Table of Contents

Color Inserts

Title Page

Copyrights and Credits

Table of Contents Page

Prologue: Survival as the Heroic Protector of a Country!

Chapter 1: The Lady Saint’s Smug Smile and Double Peace Signs

Chapter 2: The True Winners

Chapter 3: The Red Girl’s More Talented Than She Seems

Chapter 4: Research and the Mana Trap

Chapter 5: New Topics

Chapter 6: Running Thoughts Across the Night Sky

Chapter 7: Successive Misfortune

Chapter 8: Development & Personnel Acquisition

Chapter 9: Violence Solves Everything

Epilogue: A New World for the Women

Afterword

Newsletter

Prologue: Survival as the Heroic Protector of a Country!

Prologue:
Survival as the Heroic Protector of a Country!

HOWDY, KOUSUKE HERE. The very same hero who stopped two northern nations from invading, settled negotiations, and even opened a path forward at the northern border.

Huh? Do I sound like I’m bragging?

Okay, fair enough. My bad.

“To be honest, I think you went a little too far.”

“You certainly went big.”

“Way more destructive than I ever imagined.”

It was the night after my triumphant return from the northern front. After dinner, I’d taken a nice long bath with Sylphy, Melty, and Ira, then followed it up with our usual after-hours antics. At that moment, I had women on both sides of me, and another on my lap—I was completely surrounded.

And they were laying into me, brutally honest as usual.

And, well, they weren’t wrong. I’d unleashed golem soldiers armed to the teeth to annihilate both northern armies. They were only equipped with helmets, body armor, swords, spears, and bows, after all. On top of that, I’d used self-destruct golems armed with gleaming magic jewel bombs to completely blow away their fortresses. I had no intention of half measures when our survival was on the line.

Still, I was in no position to deny that I’d gone a little overboard.

“Considering you usually look like you couldn’t hurt a fly, you really do go all out when it counts, Kousuke,” Ira sighed. “And you’ve still got some more trump cards you keep hidden from me. When we first met, you had all kinds of tricks up your sleeve.”

“You’re still holding that over me, huh? What could I have done? I was in a tight spot back then,” I protested. “And hey, I did tell you when I made stuff like hatchets or crossbows, didn’t I?”

“But you kept the guns and other weapons from your world a secret,” she countered.

“Look. Guns and modern weapons are way too strong and dangerous. You read the reports, right? Even the muzzle-loading magic guns are powerful enough that a standard army could use them to take down a force twenty times its size. And unlike the weapons from the wars you’ve experienced in this world, these weapons don’t just maim—they will slaughter entire armies. That’s why we need to be careful not to allow anything to leak about their production.”

The magic guns were weapons that could be built entirely using the technology of this world. If their production methods ever leaked, they’d spread across the world like wildfire, sowing destruction and leaving chaos in their wake. Assassinations, rebellions, revolutions—it wouldn’t take much imagination to picture how quickly things would spiral. That was how dangerous magic guns were.

“What about you, Ira? As a mage, do you have any qualms about letting powerful projectile weapons—usable by anyone—proliferate?”

“I do,” she replied. “But as of now, they’re only issued to soldiers. It would be another story if regular people, adventurers, or bandits were to get their hands on them.”

“Indeed. We may need to impose severe penalties for the civilian possession of magic guns.”

“Yes. We’ll have to amend the laws as soon as possible,” she agreed with a firm nod.

The three women had already considered how to handle the magic guns issue long before I’d brought it up to them. All the women in my life had a way of pulling ten ideas out of a single problem. They were always so much wiser than me.

Wait—hold up. What do you mean this conversation wasn’t sexy? I mean, it was obvious that we’d be having sexy time after this, so surely I could be forgiven for being serious while I still had the chance?

“So, what else are you hiding?” Ira asked, shifting from my lap to peer up at me with her single, large eye.

“Well, I’ve got a few different armed golems and a prototype of a cruise missile powered by a gleaming magic jewel. It’s equipped with a golem core and a wind-magic propulsion device.”

“A gleaming magic jewel cruise missile?”

“Long story short: It’s a weapon that can launch a gleaming magic jewel bomb all the way from Merinesburg to Arichburg, as long as you know the approximate distance and direction of the target.”

The missiles could automatically detect cities by gauging both the distance traveled and the concentration of magic energy. But the one drawback was that it lacked accuracy. The order had to be basic: “Fly to the city X kilometers away and detonate!” Even if you gave the golem a city name, it couldn’t understand what that meant. The best it could do was determine whether a given spot was a city based on the density of magic energy it detected. No GPS here.

“That said, I’ve yet to test it. And considering what kind of weapon it is, I kinda can’t.”

“Couldn’t you remove the bomb itself and just test the delivery?” Melty asked, before quickly shaking her head. “No, I suppose not.”

“Right. It’s still large and made of heavy metal, after all. There’s no telling where it would land. Worst-case scenario, it scores a direct hit on a kid walking on the road or something.”

“You most certainly can’t test it, then,” Sylphy said flatly.

“Mm, it would be dangerous. But what if we warn a garrison ahead of time and fire it that way?” Ira suggested.

“That might work,” Sylphy agreed. “Although we’d risk damaging the base.”

The conversation was marching along entirely without me. It was kind of funny how they were talking about things as if it was no big deal if one of our own bases got damaged. Considering we were in Merinesburg, the target would probably be Sir Leonard’s base on the eastern border, facing the Holy Kingdom.

I offered him a silent apology in my heart of hearts.

“Anything else?” Ira asked.

“I’m thinking about developing an exoskeleton using golem technology.”

“An exo-what?” Sylphy asked.

“Think of it as a golem you can wear. Basically, thick armor with a golem’s power behind it.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just use a golem as is, then?” Melty asked.

“Sure, but this would be cool.”

I mean, yeah, a golem equipped with weapons would be fine as is, but this would be cool as hell! Imagine wearing golem armor and plowing straight through a pack of monsters? How awesome would that be?!

“I do think it’d be revolutionary,” Sylphy admitted, “to give soldiers the power and defense of golems.”

“Especially since the golems only respond to Kousuke’s orders,” Melty added.

Ira still looked doubtful, but Sylphy and Melty seemed to understand my super cool, badass idea. Granted, they were both strong enough on their own that golem armor wouldn’t be much of a boost for them.

“I’ll get the rest of your secrets out of you in bed,” Ira said sweetly. Then she held out her arms and added, “Mm. Carry me.”

“Yes, let’s be on our way!” Sylphy chimed in.

I did as Ira requested and picked her up while Sylphy and Melty pushed me to the bed from behind.

Direct much? Well, of course. What else did you expect? After all—

Chapter 1: The Lady Saint’s Smug Smile and Double Peace Signs

Chapter 1:
The Lady Saint’s Smug Smile and Double Peace Signs

“I DID IT.”

Upon her return to Merinesburg, Elen raised both hands in a double peace sign and flashed a smug grin at Sylphy and Melty.

As for why…do I really have to spell it out?

“I can’t believe you beat me!”

“Urgh! I hate how differently our bodies work.”

Yup. Elen had gotten pregnant.

Considering we’d spent nearly half a year together up north, it wasn’t exactly a shock. For the record, Amalie also got pregnant after Elen. It turns out conception is much easier between two humans.

“I’m the only one who got left behind…” Belta muttered, leveling a steady gaze at me.

But it was what it was. She hadn’t come with us up north.

And the harpies? Their eyes were sparkling like crazy, putting the pressure on me hard. Honestly, they were kind of scaring me.

“Man, I thought we had a decent shot.”

“Too bad.”

“Y-yes…”

As usual, Tozume stumbled over these kinds of topics, but that awkwardness was pretty adorable in its own way.

“Too bad.”

“Truly unfortunate.”

Even Serafeeta and Ira looked genuinely disappointed.

Um, Serafeeta? I couldn’t help but think to myself. Your daughter looks extremely conflicted right now, so you might wanna chill a little.

Meanwhile, Aqual was eyeing me up like I was a prize hog, Ifriita had that clueless space cat look, and Doriada was grinning like a predator who’d just cornered her prey. Honestly, she was the scariest one of the bunch.

And Grande? Not even remotely panicked. She didn’t seem to mind at all, standing off on the sidelines just watching Sylphy and the others with a serene smile. It was as if she was saying she would get pregnant when the timing was right, so for now? She wasn’t bothered.

“I really tried hard, but it just didn’t work out… This is tough.”

“This isn’t a race. I see no need to rush,” Grande replied calmly to Ira, who looked absolutely crushed.

Nice save, Grande.

It’s not like she wasn’t active beneath the bedsheets, but I appreciate her self-restraint here.

“Shouldn’t there be an order to these things?” Sylphy grumbled.

“If we had to wait for the ones with longer lifespans, those of us with shorter lifespans would become old women first,” Elen replied.

“I-it’s not going to take that long!”

Elen maintained her calm expression even as Sylphy threw a fit, her queenly mask crumbling to metaphorical pieces. Honestly, it was adorable seeing her composure crack—but her stomping was literally cracking the stone floor. I’d prefer she didn’t; I’d be the one fixing it later.

“This is bad, Kousuke. This will cause disorder,” Melty said, closing in on me with an all-too serious look.

I could see what she was getting at, but really, what was I supposed to do?

“Grrr, no one else is allowed to do it with Kousuke but me!” Sylphy suddenly declared.

“That’s an abuse of power.”

“Order or not, I’m not okay with that.”

“That’s unfair!”

“It really is.”

Sylphy’s attempt at monopolizing me lit a fire under the others, and an argument broke out among them. This was bad. At this rate, everything was going to collapse.

No, literally. The castle was going to collapse.

“Stop! Stoooop!” I jumped in front of them moments before they could explode. “Conceiving a child is a blessing. It’s not something we should be deciding an order for.”

“This result is blessed by God,” Elen unhelpfully chimed in.

“Stop! I’m trying to calm things down, so can you please not provoke everyone with that smug look of yours?!”

Damn you, Elen. You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? Just because your morning sickness has let up doesn’t mean you can pick fights!

“In other words, you’ll take responsibility for this, won’t you?” Sylphy said.

“Huh?”

Wait, what did she mean by responsibility?

I’m scared.

“I mean, of course I will. I’ll work hard to make sure everyone’s cared for and well-fed!”

“That’s not the type of responsibility we mean,” Melty retorted.

“You need to take responsibility for this conflict,” Sylphy added. “Do you understand?”

“Ha ha ha! Ah, I just remembered I have somewhere I need to be…”

I tried to bolt, but Sylphy and Melty pinned me from both sides, smiling sweetly as they clamped down on my shoulders.

Game over, man. Game over.

…I wasn’t getting out of this.

And so, it was decided that I’d be “entertaining” the girls in Merinesburg for a while. Honestly, I’d been wanting some downtime in the city with them anyway, so that wasn’t a problem. The problem was pretending not to notice how rough my evenings were about to become.

But that peace didn’t last long.

Emissaries from the Holy Kingdom had arrived.

***

“Emissaries from the Holy Kingdom, hm?” I muttered, ­staring up at the ceiling from my usual spot on the couch.

Just moments ago, Sir Leonard, who was stationed on the eastern front, had sent word. Envoys from the Holy Kingdom had appeared at the eastern border, carrying both their national flag and a white flag of truce.

“According to them, they’ve come to negotiate for a ceasefire and peace,” he reported.

Sir Leonard’s voice carried a thread of irritation through the golem communicator. He’d volunteered for the eastern post in the hopes of being the first to swing his sword at the Holy Kingdom when the final battle came. And now? His first real assignment was escorting a peace envoy. No wonder he was unhappy.

“Peace will not be achieved so easily. Fear not,” Sylphy answered coolly.

Her words struck me. To her, the Holy Kingdom was her sworn enemy. For over twenty years, they stole her family, oppressed her people, and killed countless of her citizens, including her own father. The idea of peace with the Holy Kingdom wasn’t something she could accept lightly.

“You humans are quite a pain,” Grande murmured from where she lay with her head in my lap. “Why not simply stop killing one another?” Her horns dug uncomfortably into me no matter how she shifted, but I wasn’t about to tell her to move. I appreciated the effort, even if it hurt.

“Sure, Grande. But that’s not exactly something you can ask of someone who’s lost everything to an enemy.”

“Hmm. Is that so? We dragons do not kill one another in groups. And if one of us is killed by a human or a monster, we simply accept that they were weak.”

“Hm…survival of the fittest, hm? Or maybe just extreme individualism.”

Dragons were born strong. Humans were weak on their own, so we formed communities to protect ourselves. It was no wonder our values were worlds apart.

“The dead are the dead. I cannot understand risking one’s life for those already gone. I can, however, understand wanting to kill someone who has wronged or underestimated you.”

“Yeah. Strip away all the justifications, and that’s what it really comes down to.”

You stole our country, killed my friends, sold them, and took the life of my father! I’ll never let you get away with this! I’m going to kill all of you!

At the end of the day, that was the raw truth of how Sylphy and the others felt. Ultimately, people were pissed off and wanted their revenge. But unlike a tavern brawl, this wasn’t a fight that ended with a few bruises—this was a war between nations, which meant it cost heaps of money and countless deaths. Normally, that was enough to keep countries from fighting to the bitter end.

Normally.

“We need to be careful…” I murmured.

Right now, Merinard’s military was strong enough to completely annihilate the Holy Kingdom. Magic guns were rolling off production lines, harpy aerial bombs made with magic crystals were stockpiled, and airboards were being mass-produced. The canned goods and dry noodles I’d come up with last year were also being manufactured at a rapid pace.

Additionally, the rear base in the Omitt Badlands was thriving, developing magic crystals, magic iron, and steel, with weapons and armor being made with those materials. Our farms and the elves’ produce were flowing across the land, generating revenue from the Dragonis Mountain Nation and the Federation of Small Nations. With our grip on Merinard’s cities tightening, we were on the verge of receiving taxes from them.

Of course, we still had a laundry list of domestic issues to deal with, but we were acquiring the power to be able to fight the Holy Kingdom at an advantage. After all, we were at least two generations ahead of them technologically. And with me in the mix? They didn’t stand a chance.

“Be careful about what?” Grande asked lazily.

“That Sylphy or Sir Leonard don’t go on a killing spree when the emissaries show up, since they hate the Holy Kingdom so much. I’m not against killing people at this point, but I do think we need to be careful not to go too far. I chose to side with them, and I’m the one who brought modern weapons into this world. That means I shoulder some of the responsibility for whatever happens.”

“Do you, though?” Grande countered. “They’re the ones who decide how to use the power you give them. Their actions are their responsibility, not yours.”

“Is it…? Hm.”

Sure, when someone used a kitchen knife for murder, no one blamed the blacksmith. But guns, bombs, golems—weapons made specifically for acts of war didn’t fall in the same category. Plus, I wasn’t even selling them as a neutral party. I’d picked a side and was only giving them to people I had a personal relationship with. I couldn’t pretend I was just some bystander anymore. I was a direct participant in Merinard’s war against the Holy Kingdom.

“You never change, Kousuke.”

“Look, I’m not some saint with an iron will and steadfast decisiveness, okay? I’m just a normal guy with plenty of doubts to go around.”

“I don’t know that you can still call yourself normal when you killed thousands of your own kind to make a point, and did so without batting an eye,” Grande said dryly.

“…Valid. You’ve got me there.”

I’d crushed the northern invasion and slaughtered countless soldiers to prove a point, to show Merinard’s power, and to secure peace with the two northern countries.

It had been necessary. At least, that’s what I told myself. Because maybe it was a little late for someone with that much blood on his hands to be worrying about casualties.

Even so, I had no desire to increase that number needlessly. If I had to kill people, I wanted to do it efficiently and effectively. If I was going to hell anyway, I’d struggle over every decision and keep my body count as low as possible.

“Kousuke.” Grande’s voice softened. “Get that frightening look off your face. You belittle yourself, but as far as I am concerned, you’re not nearly as ordinary as you think. That is all I wanted to say.”

“Gotcha… Well, I’ll try not to brood too much.”

“Mm. That’s better.”

The emissaries were making their way toward Merinesburg by horse and carriage. Even if they made haste, it would still take some time before they arrived in Merinesburg.

“I wonder what they’ll even want to talk about,” I pondered aloud.

“Will they actually talk at all?” Grande asked.

“Good point… The fact they sent emissaries means they probably don’t want to start trouble. At least, not yet.”

If nothing else, it proved they recognized us as a state. After all, a massive nation doesn’t send envoys to negotiate with “bandits.” But now? Those bandits had allies, trade partners, and an embassy.

That’s right. Not only did Merinard have economic and political relationships with the Dragonis Mountain Nation and the Federation of Small Nations out to the west, but we also formed connections with the Kingdom of Tigris and the Principality of Diieharte, albeit in a more limited capacity. On top of that, the Varyag Empire—the Holy Kingdom’s mortal enemy—now had an embassy in Merinesburg.

The Holy Kingdom’s hand had been forced. They had to recognize us as a real country.

“Are you being left out of things this time around?” Grande asked.

“Apparently, the plan is to keep me out of sight from the Holy Kingdom.”

I’d led the charge when it came to negotiations with the two northern nations, so it wasn’t exactly a stretch to assume the Holy Kingdom already knew about me. That made me a potential ­liability—or at least, that’s how Sylphy and the others saw it—and that put our queen and her people on full alert.

As such, not only Sylphy and Melty but also Serafeeta, Ifriita, Elen, Archbishop Deckard, High Priestess Katalina, and the entire Nostalgia sect of the Adolism religion agreed: I should be kept away from these negotiations.

So while they busied themselves preparing for the talks, I was left with…well, a whole lot of free time.

“Maybe I’ll go for a walk.”

“In that case, I’ll join you. I was told not to leave you alone, no matter what.” It was Grande, of course.

“Okay, then, let’s go together.”

Cuvi should’ve grown his fur back by now and gone back to his original fluffy form. Maybe I’d stop by and tease him a little. Or, better yet, get Kirillovich’s perspective on all of this. He was an ambassador of the Varyag Empire, after all.

***

“We’re here to hang out! Show some hospitality.”

“I request tea and snacks. Make them sweet and delicious.”

Kirillovich frowned, looking every inch the serious diplomat. “I swear, aren’t you two a bit too uninhibited?”

Instead of greeting him properly, Grande and I had just invited ourselves in and demanded to be treated as esteemed guests.

This was the Varyag Empire embassy located right next to Merinesburg Castle. I was completely left out of the negotiations with the Holy Kingdom, so Grande and I came here to shake them down. But let’s call it for what it was: a courtesy visit. Sure. Yeah.

Even so, Kirillovich was a good guy. He’d grumble, but he’d still serve us tea and snacks even though we were being unreasonable. Honestly, maybe it was less “kindness” and more tenacity and “dogged professionalism.”

“Quite frankly, I have reservations about you waltzing into another nation’s embassy and eating and drinking whatever is put in front of you without the slightest suspicion.”

“The empire’s got no reason to want to kill me. Now, kidnap me to make me work for them? Sure. But poison me? Nah.”

“Besides, there’s no way anyone could kill Kousuke with me here,” Grande declared.

“Plus, apparently, I’ve got poison resistance,” I added. “I got stabbed in the liver once with a basilisk-poisoned dagger. Lived to tell the tale.”

“And poisons simply don’t work on me at all,” Grande finished.

Kirillovich sighed, rubbing his temples before taking a sip of his tea. “That’s the sort of information you should not be sharing so freely.”

I had no clue what his expression really meant, but either way, even if he did try something, it wouldn’t work. Especially if he tried something with me. The best he could hope for was that we’d take each other out.

For example, if he used the same kind of precious long distance instant teleportation magic tool that Cuvi used when he kidnapped me, it would be impossible to capture me without killing me first. Between my inventory, my tools, and my lack of magic energy (which made slave collars useless), there wasn’t a cell in the world that could hold me. If I could break my restraints—I’d just dig through the wall or floor and easily make my escape. They’d need to literally crush my eyes and encase me from my neck down in a slab of concrete to capture me alive.

“So,” Kirillovich asked at last, “what brings you here today? Surely not just tea and snacks.”

“If I said we came here just for the tea and snacks, you’d probably get mad, so I won’t say that.”

“Kousuke, these are quite delicious,” Grande said happily.

“Oh yeah? …Whoa, the walnut flavor’s so savory.”

She deftly popped another pastry into my mouth with her claws. Crushed walnuts in soft dough—it tasted just like walnut mochi.

“I’d appreciate it if you two didn’t flirt so openly in front of me.” Kirillovich muttered. “So, once again, why are you here?”

“Oh, my bad. I actually have some news for you. Emissaries from the Holy Kingdom arrived at the eastern border this morning. They want a ceasefire and peace talks. They won’t reach Merinesburg for a while, but still…”

Kirillovich narrowed his eyes. “That’s quite a distance by carriage.”

“Yup,” I answered in a chill tone.

He clearly wanted to ask how I already knew, but I wisely ignored his unspoken question.

I wasn’t especially concerned. If it took a few days via horse and carriage, then we were easily over a hundred kilometers away. In this world, if you wanted to relay complex information like “An emissary from a foreign nation has arrived to negotiate peace,” you had to write a letter, hand it to a messenger, and send them racing on horseback to the recipient. That was the standard method of communication, which meant getting that kind of news from the eastern border near-instantaneously should’ve been impossible.

By comparison, a lone rider pushing hard, riding without rest, and swapping horses along the way could probably cover the distance in about two days. That was normal here.

Now, obviously, things were different if you used a wyvern, teleportation magic, or magic tools without considering the cost.

“Look, that part isn’t important, so let’s set it aside for now.”

“I must admit I’d love to hear more details, but if you say so, then so be it. Please continue,” Kirillovich said with a small shrug.

“Appreciate that. Anyway, I’ve been completely left out of things this time around, but I can’t help wondering why the Holy Kingdom has suddenly decided to talk when they never wanted to before. How did this come about? And so, I figured I’d pay my ambassador pal a visit and get his opinion over a spot of tea.”

“Hmm. I see.”

Kirillovich rested his fingers against his jaw, thoughtful. He was a human—more specifically an elf—sent all the way from the far off Varyag Empire. I was certain he was more knowledgeable in these sorts of affairs than I could ever hope to be.

“We don’t have all the details yet, but perhaps the fighting with the empire has intensified. In that case, the Holy Kingdom may have concluded that continuing open hostilities with Merinard simply isn’t worth it.”

“Not worth it?”

“Think about it. You destroyed a force tens of thousands strong with only a few hundred men and came out unscathed. Even the greatest of nations do not have endless soldiers. And every deployment costs money. Now imagine spending that money only to gain nothing is foolish. You’re just burning cash at that point. It isn’t worth it. Plus…”

“Plus?”

“There are too many risks. They know you still have hidden cards. I’m betting that they decided to cut their losses.”

Hidden cards, hm?

Kirillovich seemed to be aware of my little rampage up north. That wasn’t too much of a surprise—he’d had all winter to gather intel, and I went kind of crazy up there. It wasn’t exactly the sort of thing I could hide.

“So they want to cut their losses before they’re wiped out?” I mused. “Still, Sylphy and the others despise them too much. I don’t think the Holy Kingdom’s going to get what they want so easily.”

The demi-humans had their home taken from them and endured oppression for over twenty years. Hell, everyone in Merinard, demi-human or not, hated the Holy Kingdom by now. And then there was the matter of all the assets they’d seized, not to mention the countless people they’d carried off into slavery, particularly the elves who’d been kidnapped so the Holy Kingdom could force them into producing mages—literally. It wasn’t hard to imagine the horrors those men and women had been put through.

“It will most certainly be difficult,” Kirillovich admitted. “As a first step, I surmise they will offer a large restitution. Additionally, over a number of years—most likely five to ten—they will ­offer Merinard tax advantages for trade. By forming an economic relationship with Merinard, they will try to avoid fighting a two-pronged war with you and the Varyag Empire.”

“Negotiating through the market, hm? Will that even work? I can’t see Merinard being eager to do business with the Holy Kingdom in the first place. Isn’t it possible that Sylphy and the others will choose all-out resistance instead?”

“I believe that would be difficult. If Queen Sylphyel were the kind of ruler who utilized her troops for conquest and genocide, then perhaps. But that isn’t her way, is it? And Merinard will not want to miss the chance to sell its wares to the Holy Kingdom at high prices. Wars are not fought with blood and iron alone.”

“I see. Well, I suppose that makes sense. The term economic warfare exists for a reason. And even if Merinard chose total resistance and took their land, we wouldn’t have the personnel to govern it. Their citizens are devout Adolists who’d never listen to demi-humans from a former vassal state.”

“Exactly. Which is why, if Merinard has no interest in expansion and the Holy Kingdom has come knocking with peace in mind, then in some form or another, there will be peace between the two nations.” Kirillovich’s tone was definitive as he took a sip of what was now lukewarm tea. Then he leaned back with a grim look. “That being said, it is not as though Merinard will suddenly join hands with the Holy Kingdom. They will always have to keep their eyes on you as a potential enemy while they continue their war with us.”

“That sounds like a pretty good deal for you guys.”

“It certainly is. Even if Merinard and the Holy Kingdom establish peace, the latter will still need to devote troops and money to keep their guard up against you. That will cut into the resources they can devote to their war with us. We stand to benefit.”

In order to maintain that constant readiness, the Holy Kingdom would have to keep pumping cash into its war machine, even during peace. Which meant less to put toward the active war they were already fighting. I couldn’t imagine the Holy Kingdom was too pleased with this.

“However, they will not rest on their laurels,” he added.

“Understandably so.”

Kirillovich leaned back on the couch, narrowed his eyes, and looked up at the ceiling, thinking for a moment. “The Holy Kingdom has likely figured out why Merinard has advanced so quickly. In other words, they know about you, Sir Kousuke.”

“Yeah, that tracks.”

I stood at the vanguard of the war against the northern nations and then again during the negotiations. There was no way the Holy Kingdom hadn’t heard about me. They probably even got word directly from the northern nations themselves.

And who knew what info might’ve leaked from Merinesburg itself. We hadn’t locked up every Adolist, nor did we keep people from leaving Merinard. Sir Leonard had the eastern border sealed off, so I doubted we’d get any new spies coming in that way, but as far as I knew, we weren’t actively trying to catch spies within our borders. If they were, Sylphy and Melty hadn’t told me.

“As far as the Holy Kingdom is concerned,” Kirillovich continued, “they’ll want to eliminate the root cause of their problems quickly.”

“The most obvious methods would be kidnapping or assassination. Or maybe stirring up the people to turn against me?”

“Most likely. Ideally, they’d want to secure your powers for themselves. But once they realize that’s not going to happen, they’ll move to get rid of you. As far as intelligence control is concerned… Hm, I’m not sure. They may be well equipped and trained at the art of controlling information domestically, but I don’t believe they’re any good at conducting it abroad. That’s why I think they are probably best equipped for direct action—assassination or abduction. They’re fanatics. In the name of their god, they’ll throw away their lives without hesitation. That makes them…troublesome opponents.”

“Yeah. Fanatics are the worst,” I muttered. “So you’re saying assassination or abduction’s most likely. Makes sense. But if the east and west are blocked by the empire and us, and the south is nothing but ocean…that leaves north or northwest.”

“Perhaps. Or…” Kirillovich’s eyes narrowed. “They may approach Merinard itself.”

“Oh? Well, that would make sense too. The disputed lands with the empire are fertile, right? Are they short on food?”

“That is exactly the case. Tell me, Sir Kousuke—how much do you know about the daily lives of the Holy Kingdom’s citizens?”

“Hm? Honestly, not much. Like, nothing.”

I knew it was made up of super pious Adolists, but that was about it. I had no idea what kind of work they did or how they spent their days.

“Then listen carefully. Generally speaking, citizens of the Holy Kingdom do no physical labor.”

“…Wait, what?” My eyebrows raised.

“Exactly as I said. They farm no fields, carry no loads. All such work is left to slaves—primarily demi-humans.”

“Hah, I get it now. The main sect of Adolism believes that demi-humans were born with sin, and the only way to repent is by serving pure humans. Right?”

Kirillovich cocked his head. “Oh? You’re well-informed.”

“Had my reasons to study up. But can a country really function like that? That’s a dangerous line to walk.”

In my head, a society that relied entirely on slaves as a workforce was unstable at best. If there was a slave revolt, food production and economic activity would nosedive.

“Apparently not. The Holy Kingdom has existed for centuries, though their current obsession with demi-human subjugation developed over the last two to three hundred years.”

“Is that right? Ok, now that I think about it, they rely on those slave collars and miracles that can heal wounds and illnesses…”

“Exactly. As far as I know, slaves rarely die from physical wounds or illness. Still, a fair number of slaves do die because of the awful environment they have to live in.”

“Got it. I think I have the gist of what day-to-day life is like over there, but how is that related to the Holy Kingdom’s next moves?”

“Long story short, it’s why they invaded Merinard, why they’re fighting the empire, and why they’re expanding their borders.”

Kirillovich was nothing if not serious, like a professor or something.

Hmm… The reason why the Holy Kingdom was doing all of this…

“So the reason they invaded Merinard and made it a vassal state was to acquire demi-human slaves for labor and kidnap elves to produce mages. Their expansionist tactics are aimed at securing more demi-human slaves. As for why they’re fighting the empire, they need fertile lands to fix their food shortage problems, and their ideology drives the rest,” I summarized.

“Ideology, you say?” Kirillovich said, peering at me. “That’s quite the fancy word. Not the kind of thing you hear from folks who aren’t philosophers or political scientists.”

“Yeah, it’s not a common word. Blows things out of proportion. Anyway, getting our people back—those who were abducted and forced into slavery—won’t be easy.”

“No, it won’t. They need slaves for their society to function. You could even say slaves are part of the infrastructure, like roads and waterways. As a subject of the empire, it makes my skin crawl,” Kirillovich spat.

The Varyag Empire was multiethnic, which meant it fundamentally couldn’t see eye to eye with the Holy Kingdom in many ways. Merinard was similar in that respect.

“Okay, so then does that mean they’re going to push north to get more slaves? But they already have slaves. Are they going to…breed them for more children?” I asked.

