"I wonder about the children, Master Masal"

That's what Satie asked me as I massaged my feet soaking in the hot tub.

Syrah has my head on her chest to support her torso. It is extremely easy with all the strength and floating in hot water. It feels very good for my tired body.

"Well, yeah."

In the first place, he wasn't at the stage of questioning loyalty, he just took the permission of his parents and turned the kids back together into adventurer apprenticeships.

"It's gonna be hard soon."

I'm still beginning to think that Satie's case was a miracle.

Though I've had a hard experience, the kids have parents to take care of and lots of company.

Satti was destined to be sold to her parents and separated from her slave companions, and there was no other way to serve her husband.

But where I enslave him, he leaves his lover in his hometown, and like Syrah, this is his destiny, too, and his husband gets it very light.

"I guess the kids want to be strong because they want their country back with their own hands? Is that going to be loyalty to me..."

It's only from now on that we really save them by recapturing Hilagis. It would be too much to expect loyalty from them right now.

"Your desire to be strong and your loyalty to the Lord is certainly another thing."

Syrah peeked into my face from above and said. I guess you have an idea.

"But I don't think you're going in the wrong direction. Some of them might really like me."

I also provided supplies and showed a lot of things. They miss me a lot just for what I've done.

"Whatever happens to protection, it's no harm to work out."

Let's give the kids as much time as we can tomorrow. The Adventurer Alliance thing shouldn't take much longer because Ellie is totally on the lookout.

When we get back, we'll add the Beastman's house, and our own training will naturally make Syrah want to do it. Well, good luck working while it's bright. This is how I have fun at night.

"Speaking of which, Satie, it's against me today."

I asked because I was concerned about the daytime.

Satie stepped on a stone and I won, and that was the manipulative action to fulfill and give me the win? Or did it just happen?

"I'm ashamed I made such a mistake"

That's what Satti said, and he sank his face in hot water after a long time.

"So that was really just a mistake..."

I snapped my neck in the wind that Satie looked up and wasn't sure.

"The Lord says that Sister Satie lost on purpose."

Satti looked seriously surprised at what Syrah had just said from behind.

"I am absolutely serious if Master Masal tells me to be serious. You've never lost your hand!

"It made sense for me to win over there, and it wasn't Sati-like mistakes that stomped the stone. So I just thought for a second. No, I'm sorry to say something weird, Satie."

Sure, there's no way Satie wouldn't follow my instructions to take it seriously, and I'm not going to fake that at my discretion alone.

"In the first place. Master Masaru is stronger, so it's not weird that I'm losing more."

Satti says a little dissatisfied.

"No, no, the sword would be better on Satie, wouldn't it?

Is my chance of winning something like 30%? No matter how much Satie overestimates me, the numbers tell the story of strength.

"Even the sword should definitely be stronger, Master Masal. Even when you're serious, you're not really serious, are you?

"You have that. I'm not saying the Lord is out of control, but he's in a much different mood than he was at the Games."

That won't be as desperate as it was at the tournament.

You've talked about this before. I'm supposed to be stronger if I'm serious.

But it is also strength that can be produced from time to time. I guess if I'm in the mood to die, I'll be somewhat more empowered, but it's not something I can give all that much effort to, and I still can't accept Satie's opinion that I'm stronger.

"Even when Satie's serious, she's not as good at it as she was at the tournament, is she?

It's not a tournament with Satie, and I'm not saying it's out of hand, but it shouldn't really be serious.

"I'm doing my best when I'm serious."

Indeed, Satti has recently shown his movements during the Games and his unmistakable movements, his strength.

"So what's the inching?

Satti doesn't want to attack me hard, and the inclination will obviously be a handful.

"There are times these days when you hit it, aren't there? And Master Masaru will stop, won't he?

That's right. I'm telling you not to force me to stop. I'm telling you to hit me when I can't stop you, and I'm stopping you when I can. Are the conditions the same?

"After the tournament, the Sergeant said. If me and Master Masal fight, it's hard to predict which one will win. The tournament just wasn't lucky enough to combine, and Masaru won enough."

If I could have avoided Mr. Lazard, I might have had the winning eye. Still, the biggest enemies of Satie and Fran remain, but if they crush each other, the only thing left to do is that giant (Borzola).

But me and Satie have the same strength? I do have to admit that I'm not usually all I can do... but I can fight Satie decently. I share some moves I remember, and I'm just able to handle them because I'm used to practicing with them all the time and moving, and I can still win, like, once every three or four times. All I have to do is try to keep my strength from letting go.

"Lord Sergeant said Master Masal should practice more. Then I won't be able to win any time soon."

I don't know if you want me to practice more, Sergeant, or Sati, but I've had an extraordinary increase in practice lately because of more people, and I think I'm trying pretty hard.

"This place is pretty serious."

"Yes, that's why it's so hard not to be left behind."

