After leaving the royal capital Gran, Aldis took Charu to join Nere and the others.

　As expected, Charu was not interested in Filia and Liana, even though he found out they were twins, as if to say, "What's the matter with that?
　In a way, this is a rare example of an organization's biased education that happened to produce good results.

　It's a good thing that the Lord has decided to do this," he said, and the twins began stalking Charu every chance they got, as if they were happy to have a companion of their own age.
　It's a good idea to have a good time with them.

　It's a good idea to have a good time with them.

I'm going to check out the situation on my own first. Nere and Rona will wait here with you two.

Do you want to take your boy with you?

I'm sure they'll follow you around on their own anyway.

　After answering Rona's question, Aldis gave one order to Char.

'Char, follow me a little further back. It will be more convenient later on if you don't let him think you're with him.

　Nodding with a cockle, Charu nodded at Aldis's intentions and followed, keeping a distance enough to avoid suspicion of the relationship.





　It was at that time that Aldis, who was posing as a lone traveling mercenary, entered Leytin and walked down the main street without hiding his face as a lookout.

'You pagan demon!　You will be punished by God!

　Suddenly, in the middle of the traffic, Aldis was surrounded by several men, who pointed their weapons at her without question.

'How dare you not be seen: ......'

　From the men's necks, it was easy to see that they were ardent followers of the Goddess, as they wore their teaching seals.

　The problem was the reaction of the people around them.
　Citizens on the street are still watching the situation from a distance.
　But what was in their gazes was not so much fear of the goddess believer who suddenly drew her weapon, but rather a hint of self-preservation, not wanting to get involved with Ardis.
　In other words, it is the best proof that Ardis is already known as a heretic even to the people of Leitin.

　From the fact that they were whispering in Aldis's face, perhaps even a picture of the figure was being circulated.
　While admiring the handiwork, Aldis thinks about the future.
　Unlike the time when he ran away from Tria, it seems that this time he can't even get a safe place to live to the extent of changing countries.

''Well, let's just deal with this place for now.

　I mutter to myself, feeling like I'm about to sigh.

　It would be easy to fight them off.
　There are less than ten of them, and they are probably only recently graduated from the ranks of the mercenary army.

　But the problem is that we are in the middle of a city, and we are in the middle of a crowd.
　It wasn't the same as when he dealt with Father Blessed Ear and the former Marquis in the forest.
　It was hard to stomach being framed and called an infidel, but that didn't mean he couldn't kill them here, and just beating them up would only strengthen Ardis' bad reputation.

　In the event that you're in a position to do something about it, you'll be able to do it.

I'm not going to be the only one.

　As I was thinking about this and that, the Goddess followers came on all at once.

''I'm sorry, but I'll refrain from dealing with them.

　He fluttered away from the attack, which could only be described as poor in Aldis's eyes, and ran directly into the crowd.

''Wait!　Don't let him get away!

　Ignoring the restraining voices behind him, Aldis ran through the main road and swept past the mercenaries and quickly slipped into a single back road.

'Good grief, things are worse than I thought.

　Aldis doesn't look greatly troubled while saying so with her mouth, and turns around and calls out to her.

''Can you do me a favor?''

What?

　Behind Aldis was Charu before he knew it.

　She was the girl who had blended into the crowd, posing as a stranger in the earlier commotion.
　As a matter of course, the fact that she was snuggled up behind Aldis was probably proof that her abilities were not low.
　It's not a level that can be beaten by two lactors in terms of pure combat ability, but Ardis judges her to be competent when it comes to this kind of behind-the-scenes work.

''I want to ask the woman named Marida from the Litte Trading Company to give me a message.

What was the message?

"Tell him, 'I'm coming to see you tonight.'

"...... night crawl?

Why is that?

　It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with your friends and family.
　It's a very good idea to be able to have a good idea of what you need to know, but when it comes to this kind of thing, you have a strangely old-fashioned side to you.
　It may be because of the need to work behind the scenes, but she was a girl with a bias for knowledge in many ways.

Anyway, take a message for me. I'm not a night crawler, for Christ's sake. It's because I want to talk to you away from the public eye. As a reward, buy whatever you want with this and go home.

　As he said this, Aldis tried to hand him a single silver coin, but Char did not take it.

'I can't take the money. I'm at work now.'

...... Okay, I'll get it. As usual, I'll just look up the right things on my end and buy them. I still don't understand why I can't accept money, but I can accept food if it's food: ......

'It doesn't matter because good food is what people need to survive. It's not a reward, it's the same as something locally sourced.

　Apparently, Char has her own non-negotiable line about receiving money.
　Although it's completely skeletonized, she insists that since she's following Aldis on the premise that she's watching him, there's a problem with receiving money from another source.
　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for, but if you're not sure what you're looking for, you might want to look at the following tips.

'I'm off.

　Despite Aldis's thoughts, Char, who had confirmed the location of the Litte Trading Company, quickly disappeared into the main street.





　That night.
　The building of the Litte Company is located in the commercial district near the center of the city-state of Leytin.

　In one of the lit upstairs rooms, an oddly aged woman was sitting alone at her desk doing paperwork.

'You're interrupting me,'

　Suddenly called out to her, the woman turns around unperturbed by the situation, which normally wouldn't be surprising if she screamed, and answers the owner of the voice with a surprising look.

''Oyaan?　Have you already arrived?　If you're going to crawl at night, wouldn't it be better to do it later in the day -?