“It’ll take some time, but I believe it’s entirely possible,” Kirillovich replied. “If they do, their workforce will temporarily shrink and their food shortages will worsen. However, they have a means of solving that problem, don’t they?”

“I get it now. Hmm, I see… So that’s what you meant when you said they’d approach us?”

“That is correct.”

In other words, Kirillovich was saying they had their eyes on my ability to produce food in vast quantities. By approaching us with a peace offering, they were willing to swallow certain losses if it meant getting close and buying massive quantities of food from us. From Merinard’s perspective, that would be an economic boon. Far more than selling to Diieharte, Tigris, and the Federation of Small Nations.

“Do you think Sylphy and the others will agree to that?” I asked.

“I imagine the Holy Kingdom will dangle the idea of returning the demi-humans they took as slaves,” Kirillovich said. “Merinard could control the flow of food going into the Holy Kingdom, a tactical resource. Not a bad deal. Plus, if they secure a ceasefire for ten to twenty years, Merinard would have time to prepare for a showdown with the Holy Kingdom decades from now. I think it is entirely likely that they bite.”

“So it’s going to be a lot of political maneuvering, hm?”

“Yes. And we might even end up destroying the Holy King­dom in that period.”

“I’d appreciate it, but in that scenario I can imagine you folks wouldn’t be happy that we supplied your enemy with food.”

“Also correct. If that happens, we’ll have many difficult decisions and will end up having to hold all sorts of discussions,” Kirillovich said with a shrug.

In other words, this could become far more complicated than “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Urgh, this was going to be a pain. For real.

***

A few days passed after my little get-together with Kirillovich.

The emissaries from the Holy Kingdom finally arrived in Merinesburg, and after taking a day to rest up, the negotiations began in earnest.

While all that was happening, I was placed under strict lockdown. Basically, I was under house arrest in the rear palace, an isolated wing at the very back of the castle reserved for the royal family.

Outside, harpies armed with anti-personnel fragment bombs kept watch. Along the path leading to the rear palace, rifle squad members stood guard with machine guns enchanted with infinite ammo and indestructibility. Just outside my chambers, Shemel and her party rotated shifts, fully equipped and vigilant. Inside with me were Grande and the three slime girls—Lime, Bess, and Poiso. In other words, I was completely protected.

Even an overlord as powerful as Melty wouldn’t be able to break through if she tried to rush straight in. As for me, well…I could probably manage it with a few self-destruct golems equipped with gleaming magic jewel bombs. But, that would also level the entire rear palace, so not exactly ideal.

So, yeah, technically it was house arrest, but with this lineup, we were basically just lounging around and flirting. The slime girls could create doubles of themselves to monitor every angle and intercept intruders, so honestly, the whole security setup was kind of overkill.

That night, after the first day’s negotiations, Sylphy, Melty, and Ira came to my room. As usual, Sylphy and Melty took up spots at my left and right sides, while Ira nestled herself between my legs, leaning her back against me.

“They aren’t emissaries for nothing. Things basically went exactly as you’d heard, Kousuke,” Sylphy lamented, recounting the day’s events.

Just as she said, Kirillovich’s predictions had been on the mark.

“Honestly makes you wonder if he had some kind of foreknowledge about what they were going to bring to the table,” she added.

“I doubt that. More likely, it speaks to how well he understands the Holy Kingdom. The man has a lot of experience under his belt.”

And on top of that, he probably had a solid grasp of Sylphy and Melty as people as well as of our political power and production capabilities. The real question was how he got his intel. Did he have some kind of clairvoyance? Could he use magic to see and hear things from a distance?

“Putting the details aside,” Melty said, “things went almost exactly as you said, Kousuke. A peace proposal, a request to start trade beginning with food, and favorable tariff treatment for five years. If we agree, they’ll consider returning the demi-humans they took as slaves—including the elves.”

“Man, Kirillovich really was on the money. He must have a source for his intel.”

“You really can’t let your guard down with these large countries… How are we supposed to deal with this?” Sylphy complained while sipping at the mead I’d made using a brewing cask.

Apparently, she was so sour because the Holy Kingdom’s emissaries completely dominated the flow of negotiations that day. In other words, everything went as expected. And on top of that, Kirillovich—who hadn’t even been in the room—somehow managed to predict how this would all go for Merinard.

“I mean, at this point, we don’t really have any other choice,” I said.

“You’re right…” Sylphy muttered, clearly displeased.

She leaned back on the rattan, mead still in hand. The truth was that Merinard wanted to avoid a drawn-out war with the Holy Kingdom. We had to deploy troops inside the country just to keep things safe by handling monsters and bandits and keeping the peace. We didn’t have enough personnel to deal with that and fight a war.

On paper, we now controlled all of old Merinard. Everyone swore their loyalty to Queen Sylphyel. But in practice?

I wasn’t so sure.

This had been a vassal state of the Holy Kingdom for twenty years, and in that time, plenty of Adolists had moved in. Across the country, quarrels were already erupting between former demi-human slaves and those Adolists. If we favored one side too much, the other could start causing issues. On top of that, while it was great that demi-humans were no longer enslaved, many had no jobs. That meant no food. Unless we addressed that issue, theft and banditry would rise. That would have a very negative impact on public safety, erode trust with Sylphy’s rule, and stir up resentment toward demi-humans in general.

Meanwhile, Adolist business owners and commoners would suddenly find themselves without a work force, causing bankruptcies all around the country. And Adolist or not, they were citizens of Merinard now which means we had to help them too.

And let’s not forget monsters. Up until now, the Holy Kingdom’s stationed forces had handled them, but now, it was on us. Protecting merchants and farmers was absolutely vital. The Merinard Army had tons of powerful weapons, but we lacked manpower. Airboards provided incredible mobility, sure, but you couldn’t solve systemic issues just by moving fast.

In any event, even I could rattle off a laundry list of problems like this and I was hardly the sharpest tool in the shed. Sylphy and Melty, who were both far more aware of the situation on the ground, had even longer lists, I was sure.

“The princess drove the bad guys out of her country, brought peace to the land, became queen, and lived happily ever after… I guess reality never really works that way, hm?”

“That’s because reality isn’t a fairy tale,” Melty said dryly.

“There are neither hopes nor dreams here,” Ira added flatly.

“Now that I’m in charge,” Sylphy murmured, “I truly feel just how incredible my father was.”

“All right, ladies. I’ll do whatever I can within my power to help. Let’s do this,” I said, gently caressing Sylphy’s head as she sighed.

“…In that case, let’s get to it.”

She leaned into my hand, nuzzling for more. I obliged. If head pats were what it took to lighten her mood, I’d give her as much love as she wanted.

Ira, Melty…let’s take turns, okay? I only have two hands.

***

“So that’s what went down last night.”

“Now that I think about it, Sylphyel may look like an adult, but she’s still quite young.”

“I cannot even imagine her acting like that with you, Sir Kousuke… It honestly puts a smile on my face,” Amalie said with a gentle laugh as she sewed in a rear palace room bathed in the warm light of early summer.

Elen sewed beside her, her crimson eyes blinking in quiet fascination. Both women wore loose one-piece dresses that concealed their swollen stomachs. Why did I know? Because they’d shown me, of course.

Don’t make me admit to something so embarrassing.

“Would you like to touch?”

“Can I?”

“But of course. It is your baby, after all.”

Elen guided my hand to her stomach. The realization that our child was inside her stirred something deep within me. I was going to be a father. Honestly, it still didn’t feel real.

We discovered Elen was pregnant at the beginning of the year, while the weather was still cold. I was neck-deep in postwar business, trying to figure out employment options for the newly freed demi-humans, when Elen and Amalie both started feeling unwell.

Healing magic had no effect on them, nor did my life, cure, or poison potions. I began to panic until I noticed they both looked happy despite their conditions. In other words, they figured it out before I did. Of course they did; at the end of the day, they were clergywomen capable of wielding miracles.

In this world, holy men and women who could wield healing miracles usually had a wealth of medical knowledge. The reason was simple: Miracles worked best when the spellcaster understood the specific kind of injury or illness that afflicted a patient. Knowing what to heal—or how—was far better than randomly trying to heal someone. And so, most men and women of the clergy who could use healing miracles needed a great deal of medical knowledge.

“Would you like to touch my stomach as well?”

“Oh, don’t mind if I do… Whoa.”

As I reached for Amalie’s belly, she pulled my hand closer and pressed my head gently to her stomach.

Ah, she wanted me to listen.

“Do you hear anything?” she asked, caressing my head while my ear pressed against her.

“Hm… Nothing yet. You’re four months along, right?”

“Yes. I believe that’s correct. I no longer have morning sickness, so…”

“That was…rather difficult,” Elen sighed.

Amalie had had it easier in comparison. Elen’s morning sickness had been brutal. A mere whiff of food was enough to make her feel miserable.

“You were a huge help, Kousuke.”

“I’m glad that all that trial and error paid off.”

I’d tried everything to help give Elen some sort of relief. I ran around to ask what foods pregnant women found easiest to eat, then using my crafting ability I made all kinds of food for her to try. In the end, citrus jelly and French fries worked best.

“I can finally eat other things now,” Elen said gratefully.

“I’m glad it didn’t last long.”

I was confident with my plethora of miscellaneous knowledge, but pregnancy or childbirth were something entirely different. Survival manuals never covered that. Games didn’t either. It was usually just, “so and so is pregnant.” “They gave birth.” Sometimes you’d get a side quest to fetch a doctor, but they never showed what pregnant women ate.

“I don’t know what I can really do for you two, but if there is anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll do whatever I can.”

“Thank you, but we’ll be fine. I have Amalie and Belta with me, and High Priestess Katalina checks in regularly. Everyone here in the castle has been very kind. But, well…”

“What’s up?”

“I think we would both appreciate it if you came to see us at least once a day while you’re in Merinesburg.”

“Of course.”

Elen smiled at that. Her expression had softened lately—maybe women really did change when they became mothers. And if she was changing, then I needed to start acting like a father.

“But it wouldn’t be wise to focus all your attention on us. Make sure you also get along with Sylphyel and the others.”

“Yeah, um, I know.”

Sylphy was clearly bothered that Elen had beaten her to the punch, but there wasn’t much anyone could do. Biologically, long-lived races had a harder time conceiving.

Hm? What about the harpies?

They weren’t a long-lived race. As far as I knew, it should’ve been just as easy for them to get pregnant as it was for Elen and Amalie, but none of them had ever mentioned anything to me about being pregnant…

I mean, I never asked outright, but surely they hadn’t secretly given birth to my kids or anything…right?

Right?

…Wait. Now I was starting to worry. Harpies had a very different idea of family and marriage from mine. Their family units were more like harems…so, yeah. Maybe I should just ask them directly.

“You suddenly don’t look well. Are you all right?” Amalie asked.

“Are you worried about something? We’d be happy to listen…” Elen added.

“No, it’s noth—mrgh—!”

“You’re lying,” Elen accused while squishing my face.

“Mm, you’re not the saint of truth for nothing!” Elen saw right through me and my lie. I totally forgot that her special eyes always revealed the truth.

“Okay, fine, I’ll talk! I was just thinking… The harpies are a short-lived race like you girls, so it wouldn’t be strange if some of them were pregnant too. It’s just, no one’s ever said anything to me. And their idea of family is different from mine, so what if they did have my children and just…never told me?” I said, explaining my worries to both women.

“I see… We don’t know much about harpy culture either,” Amalie admitted.

“I think it would be best to ask them directly,” Elen agreed.

“Yeah, I figured. I’ll go talk to them…”

“Good luck.”

Elen and Amalie saw me off, and I headed outside. There was bound to be a harpy on security duty, even if I was a little scared about asking them.

Chapter 2: The True Winners

Chapter 2:
The True Winners

AFTER LEAVING BEHIND THE SALON where Elen and Amalie were relaxing, I headed out to the castle courtyard. Sure enough, one of the security harpies was on patrol. I waved, and as soon as she spotted me she raised her wings and floated gently to the ground.

“Heya! What’s the matter?”

“Hi, Pessa.”

The small, brown-feathered harpy was Pessa. She was a cutie and a total sweetheart. She’d been part of the harpy bomb squad since we first left the Black Forest. A true original—one of the OGs, so to speak.

“I’ve got a question, if you don’t…mind.”

“U-um, sure?”

My voice came out tenser than I meant, and Pessa flinched. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the presence of mind to soften it.

“I know harpies are a short-lived race, so that means you can conceive as easily as humans, right?”

“Y-yeah. I mean, it’s still harder than two humans conceiving, but definitely easier than elves or cyclopes.”

“I figured. So here’s my question… I’ve been with you and the others for a long time now, but I don’t remember anyone telling me they were pregnant. Nobody’s ever said anything.”

“Er, should we have?”

“Wha—”

“All the girls who’ve been with us since we left the Black Forest have had your children by now. Heck, I’ve had two.”

“…How come nobody told me?!”

“Eeeek! I-I’m sorry?!”

Without thinking, I grabbed Pessa’s shoulders and shouted. Her eyes welled up with tears, and the sight snapped me back to my senses.

Calm down, Kousuke. Calm down. Keep it cool.

“Okay. Okay,” I said as I tried to process what I’d been told. “For now, can you gather all the harpies who’ve given birth and aren’t busy? I want to talk to them. If any are pregnant right now, tell them not to push themselves. The baby they’re carrying should be their top priority.”

“A-all right… B-but what about your security detail…?”

“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

“G-got it.”

Pessa flapped her wings and flew out of the courtyard, speaking briefly with the other harpies stationed on the rooftop. Moments later, they scattered across Merinesburg.

For now, I pulled out a large table and several chairs, then sat down myself.

“How could this have happened…?”

Seriously… How? Why?

I needed to be patient. I could ask the harpies once they gathered.

And yet my mind wouldn’t stop racing. If I’d known they were pregnant, I could have helped them in all kinds of ways. Were the children okay? They weren’t sick or hurt, were they? I paid the harpies well—above average compared to the other soldiers—but was that enough? Was I doing my part as a father? Were any of them struggling to get by? I was worried. So, so worried.

But if I was being honest, it was far too late for me to start worrying now. I’d always known harpies were a short-lived species. If I’d taken a moment to think about it, I could have realized they were pregnant long ago. I naively assumed they would just tell me.

I leaned on the table, head in my hands, agonizing over the situation, when the harpies Pessa had contacted began descending upon the courtyard, one after another.

“Um… Master?”

“Oh, hey. Everyone grab a seat wherever you like. Let me know if there aren’t enough chairs,” I told Pirna, the first to land.

“R-right, okay.”

I pulled a bunch of harpy cups from my inventory—two-handled, made specifically for their wings—then poured cold tea into them. The weather was heating up, so it was definitely the season when you wanted to enjoy a cold beverage, not a hot one.

While I prepared tea, the others gathered: the green-feathered Fronte, the orange-feathered Fich, the black-feathered Rei, the brown-feathered Capri, Flamme, and Pessa. Then came Egret, a large white-feathered harpy, and Aja, reddish brown and equally large. In the end, fifteen harpies perched themselves around the courtyard.

“Um… Okay, just to confirm. Pessa, you called all the harpies who’ve given birth to my children, right?”

“Yup. Although this isn’t everyone. The harpies who are pregnant now or busy taking care of the kids stayed back.”

“Ah…I see. So there are more…”

Wait. More? Was I spreading my seed that much? No, no… The harpies basically mobbed me in bed. Half the time I couldn’t even tell who was who.

Ugh, I’m getting a headache.

“Um, you’ve all had my children, yeah?”

“Yup! We’ve only ever done it with you.”

“Everyone here’s the same.”

“Okay, got it. So then…why didn’t any of you tell me we had children together?”

“Huh? Should we have?”

“If anything, I have no idea why you didn’t.”

“It’s a woman’s job to raise the kids.”

“Precisely. The father has nothing to do with it.”

“Okay, clearly there’s a big difference in our cultures. Could you explain your outlook on life, and especially how you view marriage and families?”

From their answers… How should I put this? Harpies had a rather eccentric or unique outlook on family. It looked more like a breeding system. Honestly, it blew past anything I could have imagined.

First off, there were no male harpies, only females. They needed males from other races to reproduce. It was crazy that they hadn’t gone extinct, but since the harpies were still around, I guess this was a totally viable means of continuing to exist. At least in this world, anyway.

Harpies lived in flocks, usually centered on a single male, thus forming a harem. The flock took care of said male in every conceivable way so that all he had to focus on was reproduction.

What kind of eroge setting is this? Still, it was their culture. They’d survived like this for generations. It would be arrogant of me to think I knew better.

As for why they didn’t tell me about our children: In harpy culture, the male didn’t help with child-rearing. Why? Because one man with ten to fifty women didn’t have the stamina for anything else. Let me repeat that. One man. Fifty women.

You get it, right? Most men wouldn’t have the stamina to do anything else after being sucked dry by that many harpies. So it was standard practice to not even tell him that he had children at all.

The fact that I was doing the dance with all the harpies, I had other wives, and I was still kept up? Abnormal.

“In that sense, you really are something else.”

“Y-yes. Normally, the male of the harem would be bedridden constantly…”

“Okay, that’s terrifying.”

Were they draining life force on top of anything else?

“In any case, I get it now. But going forward, if any of you become pregnant, please tell me. I want to take responsibility as a man.”

“Okay, will do. We’re really sorry, Master. We should’ve checked with you first.”

“By the way,” Pessa chimed in, “of the harpies here, me, Egret, and Rei are all pregnant.”

“Say what?! You’re flying while pregnant?! I mean, you’re working?!”

“Yup! We can move around just fine even while carrying.”

“Us harpies can fly while pregnant, and don’t really get morning sickness either.”

“If we couldn’t fly just because we were pregnant, we’d die.”

Harpies were full of surprises! In some ways, they were even more mysterious than elves or cyclopes.

“A-anyway, our children’s safety comes first, okay? And if there’s anything I can do to help, tell me. Are you girls okay for money and housing? The kids aren’t hurt or sick or anything, right?”

“They’re super healthy. We’ve gotten your help more than a few times on that end.”

“Wha?”

I didn’t recall any of that.

“We got magic medicine from you a few times after saying the kids were hurt or sick.”

“Now that you mention it, I’ve given you life potions and cure potions more than a few times… But wait, those were for our kids?! You said they were for your friend’s children!”

“Friend.”

“Friend!”

Fronte and Pessa pointed at each other with their wings.

Right. They were both friends. Not sisters exactly, but close enough.

My head hurts.

“We’re totally fine money-wise, but I’d like you to do something about our living situation,” one of the harpies said.

“Ah, yeah! One-story houses are kinda tough for us.”

“Okay, you got it. I’ll beg Sylphy and Melty to let me build you girls some housing. As much as you need. Any requests?”

“Um…”

The next day, I took their input and started building group housing for the harpies. Sylphy and the others weren’t too hot about me going outside while the Holy Kingdom’s folks were in town, but I pushed until they gave me permission.

I knew I was being selfish about this, but I refused to back down. Family values and ideas of chastity here had already thrown me for a loop, but I’d accepted it all. And because I’d accepted it, I was determined to take responsibility for every woman I’d been with. I wasn’t going to back down on this, even if it put me in danger.

In the end, Sylphy and the others relented, and I got to work on the early stages of the harpies’ new housing.

I found the perfect site—close enough that the harpies could glide straight from the castle roof to their homes—so I filled out the paperwork immediately and started construction the next day.

Using their requests as a guide, I built a twenty-story high-rise, something this world had never seen before. Each floor and room had a large veranda, letting the harpies fly in and out directly.

Personally, I worried it might be dangerous for the children to fly out of the building, but apparently harpies could fly as soon as they learned how to stand. The girls assured me it was no problem. I was still worried, but they insisted.

“Harpies die if they can’t fly. It’s part of who we are,” said Rei, the black-feathered harpy.

Those words left a huge impression on me.

***

“Daddy!”

“Dada!”

“Wee!”

“Ah! Try not to land on my head. Your claws hurt! Ow, ow, ow!”

A week had passed since my earth-shattering discovery. After finishing the harpies’ new home, I spent time on the first floor of the building, playing with their kids. Or, more specifically, our kids.

Hm? What about the emissaries from the Holy Kingdom? They’d already gone home.

In the end, we formed a peace treaty, and in exchange for monetary compensation and the gradual return of the demi-human slaves, we agreed to export food.

Sir Leonard and the other anti-Holy Kingdom war hawks protested, but Sylphy managed to talk them down. The question came down to this: If we kept fighting, how far would we go? Would we destroy the Holy Kingdom? Kill every last citizen? Wipe Adolism off the planet? How far would we need to go before we were satisfied?

I wasn’t a part of these talks, just to be clear. I only heard about them after the fact. I was in charge of production across different fields, and unless Sylphy made a direct request, I stayed out of domestic and foreign politics. My perspective was fundamentally different from the people here anyway.

Besides, I was too powerful. For example, if I threw my support and strength to someone else—say, Sir Leonard—and stopped cooperating with Sylphy, the entire country would collapse. That wasn’t an exaggeration. That’s why I made it a point not to participate in politics.

Anyway, enough about the heavy stuff. I was playing with my kids.

“Ow, ow! It’s crazy how they can talk before they’re even a year old.”

“Harpies mature faster than most other species,” replied Egret, the large white-feathered harpy who was helping me look after the kids.

She slapped down a little harpy trying to land on her head. Wasn’t that a bit rough?

But the child just giggled happily, so I guessed it was fine.

“You die if you don’t fly, huh?”

“Indeed. We move normally even when we’re pregnant, and our morning sickness is extremely light. Our terms are also very short.”

“You harpies are honestly amazing.”

Their very existence seemed fundamentally different from other races. Maybe they had a different designer from the other demi-humans altogether. Honestly, they seemed more like monsters.

“Daddy, I’m hungeee!”

“Hungeee!!!”

“Right, right.”

The little harpies surrounded me, asking for food. At this stage of their life, they had to eat often. Each meal was small, but they ate about seven times a day.

“Munch, munch.”

“Tasty!”

“Eat up.”

The kids still weren’t skilled enough to hold utensils with their fingers—er, harpy wing claws?—so I fed them foods they could easily grab. Today’s menu was waffle sandwiches: cream stuffed between two thin layers of baked dough. Their eyes sparkled as they devoured them. It was a success!

Now their mouths were smeared with cream.

“How delicious.”

Egret ate the same thing as the children. C’mon, she really looked like she wanted some, okay? I was just glad she was a fan too.

“Man, there really are a bunch of ’em, huh…?” I said, looking at the children in wonder.

“Seventeen all together,” Egret replied.

This was looking like a day care. The little bundles of feathers were way more active than human children, flying all over the place.

It was very chaotic.

“Now I get why you girls had me make this room so big.”

“It’s perfect. Spacious, and the ceiling’s nice and high.”

The nursery ceiling was twice as tall as a normal room, and I’d fused multiple rooms into one massive space. The little harpies flew around nonstop.

According to the harpies, young ones learned to use their bodies by flying in wide-open spaces like this, usually outside in open fields. Their old home was too small, so the older harpies had to take them outside Merinesburg to exercise. No wonder the caretakers were exhausted. But now, with this nursery doubling as an exercise room, they could manage with only a few adults present. The harpies were thrilled.

“It’s gonna be tough memorizing all their names,” I said.

I was stunned to learn I had seventeen daughters, and now I was struggling to remember so many names at once.

“I don’t think you need to worry. Once their new feathers grow in, you’ll be able to tell them apart easily.”

“I can already tell who our daughter is.”

“That’s because she’s a large harpy,” Egret smiled.

Harpies came in two sizes—small and large. Egret and Aja were the only large harpies in the harem, so our kids were large harpies too. Snowy, my daughter with Egret, and Rixia, my daughter with Aja, were the biggest of the bunch. Both girls had very different features and personalities, making them easy to identify. The smaller children were all similar in size and equally excitable, making them harder to tell apart.

I’d figure out who everyone was once I spent more time with them.

“But you know, Master, while we appreciate you looking after the kids like this, you mustn’t neglect your other wives.”

“I don’t intend to, but…”

“We can raise the children just fine on our own.”

“Mmm… Even so…”

I felt guilty that I had daughters I hadn’t known about, daughters I hadn’t helped raise. I wasn’t trying to atone for my mistakes or anything, but I did want to support the harpies and our kids.

“You need to remember that in our culture, the man usually has nothing to do with child-rearing. Dropping in once or twice a week is more than enough. Plus…”

“Plus?”

What was she going to say? I looked at Egret, who cast her eyes toward the doorway. Several of my daughters were gathered there, and I quickly noticed that people were peering into the room through a crack in the door.

“Who are youuuu?”

“Who are you ladies?”

“Are you here to play with us?”

Sylphy and Melty were peeking in.

You’re freaking me out, ladies.

They came in afterward and ended up playing with the kids before heading back to the castle by carriage. I sensed a faint aura of jealousy coming off of them at first, but once they joined in, those flames faded. By the time we returned home, both women were in high spirits.

“I request that you pay more attention to us,” Sylphy declared.

“Hear, hear!” Melty was quick to chime in.

“I’m not trying to ignore you guys!”

Back at the castle, Ira and Grande were next to demand my attention. Grande grinned the whole time, so she was probably just jumping on Ira’s bandwagon.

“Don’t forget about us, Boss!”

“You gotta play fair.”

“I’m…fine.”

“You’ll get left behind at this rate.”

In the distance, I spotted Belta talking with the ogre girls, looking my way. Why was she with them? No clue.

And actually, Belta was radiating a rather dark aura as she lit a fire under Tozume’s butt.

***

There’s no need to go into the particulars of my nightlife other than to say it was anything but peaceful. I mean, I guess it was peaceful in a way, since by the end of it all I felt like I was dead. That counts as peaceful, right?

In any event, I really wished they’d stop leaving me at 20 percent of my max stamina come morning. Whenever it dropped that low, I needed two hours after breakfast just to get back to operating capacity.

It made sense, though. I was messing around with a combat elf, a cyclops, a beast-woman overlord, a humanoid dragon, and a normal human woman—Belta, in this case. Needless to say, Elen and Amalie sat out since they were pregnant. On top of that, I was also getting it on with the three ogre girls and the slimes—though in the slimes’ case, it felt less like romance and more like they were playing with me. Or preying on me. Probably the latter.

And then there were two more elves.

That’s right. Two.

At some point, it wasn’t just Serafeeta, but Doriada as well. One day, Serafeeta suggested that she, Sylphy, and I all “have some fun together.” Which…was beyond description and entirely incorrigible, but I digress. In any case, Doriada suddenly barged in and joined.

Seriously, out of nowhere, she was straddling me. I was already worn out from handling the other two, and then they both pinned me down while I lay flat on my back. I couldn’t have resisted even if I wanted to—not that I’d be strong enough, anyway.

“Isn’t the mood kind of important? Like, wouldn’t it be nicer if it was just the two of us?” I tried.

“Even if the mood was right, you’d probably still run,” Sylphy countered.

“She could try to seduce you, but you’d never take the bait,” Serafeeta added.

Yeah, they were both right. If Doriada came at me head-on, I’d probably have hidden behind Sylphy and the others as an excuse to turn her down. But was this really the right way to handle it? I opened my mouth to protest, only to find a slender white finger pressing gently against my lips.

It was Doriada.

She gazed down at me with a sweet smile.

“Hee hee. Please just give up.”

“Yes, ma’am…”

I knew resistance was futile, so I surrendered myself to my fate.

Chapter 3: The Red Girl’s More Talented Than She Seems

Chapter 3:
The Red Girl’s More Talented Than She Seems

“...YOU OKAY?”

“Yeah… I’ll be fine once I get some rest.”

It was the morning after I’d been wrung dry by Mama Elf and her two daughters. After breakfast, I was lounging about on a couch in the salon when Ifriita spoke up, concern in her voice. She could be prickly at times, but when it counted, she was surprisingly considerate.

“Uh, well, sounds like you’ve had it rough.”

“I guess you could say this is one way of taking responsibility. Now that we have this kind of relationship, it’s my duty to live up to their expectations whenever my body and time allow. It’s rough physically, but…I’m happy.”

Still, it’d help a lot if they eased up just a pinch. At the same time, I couldn’t deny I felt fortunate to have been born a man.

“Responsibility, huh? I suppose you are approaching this sincerely…in your own way.”

“Of course. I’ll do everything within my power to make them happy.”

I meant it. Back on Earth, I was just a normal guy, so I never thought I’d end up surrounded by Sylphy and so many other beautiful women. This kind of happiness was far beyond anything I’d ever dreamed of, even if it came with plenty of troubles.

“But to be honest, I still doubt myself plenty. Things here are so different from where I came from.”

“Huh.” Ifriita sat down beside me, her voice flat, crimson eyes giving nothing away. There were plenty of other places to sit, yet she chose to be extremely close to me. So close we almost touched.

“Um, Ifriita?”

“Yes?”

“…Nothing.”

Her piercing gaze shut me right up. Why was she sitting this close? No way…right?

“By the way, you seem to be taking it easy. Don’t you have anything to do?”

“Well, at the moment, not really. Nobody’s given me any work.”

We were moving forward with peace between the Holy Kingdom and Merinard, but there was still plenty of work left across every department. How could we get the demi-human slaves back? How would we treat the returnees? Where would they live? Where would they work? How would we cover their living expenses in the meantime?

And beyond that, how would we handle the reparations from the Holy Kingdom? What currency would we use? How would we manage negotiations with their emissaries to keep relations stable? There was so much that needed to be taken care of between our countries.

So much.

On top of that, we still had to reconcile opinions at home and continue building our foundation. Sylphy and Melty were practically drowning in bureaucracy, while I had nothing to do with any of it.

“But to be honest, I don’t feel great about lazing around just because nobody’s given me work,” I said.

“Is that so?”

“It sure is.”

I knew I was a workaholic. I couldn’t sit still while everyone else was busy.

“So I’m thinking of doing something.”

“What sort of something?”

“That’s the tough part. I have to watch out for assassins, so instead of wandering around Merinesburg, I might as well head outside the city. Sylphy and the others mentioned checking on remote territories or even developing a new village.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“If I leave Merinesburg, I leave Elen and Amalie behind while they’re pregnant. Plus, I’d be apart from my daughters. I want to avoid that if possible,” I explained.

