It was a little early for lunch, but Seriana and I had already finished our meal together in the room.

The servants came by to deliver and retrieve the food, but aside from that—not even Elena or Teresa came—so the two of us were relaxing in peace.

That’s when I suddenly realized something.

Why is this lady even here…?

More than anything, Seriana is the acting lord. Even if it’s now the rainy season, she shouldn’t be completely free.

I figured she should be holed up in Liesel’s office handling official business… yet right now, she’s lounging on the sofa beside the bed, reading a book.

She’s always liked reading, but between one thing and another, she’s never really had the time to sit down and enjoy it. Maybe because of that, unread books had been piling up on her shelf, and now she seemed intent on working her way through them—she had a small stack already on the table.

…Is today a day off or something?

Guess I’ll ask.

“Hey, Seria.”

“What is it?”

Seriana replied without even looking up from the book in her hands.

“Don’t you have work today?”

“Not today.”

Seriana showed a slight pause, like she was thinking something over, then closed the book and turned to face me.

“Come to think of it, I still haven’t told you what happened after we got out of the underground, have I…?”

Saying that, instead of explaining why she herself was here, she began to tell me about everything that happened after I collapsed.

And apparently… a lot happened.

Not just adventurers from outside—even merchants who had lived in this city for years were arrested… I had heard bits and pieces already, but it sounded like things had blown up more than I thought.

Now I was starting to wonder if it was really okay for me to just be relaxing here.

That worry must’ve shown on my face.

Seriana continued speaking as she lightly flicked my forehead with her fingers.

“At first, we only intended to arrest the rebel forces hiding in the city, but their movements were far beyond what we anticipated. We ended up widening the net to include their supporters as well.”

“…Yeah.”

From what I’d heard, they’d only expected a few Undead to pop up around the city or something, but it turned out to be way more trouble than that.

If this city had fallen, Riana’s domain would’ve been at risk—and the neighboring territories too. Who knows what would’ve happened to the country or even the entire alliance if that came to pass?

If someone even slightly contributed to something like that, well… yeah, they’d definitely have enough reason to be arrested.

“Originally, we were planning to take our time and root out the supporters throughout the domain. It might sound strange to say this, but thanks to those bandits, we were able to clean up the capital in one fell swoop with the first strike.”

“I see, I see.”

This city’s residents are, in their own way, pretty united. Even for a lord, arresting people who’ve lived here for ages takes more than just authority—you need a proper reason.

So the plan was to catch the bandits first, and then slowly close in on the rest… but instead, it all got wrapped up in one go, huh.

“As a result, I’ve got more cases to process, but I’ve left that to Klaus.”

“…Who’s Klaus again?”

“The head of the Commerce Guild branch. You probably don’t talk to him much, but you should at least remember his face, right?”

“…Ahh! That old guy.”

Unlike the Adventurers’ Guild, I don’t really deal with the Commerce Guild much.

At most, I’d greet him when I was running errands—but huh, so his name’s Klaus.

He didn’t leave much of an impression on me, but the Commerce Guild falls under Liesel’s authority. If she’s entrusted him with it, he must be pretty competent.

Most of the arrested citizens were merchants, so maybe he really is the best guy to handle the aftermath.

“As for the underground we infiltrated, just as we decided back then, we’re going to dig from the surface and completely destroy the entire facility. The place is already nonfunctional, so there’s no rush. The work will begin after the rainy season ends. We’ll keep a watch posted there in the meantime, just in case.”

The rebels were arrested, their plans were crushed.

The citizens who supported them were also dealt with.

All the worries about what might happen while Liesel and the others were away from the city were cleaned up in one go.

Well, Liesel and the rest still aren’t back, but it sounds like the city’s returned to normal.

“I see… So things are pretty much back to how they were?”

“That’s right.”

Seriana nodded at my words.

“Wait, then… is it really okay for you to be here, Lady Seria?”

Even if all the trouble had been dealt with, that’s a separate issue.

Is it really okay for the acting lord to be just sitting around?

Is today just a rare day off?

I looked at her as I wondered that—and she had a kind of troubled look on her face.

“…Elena and Teresa told me to rest. Carlos agreed with them.”

“…Why?”

“Ever since moving to this city, I’ve always been aware of the presence of enemies, haven’t I? According to them, that’s kept me on edge the whole time. Now that the city is clean and no one new can come in during the rainy season, they said I should take the time to rest…”

Once the rainy season ends, outsiders will start coming into the city again.

Among them, there might be those who aren’t friendly toward Seriana. But that alone isn’t enough reason to drive them away.

So basically, now’s the time for her to rest.

That’s probably why she slept in this morning too.

She still has duties as acting lord, of course, but Seriana’s not the kind of person who’s good at resting. Giving her a proper break during this relatively slow period might really be the best option.

Hmm…

“Well then, wanna just take it easy together? I can’t really do anything either, and it’s boring being stuck in bed all alone.”

“…I guess I have no choice.”

Seriana let out a small sigh through her nose, and then reached again for the book she’d left on the table.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Sera ・Blessed Item・【Hideout】 +1 【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind’s Garment】 Blessed Item・【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 ・【Range Identification】・【】・0 cards

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

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