilled in a special sauce and consommé soup. And a fresh salad is also included today. We'll have two portions for Rona, right?

No, there are two for me and one for her.

　As she said this, she spotted the girl behind Aldis, who was sitting in a chair, and Rona sighed as she looked around.

'What, less than one?'

　Ardis asks Rona, as if she dared to misunderstand the reason for the sigh.

'Nothing else: ......'

　Rona denied it in a whisper so that Meryl wouldn't hear her, but it was clear that she was slumped.

'Meryl. I'll have another one for Rona, please.

Okay, I'm gonna go tell my dad to make another one.

Sorry.

　Looking from Meryl's back as she disappears into the kitchen to the girl standing beside the table, Aldis points to an empty chair.

'Don't just stand there, sit down.'

......

It's going to look bad if you keep standing here.

　The girl looks at Ardis with a scowling look.
　That gaze is, 'What do you mean?' He silently asserted the girl's suspicions and confusion that she was a little girl.

'See,'

　When Aldis urged her, the girl slowly sat down on a chair as if she had finally given up on it.
　The fact that she never took her eyes off Aldis for a moment during this time reminded me of a stray cat in an alleyway that is wary of humans.

　A strange silence lies in the air, and then Meryl comes over and brings the food to the table.

'My treat,' he said. Eat. Are you hungry?

　After telling her only what she needed, Aldis began to eat quickly.
　But even after a while, the girl did not try her hand at the food at all.

What, you're not gonna eat it?

Why?

　When asked, the girl countered that she didn't understand the intent.

'Don't worry, there's no weird stuff in there. That's the same stuff I'm eating.

　But Ardis doesn't seem to be offended, and stabs the fowl into bite-sized pieces with her fork.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a great deal more to say about this. Your caution is completely unnecessary.

　The girl, who is fully aware of the difference in ability between her and Aldis, may have been convinced to some extent by this, or she may have simply given up on the idea, and turned her sceptical eyes from Aldis to the food and then to the kitchen in turn.
　The girl finally dipped her fingertips in a very small amount of soup or food sauce, licked it, and then began to carefully gulp down the food.

　At first the girl took a mouthful of food, but eventually she understood that it was safe to do so. As if she remembered her hunger, she began to munch on the food.
　Aldis smiled with satisfaction at that, and began to look for Meryl, who would be moving around in the serving area to order additional food.





　I don't know if he really took his words that it would be easier to be right beside him if he was going to be watching her all day anyway, but since then, the girl always follows Ardis around behind him when he acts in the royal capital.
　As expected, she shakes it off when she returns to her home in the forest so that she can't be followed, but other than that, she lets him do what he wants in other places.

'Can I have six of those skewers, please?'

"There's a mite!　Three coppers!

　Buying a nice smelling skewer from a street stall on the front street, Aldis handed two of them to Rona.

'Hey, come here for a minute,'

　With the remaining four bottles in her hand, Aldis turns around and beckons the girl to her.

　The girl, who at first didn't want to come close to me, must have loosened her guard against Aldis quite a bit over the past half month.
　I wouldn't go so far as to say willingly, but if you called her, she would come close to you while being cautious.

'Here, for you,'

　Aldis hands her half of the spit meat in her hand.
　The girl takes it honestly, and when she sees that Aldis has taken a mouthful of meat, she takes a bite herself.

''I'm going home for the day, so don't follow me. Well, I'll shake it off if you come.

　No matter how dangerous they are, we can't expose the twins, no matter how much they are deemed to be in no danger.

''From tomorrow, we have three days of work to defeat them. You'll be camping out, so prepare with that in mind. We're going to procure the necessary items in the morning at the royal capital and leave at noon. If you want to have breakfast, wait at the north gate by eight o'clock. All right?

　In order to include them in the bite, Aldis tells the girl about tomorrow's plans.
　If left unchecked, they might follow you out of the capital without good preparation.

　It doesn't matter whether they follow you inside the capital or wherever you went to defeat them, as long as you don't come to the house where the twins are waiting for you.
　The reason why Ardis is foolishly revealing her plans is because she is confident that the girl will not use that information to harm us.
　Rather, revealing the plans also meant preventing the girl from recklessly following Ardis into the forest.

　The girl nodded at Aldis's words as she chewed on a spit of meat.

　The girl is getting used to it these days, and she doesn't seem to be as cautious as she was before, and she's starting to put the food she's handed to you into her mouth with an open mind.
　Rona seems to have given up on this, and now she doesn't say anything to me.
　I'm not going to be able to tell you what to do if you don't want to know.

　Ardis has no intention of doing so, but that's just her own subjective opinion.
　It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're going to do with it.

'But how long are you going to keep doing this?　It can't be all the time, and Al knows that.

　On the way out of King's Landing and back to the forest house, Rona hits me where it hurts.

I know that. But if they don't become enemies, there's no harm in that, and the extra money for one person's meal is not much of a burden.

　In fact, compared to Rona's meal, the amount of food a girl can eat is unknown.
　It's a good thing that you're able to get the most out of it, because it's a great way to get the most out of your life.

''That girl is also a victim of the organization in a way. There's no need to blink and get rid of her, is there?''

But that doesn't mean I have to bother feeding them.

That's right, well, ......

　Aldis chokes on his words at Rona's correct argument.

'Well, they don't seem to have come into the forest since then, and there doesn't seem to be any danger. ...... Don't go too deep into it.'

...... I know.

　Although he answered that with his mouth, the emotion of disagreement was blatantly evident on Aldis' face.