“Right, I see…” Ifriita narrowed her eyes.

Look, I don’t want to leave two pregnant women alone, or dump all the responsibility on the harpies just because raising kids is part of their culture.

“So I figured I’d shut myself inside the castle and do something that’ll help everyone.”

“What sort of something?”

“Didn’t we just have this back and forth?”

The truth was, I didn’t have a solid plan yet.

“Okay, first I’ll take a look at the cards I’ve got.”

“Good idea. You can’t play unless you know your hand.”

“My big strength is crafting. I can make a massive number of things. What if I mass-produced something high in demand and sold it to contribute to the national treasury?”

“Bad idea. If you start churning out high-quality goods and selling them cheap, you’ll ruin the craftsmen and manufacturers who rely on that work.”

“Yeah, I figured as much.”

It was a problem I’d anticipated ages ago. If I mass-produced commodities, the domestic economy would collapse. Not only could I make everything at zero cost, but the quality was so high that artisans said my products could headline any shop in the country—even if they weren’t true masterpieces.

Flooding the market with mass-produced goods of that quality would crush all the craftsmen along with their wares.

“Then what about my mining ability?”

“Same problem. Every mine would end up useless, and the value of rare metals and gems would plummet.”

“Right.”

I’d already heard that Sylphy and Melty sold off the precious stones, mithril, gold, and silver I gave them in very small amounts, just to avoid crashing the market.

“I do have a lot of money.”

“Money, hm… Are you thinking of starting a business?”

“With my lack of knowledge? No way. I’ve never done anything like that, and I’ve got zero contacts.”

“But you have goods you can use, don’t you?”

She meant the items I crafted and the ores that I mined with my ability.

“Didn’t you just say it’d be bad to dump all that stuff on the market?”

“I said that it would be bad if you flooded the market Moderation, Kousuke. And you don’t have to handle the business side of things yourself.”

“I think I get it. You’re saying I should become an investor. But how?”

I didn’t dislike the idea, but I had no connections.

“There just so happens to be a perfect organization for that. Let’s go talk to them,” Ifriita said, rising to her feet.

She crooked her index finger, beckoning me to follow her.

Hm?

***

“Er, I was told not to wander around the city…”

“If they truly wanted to keep you locked in, they’d have stuffed you back in the rear palace like before. You’ll be fine if you have a proper security detail.”

Once I’d recovered my strength, Ifriita bundled me in a covered carriage, surrounded us with guards, and took me to a building in the city with merchants bustling in and out.

I glanced up at the sign above the entrance.

“The Merchant Union, hm? Like some sort of merchant guild, I’m guessing?”

“It’s an organization where merchants provide mutual aid. But in reality? It’s basically a hellhole.”

“Wait, what?”

“You’ll see once we go inside. Follow me.”

We stepped down from the carriage and walked toward the Merchant Union building. Ifriita moved with the confidence of someone who’d done this before. It certainly didn’t seem like her first rodeo.

“Why do you seem so at home here?”

“Whenever I wanted info on rare foreign goods or grimoires, this was the place to get it. Before I was put to sleep, I came here all the time.”

“That’s some pretty light footwork for a princess.”

“Back then, it was set in stone that my big sis Doriada would marry and inherit the throne. That left me free to do as I pleased—namely, magical research.”

“Don’t second sons and daughters usually get educated as backups?”

“Hm, you know your stuff. But that’s not how it was for us. If Mother had given birth to a boy, he’d have taken over. Mother and Father were very close, after all.”

“Huh, I see…”

It was hard to find the right words. Serafeeta was so attached to me now and…hm. This was complicated. But it was a little late to feel awkward about it, though.

We passed through the wide doors and stepped inside, drawing eyes to us immediately. No surprise—Ifriita was a sight. Beautiful, with striking red hair, she was impossible to ignore.

“…Hmph. People used to approach me whenever I entered.”

“Well, it’s been twenty years. So, which counter do we go to?”

“Doesn’t matter. We just need to strike up a conversation.”

She strode confidently to the nearest counter. A tough cookie, this one. Me? I was never good with these public office sort of places.

“What can I help you wi—”

“Get me someone with authority. Someone who can discuss an absurd amount of platinum coins.”

“Huh?” The young man behind the counter blinked. His face twitched, probably thinking we were just another pair of troublesome customers.

“If there are any older staff still working here, they’ll know who I am. Tell them Ifriita is here.”

“U-um, do you have an appointment?”

“Hah? Of course not. Just tell your boss. Anyone who’s been here more than twenty years will know me. Now go on, get to it.”

“Y-yes, ma’am.”

Ifriita clapped her hands, sending the young man scurrying to the back of the Merchant Union office. I walked up beside her, watching.

“Weren’t you being kind of rude? You shouldn’t act like that. Don’t you feel bad for the clerk?”

“This is how it should be. Listen carefully. I’m royalty, and you’re the prince consort. Merchants aren’t at our level. I know you don’t really grasp that, so consider this a perfect chance to practice. Behave as your station requires.”

“C’mon…”

“I won’t complain about how you deal with people in private, but in public, if you’re going to act, act properly. It’s best for both you and the people you’re dealing with.”

“Really?”

“Really. I know you’ve built up your own way of looking at things, but this is how the world works. Get used to it.”

“Nrgh… I’ll try my best.”

Ifriita was probably right. I didn’t like the idea, but she’d never lie to me. I had a lot to learn about proper behavior, so maybe I should get someone to teach me a thing or two. Serafeeta…was probably not the best choice. Elen or Amalie could work, but their Holy Kingdom upbringing might mean different customs altogether. In that case, Ira and Melty would be the safer bets.

While I was lost in thought, the young clerk returned with a middle-aged man in tow.

“I apologize for the wait. Please follow me to the back…”

“Mm, thanks. Let’s go, Kousuke.”

“A-all right…”

He led us into a lavishly decorated reception room. As soon as we entered, Ifriita looked around with a smile.

“The furnishings have changed quite a bit, but I suppose twenty years will do that…” she murmured, flicking a porcelain unicorn with her finger, making a clear noise.

At the same time, another figure entered: an older man with a white beard.

“Oooh, if it isn’t Princess Ifriita. How long has it been? Even after twenty years, you’re as beautiful as ever.”

“Is that you, Floyd? You’ve certainly aged.”

“Ha ha ha! As you well know, I’m but a human. Twenty years does this to a man,” Floyd said, scratching his head.

Clearly they knew each other. Probably from before the Holy Kingdom reduced Merinard to a vassal state.

“Tea will be here soon, so please take a seat. Recently we’ve seen more goods from the Black Forest, and wyvern caravans from the Dragonis Mountain Nation are frequent again. Merinard is slowly starting to feel like its old self. We merchants couldn’t ask for more.”

“More chances to profit, hm?” Ifriita said with a sly smile.

“Please. Our motto is good, honest business. Maintaining trust with our clients is what matters most. By the way…would you happen to be Lord Kousuke?”

“Y-yeah, that’s me… But ‘Lord’?”

“I’ve heard many tales of your miracles, and how you crushed the northern armies.”

“R-right…”

I was starting to get a little flustered. What was I supposed to say to all that praise?

“Enough with the flattery,” Ifriita cut in. “We came here to talk business. Well, Kousuke did.”

“He did? What is it you’d like to discuss?”

“Um, well…”

It was a pain to explain things without giving away my abilities. But in short, I wanted to put the massive wealth I had in my inventory—raw gems, mithril, rare metals—to work in ways that could indirectly support Sylphy and the others.

“Do you have a specific idea in mind?” Floyd prompted.

“At present, I think the biggest issue is unemployment among demi-humans. If they don’t have work, they can’t find housing. If they can’t eat, they’ll die in the streets or resort to banditry. At the end of the day, it all comes back to money.”

“That certainly makes sense. Unless they hunt in the wild using their claws and fangs, they need money. And even then, acquiring bows for hunting and knives for stripping the quarry also takes money,” Floyd said with a nod.

“Exactly. But it’s not realistic for the country to provide everything. Plenty of people are already slipping through the cracks. That’s why I’m wondering if we can’t provide a larger safety net, maybe from a different angle.”

“And that’s where we come in, I gather?”

“Yeah. I figure it’s better to leave it to the pros. If a novice like me tried to start a business, it’d implode and take others down with it.”

“Ha ha ha. We do see nobles lose their fortunes like that,” Floyd said with a dry laugh.

I figured as much.

“So how much are you planning to use for this venture?” he asked.

“Um, right now I’ve got three platinum coins, twenty-seven large gold coins, forty-three gold coins, a bunch of mithril ingots, and a ton of precious gems.”

I placed bags containing everything I’d just listed on the table. Floyd’s eyes widened, then froze completely once he saw the mithril.

“My, my. You sure do enjoy showing off. Is this everything?”

“In raw cash, yeah. But I’ve got plenty more mithril and gems.”

“So he says, Floyd. Use this to proceed with Kousuke’s request. Start by investing in businesses that aggressively employ demi-humans,” Ifriita suggested with a smile.

“A-as you wish…”

Floyd barely managed to respond. He looked like his soul left his body.

***

“Hm, was this really the right choice?” I asked inside the carriage on the way home from the Merchant Union. I had my eyes closed and brow furrowed.

“What, you’re not satisfied?”

“Well, it’s not like I had a proposal of my own or anything. It just feels like I handed over some cash and said, ‘Do as you see fit.’”

“Listen. I’m royalty, and you’re the prince consort. Our job is to give discretion and a budget to people who can get things done. With the authority we hold, if we were to butt our heads into everything, the people below us would have to obey—even if our ideas were awful. That slows everything down, and they wouldn’t be able to do their jobs.”

“Can’t argue with that… The thing is, mentally, I’m more like them than I am royalty.”

“Then learn to play the part. You’re going to be part of my family.”

“Play the part, huh…?”

I turned to look at Ifriita. She sat next to me, eyes fixed on mine with that strong-willed gaze. In her private time, she bummed around in a red tracksuit, but dressed up like this with her hair done, jewelry on, and posture perfect, she radiated elegance.

“What is it? Got something to say?”

“No, my lady. I was just overwhelmed by your noble aura, Princess Ifriita.”

“Quit it. You’re grossing me out.”

“You really shouldn’t say stuff like that to people. You’ll make them cry.”

Hearing things like that from a beauty like Ifriita could crack my glass heart.

“Please don’t. If I make you cry, who knows what will happen to me.”

“…Fair point.”

If word got out she made me cry, at least three women would sprout horns in a fit of rage. One of them basically already had horns. The other two were her little sister, who definitely didn’t look like it, and her own mother. Oh, and probably the harpies guarding this very carriage.

At this point, the harpies treated me less like their husband and more like an object of worship.

I might have to do something about that soon…

“Anyway, let’s leave this crying business aside,” I scoffed.

“Fine, whatever. Back to you wanting to be useful because you’ve got too much free time on your hands after being left out of the loop.”

“Hey, now, that’s…actually correct.”

She’d hit the nail on the head. Ever since I’d wiped out the northern invaders, I’d been sidelined. I had tons of free time on my hands. But, sheesh. Couldn’t she have put it a little nicer?

“I don’t think you have to throw yourself head-first into more work. Why not drink in the morning and enjoy some debauchery with Sylphy, Mother, or even Doriada. It’s not like you’re lacking partners.”

“Is it just me, or are you being a little prickly?”

“Absoluuutely not.”

Ifriita averted her gaze. Clearly, she was lying.

“Anyway, long story short—you want to work.”

“Bingo.”

“Why work when you don’t have to? What are you, a maso­chist? Gross.”

“I am not a masochist! I just can’t relax without doing something!”

“Then develop more weapons or golems or something. I heard you’ve been secretly hoarding golems that could annihilate an entire nation’s army.”

“I’ve kind of hit a dead end on that front.”

As far as the golem workbench was concerned, I couldn’t see a path forward. If I upgraded it, I’d probably be able to make more useful stuff…maybe. But at this point, I could already build everything I could imagine. What I lacked were materials and imagination.

“What sort of dead end?”

“There are materials I can’t find, or I know where they are but can’t reach them. And then there are things I want to make but don’t have the knowledge to figure out how.”

“On the materials side, try submitting requests at the Adventurers’ Guild. They have samples of rare monster materials and special stuff from remote locations. If you put in requests, they’ll fetch them. Become a regular, and they’ll even bring new materials to you when they find them.”

“For real? I guess I’ll ask our driver to head there, then.”

“Good call. Since I’m already here, I’ll accompany you. And if you lack the knowledge, study so that you can gain it.”

“The problem is, there’s no way of studying that stuff here.”

What I lacked was scientific knowledge, electronic engineering, and military weapons from the other world. I had vague ideas, but nothing concrete. For example, stuff like railguns or laser weapons.

Take the former. I knew you put a magnetic object between two rails and ran a huge current through them, using Lorentz force to launch the projectile at insane speeds. But that was about it.

As for laser weapons, all I knew was you used a high-powered laser to burn a target or blow it up. And honestly? I barely knew anything about lasers. Something about “coherence,” but I didn’t even know what that meant.

Canned goods, guns, and bullets showed up in plenty of survival games, so I’d looked into them online out of curiosity and even bought a few books, so that was the extent of my knowledge. But when it came to things bordering on science fiction, I didn’t know much. Hell, I was cheating when it came to the airboards and golem control systems.

“Ah, that science stuff, right? Couldn’t you just use magic and magic tools instead?”

“That’s a good point.”

“In that case, just learn about those. I’ll teach you.”

“I see…”

Ifriita’s proposal made a lot of sense. If I couldn’t make progress due to my lack of knowledge, then the right move was to learn something new.

“The problem is that I don’t have any magic energy whatsoever.”

I had none. Nothing. I couldn’t even sense it. Which meant I couldn’t control magic or operate most magic tools except for the ones powered by magicite. On the plus side, that meant that magic spells or tools that drained energy had zero effect on me.

“Just because you don’t have magic energy doesn’t mean you can’t learn how it works. If you can’t use magic, I’ll use it for you.”

“I guess… Do you mind?”

“Leave it to me. Teaching you from the ground up will help me deepen my own understanding too,” Ifriita said confidently, puffing out her chest.

She seemed intense at first, but the more time we spent together, the more I realized she was considerate, almost like an older sister.

“Now that that’s settled, onward to the Adventurers’ Guild,” she said cheerfully, sliding the small window by the coachman open to let him know the change of plans.

Substituting scientific knowledge with magical knowledge for technological innovation… I’d thought of it before, but typically I let Ira or the others handle that side of things. This time, I’d gain the knowledge and use it myself.

“I’ll be counting on you, Professor,” I said.

“Professor, huh?” She considered my words for a moment. “Sure, why not? Call me that from now on.”

Professor, you’re getting a big head.

In terms of appearance, Ifriita looked like a high school girl and definitely younger than me. But in reality, she was older. Even Ira and Aqual were older than me.

“What’s with that look?” she raised her eyebrows.

“Nothing. I was just thinking how you sure are older than me.”

“Huh? No, duh?”

She tilted her head up at me, clearly baffled. She really did look younger, no matter how you sliced it. Floyd from the Merchant Union casually treated her as his elder, but coming from a world without long-lived races, it was hard for me to wrap my head around. I kept judging based on appearances.

“So, what kinds of materials are you looking for?”

“Um, let me see…”

And so, Ifriita and I talked over the kinds of materials the Adventurers’ Guild might have.

***

“…The vibes are not good.”

“They certainly aren’t.”

The moment we set foot into the Adventurers’ Guild, both of us frowned.

The place was crowded, but few looked like adventurers. Most were demi-humans with little more than the clothes on their backs, and everyone looked worn with hardship. It was obvious what they were struggling with.

“…Let’s head to the counter for now.”

“Right. The request counter should be the one.”

I walked beside Ifriita to one of the clerks. The looks we drew weren’t just curious—they carried open hostility and resentment.

Coming to a place like this only strengthened my resolve to do something for these people. I couldn’t help everyone, but I could at least try. And improving the Adventurers’ Guild was a start.

“Welcome to the Adventurers’ Guild. Do you have a request for us?”

“So to speak. I’m looking for materials for alchemy and magic experiments. I’d like to see any samples you have on hand. Depending on the price and stock, I could make a huge purchase, an order, or place a permanent request.”

“That sounds wonderful. Please, right this way.”

The clerk led us to the back of the building into a reception room. On the way, the glares and mutters followed us, heavy with negativity. Ifriita was unfazed by it all. She must have noticed, but she carried herself as if she hadn’t. I, on the other hand, was extremely uncomfortable.

“Please wait here. Someone will be with you shortly.”

“Thanks.”

The clerk left, and Ifriita and I sat down on the couch. Compared to the Merchant Union’s reception room, this one was plain. The furnishings were simple, down to the couch we were sitting on. I doubted the tea would be much better, likely also a step down.

“This place hasn’t changed a bit,” Ifriita said.

“Was it like this twenty years ago?”

“The room, yes. But the guild itself was in far better shape. More active.”

“Doesn’t look too hot now… I wonder if I can help somehow.”

“If it were that simple, Sylphy and Melty would have solved it already.”

She was right.

Still… I can’t assume they’ve tried everything. If I can offer even one new idea, I should.

Fortunately, the demi-human safety net was starting to take shape, and I had the Merchant Union as a possible partner to prop up the market if need be. But I couldn’t go over Sylphy and Melty’s heads on any of this. Today was about introducing myself. I’d let people get familiar with my face and name, then come up with a plan with both women later.

“Lost in thought again?”

“Putting aside whether it’s actually possible, I’m always trying to come up with one thing or another.”

“You really are surprisingly serious when it comes to this stuff. I wonder if that’s why Sylphy and the others fell for you.”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

A knock interrupted our chatter. The door opened, and a tall, thin elderly man entered, followed by several younger male clerks carrying large wooden boxes.

“I apologize for the wait. Ares, once you’ve set everything down, tell Cindy to pour us some tea.”

“Yes, sir!”

The young, fit clerk bowed quickly and left. After watching him leave, the older man turned to us with a pained smile and bowed his head.

“I apologize for that display. I am Baran, deputy general manager of the Merinard Adventurers’ Guild, Merinesburg HQ.”

“Ifriita Danal Merinard. This is Kousuke.”

“Pleasure to meet you.”

“Well, well. The queen’s husband and her older sister. I must apologize for hosting you in such humble quarters.” Deputy General Manager Baran lowered his head, making his position in the hierarchy clear. The two young guild clerks in the room dropped to one knee, bowing deeply.

Urgh, I’m really not good with this kind of thing.

“Spare us the pleasantries,” Ifriita said. “I may be the queen’s sister, but I hold no special rank. He’s the true prince consort, though normally he wouldn’t come to a place like this himself…”

“Cut me some slack,” I said. “Status aside, I think more like a commoner.”

“Given your position, you should be summoning people from the Merchant Union and Adventurers’ Guild to you, not the other way around,” she countered before returning her attention to Baran. “Anyway, as you can see, Kousuke’s just that kind of guy, so don’t stand on ceremony. Treat him like a slightly high-class customer.”

“Ha ha ha… That’s a difficult request,” Baran said with a pained smile, sweat dripping down his forehead.

The two young clerks stayed frozen in place on their knees.

I’m not going to sentence anyone to death, so please relax!

“Um, let’s talk business,” I said. “What cheap materials do you have a reliable supply of but no real use for?”

“Goblin and kobold parts. They’re weak in strength but high in number, and troublesome if ignored. They also yield small magic stones when slain.”

“In other words, not exactly prime hunting targets.”

“Correct. Goblin hides are too thin and brittle for leather. Their meat tastes awful and can cause illness unless carefully prepared. As for kobolds, they have fur, but its poor quality and rarely used. Their meat is equally bad, though safer to eat. As for bones and organs, alchemists can’t use them.”

“Man, real vermin. If I were to buy goblin or kobold corpses, what would they cost?”

“Hmm… Few ever bother, so no market price exists, and buying whole corpses would mean a significant amount of weight.”

“Oh, so the problem is transporting them? That’s why adventurers only cut off and take the valuable bits.”

“Precisely. They bring back magic stones, fangs, claws, and organs that can be used as catalysts. Edible prey brings in the most profit since the added weight of meat also adds directly to its value.”

“Gotcha. So I can’t just pay the same price per weight as edible meat, huh?” I surmised.

“Indeed. That would be bad for the market. If goblins and kobolds paid as well as edible prey, adventurers would stop hunting food monsters. The price of meat would soar.”

That was important to consider; I wanted to avoid anything that would drastically increase the price of food in Merinesburg.

“I see. Then let’s set a price that makes it worth bringing some corpses back on the side. For now, I’ll put in a request for 100 goblin and 100 kobold corpses. Sound good?”

“Absolutely. But are you sure? If you can’t use them, disposing of so many corpses will be difficult.”

“I’ll manage. I can make use of almost anything.” Worst-case scenario, I could store them away in my inventory or let the slimes dispose of them. Hell, in a siege, I could always drop a bunch of corpses on the enemy. Probably wouldn’t come to that, though. I could flatten just about anything with a line of golem soldiers.

“Once you decide on a price for the corpses, send an invoice to me at the castle. As for delivery, I’ll come pick them up. Hauling all of those to the castle would be a bad idea.”

“Agreed.”

“Yeah.”

Both the deputy general manager and Ifriita nodded. The optics of carting a bunch of goblin and kobold corpses into the castle would be…less than ideal. It’d be one thing if they were edible monsters, but uh, yeah.

“Ah, I should probably give you advance payment, huh?”

“Normally, yes. But for you, Lord Kousuke, we can be flexible. Forgive me if this sounds rude, but I highly doubt you’d forget to pay.”

“And frankly,” Ifriita added, “it’s bad for royalty or high-level nobility to pay on the spot. Standard practice is to invoice the castle.”

“That so? Still, I’d rather put down a security deposit of sorts.”

I mean, I had tons of items, so I could just give him anything. I pulled raw gems from my inventory and stacked them neatly on a handkerchief.

“…This feels like something straight out of a fairy tale.” Baran muttered, massaging his temples as if he were fighting off a headache. “Consider this a deposit.”

“This is far too much.”

“I’ll be buying a lot. Now, then, show me your samples. And anything else you’ve got in surplus.”

At the end of the day, all I could really do was act like a big spender and nudge the guild’s fortunes up, even a little. It might’ve only helped in a limited and short-term capacity, but you know what they say: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If money started flowing through the guild again, they’d have the funds to better support adventurers.

***

“I see… So while we were working hard to solve the mountain of domestic issues, you were off on a secret little date with Princess Ifriita?”

“No, not at all. Okay, maybe you’re sort of right, but…”

That evening, after visiting the Merchant Union and Adventurers’ Guild, I was enjoying a post-dinner drink when Melty went all in on me. And I mean that literally. She was treating me like a stuffed animal, her arms locked around my neck, and my face was buried between her breasts.

My brain screamed danger, but my face looked way too happy.

“Melty, handle him with more care.”

“Oh, but I am!”

“Geeeeh!”

Liar! You just tightened your grip around my neck!

Meanwhile, Sylphy sat on my lap with her back against my chest, cheeks flushed bright red from drinking. Judging by their expressions, today had been stressful, workwise.

“I’m trying to talk about something serious, so please listen!”

“Mm, I am.”

“That’s unfair, Ira.”

“Exactly! You always act like such a Goody Two-shoes!”

“You only have yourselves to blame for being so all over the place. So, Kousuke, what did you think after visiting the Merchant Union and the Adventurers’ Guild?”

Ira brushed aside Sylphy and Melty’s boos, her calm tone cutting through the noise and willing to hear me out. I really was glad to have her here.

“So, long story short, it’s great that the demi-humans aren’t slaves anymore, but they’re really struggling to find proper employment. It’s not something that can be fixed with the snap of a finger, but if we don’t start making headway now, it’ll grow into a much bigger problem.”

“We know,” Sylphy said. “We’ve been hiring people through the guild to fix the roads and act as security, and we’ve supported the Merchant Union to boost the market domestically and abroad.”

“Yeah, I figured. But it doesn’t look like any of that’s had much effect. That’s why I went to see the situation on-site.”

Sylphy and Melty stayed latched onto me, making themselves at home on my lap, but at least they were listening now.

“To sum it up—even if jobs exist, too many people can’t prepare themselves to take them.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Folks are scraping by day-to-day. They don’t have the spare funds to buy the tools needed for road work or guard duty. It’s like wanting to leave the house to go shopping, except you don’t even have clothes, nor do you have money to buy said clothes.”

“In other words, they can’t even gear up to start,” Melty said.

“Exactly. Forget weapons or armor. Things are so bad for them right now that they don’t even have duffel bags to carry food and water if they need to leave the city.”

Most of the people I saw at the guild looked like that. They could barely make enough to eat. And when worse came to worst, they couldn’t find work and ended up sleeping outside.

“That means they can only take short, simple jobs inside the city.”

“Bingo,” I said. “That’s why so many end up doing courier work or odd jobs. And there are tons of folks like that.”

“…This is worse than I thought,” Ira admitted. “But we can’t just hand them things as charity.”

“Right,” Melty said. “If the Adventurers’ Guild offered new signees cash for equipment, plenty of people would sign up just to pocket the money.”

“Yeah, straight handouts won’t work. But what if we funded the guild to start up a support system?” I asked.

“You mean lending cash?” Ira shook her head. “That money would probably never come back.”

I agreed with Ira. If struggling folks were given money “for equipment,” odds were high they’d spend it on something else.

“We wouldn’t have the guild hand out cash, but equipment. Each set would bear the Adventurers’ Guild’s mark. When adventurers complete requests, the guild deducts a fee from their payout to recoup the cost,” I explained.

“But if these demi-humans are so strapped for cash, couldn’t they just sell the equipment once they get it?” Ira asked.

“If it has the Adventurers’ Guild mark, they can’t,” I said. “I was also thinking of food tickets.”

“Food tickets?”

“We contract some restaurants and inns to accept them. If you present a ticket at one such establishment, you’ll be able to eat without paying cash. Then, the establishments exchange those food tickets at the guild for actual money. The restaurants and inns benefit by securing long-term repeat guests, and the guild ensures the system stays trustworthy.”

“Hmm… It sounds good, but it’ll take work,” Ira said. “We’ll need standards, and we’ll need to decide whether the government or the guild runs it. I suspect there will be a bit of conflict over who takes the profits.”

She wasn’t wrong. Establishments that accepted tickets would see a rush of hungry adventurers, earning more money and building a positive reputation in the process. And then whichever organization authorized them—the Adventurers’ Guild or a government department—would also profit. And if the government created a new department, that meant more posts to fill, which in itself was profit.

“You ladies can handle that.”

“You’re going to make me mad.”

“Look, I think we should throw this in the guild’s lap. It’ll expand their authority and create jobs. We can subsidize them as a nation, then let them finalize a plan and we can fund them accordingly,” I suggested.

“Hmm…” Melty sunk deep in thought. From her perspective, we as the country would have the final say, and ultimately, collect more taxes. The real problem was that we didn’t have the personnel to loan them.

“I can serve as the bridge between us and the guild,” I offered. “I came up with the idea, and since the Holy Kingdom’s meetings ended, I’ve had nothing but free time.”

“We didn’t have any ill intentions leaving you out of that work, Kousuke.”

“I know. But it’s not in my character to sit on my ass while the rest of you are working so hard. I want to do what I can to support Merinard, and I hope you’ll let me.”

“Argh… What am I supposed to say to that?” Sylphy said.

“I’m fine with you working, but…I worry about finances,” Melty said.

To reassure Melty, I squeezed some gems between the fingers of my left hand and lifted a mithril ingot with my right.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t just use those willy-nilly. You’ll crash the market,” she said flatly.

“Then maybe I’ll make the equipment myself?”

“That would undercut every artisan in the area, so please don’t. All right, fine. We’ll supply the—”

“Oh, and before I forget. I already gave the Merchant Union a fair number of coins and raw gems as an investment.”

I still needed to talk things over with the union. Man, there was a lot on my plate!

“Um, Kousuke? You do realize you cause me endless headaches when you act without permission, right?”

“Pwease fwogive me.” I pretended to pout as I used my best baby voice.

Melty tugged my cheeks with an oppressive smile.

I’m sorry, I really am! Forgive me!

When Melty pinched my cheeks, her grip was so strong I worried she’d peel off the skin!

“Ha ha ha… What’s done is done. I won’t say anything else, but seriously, keep yourself in check.”

“I’m sorry… I just didn’t have any money of my own to play around with.”

“That in itself is a problem,” Sylphy said. “Melty?”

“Understood,” Melty said with a nod. “I don’t know if we can afford to pay you a full stipend as the prince consort, but I believe we draw from our national treasury. That said, most of it consists of the money you raised for us anyway.”

“In the end, you’ve carried us this far on every front. We aren’t exactly in a position to tell you what to do with your money or abilities.”

Sylphy’s mood suddenly took a nosedive, so I ruffled her hair as she sat on my lap.

Mm, I’ll never get tired of how smooth her hair is.

But if I kept ruffling it, it’d look like a mess, so I kept it to a bare minimum.

“Let’s not dwell on it. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. Good enough?”

“Yeah.”

“Ira, why are you the one answering?”

“Early bird gets the worm. More importantly, Kousuke?”

“What’s up?”

Her large eye fixed on me, steady and unblinking. “If you’re going to study magic, you have me.”

Ah. She objected to the fact that I’d asked Ifriita to teach me about magic and magic tools. And she had a point. Learning from Ira would be best.

“But you seemed busy, so—”

“You have me.”

“But—”

“You have me.”

The light in Ira’s large eye started to dim. Honestly, it was terrifying.

“Right. I’ll have you teach me too, Professor Ira.”

“Excellent.”

I succumbed to Ira’s persistence, and she nodded in satisfaction. And just like that, I had two professors. I certainly wasn’t going to be bored.

Ha ha ha.

***

The next day, after confirming the details of the support we’d be giving the Adventurers’ Guild, I drafted letters to both them and the Merchant Union and had the harpies deliver them.

In the letters, I laid out the financial support the Kingdom of Merinard would provide, along with the framework for the rookie adventurer support program. I instructed the guild to work out the details themselves based on what I’d discussed with Sylphy and Melty last night.

