192-Chapter 12-11

A few days after Chris' fall to the dark side. My rehabilitation was going well, and I had regained my strength to the point where I was almost able to go about my normal life. But in proportion to my recovery, Chris's emotions were becoming unstable.

The cause was canon. I didn't mind Kanon going after Rion, but after seeing their casual exchange, Kanon asked, "Doesn't Chris have a thing for Rion? Or, "Could it be the other way around?　He seems to have come to the idea that he can't do anything about it, so he competes with Chris at every opportunity. Sometimes she shows him how well she and Rion get along (Kanon touching Rion, taking care of him, etc.), but each time she does so, Chris's darker side grows stronger.

At one point, the women other than Chris-san explain to Kanon about Chris-san's relationship with Rion, but so far it doesn't seem to be very effective.

'Grandpa, Chris-san is in a lot of trouble. And by the way, Rion and Kanon too.

Those two will just go along for the ride and, well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

'I'm sorry about our canon...'

From my point of view, Chris is the victim and canon is the perpetrator. Rion is the original bad guy. However, if you watch Chris-san's normal behavior, you can understand Kanon's misunderstandings, so I don't think you can blame only Kanon. So Rion is the most evil of all.

So I don't think Yuri-san should be so concerned about it. It's all Rion's fault.

''Well then, what should we do........''

Would you rather I left Rion behind?　Yuri-san, if only Rion (...) is there when the frontier count's reply comes in, you won't have any problems, right?

''Yes, I've listened to Tenma-kun's story, and the only thing left to do is to follow the Frontier Count's instructions.......To be honest, if the relationship with Tenma-kun, which we've worked so hard to repair, deteriorates again because of Kanon, I'll have to punish Kanon severely from my position. Besides, my body won't be able to hold up....

Yuri-san was holding her stomach as she said that.

If Yuri-san had fallen because of her deteriorating relationship with me, the public's view of the canon would be quite harsh. Perhaps there might even be expulsion from the frontier county territory.

Expulsion might be a bit of an exaggeration, but the Haust Frontier County has a history of suffering due to its deteriorating relationship with me and its economy. It's not surprising that not the frontier count himself, but the people around him would overreact.

In other words, the quickest way for us........to be precise, it's the quickest way for Chris-san to disappear from Russell City.........So, let's leave Leon alone and move on, shall we?　Just give them the schedule and Leon will follow suit.

Considering everyone's happiness, it would be inevitable that Rion would have to take a cut of the profits. In the first place, if Rion was firm, he wouldn't have to worry about this.

''Is Rion's happiness good?''

'If it's just Rion alone and everyone else's happiness plus Chris-san's mood plus Yuri-san's stomach, I'll sacrifice Rion.

You say it sounds cool, but the point is, it's not really up to Leon.

Because it's Rion's fault and it would be a shame to get caught in the middle of something.

Well, getting involved in other people's love lives is a pain in the ass and it's the best thing to do.

Since we came to the conclusion that this was the case, we immediately decided to inform all the members except Rion. Incidentally, except for me, Grandpa and Yuri, Albert and Cain are currently standing beside Rion and Kanon, and the women are standing beside Chris.

Albert or Cain sees an opening in Rion's life and explains to Kanon about his relationship with Chris, while the women take a tour of the city to distract Chris and to calm his mind. The men split the cost of Chris's distraction between them. After all, the men should pay for Chris's distraction instead of the women having a hard time with his allowance. Well, while calling it Chris-san's allowance, they are also planning to enjoy themselves to the fullest, I suppose. The most important thing is that the price that will be borne by everyone except Rion will be secretly charged to the frontier aunt's family later, so in the end, Rion will be the only one to bear the cost. Originally, it was unanimously decided by the men｜(except for Leon) that if Leon had been firm, this would not have happened (I think), so the men (except for Leon) would have to accept this level of punishment.

''Right!　It's for the best!

I left Albert and Cain to grandpa, and I explained to the ladies using 'search' to find them, and Chris-san agreed with me in a cover-up. After all, Chris-san, who was stressed out because of canon, didn't seem to be confused about sacrificing Rion. The look on his face didn't seem to remind him of the time he had tried to interfere with Rion's possible girlfriend.

'I'm almost certain Rion will say something about it, but I think it would be easy to convince him if I told him that I received an urgent call from the Primera in 'Gunjo City', our next destination. The problem is that if the reply from the frontier count reaches us before we leave, then this mission will fail.

Then we'll leave this evening!

Chris, you don't have time for this.

'Yes, that's right. Besides, I have to explain to Kanon about Leon and Chris-san properly (...), so it'll be early tomorrow morning at the earliest.

