Intermission
Satou here. Even if I plan everything perfectly, there’s always some act of God or delays that pile up, often making me insanely busy. Even so, if I just stick to a list of priorities, it usually works itself out.
“Wake up, it’s morning.”
I sat down on a bed with a canopy over the top and spoke to a very special person. I loved how she looked when she was awake—her smile was bright as the sun, but I also liked her innocent expression when she slept, too.
“…Satou.”
She ever so slightly opened her eyes to look at me, her smile blooming like a flower. It was a delicate beauty, one gust away from colorful petals being strewn around the room. I wanted to give in to my feelings and pin her down on the bed, but I was a little scared of the handmaiden Lua, who was watching from behind me, so I shoved a ton of points into my MND stat and maintained the gentlemanly act.
“Good morning, Ms. Aaze.”
“Morning, Satou.”
Startled, Ms. Aaze’s eyes shot open. She hid her face behind her blanket, with only her eyes peeking out over the top.
“Did you see me sleeping?”
“I did. It was adorable.”
I responded in earnest, causing Ms. Aaze’s face to turn vermilion red. That just made her more adorable, though.
“Lady Aaze, the sprites in charge of your wardrobe have arrived. If you think you’re going to be a bit longer, shall I just leave them waiting outside?”
The handmaiden, Ms. Lua, wore a sour expression as she spoke.
“I-it’s fine. They don’t have to wait. Let them in.”
“Understood. You can come in now.”
Several house spirits scuttled in through the door. They all looked like young girls. Everyone looked at me, shocked, and then they all erupted into giggles, as if they were middle school girls sharing lovey-dovey romance stories.
“All right, girls, let’s concentrate on work.”
Ms. Lua clapped her hands together as the sprites energetically got to work brushing Ms. Aaze’s hair, taking off her thin fairy-silk negligee—
I felt my eyes being drawn to Ms. Aaze’s porcelain white shoulders, but I made every fiber in my body deny myself a look as I turned away. I had forgotten that elves and half-elves didn’t pay much mind to exposing their naked bodies.
I let both Ms. Aaze and her handmaiden, Ms. Lua, know that I’d be waiting in the room next door. The flowers in the corridor produced a sweet aroma, which helped cleanse my wicked mind. I decided to take the scene of Ms. Aaze’s white shoulders that I had REC’d in my mind with me to my eventual grave.
“Hee-hee. How long has it been since we ate breakfast together?”
I was enjoying a lavish elfin meal that would make even a royal meal in the imperial court look like a bland affair, with Ms. Aaze, who was in good spirits. Although every item was perfect, I felt a lot of it could have been attributed to the fact that I was enjoying it with Ms. Aaze.
“So, where are you at the moment? Last I heard you were sightseeing in the inland sea nations.”
I found myself lost in Ms. Aaze’s refined movements, almost forgetting to even enjoy the meal.
“We’re currently in Woodland Labyrinth within the southwestern continent.”
“Training for Mia and the others?”
“Yeah. They’re there at the moment, trying their best to stay there on their own.”
“If they’re strong enough to be able to do that, isn’t that enough already?” Ms. Aaze asked. She stopped moving her fork and cocked her head in confusion. It was a rare expression, but a cute one.
“It seemed they felt they weren’t strong enough when we fought in Parion and the Pialork Kingdom.”
I didn’t mention we’d fought a demon lord and the Discordant Ones. It would only make Ms. Aaze worry.
“Oh, really? When I saw Mia before, she looked around the level to take on a high-level demon…”
“I still think that’s too difficult for her.”
Although I thought she could take one on without dying if they planned on fighting one without losing anyone, then they would have been around level 60 before that—although it did depend on the enemy. If we wanted to be completely safe, level 80 would have been ideal.
“Phew, that was delicious. Satou, shall we have dessert on a branch of the World Tree?”
“That sounds lovely. Let’s do that.”
I thanked the sprites for setting everything up as I snatched the basket of fruits that Ms. Aaze was trying to pick up, and instead I took her hand and escorted her to our destination.