Uh, I've always told Satie to be stronger than me. If you thought you'd stay on par, instead of not making a difference between me and your arm with less practice, that would certainly be tough.

"I'm sorry about that. Say something unscrupulous. If you can't, I can't really. But okay?

"No, I'll try my best to be stronger too, but Master Masal better stay much stronger too"

The state that I'm stronger is more desirable as a Satie, but I'm telling Satie to be stronger than me, so it seems like a pretty complicated state of mind.

But if Satti only said so, it would seem like an eyeball, but there is also the word of the Sergeant.

"The next time I see you, I expect you to be beyond me."

Yes, I said goodbye... are you seriously expecting me?

Are you saying that Satti didn't mean it from his eyes or his faith, but that he really calmly appreciated that I would be better with a sword?

"Why don't you and Lady Fran compete again, this time in full physical condition? If Master Masaru is serious, we can fight more than each other."

"That's good. That match was still a matter of dissatisfaction"

You had all the magic on the move, and it wasn't a bee match just for the sword with Fran. I hate to hurt.

But suppose I do. Fran, if you're dealing with him, you can't let Satie out. Can you be serious?

In retrospect, I can only say twice that I really meant it with my sword. Only when the Sergeant and Mr. Lazard. Both were pretty stranded situations.

"Right. You can try it once or so."

"You can definitely win!

"Really? I think I'm tough."

I wonder how I can get it out for real.

"Without a doubt, Master Masal is the strongest, even with his sword. I would never lie to Master Masaru."

I knew it was faith.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

The next morning everyone came to see their new home. Breakfast is then a fish dish on the Tirica Request.

"Why don't you stay over here today?

Ellie tells me yesterday that I could be buried plain if everyone was there to give protection to the Beast Man, but that just about everything would be fine now.

Anne and I are preparing breakfast in the kitchen next door, and it's just me and Ellie, Fran and Will here in the living room and dining room.

The house is identical in appearance to the five longhouses made to the beast man to be discreet, but it is stuck together for two longhouses. I also snuck up the basement for the transfer point. I can't spend a lot of space in my living room, dining room, bathroom, but there are private rooms for everyone. In the meantime, I only had the front door put on. Each room has no door, but to that extent, it would be problematic.

"Right. Let's move over when we're done."

Everyone got one room in the Guild's quarters and there were five women in a small room, and Will said he slept miscellaneously with other adventurers in the big room.

Will was trained yesterday, and I thought he must be tired. I'm in a good mood.

"No, I'm so much stronger."

Apparently, Fran and I were together at the guild's training ground yesterday. Is that what Satie always does?

Well, we were arguing for the weakest, and even though we understood that it had gotten stronger, it wouldn't be the same if we actually experienced it.

"Don't get on with it. I just wasn't very strong at the training ground."

But yes, Fran might as well say so. There may be strong ones here, but that's not for the training ground, and even instructors are rarely strong enough to play a level 5 swordsman opponent.

"But Will, are you all right with being so conspicuous?

Well, I'm still fully equipped to cover my face, so I think it's okay.

Fran also finds out that Will is a bummer of nobility who has run away from home. We've been acting together for a long time, so it looks like we had to talk. It's a very suspicious thing not to give you a face where people are.

"They make fun of me for wearing my armor..."

Don't even fix a lot of Beco armor. If you used it, you'd be fooled too.

"Really, Fran got hit a little bit and tried to stop it."

said Ellie as she nibbled. So it sounds like a stream of people making fun of worn armor where I put it out.

"You really don't know what to do with Fran."

But there doesn't seem to be as much color there as Ellie thinks. It's not Fran who can do something about each of those adventurers, and I guess Will stopped because he cared purely about the adventurers.

"Will, come on. Replace it with new armor. You can buy the money on the road, right?

That's what I said. Fran doesn't look like he cared either, and Will doesn't seem to have a pulse. Of course not for me at all. I really don't seem interested in anything other than training swords.

"Oh, I have a new one for you. I'll get you out later."

"Really?!?

"After breakfast first."

Will seemed to want it out right away, but it looks like he's having a bumpy breakfast.

Today's menu is a dish where I baked the miscellaneous fish I took yesterday with salt as is, and the bulky body boiled in soup.

"Grilled fish delicious"

That's what Tirica said. Sure, grilled fish is pretty good. The soup is... normal. The river fish is pale, so it's flavored with soup.

"The armored fish is served for dinner."

Tirica nodded at my words. The big armored fish need to be dismantled, so they ask the beast man. I plan to use that for dinner.

What should I do with the menu? Will you be able to eat your sashimi? Sure, they say if you freeze it, the parasite dies, but if it was out, would it heal magically?

"Parasites? You don't know a bit when they ask you that."

They don't know Anne very well either.

"I've never eaten fish raw. Delicious?", Tirica.

"I can get used to it, but when I get hit by the parasite I just said, I get sick."

