Being careful not to let the two glaring at each other draw any closer, I guided them back to the sitting room and arranged things so Duke Sanga and Amour were seated across from each other at the table. I took a seat where I could see both their profiles, serving as a neutral arbiter.
"My Steil has been terribly rude."
"On the contrary, it was Rani who caused the disturbance…"
When Amour said this, Rani muttered "Milady!" in a small voice. She was probably upset at being talked about like a pet, but in front of Duke Sanga, she couldn't raise her voice. Seeing her like that, Steil let out a small chuckle, and the two started glaring at each other once more—though this time I quieted them by rapping lightly on the table. I felt like some kind of judge.
"In any case, what happened between these two earlier was a personal matter, not a dispute between our families. We can agree on that, right?"
I cut in with that summary early on, and both the Duke and Amour nodded simultaneously.
"So, why do these two have such a bad relationship? They both seem to be in charge of their respective families' intelligence operations, so I can understand them being at odds over that, but there seems to be more hostility than just professional rivalry."
Since I didn't know why they were so hostile toward each other, I asked the question that had been bothering me. Amour shook her head—she didn't know either. Well, Rani's direct superior was Hana, so Amour might not have that information.
When I turned to Duke Sanga, he had a slightly troubled look on his face. I figured it might be something related to the ducal family's secrets, but the Duke seemed to read my thoughts.
"No, it's not that I want to keep it secret—it's not a state secret or anything like that. This was about ten years ago, but the Duke Sanga household and the Southern Autonomous Region at the time came very close to open conflict. That incident is what's behind all this."
The Southern Autonomous Region at the time was considered completely untrustworthy (and still was, to some degree, though the royal family and Hana had since improved relations considerably through reflection on past mistakes). Because of this, joint military exercises by the Kingdom's nobles near the Southern Autonomous Region were frequently held. From the Kingdom's perspective, these were deterrent actions, but on the receiving end, they were naturally seen as provocations. And so, when the Duke Sanga household—one of the great noble houses—was set to participate for the first time, the Southern Autonomous Region apparently feared that such a major player's involvement meant an invasion was imminent. Sensing this anxiety on the South's side, the Duke Sanga household grew tense in turn, and the alert level on both sides reached its peak.
In the middle of the night during one such period of sustained tension, several spies from the Southern side infiltrated the Duke's camp and managed to steal some information.
Fortunately, no important figures—including Duke Sanga himself—were injured. The confrontation with the intruders escalated into a sword fight, but no one died.
"So, in other words, the two who crossed swords at that time were these two here…"
Their skills were nearly evenly matched. Since reinforcements from Steil's side arrived within a few minutes, Rani fled quickly. Both of them seemed to believe they could have defeated their opponent if no one else had intervened, and they still carried the frustration of that encounter.
From my perspective, it looked like a draw since they were evenly matched. But Steil felt that having been stationed specifically to guard against espionage, only to be infiltrated by Rani's group, and then to have fought to redeem that failure only for her to escape—it was adding insult to injury. Meanwhile, Rani felt that she had achieved a perfect infiltration, only to fail to steal any worthwhile information, unable to defeat her opponent, and forced to flee.
Duke Sanga used the theft of information as a reason to cut the exercise short, but he told me he had never been enthusiastic about it in the first place and held no grudge against the South. He had even advised the King to stop holding exercises near the Southern Autonomous Region, and the King had accepted the recommendation.
In a sense, the sword fight between the two ended up eliminating a source of conflict between the Kingdom and the Southern Autonomous Region. But for the two of them, it felt like a blemish on their professional records, and they couldn't let it go—directing their dissatisfaction at each other instead. That was what Duke Sanga explained.
"If it came down to causing trouble with the South, I wouldn't hesitate to cut Steil loose. That's just how it is."
"That's how it is, but if it came to that, we'd have no choice but to cut Rani-tan loose as well. Fortunately, we have Doni-tan and Reni-tan as replacements, so it wouldn't be a big problem."