I also wrote proposals on distributing guild-marked equipment through the Merchant Union, safeguards to prevent resale, and the system for handling food tickets.

To the Merchant Union, I explained our financial support for the Adventurers’ Guild and directed them to use the funds I’d given them yesterday to provide maximum cooperation. I also told them to report to me at the castle once their plans were finalized, or if they encountered any problems or needed me to make a judgment call on something.

I’d already told the castle guards to notify me immediately if any letters arrived from the guild or union, or if either requested an audience, so for now I could relax.

Still, the faster we could get this taken care of, the better. From what I saw at the guild, the demi-humans weren’t looking so hot. In my letters, I stressed that this was an urgent matter. Maybe they’d feel like I was asking the impossible, but their work would directly save lives, and I wanted them to do their best.

Once that was finished, I headed to Ifriita’s room to start my magic lessons.

But—

“…And why exactly is Ira here?”

Ifriita’s face darkened when Ira slipped into her room right behind me.

“Is that a problem?”

“…Not really,” Ifriita said, turning away with the faintest pout on her face.

Yeah, she definitely minded.

“I’ve prepared a curriculum,” Ira announced.

“And why did you do that when nobody asked you to?”

“We both have our strengths and weaknesses. Princess Ifriita, you specialize in elemental magic, ritual magic with catalysts, and spirit magic. I specialize in formula theory, alchemy, and practical magic application. It would be more effective to split things up.”

“Grr… Okay, But I’m teaching him today!”

“Mm. That’s fine. We should start with the basics anyway.”

“I’m counting on you, Professor.”

“I’ve got this,” Ifriita said, folding her arms haughtily with a confident smile. For some reason, she looked at me with a gentle gaze.

Chapter 4: Research and the Mana Trap

Chapter 4:
Research and the Mana Trap

“I SEE, I SEE… So you’re saying that compatibility between elemental magics is pretty selective? Sounds like an elemental chart in a game…”

In this world, the four elements—water, fire, earth, and wind—affected each other in significant ways. Fire magic attacks dealt heavy damage to water magic defense spells, and vice versa. Wind was strong against earth, but earth was just as strong against wind. Elements with no relationship had no particular advantages or disadvantages.

And each element covered even more than its namesake. Fire magic also included beam and lava magic. Water magic consisted of ice and cold air magic. Wind magic extended to lightning and poison gas magic. Last but not least, earth magic encompassed stone and metal magic.

“You’re catching on abnormally fast. You’re supposed to be a novice, right?”

“I can’t use magic, but I’ve got plenty of experience.”

In games, specifically. Nearly every game had elemental affinities. But when things got pretty confusing when they were overloaded with elements. One example was the monster catching game. It was way too complex for me to wrap my head around at this point. With so many elements to play around with, it became difficult to know what to do against specific monsters or enemies, and you’d end up brute-forcing everything by power-leveling.

“There’s no magic in Kousuke’s old world, but their stories are full of it,” Ira explained.

“If that world had no magic, why would its stories?” Ifriita asked.

“People’s imaginations, I guess,” I said.

“Or maybe magic existed there long ago. Smoke doesn’t rise without fire,” Ifriita countered.

“Now that’s a fascinating theory.”

Perhaps, in exchange for scientific power, we abandoned the mysteries of our world. By analyzing both the visible and the invisible, we ended up thoroughly dissecting the mysteries of our world and left no room for magic or curses in our civilization. Fantastical, sure, but not a theory I disliked.

“In any case, I think I get the gist of the elemental affinities,” I said. “Let’s dig deeper.”

“Okay. Next, you’re going to learn the basics of magic formula theory. Don’t underestimate it just because it’s basic.”

“I know.”

And so, my formula lesson began. But…

“This is tough… It’s all rote memorization.”

Generally speaking, basic magic in this world was cast by combining formulas that looked like a mix of sentences and crests. Infuse them with a formula of colorless magic energy, and the energy would then take on an element, affecting the world via magic.

It felt remarkably close to programming language, but the problem was that I didn’t know much about that either. Sure, I’ve opened a console in a game and typed a line of code or two, but unless you were an IT engineer, coding wasn’t the sort of thing you touched very often.

“Especially in your case,” Ifriita said. “If you could cast magic, we’d drill you by having you repeat a spell until it became second nature.”

“It really is a handicap.”

“Agreed!”

Not being able to use magic meant I couldn’t test any formulas I put together. It was like coding without ever being able to run or debug the program. A pro might have been able to jot down complex code on paper and debug it instinctively. Me? I wasn’t even a baby chick when it came to experience. I wasn’t even at “Hello, World!” level. In fact, I wasn’t even an egg yet; I was still a zygote.

“Instead of learning formula theory, maybe I should just learn what kinds of magic exist,” I suggested. “There’s gotta be a bajillion fire attack magic spells, right? Magic that shoots fire arrows and not just fireballs, right?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure that’s the correct approach,” Ifriita muttered.

“Common sense doesn’t apply much when it comes to Kousuke,” Ira countered. “What seems nonsensical to a mage could lead him to something groundbreaking. He’s already done it before.”

“Ah, the recoil control system, right? I see… So that was Kousuke’s doing, huh? Well… Okay, let’s try not to get too swept up in convention, then.”

And just like that, my magic curriculum was completely overhauled on the spot.

Sorry for all the trouble, girls.

***

“Hrm. Hrm, hrm…”

Ira and Ifriita worked together to compile a list of all the different kinds of magic for me. In addition to the four elements—fire, water, wind, and earth—they included subtypes: beam, lava, ice, snow, cold air, lightning, poison gas, stone, and metal magic. There were also non-elemental types like magic bullets, plus telekinetic spells like levitation and descent-control magic. There were all kinds of magic here that didn’t fall under the four elements, and it even listed what effects they all had.

Basically, this was my own personal grimoire.

“This one’s beam magic, right?”

“No. Magic bullet,” Ira corrected. “It generates heat, yes, but it’s not transforming beam magic energy into a projectile.”

“But—”

Ifriita and Ira started debating how to categorize the magic while I was staring at the list, already imagining the different ways to use these spells. The sky was the limit.

Fire and beam magic especially caught my attention. Magic energy existed in the atmosphere but was invisible to the naked eye. These spells converted this seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy into heat at spectacular efficiency. Okay, maybe “efficient” was debatable, but still fascinating. No kindling, no coal, no gas, no liquefied fuel. Just magic.

If that magic energy is truly inexhaustible…couldn’t we even build a perpetual motion engine? If the output of said energy was too low, we could tap into the vein hollows on the ground that oozed endless magic energy. If we found ways to harness that energy more effectively, we could accomplish so much more.

Right now, we were using the hollow’s energy at the rear base for geothermal heat for bathing and food. But what if we developed a magical machine akin to a geothermal power plant? Merinard could advance by leaps and bounds.

“Hmm… It’d be foolish if I only thought of military uses.”

I wanted to create things that made daily life easier, not just weapons. For example, I wanted to come up with some kind of tech that could reduce the practical cost of using magic tools. One idea was to adapt the mana drain spell, which siphoned magic energy from a target with telepathy. What if we used that to build something like a solar panel? Or in this case, a mana trap?

The spell sounded high-level, but I suspected there was a control formula buried in it that guzzled magic energy, much like the recoil system formula in wind magic. According to Ifriita and Ira, the spell required a massive amount of magic energy and precision in order to break through the target’s magic resistance and then control the stolen magic energy.

But if we applied this kind of spell on atmospheric magic instead, we might not have to worry about a resistance-breaking formula at all. With some hardware adjustments to tune the magic energy wavelength, drawing magic energy from the atmosphere might actually be simple.

At the rear base, our people were already researching the homogenization of magic energy, so it might be wise to have them send us their research materials. They theorized the unstable quality of the magic iron and steel being forged there came from inconsistencies in the vein hollow’s energy. They were researching the topic to try to find an answer.

But there was no need to install homogenization circuits into every single collector during the magic energy collection phase of things. We could deploy dozens of collection devices to draw magic energy in bulk, funnel it all into one place, homogenize it there, and then distribute the stabilized energy where it was needed. That would be more efficient. We’d probably also need some kind of capacitor to store all that homogenized energy. But first, I needed to start small and do some trial and error.

“That’s the face you make when you’re scheming,” Ifriita muttered. “Is he okay? He’s got a creepy smile on his face,” she asked Ira.

“He’ll be fine,” Ira said. “He’s always comes up with something fascinating.”

“I sure do. You just wait and see.”

First step: Convert the castle into an all-magic tool environment—basically like being all electric. Obviously, I couldn’t guarantee stability or safety with the initial prototypes, but any trouble that popped up would serve as useful case studies.

Right now, I needed three core devices: a mana trap to draw magic energy from the atmosphere, a mana transformer to homogenize the energy, and a mana capacitor to store large quantities of the magic energy. It’d also be nice to have some magic tools that were compatible with them.

Things like lights, air conditioners, cooking equipment, work benches, weapons for self-defense, and traps were all possibilities. If we could use magic energy freely, we wouldn’t even need metal bullets anymore—we could just fire pure magic.

“Hrm, hrm, hrm… I’m itching to go!”

Lighting magic tools already existed, but they had to be recharged constantly. Self-charging lamps would lighten the maids’ work. Air conditioning would make life more comfortable, and magic stoves with adjustable flames would make cooking easier. Machine tools and automatically rotating whetstones would simplify weapon maintenance as well.

My golem workbenches, though? Way too dangerous. Powered by gleaming magic jewels, they were said to be dangerous enough to level an entire district if mishandled. In contrast, the mana-powered machine tools would run no risk of exploding.

Probably. They’re definitely safe. Yeah.

Truth be told, depending on their output, mana traps might even replace vein hollows as our energy source. That said, pulling up too much from the atmosphere could weaken the surrounding layer, harm our bodies, or damage the ecosystem. Plus, at this point we didn’t even know if atmospheric magic energy was truly inexhaustible. It would need to be observed over a period of time.

“By the way, what’s the deal with spirit magic and miracles?” I asked.

“Spirit magic is tricky to categorize,” Ifriita said. “Obviously, you’re limited to what kind of spells you can cast by the spirit’s element, but essentially, the caster relays an image to the spirit, and that spirit manifests it.”

“They can do all kinds of things,” Ira added. “From firing elemental magic arrows, to casting catastrophe-level spells. It all boils down to the caster’s imagination, the spirit’s quality, and the amount of magic energy supplied. Many spirit mages rely on instinct, which makes it difficult to categorize.”

“Got it. What about miracles?”

“They’ve been categorized, but they’re pretty close to spirit magic,” Ira said.

“Mm. I think they’re on the same level,” Ifriita added. “Only the quality of the spirits being used differs. They’re closer to the root.”

“The root?” I tilted my head.

I hadn’t heard that come up before.

“The root of magic energy basically,” Ira explained. “It’s said that spirits are essentially bodies of magic energy, but miracles draw upon something much larger. The root of all magic energy. Its controller. The mother of spirits. Or perhaps—”

“God,” Ifriita finished. “Nobody has ever seen it, but we feel it in our daily lives. Especially us mages when working with formulas.”

“…Yup! Still not following!”

“I figured.”

“Since you can’t sense or use magic, it can’t be helped,” Ira said gently. They both shot me kind, sympathetic looks.

Please stop looking at me like I’m a clueless child. You’re hurting my heart.

“Either way, you can’t turn miracles or spirit magic into tools.” Ifriita concluded.

“All right, then standard magic it is. It’s useful because it’s versatile, usable any time or place, and can even be modified as you see fit.”

“Mm. I knew you’d say that, Kousuke.”

“Well, I don’t hate spirit magic.” I admitted.

“I’d like to study it too one of these days,” I added. “But first let’s focus on making a mana trap. Mind helping me out?”

“A mana trap?” the mages said in unison as they tilted their heads at me in confusion.

Right, I never actually described the thing out loud.

So, I gave them a rundown of what I had in mind.

***

“Ah…”

“…Yeah.”

When I finished describing the contraption, both mages locked eyes, nodded, then looked at me like they were trying to figure out how to break the bad news.

“Judging by your faces…lemme guess. This idea’s already been researched to death? And the results weren’t great?”

“That’s the long and short of it, yeah. Most folks eventually arrive at the idea of drawing in the inexhaustible mana from the atmosphere and converting it into usable od.”

“Mana? Od?” I asked, prompting the girls to explain things to me in simple terms.

Ira explained, “Magic energy in the atmosphere without a fixed quality or wavelength is called mana. The refined magic energy circulating inside the human body that can be used to cast spells is called od. But most people just refer to both as ‘magic energy.’”

“I see… It tracks that folks would’ve tapped the atmosphere. Inexhaustible magic energy right above your head? Anyone would want that.”

“Mm, people studied it many years ago,” Ifriita said. “For instance, the staffs that mages use are basically a form of mana trap. People tend to direct their attention more on the focus tool that gathers a caster’s own energy and fires it, or the amplifier that boosts a caster’s magic energy upon being fired, but staffs also draw a bit of energy from the atmosphere to help replenish the caster’s magic energy.”

“The problem is efficiency. It’s like waving a piece of cloth through the mist hoping to catch water. Drain magic tools have been researched endlessly as a way to draw mana into a usable form. But drain magic spells burn more energy than they can ever recover.”

“I see. Can you give me more detail?”

Judging by how Ifriita was talking, it kinda seemed like energy from magic energy pools and vein hollows could be freely used. The assumption that magic energy in the atmosphere couldn’t be used fell apart.

Ifriita nodded. “The density of the energy is different. Mana in the atmosphere is inexhaustible, yes, but it’s very thin. Imagine putting a drop of sweet honey into a cup of water—you wouldn’t be able to taste it. But magic energy pools and vein hollows are like pure honey. Even if the quality isn’t consistent, it’s so dense that it’s ready to use.”

“Got it. So it’s a density issue, then… Hmm.”

That gave me a hint of where to direct my research. Drawing energy straight from thin air wouldn’t cut it. But if I could try to condense the atmospheric energy in one spot, build something like a magic pool, a proper mana trap might work.

“Okay, in that case, could you give me a breakdown of how staffs actually perform? Which staffs work best, and what materials lead to better results?”

“I’m not a specialist, so I might make some mistakes.”

“That’s fine. I just need a baseline to help guide me, then I can do some experiments and collect data myself.”

“Mm. All right.”

I listened carefully as the girls gave me a rundown of how magic staffs worked. Generally, longer and larger staffs made from materials with high magic energy conductivity drew atmospheric energy better. What caught my attention was learning that staffs with only heads made of pure mithril were much worse at collecting energy than the ones where the entire body was mixed with silver alloy and even small amounts of mithril in it—or were made from sacred trees that conducted magic energy well.

“So, in theory, a long staff made of pure mithril should be optimal.”

“If you could actually make one, sure.” Ifriita said with a laugh. “But that’s a huge if.”

“I totally can.”

“Yes. Kousuke can,” Ira interjected flatly.

“Right, I forgot who we were talking about here! Still, something like that would be too expensive to make available for mass use.”

“Yeah…true.” I admitted.

I want everyone to be able to use magic or magic tools cheaply. If I just pump these full of expensive mithril, I’ve already lost the point.

“Pure mithril might be overkill,” I mused, “so I should probably look into using mithril alloy. Adding a little bit of mithril to the equation boosts magic energy conduction significantly, right?”

“Mm. Mithril alloy is excellent. And mithril silver alloy is even better,” Ira confirmed.

“A little is fine, but you need to keep your eye on the price-performance ratio,” Ifriita warned. “Especially if you intend on making this sort of thing available to the commoners.”

“I’ll do my best.”

A sword made of pure mithril was valuable enough to become a national treasure, so making mass-produced tools from the same material would be absurdly out of reach of the common man. I wanted to make magic tools and magic energy use accessible to everyone.

Still…for me, mithril cost nothing. I could dig up more whenever I wanted.

“You’re not going to hold back, are you?” Ifriita narrowed her eyes.

“I feel like I’ve finally figured out how you think.” Ira said, nodding.

What? Impossible. How could they have seen through my poker face?

Okay, it wasn’t really much of a poker face. In fact, maybe I wasn’t even trying to hide it.

“All right, all right. For now, I’ve got a direction to work in. Could I get more deets?”

“Mm.”

“Sure.”

As I pressed them for specifics, I picked up a few more important details about the staffs and their ability to collect magic energy.

First, they did nothing unless you had them equipped.

Yeah, you heard me. I wasn’t joking. If the staff wasn’t in your hands, on your shoulders, or otherwise touching your body, it didn’t draw a single drop of atmospheric energy. That left me with two working theories: First: The energy collected by the staff couldn’t be transmitted unless there was a “magic conductor” of sorts connected to it. Second: Maybe living bodies in this world had something about them that inherently pulled in magic energy. After all, people naturally recovered the magic energy they used up over time. If that was in fact true, it was safe to say that the human body itself was going to be the bottleneck.

Thinking about it now, it made perfect sense. If any old matter with lots of magic energy conductivity could constantly suck in mana, then any magic tool in existence would be misfiring nonstop. The first mission, then, would be to artificially replicate the human body’s ability to draw in magic energy.

“Okay, I know what I need to work on. I’m gonna get started.”

“I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”

“What’s first?”

“As far as I can tell, the two things that matter the most for a primitive mana trap are magic energy conductivity and surface area.”

“Surface area…?”

Both Ira and Ifriita tilted their heads in unison.

Yeah, as I expected. I’m gonna make a bunch of stuff. It’ll be faster if you just see for yourself.

Ifriita’s room had become our temporary classroom, and I pulled my golem workbench out of my inventory, set it up, then after a few minutes of tinkering, a little trial and error…

“Boom. Prototype No. 1,” I said, presenting the first mana trap prototype from the workbench to the girls.

“What…is this thing?”

“A metal sphere…? With netting…?”

I grinned. The first prototype was a mithril-silver alloy sphere made entirely out of fine wire latticework. Both the surface and its internals were made of thin netting—there was latticework strung up through the entire thing. The outside frame was the only section where the wires were thicker and tougher, and the wires on the inside were much thinner. Despite how intricate it all looked, the entire thing was integrally molded. I suspected that even back in my old world, fabricating something like this would’ve been nearly impossible.

All hail my crafting skills!

“In order to maximize surface area with the materials I had on hand, I went with a complex design. Here, try holding it like you would a powerful staff.”

“I’ll do it.”

Ira stretched her small hand toward me, so I placed the new mana trap onto her palm. She narrowed her large eye at the webbed core inside, her fascination obvious.

“It’s so compact. Nobody but you could make something like this.”

“That’s not going to work.”

“Of course not. Which is why I’ve made Prototype No. 2.”

I pulled the next version: a square-framed contraption packed with thin, curved mithril-silver alloy plates. It almost looked like a car radiator to someone in the know.

“This one’s yours,” I said, handing it to Ifriita.

“This does look easier to manufacture,” she remarked, staring intently at the radiator-style Prototype No. 2.

She wasn’t wrong. Unlike the first prototype, this one didn’tneed to be integrally molded. As long as the two conducting bodies were in contact, seams didn’t matter. In that sense, Prototype No. 2 was far more suited toward mass production.

“So? Are you collecting energy?”

“Hold on,” Ira murmured.

“We can’t know right away. Let us focus.”

The pair then closed their eyes, holding the mana traps as if they were meditating.

“Mm. This is definitely collecting magic energy. It’s quite effective.”

“Especially for its size.”

They swapped devices and repeated the test several more times, meditating each time.

“Pretty good. Especially for something portable.”

“It’s genuinely incredible that its energy collection rivals that of large staffs.”

“Mm, agreed. It’s nice and useful.”

“Gotcha. Then let’s keep at it.”

This time, I made a mana trap big enough to fill both arms and set it down on the table with a solid thunk. I didn’t hand it directly to either of the girls—it was made of a whole bunch of metals, so it was pretty damn heavy. Not unmanageable, though.

“Um, wait…”

“You guessed it,” I said before Ira could finish. “We’re going to keep experimenting with all kinds of configurations. Does the energy collection efficiency go up with size, and if so, how far does it go? We’re going to run tests to get our answers.”

“…This is going to be backbreaking work,” Ifriita muttered.

***

At the end of our investigation, we learned that the upper limit for increasing a primitive mana trap’s ability was a one-and-a-half-meter cube. Basically, the radiator-type mana trap worked better the larger it got.

“…I’m tired.”

“…Are we done?”

“Ha ha ha. Well done, ladies.”

Ira and Ifriita were totally exhausted after meditating through round after round of mana trap tests, so I pulled out some roasted apples and tea for them. Roasted apples were great because they came out sweet and delicious. All I needed were apples, so I always kept a bunch in my inventory. I could also use them to make apple pie and fruit cakes, so they’d become one of my go-to ingredients for sweets.

“I’ve got a good sense of the ideal size for now,” I said. “Next, I want to check whether the density or thickness of the internal fins affects energy-collection efficiency.”

Both women’s bodies twitched in response, and they both stopped munching on their roasted apples.

I swore I could hear their joints creak as they looked toward me.

Uh oh. There was no life in their eyes.

“No worries,” I added quickly. “We’re not going to go super in-depth this time. We already know the optimal size.”

Granted, all of these experiments assumed that Ira and Ifriita’s energy collecting abilities were the same, so ultimately I was only getting loose data on what direction to head in. I wasn’t some career scientist with years of experience under my belt; I was just feeling things out as I went along. And quite frankly, considering the future, I didn’t really know if this size was optimal or not. I had no way of knowing if the magic energy collection device would perform the same way with the same collection abilities as Ira and Ifriita.

At the end of the day, though, that was research. Like stumbling in the darkness as a total amateur.

There was no telling if this radiator-style form was the most effective either. My hunch about surface area might’ve been totally wrong. Maybe other forms I’d yet to experiment with would actually work better. You know, like a parabola dish or…one of those antenna-looking things you saw on rooftops back in my old world, the ones that looked like fish bones. Maybe that was more effective at gathering energy.

“Basic research sure is important,” I mused.

“Agreed,” Ira said. “Magic and formulas both developed gradually thanks to accumulated research over a long period of time… I hope you can use your otherworldly knowledge and technology to create something new.”

“I’ll do my best. Anyway, once you’re done eating, let’s get back to it.”

“…Right.”

“…Okay.”

Even though they were completely spent from this basic work, they still stuck with me. I’d have to do something nice for them later.

When we were finished, I would take their requests for dinner.

***

After experimenting, we learned that the fins could be incredibly thin without losing any energy-collection efficiency. As long as they were made from mithril-silver alloy, they could be just one to two millimeters thick without issue. Hell, even when I made them as thin and frail as aluminum foil, the collection rate didn’t change at all.

“That’s all well and good,” I said, “but I’m not sure what that says about practicality, if anything.”

“Mm. The thinner they are, the less useful they get,” Ira replied flatly.

“Right. Still, now we know that thickness doesn’t matter for the mana trap’s performance.”

If the fins could be paper-thin, that would cut costs dramatically. The real problem would be manufacturing them that way. You probably couldn’t use a hammer to make them that thin. Or wait, couldn’t you put gold leaf between two pieces of leather and hit it with a wooden mallet? I remembered seeing something like that on TV ages ago…

“Next up is a variation,” I said. “I’m going to make an automatic energy-collection device using formulas.”

“Mm. Let’s do it,” Ira said eagerly.

“I doubt it’s going to be that easy…” Ifriita muttered, far less optimistic.

You never know until you try, Princess!

…Except this time, she was absolutely right: It was brutal.

I selected a few major drain-type spells and mixed in some status-effect magic that ignored magic resistance. From there, we extracted shared formulas—things like targeting and bypassing magic resistance—and tried to modify them for collection use. Nothing worked.

“I guess this was never going to be easy, huh?” I sighed.

“These formulas are far more complex than the ones in wind magic,” Ira said with a frown.

“I told you so,” Ifriita added smugly.

The three of us had hit a wall. I really wanted to use drain magic somehow, but maybe it was time to rethink the whole approach. Sticking to my original plan was important, sure, but I couldn’t let myself get caught up on my original idea too much. Not if it kept us from moving forward. “Let’s come at this from a different angle.”

“How so?”

“No more fixating on drain magic. The real goal is to draw magic energy from the atmosphere and make it usable. How we do it doesn’t matter.”

“Right… You’re absolutely right,” said Ifriita.

“Mm… Then what now?” Ira asked, tilting her head.

Moving away from drain magic was all well and good, but we still needed a new direction to head in.

“Are there any spells that recover or temporarily store magic energy?” I asked.

“There’s no magic that recovers magic energy,” Ifriita said.

“Not that I know of,” Ira agreed.

“No, huh? Hmm…” I paused, thinking. “Actually, I have a question. What about when you recharge magicite?”

“We hold it directly in our hands and pour energy into it,” Ira replied.

“Mm. Magic energy release,” Ifriita added.

“I see… And you can draw energy out of magicite too, right?”

“Yes,” they said in unison.

“Then that means that humans—or mages specifically—must have some kind of organ that lets them expel and absorb magic energy.”

It made sense—just like lungs let us inhale and exhale air, mages must have something inside them that handled the flow of magic energy.

For some reason, both women stared at me and slowly retreated backward.

“No dissections,” Ifriita said sharply. “Absolutely not.”

“I’m not letting you experiment on humans. That’s taboo. Got it?” Ira added, glaring.

“Who do you think I am? And seriously, Ira? Didn’t you try to dissect me when we first met?”

“That was a mage joke,” she muttered, averting her gaze.

“Ha ha! A mage joke, hm? Then here’s a Kousuke joke: What if I proposed using living mages as engines and cores for magic tools?”

“I’m sorry,” she said immediately.

“You’re forgiven.”

I forgave her since she apologized so earnestly. Although I couldn’t help imagining Ira running on a hamster wheel, powering magic devices with everything she had. I decided not to say that part out loud, and especially not the part where I could imagine a future where she’d end up slipping and getting taken for a ride on one of those wheels.

“Anyway,” I said, “could you two look into magic-energy manipulation? Specifically, anything involving magic tools? Look into any tech that involves charging magicite with magic energy from magic jewels and crystals, or any tools that can store magic energy. Anything that seems remotely useful. I’m going to experiment with the knowledge from my old world and my craft skills and try to perfect the mana trap.”

“Mm, got it,” said Ira.

“All right,” said Ifriita.

***

“So yeah, we’ve been working on developing this mana trap concept.”

“I see. So you claim you haven’t been idling your time away with the harpies and flirting with other girls?”

“That seems a little harsh,” I said, wincing.

“Lady Eleonora can get very lonely, you see,” Amalie said with a teasing giggle, setting her sewing aside for a moment.

After finishing the day’s magic lesson with Ira and Ifriita—and putting our mana trap development on hold for now—I paid a visit to Elen and Amalie’s room in the rear palace. I filled them in on what I’d gotten up to earlier in the day.

“As of late, you only visit in the mornings and the evenings. You hardly pay us any attention at all,” Elen said with a pout.

“I’m so sorry. I really have been busy lately.”

“Mmm… I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad…”

The moment I apologized, Elen’s expression softened. Was she feeling a little emotionally fragile? I mean, she did have a baby inside of her, so it was very possible.

“Lady Eleonora simply wishes for you to pay her more attention,” Amalie said kindly. “She meant no harm with her words, so please forgive her.”

“There’s nothing to forgive. I really am sorry, Elen. I need to be more considerate.”

“Mmm… You don’t have to apologize,” she said softly, squeezing my hand in hers and pressing it to her cheek.

I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but maybe it helped calm her nerves.

“Um, Kousuke…” Elen murmured, nuzzling my hand and looking up at me with her deep crimson eyes. “You haven’t really touched me much since I became pregnant…”

“A-ah, uh, well… I just don’t want to mess up and hurt the baby.”

“Neither we nor the babies in our stomachs are so fragile that a little skinship would harm us.”

Suddenly, Amalie moved closer. With Elen on my left and Amalie on my right, I was completely surrounded.

“I request some skinship befitting a married couple,” Amalie said with a warm smile.

“This tea table is in the way,” Elen added. “Shall we move over to that nice, soft couch instead?”

“But of course!”

In the end, we got…very touchy-feely. More specifically, Elen rested her head on my lap, and Amalie embraced me in her bosom.

“Did you forget that I’m here as well?”

Eventually, Belta—their attendant—spoke up with her clear irritation. Then she joined in as well.

And, well… I ended up giving out just as much love as I received.

***

“From what I’ve heard, you seem to have had a wonderful time with the lady saint and her people after you left.”

“Meanwhile, we were stuck cleaning up the work you left us.”

“I admit that I did have a good time,” I said, raising my hands in surrender, “but I also got my hands on some useful info for the mana trap project.”

“Hmm?”

The next day, I stopped by Ifriita’s room to continue our mana trap development, only to be met with icy glares from her and Ira. Ok, fine. It was true that there’d been a lot of skinship yesterday, but it was completely wholesome. Honest. There was no sexy stuff involved. Just, uh…well, boobs are the best.

I opted not to mention that last bit out loud. Especially not to sully the honor of Ira and Ifriita, whose chests were, let’s just say, comparatively less ample.

“You know about Adolist churches, right?” I asked, trying to change the topic.

“Mm. There’s one in the city,” Ira replied.

“Yeah. A massive one suddenly popped up here in Merinesburg,” Ifriita mentioned.

All of a sudden…huh? I guess for Ifriita, it must have felt that way, since she’d basically been frozen in time for twenty years.

“Yeah, that’s the one. Apparently, healing miracles get a boost in effectiveness when they’re performed inside the church. On top of that, members of the clergy recover their magic energy faster while they’re there.”

Ira’s large eye widened, and Ifriita’s pointed ears twitched in interest.

“I don’t know if that applies only to clergy,” I went on, “but it’s fascinating either way. Faster magic recovery could be huge.”

“True,” said Ifriita. “I’ve never actually gone near an Adolist church before.”

“They’re basically the headquarters for demi-human exclusionists, after all,” Ira added dryly.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. But if we can analyze why magic energy recovery is faster there, we might get a lead toward developing a magic energy accumulation device.”

Both Ira and Ifriita nodded with great fascination.

A magic energy accumulation device, hm? Apparently, Ifriita had defaulted to calling the mana trap that. It was a mouthful, but she wasn’t wrong. It was straight to the point and easy to understand.

