The Revenge of the Soul Eater

Politely decline the offer.

The adventurer guildmaster of the royal capital Horus wants to see you - Miroslav told me that without much hesitation.

Hearing that, Miroslav blinks his eyes.

''.........Is that all right?

I don't mind.

My plan, which is currently being implemented, focuses on "peacefully picking a fight with the guild".

Once you get involved in a dark fight within the guild, it's no longer peaceful. That's why I chose to remain quiet here.

.........well, I'll just watch the plight of Elgato (Ishka's guild master) and Liddell (the receptionist) from afar and giggle and say "Suck it up"!　I don't think we will ever fall out of the category of "peace" under these conditions, I think.

Of course, I didn't just choose to remain silent for the sake of being literal. If I made a wrong move now, the guild might find out about my real plan. He wanted to avoid that.

That plan was, in other words, 'a way to peacefully pick a fight with the guild'.

The content was to publicize the one incident in which the "Falcon Sword" used me as a bait in the fight against the Lord of the Flies and make me formally apologize.

Since Lars, the leader of the team, is away from Ishqa, it is Miroslav, the perpetrator, who apologizes on his behalf.

The reason why Miroslav is joining the Sword of Blood and Smoke is to take responsibility for this one incident - if he explains so externally, the unnaturalness of Miroslav's actions will be eliminated.

The perpetrator apologizes and the victim forgives. It's really a peaceful solution.

--Well, well.

If the facts are made public, the words and actions of the Ishka Adventurer's Guild and its staff in this case will inevitably be revealed.

The faces of those who twisted reason to protect the reputation of the adventurers would be destroyed.

But that's not my concern.

All I have to do is make peace with the Falcon Blade. I'm not going to have to worry about the consequences of that, whether the guild is humiliated or embarrassed, or even impeached by another city's guildmasters, it's none of my business.

Whether it's Elgato or Liddell, I hope that at the very least, they will take their "duty to work for Ishka" to heart and act accordingly. Hmmm.

As for Miroslav, who brought this story, he probably thought that by using Sergei or some other guild master of the royal capital, he could put a stop to the Ishka branch.

But if I stepped in to that point, my presence would be too far in front of them.

Only peacefully. It's just a result. And yet, in order for my intentions to be conveyed to the people involved, I thought this was about the right amount of salt.

There are other reasons why I came to this conclusion. I'm talking about Onijima, of all places.

There should still be some time to wait until the death of Jijinbo is reported to the swordsman family and a replacement is dispatched, but even so, we can't just sit around and wait.

I should have avoided wasting any more time by getting involved with the guild.

So, we'll have to wait and see about the guild for a while.

I'm sorry, Master.

Miroslav reluctantly responds to my words.

By the way, this "master" is not what Lunamaria calls "master" but "master" of the clan "Sword of Chikemuri".

Even being politely addressed by that Miroslav made him uncomfortable, but the day when he would be openly called "master" in public? Even when he was locked up in the Lord of the Flies' nest, he wasn't this obedient.

Frankly, I'm very uncomfortable. My ass is itchy.

I didn't think it was Miroslav's way of peacefully picking a fight with his allies, or even that I had an evil idea.

Whether or not he knew what I was thinking, Miroslav continued on in a calm voice.

I have one more thing to tell you.

Hmm?　What is it?

My father wishes to meet with his master. I would appreciate it if you would consider it.

'The chairman of the Southall Trading Company?　Are you thanking me for saving your life?

However, in reality, he is curious about the Master's connections. The Master has made the acquaintance of Count Elbe through this matter. I heard that you had formed a friendship with Duke Dragnaut in King's Landing. I'm sure he heard about it.

You've got a good ear for it. Do you want me to do it for you?

"As the master would have it.

The man-hating, father-hating wizard responded in a calm tone.

He said, "My father must have looked to the Master as an alternative to the Falcon Sword for assistance. If you comply, it will be easier to extract assistance from my father in the future. However, in exchange for this, he will also be used more often to meet with noblemen, so if the master is unwilling to do so, I think it would be better to refuse.

You don't mind if I do?

Yes. I will obey my master's decision.

