–Retzel was in his room, thinking back to this place. With a glass in his hand, he rocked in his chair, looking at the half-shaped moon, and thought to himself.

“It’s been ten years since then. Time flies. But that father and son, especially Ryuuze, have an unnecessary sense of justice. Brao is also an unprincipled man, and I think it’s time to say goodbye to this town. The lives that you thought could be saved, can’t be saved …… The death mask of despair is irreplaceable, but it’s not something we have to do here.”

Retzel chuckled as he thought back to the “lives that couldn’t be saved” in this town. An evil smile shows on his face.

“…… Well, since the king is coming to the harvest festival this year, let’s try something different. Aha, ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

◆ 　 ◇ 　 ◆

“Good morning.”

“Yawn …… Good morning, Helena ……”

“Good morning.”

“I’m already awake so It’s alright, Nora.”

“Hmm, Lars-kun, you were wobbly this morning.”

“How envious, Nora-chan ……”

After I got the poison, I couldn’t sleep because I was still in a state of excitement. I don’t understand why my brother and Nora took me by both arms on the way to school.

“Good morning, Luciel.”

“Good morning, Lars-kun. I saw you on the roof of the hospital yesterday, what were you doing there?”

“Buu-!?”

“That’s dirty, Lars-kun. Here, handkerchief.”

Did they see me? I mean, why was Luciel near the hospital? I whispered to Luciel as I wiped the spit with Nora’s handkerchief.

“(Where were you? I’m sorry, but please don’t tell anyone about yesterday!)”

“(O-Okay, it’s alright, though? But my sister is ……)”

“(If you want me to keep it a secret, you’ll have to do one thing for me.)”

“Whoa!? Where the hell did you come from!?”

I was so startled by Luciela’s entrance into the conversation that I swayed in my seat. And then, for some reason, she poked her finger at me with a smug look on her face and said 

“Lars, you should go on a date with Luciel!”

“Sis?”

“What are you talking about …… Oh, look, here comes the teacher.”

“Hmm? If it isn’t Luciela, you’ve been promoted, so you’re not supposed to be here, right? Come on, get out of here.”

“Kuh …… A-Alright! Lars, remember that!”

For some reason, the teacher grabbed Luciela by the neck and threw her out of the class, leaving behind words that sounded like the throwaway words of a loser.

“I’m sorry, my sister …… (I, I won’t tell even if we don’t have a date or something.)”

“Thanks.”

But even if you say that, it’s a good chance to get close to Luciel, so it’s a nice opportunity. I often go to the guild with Kudelica and Makina, but I haven’t been able to talk much with Luciel, who I knew when we were kids.

“You’re going on a date?”

“Uwuaah!? …… Nora, don’t talk to me so suddenly ……”

Interested or not, Nora asks me with an unusually straight face. Maybe I could ask Nora, who is dating my brother, what would make a girl happy? As I was thinking about this, the teacher clapped his hands to make the class quiet and then opened his mouth.

“Okay, it’s quiet now. Now let’s continue. Next month is the harvest festival that everyone has been waiting for, but this year it’s a little different, so I’ll tell you what you need to know.

Oh, it’s that time already. It’s one of the events that I look forward to as much as anyone, since my dad and his friends have been taking me to it since that year. I wonder what’s different this year?

“This year is the year that the King will visit, and he will be inspecting the site. The townspeople can’t get close, so make sure you don’t get in trouble with the soldiers.”

“The king is coming to visit ……?”

“Yes, Lars. I’m sure you guys will be fine, but make sure you don’t make a mess, okay? Well, you can’t get close to him, as I said, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Tigre-sensei laughed as he said that. Well, I guess it’s best not to get too close to the king, because if we get punished for being rude to him, my dad and the others will probably die of shock.

“The king, he said. Don’t lords have to greet or something?”

“…… yeah, that’s right. The king is supposed to spend the night at my place.”

“Wow, that’s great!?”

Jack was whispering to Ryuuze, but their conversation could be heard. The king is coming to the lord’s mansion, well, there’s no way they’re going to let him stay in some inn. Then suddenly, something comes to my mind.

“……Hm? Maybe I can combine it with the plan I have in mind?”

Then I’ll have to hurry up and get ready before the harvest festival. I thought It’s not the time for a date, and I decide to talk to Nina about it. Nina’s testimony is absolutely necessary for my plan.

As I watched Ryuuze’s back, I thought that the end might be near.

 ◆ 　 ◇ 　 ◆

“You’re the current lord? Hmmm, it’s neither possible nor impossible. I think it’s subtle because the town doesn’t seem to be developing even though the taxes are stricter than before.”

“I would have preferred Roen-san. I think Brao did a good job running for lord? And how can he call his former employer, Roen-san, a poor man? Next time there’s an election for lord, I’m sure he won’t be chosen.”

“I don’t know, because he never shows his face. He’s so sneaky and creepy. He often goes to the hospital, but if he’s not well, I hope he retires soon.”

“The doctor at the hospital? He’s a good man, he listens to me every time I talk about something boring without even looking uncomfortable!”

“Retzel-san cried with me when my grandma died.”

“Thank you very much.”

The teacher from the school went around talking to the townspeople. Tigre had asked each teacher to help him with the story he had heard from Ryuuze, and the next step was to ask the townspeople to investigate.

After school, when the teachers were gathered in the staff room exchanging information with each other, they felt uncomfortable and tilted their heads.

“…… Brao’s reputation is as good as it looks. But Retzel is not as vicious as Ryuuze-kun says he is, huh.”

“If you haven’t heard the stories, he’s a saintly man ……”

“Let’s hurry up, we don’t have much time before the harvest festival.”

One of the teachers said, and everyone nodded. Then, the headmaster, Libre, spoke up quietly.

“We can’t go too deep, so be careful. It’s enough just to find someone who has Brao or Retzel’s breath on them. Tigre-sensei, how’s Ryuuze-kun and Lars-kun doing?”

“There’s nothing for now. But there is something a little strange about Ryuuze, so I’m going to ask him about it.”

“I see. It’s hard to involve children in this. Just watch them and make sure they don’t do anything rash.”

“Yes, I know. I’m thinking about having a talk with Lars, but he’s been disappearing from class a lot lately and I’m having trouble with it. I’ll manage in the next few days.”

Libre nodded and dispersed with instructions to disperse.

“In the end, exposing this will only lead to unhappy students and those who seek revenge. Can’t we save them both ……”

In the empty conference room, Libre was alone, muttering to himself.

I managed before the date changed ……!

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“It’s a three-party specification. But it’s a mess, so I’m curious about convergence.”

(T/N: I’m sorry, I don’t exactly understand what he’s talking about. But I think it’s like the love triangle that three persons are involved and in this part, there are three parties involved, the teachers part, Lars part, and Ryuuze’s part with his father and Dr. Retzel.)

I’ve already decided on the ending, but I feel like it took me longer to get there. But to be honest, it’s difficult for Lars to do it all by himself, so he has no choice.

“What about using force?”

In my opinion, he didn’t do it because it would have been “forcing him to talk” and would have made him look bad. I hope you can see that Lars’ growing power is a double-edged sword.