The mansion of Circry House was big.

The time was slightly before 3 P.M.

I who came bringing a present was standing in front of a magnificent mansion that was built at back of a s.p.a.cious garden.

Together with me was Mirandsan──and Shannon.

Monika also said that she wanted to come, but it would be troublesome to explain what she was so I made her to wait in the inn.

「Somehow I"m feeling nervous.」

It was the Third"s fault that I was feeling like this.

『Oh, are you feeling scared to meet your father-in-law? It"s alright, it"ll be fine if you can tell him please give me your daughter with sincerity. If the other side refuse then you just need to bring her back no matter what.』

He was making fun of me like this.

The person himself didn"t have experience in something like this, having a formal marriage interview and then marrying.

Because of that he was enjoying this situation.

Mirandsan made a troubled face looking at me.

「Don"t be that nervous. It won"t develop into something that you are imagining so you can relax.」

I heard about her family"s circ.u.mstance last night before coming here.

Unlike the Third who was enjoying the situation, the Sixth was feeling indignation.

『A capital n.o.ble s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around. After sending away his daughters because of his own convenience, he is calling them back again after this long, what"s with that att.i.tude! If he say any bulls.h.i.t, he"ll get the fear of Walt House beaten up into him. ──By Lyle that is!』

The ancestors who were nothing but memory could give me advice but they couldn"t do anything directly.

No matter how big they were talking, they couldn"t do anything.

Even so, they really hated capital n.o.ble.

If I could say something, then I only thought of this house as a house of distant relative where the person called Milleia married into but…….

Shannon clutched Mirandsan"s cloth and looking down. She wouldn"t talk since some time ago.

Even if I talked to her, she would only reply with a small voice.

She must have some kind of feeling that was rooted really deeply about this house inside her heart.

「Shannon, it"ll be fine.」

「……Yes.」

The sisters conversed shortly.

There must be various circ.u.mstances and feelings contained within that conversation, but I couldn"t guess them all.

「Now then, let"s enter.」

We started walking in order to enter the mansion.

There was tea prepared in the reception room that we were showed into.

The three us were waiting before they finally came, Renard-san and──the father of Mirandsan and Shannon, Ralph-san.

Unlike the impression that I had, Ralph-san was smiling.

「Miranda, I"m glad you"re looking well. Shannon, it seems your eyes are healed. I"m happy for you.」

Just from those words he seemed like a good father, but Mirandsan didn"t change her expression. And then Shannon was hugging Mirandsan.

Shannon had the power to read someone"s emotion.

……So it must be like that.

The transparent Ralph-san was also talking to me with a smile.

「Even so our house has ties with Walt House. My grandmother was also related with your house. Do you know? You and Miranda might got married to each other in the past.」

For those who didn"t know anything they would think of him as a kind person.

However, the Sixth"s Art was showing Ralph-san as red. It was a color that represented hostility.

Even though he was harboring hostility toward me, at the surface he was talking to me with a friendly tone and smiling face.

I heard the Second"s sigh.

『It"s amazing he can hide his true feeling to this degree and smile like that. This is why capital n.o.ble can"t be trusted.』

I thought that feudal lords were also the same in the sense that you couldn"t let your guard down against the,

I replied vaguely while confirming that people who seemed to be guards were positioned outside the room.

There was no sign of them trying something, but it seemed the other side was being on guard against us.

「I don"t really care to make any small talk. How about you tell use already what your business is.」

Mirandsan cut off the conversation.

Ralph-san sent Mirandsan a slightly criticizing gaze before answering.

「Miranda, calm down for a bit. I"ve also reflected on myself. I want to apologize for sending the two of you away from here.」

I couldn"t speak out toward the relationship of this father and daughter.

「I"m sorry that I"m not well-mannered, is it fine if I say that? Don"t act to keep up appearance at this point of time.」

Rlaph-san hung down his head slightly before looking at me.

「I"m sorry. Actually there is a family circ.u.mstance. Perhaps you"ve heard but, I"ve done something wrong to the two of them. But I"m reflecting on myself now.」

The talk wouldn"t progress, so I asked him the reason of calling me here.

「Err, what could be your business with me today?」

Ralph-san straightened his posture.

He faced with a serious expression.