“What a luxurious location for dessert—a branch of the World Tree.”
“You think so? There’s a lot of mana circulating here, so it’s nice. Look, even the small spirits are enjoying themselves.”
When I activated my “Spirit Vision,” I could see colorful, fluffy spots of light that resembled dandelion seeds flying around Ms. Aaze, who was surrounded by a golden aura. I enjoyed the view as I used the Practical Magic spell Multitool to cut the fruits into slices.
“Here you are, Ms. Aaze.”
I used the Multitool fork and stabbed into one of the pieces of fruit and offered it to Ms. Aaze. She looked a little embarrassed but then nibbled on the piece of fruit with a smile that almost made me melt. I planned to pass her the fork, but this was cute, and a lot better. We enjoyed a lovely morning together without Ms. Lua looking at us like a merlion with a mouth full of salt.
I wished I could stay here for a couple more days, but I had a lot of places I needed to go to, so I passed on souvenirs from the fortress city of Arcatia and took my leave. It seemed the broccoli was a huge success among the elves.
“Good morning, Mr. Satou!”
I left the Bolenan Forest and visited Paradise Island located in the Southern Seas, where I was greeted with a hug from Rei, who was in her adult form. Usually, she was in the form of a young girl, to preserve her magic energy, so it was a surprise.
“Morning, Master Satou.”
Her younger sister, Yuuneia, seemed a little tired. I didn’t mind her large yawn, but her pajamas were wide open, so I quickly fixed them for her, using Magic Hand.
“Morning, Rei, Yuuneia.”
I returned their greetings and then gave them the souvenirs like the giant broccoli and the small items from the fortress city of Arcatia. Any form of miasma was strictly off-limits for Rei, so I made sure to thoroughly purify the items before handing them over.
“We prepared breakfast. Let’s eat together.”
“Thank you, I’d love to join you.”
I had already eaten a lot in the Bolenan Forest but there was no way I could refuse such an invitation when it was accompanied by a lovely smile. I went to enjoy a voluminous breakfast made up of southern delicacies, as well as their two smiles.
“Mr. Satou, I have something I want you to see.”
As we were enjoying a cup of tea, Rei handed me a small bundle of paper bound with a string. My eyes were drawn in by the text at the top of the paper.
—Regarding the downsizing of Heavenslight Protection.
Something I had once deemed impossible.
“Rei, what is this about?” I accidentally blurted out, sounding very excited.
“I need a certain jewel for it, so I’m unsure if I can do it…”
Rei spoke as she nervously played with her hands. The jewel in question was a divine stone that originated from the gods. Among the eight kinds of stones, I already had two in my possession—I had received them both from the Goddess Karion and the Goddess Urion for defeating the Discordant Ones. To use them for what they were made for, you needed all eight of them, but having one or two was enough to generate enough energy to power a single car, so they could be used for some things. It seemed like they consumed a lot of magic power, so I wondered if it would be difficult to incorporate golden equipment without expanding the Holytree Stone Furnace.
“Would this help you, Mr. Satou?”
“Yes! It would, it would! It’d help a lot! Thank you, Rei!”
I squeezed Rei in a hug and then began to spin around on the spot, dancing. With this, I might be able to incorporate the Castle function, an upgraded version of the Fortress function for enhanced defense, which previously couldn’t be downsized from the battleship version, into golden armor. In fact, I might be able to make it even more effective than the battleship version. I spent some time talking about it with Rei and Satsuko on Paradise Island before saying a reluctant good-bye to them as I set off for the Shiga Kingdom.
“““Sir Kuro, welcome back!”””
When I showed up at the main Echigoya office, the company management found me immediately and gave me a very gaudy welcome. It seemed they had changed the layout of the rooms—the rooms seemed wider, and more people were working for management. I had heard in a report that a man had been promoted to management, but it didn’t look like he worked here. The lively blond-haired manager, Eluterina, and the manager’s secretary, the docile beauty with silver hair, Tifaleeza, appeared from the adjacent manager’s office.
““Sir Kuro, welcome back.””
