On the way, there was an unexpected encounter with monsters, which took up a bit of time.

It was a good deed after all, helping people, so it wasn’t a bad thing… but still, that made my return time later than planned.

So, from then on, without taking any detours, after getting back onto the main road, I decided to head straight for the Riana territory capital.

The sun had already completely set, and even though this was Zelkis territory, I figured no one would be traveling at this hour. But if something like that happened again… I couldn’t just abandon them.

If I had to help again, it would take up more time, so it was better to act from the start so I wouldn’t have to worry about such things.

I wonder if that’s really the best way, but well… it should be fine!

Anyway… putting that aside, maybe changing my plan was the right choice because after that, I didn’t run into any humans or monsters, and I safely arrived at the territory capital.

The current time was just past 8 PM.

If I had gone straight back without any detours from the start, I probably would have arrived about two hours earlier.

When I left the mansion in the morning, my plan had been to go straight and return directly…

I hadn’t set a strict return time, but I ended up a bit late.

“Oh?”

For now, I flew into the city and landed in front of the mansion, thinking that at this hour Seriana would probably be in her room eating or bathing, so I was planning to enter through the front door, but I saw the window was open.

That means someone was in the room.

In that case, rather than going around to the entrance, it would be fine to enter the room directly, so I jumped through the window.

“I’m back. Oh, everyone’s here…”

When I entered the room, of course Seriana was there, along with Teresa and Fiora.

And Elena, who usually comes home at night, was there too.

None of them were wearing their work clothes—they were already dressed casually, so maybe today was a day off?

“Welcome back. You’re late.”

Hmm?

Tilting my head right after jumping in through the window, Seriana spoke.

Her tone didn’t sound angry, but since I was later than the expected time I told her when I left…

“Hmm… I made a little detour, you see?”

It wasn’t a big reason, so I answered casually, and Seriana looked a little exasperated, then pointed toward the bathroom deeper inside and spoke.

“I see… Well, that’s fine. The bath is ready, so hurry up and get in. We’ll hear the story after.”

“All right… Oh, I have a letter from Minea-sama.”

I responded to Seriana and was about to head to the bath but remembered I had the letter.

I could give it after I finished bathing, but I might as well hand it over now.

“A letter from your mother? Thank you. I’ll read it.”

“Okay. See you later then.”

Alright.

Well then, I’ll go take a bath.

I didn’t get any blood on me or anything, but since I fought, I’ll freshen up!

◇

After getting out of the bath, drying my hair, and finishing getting ready, my meal was already prepared in the room.

Apparently, everyone else had already finished eating, so I was the only one left to eat.

While I was bathing, it seems not only Seriana but everyone else had read Minea’s letter, and they were talking about it, but first, they wanted to hear my story.

Since we were eating, it wouldn’t be a very neat or organized report, but they kept adding their own commentary…

Apparently, Minea’s letter also mentioned a bit about the state of the city, but I didn’t think much about it and just spoke casually, which was easy.

“Sera.”

“Yeah?”

“You didn’t stop by the church district, right?”

“No. I heard about it from the count and was a little curious, but I didn’t have much time, and honestly, I don’t really know much about the church area over there. Even if I went, I figured I wouldn’t notice much difference.”

“I see…”

Saying that, everyone went back to talking about something.

Hmm…

Maybe I should have at least briefly checked the church district?

No, I didn’t go, but Alec and Zighart are there, so maybe they’ll check it out.

Especially Alec; since he lived in that city, he should know the church district better than me.

I’m counting on you… Alec.

“Sera.”

“Ungh!?”

While chewing, I sent a mental signal to Alec, and once again Seriana called my name.

“What are you doing? …Well, whatever. Forget about the church district. Has anything changed in the city?”

“Hmph… No, nothing much. Maybe because soldiers from various territories are staying here.”

“Good.”

Seriana nodded once and went back to the conversation.

They were talking about the same kind of things I had talked about with my father and Alec.

I was doing it somewhat on instinct, but maybe there’s a template or checklist for what points to be careful about.

Hmm hmm…

Nodding along, I listened to the conversation while eating.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Sera・Blessing・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind’s Garment】

Blessed Items・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】+1【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】【Red Sword】【Monkey’s Arm】・8 cards

Seriana・【Area Detection】・【】・0 cards

Elena・【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・4 cards

Alec・【Strong Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・10 cards