When Chris heard my words, he said, "Leave Rion and canon alone! He said. But in the future, it would be better to just explain things properly. This idea was something he had decided in his discussions with Grandpa and Yuri.

''I'm going to give that explanation to the men, with the exception of Rion, and force Kanon to agree to it. If we still don't see the effect we may never see Kanon again.

The women looked surprised or frightened when they heard my words. There seemed to be some kind of misunderstanding, so I explained in detail and they all agreed with me.

The point of never seeing each other again is to keep canon out of our and Rion's life by any means, not to kill it. I'm thinking of this, in some cases, I'm also thinking of asking for the king's help.

On a personal note, I don't mind who Rion goes out with, but that's because if that person is the current canon, I can't say that there won't be problems. Right now, he's just jealous of Chris, who 'might have a thing for Rion', but if Kanon married Rion and became the Countess of the Frontier, and his jealousy was stronger, he could be paranoid about a woman who was on friendly terms with Rion.

If the person under suspicion is a helpless civilian, it's not a bad thing to say, but it doesn't matter. However, if that opponent is someone that even Leon's power can't pretend didn't exist...for example, a nobleman of the same class or higher, it's not always possible that it won't lead to a fight involving your faction or a fight that will shake the country.

If you say I'm overthinking it, it's only fair to say that the House of Hust Frontier Count also plays a role in preventing the invasion of neighboring countries geographically, so it would be a problem if trouble broke out in the family or between nobles. So in the worst case scenario, I may have to advise the king to take measures.

It's normal for people to dance and chat with their acquaintance's partners at parties, not just nobles, right?　And I don't think you can be a nobleman's wife if you're jealous to the point where you can see that and think you might harm them.

After hearing my thoughts, Chris-san nodded after thinking for a moment. Chris-san is a Kingsguard and a nobleman, so I guess he came to a conclusion after weighing his own feelings of wanting to get away from canon as soon as possible against the possibility that the country might be in turmoil.

''I understand what you're saying, Temma. However, I'm not going to get involved or obligated to get involved in this matter, so you'll have until tomorrow morning to educate me without my knowledge.

Chris said that he would not be fully involved in the canon and casually set a deadline of tomorrow morning. This means that he will leave Russell City tomorrow.

As far as this attitude is concerned, if he can't convince Kanon to stay out of this, Chris-san and Rion's relationship might be destroyed. If that happens, Cain will be in some kind of trouble with me and Albert, who are both common acquaintances of the two of them. We need to educate Leon as well, but since me, Albert and the others might not be as effective, let's just leave it to Grandpa. I'm sure Leon will be able to listen to his grandfather's story.

''Well Mr. Leni, I'll give you some money, so you can all go have something good to eat.''

After thinking about the ladies I have in front of me, I decided to ask Ms. Leni to follow up with Mr. Chris. At this, Mr. Chris and Amour voiced their protest, but I told Mr. Chris that since the money was for Mr. Chris's comfort, I decided to leave it to someone other than Mr. Chris (...) and Mr. Leni, who is strong with money, and asked Mr. Chris, "Can Amour manage the money better than Mr. Leni? I asked Amur about it, and they both agreed with me. Well, one of them was smiling as if my good book made him feel better, and the other seemed a little unhappy after being completely debunked... but Leni said something like, "A restaurant with a reputation for being delicious... If I did, I wouldn't have to worry about it, as I would have immediately expressed my opinion.

''Well then, I'll be joining you over there so don't be too late.

At Chris's suggestion, I split up with the ladies to go to Albert and the others, who would have heard from Grandpa, to discuss the decision to leave tomorrow morning and the education of the canon.

'Well, that's the best thing to do, isn't it?'

''I'm a little uncomfortable using Primera, but I can't spend all my time in Russell City alone... and also, if senior Chris is in a bad mood, it's a lot of trouble.

'Well, then, if we're going to educate the canon this evening, we can leave about noon tomorrow. By the way, did the two of you explain anything to the canon?

They shook their heads at my question. Kanon says he's going to reply as if he's listened to the story, but he doesn't seem to believe it very much.

''If that's the case, we don't have a lot of time, and we'll have to be a little rough on him to correct Kanon.

I peeked at Kanon, who was trying to flirt despite his grandfather's presence (which didn't seem to have much effect on Rion) from a distance, and Albert and Cain nodded their heads in agreement.

'The general plan is to have Yuri-san call Kanon to the guild leader's office, and then me, Albert, Cain and Yuri-san will persuade him... or rather, preach to him. In the meantime, I'll have my grandpa pay attention to Rion and have the ladies take care of Chris-san's mood.......

'That's all well and good, but the only reason Master Merlin is in charge of Rion is because we thought he'd listen to him more honestly than we did, right?　If that's the case, I think Temma should go over there too.