Looking at the two of them felt like looking at a gorgeous painting. However, the two of them weren’t here simply because they looked good. They were two influential figures who had elevated the Echigoya Company to one of the most powerful trading companies within the Shiga Kingdom.
“Fill me in on the latest.”
I spoke, becoming the cool character Kuro. In reality, I wanted to hurry back home and work on developing the Castle function for golden armor, but I couldn’t do that. As a functioning adult, I had to first complete my work before indulging in my hobbies. I brushed off my reluctant feelings and turned to face the managers.
“We increased the number of managers. To be honest, they’re still novices, but we hope to have them as fully fledged managers in around half a year.”
The managers then introduced me to the recruits. There were a lot of talented women who were graduates from the Royal Academy and regular schools, but there weren’t many self-made merchants or scholars from prestigious schools. As a result of that, I felt like the average age of the managers had been raised by around 20 percent.
“As the business continues to expand to accommodate profits, we intend to continue to increase the number of managers in training.”
“I see. Do you have everything you need for training?”
With rapid growth, employee training could sometimes fall behind.
“Everything is fine regarding that. We are training the management trainees according to the educational procedures provided by Advisor Tachibana. Some are affiliated with nobility, but we are managing that by assigning them to branch offices in various regions or utilizing them in new development projects, so please rest assured.”
Advisor Tachibana—it seemed he was helping out with the educational program put together by Arisa. With the conversation about management completed, Tifaleeza then came to the front.
“The fleet of thirteen merchant ships led by Captain Looklar set sail as scheduled from the Port of Tartumina, heading for the Holy Kingdom of Parion.”
Tifaleeza wore a proud expression on her ice-cold beautiful face. The trade agreement between Cardinal Dobbunaf and Satou had been entrusted to the Echigoya Trading Company. I used Return to bring the Parion’s Lampfire and the priest, both necessary for the trade, from the Holy Kingdom of Parion to Tartumina.
“However, it seems that about five merchant ships belonging to nobles and trading companies, who caught wind of the rumors, decided to follow along.”
“Is that all right?”
“Our ships are protected from monsters by Parion’s Lampfire. However, I imagine they are probably aiming for the leftovers.”
“Even if they do attack our main ship, they won’t do much damage. They’re more than likely acting with an understanding of the risks involved, so I don’t think there is any need to worry.”
The manager and Tifaleeza confidently spoke. They essentially said we needn’t feel sorry for those who were unfairly acting against us.
Next up, the manager who worked in immigration came forward.
“Regarding immigration to Muno County, thanks to magistrate Lottel’s negotiations with Duke Ougoch and the royal government, we have been granted the use of the Eastern Route and a large airship for immigration purposes.”
“Oh, that’s valuable.”
The Eastern Route is an established route that connects the royal capital, the ducal capital, and the territory of Marquis Ganika, while the Northern Route is a new route that links the territory of Count Seiryuu with the royal capital.
“In return, it seems that the second small airship, which was originally scheduled for delivery to the royal government, will now be prioritized for lease to the territory of Count Seiryuu instead of to the territory of Count Muno.”
The management member filled me in on all the inner workings. It all made sense now. While I didn’t understand what Hikaru had meant, I figured out the reason why Ms. Zena’s plans to return home had been canceled by the immigration plans. I felt like we’d messed up.
After that, I listened to the report on the royal capital, the surrounding cities, and their respective businesses. Aside from the welfare program, several other departments were operating at a loss, but since their purpose was to invest in and support research, it wasn’t an issue. Plus, the rest were operating at a profit.
Once we finished discussing internal affairs, we moved on to international affairs.
“We’ve received a few reports and requests from Merina, who is based in the branch in Parion Province.”
“Requests?”
“Yes. She wishes to employ more staff members, and it seems they want to add the folk crafts of the sandfolk to the trade items with the Shiga Kingdom.”
“I approve. It’s fine if she can’t make a profit at first.”
I then glanced over the report from Merina. The goods I had transported there had all sold, and it seemed she had gained substantial profits and established connections with the inland sea nations. Merina was talented and reliable.