Then Miroslav stared up at me with his eyes.

His eyes, once tinted with disgust, were now moistened with the opposite emotion.

I felt a thrilling s*xiness in them, and I swallowed my gulp of air.

The Miroslav of before had a head of gently wavy red hair that stretched to his chest. That hair had been cut off once when I'd kidnapped him - or more accurately, when I'd freed him - but now it had grown back to just over his shoulders again.

An unfamiliar sight, of a familiar opponent.

I felt a suffocating sensation I didn't know why, and I forcefully pulled Miroslav into a hug as if to shake off the sensation.

--There was no resistance.

◆ ◆ ◆

Miroslav joined the Sword of Blood and Smoke and came to live at my house.

It was too much trouble for him to leave the house every time he got his soul eaten, so I made a plan to do so.

It seems that he planned to do the same, so the move went smoothly.

With this, there were some changes in the clan.

What I was most worried about was the relationship between Miroslav and Lunamaria.

.........No, it's presumptuous to call it worrying. After all, I was the one who broke the ice between the two of them.

Even though it was under my orders, Miroslav was instrumental in bringing Lunamaria down to slavery. And Lunamaria is also aware of this.

I expected that no matter what, it would be awkward.

However, contrary to my expectations, there was no quarrel between the two of them. Maybe they had something in common, as they were both in the same situation.

Well, as expected, it couldn't be the same as when they were in "Falcon's Sword", but I didn't feel any spikes in their conversation.

Next, the relationship with Seal, I can say that things are generally good here.

Miroslav treated Seal as a "junior member of the Clan" with courtesy, and Seal treated Miroslav as a "senior adventurer" with respect, so there were no problems at all between the two of them.

What surprised me the most was the relationship between Miroslav and the sparrow, these two.

I was surprised, not in a bad way, but in a good way.

The sparrow had come to study under Miroslav, the wizard.

As I mentioned sometime ago, the horns of the demon race are a rare magic item and contain an abundance of magical power.

This fact shows that the horns are the demon man's magical power-generating organ. The demon race generally possessed a great deal of magical power, and even more so, a two-horned female demoness was said to have a higher magic value than a single-horned male demoness. This is what Miroslav told me.

In other words, sparrows are born with the quality of being an excellent wizard.

I hadn't paid much attention to the sparrow in that direction because I didn't want it to fight.

They had to get used to living in a human city first.

I was surprised to hear that the sparrow began to learn magic from Miroslav. I was even more surprised to hear that the sparrow had wanted to do this.

I've been running under Miroslav's guidance, which says that even wizards need physical strength, and he smiled at me when I went to inquire about the situation.

''I want to be of service to Sora-san, just like Seal-san and Luna-san, so...''

The sparrow says it's a painful thing to be indebted to him.

Her dark blue hair is tied up in a bun behind her head so that it doesn't interfere with her exercise, and she looks so dignified that I can't detect any of the inertia typical of those who reluctantly go about their business.

That means that the girl in front of me is doing this wholeheartedly for me.

I involuntarily gagged my mouth and turned my head away from the sparrow.

........Ku!　What a good girl. In the past when I decided to save the sparrow, you weren't wrong!

As I was secretly shedding tears of emotion, a troubled sparrow's voice hit my earbuds.

''........Um, Sola, Mr.?''

'Oh, whoa!　What is it?

Is that all you have to ask, my dear?

Then I'd like to resume running, Sparrow added apologetically.

I shook my head at high speed, kokokokokok.

'Oh, that's it!　I'm sorry to interrupt you!

No, sir, I don't want to be a bother. If there's anything I can do for you, you can always give me a call.

With that said, the sparrow bowed his head with a smile before resuming his run.

If the sparrow was going to run through the streets of Ishqa, I would sneak in an escort, but since the sparrow is just circling the grounds of the house, there seems to be no need for an escort.

I was thinking about joining in on the running, but - yeah, that would definitely put me on edge. It would be right to leave quickly here.

I went back inside the house, thought about it for a while, and then hobbled off to the bathroom.

I'll make sure that the sparrow, who has finished her training, can use the hot water right away. That was the idea.