...

Maybe because they wanted to make a show of it, Aidi's audience with Haku-san was set for a week after the matter got settled over mail.

Apparently they didn't want to set the precedent that Aidi, whose station amounted to that of a Demonlands noble, could meet Haku-san, who sat at the very top of the Empire, that easily. And even this, they said, was them hurrying things along considerably.

"It's a nuisance, but I do understand that face matters. There's no helping it, is there."

"That's right, Aidi. Well, let's go sightseeing around the Imperial Capital together until then."

"Indeed. And at night we'll come back here and spar. Won't we, Rokuko's Master?"

"Go do that with Number 564. Count me out."

"…True, Number 564 would be no cause for complaint, I suppose. Provided he hasn't been neglecting his training, that is."

And so Aidi was set to spend a full week taking in the Imperial Capital.

"By the way, Aidi, do you have any money? This isn't the Demonlands, you know. It's not the sort of place where picking a fight gets you the merchandise."

"Surely that's… I do have money, don't I, Sebas?"

"You do, Ojou-sama."

"Fufun. Apparently so, Rokuko."

"You should keep a little money on you yourself. Picking up [Wallet] would be nothing for you, right?"

[Wallet] scrolls are easy enough to come by through the dungeon functions. They're on par with a low-tier spell, so they're cheap, too.

"If you don't have a scroll, I'll give you one."

"Oh my, may I? Thank you, Rokuko."

"That's one favor you owe me, then. Here you go."

Ah, yeah. I could see where this week was headed: Rokuko stacking up favors owed by Aidi, just like that.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Now then.

If I do say so myself, I'm an extremely can't-be-bothered sort of person.

And that same guy went and worked himself to the bone the other day over the whole Holy Kingdom business.

Which is to say, I wanted to take it easy for a while.

…And yet I'd somehow ended up fighting in the arena on top of everything—

"Heh heh heh. This time, let's go ahead and declare spoilers fair game."

So I got in touch with Soto.

Right, Soto may be my daughter, but she has knowledge of the future. Which means she ought to know about important items like the Divine Sword, too.

"Heeey, Soto. Tell me about the Divine Sword. How did I end up solving it? How about Nerune's socks as the reward?"

"Huh, I want those!"

All right, she bit.

"…I want them, buuut."

"Hm? What's the matter? You sound kind of noncommittal."

"Unfortunately, that information isn't inside me……!! Ngh!"

"Huh, you don't have it?"

"Papa, what exactly do you think I am?"

"Mm, something like… my daughter who knows the future."

"Ahh, there's a misunderstanding there."

A misunderstanding…? I tilted my head.

"What I know is only what I know, you see."

"Hm? So it's the whole 'I don't know everything' bit?"

"To put it more precisely, all I have is what the 'me' who shared her information with me back then told me!"

…So in other words, the Divine Sword was news to her, and she knew nothing about it.

Her voice didn't sound like she was lying.

"I mean, it's no fun if you get spoiled, right? Do you really think 'me' would tell me something like that? As a rule, what gets passed on is the bare minimum. The only exception is information on Leona-san's weakness!"

"So you were taught Leona's weakness, huh."

"Otherwise I couldn't keep her shut away, could I? I'm a dungeon, you know? We have an instinct that wants to hold our treasure tight, deep down inside!"

When it comes to capturing her treasureLeona, and only then, she'll stop at nothing.

Good grief, who could she possibly take after… Rokuko, obviously. Dungeon instincts aren't something I have, after all.

"I built the Karisoto District because it was necessary for shutting Leona-san away, too! The other Papa, the one who came up with the idea in the first place, gave the okay on using all sorts of technology as long as it was to spite Leona-san… and honestly, the future material is already closedkanban for business. The future I heard about branched off ages ago to begin with."

"…Ngh, and here I thought I could take it easy……!"

Ah, yeah. If it meant sealing Leona away, even I'd do the same. Or rather, apparently I did do exactly that.

The rest of the future info was apparently no more than idle chatter about us, or something like that.

…Which in its own way still sounded like there might be something to it.

"Well, I did provide the information that there's no information, so please hand over Nerune-chan's socks."

"You really don't miss a chance, do you. …Well, fine."

"Yaaay!"

Just like she said, 'there's no information' is information too. I sent Soto Nerune's socks.

Skimp here and your information broker stops giving you anything worth having, after all.

…And even if Soto can't produce information, there's still that information source of hers, her loverLeona.

Well, as for the Divine Sword, now that I think about it, it's not as though I particularly want it myself.

Aidi is the only one who wants it, and Rokuko and I just have to sit back and watch.

And as of right now, how many favors does Aidi owe Rokuko…?

I'm fairly sure it was already past 300 when I asked a little while ago… Is she really counting every single one?