Rather, I'd rather you leave the canon to me and Cain.

I told them both, "I'm starting to say it, and I'm going to stay with you to the end.

It's a nobleman's job.

'Yes. Because Kanon seems to have a bit of a lick of nobility, you know. Having Tenma there might complicate things, so I'd like you to turn to Rion this time.

It was a good thing. The two of them seem to be quite annoyed with the canon for not listening to their advice. However.

Speaking of licking, I think it looks like I'm pretty licking it too... what's the deal there?

When I said that, they both looked a little annoyed and dumbfounded.

Because there's a difference in trust and importance between Temma and canon.

He said.

''In Temma's case, because of his contribution to the kingdom, his high profile, and his military power to the extent that he lightly surpasses a lowly nobleman, he is lumped in the same category of commoner as the canon, but in reality, there is a difference in value between heaven and earth.

'Don't get me wrong, but to begin with, the three of us, no matter what status we're in, will play dumb with our friends, and if it's not too much, we won't say anything if it's disrespectful. But that's on the condition that the other person is a friend, and canon is not one of them.

Incidentally, Jeanne, Aura, and Amour fall within the realm of 'friends' for them (aside from Amour, but not how Jeanne and Aura feel about it), and Leni is not so sure if they are friends or not, but basically, Leni is polite and treats them like they're going to stand up for themselves. He says he doesn't get mad at those people for a few things.　

'I'll leave it up to you if that's what you want to do but don't go overboard.

It's okay. It's okay. These things happen sometimes, so I'm used to it.

We don't overdo it like Temma did.

What do you mean by that? I asked Albert, "Just look at the examples of Regil in Gunjo City and Podolo in King's Landing, I think the word overkill fits Temma, don't you? And that was that.

I was a little frightened when I was told of an old name that I knew by heart, but then I said, "I just fought off the one who came against me! When I countered, "Normally, commoners don't get directly involved in fighting off nobles and taking down their families. Even if they do, it's only to pass on information to the nobles who are hostile to that noble,'' returned from Cain. Moreover, behind Cain, Albert was nodding repeatedly with a serious expression on his face.

''If you're going to go that far, I'll leave it up to the two of you. I'll do my best to keep Grandpa and Rion occupied and careful.

'Temma don't try too hard, okay?

''As for Rion, I don't think a few things will ruin him... but even so, he's the heir of a frontier earl's family, please return the five bodies safely.

I knew I shouldn't react, so I tried to silently join my grandpa.......but I found myself holding Albert's head to the side and catching Cain's back collar with my other hand.

'Well, if you can move that quickly, you have nothing to worry about for the journey ahead I'm sorry, I apologize, forgive me.

Give me... up... no, I think my powers are back...

Cain, who had just been grabbed by the back collar, didn't seem to be in much pain, but Albert, who had been hit with a headlock, looked quite painful.

''It's scary how unconscious actions are...''

'It's really scary how unconsciously you can block two men from doing something.

If it really was unconscious, that is.

Albert was right, it wasn't really unconscious or anything but.......I didn't particularly need to correct him, so I just smiled at the two of them and didn't say anything. Both of them had a slightly stronger expression on their faces, but they quickly headed to the guild leader's office to discuss with Yuri-san.

''Rion, you're here. I heard that everyone except me, Grandpa and Rion had something to do tonight, so the three of us were going to have dinner together, so that's what we're going to do. Also, I have something important to talk about at that time, so I'm sorry, but please refrain from canon.

He sought out Rion in 'The Search' and immediately told him his requirements. He then told Kanon, who was still at Rion's side, that he would not allow him to sit with him in a strong tone of voice.

Perhaps because of the slightly harsh tone, Kanon seemed to want to say something, but in the end he nodded without saying anything.

That night.

Leon, what are you going to do about the canon?

What, canon?

After getting Rion lightly drunk, Grandpa cut him off from the matter with Kanon.

You've noticed that Kanon has a thing for you. You know the trouble you are causing Chris, Albert and Cain because you let it go unattended?

'I'm aware of one thing but I just don't know what to do about it.

Rion's argument is that he understands that the three of them are in trouble, but he doesn't know how to fix it.

It's the quickest way to do it," he said, "is to cut ties with Kanon. If you refuse to do so, then the canon will give up on you. And because you don't do that, you're being half-hearted, which makes Kanon think there's still hope for him.

Rion is listening to his grandfather, who is lecturing him in a very serious manner, in an honest manner. I'm sitting next to them, but I don't have a chance to get into the conversation, so I'm quietly listening to the conversation and occasionally pouring drinks into their empty cups. After a while.