In the worst-case scenario, if the two troublemakers were cut loose, both families could credibly claim they had no desire for conflict. Hearing this, the two looked stunned. But when they realized their masters (and master's master) were completely serious, they apologized to their own superiors, then apologized to me, and finally—with unpleasant expressions on their faces—apologized to each other as well.
As if to say it was all over now, Duke Sanga tried to end the discussion. But before he could finish, Amour turned to Rani and said, "Next time you cause a problem, I won't send Rani-tan—I'll send Reni-tan instead." This put Rani in quite a panic.
Duke Sanga seemed intrigued by the new name, but he apparently decided he couldn't pry into another family's affairs. Amour, however, paid no mind to the Duke's reaction.
"Tenma. Even if you grow tired of Rani-tan, there's her sister Reni-tan, so no problem. In fact, she's more capable than Rani-tan—I could replace her right away if you wanted."
She was freely exposing her own household's intelligence. I warned her not to spread too much information about the Viscount's house or Hana would be angry, but Amour said it was all common knowledge in Nanao and showed no concern.
The person most shocked by this revelation wasn't Duke Sanga but Steil. Learning that someone even more skilled than Rani—who had fought him to a draw—existed, and that it was Rani's own sister, hit him hard. Say what you will, but Steil did seem to hold Rani in some regard.
"Lord Tenma. Lady Luna has finished preparing, so if you'll excuse us."
She was still here? Before I could even process that, Aina gave a bow and left the mansion. Duke Sanga was surprised by her sudden appearance, of course, but Steil and Rani's reactions were even more dramatic.
After Aina left, they kept saying things like "I didn't sense her presence" and "Forget footstep sounds—I didn't even hear the door open." Aina, a professional who had left two seasoned operatives shaken to their core—I found myself seriously questioning whether she was really just a maid.
I saw Luna off, who was being doted on, and Tida off, who seemed sad to be leaving Amy, then returned to the sitting room to find Rani with a bump on her head. When I asked the Duke what happened, it turned out that while I was away, Rani and Steil had started glaring at each other again, and she had received a well-deserved punch from Amour. Apparently Steil had also been disciplined by Duke Sanga and was crouching there, clutching his shin.
Duke Sanga and Amour had no choice but to apologize once more, ignoring the two behind them. I had half a mind to poach Steil, worried that he might actually be discarded at this rate, but I couldn't imagine the Duke letting go of someone that capable over something like this, so I dropped the idea. Besides, even if I managed to recruit him, having to deal with Rani every time she showed up—which would be frequently—would be more trouble than it was worth.
With things settled down at last, I asked Duke Sanga about the purpose of his visit. It turned out he didn't particularly have one—he had come to the Royal Capital on business, happened to have free time, and had heard I was at the mansion, so he'd decided to drop by.
As we chatted idly, the sun began to set, and Rani announced she was heading home. She grumbled that she still hadn't finished preparing for her departure to the South tomorrow. It seemed that her rivalry with Steil had kept her from leaving.
After watching Rani hurry off, Duke Sanga said he should be going too and headed for the entrance, but when I invited him to stay for dinner, he turned right back to the sitting room.
For dinner, I served dishes featuring ingredients from the South. Duke Sanga was delighted, but Steil ate with a complicated expression from time to time. He was probably still seeing Rani's face flash before his eyes from their earlier confrontation and couldn't fully enjoy the meal.
After dinner, Duke Sanga didn't stay overnight, as expected, but he sat drinking with Grandpa for quite a long time. During that time, he kept mentioning how he "wanted to leave Primera in the Royal Capital." Well, the Duke probably visited the Royal Capital more often than Gunjou City, and with Albert here, there were many things that could be handled with peace of mind.
As for Albert, the Duke didn't seem particularly worried about him. When I mentioned I occasionally put him to work, Grandpa had told me about it, and the Duke had said it was good experience. He'd even been amused to hear about the antics Albert and the other two had gotten up to, saying he'd gotten some good stories out of it.
