Riot Grasper

- Erindal, in the office of the Consulate.

"Excuse me."

The lord of the room greeted the deacon Regal in a musty and silent manner as he entered the room courteously.

"Dude, you still got it? We just got back."

Don, and a bunch of paperwork is placed on the desk.

"The paperwork that needs to be looked at by Master Rik is about half of it and so on. If you think about the sudden loss of flutter, you can't miss the opportunity to stay in the office like this."

Rik's free-flowing personality didn't seem to have been fixed since he became a lord, and he often vacated the Lordship Hall without telling him anything.

Deacon Regal feels used to it.

"You know I went to the Imperial City of Gran Bern this time because I had some proper business to do, right? I was called to celebrate the Emperor's engagement."

"Yeah, I know that. Only this time."

"Ha... ok. Bring me the other half too. I decide to get it over with as quickly as possible. Is there anything else you'd like to report?

Exhaled as he gave up, Rick reached for the paperwork loaded on his desk.

"Yeah, Ren Fong when Master Rik was away...... Master Ren came to visit. I told you I wasn't here, but I said I'd wait for you to come home."

Regal suggested staying at the Lordship Hall if he was going to stay in the city, but it seems Ren reluctantly took the inn.

"Ren came to see me?... Hmm, okay. It's time for me to get tired of paperwork... no, my brother visited me because of it. I'm sure it's my brother's job to see you soon."

When they say that, Regal can only honestly nod too.

"Yes, I did. Let's just decide to put out a use for the inn where Master Ren is staying. Except..."

The butler, who tried to leave the office, grinned and smiled back at Rik as he left.

"- Until Master Ren is here, please continue your paperwork"

In the end, Ren showed his face to the Lordship Hall when Rik looked through to about half of the paperwork.

"Hey, Brother Rick. Long time no see."

"... slow"

"Huh? I think I came as soon as Oyla called me."

"No way, the Legal one..."

"What's wrong?

"No... nothing. By the way, are you the only one today? What happened to Ray?

"Sister Ray is not with me. Just a little slower, Rick, 'cause I wanted to talk to my brother."

Rick heard it and laughed bitterly as he was convinced.

"Ha, because he doesn't seem to like me. Let's just talk about men and brothers today."

"Yeah, that doesn't mean Oyla lived here when she was a little girl, and she has so many memories to miss her old stories,"

With that in his mouth, Ren turned his gaze to the painting that was decorating the office.

It's a picture of Rick with three friends.

"Yes, because of that, Rick, tell me all about my brother. We've been apart for a long time. That painting was a good friend of yours, wasn't it?

"Oh, did Regal tell you? With these two, yes... we've been friends since before you and Ray were born. I don't know about this Rahal guy... but I met him when he was trying to steal a product from the store."

A strange encounter between the son of a fallen aristocrat and a boy who brought himself to help steal from the son of a lord.

Rick tried to miss it and told me about the memories of those days.

"... I didn't actually steal the goods, I was paying them right"

Rick said that, spilling an innocent grin that made friends laugh at each other, unlike a loving laugh as a lord or a soft grin directed at his brothers.

"In retrospect, you two did a lot of things. Rahal started working in a liquor store, but he always looked disgusted when I visited him. I don't think I can do it because it's mostly the wings that go along with the play... I'm sure he would have enjoyed it there too if I didn't turn him down."

"Huh, you're a little jealous. Ouilla didn't have any friends of her generation."

Ren spent most of his childhood in the Lordship Hall, so he had no such casual friends.

"When did you meet a woman named Alisha over here?

"Oh, that's when I went exploring the woods with Rahal to exorcise the green eels that occurred in the neighboring woods. She was the one who was attacked by a bunch of small goblins and helped me where it was dangerous"

He seemed to be good at handling bows, and pierced the throat of an attacking small goblin with a single shot.

That's when Alisha defiled her clothes with demonic blood and bodily fluids, and Rick, who peeked at her changing clothes, thought she was vindicated?

"Alisha and I got along after that. She became an adventurer for a reason, but it seems like Rahal and I used to get requests together."

"Is that it? Wasn't Brother Rick with you?

"My dad's been a little tough since you guys were born. I know you can be an example to your sister and younger brother, but it's hard to get out of the hall. Yeah, well, more often than not, I can't play with them."

Rick shrugged so, looking at the three paintings.

"Well, I'm the one who wants to do it if you say no. He was out of the hall when he stole my father's eyes."

According to what Ren heard from the liquor store owner, Rick was a regular customer, so even though he got tough, he probably stole his eyes quite often.