“She also asked about having a few close-distance ships to allow for direct trades with the inland sea nations.”
“That’ll put us in competition with Cardinal Dobbunaf. Isn’t it a little too premature for that?”
“I thought the same.”
While I didn’t mind making such a move, I thought it would be best to mutually enjoy the profits at the beginning.
“It seems that the procurement of sheep and goats requested by Viscount Pendragon, as well as the shipping task to the Kuvork Kingdom, have been successfully completed. The person in charge, Costohna, plans to travel around the central small countries to establish branches of the Echigoya Trading Company in the main cities of each nation.”
“Do they not plan on taking a break?”
Being on long business trips was a surefire way to accumulate stress.
“They want it to be that way. They will be avoiding the unsafe Yowork Kingdom, so please don’t worry.”
“All right.”
I felt the women working for the Echigoya Trading Company were all workaholics.
“Louna requested to travel around the Vistall Duchy. However, they are currently rebelling, and it seems to be dangerous over there, so we denied the request.”
“Mhm.”
Among all the knights and soldiers partaking in the rebellion, there would be some who would soon become vagabonds.
“Is that all for the international reports?”
“No, there is one more. We have dispatched the advance trading team we discussed earlier.”
I had forgotten about that. We planned to conduct research as a preliminary step before establishing branches in the eastern Siruga Kingdom and Makiwa Kingdom, as well as in the northern Kazo Kingdom and Saga Empire.
“Is everything all right with the convoys?”
“Yes. We were able to hire several mithril explorers, so as long as we don’t encounter any dragons or demons, we should be fine.”
I’d have preferred if she didn’t throw out death flags like that.
Once we had finished the business talks, we moved on to talking about research.
“How are the researchers doing?” I asked, curious about the rather unconventional studies they were engaged in. This included Mr. Joppentelle, the transforming tool professor who became a patron of the craft in Kalisork City.
“They’re all doing well.”
“A new workshop has been established near Dr. Jahado’s workshop, where everyone is conducting research. Aoi is acting as a liaison, and it seems there is a lively exchange with Dr. Jahado.”
Tifaleeza added a bit more detail to the report.
“As for Dr. Jahado’s re-established new ultra-high-speed airship equipped with an aerodynamic engine, it has achieved three times the lift and flight speed of conventional models, but the output of traditional Magic Reactors is insufficient, preventing its practical use.”
“All right. I’ll head over there later.”
As usual, Dr. Jahado was continuing his extreme modifications. I decided I’d drop by when I went to the factory and the main store.
“Anything else?”
“Ryuona of the Shiga Eight Swordsmen still visits once every few days.”
The manager wore a slightly troubled expression.
Are the Shiga Eight that bone idle?
“Recently, as the official supplier of the Shiga Eight Swordsmen, our weapons and armor have been selling well.”
The manager in charge of selling weapons and armor added this, wearing a nice smile. I thought there was no need to get involved if the Shiga Eight contributed to good sales. It didn’t seem like anything urgent, after all.
I complimented the red-haired Nell and the others working on the sales floor at the main store, listening to Polina’s worries and concerns at the ever-expanding factory as I spurred her on. I watched how the factory worked. Then I observed the realistic combat training conducted by Sumina’s squad from the Security Division and moved on to the bustling workshop district.
Although they should have been busy with their work, for some reason, the manager and Tifaleeza were accompanying me everywhere.
“Why? Why did the new propulsion system stop halfway?!”
“Like I told you, it needs more output.”
Aoi, a young Japanese boy who looked more like a beautiful young girl, was currently in the middle of a debate with the professors.
“Aoi, how about implementing the Twin Magic Reactors I thought up?”
“Didn’t they both fail at the same time and cause a massive explosion?”
“Should I just dismantle it and put it back together from scratch?”
“All you professors want to do is dismantle stuff!”
“How about adjusting the airship’s structure to transform in response to its speed?”
“Rejected! Didn’t I just say we don’t have the magic power for that kind of transformation?”