「I know about your relationship with my daughters from Miranda"s letter. As a parent, there is part that I"m slightly unable to accept but──」

Just what kind of letter he received? When I looked at Mirandsan, she looked at me and smiled brightly.

「──In any case, I"m in a position where I"m unable to blame the three of you one-sidedly. But as a parent, I wish for Miranda and……Shannon to return to this house.」

He must have finished investigating about me too.

From the perspective of a parent, it couldn"t be helped even if he thought that her daughter got tricked by a man who was having relationship with multiple women. It couldn"t be helped but, everyone inside the Jewel started booing together.

『I wonder what is this guy saying? Don"t act like a good parent after this late.』

『What a disappointment. It won"t be funny if you don"t at least speak something more like "I"m not going to give you my daughter!".』

『It feels like he"s hiding ulterior motive that he is calling his daughters back after this late.』

『……I wonder what he is hiding.』

『AaaaaaAAAAaaaa!! I want to punch him! I want to punch this brat right away!』

『This is where we tell him don"t make us laugh. It"s just like the Fourth said, he has an ulterior motive.』

All the six of them didn"t trust Ralph-san.

Well, I too couldn"t trust him.

I looked at Mirandsan and Shannon.

「I refuse.」

『Nicely said!』

『Lyle, how cool! Provoke him while you"re at it.』

『If only you can be this bold every time……』

『……Now you said it.』

『Shameless, it"s fine even if you told him that much, Lyle.』

『Rather won"t it be better if you call him father-in-law?』

Why did I have to speak to him like I was picking a fight?

When I plainly refused like that, Ralph-san made a slightly surprised face. Was he really feeling surprised, or was this also an act? I couldn"t decide.

「……Can I hear what"s your reason?」

「I"ve promised to protect the two of them.」

「I don"t want to say this but, both Miranda and Shannon are girl. I don"t want to make them enter something like adventurer work. Am I mistaken as a parent that I want them to stay in the mansion and grasp normal happiness? Besides, you have several other women. Is there any reason that you are fixated with these two?」

He must wanted to say that he didn"t want to give his daughter to that kind of guy.

The Sixth yelled at me.

『Lyle, tell him. I can see the inside of your black heart, tell him that! Tell him, stop with your transparent att.i.tude! Provoke him and make him angry!』

I rolled the Jewel with my fingers to refuse.

Besides……what point there was in provoking and angering him?

『The point……it"s to have fun turning the table on him.』

The Sixth guessed what I was thinking and stated so. Everyone else was agreeing with him.

Surely everyone was making an evil face right now.

But, the Fifth alone was slightly calm inside the Jewel.

「It was you who pushed them away.」

「I"m regretting that. That"s exactly why I"m discussing with you like this. Can"t you let them go?」

Perhaps my heart would be moved if I didn"t know the circ.u.mstance at all.

"It"s better if they don"t come with me"──I might thought that and persuaded Mirandsan and Shannon instead to return here.

「No way.」

「……What do you want? I"ll show you my grat.i.tude for looking after the two of them. If you want to be reinstated back as a n.o.ble, then I"ll support you as much as possible.」

The Seventh warned me.

『Lyle, that offer is more charming than being an adventurer but he can"t be trusted. With this guy"s position, he can prepare the lowest status n.o.ble rank as many as he want. He has no intention to give you any support to the best of his ability from the start. Also, in the first place──if he want to make Miranda and Shannon to return back, he should talk to them directly.』

Hearing the Seventh"s words, I asked Ralph-san.

「In the first place, shouldn"t you ask the two of them directly rather than me?」

Ralph-san made a slightly sad face.

「It"s embarra.s.sing but, the two of them don"t trust me. Surely the two of them will listen if you"re the one telling them. If you"re looking for woman, then I shall prepare woman who will satisfy your taste.」

──Irritating.

Did Ralph-san think of me as a l.u.s.tful man who didn"t care of anything else as long as the woman was beautiful? The irritated me followed the Sixth"s advice.

Who the h.e.l.l do you think I am?

「……Stop with the transparent att.i.tude. Your black heart is completely see through you know?」

The moment I stated that, I felt killing intent from outside the room.

