Will was frowning while curtly saying those words to his father.

  「That’s strange, isn’t it?」


  The village chief raised his voice in surprise.

  「What do you mean? 」


  「Why doesn’t a noble like her wish to get help from another noble?　She might be hiding something, right? 」


  「HaaA?? 　Doesn’t wish? Hiding something?　What are you talking about? 」


  Will asked without even trying to hide his hostile tone.

  「They would normally choose to rely on another noble rather than rest in a village like ours. Those nobles have their own doctors too…」


  「That’s……… Because her fever has yet to go down and she’s yet to be able to move」


  「Nevertheless, she, in fact, can ask us to seek help from the mansion of our local noble. By doing so, our local noble might send their doctor right?　How are you going to explain that? 」


  「Like hell I’m going to do that. Aren’t you the one who first said not to raise any objections to noble-sama? Aren’t you the one who told me not to get myself involved too deeply in this matter?　Moreover, if you’re that eager to do so, why are you asking me first? 」


  In response to Will who was speaking in a rude manner――,

  「……… Guh, I’m asking you precisely because I don’t know whether she’s hiding something. Did she say anything suspicious? 」


  The village chief replied with another question with an irritated tone.

  「Dunno.」


  「Oi, answer me properly. It’ll be too late for us once something happens.」


  The village chief told Will with a strict tone in hearing his apathetic reply.

  「…………… Ceh, is it because she is a noble, or because you’re too afraid of getting yourself infected? Aren’t you acting like a petty person here, pop?　You’re way too wary of her.」


  Will said with a scornful tone.

  「And you’re too optimistic. Fool, look at your lustful face!」


  「WHAT! ? 」


  Will was enraged in hearing his dad say that.

  「Lower your voice. Calm down. Noble-sama might hear your voice you know.」


  The village chief scolded his son with a frightened tone.

  「GUH…………」


  「Listen. It’s because I have a responsibility as the village chief. There’s no way I can let a strange disease infect the people of the village, nor can I let something thats prone to cause trouble stay.」


  「Hah, what are you talking about? You’re not sick right? 」


  「That’s right. You’re not simply concerned because she’s cute, right?」


  The village chief replied right away as soon as he heared Will’s condescending question.

  「CEH, So what, got a problem with that?　Flora-sama is a kind and gentle person. She’s not the kind of girl who’s going to scoff at the trivial faults of a petty village chief. Now tell me, what’s wrong with that? 」


  「What if that noble-sama suddenly died in our village?　Who will take responsibility for it? 」


  「Urgh…………………..」


  Will was at loss for words at the village chief’s reply.

  「Moreover, putting that matter of that illness aside, there’s something suspicious about that noble-sama. I’m not asking her about this matter because it could turn out poorly. Don’t you think so?　Well, you might never consider my point though.」


  Saying so, the village chief looked at Will with a surprised face.

  「Suspicious?……… What are you talking about? 」


  Will asked with an angry voice.

  「The fact that she’s a foreign noble who’s stranded in this rural region due to some sort of disaster. Even if it’s just a joke, a noble’s disappearance is supposed to be a huge problem, right? To the point that it’s not strange to form a search party to look for her. And yet, there’s no search party coming to this village to look for her. It’s already the fifth day since that noble-sama came to this village you know?　There might be some delay depending on the local lord, but don’t you think that there might actually be some sort of problem? 」


  「That’s…………………」


  Will was at a loss for words again when the village chief laid out his own reasoning. Though he wanted to refute his father’s suspicion, he couldn’t find any faults in it.

  「That noble-sama is kind indeed. And not the kind of person who will execute an uneducated villager just because of a trivial mistake. But, she’s involved in some sort of trouble. What are you going to do if she involves this village in her trouble?　If possible, I don’t want to take that risk.」


  「Then…………. What do you want to do? 」


  Will asked with loathing.

  「That’s also something I’m troubled about. Though she seems like a kind person on the surface, we might provoke her anger if we ask a wrong question. To be honest, our best choice would be to rely on our local lord.」


  The village chief replied so after heaving a deep sigh.

  「Oioioi, do you mean that you’re going to rely on the local lord without the permission of Flora-sama? 」


  Will replied with a surprised voice.

  「………. I’m going to ask for her permission if her fever doesn’t go down, of course. 」


  The village chief subtely spoke with an underlaying meaning.

  「I-In that case, a few days. At least wait for a few more days.」


  Will asked so in hurry.

  「Yes……………… I promise you. Though I won’t tell you not to fall in love with that noble-sama, don’t even dare to have any kind of lewd or lecherous thoughts about her. In short, don’t get yourself too involved with her.」


  The village chief told Will that as a warning while shutting his eyes.

  「HaaaaH, what are you talking about, old man! ? 」


  Will was confused and his face suddenly felt hot.

  「I’m serious here. If you can promise me that, I’ll do as I promised and wait for few days for her fever to go down. But you have to report to me right away if you notice any strange signs from her. Understand? 」


  The village chief said with a serious face.

  「Uuh, I………………. I understand」


  Will nodded awkwardly.

  「Then it’s a promise. Since we’re at it, I want to ask you to tell those other restless young men the same thing that I told you. You lot and that noble-sama are living in different worlds.」


  The village chief warned him.

  「…………… Yeah」


  Will nodded obediently even though he frowned when he heard that they lived in different worlds. Maybe because he simply forgot about it, or just brushing the matter aside, he never talked about the birthmark on Flora’s nape.