'In the first place, you can't go out with him because of your small breasts!　If you're a man, don't you at least tell me you're going to make it big!　Every man has a flaw or two!　Look at Chris!　Small-breasted and fierce!　And yet he's so idealistic and selective about men!　Compared to that, canon is a prime property!

'Certainly!　Miss is too idealistic and wants to be cool, so I can have it with younger homos*xuals, but I've never seen her being approached by a man!

Grandpa started saying some pretty bad things. Maybe I got a little carried away and gave him too much to drink. I don't get very drunk myself, so I guess I made the mistake of asking for a stronger drink when I ordered instead of them. It's a good thing that this is the private room of the restaurant where Albert and Cain showed me around before, so it's soundproofed well, and I didn't hear any other customers. Ugh. That's how much the current situation was something that couldn't be shown to others.

''It sounds like we're going off topic, but in the end, Rion, you're saying that you take canon seriously, right?

'Oh!　Because I can't bother everyone else any more than I already have!

'Well, you don't have two words for a man, do you?　Oh, and guys ... especially Chris and Albert and Cain, make sure you apologize for being so careful.

'Oh!　You know what?

Okay, I get it!　Then drink!　Grandpa, keep drinking, too!

It became too much trouble, so I decided to just say what I wanted to say and destroy it. And Grandpa, too. If I continued to listen to them, I was going to lose my mind.

An hour later.

Finally, it's crushed...

Finally, they were quiet. So.

I need more food, please.

We decided to call the waitress and have a leisurely meal. By the way, Rion (in his drunken state) said he would pay for this place, so I kept his wallet before it went under... Well, I don't think Rion's wallet was enough, so I also kept my wallet from my grandpa (in his drunken state). Furthermore.

'Slarin, Shilomar, Solomon, Gol and Jill, you have permission to come out. But don't freak out.

He was attacking Grandpa's wallet.

And the next day....

'Temma, I don't have any money in my wallet.

My potatoes.

What are you talking about, guys?　It's bound to happen if you keep getting so carried away and asking for expensive drinks. And you said you were going to pay for it, but you didn't give it up. And you forgot about it and... and we had to take you home!　Both of you need to stop drinking so much alcohol that you lose your mind. It's bad for you.

'Hey Jeanne do you think what Tenma-sama is saying is true?'

'Shh!　No more than that.

'Aura. Since we took the bribe, we are Temma's accomplices.

'Yes. Even if you think it, don't say it out loud.

'Yes. I'm sorry for Master Merlin, but Leon has caused me so much trouble, and this is more than enough.

The ladies are my accomplices (buddies) as I have bribed them with the to-go food I ordered before leaving the restaurant yesterday. So, if there is anything wrong with the food, I won't point it out. In addition, I bought drinks for Albert and Cain.

They were stressed out because I lectured (more like a threat, apparently) the canon yesterday while I was sobering up Leon, so they drank the bribe liquor until late in the morning yesterday, and they are still sleeping.

'But then, are Albert and Cain still asleep?　I want to leave quickly, so Leon you're dead. Mr. Temma, please go wake him up for a moment.

It's not a good idea to put Jeanne and her friends in the room where Albert and Cain, who are noblemen, were sleeping, so I was to be used as a paciously. Well, I felt more sorry for the two people who were mentally exhausted and being knocked out of bed than me being used as a pastry, so I didn't say anything and listened to Chris-san's orders.

''Well then, I've left a note for Rion, and I've asked the guild leader to do it, so there's no need to worry about it............................then let's get going!

Chris-san's order was to leave Russell City for the day.

Yuri, who looked tired, Kanon, who looked frightened, and the guild staff, who were sad to say goodbye to Shiroumaru and Solomon, came to see us off.

As soon as Kanon saw Chris-san, he bowed his head deeply and apologized, and Chris-san accepted the apology, so on the surface it was a form of reconciliation... but from the side, it might be a little problematic that it looked like Chris-san was threatening him to make him apologize.

''Well then, Yuri-san. I'll take care of Leon. That guy is asleep at the inn right now, so if he wakes up and realizes that no one is there, I'm sure he'll be the first to charge into the guild.

''Leave it to me ... just in case, you've told Rion-sama that you're going ahead, right?

Yuri was relieved when he replied that he was telling her. If it was something he was informed about beforehand, he thought that Rion's confusion was only temporary.

''Temma-kun!　Let's get the hell out of here!　If we stay here forever, Leon might find out!

Hearing Chris's words, Yuri said, "What? He let out a voice, so he ordered (...) Jeanne at the gosha seat to get into the carriage and leave before they found out.

It would take us less than ten days to reach our next destination, Gunjo City, even if we took a detour. At this rate, we might be able to return to the royal capital before the snow falls.

We left Russell City, ignoring Yuri's shouting as we thought about it.