“So,” I said, “you girls wanna come check it out with me?”

“You aside,” Ifriita said with a sigh, “I feel like it’d cause problems if we showed up.”

“You’ll be fine. I already talked to Elen and the others yesterday. They worked things out with High Priestess Katalina. If we head there now, she should be finished with morning service and free to show us around.”

“Nicely done, Kousuke.”

“Seriously. All right, shall we?”

“Let’s.”

The three of us excitedly set off for the platform, where a carriage was already waiting for us. This was my first time going out with them together. The thought crossed my mind just as I hopped in—only to immediately stumble into a problem.

“Really, guys?”

“Kousuke and I are basically husband and wife. There’s nothing strange about this,” Ira said as she made herself comfortable—on my lap, leaning her body up against me, lovey-dovey style. Ifriita, of course, immediately took issue with that.

I, meanwhile, had already started absentmindedly falling into my usual routine of caressing her silky hair and poking at her little cheeks, completely forgetting how awkward that might look to a third party. It honestly didn’t occur to me until Ifriita spoke up.

Scary how blind to stuff you could get when you’re used to something!

“I’m allowed to laze about like this because we’re a couple,” Ira said sweetly. “You can’t, because you’re not, Ifriita.”

“Did I say I wanted to?” Ifriita shot back. “This is about showing some modesty.”

“It’s perfectly natural for a couple to deepen their bond. As long as we’re in a private carriage, we’re not in public. It’s perfect.”

“But I’m. Right. Here.”

Ira blinked innocently at her as if to say “And that’s a problem how?”

Meanwhile, Ifriita was only getting more upset.

Why was Ira taunting her like this all of a sudden? The princess’s lips were curved in a smile, but her eyes told another story. That was no smile of joy, just the kind of smile that said “One more word and I’ll end you.”

Today, I learned that smiles could, in fact, be a form of violence.

Okay, not actually, but it was still scary.

“Jealous?” Ira asked sweetly.

“Wha…?! I never said that!”

Ifriita’s roar was worthy of a lion, but Ira didn’t flinch. Instead, she calmly took my now-still hand and brought it to her cheek, nuzzling it like a satisfied cat.

“Um, Miss Ira?”

“Mm?”

“What exactly is going on here?” I asked in response to her sudden act of…violence?

This really was all too sudden.

“This?” She tilted her head innocently. “I just want to enjoy your company. And maybe taunt Princess Ifriita a little, since she’s being so indecisive.”

“Wha…?!”

Ifriita shot to her feet, losing her temper. In her defense, that was a pretty direct provocation. Unfortunately, standing up just made her look like she was taking the bait.

“Urgh…!”

Realizing it too, she sat back down almost immediately, averting her gaze with a frustrated look on her face.

Her long, pointed ears—those unmistakable elf ears—were bright red.

Um… I had a feeling this was the case. Man, does my body give off some kind of weird pheromones or something? Because this definitely wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

“Um…”

“Shut up! Don’t say a word!”

“Ah. Right.”

I obediently closed my mouth as she pointed her finger at me, cheeks blazing.

Ira, still perched comfortably on my lap, smirked.

You’re such a naughty girl for stirring up trouble like this, I thought, narrowing my eyes at her. You’re really asking to get punished later!

I reached out to pinch her cheek only for her to catch my fingers in her mouth and start sucking on them.

Hey! Stop it! Don’t suck on my fingers like that!

***

“O-okay! We’re here! Let’s go take a look!”

“Mm. Let’s check every nook and cranny.”

Ira was her usual self, but Ifriita, in a foul mood, stayed silent.

“Did something happen?”

“Nope. Not at all. Nothing.”

Right. Totally convincing.

High Priestess Katalina greeted us at the front of the cathedral, her sharp gaze cutting right through me. I straightened my posture instinctively.

She was a stern, commanding woman, and quite frankly I had a bit of a rough time with her. She didn’t seem thrilled that I was romantically involved with so many women while also being with Elen, so she was pretty sharp with me, so to speak.

Then again, maybe that was just my guilt talking.

“How are things with Lady Eleonora?” she asked.

“Um, we spent the day together yesterday. Both she and the baby seem to be doing well.”

“Is that so? I am pleased to hear it.” She folded her hands behind her back. “Though I do question why you would then bring other women with you on a pleasure jaunt to such a holy place the very next day.”

“Ah ha ha ha… We’re actually here on official business. Research. We’re investigating something that could aid the country’s development. They’re both highly skilled mages, you see.”

“I am well aware,” High Priestess Katalina said coolly, before turning on her heel.

“Please, right this way.”

“Thanks… Come on, ladies.”

“Mm.”

“…All right.”

I wasn’t worried about Ira, but I was genuinely relieved when Ifriita nodded and followed without protest. She still looked prickly, but at least she was holding it together. If she blew up here, I’d be the one getting an earful from the High Priestess, no question.

Please, please let this go smoothly, I prayed silently.

We stepped inside the Adolist cathedral, and even I had to stop for a moment.

“Beautiful,” Ira murmured.

“Really impressive.”

Ira and Ifriita’s voices softened as their eyes traveled up the super high ceilings and at the detailed engravings and stained-glass windows.

“Agreed,” I said. “Though I probably shouldn’t be asking, but isn’t this a little awkward for you?”

“I mean, a little,” Ira admitted. “But that’s that, and this is this. Beautiful art is beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Ifriita said quietly. “When I think about how much blood, sweat, and tears my people shed building this, I certainly have some mixed feelings. But I can still respect the craftmanship. The artisans who built this place were incredible.”

“I see.”

So they did have complicated feelings about this place, but they could at least appreciate its beauty. Granted, that probably only applied to the two of them. There were likely other demi-humans who held only negative feelings about this place. Hell, there wasn’t a demi-human in sight. Most of them probably wouldn’t dare set foot near this place at all.

On the flip side, there were human Adolists in here, though not many. The ones present were clearly watching us with guarded curiosity, probably wondering why demi-humans had stepped foot into their sacred space.

“So, what do you think? Figure anything out?”

“The mana in here is thinner than outside,” Ifriita said.

“Yeah. Magic energy recovery is supposed to be faster here, right? How odd.”

The two of them each produced glowing orbs about the size of fists and held them aloft, moving them slowly across the room. I recognized the spell from when Ira did something similar back in the underground ruins. It was some kind of mana-detection magic.

“Thin, huh? I can’t tell a thing.”

“Because you have no magic energy.”

“And when we say thin,” Ifriita added, “we mean it’s so faint, we can’t sense it without detection magic. It just…feels like the air here is very clear.”

“Okay?”

So, clear air meant thin mana. Then when mana was thick, did the air feel stagnant? I’d never heard anyone back at the rear base describe it that way before.

“I’m getting a magic energy reading from some of the walls and pillars,” Ifriita reported.

“The metal used in the dressings…I wonder if it’s mithril?” Ira mused.

Ira and Ifriita turned their focus on the cathedral’s ornate dressings while I peered from behind. I couldn’t tell for sure, but the metallic sheen did look like some kind of alloy that had mithril in it. Maybe mithril mixed with gold?

“It’s plating,” I said. “Maybe made from mithril-gold alloy?”

“I think this is some kind of magic circuit,” Ifriita pointed out.

“Mm. I agree. It probably diffuses mana. You could even say it purifies it,” Ira added.

“So instead of collecting magic energy, it diffuses it? What’s going on here?”

All three of us tilted our heads in confusion. High Priestess Katalina, who’d been silently following along, watched on impassively. Still, the fact that she followed us in silence and hadn’t scolded us—or kicked us out—suggested she was kinder than she seemed.

“High Priestess Katalina,” I said, “miracles conducted here are stronger, right? Healing effects for injuries and illnesses too?”

“Yes, that is the case,” she replied. “I’ve heard that you were once on the receiving end of such blessings.”

“Apparently. I was stabbed in the liver with a dagger coated in basilisk poison, but came out the other end in one piece.”

“Wait, what? Hold on. I didn’t know about this.”

“Really? Well, it happened,” I said with a shrug.

“Then how are you still alive? Basilisk poison is deadly enough to take down a dragon! What even is your vitality?!”

“I might be a little tougher than your average person.”

Just a little.

And that “just a little” bit of extra toughness was probably the only reason I’d survived in this world long before I got hit with the basilisk poison. I guess I owed the jackass who gave it to me some reluctant gratitude.

“I feel like, more than ever, I’ve been reminded of how abnormal you are.”

“Anyone else would have died on the spot,” Ira said flatly. “Kousuke has the vitality of a dragon.”

“What if we used his blood as a magic medicine ingredient? It might be as effective as dragon’s blood in terms of usefulness.”

“I would appreciate it,” High Priestess Katalina interjected, her tone razor-sharp, “if you refrained from having such barbaric conversations so loudly in a holy sanctuary such as this.”

Well said, High Priestess. Keep it up! Ira has a bad habit of using me like a lab rat.

She’d already tried using me to run clinical trials for sketchy meds. Without my permission.

After that, High Priestess Katalina guided us deeper into the cathedral, eventually bringing us to the meditation room. This was a place reserved for talented miracle wielders who needed to train or cast high-level miracles. Normally, outsiders weren’t allowed in at all.

“The mana here is incredibly thick,” Ira observed.

“But it’s not normal mana,” Ifriita added. “It’s primarily light mana.”

The detection magic balls floating in their hands flared intensely as we stepped inside. The back of the cathedral, this meditation room, and its surroundings appeared to be thick with mana. In fact, the closer we got to the room, the stronger the reaction became. It reached its peak inside of the room.

“I’m getting a powerful response from the light-ray cross on the altar.”

“This is made of mithril… It’s like all the magic energy in the cathedral is converging here.”

I listened to the pair and thought about how this building was designed.

It looked to me like this entire building functioned as one massive magic energy-accumulation device. And clearly, it wasn’t simple in construction. The magic circuits in the cathedral’s main hall seemed to diffuse and purify the magic energy in the air, thinning it out. But here, in the most sacred spaces of the cathedral—the meditation room and its surroundings—the mana was unbelievably dense. Come to think of it, the room where Elen and the others treated me after I’d been poisoned was close to this meditation room too.

“It’s not a magic tool,” Ira murmured.

“No. I’m not seeing any formula circuits,” Ifriita added. “It’s just an ordinary mithril cross.”

Ira and Ifriita both groaned out their thoughts after investigating the light-ray cross—the holy symbol of Adolism—that was projecting thick mana.

“I feel like we’re on the cusp of figuring something out…”

The idea of intentionally having a large open area designed to diffuse and weaken mana struck a chord with me. Energy always tried to balance itself out. Leave a cup of hot water alone, and it would cool to room temperature over time. If you left ice out, it would melt. If you thinned mana artificially in one place, wouldn’t it naturally draw in denser mana from the surroundings in an attempt to maintain equilibrium?

In other words, by intentionally weakening the mana inside the cathedral, the building might be pulling mana in from the outside world. The mithril alloy—highly conductive to magical energy—would then capture it, directing it along circuits hidden in the walls and columns, eventually channeling it all here, inside of the meditation room.

In other words, the light-ray cross at the altar wasn’t generating mana, it was the end point of an enormous system quietly gathering it. Basically, it was the output destination for all the mana they collected.

“Mm. Tell us what you’re thinking,” Ira said.

“Let’s hear it,” Ifriita echoed.

I laid out my theory and the pair groaned.

“It’s certainly not implausible,” Ira said thoughtfully. “Though I’ve never heard of magic circuits being used on this scale before.”

“I’d love to ask the artisans who built it,” Ifriita added, glancing at High Priestess Katalina.

The High Priestess met her gaze, then shook her head fiercely. “If this were a small church, that might be possible. But the artisans who constructed this cathedral all reside in the Holy Kingdom. Given the current political climate with both countries, summoning them here would be…difficult.”

“Ergh.”

“Would it be possible to look at the schematics?”

“I am not particularly well-versed in such matters,” Katalina replied. “But I imagine that would be difficult. I will do my best to acquire them, but I suggest not getting your hopes up.”

“We’d really appreciate that,” I said, bowing my head slightly. You had to show respect and offer your gratitude when someone was willing to go out of their way for you.

“Couldn’t you just take this place apart and investigate?” Ira suggested.

“I mean, sure,” I said, “but imagine what that might do to the cathedral. If an entire building is operating as one large magic circuit, messing with it could disrupt the whole system. And more importantly, I don’t feel right tearing up a place that holds so much meaning for the Adolists.”

“Mm, that would be a huge problem.”

“Yeah, I suppose so,” Ifriita agreed with a nod.

High Priestess Katalina, meanwhile, looked terrifying. I really wished Ira would stop saying stuff like that out loud.

Look how angry her eyes are! I’d never do something that unreasonable, so please chill.

“Anyway,” I said quickly, “we’ve got a solid lead. We’ve learned that manipulating mana density can change the flow of energy, and we’ve seen a working example of a magic circuit that diffuses mana. That’s huge.”

“Agreed,” Ifriita decided. “Let’s be happy with what we’ve got. All that’s left is more experimentation.”

“Mm. I’ll copy down a sample of the circuit.” Ira said.

With that, our mana trap research finally took a step forward. We investigated how the mithril alloy running through the walls and columns of the cathedral were reacting to this setup, as well as the magic circuits that were diffusing the mana in the air.

When it was time to go, we thanked High Priestess Katalina for showing us around before taking our leave.

Chapter 5: New Topics

Chapter 5:
New Topics

IT JUST HAPPENED TO BE LUNCHTIME when we got back from the cathedral, so the three of us headed straight to the castle cafeteria.

“You’re back?”

“Heya.”

“Mm, welcome back.”

“Welcome home.”

Waiting inside were Sylphy, Grande, Melty, and the ogre girls. The harpies were nowhere to be seen—they apparently preferred eating with the soldiers and servants.

“Welcome back, Sir Kousuke.”

“Welcome home, Kousuke.”

Serafeeta, Doriada, and Aqual were all there too. Aqual, of course, greeted me with a sharp glare rather than a kind word. I was her enemy—okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad, but I still wasn’t exactly her favorite person. But I couldn’t hold it against her; I understood where she was coming from. From her point of view, I was the asshole who swooped in and started “stealing” her family from her. I mean, I didn’t think she hated me that much, but…

“How did it go?” Sylphy asked, her tone light.

“We’ve got a direction now,” I told her. “All that’s left is trial and error.”

“I see. I hope things work out.”

“You’re not going to ask for specifics?”

“It’s not like I’d understand the technical stuff anyway,” she said with a shrug.

Sylphy was all muscle and strength. She could use combat spirit magic like it was an extension of her body, but all other forms of magic went right over her head.

“I know figuring out how to use magic energy more efficiently is important,” she continued, “but what’s going on with the Adventurers’ Guild and the Merchant Union?”

“I basically handed the union a pile of cash and told them to take charge. If I stick my nose in too much, things will just get messy. At the end of the day, my plan was to give the Adventurers’ Guild a boost, not to fix the root of the problem. Any radical reform will have to come from the government.”

“You’re not wrong,” Melty said with a sigh. “But we simply don’t have the manpower to devote to that. We’re still tied up with everything involving the Holy Kingdom.”

“I get that,” I said. “But shouldn’t domestic problems come first?”

“Yes, but we simply do not have enough personnel…”

While we talked things over, a group of castle maids quietly placed our food on the table. Grande and the ogre girls stayed silent whenever we discussed things like this. They were smart enough to know that these matters weren’t in their wheelhouse.

“If we don’t have enough people, then we have to get more, right?” I said. “Couldn’t we have the lords all over the country lend us some of their talented folks?”

Any lords managing a territory would naturally have civil servants employed. And if they didn’t, it was standard practice to borrow personnel from elsewhere.

“That would certainly be the fastest solution,” Sylphy remarked. “But if we force them to lend out people, we’ll risk their wrath. Not to mention, they might try to use those people to exert their own power.” She sighed with a bitter expression.

Made sense. Seemed like this wasn’t as simple as it sounded. With my simpleton brain, my first thought was: If they act out, just crush them with military might. But I suppose that would just create new problems. The last thing I wanted was for Sylphy to be remembered by future generations as some peerless tyrant who ruled by force.

“In other words, you’re suggesting we hire talented people who aren’t under any lord’s thumbs and have no political ties. It’s a great idea in theory, but finding people like that won’t be easy,” Melty said.

She wasn’t wrong. People like that didn’t just wander around unemployed.

…Actually, wait a second.

If we focused our search on demi-humans—people the old Holy Kingdom never would have hired in the first place—we could have a decent shot at getting our hands on talented candidates. Or at least it seemed possible to me. We could also look for former lords that were driven out of their positions by the Holy Kingdom.

In terms of priority, former lords and government officials came first. Next would be mages, clergymen, scholars, and doctors—the intellectual class. After that, merchants. If we wanted to hire new civil servants, they’d need basic literacy and numeracy skills, so prioritizing educated groups was the right move.

That said, we already had absolute control over Merinesburg and Arichburg, so any talent we could find locally had already been scouted or absorbed into government work. That meant our best shot lay outside the core; we needed to search the regional territories where our new government didn’t have complete authority yet.

“Can’t we find demi-human former lords, officials, mages, and other intellectuals out in the regional territories?” I asked. “I think it’d be smart to go headhunting for those types.”

“That might be a good idea,” she admitted cautiously. “But who would we send—oh, is that what this is?”

Melty was ready to reject my idea when she turned and saw me pointing at myself.

A troubled expression crossed her face.

“At the moment, I’m the only one not directly tied up with political affairs who can act lightly on his feet, right?” I pointed out. “Plus, in terms of security, wouldn’t it actually be safer for me to be away from Merinesburg? If the Holy Kingdom sends assassins, they’d have a harder time running around all over the place.”

Our airboards could travel faster and farther than horses, making pursuit nearly impossible. On top of that, we also had golem communication, capable of instant long-distance transmission. With our speed of travel and communication, it would be impossible for their assassins to find or catch up with me.

And our advantages didn’t stop there. Even if they somehow managed to locate us, they’d never make it within striking distance. The harpies could spot an ambush from the air, and if it came to a fight, my heavy-armament golems would tear them apart.

Leaving Merinesburg meant I’d be safe and able to search for talented personnel… And as a bonus, I’d get a short break from the onslaught I’d been dealing with from Sylphy and the others lately. Three birds with one stone!

“Hmm… It will be lonely without you here,” Sylphy said quietly. “But I don’t see any other choice.”

“I’ll try not to be gone too long.”

“Mm… Promise?” She peered up at me with a soft, melancholy expression, already feeling pangs of loneliness. Sylphy rarely looked at me like this, which only made her absurdly adorable whenever she did.

“They’ve entered their own world.”

“Grr… I’ll be working hard right beside Sylphy, you know.” Melty added, puffing out her cheeks. She could be calculating at times, but Melty was just as cute when she got like this.

“Heading out again?” Grande asked. “You’ve got nothing to fear as long as we’re with you.”

“Yup! We’ll be right by your side!” Shemel chirped.

“Feels like we’ve been left behind a whole lot lately, though.”

“It is what it is considering where he’s been going…” Grande said with a shrug. “The Merchant Union and Adventurers’ Guild are one thing, but the cathedral was built for human sizes.”

She was right. Strolling around Merinesburg with Shemel and the others while fully equipped for combat would’ve drawn attention we didn’t need. I couldn’t bring them with me to inspect the cathedral if I wanted to avoid provoking the Adolists. And when we’d gone to the Merchant Union, Ifriita herself said we’d be fine on our own.

“…Mrm.”

“Oh? What’s this? Why the sour mood, Ifriita?” Serafeeta teased.

“I’m fine…”

“You must be feeling lonely now that Kousuke’s leaving,” Doriada added.

“That’s not it…”

Across from us, Serafeeta and Doriada were having a field day messing with Ifriita. Aqual saw this and immediately shot me a stinging look. Her gaze was so icy that it felt like she was physically stabbing my cheek.

I’d heard she was a talented water spirit mage, and right now I fully believed it because her glare felt like it could have actual attack power. And judging by the look in her eyes, the message was clear: You put your greedy hands on Ifriita too?

I haven’t, I swear! I wanted to shout. Believe me!

“Ah, um…” I said aloud instead. “If I’m heading out to recruit people, what’s our public cover story? I can’t exactly go around telling people that’s my objective, right?”

It was the perfect timing to bring up the issue in an attempt to escape Aqual’s painful glare. It really did feel like she was on the verge of freezing me solid with her eyes.

“Very true. Then how about this: We ask the lords to gather demi-humans who need work, under the pretense that we’re building pioneer villages across the regional territories. That way, we can quietly headhunt the top talent while giving the demi-humans their own villages and farms. Additionally, the lords can collect taxes from them like anyone else, and their territories will stabilize instead of worrying about unrest. Everyone wins.”

Melty was on to something. I nodded slowly. It was a solid plan.

If unemployed demi-humans had food and a safe place to live, they wouldn’t be driven to banditry. On our end, we’d gain loyal new citizens and make lords indebted to us without them even knowing it. This was a good plan.

“It’s all well and good to say we’re building pioneer villages, but actually clearing out the wilderness won’t be easy,” Sylphy noted. “Even if the demi-humans help, how will they survive until the villages are complete? Are you going to make the lords prepare that stuff?”

“Kousuke can handle it all,” Melty said simply.

Ifriita blinked in disbelief. “You can’t be serious… Can you really manage that?”

I nodded. Obviously, it wouldn’t be ideal if I handled absolutely everything myself, so I’d need to make some arrangements on that end. But generally speaking, things would be fine.

“As far as water is concerned, I can produce unlimited water sources, so we don’t have to limit ourselves to areas near natural water sources,” I said. “As long as I’ve got the materials, I can easily build housing too. Hell, I can just gather what I need from the trees and stones near the new villages. And if we’re okay with normal fields, I can cultivate the land using my mithril tools.”

“Kousuke can build plenty of pioneer villages in a short time,” Melty said confidently. “After that, all we need to do is find people to live in them.”

“It might be smart to offer aid for their first year and give them a three-year tax break as an incentive,” Doriada suggested, offering slightly more in-depth advice.

“Though I think it’s a bit unreasonable to expect people with zero experience to suddenly start plowing fields,” I mused.

“Couldn’t we recruit guides from nearby farming villages?” Serafeeta offered. “Or pick out those with agricultural experience among the pioneers and make them instructors?”

One of the ogre girls piped up with a suggestion. “Well, some of them might already have farming experience from when they were forced to work as slaves.”

The conversation picked up momentum from there. Once someone spoke up, everyone else jumped in with their own ideas. This was a good sign.

They were all amateurs when it came to this stuff, but some ideas were actually pretty solid. At the end of the day, Melty and her team would be the ones getting things done, but this kind of brainstorming was valuable.

“Anyway, I’ll handle recruiting folks, developing the villages—whatever you need,” I said.

“Okay,” Melty said with a small smile. “Then I shall take you up on that offer. First, we’ll decide where to send you and inform the local lord to gather any demi-humans who need work.”

“Since you’re the one who came up with the idea, you’d better not try to run away,” Sylphy said with a grin.

“Just be gentle,” I replied to Melty with a serious look on my face.

Anything but death by overwork, okay? For real!

***

“While logical, I personally do not agree with this.”

It was the night after our positive discussion about sending me out of the city. Putting the brakes on our plan was Elen, with her large stomach.

Amalie and Belta didn’t react, instead choosing to remain silent, making it clear that they were of the same mind as Elen. They felt that I shouldn’t be using my abilities—what they called my “saintly miracles”—all willy-nilly.

“But he’s the only one who can do this…”

That half-hearted support came from Pirna, speaking on behalf of the harpies. Like Sylphy and the others, she’d been with me from the start of this crazy journey and had seen firsthand the sort of things I’d been doing, which meant she knew all too well how I used my powers. Still, the harpy kids were growing fast, and growing more attached to me as time passed. She probably wanted me to stay close to home if possible.

“I do not mind either way,” Grande said. “If you go, I shall follow. If you stay, I shall be here as always.”

“Same here!”

“Well, I’ve got no complaints either way.”

“We shall simply carry out our job.”

Grande and the ogre girls were basically guaranteed to come along since they were my personal security, so they didn’t really care one way or the other. If I left, they’d get to spend more time with me, so they had no reason to be against it. That said, if they aggressively agreed to send me out, it’d be a bit unfair, so they had to stay neutral.

“I’ll also go…”

“Mother, I have plenty of work for you to do here. The same goes for you, Doriada.”

“Boooo.”

The conversation had clearly shifted toward making preparations for my departure, and Serafeeta and Doriada expressed their desire to tag along with me only for Sylphy to immediately shut them down.

Seriously, Doriada? “Boooo”?

“But we can’t just send Kousuke off on his own,” Serafeeta argued. “Grande doesn’t hold an official position in the government, and she’s unfamiliar with noble etiquette, right? Shemel and the others are only bodyguards, and the same goes for the harpies. That means Kousuke would be the only one capable of actually speaking with the local lords, right?”

“Is that a problem?”

“They’re going to try to smother him with women.”

The women spoke in unison. “That can’t be allowed.”

“Indeed,” another added, just a touch more politely than the rest.

How rude. Sure, I couldn’t guarantee that I wouldn’t end up overwhelmed, but did they really think I was that careless…? Actually, never mind. If I started counting how many women I was already in a relationship with, I’d lose any moral high ground I had to stand on.

“And that’s why,” Serafeeta continued, “I think it’d be wise to have a female companion of decent social standing.”

“Sure,” Sylphy said, scanning the room. “But who…?”

Her eyes danced about. She herself couldn’t go, and neither could Melty. Ira was still recovering from the last long trip we went on, so she was out of the running as well. Obviously, Elen wasn’t going anywhere either. Belta was the only one in the group not pregnant, but she didn’t have the social status for official diplomacy. Serafeeta and Doriada were tied up with government work from Sylphy, so they also couldn’t leave.

That left…

“…Sure, fine.”

“…Ha ha ha.”

All eyes landed naturally on Ifriita and Aqual. Ifriita didn’t look particularly displeased, but Aqual let out a massive sigh.

“I’ll go,” she said flatly. “But only because if I don’t, I get the feeling he’ll jump all over Big Sis If.”

“Excuse me?!” Ifriita shouted, her face burning red.

Every woman in the room—starting with Aqual—looked at her with the same knowing, half-lidded stare. I wasn’t some oblivious protagonist. I knew exactly how Ifriita had been looking at me lately. And because I knew what was going on, I couldn’t say anything.

Sylphy watched their back-and-forth with a tepid gaze, then cleared her throat as though she were trying to collect herself.

“Ahem. At present, the adventurer support system that Kousuke has put together using the Adventurers’ Guild and the Merchant Union will continue under his guidance. As far as the magic energy accumulation system is concerned, our country will most certainly see huge gains when it comes to fruition. However, it will take time to advance from basic research to practical application, yes? In that case, we will proceed with the basic research under Ira’s supervision.”

She continued, “I know some of you disagree with sending Kousuke away, but considering our present situation, our top priority must be to secure capable personnel and stabilize the lives of the freed demi-humans. As such, I am ordering Kousuke to depart in the near future. That is my final decision.”

And just like that, Queen Sylphy overruled Elen’s protests and laid down the law. That was how Queen Sylphy of Merinard and the other powerful women—primarily ones I was involved with—decided how to move the powerful chess piece known as me across the board.

By the way, there would also be a separate meeting to determine how Merinard as a nation would act next. That one involved not just the women, but the civil servants and military officers from every department. Sylphy would gather their opinions and then make her final ruling as the queen.

This meeting though—the one in her chambers—was something else entirely. All the women had gathered to determine where and how I would be deployed as a strategic piece. Officially, the meeting was said to concern “matters of the queen’s chambers,” which in plain terms meant her private life and bedroom affairs, if you catch my drift. Still, my skills were fairly open knowledge at this point, and these meetings were fast becoming the foundation for Sylphy’s inner circle, quietly supporting her authority as the queen going forward. It felt weird to say this about myself, but I was basically a joker card, someone whose power ignored the common sense of this world in both military and domestic matters.

“Grr…”

Elen, the lone voice of dissent, was still sulking. I’d have to make it up to her later, with some quality time and pampering. Fortunately, most of the long-lived women in my life were fairly patient. They could wait, and they often deferred to the shorter-lived folk like Elen and the harpies. Obviously, that didn’t mean I could neglect them either. I still owed them plenty of my time and attention. After all, I only had myself to blame for getting tempted in the first place—even though I felt like they were the ones who forcibly devoured me—but I digress. Either way, I was truly a blessed man.

***

“That said, reclamation work is a big job. You’re not going to have me start tomorrow or something, right?” I asked.

“Of course not. I wouldn’t ask you to march out tomorrow and start clearing wasteland or forest,” Sylphy said with a small smile.

An hour after deciding how I’d be deployed, I was in the bath with her—we needed to decide where I’d be sent.

There was a lot of prep work to be done before departure: sending word ahead to the local lord, having them gather all the former demi-human slaves, and choosing exactly where within their territory we’d begin development. It would take time, so I’d decided to spend that time doting on the “family members” who wouldn’t be accompanying me on the trip.

Sylphy was first in the rotation.

This “family time” schedule would unfold over several days: Sylphy tonight, the harpies and Elen tomorrow, and after that, Serafeeta, Doriada, and Ira, since they’d be holding down the fort here back home.

By the way, Melty was last on the list. Not because she was the least important, but because she was buried in prep work for the massive land-development project she’d suddenly found herself burdened with—the one that doubled as a cover for recruiting talented personnel—which meant she didn’t have the time to get lovey-dovey with me. Since she was so busy, she’d be getting more “family time” with me later.

“We’re really putting a lot on Melty’s shoulders this time around,” I said, letting out a low sigh.

“Agreed,” Sylphy replied. “We need to send letters to the regional lords and have them designate areas for development, if they haven’t already. And, if the intel we have on each area is outdated, we will need fresh surveys. We’ll also need to recruit pioneers and allocate funds from our treasury. It’s a great deal of work for Melty to have to deal with, but…”

Building a pioneer village meant confirming accessibility to nearby villages and towns, and researching what kinds of creatures roamed the area—especially dangerous monsters. Even the most promising site would be all for naught if it was too isolated or constantly under threat by monsters.