In the map of Circry House"s mansion inside my head, there were multiple people placed around the reception room.

The color of all of them changed from yellow to red.

「That"s a big att.i.tude. Is that your true nature?」

「I"m not the one who you should ask to decide but the two of them.」

I turned my gaze to the two of them, but Ralph-san"s gaze was turned only to Mirandsan.

「Miranda, come back.」

Mirandsan smiled slightly.

She folded her hands and crossed her legs.

It wasn"t an att.i.tude of a daughter toward her father. She already decided her answer.

「It"s unfortunate. I have no intention of coming back.」

Shannon was looking down.

The Second muttered with a small voice……and slightly sad tone.

『So Shannon isn"t in his sight from the beginning.』

Ralph-san sighed slightly.

His gaze turned stern and his smiling face before this vanished.

His voice also changed into a cold tone.

「That"s unfortunate. I thought that you"re a clever child.」

Ralph-san reached out toward his tea. Then, it became some kind of signal and the guards started moving.

The Fifth was,

『They"re coming. Lyle, don"t let your guard down.』

When I lifted up my waist to take a stance, Renard-san who was standing behind Ralph-san tapped the floor with his cane.

When the sound resounded inside the room, the guards who were about to enter the room stopped moving.

Ralph-san drank his tea and acted like nothing happened.

The Seventh praised.

『Hou, so he correctly understand your strength. He did well for a brat.』

Renald-san stopped the action that Ralph-san was going to take.

Renald-san spoke with a smile as though nothing had happened.

「Pardon me. I felt a bit dizzy. It really makes me wish I"m not so old.」

When I sat down, Renald-san joined the talk.

「Master, there is one more business that has to be said.」

It was impolite for a servant to interrupt a conversation with a guest.

Ralph-san lightly warned Renald-san to which he apologized 「I apologize」.

Ralph-san placed his cup on the table and brought up a topic.

「I understand that Miranda refuse to come back. But, I have no intention of entrusting my daughter to an adventurer without any ability. And so, I"ll have you show me your capability. I want to confirm whether you"re worthy to be entrusted with my daughter.」

Unlike before his att.i.tude right now was clearly condescending.

「Currently I"m troubled by a troublesome request that came to the palace. Actually monsters──」

From the topic, the request must be intended for adventurer.

When I was going to listen to him, the reception room"s door was opened hard.

「Otou-sama!」

Everyone turned their gaze toward the voice. Shannon made a slightly surprised face and muttered.

「So Doris-oneesama look like that.」

She was staring fixedly on the face of the second daughter that she saw for the first time.

Mirandsan was also perplexed at her little sister"s att.i.tude who suddenly showed up.

Ralph-san was angry. Or rather he was exasperated.

「Doris, get out.」

The second daughter of the house of Circry, Doris-san could be said to look similar with Mirandsan and Shannon.

As expected from sisters. But, putting aside the appearance, her personality seemed to be completely different.

「No, I"ll say it! Why is Otou-sama calling the two of them back!? Besides, there"s even a man──」

Doris-san moved her gaze in annoyance, but her expression suddenly changed into surprise when looking at my face.

I wonder what was wrong?

However, she immediately shook her face and continued talking.

「Even though there"s Lionel, why is this kind of man can enter the mansion!? Isn"t it decided that Lionel will marry into this house!?」

Lionel?

I looked alternately at Miranda and Shannon"s faces, but the two of them shook their head.

「I don"t know anything. Well, from her words perhaps he"s Doris"s fiancée? Or perhaps her lover.」

「I"ve never heard about that. Besides, I also never heard about any talk of marriage.」

A story that the two of them didn"t know about.

A malicious voice came from inside the Jewel.

It was the Third.

『Fumu. From the way the second daughter-chan talked, the man named Lionel is a groom candidate. But, them trying to call Mirandchan and Shannon-chan back in this timing means……perhaps, Ralph-kun has a reason that make him doesn"t want to recognize this Lionel? Oh hoh, I"m seeing a weakness here.』

Being happy from finding someone"s weakness.

Even if I got my mouth torn up I wouldn"t be able to say that this person was a good person.