"Heh. This painting is important to Brother Rick."

"Oh...... it's an important memory. After Alisha decided to go to the Imperial City, the three of them were asked to draw a place together at the liquor store. She said she didn't like it because it was like saying goodbye."

Apparently, this painting is from when we had a big celebration at the liquor store sending Alisha out.

"As it is, I wish peaceful time had lasted forever..."

Along with his lonely expression, Rick leaked a slightly lower voice.

"Well, what did Mr. Alisha go to the Imperial City to do? Didn't Brother Rik or Mr. Rahal stop?

On that question, Rick, who was looking at the painting, looks back at his brother.

"... what? Sounds like you've taken a lot of interest. I wanted to stop... but they were just wrong."

According to what Rick said, Alisha was welcomed as the emperor's sideroom.

"Huh!? The Emperor's sideroom... Alisha could be the mother of the current Emperor Mihasa..."

"Is it impossible to be surprised? If you were in Imperial Capital, you'd know, but you're Alisha. But I don't know where he is right now."

Len, in front of whom he had been with the Secret Service for a long time, has some knowledge of the name of Mihasa's mother and the extent to which she has been missing since the death of the former emperor.

But I didn't think that was the same person Alisha was talking about.

"Well, again... they're bad for you"

"Sort of. He's not the one the son of a fallen aristocrat or the prodigal son of a peripheral lord can fathom. But... I guess the Rahal one gave a different answer than I did. For some time after Alisha went to the Imperial City, he seemed to have been troubled"

In the end, Rahal disappeared after saying he was going to the Imperial City.

As the liquor store owner also said, it would be around that time that Rahal quit.

"I know you were worried about Alisha, but I wonder how she's doing by now"

"You haven't seen Mr. Rahal since?

"... oh, we both know that"

Rik's appearance of a bunch of paperwork at his desk, turning around without dropping his gaze, seemed lonely looking somewhere far away.

"Well, this old story would be about as good as this. I know there's still more to talk about, but if we don't get rid of this paperwork, Regal's gonna be so loud. We'll have a little dinner tonight, and we'll talk about it then."

"Yeah. Anyway, I think I'd like to have a drink with Brother Rick at the liquor store I was talking about."

Rick laughed bitterly at Ren's suggestion like that.

"Exactly, if I showed my face to that tavern right now, it would make a scene. You didn't know that because you were still small, but it's a pretty good vibe place, and I'd like to take you there once."

- To that word, Ren's body stiffens only for a moment.

Because my brother in front of me now said something very odd.

- "Once." I want to take you...

"Hmm? What's up, you look so weird"

Ren must have been taken by his brother to the tavern he was talking about at a very young age.

Maybe Rick wanted to take his brother to an important place where he had fun with his best friends.

No, I'm sure you will.

"You know, Brother Rick... Oyla, I've been taken to that tavern before"

Unexpectedly, those words shook my mouth.

"Yes... Was it? It was quite a while ago, so I'm sorry, but I don't really remember."

Is it... something like that?

True, it's been over a decade now. It is possible that my memory is fading.

However, in Ren's mind, the discomfort swells.

In the first place, he came all the way to Erindal to wipe away just a little discomfort.

A tiny, thorny lump I felt when I spoke to my brother a long time ago.

Unharmonious to a degree that doesn't bother my sister Ray, who was perfect for her mother and wasn't very close to her brother.

- That's what keeps getting bigger and bigger.

The billboard daughter at the tavern also said the story doesn't mesh subtly, but does she ever forget softly the memory of sneaking her brother to a thoughtful tavern?

Ren knows.

That my brother is not one to forget such things.

If that's the case - it's...

"What's going on? Len, it's rare for you to look so serious."

One step, against Rik trying to walk over, Ren lagged behind making sure he was caught.

"... Hey, Brother Rick. The secret loophole you used to get Oyla out of the hall is still intact?

"Hmm? Yeah, it should be as it was then, especially since I haven't put my hands on it. What's wrong with that?

In a very natural tone, they say that.

"Yeah, well... there's no secret loophole."

…………

For a while the silence ruled the indoors.

It was such a quiet time that it was likely to hear the hustle and bustle of Erindal's boulevard in the distance.

It was Rick, the current lord, who opened his mouth first.

"... at all, bring a young child to a late-night tavern... what are you thinking, he's"

There is no change in voice or tone, but Ren clearly sees the difference.

This man, he's still not.

I'm not the person I'm familiar with.

"You - who are you?