“It really is a privilege to get to soak in a nice hot bath.”

“Try not to go too hard on the liquor,” she chided lightly.

Sylphy must have planned for a long soak; the water in the royal family’s large bath was lukewarm. The water’s temperature was maintained by fire spirit magic, and it kept it just right. Honestly, using spirit magic for something this indulgent struck me as kind of wasteful, or at least luxurious.

“In that case,” she murmured, “you can swap out the alcohol.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll give you a nice massage—or whatever else you’d like.”

And so we got thoroughly lovey-dovey in the bath, doing everything Sylphy wanted. Both of us had been busy as of late, so I really needed to make a habit of taking time out to relax with her like this. No matter how much work we both had to contend with, it wasn’t healthy to forego this kind of thing.

***

Around the time I wrapped up my “family time” rotations, Sylphy brought me some news: The agreements made with the Holy Kingdom’s emissaries before their departure concerning a ceasefire and peace were finally bearing fruit.

I hadn’t been directly involved in those peace talks, so this was news to me, but apparently, most of the Holy Knights and soldiers who’d accompanied the emissaries had already returned home. Nearly ten representatives remained behind in Merinesburg to continue negotiations: clergymen, civil servants, and some high-ranking Holy Knights.

“So they pretty much accepted all our terms for peace?” I asked.

“That’s right,” Sylphy said, exhaling. “They agreed to pay reparations and to return the former demi-human slaves to us in phases. We’ve also secured a five-year non-aggression pact and a trade treaty that favors us. They’ll be paying us reparations over a five-year period,” she finished, looking as though a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Melty and Serafeeta, seated beside her, wore similar expressions of relief.

In reality, the Holy Kingdom never stood a chance against the rifle squad or any of the other combat forces under my influence. They must’ve determined that continuing the war simply wasn’t cost-effective. After all, the subjugation force of 10,000 they sent into Merinard had been completely annihilated at the hands of an airboard- and machine gun-equipped rifle squad working in tandem with the harpy aerial bomb squad.

My enchantments solved the only real drawback of the machine guns—their limited endurance—and I’d already developed heavy-armament golems and self-destruct golems equipped with gleaming magic jewel bombs.

Quite frankly, the difference in firepower was so immense that a little bit of magic, some miracles, or even their great chorus magic wouldn’t close the gap. Whether they fielded 20,000 or 300,000 troops, the outcome would’ve been the same: more dead bodies. Worst-case scenario, I could just annihilate them entirely with gleaming magic jewel bombs.

“But, wow, they sure have softened their stance, huh?” I mused. “I heard there’s been some internal strife kicking up in the Holy Kingdom, but is it really that bad over there?”

“We barely have any diplomatic ties with the Holy Kingdom,” Sylphy replied with a frown. “And there’s no one we can rely on for reliable intelligence. Sir Deckard might know something, but he hasn’t said much.”

“He looks like a kind old man, but he’s quite the sly weasel…” I said.

Sylphy and Melty wore stern expressions on their faces, but Serafeeta and Doriada looked fairly composed—especially Doriada.

And yeah, you might’ve noticed I stopped with the formal names. You get it, right? As for Serafeeta, well, she’s Sylphy’s mom, so I still can’t seem to shake formalities there…

“There will be fewer problems we can solve through combat going forward,” Sylphy said after a pause. “Which means we’ll need to focus on recruiting and training intermediaries and spies.”

“At the end of the day,” Doriada said, taking a carefree tone, “it’s pointless to try to think about this when we don’t have enough information, so let’s not lose sleep over it.”

“Is that really okay?” Sylphy replied with a frown, but maybe Doriada was on to something. It was a waste of time stressing over questions with no answers.

“That said, I think Doriada is right,” I concluded. “Thinking about what’s going on inside the Holy Kingdom is pointless if we don’t have anything to work with. Let’s set that aside for now and talk about the pioneer village project Melty’s been running around dealing with.”

Melty nodded. “I already sent word out to the various regions informing them to select development sites immediately. Most have already chosen their areas and started gathering former demi-human slaves for us. Preparations should be finished within a few days.”

“Okay. In that case, I’d like to head out soon and start gathering construction resources. It’d be a good idea to get as much as I can.”

“Understood. I’ll adjust your schedule.” Melty said briskly.

“Ah, in that case, can I make a request?” Serafeeta chimed in. “I’d like you to take Aqual with you when you go out to gather resources. Do you mind?” she asked with a tilt of her head.

Serafeeta was acting much more casual with me these days.

“I mean, I don’t mind,” I said carefully. “But why?”

Aqual wasn’t exactly my biggest fan, so I didn’t think there was any reason to go out of my way to work together on the field. Then it hit me—maybe this was Serafeeta’s way of nudging us to get along.

“I want her to see you as you really are, Kousuke,” she said, tilting her head again with that same soft smile.

“I guess that’s fine,” I muttered. “But…”

I glanced over at Sylphy, who nodded with a strained smile on her face.

“She’s been cooped up in the castle too long. Some fresh air will do her good. And besides, if she’s with you, she’ll be perfectly safe.”

Melty’s lips curved in a sly grin. “Isn’t it actually dangerous in a different way?”

Sylphy just shrugged, feigning innocence. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

I’d really appreciate it if the two of you stopped talking about me like I have no self-control or integrity…

I mean, considering the current situation, I couldn’t exactly deny it was a possibility… I could admit that I was easily swept up in the mood at times, but it wasn’t like I was out there chasing every woman I met. The only one I’d actually pursued was Elen.

Though I suppose that’s more than enough proof. Yeah. In terms of how this world views chastity, or I suppose marriage in general, apparently I’m the weird one.

“Kousuke’s making that face again.” Melty sighed.

“Still not used to all this?” Serafeeta smirked.

“I’m trying,” I said. “But it’s hard to shake the values you grew up with.”

Even I knew I couldn’t keep acting wishy-washy about this stuff forever. Still, I had zero intention of throwing myself at Aqual, so I wished they’d lay off the assumption.

“If that happens, then we’ll all be one big happy family,” Serafeeta said with a smile.

“Er, that’s a bit…”

I trailed off, because from Serafeeta’s point of view, she’d already decided that Ifriita and I were basically inevitable. I wasn’t going to… Okay, maybe I couldn’t deny that one completely. But Aqual? Not a chance. I could tell that she essentially saw me as her enemy.

But at the end of the day, whatever happened, happened.

Sometimes you just had to accept your fate.

***

The next day, while waiting for the schedule to be finalized for our resource-gathering trip, I figured I’d work on the mana trap. I made my way through the castle and headed for the R&D department, feeling surprisingly refreshed. I had last night off—first one in a while—so I was full of energy. It was nice to have days like this once in a while!

“Ooo.”

While that thought was crossing my mind, a lazy voice made me look down just in time to see Lime ooze out from the stone floor in front of me. Literally. Not that there were any visible gaps between the stones, so how she managed that was a mystery.

Before I could ask her about it, I heard a loud smack from behind me. I turned around to find green, bubbling liquid taking human form. It was Poiso.

I couldn’t even think about why they’d showed up because right away, the door to my left swung open.

“…Howdy.”

Standing there silently was Bess, her body shimmering like translucent red jelly. I figured she would pop up as soon as Lime and Poiso appeared.

But what was up with their vibe? Lime was always smiling, sure, but Bess and Poiso had a strange, almost sulky air about them.

“Kooousuke?”

“Hm? What’s up?”

“What about uuuus?” Lime asked, tilting her head, her smile unchanging.

Us? Hm? What did she mean?

“You’ve spent time with everyone else, but ignored us?” Bess asked.

“Er.” I instinctively raised my voice in surprise at Bess’s question. Poiso chimed in after hearing that.

“Does that mean you don’t even think of us…?” Poiso added quietly.

H-huh?! I mean, sure, we’ve definitely been involved together, but like, wasn’t that more like they were feeding on me?!

“What about uuuus?”

Before I could react, Lime got up close and personal with me, looking up at me with a smile. And just like that, Bess and Poiso were right next to me too. Close enough for me to touch, even.

“Um…”

My eyes darted around in the hopes of finding someone who could help me, and that was when Melty rounded the corner.

Yes! Melty’s here! I’ve won!

“Mel—”

“Ah, take your time!” she said with a cheerful smile, walking straight past.

Clearly they’d planned this beforehand. I was doomed.

This is it… It’s over…! I can’t escape…!

“Of course I didn’t forget you girls,” I said quickly. “I’m always grateful for everything you do around here,”

In perfect unison, all three of them placed their hands on my cheeks and collarbone.

What was about to happen to me?

“He’s nooot lyyyying.”

“Not guilty.”

“I see.”

Wait. Did they just test me to see if I was lying? Holy crap, that’s terrifying. They can do that just by touching me? Oh, man.

“Don’t be scared.”

“Your heart is racing.”

“People tend to sweat when they’re scared or panicked, you know.”

“Okay, okay. I get it. My bad. I surrender. So, can you please stop freaking me out? Okay? Cool.”

I raised both hands in defeat. Satisfied with my response, they took their hands off my cheeks and collarbone.

Honestly, they weren’t wrong. Compared to the other women in my life, I had been neglecting the slime girls. They were fond of me, sure, but I’d always felt like they saw me more as their plaything, or as their food, almost.

And as I thought that, they pressed closer. Actually, scratch that, they were already plastered against me. I was overwhelmed by soft, boingy, squishy sensations coming at me from three directions.

I had no words.

“Then it’s oooour turn now.”

“Prepare yourself.”

“We’re going to get serious.”

“Just, be gentle, okay? Just because you can put me back to normal afterward doesn’t make it okay to do anything and everything. Hey, are you even listening?! Where’s your answer?!”

I was being dragged into the room that Bess had appeared from, and inside was a staircase that most likely led underground. This was bad. This was definitely bad.

“Hey, wait! Wait, hold on! Promise me you’re not gonna—hey, stop! Noooo! Someone save me!!!”

My cries were cut off the instant a blue liquid tentacle slipped out and closed the door of the room shut.

***

Long story short, the slime girls’ “hospitality” turned out to be surprisingly gentle.

“Ooooaah…”

Lime’s pleasantly warm body enveloped me, massaging every inch of my body. It felt like I was taking a dip in a hot spring and the water itself was massaging me.

“Feeeels good?”

“Real good…”

I thought I was screwed when they first ripped off my clothes. Then Poiso wrapped herself around me, her body tingling against my skin, and for a second, I panicked—convinced that she was about to eat me. But instead she was…cleaning me. She was melting away all of the dirt and grime on the surface of my body.

“Wouldn’t this be dangerous if you messed up?” I asked nervously.

Her response was blunt.

“I practiced a lot to make sure I’d get it right.”

I was too scared to ask her what—or who—she practiced on and what happened when she screwed up, so I didn’t press her for details. I’d seen this trio melt through chunks of gizma meat like butter more times than I could count.

After that, Bess took over and gave me an oil massage. And that brings us to the present.

How was I doing? Well, Lime had me completely wrapped up from the neck down, her entire body—if you could call it that—was warm and pliant. My head was pressed back against Lime’s cleavage, and it felt wonderful… Although to be honest, given that she was a slime and didn’t have a set body shape, she didn’t exactly have a chest or a butt, so these breasts were basically imitations. Very convincing ones.

“You okaaay?”

“Ah… Hm? What do you mean?”

“Are you puuushing yourself too hard?” Lime asked, peeking at my face with a genuine worry written across her own.

“Siiiince you’re not from this world, you don’t have to wooork so hard, you know?”

“Ah, right… Well…” I smiled faintly. “I’m not really pushing myself. Honestly, I’m having a blast every day. I’ve got kids with the harpies, and Elen and Amalie are due to give birth this fall. I just want to close the book on some stuff for my kids’ sake.”

I wanted my children, the ones already born and the ones still yet to meet the world, to live somewhere safe and peaceful. Working toward something like that was hardly a struggle for me, and if anything, it felt worth doing. I had no desire to chase around something as lofty as “world peace,” but I had to do anything I could for my children.

“Oooooh…”

“Whach are fuu doofing?” I tried to ask, but Lime’s hands began to knead my cheeks. Apparently, my answer wasn’t the one she was looking for.

“If things ever get to be too much,” Bess said softly, “you can always come running to us. We’ll protect you from everything in the world. It’d be fun living together again, just the four of us, like before.”

She’d started pushing up the tip of my nose mid-sentence.

“Nrgh.”

Why was she trying to make my nose look like a pig’s?

“I’m not nearly as sweet as they are,” Poiso chimed in. “You’ve done plenty, so I think you should take responsibility for your actions. But if you ever get tired, don’t hesitate to come here and relax. I don’t mind looking out for you for a little while.” She gently slapped my cheeks with her green viscous hands.

“Yooou say that, but yoooou’re sweeeet tooooo,” Lime sang.

“You’re basically saying the same things we did,” Bess teased.

“Not at all. We are not remotely the same. Were you two even listening to me?” Poiso protested sternly while Lime and Bess giggled.

It was her right to disagree with their observations, but I really wished she’d stop slapping me, because it was really starting to hurt.

Poiso did her best emphasizing why she wasn’t sweet like Lime and Bess, and how her words were totally different, but the other two completely brushed her off.

Mind you, from my perspective, I felt Poiso was being just as sweet in her own way. Having people tell me I could come and get comfort from them when things got too heavy made me genuinely happy. I ended up spending the rest of the day being completely spoiled by the three slime girls.

When I woke up the next morning, they were the ones rousing me—smiling like nothing had happened. And as usual, I realized I had no memory of anything that happened after dinner. I decided not to think too deeply about it though. This sort of thing happened a lot after hanging out with the slime girls.

But it was fine. Totally.

Whenever I tried to think too hard about what happened, my head started to hurt, so it was a bad idea to go down that path.

Got it? Cool! Wonderful.

Chapter 6: Running Thoughts Across the Night Sky

Chapter 6:
Running Thoughts Across the Night Sky

WHILE INSTINCTIVELY REJECTING any memory of what happened last night, I got to work.

That said, I didn’t exactly have a fixed position or a specific job to do at the moment. I was a free man, not unemployed, got it? I was self-employed, actually.

Granted, it was practically guaranteed that I’d be used like a workhorse to build pioneer villages all over the country soon enough, so it wasn’t a bad idea to enjoy this little slice of freedom while it lasted.

“And so,” I began, “I was thinking of doing a little bit of resource gathering.”

Aqual’s icy blue eyes stabbed into me. Her silent stare was cold enough to send chills down my spine, and sharp enough to ask, “And why exactly are you bothering me with this?”

“You see, Serafeeta told me to take you with me,” I explained.

“No way.”

“She also said you might get depressed staying holed up in the castle all the time.”

“I didn’t ask for your help.”

“I just figured it’d be a nice change of pace…”

“That’s quite all right.”

With one swift stroke of her metaphorical sword, Aqual cut down each of my invitations. She didn’t even blink. She wasn’t going to give me the time of day.

“Personally,” I sighed, “I’d prefer it if one of Sylphy’s older sisters didn’t just hate me.”

“…But I do.”

Her words cut deep.

“Not satisfied with just Sylphy, you’ve sunk your venomous fangs into Mother, Doriada, and now you’re trying to do the same to Ifriita as well. You have no integrity, and I hate you.”

Her voice trembled slightly, but not from anger. This was restraint.

“And what is Mother even thinking?” she continued, her tone tightening. “Forgetting about Father so quickly and running into your arms after he gave up everything to protect us…” Aqual turned away after spitting out her words.

She paused then, voice softening. “I…overstepped. It is not as though I’m ungrateful. If it weren’t for you, we would still be frozen in the castle, or worse, the filth from the Holy Kingdom would’ve undone their magic and had their way with us. Perhaps Sylphy would be dead, and more of our people would still be suffering under the Holy Kingdom’s rule.”

She paused again.

“I get to live together with Mother, my older sisters, and Sylphy because of what you did. And we don’t have to worry about starving, freezing in the harsh cold, or living in fear of the Holy Kingdom. I get it. I do, but…”

Aqual looked down and went quiet. After hearing what she had to say, I felt a mix of “I see,” and “I figured.”

It was complicated.

From Aqual’s perspective, I was an interloper who’d unraveled the bonds her family had with her father, the former King Ixil. If I only had a relationship with Sylphy, maybe she could’ve accepted that, but now Doriada, Ifriita, and—worst of all—Serafeeta had affection for me.

It wasn’t like I went out of my way to romance anyone, and I suspected that my skills—specifically my achievements—were giving me the bizarre affection boost that ultimately led to this, but there was nothing I could do about it.

“Okay,” I said finally, nodding once. “I get it.”

“…Do you? Then that is that. Please leave me be. I intend to live quietly, tucked away in some forgotten corner of the castle so as not to get in the way of anyone.”

“Actually,” I said, “your hatred of me is one thing, but this is another. I get why you feel the way you do, but that doesn’t mean you’re not coming with me to go gather resources.”

“But why?”

She gave me a look that practically yelled, “What is this idiot talking about?”

Still, I wasn’t gonna back down. Now that I knew my “affection points” with her were in the negative, I finally had something to work with. Besides, maybe it was my imagination, but she was speaking much more candidly with me now.

“You’re probably gonna have to work and live alongside people you don’t like sooner or later,” I told her. “You can’t just duck out every time that happens, so think of this as practice. Luckily for you, since I have an intimate relationship with Sylphy, you don’t have to worry about me approaching you with bad intentions.”

“That is not the problem.”

“I’d say it’s pretty important for royalty to learn how to make use of folks they hate if it means getting something out of them. Just come at this like you’re using me. And since Serafeeta told me to take you with me, you might as well give up.”

“Urgh!”

Aqual glared at me as soon as I said Serafeeta’s name. That must’ve touched a nerve. Oh, when she made that expression, she looked exactly like Sylphy.

Well, long story short, I strong-armed her into coming with me. And since my affinity points with her were already in the negative, I didn’t have to worry about them dropping any lower—that meant I could do just about anything.

“Now, now, let’s get ready to head out,” I said. “Oh, and for what it’s worth, I’ll handle everything on my end to make sure you’re comfortable even if you don’t lift a finger.”

I had everything—clothes, underwear, and anything else a person might need in their day-to-day life—all stored in my inventory. If push came to shove, I could get anything ready on the spot. If she demanded “a room suitable for royalty” while standing in the middle of the badlands, I was confident I could make it happen.

“What a forceful and savage way to escort a lady,” she said coolly.

“Well, I was raised as a commoner. Elegance isn’t exactly in my skill set,” I replied with a shrug, prompting Aqual to let out a defeated sigh.

For now, though, I was glad to have broken through the first barrier, so to speak.

***

This little gathering trip was scheduled to last two nights and three days. Today would be spent in transit, tomorrow for gathering resources, and the day after that would be packing up and heading home.

My party consisted of the three ogre girls, three harpies for security purposes, Grande, and Aqual.

However…

“It is absurd for a daughter of the royal family to leave without a single attendant. And even more absurd to expect me to stay overnight with a man.”

Aqual resisted to the bitter end. Unable to contain herself, she marched straight to Serafeeta to lodge a complaint. Obviously, I accompanied her.

“So she says, Lady Serafeeta,” I reported.

“I see. Well, you are still going.”

“But, Mother!”

Their back-and-forth was almost comical. In the end, Aqual’s protests earned her one concession: permission to bring along two maids who would serve as both attendants and bodyguards.

And that was how we found ourselves in the castle’s parking lot—the place for boarding carriages—preparing to depart.

“Ah ha ha ha, long time no see.”

“It really has been. I’m glad you’ve been doing well.”

One of Aqual’s attendants turned out to be someone I knew: a large woman whose round, brown, fur-covered ears twitched atop her head.

“A maid…?” I asked, tilting my head. “Really?”

“Y-yeah, technically,” she replied.

The woman in question—Gerda—wore a troubled look on her face as she fidgeted in place. Sure, she was wearing an apron dress with muted colors, but she had a cuirass over her chest and metal-reinforced gauntlets on her arms. I couldn’t see what was under her dress, but judging by the clink of her steps, she must’ve been equipped with metal-enhanced leggings.

But what stood out the most were the specially made steel tower shield on her back and the steel long mace resting beside her. Those were both custom pieces of equipment I’d forged for her in the past. They bore a few familiar dents and scratches, so I recognized them instantly.

If I had to describe her simply, I’d say: A fantasy battle maid. One who prioritized power over all else.

“You don’t look like any maid I’ve ever met.”

“I-I technically belong to the royal guard.”

“I see?”

Did she have a royal guard position assigned to protect the female members of the royal family? And wait, if she was part of the royal guard now, that meant…

“You got promoted?”

“Ah, yes. I was originally just heavy infantry, but I was selected to join the royal guard, so I suppose I did get promoted.”

“Well, hot damn. Congratulations. But how come I haven’t seen you around the castle until now?”

“I was reassigned three days ago. This is actually my first mission.”

“Ha ha, I see, I see.”

As Gerda and I caught up with one another, the other bodyguard strode up behind her and slapped her butt.

Whap!

It was a great sound.

“Eeek!”

“Stop chitchatting and do your job.”

The culprit was a sharp-eyed woman I’d seen around the castle before. She gave Gerda a glare. I didn’t know her name, but it was hard to forget someone with a presence like that.

“I would request that you not pamper the newbie too much, Lord Kousuke,” she reprimanded me.

“Roger that,” I said. “By the way, might I ask your name?”

“Now that you mention it, I’ve yet to introduce myself. My name is Riviera. I serve in the royal guard, primarily attending to and guarding the female members of the royal family. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” she said before politely bowing her head.

She had grayish-blue skin, black bat-like wings, a pointed tail coming from her lower back, and curled sheeplike horns like Melty’s. In other words, she looked like a stereotypical demon. Her eyes especially stood out: black sclera framing vivid red pupils.

Her look was so unique, it was no wonder her image was burned into my mind even though we’d never spoken before.

Still, it was only polite to return the introduction. That’s what the Kojiki says, apparently.

I had no idea if that was actually true, but I digress.

“The pleasure is all mine. My name is—”

“I know who you are, Lord Kousuke.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

“Indeed.”

Lady Riviera nodded.

While her striking appearance made her memorable, she was ultimately one of many people working in the castle. I, on the other hand, was the partner of the nation’s ruler, an openly recognized Fabled Visitor and one of the main figures behind Merinard’s restoration. Add in everything involving Grande and the northern war, and there probably wasn’t a soul working in the castle who didn’t know my name or face.

So of course Lady Riviera knew all about me.

“Um, I apologize for giving you more work, my lady.”

“It’s fine. This is my duty. And you don’t need to be so polite with me. You are Queen Sylphyel’s partner and the king consort. I am merely a member of the royal guard tasked with protecting the royal family.”

“I’m just a small-fry commoner, so I’m not great at acting like some big shot royal guy. So I’d be pleased as punch if you could just overlook that stuff.”

“I suggest you grow accustomed to it soon. If I may speak plainly, such behavior could cause others to look down on Queen Sylphyel.”

“I’ll do my best.”

At my reply, Lady Riviera—er, Riviera—bowed her head deeply toward me, then took Gerda over to where the airboard was waiting. As they spoke, Riviera’s tail would flick, slapping Gerda on the butt. It looked like she could use that tail of hers pretty freely.

“A new rival appears,” one of the ogre girls muttered.

“I doubt it. She’s a member of the royal guard.”

“We’ll see about that! Gerda’s had the hots for you ever since the Liberation Army days, and it’s pretty sus to me that she transferred to the royal guard right after you came here.”

“It’s like she followed you! Now that’s true love.”

“Wait, hold on. You can’t just drop a bombshell like that on me.”

Gerda had the hots for me since all the way back then? Actually, wait, I vaguely remembered someone saying something back when me and the rest of the guys were chatting, but I didn’t know if they were being serious or not so I just ignored it.

“Ever the sinful man.”

“You must be targeting Lady Aqual next, eh? Tryin’ to collect the whole royal family?”

“Maybe Riviera too. I mean, hey, at this rate, you’ll achieve true harmony among all races.”

“I’m not planning on doing any of that. Seriously.”

The ogre girls shot me suspicious looks.

Seriously! I just wanted to stop things from being so awkward between me and Sylphy’s big sister. Besides, Serafeeta asked me to take Aqual along, so this little trip was meant to try to smooth things over between us. The last thing I wanted was to do something as dastardly as conquer the entire royal family. I mean, did the ogre girls already consider Ifriita a done deal?

At this point, nothing had happened between the two of us… Okay, maybe I was stretching the truth a little, but nothing decisive had happened between us yet, so it didn’t count.

“By the way, where’s Grande?”

“Oooh, tryin’ to change the subject, are we?”

“Shut up!”

“Ow!”

I smacked Bela on the rear end, earning a yelp and a grin. Her muscles were firm beneath my palm, making it extremely satisfying to slap. I decided I’d slap it every time she messed up.

“If you’re looking for Grande, she’s already asleep on the airboard.”

“Looks like everything’s loaded too, so it’s about time we head out.”

I looked over toward the airboard. All of Aqual’s luggage was already stowed on board. She had an impressive number of large wooden boxes stacked and secured. Were all of those hers? What was she even bringing?

Still puzzled over what could possibly require that much cargo, I made for the airboard with the others. Space looked tight, but if it came to it, we could just take two. Bela could pilot one, and I’d handle the other.

***

I added all the wooden boxes to my inventory and climbed onto the airboard.

Our passenger list was a bit of a squeeze: me, an adult man; Grande, a child-sized dragon with a massive tail; Shemel, Bela, Tozume, all ogre girls towering over two meters; Aqual, small and delicate; Gerda, nearly as large as the ogre girls; and Riviera, an adult woman. Even though I’d built my personal airboard larger than usual in case of combat, we were really pushing the limits of its capacity. The three harpies accompanying us were flying to watch the surroundings, so at least we didn’t have to fit them in too.

“I mean, we can probably cram everyone in if we really squeeze,” I said, glancing at the crowd of passengers. “But…”

“In that case, the princess would have to sit on your knees,” Bela said.

“Not happening,” Aqual replied, rejecting the idea immediately.

So in the end, we split into two airboards. I piloted one with Shemel, Tozume, and Grande aboard, while Bela took the other with Aqual, Gerda, and Riviera.

Personally, I’d wanted Aqual to ride with me, so we could talk and maybe close some of the distance between us, but from a security standpoint, this setup made more sense. At least two of the ogre girls needed to stay close to me, and both Gerda and Riviera had to accompany Aqual. It couldn’t be helped.

“So what exactly are we gathering this time?” Shemel asked.

“Anything we can get our hands on, really. You can never have too many building materials like stone, clay, and lumber. Some humus would be great, too. Actually, if I end up using farm blocks, I might risk over-production, huh?”

“Isn’t more stuff to harvest a good thing?”

“Yeah, but the farmland I make is…”

I began to explain things to Shemel, who tilted her head at me.

The fields I made came in different grades. The highest quality used farm blocks made of humus I’d then cultivate myself. Those didn’t require much upkeep; someone else could just sow the seeds and tend to them normally, and within one to three weeks they’d have a full harvest. Pests avoided them entirely, and we’d never had a single bad yield. Obviously, each crop had its own growth cycle, but even the slowest ones produced a harvest each month. By raising cool-weather crops in winter, it was possible to get twelve harvests in a single year. Pretty badass, right?

The next grade down was cultivated from fertile land. Places that were already farmlands to begin with, or areas that were once forests with plentiful humus, for example. Those produced harvests in one to two months without me doing anything. A wheat crop, for instance, could be harvested in one-fifth the usual time. Talk about quick, huh?

The lowest grade was infertile land. Even there, I could make something workable. Crops would mature in about three to four months, and we’d confirmed that even in places like the Omitt Badlands, where even weeds barely survived—wheat could be grown and harvested twice a year.

When I thought about it that way, my agricultural ability was absurd.

“Now I get why the Liberation Army’s food and money situation was so ridiculously good…”

“You can really grow wheat in a week? If you stared at it all day, you’d probably see it sprouting in real-time, huh?”

“I don’t plan on making everything top-tier farmland,” I said, laughing. “But I do want to collect as much humus as we can.”

Food wasn’t the only thing worth cultivating. Hemp, flax, cotton, tea leaves, and sugarcane could all become valuable commodities. Something like beer from wheat and hops, wine from grapes, or oil from olives and brassica could all boost trade. I was sure Sylphy and Melty could manage the business side of things well enough without me to butt in.

“For now, let’s focus on stone and clay,” I continued. “If we find any good lumber around, we’ll grab that too. The only problem is that if I just go around chopping down trees left and right, I could cause a disaster.”

This world wasn’t a game. If I just uprooted trees without a care, I could cause the entire ecosystem to collapse on itself in a single day, bringing on a monster calamity or something. And if people hunted or gathered there, it could have a direct impact on their way of life. On top of that, nearby water sources could go dry, there could be water damage, even landslides. Both Sylphy and Melty drilled it into me not to mess with forests willy-nilly, so I made a habit of gathering resources with care.

“I want to bring back as much as possible, so we should head somewhere far from population centers,” I said.

“Hm… In that case, we could head to the base of the Sorel Mountains,” Shemel suggested. “If we go southwest past the plains, we’ll find some good spots. Not many people go there because of the monsters.”

“Is that really a good idea? I’ve heard wyverns sometimes show up there.”

“I’ve got a plan when it comes to dealing with monsters,” I told the crew. “Don’t worry.”

With that, I steered the airboard southwest, following Shemel’s directions. For now, I kept our speed modest while we were still over Merinesburg. Once we were out of the city, I’d pick up the pace.

***

“We’ll set up camp here.”

“…Here?”

Aqual descended from the airboard, surveyed the landscape, and shot me a doubtful look. I could understand her hesitation; we were at the base of the Sorel Mountains, far away from any towns or villages. In front of us stretched a bleak, rocky mountainside; to the right was a dense forest, and to the left, jagged, rocky badlands.

Wyverns could swoop down from the mountains at any moment, and monsters could crawl out of the forest or the badlands. Plus, the trees and giant rocks made visibility terrible. If we got ambushed, we’d be lucky to react in time. Not exactly ideal for setting up camp.