It looked like Aoi was playing both the role of the devil’s advocate and the moderator of the debate. It was just a group of strange doctors, such as Dr. Jahado, the rotation fanatic; Dr. Joppentelle, the transformation professor; and two other professors who were obsessed with explosions and dismantling, all sharing their opinions. The new type of airship placed near them had been freely modified with added transformation mechanisms and specially processed armor.
“Ah! Sir Kuro!”
Aoi noticed me and gave me a big wave.
“Master Kuro! Could you give me some spare hulls and Magic Reactors? Everyone’s gotten carried away with modifying them, and it’s been hard to get it under control.”
“Sure. I have some spares, so use them how you like.”
After I promised them that, they then gave me demonstrations of the magic improvements they had made. All of them were interesting, but among them, the automatic ejection seat jointly developed by Dr. Joppentelle, known as the “Transforming Doctor,” and by Dr. Kaiber, known as the “Unkempt Doctor,” was particularly interesting. The mechanism involved the automatic fastening of the seat belt, securing the occupant to the chair, while a protective shell expanded around the chair and ejected it.
“Is it able to be put into practice?”
“Not yet. We’ve only managed to get the chair to eject so far.”
“The test dummy was left in shambles when we tried it.”
Equipping itself automatically was a good idea. I could change my appearance with a quick Changing spell. However, it took time for my party members to get their equipment on during emergencies. There was nothing like what you would see in Sunday morning anime, where they’d equip their armor using a special command word. The two professors told me all the ins and outs of the automatic ejection seat, giving me a better understanding of its workings and the materials used. As thanks for the information, I presented them both with a parachute I had put together a while ago.
“Whoa, it’s Sir Kuro!”
A small-framed girl embraced me as she greeted me with a cheerful tone. It was Sekiro’s daughter, Louna. The fact that they were still in travel attire suggested that they must have come to see me as soon as they returned to the capital.
“Louna! Don’t be so disrespectful to Sir Kuro!”
“They’re right. Let go, Louna.”
The manager spoke in a panic. Tifaleeza shot her a cold stare that could freeze over an open-air fire, causing Louna to let go.
Huh?
I didn’t know if I was imagining it or not, but there were more professors.
“Louna, who is that?”
“He’s a floating stone researcher. I recruited him!”
He was working as a researcher in the Saga Empire. However, he didn’t receive any funds for his research and found it difficult to buy materials, so he left and began working with us.
“…Floating stones?”
“Yeah. You know the ones that float in the sky?”
I recalled seeing them in the Bolenan Forest. I distinctly had a memory of them floating beside a waterfall as I was practicing using my “Spirit Vision.”
“Louna, please be more polite when speaking with Sir Kuro.”
“Yeah, yeah. I forrrgo—forgot. Anyway, isn’t it interesting, Sir Kuro?”
I assumed she was referring to the floating stones.
“I don’t mind your language. I have an idea on where to get some floating stones, so I’ll get my hands on some of them soon.”
There were plenty of rocks just floating about, so I was sure the Bolenans wouldn’t mind splitting some with me. It also gave me another excuse to be with Ms. Aaze, so it worked out.
“Really?! I heard that floating stones were a rare resource found only in a nest of a giant monster fish in the northern part of the Saga Empire!” the researcher responded.
There’s a giant monster fish there? That’s good information.
We still had around sixty-four pieces of whale meat, so I didn’t really need to stock up or anything.
“Have you figured out what makes the floating stones float?”
“I believe it’s linked to the small fragment of dark stone that can be found in the center of them, but I don’t have enough samples to really research it.”
The researcher had no real-life samples to study, so I shared some dark stones with him.
In the workshop district’s vacant lot, I placed three spare hulls for small airships, along with a few mana reactors in various sizes. The mana reactors were ones I had salvaged from the Southern Seas before or taken from pirates.
“You might have enough power if they’re this big,” I offered.
“We can’t put something as heavy as that on it,” one of the researchers scoffed.
“Then it looks like you’ll need a strong Magic Reactor for the propulsion system.”
Though I’m pretty sure they were talking about that just before.
“Want to try and use this?”
“What’s that?”
“A blue coin.”