As the Duke was about to leave, he spotted Mary near the entrance and moved to pet her, but Mary charged at him with a body slam.
"I won't allow it!"
Steil immediately stepped in to shield the Duke, but Mary pulled off an unexpected technique.
"Heh!"
"Whoa!"
Steil had braced himself, lowering his center of gravity and positioning both hands to catch the impact, assuming Mary would leap at his midsection. But Mary threw a feint that looked like a jump for an instant, drawing Steil's attention upward, then slipped between his legs, circled behind, and struck at his groin with her hind legs.
Steil barely managed to block the kick, but in that opening, Mary broke through and dashed toward Duke Sanga. Naturally, I was moving to intercept as well, so the Duke wasn't attacked, but this evolution of Mary's—beyond her usual headlong charge style—sent a chill of fear through me.
"My apologies, Your Grace."
"No, it was careless of me to approach so casually. Perhaps she thought I was a suspicious intruder."
The Duke pardoned me with those words, but I was absolutely certain Mary had simply been trying to body-check him as a form of greeting.
Mary let me pick her up and, though clearly disgruntled, behaved herself. Steil, however, looked somewhat dejected. He probably never expected to be outmaneuvered by a lamb.
When I told him Lion had it even worse, Steil still insisted it was a failure on his part, but he seemed to perk up a little. Duke Sanga, upon hearing the story of what happened to Lion, laughed heartily despite expressing his sympathy.
"There might be more victims to come."
After seeing Duke Sanga off, I watched Mary head back to her resting place and couldn't shake that premonition.
That night, as I was falling asleep, it occurred to me that Mary was particularly harsh toward males. Thinking back carefully, when she charged at me, Lion, or other men, she went all out. But when she went after Aura, Chris, Luna, and other women, she seemed to be holding back somewhat.
After all, despite the fact that she could target vital areas, the blow that felled Lion in a single strike only left Aura with a red mark and a tumble, and Luna—despite being hit the most—ended up with nothing more than a light scrape. As for Chris, her superior toughness and physical ability compared to the other two meant she didn't have a single injury.
"I should warn Tida to be careful too…"
Among the men who visit our place, Tida could be called the weakest, so a warning was in order. If Tida ended up suffering the same fate as Lion, that would be terrible. It was enough for only Lion to experience that kind of damage.
With these terrible thoughts, I drifted off to sleep.
"Waaah!"
"Monster!"
While I was sleeping, a mysterious creature suddenly materialized right before my eyes. I reflexively threw a right punch and was about to unleash a follow-up magic spell, but—
"Stop, Tenma!"
"Tenma, that's Namiitarou!"
"Huh?"
Hearing those voices, I hastily cancelled the spell.
Looking toward the source of the voices, the ones who had stopped me were the God of Skills and the God of War. And the one I had punched was, as they said, Namiitarou.
"Looking more closely, this is that room again… which means it's a dream once more."
When I looked more carefully, I could see the God of Creation tied up in ropes and gagged, rolling around behind the two gods. The God of Creation's face was completely desiccated, looking like one step away from a mummy.
"——————"
The God of Creation still seemed to be conscious. When our eyes met (his eyes were sunken and unfocused—I couldn't tell if he could actually see), he seemed to be saying something. Listening closely, he was saying, "H-elp… me…" It was so quiet I could barely hear it, so I pressed my ear to the God of Creation's mouth to confirm.
Feeling terribly sorry for him, I untied the ropes and removed the gag, but I had no idea how to restore his cracked, dry skin. So I used water magic to add some moisture, and amazingly, he recovered right before my eyes. Honestly, it was a rather grotesque sight.
"I was saved somehow…"
Wondering how I had managed it, the God of Skills explained: "You were right at the point of magic depletion. He was able to absorb just enough magic to serve as a catalyst for recovery."
