Yes!

　From the palm of Filia's hand aimed at Ardis, ice hardened to the size of a fist was shot out one after another.
　Seven of them were released in succession and flew deep into the forest without biting Ardis' body.

''Hey!''

　Liana's attack was directed from the side.
　The magic of the wind, which became a sharp blade, struck Aldis while beating the swell.

　Aldis kicked the ground and flew in the air without seeming to feel the weight.
　With her body stretched out, she dodged Liana's wind while spinning once vertically and flicked the pebble in her grip with her fingers, sending it flying towards each twin's feet.

''Wah!''

　Liana lost her balance and fell on her ass as the pebble gouged the ground beneath her feet with a dull thud.
　Filia, on the other hand, flicked the pebble with the physical barrier she had quickly deployed, but she was too focused on it to take her eyes off Ardis.

''Eh?''

　Filia lost sight of Aldis.
　Suddenly a hand was placed on its head.

'Ah ......'

　There was Aldis standing there, who landed in a way that took Filia's back.
　At that moment, the hand-to-hand combat ended in the form of a defeat for the twins.

　Aldis ruffled the platinum blonde's hair and gave a short verbal assessment of Filia's fighting prowess.

'So-so.'

Uh, Aldis, you're relentless.

　Patting Filia's disgruntled head with a pat on the head, Aldis moved closer to Liana and extended his hand to her.

'Here, Liana. Are you hurt?

　He takes Liana's hand and causes it to turn its head messily as he did to Phylicia.

'My ass hurts ......'

I'll have to react a little faster.

Muu......

　Aldis smiles at Liana's disapproving face.

　Aldis and the others live in the Caucasus Forest.
　The hand-to-hand meeting that took place in the garden of their familiar home ends without a hitch, as it should.

　It has been about half a month since the day the church declared them a heretic.
　As I told Moore, Aldis was taking it easy at home with no requests.

　He ate, slept, dealt with the twins, slept, ducked, and slept .......
　It was a dreamy, depraved life, but it didn't last long.

　Because the twins, eager to show off their growth, began begging for a hand-me-down with Aldis at every turn.
　It's probably their intention to make you recognize their abilities and follow Ardis' work.

　If Rona is there, that role will be thrust upon her, but unfortunately, she is currently out at the Duke's residence as a liaison with Moore.
　I'm sure that by now, he's probably being fed a lot of sweets by Minerva.

　In Nere's evaluation, it seems that the twins' abilities have already reached the level of "if it's at the level of Ractor, it should be no problem".

　Aldis has no objection to that.
　Indeed, the power of the magic that the twins unleash would already be comparable to a veteran magician.
　Magic that doesn't use chanting is different from the type of magic Kirill learned at the school, which is molded.
　Depending on the situation, he could change his moves, power, movement and shape at will, and depending on how he fought, he might even be able to win against a higher-ranked opponent.

　However, that is only if it is against a beast that does not have intelligence.

It is meaningless, no matter how powerful it is, if you can't hit it. You're not inventive enough to catch your opponent quickly enough.

'Ugh, tough to evaluate: ......'

Mmm ......, it's sobering.

　The twins complained to Ardis, who was giving them a bad name, from each of their mouths.

　The ability to fight is not determined by the power of magic alone.
　Particularly in the case of intelligent demons and humans, the tactics of how to create an advantageous situation for you to fight and how to draw the opponent into it are also important factors.
　If they faced off against each other head on, they would be able to show a certain amount of ability, but in terms of fighting skills, the twins still lacked a lot of skills.

"You're working hard, aren't you?

　Nere appears from inside the house as if he's just about to finish his hand-to-hand combat.

"As for me, I'd rather take a leisurely nap.

　It's a very good idea to have a good time to sleep except for the minimum amount of time needed to hunt, but it's hard to say that you don't want to when the twins ask you to do so by alternately pulling on your left and right arms.
　In the end, I had to keep them company for some light exercise before dinner.

'Isn't it good to be ambitious?'

　The words spewed out of Nere's mouth in a casual tone and expression as if to tease Ardis.
　It has been six years since they met, just like the twins.
　It's not unusual for Nere to talk lightly like this nowadays.
　That's how close the distance between us has grown.

I'm sure you've got a good idea of what you're doing, so why don't you come up for lunch soon?

Yay, lunch!

I'm hungry!

　Just when Filia and Liana cheerfully replied to Nere's suggestion, Aldis' expression suddenly changed to a serious one.
　Turning around with only her head, she turned her gaze to the empty trees.

''What's wrong, Aldis?''

　He felt something unusual about Aldis's condition.
　Filia looked into Aldis's face and questioned him.

'Nere, take the two of you into the house.

What--oh, I see.

　He was about to ask his true intentions, but in the next moment Nere stopped it as if he understood.

'Apparently you have a visitor. A guest that I did not mean to invite.

　Numerous reactions are trapped in Aldis' magical exploration.
　They are human-sized, and there are roughly more than a hundred of them.
　And even as he did this, the number of them continued to grow.

''You're going to surround them.

　The multitude of responses coming from the south begin to turn west and east, partly to surround the house of Aldis and the others.
　The speed of their movement, the speed of their footsteps, their controlled movements.
　They didn't seem to be demons or beasts by any stretch of the imagination.

''Now, Filia and Liana, you may enter the house.

I can fight, too!

'Wow, me too ......'

　The twins, who seem to think they are dealing with a beast, appeal to you to join them, but of course Aldis has no intention of letting them get involved in a battle against a human being.

The two of them are in the house with Nere. No, both of you will go inside the house with Nere.