“Hang on a sec,” I said, using a shortcut to pull out my mithril pickaxe and equip it. Without wasting time, I started smashing the surrounding rocks.

Ha ha ha. Rocks bigger than people? You don’t stand a chance in the face of my mighty mithril pickaxe! You’re like beans to me!

“…Really?”

“You know, I’d heard stories, but seeing it in person is something else.”

“It’s been ages since I last saw him work… He’s gotten even wilder.”

Aqual and Riviera stood side by side, watching in disbelief as I cleared the area in no time at all.

“Same old, same old.”

“Yup.”

“We’re already used to it.”

“Especially since as his bodyguards, we always tag along when he gathers stuff,” Shemel said, shrugging.

Unlike the newcomers, Grande and the ogre girls looked completely unbothered. They’d watched me prep construction sites and build stuff countless times. Grande even started helping, using earth magic to level the areas I’d cleared without me needing to ask. We were perfectly in sync at this point.

“Thanks, Grande.”

“Heh, helping your partner is the same whether you’re a dragon or a human, after all,” she said, nudging her head against my shoulder adorably.

I reached up and gently patted her head. She wagged her tail happily, slapping the ground so hard that the newly flattened soil cracked again. Oh well, it wasn’t really a big deal.

“You cleared out quite the area,” Riviera said, looking around. “Are you putting up a tent here?”

“Definitely not. There’s no way we’d be able to sleep in peace. I’m going to build a simple base.”

“A simple base?” Aqual repeated, frowning. She had no idea what I meant, but that was fair since it was her first time and all.

It was essentially a raised structure, like an elevated base built on stilts. I could have built something on the ground, but then I’d have needed to throw up defensive walls too, which would’ve been a pain. I’d build the floor high above the ground with our living quarters on top, that way the monsters wouldn’t be able to reach us so easily. It’d be safer, faster, and easier to defend. Fortunately, my skill let me set blocks directly in the air, so even if the supports got destroyed, the whole thing wouldn’t collapse.

“I’ll turn all the rocks I just mined into building materials and—pop!”

I activated the blueprint function to build the basic structure all at once. It consisted of a high-floored base on our freshly flattened area. A broad stone platform, about ten meters tall, rose into existence, supported by thick pillars at each corner and one in the center.

“Wha—?!” Aqual’s eyes widened in shock as the giant stone base materialized before her eyes. I figured this was probably the first of many times she’d be shocked like this.

“I’ve got ladders on each corner,” I explained. “Use those to get up and down. Once you’re on top, there’s a hatch, so make sure to close it behind you.”

The hatch was solid steel and reinforced to withstand most monster attacks. That said, Melty could probably still break through it with her bare hands. If I wanted to stop her from getting inside, I’d have to make the entire building and hatch out of pure mithril. And if I only reinforced the hatch, she’d probably just punch through the walls.

“Hm? What’s with that face?” Aqual asked. “Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?”

“Ah, I was just thinking that even if steel can keep monsters out, it wouldn’t stop Melty. She’d probably tear through this place like paper.”

“…Well, she is an overlord.”

Okay, thinking about how to Melty-proof this place was unproductive. I focused back on the task at hand.

I quickly added rooms for lodgings, a cafeteria, and a bathhouse on top of the platform. I’d already designed the layout and had an optimal blueprint, so the whole thing was done in a flash.

“All right, done,” I announced, dusting off my hands. “If you have any requests, I can make it happen, so let me know.”

“I appreciate the bath,” Aqual said. “But why only one?”

“I’m the only guy here. Making two would be a waste. As long as we bathe at different times, we won’t have any awkward encounters, so work out the schedule among yourselves.”

If there had been more men, I would’ve made a second bath, but as things stood, we’d just rotate. The ogre girls would probably want to bathe together. The harpies and Grande would almost certainly want to join me. We could split into two groups; one before dinner, and one after, with me. Simple. We could avoid any unfortunate encounters.

“Once I’ve got defenses in place, we’ll be all set.”

“What kinds are ya thinkin’?” Tozume asked.

“Well,” I said, grinning, “I’ve been holding back until now, but since I’ve started using golem soldiers already, there’s no point anymore.”

Golem cores gave vessels advanced decision-making abilities. Combine that with the weapons I built, and we’d have ourselves a proper perimeter defense. Land and air, both covered.

***

“So these are turrets?” Aqual asked.

“Bingo. Defensive weapons controlled by golem cores,” I replied, puffing out my chest a little.

Each corner of the platform had two turrets, with another four mounted on the underside and two more attached to each of the four pillars making twenty in total. Maybe I was going a little overboard, but considering we were practically camping in monster territory, I figured better to be safe than sorry.

“I combined a heavy machine gun, a golem core, and a golem arm to make these. Depending on the settings, I can program what it targets. Right now, they’re set to shoot monsters, but I could have them target people if needed as well.”

“Isn’t that dangerous? What if they shoot at us?”

“They won’t. The golem cores identify people by their unique magic wavelengths. As long as you don’t dive in front of the barrel mid-shot, you’ll be perfectly safe. They also have a built-in safety so if anything living other than the intended target crosses the line of fire, it’ll automatically stop shooting. Oh, and don’t worry about Grande. She’s a dragon, so she has different magic wavelengths from both humans and monsters, so the turrets can tell her apart.”

I’d worked with Ira and the R&D team to design the control technique, then Grande herself helped fine-tune it, so I was confident in the results.

“I see… These weapons of yours are quite intimidating,” Aqual murmured. “Imposing, even. But how strong are they, really?”

“They’re 12.7mm caliber with a muzzle velocity about three times the speed of sound, an effectiveness range of approximately 2,000 meters, and a maximum range of about 6,700 meters. Though I suppose that probably doesn’t mean much to you,” I shrugged. “Put it this way. These things are strong enough to punch through multiple armored knights like paper, kill them instantly, and even pierce a wyvern’s scales. According to Grande, even a dragon would be in danger after taking a few dozen hits.”

“And what exactly do you plan to fight with all of these turrets?”

“…We’ll be fine if dragons attack us!” I said with a confident grin.

“They will not attack us while I am here,” Grande said, calm as ever.

Her composure really killed my heroic moment, and I gave her a thumbs-up with a smile. I mean, come on. If I had the resources, why not build a fortress that could survive anything? As a survival gamer, I couldn’t help it. Surely I could be forgiven for that.

“Are we really going to be okay?” Shemel asked, peering up at one of the mounted guns.

“We’re definitely not surviving if we get shot.” Tozume muttered.

“W-well, we just have to trust Master…”

The harpies—blue-feathered Fronte, black-haired Rei, and brown-haired Flamme—hovered nearby, staring at the turrets with visible unease.

“Don’t worry, ladies. If wyverns chase you during patrol, just fly back here. These bad boys will shoot them down for you.”

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of!”

“Wyverns at our backs, these guns below us… I might just piss myself.”

“A-all we can do is pray for the best…”

“…They seem absolutely terrified,” Aqual said, glancing at me. “Are you sure this is safe?”

“Ha ha ha, it’s fine!” Rei assured her. “We know how powerful Kousuke’s weapons can be. It’s just easy to imagine what these could do to us, and that’s pretty scary.”

“These are way bigger than the rifles the squad uses,” Flamme said.

“W-we’d be torn apart if one hit us head-on.”

“Torn apart…”

Aqual grew pale after imagining the harpies being ripped to shreds midair. Okay, fine, that was a possibility.

But!

“It’ll be fine!” I insisted. “I built in every safety I could think of to make sure they don’t attack us! Still…maybe don’t fly too close to the targets just in case, okay?!”

“Then they are dangerous! No way, no way!”

I mean, it’s totally fine, but anything could happen! So just in case, okay?!

***

I calmed the harpies, who were still trembling at the idea of turrets shooting them out of the sky, and patiently fielded Aqual’s endless questions as to whether or not everything was “actually safe.” Her narrowed eyes never once softened. By the time I managed to reassure her, the sun had already set.

That was fine. Today was just for travel anyway; exploration wasn’t in the cards until tomorrow.

“I finished making your beds,” Riviera said as I stretched my shoulders.

“Thanks a lot. Sorry to dump that on you.”

“Please. It’s our job,” she replied with an easy smile.

Something about that smile reminded me of Melty’s, even though they had totally different facial features.

“Then let’s make dinner,” Gerda said, glancing toward the wooden boxes stacked neatly in the corner of the cafeteria.

Ah, I get it now. They’re filled with food.

“I made sure we have cooking gear if need be, but I could always pull something premade from my inventory instead,” I told them. “You two must be exhausted after your first time riding in an airboard.”

“Um, well…”

Gerda looked a bit troubled by my proposal. What was that about?

“The three of us will not be eating your food,” came a sharp voice from the doorway.

Aqual’s head poked out from the entrance of the cafeteria.

Why are you hiding like that? I had to wonder.

“There’s a high likelihood that eating your food will result in you cajoling us,” she said flatly.

“Could you not talk about my cooking like it’s some kind of dangerous drug?”

“Well, your food is definitely delish,” Shemel chimed in.

“Mm. Hamburgers are the pinnacle of sustenance. Pancakes and pudding are also divine,” said Tozume.

“They’re definitely rich and delicious, but my favorites are sausage and smoked meat,” added Grande.

Could you ladies please stop talking about this stuff in a way that only makes Aqual sound like she’s right? See? That suspicious look of hers is even more intense now.

“Ladies!” I exclaimed. “You’re not helping!”

“Sure, his food is delicious,” Shemel said, “but that’s not why we’re with him.”

“We like his personality and how capable he is,” Tozume added.

“Master is super nice, he’s super resourceful, and he makes everyone happy!” Fronte chirped from above.

“H-he’s reliable…” Tozume finished softly.

Leave it to her to come in with the perfect backup. This was exactly what I needed! And the harpies were also doing a great job. Look, if the food I made actually did have a love potion-like effect, then most of the Liberation Army would have been head over heels for me. Especially when the Liberation Army was just established and I was feeding everyone with the food and block cookies I made back in the day…

I emphasized this as best as I could.

Only to be met with a cold stare.

“I feel your suspicious glare assaulting me!”

Her silence was louder than any accusation, and it was about to break my glass heart into pieces.

Just kidding.

“In any case,” Shemel said with a wry smile, “while it’d be pretty amazing if his cooking had the power to make us fall in love with him, that’s not why any of us chose Kousuke.”

“My situation’s no different,” Grande frowned, sounding less than pleased. “Kousuke’s food is certainly delicious, but I am not such a foodie that I’d choose my life partner over it. Do not underestimate me, girl.”

There, there, my adorable dragon. No need to get upset.

“But hey,” Bela said, “if that’s what ya gotta do to feel comfortable, then do what ya gotta do. No one’s gonna force you to eat his food.”

“In that case, how about this?” Riviera said, stepping forward. “I’ll try Lord Kousuke’s food myself and see if I develop feelings for him.”

Everyone turned toward her.

“As you can see,” she continued, gesturing to her gray-blue skin and red eyes, “I am a winged demon. Hardly what most humans would call attractive. I doubt Lord Kousuke would—”

“Nah, that won’t be a problem,” Bela interrupted. “The boss was fine with me and Tozume, so you’re good.”

“He was fine with us too,” said Fronte.

“Kousuke’s even intimate with the slimes that live under the castle.” Grande added, matter-of-factly.

The three of them were a bit too quick to refute Riviera’s statement.

“Hey!” I snapped. “Could we not air all my personal business right now?!”

Their timing was impeccably bad. Aqual’s suspicion—not to mention her glare—was practically burning a hole straight through me.

I sensed Riviera’s gaze, her crimson pupils staring fixedly at me. Given the conversation we were having, I was feeling kind of embarrassed.

“…I see.” She said at last. “Now I understand what everyone meant when they said they were drawn to your personality and resourcefulness.”

“Riviera?”

“Lady Aqual, he’s a natural-born lady-killer. I don’t believe he’d need to slip anything into his cooking.”

“Now wait a minute!”

A natural-born lady-killer? Surely, she was joking. I had the romantic aptitude of a stunned fish. Hell, if I’d been that smooth, my life back in my old world would’ve been way more exciting.

“U-um…if we don’t start making dinner soon, it’s going to get late…” Gerda nervously said as she stood away from the rest of us.

But at that point, I couldn’t think about food! I needed an explanation for Riviera’s “lady-killer” nonsense, now.

***

“In other words,” Riviera said suddenly over dinner, picking up right where she’d left off earlier, “the way you conduct yourself allows you to fill in the emptiness in a woman’s heart.”

I had no idea what she meant by that.

“I mean, you say that, but…” I trailed off, trying to make sense of it.

I couldn’t help but be confused.

What was this about my conduct letting me fill in the emptiness of their hearts? None of that rang a bell!

Apparently everyone else understood, because most of the women sitting around the table started nodding in agreement. What was going on?

“Like, you don’t judge folks based on how they look, y’know?” Bela said.

“You’re clearly different from ordinary human men,” Tozume added. “In terms of your tastes and stuff, that is.”

“A normal human man would be afraid of us ogres,” Shemel pointed out.

“And you’re super kind to us harpies,” Fronte added.

“You’re not disgusted when you look at us!” Rei chirped.

“Y-you don’t treat us like shitty birds…” Flamme mumbled quietly, feathers drooping.

That last one stung. I knew the Holy Kingdom had always used that kind of language to degrade them and reduce them to something less than human, and less than worthy of love.

The ogre girls and the harpies all spoke about my various qualities, but it was having the opposite effect…

“Does that not simply mean he’ll accept anyone?”

Aqual’s single, sharp comment cut through their voices as her narrowed eyes fixed on me again.

I mean…yeah, that was basically true. But could you blame me? I had no clue what the men in this world thought about the different demi-human women and their appearances. I didn’t have what was considered “common sense” in this world, nor did I share their universal values. To me, Shemel and the ogre girls, Fronte and the harpies—they were all just beautiful, strong women in a fantasy world.

“I don’t think that’s all there is to it,” Grande said, coming to my defense.

I blinked. That was unexpected.

“You were kind to me even before I took this form, Kousuke,” Grande continued.

She was right. Back when she’d still been a dragon, I hadn’t treated her any differently. Honestly, nothing about the way I saw her had changed much even now.

“He treated me as an equal when I was still in my dragon form,” Grande told the others. “When my older brothers bullied me, he got angry and fought them. He even won. Can you imagine a human standing up to two dragons for someone else’s sake? There was no way he did that with ulterior motives. Kousuke even said so himself.”

It was true, I definitely wasn’t attracted to her then. Even Grande’s mother tried pushing the idea, and I’d firmly turned that one down.

“Whoa. Hearing that puts you in a whole new light for me,” Bela said, impressed.

“Grande’s big brothers…? So that means they were two full-grown dragons, even bigger than her, right? And you fought them?” Tozume asked, eyes wide. “That’s crazy.”

“Well, Kousuke could probably deal with two dragons,” Shemel said. “Still, putting them in their place like that? That’s incredible.”

The admiration and respect in their eyes was almost too much to take. I hadn’t done anything that special. I just saw Grande being treated like garbage and lost my cool.

“It’s that indiscriminate kindness of yours that makes you so attractive, I imagine,” Riviera said, meeting my eyes again.

Her steady gaze was getting to be a bit much.

“…It’s very arousing,” Riviera whispered.

“E-eek…”

I sensed something dangerous in her tone. She wasn’t giving outright predator vibes yet, but I got the feeling that I’d be in real trouble if I made one wrong move. I was gonna have to be careful.

“In any case,” Aqual said, spooning up her soup, “you put dragons in their place? I heard you ended the northern conflict single-handedly, but it’s difficult to believe when I look at you.”

Princess? Could we not talk with our mouths full?

“Mrm, so you do not believe my words?” Grande replied, a tinge of anger in her tone.

Easy, easy. Chill.

“Having seen him create this very base, I do understand his powers are unusual,” Aqual conceded. “However…”

“Then make sure you watch Kousuke work tomorrow,” Shemel said with a shrug of her shoulders. She took a big, loud bite of her sausage, chewed, and swallowed before continuing. “Once you see him in action, you’ll understand just how insane he really is. Whether you want to or not. Considering his true powers, he doesn’t even need us ‘protecting’ him, quite frankly.”

“Oh, come on,” I protested. “Now you’re exaggerating. Sure, if I used golems, maybe. But on my own, I’m not that strong.”

“You sure about that?” Shemel teased with a grin. “I’m pretty sure we’d have trouble bringing you down even without those giant things.”

Aqual’s suspicious stare only sharpened.

Shemel, could you stop raising the bar? You’re only making Aqual more suspicious.

“C-come now,” Gerda said quickly from the kitchen, clearly desperate to change the subject. “We’ll see the truth tomorrow, won’t we? Let’s rest for tonight. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Seeing how frantic she was, Aqual gave a soft huff and went back to her soup, while Grande grumbled under her breath and focused on her own food.

Aqual and Grande were a worse match than I’d imagined.

Hopefully I’ll be able to get them to tolerate each other by the end of this trip…

***

After dinner and a bath, we all went to bed without any unfortunate or perverted incidents taking place. Given the circumstances, I guessed the other women were showing some self-restraint; for the first time in what felt like forever, I got to take a bath alone. It was nice.

And instead of the usual nighttime antics, Grande simply snuggled in bed with me. Thankfully, her sour mood seemed to vanish. It was all very peaceful.

Besides, while our bedroom—lodgings, really—was in a separate building, it was not exactly soundproof. If we got busy in bed, the others would’ve heard every sound. And lord knows if Aqual caught wind of that, her morning glare would’ve hit absolute zero temperatures. Maybe everyone realized that and quietly agreed that tonight would be a night of rest, not revelry.

Unfortunately, peace didn’t last and we had a bigger problem on our hands.

BOOOOM! RATATATATATATA!

The golem turrets opened fire.

Sure, they were doing their job—automatically engaging any monster that tried to attack us—but large-caliber guns didn’t exactly whisper, making them a massive disturbance for people trying to sleep. Grande had no issue sleeping right through them, but I woke up every time one went off. Shemel and the others stirred once and went back to sleep.

Typical adventurers.

“Master…”

A tremble.

“I-I’m scared…”

The harpies, however, were having a real bad time. One by one, they fluttered into the room and squeezed into bed with Grande and me. Their wings trembled and every new blast of gunfire jolted them awake—and, by extension, me too.

Aqual’s definitely going to let me have it tomorrow, I thought as I drifted in and out of sleep.

***

“You certainly look sleep deprived. How indecent.”

“You’ve got it all wrong. Nothing lewd kept me up.”

Aqual wasted no time serving up insults as soon as she saw me in the morning.

Totally unfair. I hadn’t been up all night fooling around; the golem turrets had simply been too good at their job. If I wanted to avoid losing more sleep, I was going to have to make some adjustments, pronto.

Suppressors, maybe? Or a barrel redesign? Either way, they were overkill as far as firepower went, so trimming a bit of range and output in exchange for peace and quiet sounded like a good trade-off.

That said… Would a suppressor alone really help all that much? Since these things were already overpowered, maybe I could just make the entire gun a giant suppressor. A little ridiculous, but worth considering.

“All right, I gotta ask,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “How do you look so well rested after that racket last night?”

“I had plenty of water. I used spirit magic to cover our lodgings with a water membrane.”

I gave an exaggerated bow. “You are quite wise, Lady Aqual.”

She frowned at my overly polite tone, but I wasn’t wrong. The base had an infinite water source built in, and she’d used it to create a barrier that dampened the sound. Not gonna lie, it was a really smart way of handling this and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of that. It seemed a little bit overboard, but while I’d spent the night being jolted awake every few minutes, she basically slept inside a soundproof bubble. I couldn’t even be mad—just impressed.

“So do you plan on sleeping all day now?” she asked.

“Nah. I’m not particularly well rested, but I’ll live.”

Once I washed up and got some food in me, I’d be able to think straight.

The harpies were short sleepers by nature, and Grande and the ogre girls had snored right through the gunfire, so I was the only one suffering from sleep deprivation.

“All right, then,” Aqual said, folding her arms. “I plan on getting a good look at how you work today. I have nothing else to do, after all.”

“Then I’d better make sure to put on a good show,” I said, ­attempting to look hyped.

Aqual, on the other hand, looked anything but. Her expression said, “Why would anyone need to impress me?”

Yeah, still a long way to go before I won her over.

“Okay, breakfast time,” I said, rummaging through my supplies. “Do you prefer a lighter or heavier meal? If you’re cool with the latter, I’ve got wieners or bacon.”

“I’m not a fan of salty meats in the morning.”

“Light it is, then.”

At least she was talking to me without glaring holes through my skull. Baby steps.

***

After breakfast, it was time to start gathering resources. First order of business: turn all the rocks surrounding the base into usable materials.

“Hiyaaaah!”

I dashed around the rocky slopes, mithril pickaxe in hand. Each swing shattered a boulder into dust or made it vanish entirely, depending on its size. This routine let me proceed with my work at a nice, steady pace.

“This never gets any less crazy, huh?” Shemel muttered behind me.

“Sure doesn’t,” Tozume agreed flatly.

“I’ll never get used to this,” Bela added, shaking her head.

The ogre girls trailed behind me as I worked. Even though I was running from rock to rock, every swing required me to stop for a second, so in the end our pace wasn’t much faster than a casual walk. Plus, they were big girls with long legs, so they had no trouble keeping up.

“Once I’ve cleared out this area, I’m gonna start digging.”

“Yeah, yeah. As you wish. Just don’t go digging up some giant worms or creepy monster nests while you’re at it,” Bela warned.

“Whoa, that’s terrifying. Those exist underground?”

Nobody had ever mentioned that before.

***

“What a mysterious sight. Almost as though I’ve been bewitched by some sort of illusionary magic.”

“I feel the same,” Riviera murmured beside me.

“That’s what Kousuke does,” Gerda said brightly, watching him from afar as he was effortlessly swinging his pickaxe.

The tool gleamed, its entire body forged from mithril and enchanted with a gleaming magic jewel the size of a fist—a truly absurd creation. This meant that this one pickaxe alone could finance an entire country. And to make matters even more absurd, he supposedly had several valuable items like it.

“What a strange man,” I said, sighing as I looked down at the “binoculars” he’d handed me earlier.

Another mystery tool. According to him, they were an “optical instrument” made from several “lenses”—some kind of modified crystal. I didn’t understand a word of his explanation, but when I peered through them, distant objects appeared in sharp focus, which only served to delight me. I could use this to look out at the city from the castle balcony. Frankly, I wanted a pair for myself. But I couldn’t bring myself to accept any gifts from that man.

“What an interesting tool,” Riviera said, turning her binoculars toward the trees. She seemed to be rather fond of them as well. She wasn’t just using them to look at Kousuke, but everything around us. This tool even allowed you to clearly see small birds resting on tree branches at a distance. We could spy all kinds of birds that we didn’t see in Merinesburg, and it was quite fun looking for them.

“I’ll ask Kousuke if he’s willing to part with a pair,” Gerda said cheerfully.

“No, I shall ask him myself. Don’t worry,” I told her, thinking that it would be rude of me otherwise.

“All right,” Gerda smiled, clearly satisfied with that answer.

For a moment, I wondered if these “binoculars” could let me get a clearer view of Omicle and Lanicle. With that thought, I directed the binoculars up toward the sky. Omicle was large and bright today, but it didn’t look particularly different. Grr, how unfortunate.

“As far as I can tell, Omicle looks the same.”

Riviera, following my gaze, raised her binoculars too, coming to the same conclusion I had.

“Indeed. It is a bit clearer than with the naked eye, but its size hasn’t changed.”

“Kousuke might have ones suited for seeing stargazing if we ask him.”

I froze, aghast at Gerda’s nonchalance. If that man could so easily create tools like these, perhaps he could craft something that could allow us to see Omicle.

Omicle and Lanicle were celestial bodies that floated in the heavens above us and out of reach. Perhaps if we could see them both much closer and larger, we would be able to see something no one else had ever seen.

“…That would be so wonderful,” I murmured.

But no. It was too selfish, too brazen a request.

Even now, I understood. I knew that it was absurd to direct such malice his way. Logically, I knew he had done nothing wrong. He simply met Sylphy, lent her his strength after she asked him for it, and we were saved as a result.

I understood that he was in fact not only my savior, but my little sister’s savior, and the man who saved the people of Merinard. I knew in my heart of hearts that he was the very individual who fought back against our mortal enemy, the Holy Kingdom.

And yet…I still couldn’t bring myself to like him.

Our father had given his life to protect us, and this man—this stranger—came from out of nowhere and quietly took his place.

I couldn’t accept how easily Sylphy, Mother, and my sisters welcomed him into their lives.

Which was why I couldn’t bring myself to like him—he was the root cause of all these negative emotions swirling within me.

It wasn’t logic. It was entirely emotion. I knew he’d done nothing wrong. But it still felt like my father had been left out to dry. So, so sad.

“Then I’ll ask Kousuke to—”

“No,” I cut Gerda off. “That won’t be necessary. It would be far too shameless of a request. Besides, I would not be able to pay him adequately for such a thing.”

The warmth I’d felt a moment ago—dreaming of seeing Omicle up close—cooled instantly as I lowered the binoculars and looked out toward where Kousuke was working, this time with my naked eyes.

***

I dug into the base of one of the nameless peaks in the Sorel Mountain Range, silently praying I wouldn’t unearth any giant worms or horrifying monster nests. As I trucked along, I glanced back toward the base and saw Aqual and the others watching me from the balcony, using the binoculars I’d given them. So they’d already put them to use, huh.

“The princess sure is stubborn,” Bela said. “Didja do somethin’ to make her hate you?”

“I mean… Maybe.”

The first time I’d met her, her clothes had started falling off, and, well…I’d accidentally gotten an eyeful. Not exactly a great first impression. And then there was the small matter of me being on good terms with her mother, Serafeeta, and her big sisters, Doriada and Ifriita.

“Though, honestly,” I said, “I suppose the thing she’s most upset about is that I completely slipped into the spot her father used to occupy.”

“Ah, gotcha.”

Sir Ixil had been Sylphy and her sisters’ father—the former king of Merinard, and Serafeeta’s husband. He gave his own life and soul to protect the lives and dignity of his family, freezing their time to save them from suffering.

Then along came me. I’d wandered along the border of the Black Forest and the Omitt Badlands, met Sylphy, and ended up using my crafting powers to help the Liberation Army drive out the Holy Kingdom. The victory had freed Merinard, and, thanks to Sylphy, restarted the time of Aqual’s frozen family. After that, everything just sort of happened. I ended up on good terms with Serafeeta, earned the affections of Doriada, and started hanging out with Ifriita.

I knew that Serafeeta, Doriada, and Ifriita each had their own reasons for growing close to me, and those things all happened naturally—but I couldn’t help but think that my abilities might have influenced things somehow. I digress.

I didn’t believe they’d gotten involved with me because of some desire to replace Sir Ixil.

And for my part, I certainly wasn’t trying to take his place either.

“Yeah,” Bela said quietly. “The princess must’ve loved her dad.”

“I’m sure she did,” I replied, digging into the mountain with my mithril shovel.

It wasn’t that anyone was truly in the wrong.

Well, okay. Maybe I had overstepped a little because Serafeeta’s mental state back then was a little concerning. Even so, I never intended to try to be a replacement for Sir Ixil or slight his memory in any way.

Still… Serafeeta’s behavior might’ve actually been a problem. Back then her mental state was so poor that she could’ve even committed suicide. Not that anyone would blame her. After losing her husband, not to mention many of the very subjects she’d been sworn to protect, those survivors enslaved under the Holy Kingdom’s rule…she’d been crushed under the guilt. When I met her, she’d been teetering on the edge of despair. I helped her because I couldn’t not help her. And I was able to support her precisely because I wasn’t from this world. I was a complete outsider, and if I hadn’t been there for her, who knows what she would have done. After seeing her condition at the time, there was no way I could’ve abandoned her.

I simply couldn’t.

“I guess I just gotta stay the course,” I said.

“And then your harem’s gonna get bigger.”

“Look, this isn’t about adding her to the so-called harem, okay?”

Bela just laughed. I wasn’t trying to romance all four of the elven princesses or anything, although the Doriada situation was still a mystery to me. At first, she’d only respected me, but then, somehow, she’d quietly slipped into my bed with the rest of the women in my life, like it was the most natural thing in the world. I wasn’t even sure how or why it happened. What made her go down that path?

I just didn’t know.

“Must be tough, being such a ladies’ man.”

“It’s weird. I was never exactly popular with women before… Maybe it really is tied to my powers.”

The being who granted me my abilities could stop time and interfere with my actions whenever it wanted. If it could do that, what was stopping it from controlling people’s hearts too? The thought terrified me. What if my powers suddenly vanished one day? What would happen to me and all these women who seemingly cared about me?

“What’s up? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I just imagined something pretty awful,” I said. “Not worth thinking about. It’s out of my control anyway.”

If that nightmare came true, if I lost these powers and the faith that people had in me, I’d just have to keep going however I could. I’d struggle to my very last breath.

Looking back toward the base, I saw Aqual and the others aiming their binoculars up at the sky. I started to wonder what they were looking at, before noticing their gazes were fixed on the large Earth-shaped planet in the sky—I believe folks here called it Omicle.

“Wonder what sort of creatures live up there,” I mused.

“Up there? You mean Omicle?” Shemel asked.

“People say that’s where God lives,” Tozume said confidently.

“Huh? I thought it was supposed to be the afterlife?” Bela added.

“I heard it’s a land of monsters,” Grande chimed in.

“Zero consistency,” I muttered.

The girls had completely different answers for me, which was why I couldn’t help but interject. To be fair, the truth was no one knew. From here, all you could make out were vague swirls of clouds, oceans, and land masses. It was too far to make out any details.

Wait…Too far for normal sight, maybe.

“Might be fun to do a little astronomical observation,” I said.

“Astronomi-what now?”

“Just wait. I’ll show you tonight after dinner.”

We didn’t have much in the way of entertainment out here. Night meant food, a bath, and sleep. Aqual and I could drink, sure, but everyone else had to stay sharp for security, leaving them with little to do. If I whipped up a high-magnification astronomical telescope, though, we could all have some fun together. Fortunately, this place was far from civilization, stargazing would be perfect.