I think it's about abdominal pain, but what about this one? It may not be like the parasites on Earth, and even though you don't know the cure, it's getting a little scary to get your hands on it with your knowledge of wanderings.

"You've decided to break your stomach eating raw. Stop it."

I'm sorry, but will you forbid sashimi? During this busy time, abdominal pain can make you feel incapacitated for days.

Don't look like that, Tirica. I'm sad too.

"Eh. So what? It's a different story..."

Go on. Ann cut it out.

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking about it since yesterday and I'm going to stay here. There aren't enough healers."

Basically, there aren't enough healers anywhere, but this place is a massive refugee, and it looks like a pretty bad situation.

"And I don't have a proper orphanage, so I thought I'd make it."

It's more of a fort. There can't be a temple or an orphanage or anything. I took care of him at the temple for once, but he didn't have enough money, equipment, manpower, everything, and the entire residence seems to starve even adults, not children, beyond this.

"Either way, I don't train swords, I don't do anything at Ellie's house."

You can transfer to Ellie's home.

"If Ann wants to do that, I'll agree."

I'm very worried about leaving you alone, but if you want to stay, I plan to live in a temple, where there are plenty of clerics and Temple Knights. I plan to go back and check on the Beast Man. It won't be a problem.

"Right. We'll be back as soon as we're done with our parents' business."

The problem is training the sword, but you can do it slowly after the worst Hiragis is cleaned up.

"It's called the provision of prey, it's a truly wonderful aspiration. I'm a little bit too, but let's fund the orphanage."

He said that Fran would provide me with half of the 100,000 golds and 50,000 golds that he brought to travel and living expenses. It's about 5 million yen in Japanese yen. Quite a bit of money, but I wouldn't say we're putting out over five million gold, but it's a flower.

"Thank you, Fran. That's very helpful."

Ann also honestly said thank you. Now even a golden one helps, and with 50,000 golds, there's a lot you can do.

I'm not spending any money on training anyway.

In the sword, they should take care of the local lord. We were invited to take care of it together, but it's easier to build a house on your own in some empty space.

Inside that sword is the Spirit of Lilia for three days. It takes two days in a hurry, at least four round-trip days. Whether you go back to see Anne and the Beast Man, you're suspicious of being too frequent.

I thought I'd keep it a secret to go inside the sword, but Kensei is a celebrity and I don't know where the borough comes from by acting in a detour.

Just put the avant-garde group in the sword, and I could really reside here.

So you can take the Magee group and hunt in Hiragis and sneak Will and Syrah out for some experience. If you find your prey and then take me on a metastasis, one hour at a time is enough to get out.

But then Fran gets in the way again. We're going to train in the same place. There's no way I'm not gonna find out if I just slipped out.

I wish I could pull this guy into complete alliance somehow.

I know we've gotten along pretty well, but not enough to expect you to uncover your secrets and make sure you keep your mouth shut. Will with us all the time. If we look at the earlier exchanges, the colorful stories don't seem shard.

"What's up, Masal? Something to me...... Ha!? Aim at me and I'll never be your wife!

I didn't mean to look so closely, but I found out what I was thinking. I don't know, Fran's beautiful, too, and I can't help but cling to erotic delusions.

Nothing, I'm not squirting on Fran, but Fran seems to think of me as a lot more of an unrestrained person to porn, and this is how he gets his nails stabbed sometimes.

Speaking of which, Fran and I didn't do a real sword-only presence on the road. So I thought,

That's what I said when I remembered yesterday's story.

With this said, I thought I'd eat it right away, but Fran seems lost. Did you make him a little too dented in a magic battle?

"No, it's fine if you're not interested"

It's not like I want to move on.

"Your... getting stronger is an anomaly"

Fran said so without answering my words. Satie won the tournament, but the last blow was like an accidental hit. At that point, it was now mutual that Fran was stronger, no matter what he saw.

But that is not simply a story of growing up, but also of finally becoming familiar and usable with the body in terms of skills and statuses. Syrah and Will are remarkable.

"It's been really good training with Fran."

A tough battle at the Games and training with Fran, who had devoted his entire life to the sword, were also filling the lack of experience that had been a concern. I guess Satti and I alone had our limitations on training.

Training on the road was an unexpectedly good experience. I have to thank Fran.

"That's the same as this one. I'm glad I came along saying I can't."

If we had acted differently, we would have gone into training in the sword more than a month in advance. I can make a difference to us for a month when we see unusual growth. That would be a little nightmare for Fran.

"Is it the rules of the tournament to do it?

Nod.

"Fine. I'll clear you up with a sword, a grudge rolled with magic."

Sounds like he's got quite a bit of a root blown away by magic many times. I knew you were pretty sorry about that, didn't I? Unlike a sword, you can't stop sizing, and you'll be the one who has challenged the battle over and over again...