“A Philosophium from the Flue Empire!”
“I never thought I’d see one with my own eyes!”
All the other professors flocked around Dr. Jahado as he lifted the Philosophium. I would have preferred to put it in the Holytree Stone Furnace, but I felt that it would be able to help the researchers with their research and inventions, so I felt this was the better move. It riled all the researchers up, and they dove headfirst back into their research. I headed back to the main Echigoya store along with Louna. The luncheon, which was also meant to celebrate Louna and the others’ return, became so popular that the streets were overflowing with people, making it difficult to pass through. If Tifaleeza hadn’t anticipated the situation and informed the guard posts and nearby residents ahead of time, things could have turned troublesome. You’d be pushed to find a more capable secretary.
Once I finished what I needed to do in Echigoya, I went to meet with Hikaru. It was midafternoon, so I found Hikaru sweeping up outside a dormitory near the Royal Academy.
“Same as ever, eh, Hikaru?”
Since I couldn’t show up as Kuro, I stood before Hikaru in a sloppy disguise, only wearing a fake clip-on mustache.
“Huh? Ichirou? Ichirou! Ichirou!”
Hikaru ran up and embraced me. Confused, I accepted the hug from Hikaru but realized I had made an awful mistake.
“Sorry, Hikaru. It’s me, Satou. I’m not Ichirou Suzuki. This is just a weird disguise I’m wearing.”
I took off the fake mustache, revealing I wasn’t the Ichirou Suzuki that Hikaru wanted to meet with most.
“H-huh? There’s no way.”
Hikaru was on the verge of tears. I hugged her. If I was going to disguise myself, I should have picked a better disguise. I didn’t realize her Ichirou had a mustache.
“Bad guy spotted!”
“How dare you make the manager cry!”
I heard children’s voices behind me, followed by a kick to my backside. I figured it was due to my high VIT stat, but the children who kicked me ended up falling over. They would soon figure out I was Satou if this went on any longer, so I covered my face with a mask.
“Get away from Ms. Hikaru!”
The children kept their distance as they surrounded me. I recognized their faces. These were the children who were moved from the private orphanage in Labyrinth City Celivera to the Royal Academy for younger children. I saw the face of Daigo, who I’d saved and rescued back in Parion. Now that I think about it, the girl crouching at my feet was Chinatsu, a Reincarnator who, like Daigo, had lost her Unique Skill. The last time I’d met her, she was rather weak. The low-level elixir and Shizuka’s nursing abilities must have worked, as she seemed to be a lot healthier. A relief.
“It’s all right, everyone. I’m doing fine!”
Hikaru wiped away her tears and forced herself to smile in order to calm the other children. The other children seemed to understand she was faking it, but they feigned ignorance as they listened to her order to go back inside the dormitory. I felt a little awkward, so I moved away from the dormitory and changed into a different disguise: Akindoh, the Pendragon shopkeeper. Then I returned to the dormitory.
“Mr. Akindoh!”
“I’ve never been here before.”
“What souvenir do you have for me today? Is it something sweet? Or is it something savory?”
All the children began to flock around me. It was Daigo’s and Chinatsu’s first time seeing Akindoh, so they were asking the other kids who I was. I handed out souvenirs to the children and then went into the manager’s office, where Hikaru was.
“Sorry I got so upset earlier,” Hikaru spoke.
“It’s fine, I should be the one saying sorry. I should have been more tactful.”
“You didn’t mean anything bad by it, did you? It was a disguise so obvious, I could see it was you.”
“No, I’m really sorry. There’s no other way around it.”
The truth was I had made Hikaru cry, so I continued to apologize for it.
“It’s fine. The Goddess Parion has already assured me I’ll be able to meet my Ichirou someday—so that’s the end of that topic!”
Hikaru slammed her hand on the table, forcibly changing the topic. I decided it was best not to talk about it anymore.
“Anyway, Sete had some official letters from the Saga Empire and Parion arrive.”
Sete was Hikaru’s nickname for the king of Shiga.
“Official letters. From those two kingdoms. Let me guess, were they about me defeating the demon lord?”