"So, what was the reason for calling me this time? And why is Namiitarou here too?"
"As for Namiitarou, it's simple! If I can summon Tenma, I can certainly summon Namiitarou—we're both reincarnations after all!"
"As for why we called you… there's no particular reason, really. If I had to say, it was a request from Namiitarou and me?"
"Hehe~!"
At the edge of my vision, Namiitarou was doing something, but nobody called him out on it.
"Because there was no choice! I kept thinking I'd be summoned any moment, but Tenma never called me at all… I went and got all this seafood too…"
"Well, couldn't you have just come to visit normally? I'd be happy to have the seafood."
Namiitarou knew where Grandpa's mansion was, and someone like him could slip into the Royal Capital easily…
When I said that, Namiitarou looked as though scales had fallen from his eyes.
"I never thought of that… I was dead set on only going where I was summoned! Well then, I'll head over there now~… See ya!"
With that, Namiitarou dove into the ground as if it were water and vanished. As expected of the dream world—anything goes.
"Oh! Oh no! The Goddess of Love seems to have noticed that Tenma is here! God of War, God of Skills, seal the entrance immediately!"
"Leave it to me!"
"You got it!"
The two responded instantly to the God of Creation's orders. Incidentally, the second line was the God of War. He had gone straight into macho mode.
"Why seal it off? Isn't it fine if she comes?"
The God of Creation answered my question…
"Well, it's fine with me if Tenma doesn't mind… but if the Goddess of Love shows up and starts causing a scene, I have no idea when you'd be able to go home. Right now I'm using my power to forcibly stabilize this space, but if it becomes unstable, the timeline might shift."
Apparently, Namiitarou had been camped out in this space for nearly a full day, and the God of Creation's power had been almost entirely drained. Well, the cause had been spending power on playing with Namiitarou…
So the God of Creation had initially opposed summoning me, but under strong insistence from Namiitarou and the God of War, combined with the God of Skills getting in on the idea, they had forcibly used the God of Creation's power to bring me here.
If the Goddess of Love crashed the party in this state, there was no telling what would happen.
"S-So, in other words… Tenma, goodnight."
With those words, I was pushed back to the futon I'd been sleeping in and forced to lie down. Honestly, I wasn't tired at all, but the moment the God of Creation touched my forehead, my consciousness began to fade…
"Oh! Come to think of it, Tenma. It seems there are people who want to make a story based on your adventures, so you should probably check on that. Well then, goodnight… mwah!"
Before my consciousness completely vanished, the God of War dropped that unsettling piece of information on me. I would have much preferred to hear that while I was still fully awake. As for the blown kiss at the end—I managed to dodge it by rolling over, even as my consciousness was fading… I think… or rather, I'd like to think so.
"Morning…"
I was still drowsy and had a slight headache, but remembering the commotion in that dream killed any desire to go back to sleep. I steeled myself and got up. Besides, if what the God of War said at the end was true, then a story based on my life was either being written or in the planning stages, and I should take action sooner rather than later. By "action," I meant consulting with Lady Maria.
This world did have something akin to privacy (though nothing compared to my previous life), and when it came to real people or characters modeled on real people, creating a story that was too far removed from the truth or that could harm the model was considered a crime.
Furthermore, if the model had investors or backers, it was prohibited to create a story without their permission.
For example, even if someone wasn't an investor but was, like Din, a member of a knight order, the permission of their superior—the King—would be required to prevent the leak of sensitive information.
In my case, through the turn of events I had ended up belonging to the Royalist Faction, so I needed to ask the faction's leader—
Lady Maria
—to exercise control over any publications.
With my name having sold as well as it had, I doubted we could stop books from being published altogether. But if I could get Lady Maria's seal of approval first, selecting stories that were officially recognized by the royal family, then any future stories about me that weren't royal-recognized could potentially be dismissed as fiction.
Holding onto this hopeful wish, I hurried toward the royal castle.