『The reason he want to separate Mirandchan from Lyle is also because he want to choose a husband for her that he will take as his successor. Haha~, he said those things as parent but it"s actually for the house"s sake. I understand his feeling but, we──no, Lyle don"t need to feel concerned about it.』

For n.o.ble, a heir to succeed the house was an important problem.

But, it was something unrelated to us.

Doris-san was rattling on Ralph-san with red face.

「The heir is Lionel! What is Otou-sama planning with calling back Mirandoneesama and Shannon now!? I heard about it from a servant. This man is an adventurer! Do you plan to make this kind of man succeeding Circry House!?」

Ralph-san looked fed up.

「I"m not recognizing him. Doris, you too enough already──」

I could see the situation.

It seemed, the reason we were called to this mansion──was that man named Lionel.

A man rushed into the room a bit late.

「Doris, wait a second!」

His age was about the same with me.

His blue hair and eyes were distinctive──he was about as tall as me, but the clothes he was wearing had better quality than mine.

But, vaguely……he didn"t look used to wearing expensive clothes. It gave the impression that he was being worn by the clothes.

And then the inside of the Jewel got noisy.

『……Eh? Could it be we have met him before?』

『Now that you mentioned it, it felt like he was among the hangers-on of the capital girl with bad att.i.tude……』

『This is……at that time I also got this thought but』

『They"re similar.』

『Previously his getup was bad so I didn"t notice but, certainly they"re similar.』

『Even the vague atmosphere of unreliability is similar.』

The ancestors were talking repeatedly about similarity.

Hmm? Just who were they saying as similar?

Or rather, I had met this man once before.

Just like what the ancestors said, it was when we came to the capital before.

There was a n.o.ble girl who picked a quarrel with Arisan, and that girl brought three hangers-on with her. I recalled that one of them was this man.

It felt really nostalgic even though it was only several months ago.

「Somehow he looks similar with Lyle. Like his unreliable atmosphere, or this pathetic aura, they feel just like him.」

Shannon looked at me and laughed.

The pathetic man who was trying to somehow stop Doris-san from hounding Ralph-san, was just like me?

Just what kind of joke was that. Stop that.

The reception room became noisy. I pinched Shannon"s cheek in retaliation.

We got out to the mansion"s courtyard.

Renald-san suggested to have a temporary break in order for everyone to calm down, so we got out to breathe in fresh air.

But, the courtyard was enveloped in a strange atmosphere.

After all in addition of us three, Doris-san and Lionel-san were also there.

The courtyard couldn"t be said to have calm mood with the five of us there.

Mirandsan stretched out in such mood.

This person had nerves of steel just as I thought.

「I"m tired. Even so, you really said it there Lyle. I was a bit surprised.」

「I, is that so?」

「I was happy that you replied instantly there. In addition it was also great how you provoked like that. It had been a long time since I saw Otou-sama made that kind of face.」

「……As I thought, he is angry isn"t he?」

「Naturally. Don"t get cold feet after coming this far.」

Mirandsan looked happy, in contrast Shannon was making a dissatisfied face.

「You, just what were you thinking making the other side angry like that.」

「No, I didn"t really think at that time……」

Because, it was the ancestors inside the Jewel who told me to provoke him.

The ancestors who were the cause were feeling great that they had found the other side"s weakness──wasn"t what they were feeling right now. It seemed they were interested at Lionel who looked similar with me.

As for me, I didn"t think that I was similar with this kind of unreliable guy though.

「Doris, let"s calm down. I"m telling you I"m alright.」

「But! It"s Lionel who"ll be adopted into this house. And yet, Onee-sama who is bringing other man and Shannon are called back here……」

「I, it"s fine. I"m not going to lose against the like of adventurer.」

The man called Lionel acted subserviently to b.u.t.ter up the girl.

The n.o.bles of Bahnseim had the tendency to look down at former n.o.ble who was reduced to become adventurer. In the first place, adventurer was an existence that was looked down at.

Lionel"s remark was also something natural that was the common sense of the n.o.bles.

Doris-san"s harsh glare was directed at Mirandsan.

「What"re you planning, Onee-sama! You said that you won"t leave from Arumsaas!」

Mirandsan replied even while feeling exasperated at her little sister.