What?　Why would I crawl on you at night?

　Marida, the young chairwoman of the Litte Trading Company, smiles at him, and Aldis denies her words with a look of dismay on her face.
　It's a good idea to have a good time with them.

'You don't think that's what the girl you sent out on an errand said, do you?

Yeah. "I'm going to see you tonight," is all I heard.

　Aldis is relieved to understand that it's not Char's doing, apparently.

How does that make you a night crawler?

That's right, Aldis. There's nothing worse than crawling into a young girl's room at night.

　Aldis, realizing that it was just a flippant remark, replied bitterly, "You're not old enough to be a bunny.

'You're not even old enough to be young.

Hey, hey, hey, hey. Don't talk like that in front of the ladies.

"Is that your advice as a 'dreamer'?

It's just common sense.

　Marida, who had finished putting away her papers during their short conversation, turned to Ardis again.

It's been a long time since I've seen you. It's been two years, or maybe three years, since I've seen you?

'Yeah. The last time we met was before the war with the Empire, so that's about it.

　Aldis's sense is that it's already a year short, but it was too much trouble to explain every single thing about being sent to another world, so I'll adjust the conversation appropriately.

''How much do you know about the situation I'm in?''

'Yes, niiiii ....... About the only thing that got me certified as a heretic by the church and that's why I left the country.

You knew I was coming to see you.

I knew it in my dream. I just didn't know it was because the Church recognized me as a heretic.

　Naturally, there is a church in Leytin.
　As long as it was a formal proclamation, the information would have been passed on to us, even if it was a case in another country.

''How much information is coming to Leytin about the heresy certification?

"Hmmm, ......, is it about a church proclamation and a picture of Mr. Aldis?

I knew the figure drawing was out there: ......

　Aldis clicks his tongue at the predictable story.

''But Leitin has always had little influence in the church, and I don't think anyone would be willing to overtly express their harmful intentions.

　Aldis cuts off Marida's thoughts of optimism, not even trying to hide his displeasure.

''Though a group of mercenaries with their teaching markers hanging from them got involved early in the day when we arrived.

'Wow ....... Even if you don't know it, you're another deadbeat .......

　Forgetting the irritating tone she usually uses, Marida adopted a plain tone of voice.

You can see them everywhere. You can find those annoying believers everywhere.

Absolutely.

　Without hiding his disgusted feelings, Aldis agrees.

'So, what are we going to do now, nee?

'I had some hope that a union of city-states wouldn't be as bad as the Kingdom.

'Leitin is relatively tolerant of that sort of thing, but it's not very convincing to you right now, Aldis!

　If it wasn't for the daytime incident, he might have listened to those words, but Marida was right, he didn't have any convincing power over Aldis right now.

''The biggest Calvus in the Union is the same way, but then again, the further west you go, the more devoted followers you get.

'I've heard stories, but is the church still very powerful in the west?

That's because this is a land that has seen goddesses come down from there several times in the last few hundred years. They don't have the same faith as people in the East.

　On the western edge of the continent, next to the Union of City States, there is the Holy Kingdom, which was founded by people who are said to have been guided by the Goddess.
　It is said that the Goddess herself was directly involved in the founding of the country, and the influence of the people's religious beliefs and churches is not comparable to that of the Kingdom of Naglas and the Empire of Ermenia in the eastern part of the continent.

　The Union of City States bordering the Holy Kingdom is also naturally influenced by it.
　It was a natural consequence that the church's power grew stronger the further west one went.

If the Union of City-States was no good either: ......

　You'll need to head to another country, but there aren't many options.
　They could head north to the Bronchell Republic, or from there they could cross the straits to the island where the Kingdom of Arvern is located, or as a last resort they could sneak into the Ermenian Empire.

　But the Bronchel Republic is not a comfortable place for Nere and the twins to live because it is too male-dominated, and the Kingdom of Arvern could start a civil war at any moment according to Cesare's story.
　It's a good thing that you're able to have a good time with them.
　It's not surprising that they are looking at us as their enemy.

It's a good thing that there's no need for you to live in the town if you're as strong as Ardis-kun, huh?

　Marida said irresponsibly and pulled out a map from her desk drawer and unfolded it to Aldis, who looked at her with a difficult face.

'Look at this, Aldis,'

　Marida asked me to look at a map that showed the entire continent, including the Kingdom of Naglas and all the countries on the continent and their territories.

I'm sure the countries have always fought each other at the borders of the continent to gain more territory, just like the kingdoms and empires. All these years, nations have fought each other within their borders to gain more territory, just like a kingdom and an empire," Ardis said. But, Mr. Ardis, not all of this continent is national territory.

　Marida is right.

　There are a number of countries on the continent, but most of their territories are inhabited plains that are easy for people to live in.
　Conversely, most of the harsh environments for human habitation can be said to be lands that don't belong to any country.

　The rugged terrain that hinders human traffic, the presence of ferocious demons and beasts, and the barren land that is unsuitable for farming.
　For these reasons, there are lands that have not been touched by human beings everywhere.
　The Caucasian Forest is a classic example of this.

'What's your point?'

'When you say you were in King's Landing, you don't mean you lived in the city, do you?　If you're good enough to live in the forest of Kosas, then living around here is one way to go. There are no churches or noblemen to look for here, and you can't even touch them.

　As she said it, Marida pointed to a point on the map.
　It was the Canobis Mountains in the middle of the continent.