“Bingo. They said, ‘The Birth of a Legend: A Hero and Two Others Defeated the Demon Lord!’ It’s all the news in the royal palace.”
…Really?
“They said two people, but Hayato’s followers, Dark Knights, and Holy Sword users were there as well.”
“Yep. The official report says it gives its thanks to a hero’s party for helping, but it seems that the duke’s daughter, Ringrande, who was serving as a retainer, sent a letter detailing Ichirou’s accomplishments, and that information has spread among the nobility of Duke Ougoch’s territory.”
…Just what is Lady Ringrande up to?
Hikaru gave me more background information. The gluttonous Marquis Lloyd and Count Owen were going around enthusiastically spreading the news. Knowing those two, their actions were probably driven by good intentions, but you never knew.
“Don’t worry, I haven’t said anything about you being in Arcatia. Sete and the others sent summons for Satou to the ambassadors of the western countries.”
The decision to head to the Forest Labyrinth was indeed a stroke of luck, as once the summons was received, there would have been no way to avoid returning to the Shiga Kingdom.
“In the meantime, for now, I’ll send a report with nothing controversial to the prime minister and Count Muno.”
I decided to send letters to two other individuals: Lady Celivera, the wife of the lord of Labyrinth City Celivera, and Countess Ema Litton, a prominent figure in the social circles of the royal capital, who wielded considerable influence. I could ask for their help in quelling the rumors. Fortunately, I had a good number of accessories and works of art from the western regions that they would fancy, so I had plenty of gifts to offer them.
“That reminds me, I saw Daigo and Chinatsu here.”
“They’ve been coming to the school for around three days now, just to try it out. Shizuka said she wanted the children to go to school, and both Daigo and Chinatsu seemed interested.”
“Interesting. Did you ask about their past lives?”
“Daigo was around high school age. Chinatsu was in the later years of elementary school.”
“That’s a weird way to put it.”
“That’s because—the two of them struggled to remember.”
According to Hikaru, ever since Daigo and Chinatsu lost their Unique Skills, their memories became more and more vague.
“Don’t say anything about it in front of Shizuka, though. She gets worried.”
“Got it. My lips are sealed.”
Although I had been forced, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of responsibility for them losing their Unique Skills.
Shizuka was depressed and stressed enough that even the slightest thing could send her mental state over the edge and turn her into a demon lord, so we had to avoid any needless statements.
“Is Shizuka doing all right?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. She said she wanted a dog, so I mentioned it to Sete and got her a cute puppy. She’s hard at work looking after the puppy and working on her creative activities.”
I guessed she’d have no time to worry about things if she was occupied by something else.
“Go see her. She’s not allowed to leave here until Daigo and Chinatsu get used to being here, so I’m the only one she really sees.”
“All right. I’ll visit her.”
We rode in Hikaru’s carriage to Duke Mitsukuni’s mansion. I cast the spell Secret Field so the driver couldn’t hear us as we continued our conversation.
“Have you heard anything from the Labyrinth City group?”
“They’re regularly participating in boot camp. Karina and Zena have hit level forty. Adin and the other sisters are almost at level forty!”
“That’s amazing.”
It was amazing that Zena, who had some experience training as a magic soldier in Seiryuu City, and Karina, who I met in Muno County, and who’d only had straight training after that, had level 40. In Karina’s case, it was still impressive, even though she was strengthened by the Intelligence Item, Raka. I made a point of mentioning the sisters’ progress to Nana.
“Kajiro is approaching level fifty. Ayaume, Iruna, and Jena are past level thirty. As for the Pendra children, the child with the highest level is close to thirty, I guess?”
Kajiro, who was a samurai of the Saga Empire who worked as a teacher in the Labyrinth Explorer School in the fortress city Celivera, the female ninja Ayaume, Iruna and Jena, who used to be teachers and former labyrinth explorers, and finally the Pendra children—those who had graduated from the Labyrinth Explorer School—were all doing their best.
