The weather was so pleasant that I set up a foldable outdoor chair in the courtyard, adjusted the backrest just right, and stretched out lazily.
Kuro and Yuki took up positions on either side of my chair, yawning in unison before settling down with contented sighs.
We’d been pretty busy lately with Metora’s wedding and reception at Big Tree Village.
Pii—hyororororooo...
It’s been a while since we’ve had such a peaceful moment.
Ah, cat came too.
Oh? You want to sit on my belly instead of my lap?
Go right ahead.
What about the jewel cat?
Taking a nap in her favorite spot, huh? I see.
And your daughters... the anenekos are with the tiger again.
Same as ever.
What about the imoutonekos?
Patrolling the mansion with the spiderlings?
Heh.
Hmm?
You’re serious about finding partners for your daughters soon?
Yeah, I guess so.
But the matchmaking we tried before was a disaster, wasn’t it?
It turned into a bullying scene.
If we increase the number of tomcats, we can manage?
You believe adding more males will fix it?
Are you sure?
Ah, he looked away.
Proposing something you don’t even believe in yourself isn’t wise, you know.
I get that you’re worried about your daughters.
Well, how about we ask the Demon King to help us find suitable matches next time?
The anenekos are still infatuated with the tiger, but there might be hope for the imoutonekos.
Hmm... now cat is staring at me, asking if I really believe there’s hope.
...
I quietly averted my gaze.
Pii—hyororororooo...
By the way, that ‘Pii—hyororororooo’ is a high elf imitating a bird call.
「They’ve been practicing.」
I have to admit, it’s pretty good.
But that ‘Pii—hyororororooo’ is the cry of a black kite.
A black kite is a member of the hawk family so it’s a bird of prey.
And that’s probably why...
Eagle, another bird of prey, is walking around searching for the black kite that dared to invade its territory.
You’d think it would fly, but no—it’s walking.
And its expression is very intense.
So... what do we do now?
「We’ll try a little bird next time!」
Good call. Definitely a safer choice.
-0-
Evening
After dinner, I received a few reports.
First up was Gutt.
He and his team had been working on processing the iron ore purchased from Village Five. To handle it efficiently, they constructed a large furnace—probably what you’d call a blast furnace.
Using the blast furnace, they had produced a substantial amount of pig iron.
Since pig iron in its raw form isn’t high-quality iron, it requires further refinement to improve its purity and strength. However, Gutt and his team prioritized reducing the massive stockpile of iron ore first.
You’re right.
「The real problem lies with the parents. A few High Elves have been spotted observing the security team’s training.」
Ah... Watching over them rather than outright spying, right?
「From a distance, yes. They remain far enough not to be noticed by the security team...」
Youko glanced at the ceiling, where some of the spiderlings began descending.
「These little ones found them and sought my advice on what to do.」
Wouldn’t it be better for those parents to participate in the training instead of observing from afar?
That’s what they’ve been doing before, right?
「The young High Elves dislike it.」
Ah, I see. They’re at the age where they don’t want their parents around... Or maybe it’s because they’re working hard to leave the village, so having their parents constantly hovering would be counterproductive.
But if that’s the case, the parents’ watchful behavior will persist.
...
Can’t we just leave them alone?
「We’ll be in trouble if someone with ill intentions mimics their behavior. If the parents would clearly display that they’re High Elves, it wouldn’t be an issue, but they apparently disguise their hair and ears while observing.」
To avoid being noticed by Ririus and the others, I suppose.
... Understood. I’ll talk to them about improving their methods of observation.
「Please do. Also, about the traffic at the teleportation gates...」
Ah, the issue of congestion at the gates.
「We tried addressing it by scheduling people and small packages for daytime transport and reserving nighttime for large cargo...」
Didn’t it work?
「It did help alleviate some congestion, to a degree. However, Shashaato City is struggling to adapt to the changes.」
What part of it are they struggling with?
「Transporting large cargo at night. While it’s manageable in Village Five, Shashaato City doesn’t allow large cargo transport during the night for security reasons.」
Ah, I see.
The nights in this world are darker than one might expect.
Transporting large items under such conditions must certainly look suspicious.
「Shashaato City constructed a storage depot near the teleportation gate for large cargo, but now it’s causing a bottleneck as people come to collect their items.」
Handling cargo retrieval does take time.
For the sake of preventing trouble, skipping over confirmation steps isn’t an option.
「Miyo hasn’t voiced any complaints yet, but action must be taken. Therefore, we’re going to strengthen the road connecting Village Five to Shashaato City.」
I understand, but hasn’t that road already been improved several times?
「Yes, but we’ll take it even further. The civil servants of Village Five want it wide enough to fit eight large wagons side by side.」
Eight wagons?
That’s going to be quite the massive road.
「It’s all part of planning ahead, considering a possible future where we’ll lay wooden or iron rails.」
Ahh, I see.
「We’ll also improve the lodgings along the route.」
Since the idea is to widen the road and increase the number of wagons traveling it, sturdy and comfortable rest stops will be crucial.
「Understood. That concludes the irregular reports.」
Youko glanced down at Hitoe, who was nestled in my lap.
The little one was peacefully asleep.
「Hmm. I was hoping to bathe Hitoe tonight...」
It’d be a shame to wake her.
Let’s ask the Oni maid to handle it in the morning.
「Fair enough. Could you carry Hitoe to her room for me?」
Of course, I don’t mind at all.
-0-
Since Youko headed off to the bath, I carried Hitoe to her room, making sure not to wake her.
The door was opened and closed with quiet efficiency by the ice monster, who also guided me to Youko’s room.
The ice monster was to stay in Big Tree Village until Ursa comes to retrieve it. In the meantime, it’s been acting like a personal attendant, insisting on helping out with various tasks.
It handles everything so competently that I’m grateful for its help. Since no one has raised any objections, it seems to have found a place here.
However, when Ursa finally comes to take it back, I’m starting to worry—I might be tempted to ask it to stay.
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