　Aldis said this in a strong tone, and the twins reluctantly walked into the house with Nere.

'Well, and ....... It looks like you've racked up quite a bit.

　The sound of birds disappears from the surroundings.
　The human-like response increases in number and continues to approach us.

　As the leaves rustled in the wind, we heard footsteps stomping on the ground from the south.

'They're here.

　Ardis, who had pulled out the 『Soutian Saika』 from her waist, looked around.

　The first thing he saw was a small group of people who were not uniformly armed.
　Divided into groups of a few people each, it was probably the mercenaries who were closing the distance between them and Ardis without showing any gaps.

　Following behind them is a group dressed in matching equipment, in contrast to the mercenaries.
　The white based attire was something that Ardis had seen before.

''Church monks, huh?''

　Aldis' face contorts as he spits.

　They are warriors who are the guardians of the church.
　Sometimes they protected people, sometimes they crossed over to state power, and sometimes they defeated the enemies of the goddess.
　They were the pride of the church, a powerful and excellent device of violence.

　As far as I can count their magical reactions, their numbers are thought to be less than a hundred, including the mercenaries.
　Considering the number of people who had come around to the east and west, the total number was close to two hundred.
　It could be said that this is a size that could be described as an army.

　Of course, their arrival here was neither coincidence nor coincidence, but rather a clear intention.
　If they were only a small number of mercenaries, they could have wandered in here, but with this many people, and with the monks accompanying them, the purpose of the attack is self-evident.

　The group stopped at a distance where they could see each other's faces clearly.

　The monk-soldiers split in two and two figures stepped out from between them.
　The two faces are familiar to Ardis, who understands in his heart that this is what they are doing, but asks the obvious question in a brusque manner.

It's a very pompous thing to do. What do you want?　Don't tell me you didn't come all the way out here to do missionary work in the middle of these woods?

　One of the two figures, dressed like a monk soldier, spoke up.

We are holy warriors, blessed by the Goddess with the task of protecting the peace of the world and defeating evil!　She is suspected of harboring the twins, who are avenging the Goddess, and worshipping paganism and being a sinner. The twins are now in custody and their crimes are being questioned before God. O Ardis, the pagan, if you repent and seek the mercy of the Goddess, do not resist, but surrender yourself to us!

　A middle-aged man with distinctive blessed ears spouts one-sided speeches, as if to declare that he is a priest.
　He is the priest who was the point of contact for Aldis when he took on the role of Sorte's bodyguard, and who had accompanied him to the recent purification ceremony.
　He was someone who had been throwing overtones at Aldis for some time, but apparently they had taken a turn for the worse.

　The cause of this seems to be the elderly man who stands next to the priest and glares at Ardis like he is only Mr. Shootout.
　Unlike the priest soldier, the elderly man, dressed in rather flamboyant equipment, crumples his face and starts laughing.

''Hahaha!　This is the end for you, isn't it? You deserve to die with your stigma as an infidel!

　The person and Ardis had never exchanged words directly with each other.
　But you know his face and his name, and above all, you can be sure that he is a man with whom Aldis has no personal connection.

　The name of the person who smiles with amusement on a nervous face is Marquis Olguin.
　Or should I say the former marquis now?
　He was the man behind the attack on Minerva, who was disgraced by Ardis, who had won the Fuyo Cup (Lotus Cup), and who was unwillingly forced into hiding after his many schemes had caused the Crown Prince's displeasure.

　Naturally, his resentment towards Aldis must be strong.
　The 'nobleman's cat' that Cesare referred to as the 'nobleman's cat' that is helping to spread rumors was probably the former marquis' cat.

　There is no reason for the church to pull the former Marquis out, but the opposite is quite possible.
　I'm not going to be the only one who can do that.

　Of course, he hates me a lot, but Aldis clearly rejects the priest's notice while inwardly smiling, saying that he hates me a lot.

It's a nuisance to be labeled as an evildoer. I've never worshipped an evil god, nor have I ever said so. It's a good thing that you're not the only one who has come all the way down here to find out what's going on, but you don't have anything to do with it. I suggest you leave quickly.

'The goddess will decide whether there are no roots or leaves. You may give up and be judged.

Where's the guarantee that the goddess is right?

　The priest rages at Aldis' words, which he utters as ridiculous.

'Huh?　You're going to be afraid to cast doubt on the goddess's lack of it!　He is a pagan, after all!

　A dumbfounded Aldis added fuel to the fire.

'You treat all those who are not good for you as evildoers?　Ha, that's quite a noble doctrine.

Are you trying to pull a fast one on the goddess?

I don't mean to taunt you. I'm just saying it's silly.

Yes, let me tell you: ......!

　Chagrined, the priest addressed the former marquis, who stood beside him.

'My lord, that man is no longer in need of deliberation, but must be tried!

You will, you will.

　The former Marquis, who smiled in direct opposition to the angry priest, agreed.

''...... would you be willing to help me?''

Of course I do.

　At the priest's words, which seem to confirm it, the former marquis grins and nods.
　In response, the priest calls out to the surrounding priests and soldiers.

''Holy warriors, there is no longer any mercy!　It's time for the demon-infatuated pagans to be defeated now!

　In response to the priest's command, the priest soldiers shouted.

'O one and only great goddess, behold!　We here and now wield the sword of justice to bring down the heretics who worship heresy!　--Get over there!

　At that moment, a rarely seen battle of man against man began in the magical world of the Caucasus Forest.

　With the start of the battle, fewer than a hundred mercenaries and monks attacked with weapons.
　The only person who would be opposed to them was Ardis, who had the Blue Heavenly Flowers in his hand.