「I don"t remember saying anything like that. In the first place, it was Otou-sama who called me here, not us who was barging in here.」

「Then please go back! I and Lionel will do something about the problem of Circry House.」

「I"ll be thankful if you will do that for us. Putting that aside, I haven"t given my greeting yet. I think you"ve heard but, I"m Miranda. And then, here is the youngest little sister Shannon.」

Mirandsan introduced herself to Lionel.

Lionel pressed the back of his head with his hand and lowered his head pathetically while greeting back.

「E, err, I"m Lionel. ──Lionel Walt.」

……Eh?

I, Shannon, and of course Mirandsan too were speechless.

But, we could only feel surprised.

I could only hear the voices of the ancestors.

『……No way.』

『This is the reason of the similarity.』

『Is he, the capital n.o.ble Walt House?』

『Well, that possibility is the highest I guess.』

『Even so this pathetic aura. It reminds me when meeting Lyle the first time.』

『I thought that the house is still remaining but, I never thought we would meet like this. This world is a small place.』

Doris-san brushed up her hair.

She was making a smug face.

『Lionel is different from the adventurer over there, he"s from a family with long history. His house"s status is a bit low, but he is a heredity n.o.ble and his house has existed since the founding of the country. He"s in a different level from the adventurer over there.』

I thought that perhaps it was another person or mistaken ident.i.ty.

But, from Doris-san"s words it seemed that it wasn"t a mistake.

Shannon looked at the face of me and Lionel alternately.

「Walt? Lyle"s family name is also Walt isn"t it? Eh, relative?」

This time Doris-san was the one surprised hearing that.

「……Eh?」

Perhaps she thought that it wouldn"t be any use talking with Shannon. She was looking at her big sister Mirandsan instead.

「Lyle Walt. The former heir of a house of count. If we"re speaking about lineage then their status is higher than even our house. Or rather, they"re a distant relative with us.」

When I greeted this time, Doris-san"s face turned bitter.

It seemed she guessed my background.

And it seemed──Lionel also guessed it.

He clutched his chest and glared at me from behind Doris-san. From how he was furrowing his brows, I could feel a strong hatred from him.

「……So, you"re from feudal lord n.o.ble Walt House.」

Lionel"s dark emotion.

It was hostility that he directed at me.

The place was enveloped in silence. Before long, a servant came from the mansion to call us.

I and Lionel were shown into an office instead of a reception room.

It was Ralph-san"s work room. Unlike before there wasn"t even tea prepared.

Ralph-san was sitting on a chair while leaning back. He turned his gaze alternately toward us who was brought inside.

「So it"s Walt House every single one of you. My daughters has similar taste.」

While I was troubled at how to reply, Ralph-san quickly broached his business.

He placed a sheet of paper on the table.

「About what I was going to say before, there was a request for the palace. There was a town in the place called Gioni, but a hippogriff showed up there leading monsters. There"s a plan to send a subjugation group from the capital.」

Certainly such matter was written in the paperwork.

Hippogriff──it was a monster that had the head of eagle, the body of horse, and wings. I once read in a book that its front legs were eagle legs.

Its head also wasn"t bad. I remembered that it was written as a troublesome monster.

「It"s a request to the palace isn"t it?」

Hearing my question, Lionel b.u.t.t in from the side thinking that I didn"t know anything.

「There is also a method of recruiting adventurers and citizens when forming a subjugation group. Do you know nothing?」

……What"s with this guy?

The way he spoke was also irritating, but I thought that his last words were unnecessary.

While the atmosphere was worsening, Ralph-san continued his talk.

「That"s how it is. This time its decided to recruit applicants from houses without occupation──the jobless low ranked n.o.bles and the citizens.」

Capital n.o.bles were living in the royal capital, but that didn"t mean all of them had job.

Because of that, the houses lacking any role or position──in other words jobless would be a.s.signed temporary work and the like.

If it was asked why the jobless houses were remaining, it was for preparation in case something happened. They were spares.

It seemed that they would partic.i.p.ate in this kind of request in order to obtain work and in order to be promoted.

……From where I was standing, I thought that it would be better if the palace immediately sent the regular army to subjugate the monsters.

However, if this was the method of the capital then it wasn"t my place to complain.

「Will the town be able to hold out?」

When I asked for confirmation if the town would be destroyed by the monsters, Ralph-san a.s.serted that there was no worry of that.