The carriage soon arrived at the manor, and I enjoyed hearing about their activities. I didn’t want any weird rumors to start about Hikaru, so I used my “Quick Change” skill to change myself into a female merchant who resembled Hikaru before we headed to her room. The driver of the carriage was surprised, but I just ignored him. The reason the disguise resembled Hikaru was because I only had the female mask I used to disguise myself as the Nameless Hero—and I’d made it look like Hikaru back then.
“That reminds me, I forgot to say—”
As we headed to the hideout, Hikaru went on to tell me that Mr. Gouen and his band of slave prisoners had left for the Azure Land. His wife and daughters would be staying at a different manor to stay safe.
“Next time, can I call Sky?”
Sky— A sky dragon.
“I don’t mind—but I will ask that it’s just an avatar and not the actual thing.”
“Ah-ha-ha, of course. If the real thing came here, it’d take all of the trees with it. It’d be quite the situation.”
Sky dragons were huge. We walked along the side of a fountain as we headed to Shizuka’s house.
“Do you know where the White Dragons live?”
“White Dragons? I saw a full-grown White Dragon in the north of the Saga Empire back in my adventuring days. There were a lot in Dragon Valley, so I’m sure you could find more if you went looking.”
Shame. I guessed just saying “White Dragon” wasn’t enough to pinpoint what I meant.
We arrived at Shizuka’s house while we chatted. Hikaru rang the bell. We heard the patter of feet as the door opened.
“Hikaru! Look! My latest creation!”
Upon hearing the joyful, high-pitched voice, I beheld a manuscript that featured two naked men entwined in an embrace.
Yep. BL.
“Shizuka! Put it away!”
“…Huh? Wah! Mr. Satou?!”
Realizing who she had proudly shown her manuscript to, Hikaru hurriedly tried to hide it behind her back. I felt like it was a little late to be doing that now.
“Shizuka, hide! Ichirou… Ah, he’s already looking away. Good instincts.”
My “Spatial Awareness” skill alerted me to Shizuka, who had rushed out in nothing but her underwear, now frantically spinning around in a panic.
“I’msorryIshowedyousomethingsocrudethisisn’ttherightmanuscript itdoesn’tmeanI’mnotworkinghardIjustdidn’twanttochangeandIforgotIwasn’twearinganyclothessorryaboutthatpleasedon’tgetthewrongideaI’mdrawingnakedcharacterssoIendedupnakedmyselfwhatamIeventalkingaboutIdon’tknowit’sallamisunderstanding.”
Shizuka apologized, not even stopping for breath. I struggled to hear what she had even said.
“Shizuka, it’s fine. Go put some clothes on. I bet you’ve been working this whole time and forgot to have breakfast.”
“I’ve been eating properly. It’s preserved foods, but I’ve been feeding Wanta proper food, at least.”
I noticed Shizuka pouting like a child as she spoke to Hikaru. I stood in the doorway, listening to their conversation as I waited for Shizuka to get changed. I noticed a puppy trot up to me and lick my hand. He looked like a long-haired chihuahua. As I waited, brushing the puppy’s fur as he rubbed himself against my hand, I heard noises that sounded like they had started cleaning up the house.
“Need me to help?”
“We’re fine! Don’t worry about us. We won’t be long!”
“Ah-ha-ha-ha. Ichirou’s gotta wait outside a little bit longer.”
I was pretty good at cleaning up dirty rooms—I remembered Hikaru had an especially messy room. I didn’t mind waiting. Time flew as I played ball with the puppy named Wanta. I treated Hikaru and Shizuka to dinner in the now freshly cleaned room, and I even made some puppy-safe food for Wanta. Before I left, I asked for a doujinshi to gift Arisa, but I was made to pinkie-promise that I wouldn’t open it. Lucky for her, she needn’t worry—I had no interest in taking a peek.
Once I returned to Arcatia, I told Arisa about the souvenir over the telephone. She was excited and wanted to read it immediately, so I sent it using Material Transfer magic. It seemed Liza and Mia asked Arisa not to read it near Pochi, Tama, and Nana, to not teach them things they weren’t ready for. It would be something they would be free to enjoy once they were older.
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