「This sort of case often happen. Speaking from the scale of the monsters, the town will hold for one more month. The capital is forming a subjugation group but……I want the two of you to partic.i.p.ate in this subjugation.」

Just what was this person planning?

While I was pondering, Lionel seemed to think that I was hesitating.

「I"ll do it. Please let me do it!」

Ralph-san nodded.

「As expected from the man who Doris chose. I"m counting on you. Now then, what about you Lyle-kun?」

Why was Lionel getting this enthusiastic?

While I was unable to understand, the ancestors spoke out.

It was the Third and the Sixth.

『Aa~, this must be that. Yep, perhaps Lyle doesn"t understand this kind of feeling.』

『Yeah. Lyle is certainly is unreliable but, he is skilled after all.』

What were they saying?

The Fourth listened to them and then told me in conclusion as though the matter was decided.

『Lyle, accept this request. Looks like there is a catch to it, but even excluding that Lyle also has to experience it.』

I didn"t really understand but, it was the opinion of the ancestors so I couldn"t ignore it.

They judged that it would be useful for me.

「……What"s the reward?」

Lionel snapped at my words.

「You! Are you that much of vulgar guy!? You don"t understand the meaning of this request!」

The request"s meaning? Certainly I didn"t understand at all but, could it be Lionel had noticed something?

For some reason that felt vexing.

But, the Second was──.

『This guy, does he misunderstand something?』

──He said that, so I returned to talk with Ralph-san.

So this Lionel actually didn"t know anything too. I was a bit relieved.

「I"m an adventurer. I won"t work if there"s no reward.」

「Of course you"re. With the size of your group I"ll prepare ten gold coins. If you contribute greatly then I"ll add extra reward.」

He had learned the size of our party accurately.

As expected, he must have watched us since we entered the capital and investigated various things.

「Ten gold coins are too cheap.」

「I will prepare a lot of money for famous adventurer. But, your fame is insufficient. Speak only after you have shown your capability.」

As a party leader, I wanted to refuse this request. But, the ancestors told me to accept.

「I also have preparation to make. I"ll need to receive fifty gold coins. That"s not including the reward for the success of the request.」

Honestly speaking we had some leeway with money.

But, I didn"t want to be told to work cheaply.

「How confident. Very well. If you succeed then I promise to prepare a hundred gold coins. However, the reward is only if you succeed. I won"t allow you to run away at the middle.」

The two of us listened to the detail before leaving the room.

Outside the room.

Lionel talked to me at the corridor.

His att.i.tude was obviously making light of me.

「You don"t get it huh.」

「What is?」

Perhaps he didn"t like my att.i.tude, or perhaps he just didn"t like me. Lionel was speaking snappily.

「This is why someone raised as spoiled brat is troubling. This is a test to decide the heir of Circry House. To see which one of us is worthy to become the next head of Circry House.」

Was that the case?

It was something irrelevant for me.

「You want to marry into this house that much?」

Lionel clenched his fist hearing my words.

「You who were born from a house of count won"t get it. You can"t even imagine my life who was born from the lowest rank of n.o.ble who don"t even has any post.」

The living of n.o.ble at the lowest rank without even any post seemed to be really painful. From Lionel"s perspective, someone like me must be a spoiled brat who didn"t know any hardship.

「I"m staking my life into this chance. I"m not going to show any mercy if you get in my way.」

Lionel said that and left. I saw off his back and tilted my head.

「……Is it that important? I think that the people being attacked by the monsters right now is in more trouble though.」

I couldn"t understand Lionel"s drive.

The ancestors sensed that.

The Second was especially exasperated.

『Things are going smoothly for you Lyle, or rather you are fundamentally capable. You can"t understand Lionel"s feeling I guess.』

The Fourth also had the same opinion.

『This is because you"re too capable. Lyle, are you perhaps thinking that if his life is so hard then it will be alright if he just work?』

When I honestly nodded in respond, the Fifth sounded troubled.

『It"s not wrong. It"s not wrong but……Lyle, this world isn"t filled with only someone like you. Learn that from the case this time.』

I headed to the reception room in order to meet up with Mirandsan and Shannon.