“Now that that’s settled, time to get back to work.”

Once I got enough ore, dirt, and clay, I’d move on to lumber. I didn’t know how much I was going to use, and I still didn’t know what the upper limit of my inventory was, but as long as I didn’t wreck the local ecosystem, I planned to gather as much as possible.

***

My little gathering mission wrapped up without a single hitch. With the harpies looking out from the air, the three ogre girls protecting me, Grande keeping watch from the base, and the golem turrets protecting us, it was hard to imagine there was anything that could pose a threat to our party.

“Did we even need to be here?”

“Our mission ended without us liftin’ a finger.”

“Let’s just say we were the last line of defense.”

The ogre girls each offered their thoughts on the matter. They didn’t have to wield their weapons even once.

I mean, isn’t it better that things were nice and safe?

“I think that’s about enough for today.”

“Aye.”

By the end of it, our bounty consisted of a ton of stone, clay, dirt, wood, humus, plus all the bits and pieces from the monsters that attacked us. Thanks to my crafting skills, even the nastiest monster meat could be turned into perfectly edible food, so my provisions had quietly multiplied without me meaning to.

No worries! With my abilities, I could turn disgusting goblin gristle into steaks and hamburger patties!

“Did you get lots of gems this time too?” Bela asked.

“Yeah. And a decent amount of metals to boot. Want me to dump the raw ore out on the table again like before?”

“Totally!” she said, eyes sparkling and nose flaring. She didn’t care much for jewelry, but she loved seeing gemstones piled up in a sparkling mountain.

“I swear…” Tozume muttered, rolling her eyes.

“I don’t wanna take any! I just wanna look at a mountain of ’em is all!”

“I really don’t mind giving you a bunch if you want some,” I offered with a shrug.

The main goal of this trip was gathering practical resources like stone, metal, lumber, dirt, and clay—not luxuries like gems or raw ore. The jewels were just bonus loot, good for selling or trading later. Sure, I could use them to make more gleaming magic jewels, but I already had more than enough of those.

“Good work out there. The bath is ready for you,” Riviera said, stepping out to meet me. She was truly a perfect maid. Although technically speaking, she was a royal guard. Just one who looked good greeting me in maid attire.

“Thanks a bunch. I think I’ll take a dip then.”

After running around the foot of the mountain digging up rocks, stones, and dirt, I was caked in dust and sweat. A chance to wash off and soak sounded perfect.

“But before that…”

I set up a golem workbench in an open area and started tossing in glass, metal, and a few spare machine parts. With a few quick adjustments, I queued up the crafting order for a new project—an astronomical telescope. By the time I got out of the bath, it should be ready.

“Whatcha making?” Bela asked, peeking over my shoulder.

“You’ll see after dinner. We might get to see something cool.”

Bela tilted her head and regarded me with a puzzled expression,, but I just grinned. No spoilers.

“All right, I’m gonna go take a bath.”

“Take your time. We’ll handle dinner.”

“Hmm? I can cook for myself, you know.”

“Since you took care of dinner yesterday, it’s our turn today. Besides, we brought all this food with us,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Ah, good point. Okay, I’ll leave it to you, then.”

Right, right. All those boxes Aqual had insisted on hauling were filled with food because she didn’t trust my cooking, but maybe that was for the best? I didn’t know where Riviera and Gerda stood as far as cooking was concerned, but if they were meant to cook for Aqual in the first place, they probably knew what they were doing.

“Fair enough. Then bath it is!”

“It’s nice getting to soak properly, even out in the field,” Tozume said.

“Normally, we’re stuck in our armor for days, and even if there’s water nearby, we don’t get to bathe or anything. It’s too dangerous,” Shemel added.

“Yeah,” Bela said with a grimace. “You never know what’s lurkin’ under the surface.”

Shemel and the others chatted idly as they followed me into the bath, talking about the kind of problems adventurers ran into out in the wild. Judging by the way they slipped into the water beside me like it was the most natural thing in the world, they fully intended for us to bathe together. Not that I minded, of course.

“You can’t even bathe out there?” I asked.

“Not safely,” Shemel said. “There could be poisonous fish, leeches, parasites and monsters hiding under the water.”

“It’s fine if you know the watering hole is safe, but there’s no guarantee,” Tozume added.

“Oh, but if you’ve got a mage who can use water magic, you’re all set,” Bela said. “Still, when you’ve got to ration drinking water, you really can’t be wasting the stuff on washing up.”

“Huh. I see…”

That gave me an idea. I got the feeling that if we could make a portable magic tool that produced clean water for people, it would sell like crazy. Adventurers, merchants, anyone traveling out in the wild would want one. I smelled cash in the air and decided to talk with R&D about developing this kind of magic tool.

Once airboards became more commonplace, travel time would drastically shrink, but for now, logistics relied on carriages drawn by horses and beasts of burden. Those animals needed more water and food than people did, which took up a lot of carriage space, especially for all that water. If I could develop a small, efficient, water-supply magic tool, merchants could carry more goods instead of water.

Obviously, the initial cost would be a bit high, but in the long run, the profits would more than make up for it. We just had to try to keep it at a reasonable price. That said, even if it was still too expensive for average citizens, there were still plenty of practical ways we could use them. The positive impact on transport efficiency alone would take a huge logistical burden off of things.

“…Hmm?”

I blinked. I was suddenly soaking in hot water. My back and the sides of my head were pressed into something incredibly soft as someone—undoubtedly one of the ogre girls—was holding me from behind. “Ah, you came to?”

“You went all quiet, so we figured something might’ve happened to you.”

“You really are one weird guy,” Shemel added, grinning.

Wait—what?

While I’d been mentally hatching a plan for a magic tool that could produce water, the ogre girls had apparently pulled me into the bath. Weird, I’d completely blacked out in thought without realizing it.

“How rude,” I said. “I was just lost in my thoughts a little.”

“I think it’s weirder that you didn’t notice getting undressed and put into the bath,” Tozume commented.

“It’s not that I didn’t notice. I just didn’t mind. I trust you.”

I was confident I wouldn’t let that happen if a stranger tried to do the same thing. Probably.

“You trust us!” Bela beamed.

“Even though we’re basically thugs with adventurer jobs,” Shemel said with a chuckle.

“Oh, please. Don’t try to act like a baddie now. It’s way too late for that,” I shot back.

Shemel and I went way back, after all. She might’ve acted rough around the edges, but she was one of the most considerate and responsible people I knew.

“Oh, shut it. This is what you get for saying that!”

“Aaaah, nooo! Don’t take him!!!”

Before I could react, Shemel pulled me out of Bela’s grasp and crushed me against her chest. Painfully so. The sensation assaulting my face was spectacular and all, but I couldn’t breathe. I tapped her arm in surrender.

“Buaaah! You girls treat me like a doll even though I’ve got a pretty standard build,” I said between gasps for air.

“That’s ogres and humans for ya,” Tozume said. Her single golden eye glowed fiery red and was fixed on me as she fidgeted in place.

Yeah, no. That look meant trouble.

Shemel, don’t you dare pass me over to Tozume. I think my build is to her liking, and she’ll lose all self-control.

“Let’s get out of the bath before Tozume loses it completely,” Shemel said. “It’s startin’ to look dangerous in here.”

“E-erk… No it’s not. I’m fine,” Tozume protested.

“Tell us that when you’re not breathin’ so heavily. Feel free to get out. I’ll hold down the fort here,” Bela shot back.

“Fine, fine… I swear, what’s the rush? Though I suppose our little princess wouldn’t like it if we got carried away.”

“Hey, uh, you really don’t have to carry me out,” I said.

Too late. Shemel carried me straight out of the bath in her arms. Not only that, she dried my hair and body, then dressed me from head to toe.

Was it just me, or were these girls confusing me for a child or something?

***

“…How unclean.”

The moment I stepped into the cafeteria after bathing with the ogre girls, I was met with Aqual’s icy glare and cutting tone. I’d been bracing for it, but that didn’t make it any less awkward.

“That’s a weird thing to say,” Bela shot back before I could even open my mouth.

I blinked up at her, surprised she’d jumped in so fast to defend me.

“We got him nice ’n’ clean in the bath! Ain’t nothin’ unclean about him,” she said with a smug look.

Well… Technically, she wasn’t wrong, but that wasn’t what Aqual meant, and we all knew it.

“Though even if we take your words as you intend ’em, it’s still a weird thing to say,” Bela went on. “Our relationship with the boss has been formally recognized by Her Majesty. It’s our duty as his partners to comfort him after a hard day of work. That’s what partners do.”

“And I’ve been wondering about this for a while,” Bela continued, “but why do you have it out for Kousuke so much? He’s done nothing wrong. He just accepted your family’s affections for him. Lady Serafeeta and your sisters were the ones who made the first moves. Sure, Kousuke’s broad-minded enough to accept them, but he’s not sly enough to go seducing women for status or power.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” I interjected.

She was right that I wasn’t the type of person who proactively went after women, but… Even if I was passive about it in most cases, I still had physical and romantic relationships with tons of women, so it felt generous to describe me as anything but a perv. Still, if I was being honest, most of the women around me seemed to coordinate with one another in pursuit of me. Romantically and sexually, so that had to count for something.

“Now, now,” Grande said from under a pile of cushions. “Do not scold her too harshly. This is simply her way of asking for attention.”

Up until now she’d just watched us talk, but now she was participating. Aqual, however, froze mid-retort.

“I am not—”

“Are you not?” Grande lifted her head slightly, eyes gleaming. “When I was a child, I would hit my father with my tail and even bit him while we played. From my perspective, it appears you are doing the same with Kousuke.”

The entire room went silent, making things extremely awkward. This was bad.

Real bad.

“All right, enough of that!” I blurted out. “Drop the subject! Let’s eat!”

“R-right. We really put our all into this meal!” Gerda exclaimed.

I had raised my voice to try to lift the dour mood, and Gerda backed me up.

Excellent. That’s the way!

“…I do not have an appetite. Excuse me.” Aqual said quietly before rising and walking out of the cafeteria. Riviera followed the princess a moment later, but not before shooting Gerda a brief, unreadable glance.

“Um… Well, shall we eat?”

“Sure. Yeah.”

That must have been Riviera’s way of telling Gerda to stay here and take care of us. Both of them made dinner for us—they were essentially our hosts for tonight—so it wouldn’t make sense for both to leave.

“Ah… Um, I’ll help,” Bela said, her voice softer now.

“Sorry. I got a little fired up.”

“I don’t think you got anything to apologize for,” Bela said firmly. “If she hates you that much, she can just leave the castle. She gets to live her cushy, privileged little life because you feed her and give her a place to stay. Holding a grudge against the guy who saved her whole family? That’s messed up.”

“I think you’re being a little harsh,” I told her.

“Nah, you’re just too soft. But whatever, that’s what makes you such a good guy.”

“I see…”

Her words were kind, and I was happy she was complimenting me, but it didn’t alleviate my headache. I really wanted to find a way to make peace with Aqual, especially considering she was Sylphy’s big sister.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t even taste dinner that night. I’d spent the whole meal silently trying to come up with a solution.

***

“Okay, that should do it.”

Ruminating over the problem hadn’t gotten me anywhere, so I decided to go for broke. Ultimately, there are some people in the world you’ll never get along with, no matter how hard you try, and maybe I was that kind of person for Aqual. But she wasn’t that for me. If nothing else, I wanted to do everything in my power to prove that much to her.

And so, after getting the telescope and everything else ready, I settled in and waited for Aqual to arrive. I’d asked Gerda to tell her to dress warmly and come here after her bath. Since neither she nor Riviera had returned to say otherwise, I figured that meant she was coming.

Just for the record, when I said “everything else,” I meant a table, a pair of chairs, a notebook with writing utensils for jotting down our observations, and a single telescope. I’d never done anything like this before, so this was the best setup I could come up with.

All that remained was to light some insect repellent and pull out a few hot drinks and snacks from my inventory.

After a short wait, I heard footsteps approaching.

“Thanks for coming.”

“It’s fine.”

Thanks to my Undergrounder achievement, I could see perfectly well in the dark, which made it easy to make out Aqual’s expression.

Her eyes looked a little red, but I decided not to mention it.

“Um, I asked you to come here because I made this. I thought we could do some stargazing,” I explained.

Aqual glanced at the astronomical telescope.

“Is that so? I must apologize for Gerda’s actions. I told her it would be far too forward of her to make such a request of you.”

“Gerda? Huh? She never said anything to me.”

What was she talking about? From the sound of it, Aqual assumed Gerda had asked me to make the telescope.

“Did she not ask you to make this? Ah, or did you question her and find out that I had an interest in a tool that would allow me to see Omicle more clearly?”

“No. I didn’t hear anything from her, nor did I ask. I swear. While I was working earlier today, I happened to see you ladies using the binoculars to look up at the sky, and that’s when I thought of making an astronomical telescope. That’s all. After hearing Shemel and the others talk about Omicle, I just got curious myself.”

“…Is that so?”

I wasn’t sure if she believed me or not, but she seemed to lose interest in pressing the issue. It really was just a coincidence, and if she still didn’t believe me, she could always ask Gerda herself later.

“Yeah. Anyhow, like I said, this is an astronomical telescope. It has a far higher magnification range than the binoculars you used earlier today. In other words, it’s a telescope that lets you see incredibly far away. I figured we could try looking at Omicle and see what we can find.”

“I understand your intent, but why is it just the two of us?” she asked, her wary gaze locked on me.

It was a fair question. Of course she’d have her guard up being invited out alone at night by the same man who was entangled with the rest of her family.

“I just wanted a chance to talk face-to-face, without prying eyes. I figured it’d be easier for us both to be honest with one another that way.”

“Is that so?”

“It sure is. Of course, whether that actually happens depends on how things go from here. But for now, let’s start with the telescope. To be honest, I’m really excited to see what we can spot up there.”

Maybe there were people living on Omicle too. I didn’t know if we’d actually see signs of human life or anything particularly interesting, but the very thought was thrilling.

Aqual kept her distance—like a guarded kitten—while watching me. I let her be and turned my attention to the telescope, pointing it up toward Omicle’s glow in the night sky.

The telescope I’d crafted had a 50mm aperture and a surprisingly light frame. Since Omicle was a celestial body far bigger than the moon back in my old world, I figured this would be more than enough to get a clear view. Furthermore, it had a solid frame and was easy to control.

Now, then, let’s see…

“You seem quite familiar with this. Have you used such a tool before?”

“Nah, this is my first time. Apparently, my ability lets me instinctively use anything I make correctly, so even if I’ve never handled it before, it’s not an issue.”

“Is that so?”

“It sure is.”

We continued talking as I adjusted the telescope, letting my hands work automatically before pointing the end of it at Omicle.

All that was left was to look through it and fine-tune the angle and focus.

“Now, then, let’s see what I can see…”

I could hardly contain my excitement. Through the eyepiece, Omicle came into sharp view. I didn’t spot anything clearly man-made—not that I’d expected to—but the details were mesmerizing. I could easily make out swirling clouds, vast land masses, and the deep color of the ocean. There were stretches of pale gold that looked like deserts, jagged ridges that had to be a mountain range, and rich green patches that were likely dense forests. Those stood out most of all.

“I see. Fascinating,” I murmured, then stepped aside and gestured toward the telescope. “Here, take a look.”

“…All right. Pardon me.”

I stepped away from the telescope and pointed at it, prompting Aqual to lean in and take a look. She adjusted it without hesitation, having watched how I’d operated it moments before. She made a few minor corrections to its angle and observed Omicle out in the distance.

I gazed at her profile, lost in thought about what I saw.

Even before using the telescope, I knew Omicle had both land and oceans. That alone made me hopeful about the possibility of life. But after observing the planet through the telescope and seeing those green stretches of forests, well, that changed everything. If those really were forests, then there had to be plant life. And if there was plant life, it wasn’t hard to imagine there might be insects, animals, and potentially even intelligent life somewhere up there.

Then again, maybe what I saw wasn’t a forest at all and was actually something else entirely. Once things settled down in Merinard, it might be worth launching an Omicle exploration project. Of course, it’d be a while before I ever got to that.

“What are you thinking about?” Aqual asked without looking away from the eyepiece.

“All kinds of things. Oceans, land, what looks like a forest… There might be life of some kind up there. Maybe even intelligent life… I was just imagining a world like ours, with its own people and culture like us down here.”

“I see. There are many old legends about Omicle,” she said softly. “Some claim the gods live there. Others say it is the afterlife. And some call it an evil land overrun by heinous monsters.”

“Yeah, Shemel and the others told me a few of those stories. That’s what made me want to see it for myself.”

I kept quiet about my desire to explore Omicle one day. For now, it was just an idle wish. An idea somewhere in the realm of dreams, so to speak.

“…I imagine one day you might try to reach Omicle yourself.”

That caught me off guard. I must’ve looked surprised, because when I turned to her, she was staring directly at me.

“I know Sylphy and the others must’ve fought hard, but practically speaking, you’re the one who freed Merinard from the evil clutches of the Holy Kingdom,” she continued. “Obviously, I understand there are limits to what you can do on your own, but things would not have turned out the same without you.”

“I don’t disagree,” I said honestly. “And I don’t say that to be cocky either. Without me, crossing the Omitt Badlands would have been nearly impossible for the Liberation Army.”

I doubted that most of the Liberation Army would have survived that massive gizma attack back then. Without the walls and equipment I provided, they wouldn’t have stood a chance against such a swarm of monsters. Even if they managed to flee into the Black Forest, they wouldn’t have survived in the long run. And even in the unlikely event they fought off the gizma, the casualties would’ve been catastrophic—crippling their ability to keep fighting.

“Couldn’t you just flatten the neighboring countries if you so chose?” Aqual asked suddenly.

“Hmm? I’m not sure. Conquering and ruling them would be tough, but if we’re just talking about annihilation…maybe.”

It wasn’t impossible. If I abandoned all self-restraint and used enough gleaming magic jewel bombs and golems, I could destroy just about anything. But what would that leave behind? A wasteland so contaminated nothing could live or grow.

“Annihilating them, huh…? Either way, you possess tremendous power,” Aqual said with a sigh. She sank into the chair beside me and shot her gaze up at Omicle floating in the night sky.

“I must look tiny to someone with as much power as you have. No matter how much I lash out at you, I must seem like a kitten making a fuss at your feet.”

“Tiny…? I’ve never once thought of you that way. I’ve always tried to be earnest and genuine with you.”

I couldn’t help but give a small, rueful smile at her words. This princess was more self-abasing than she let on.

“Earnest and genuine, you say…? If you feel that way, then I’m sure that’s true.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

It sounded like she was holding her tongue. Maybe keeping my distance from her because I knew she disliked me had only made things worse.

“Well… I’d like to be on better terms with you. Or at least try to talk more openly from now on.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

That was the last thing either of us said. But even in that silence, I sensed her hostility had softened, if only a little. Maybe she wouldn’t open her heart up to me anytime soon, but I decided to be satisfied with this for now.

Our problems weren’t the sort that could be solved in a single night.

***

While we didn’t chat much after that, we continued quietly observing Omicle together. We didn’t go out of our way to share our thoughts, but when I looked through the telescope, Aqual used the notebook I’d brought to jot down her thoughts and sketches. When she took her turn at the telescope, I did the same.

Neither of us knew the first thing about astronomy or how to observe the stars, but we did what we felt right. Even without words, there was something very comfortable about sharing that silence with her.

“We didn’t find any signs of human life,” she said after a while.

“Nope. If there were, they’d probably be near the coast, by a big river, or around a lake, I think.”

“Why there?”

“In my old world, that’s usually where civilization started. People need large sources of water to survive. Water for drinking, water for farm work. And living near the sea means you can fish. Also, big rivers leave behind fertile soil when they flood.”

“I see. That does make sense,” Aqual nodded as she adjusted the telescope.

Watching her work reminded me of Ifriita; they were both curious like that. Funny how different she was from Sylphy, who preferred moving her body over studying. I didn’t know much about Doriada’s interests… I’d make it a point to sit down and have a nice long chat with her later.

“Do you think this is a large river?”

“Lemme see…”

I stood up from my chair and leaned toward the telescope. Since Aqual had invited me to take a look, I peered through the lens. It was hard to tell, but there was a faint curving line cutting through the land.

“Yeah, that might be a river. If we can see it from here, it must be massive.”

“Agreed. How big do you think it is?”

“Hmm… If we knew exactly how far away Omicle was, we could calculate it. But I’m no expert in that kind of thing.”

“That’s surprisingly disappointing.”

“Hey, there’s stuff even I don’t know.”

I could use the stars to find my bearings, sure. But that was just a survival skill, not real astronomy knowledge. I’d always been more interested in practical stuff like guns and preserved foods, so I went out of my way to learn about them, not stars.

“Maybe I should build a telescope designed specifically for observing Omicle.”

“What do you mean?”

“A bigger one. Something that could show us finer details. In my old world, they built massive telescopes—so big they needed entire buildings to house them.”

“A whole building…?” she asked, tilting her head and casting me a dubious look. She probably couldn’t even imagine it.

“Yup. They’re called astronomical observatories, and they’re basically where you put a giant telescope on top of a facility the size of this base. Some of the newest telescopes didn’t even use lenses. They’d emit energy waves—kind of like magic energy—then observe their reflection or something.”

“How very fascinating.”

“There must be scholars and scientists here studying Omicle and the movements of celestial bodies. It might be worth inviting them to collaborate, and maybe even funding their research. I can’t take that on myself right now, but if you’re interested, how about leading a project like that?”

“Me?”

“Sure. Heck, you could even talk to the scholars and study with them if you want. I can provide the equipment and financial support you’d need.”

“Do you think you can win me over with money and gifts?” Aqual asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

I raised both my hands and shook my head.

“I don’t have the time to study astronomy or Omicle myself,” I admitted. “However, I am fascinated by the idea of what may be up there. If you’ve got the time and interest, I can give you the push in the right direction. Equipment, funding, whatever you need. In exchange, I just ask that you share your findings with me. In other words, I want us to cooperate.”

“So you want to use me to satisfy your own curiosity?”

“I think that’s a pretty cynical way to put it, but…you’re not wrong.”

I was realistic enough to know I couldn’t fix our relationship in one fell swoop, but damn, Aqual didn’t make it easy. Would it kill her to be a little nicer to me?

“There doesn’t seem to be any reason to refuse,” she said after a pause. “Fine.”

“Wonderful. In that case, I shall gift this telescope to you, Princess.”

“…You won’t win me over with material objects.”

“I told you, that’s mostly not my intent.”

“Mostly? In other words, it still is a part of your intent?”

“Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping this might help us get along a little better,” I said with a shrug. “But this telescope will also act as a powerful weapon to help you attract astronomers and researchers who study Omicle. They’ll be sure to want to help you. You might even lend it to one of them, so I’ll make two more once we’re back in Merinesburg. Please use them well.”

Her gaze sharpened again as I admitted to having an ulterior motive, but at this point I was used to it.

Honestly, I’m starting to feel pretty good about this.

“All right, fine,” she said at last. “You use me, and I shall use you. I’m satisfied with a relationship where we both come out on top. For now.”

“Woo-hoo!” I cheered with a grin.

One small step for mankind, one giant leap for Kousuke. But wow, this girl really was like a cautious kitten. Seriously.

“Let us call it a night. I’m sure those watching over us are getting bored by now.”

“Yeah, oka—wait, what?”

Watching over us?

Well, I guess it made sense that we wouldn’t be left completely alone. Aqual was an unmarried member of the royal family, after all. One of the harpies, one of the ogre girls, and probably Riviera were most likely keeping an eye on us. Maybe. I didn’t actually know for sure.

“Okay, let’s pack it up, then.”

“Right. Thank you for tonight. I think, after yesterday and today, I’ve come to understand who you are a little better.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m still not sure I completely understand you, but I promise I’ll make an effort trying to find out.”

“I see. Then I suppose we both should,” Aqual said, looking up at Omicle.

Her expression was calm now, no hostility or ice in her tone. Maybe, just maybe, this trip had thawed things between us, even if only a little. I really hoped so.

Now it was time to head home. I’d gathered more than enough resources, and things were about to get hectic for me again. Before I was sent running all over the country, I needed to check in with the Merchant Union and Adventurers’ Guild, see how Ifriita and Ira were coming along with the mana traps, and catch up with Elen and Amalie. Oh, and play with my harpy daughters.

There was so much to do.

***

“So, did you patch things up with my big sister?”

“Not completely,” I admitted. “But I think I’ve made one or two steps in the right direction.”

It was the day after Aqual and I had gone stargazing.

We’d returned to Merinesburg by afternoon, packed up the base, and gone our separate ways once we reached the castle. I headed straight to the office where Sylphy was working to give a report.

“One or two steps, huh…?”

Both Sylphy and Melty—currently buried under a mountain of paperwork—shot me suspicious looks.

“Melty, it’s not what you’re thinking. Nothing like that happened,” I said with a sigh. “We just went from her completely ignoring me to being able to hold a normal conversation. It felt like trying to handle a jumpy cat that hisses every time you move.”

“When Aqual decides to dig in her heels, she really doesn’t budge…”

Sylphy wore a wry smile on her face, and I narrowed my eyes at her.

“Look, don’t take this the wrong way, but what you really need is a proper family heart-to-heart,” I said. “In all honesty, Aqual’s got a lot of resentment toward you all for what she sees as forgetting about Sir Ixil so quickly and accepting me in his place.”

Sylphy’s smile faded. “She always really loved Father… You’re right. I’ll speak to Mother and my other sisters and make time.”

“Please do. You’ve finally got the family back together, so it’d be way too sad if I caused things to fall apart.”

And quite frankly, it was weird that an average guy like me was so popular with the ladies. This world’s ideas of love and marriage still made my head spin sometimes.

“You’re quite the sinful man, Kousuke,” Melty said with a teasing grin.

“Oh, c’mon. I’m at fault here?”

“I didn’t say that. It’s just, you are sinful,” she replied with a giggle.

What was that supposed to mean?!

“So, did you get the resources you needed?” Sylphy asked, mercifully changing the subject.

“More than enough. I just need to combine them with whatever I find on-site and I’ll be set for a while.”

“That’s good to hear. Things are progressing smoothly on our end as well. If all goes well, we’ll have you heading out again within the next few days.”

“Roger that. Oh, I ended up grabbing a bunch of raw gems and stuff again while gathering other things…”

“You can use those as you please—er, actually, maybe don’t go overboard using them willy-nilly,” Sylphy said, chuckling softly. “Still, those are yours to use as you see fit. We already rely too much on you as it is. We can’t keep calling ourselves a healthy nation if we lean on you for everything,”

Melty looked like she wanted to speak up but held her tongue, clearly unwilling to contradict Sylphy in the middle of the discussion. I could tell what she was thinking: No matter how stable things seemed, you could never have enough funds. So despite what Sylphy told me, I decided I’d have a quiet word with Melty later.

***

After speaking with Sylphy, I stopped by to check in on Elen and Amalie, then swung over to the new harpy home to play with the kids. Well, “play” might be generous. It was more like being trampled by a feathered stampede. Battered but happy, I finally made my way back to R&D. This was what I got for prioritizing family time over work!

“Kousuke, you’re a mess. Are you okay?”

“Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“No worries. I’m a-okay!”

Ira and Ifriita were waiting for me, both looking concerned—though in Ifriita’s case, it was mixed with clear exasperation. Still, I was tougher than I looked, so I flashed them a thumbs-up. My kids had just gotten a teeny bit too rough with me. It was no big deal.

“How’s the cathedral analysis going?”

“Decently,” Ira said, rubbing her temple. “But we don’t have a grasp of the full picture yet.”

“It wouldn’t be an overstatement to call that whole place a giant magic installation,” Ifriita added. “And it doesn’t function unless every single part’s in place. I honestly doubt its original builders even understood what they were making.”

“It’s especially annoying,” Ira chimed in, “because analyzing any one piece of the puzzle is basically meaningless. We’ll need time to really understand and wrap our heads around the whole thing, then we can figure out how to modify it and hopefully turn it into something smaller.”

“Gotcha…”

The Holy Kingdom’s cathedral really was a mystery. Where had their craftsmen even learned the engineering techniques required to build such a giant and intricate facility? The more we studied it, the less we seemed to understand about the people over there.

“Oh, right,” I said, shifting gears. “I’m planning to stop by the Merchant Union and Adventurers’ Guild tomorrow.”

“Oh? I’ll go with you,” Ifriita declared naturally.

“Mrm… Me too.”

Ira also announced her intent to tag along, as if to push back against the princess.

Ifriita came along last time, so I was grateful that she was willing to join me again, but Ira…? Well, all right. It was fine.

“What can you even do by coming with us…? Whatever,” Ifriita muttered, clearly thinking the same thing I was.

Ira ignored her and fixed her eye squarely on me. That gaze of hers could be downright oppressive at times.

“He needs protection,” she said flatly. “Kousuke has a history of being fooled and kidnapped.”

“Hey, I already apologized for all the trouble with the Cuvi incident.”

Quite frankly, I didn’t have much of a leg to stand on there. The whole Cuvi fiasco had been completely my fault, and even I couldn’t defend myself on that front. So Ira bringing that up left me no other choice but to surrender.

“Oh, right, I heard about that,” Ifriita said, chuckling. “In that case, I suppose you do need protection, then. You don’t look particularly strong, after all.”

“Right? I’m a defenseless commoner,” I replied dryly.

“Doubt that,” Ira shot back immediately.

I sighed. Technically she wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t helpless, but I really didn’t have much in the way of combat skills. The real warriors of this world could easily block or dodge bullets, and moved faster than my eyes could follow. If any of them closed in on me before I could react, I’d be toast.

Honestly, I couldn’t beat Melty, Madame Zamil, Sir Leonard, the ogre girls, or Sylphy, for that matter. If I had distance maybe I could figure something out…but yeah, that was a big maybe.

“So you’re going to be my bodyguard, huh…? Ah, don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining or anything,” I said quickly when Ira narrowed her single eye, her expression turning faintly wounded.

“If you didn’t know better, it’d be easy to underestimate her. Cyclopes might look small and frail, but a cyclops mage is every bit as powerful as an elven archer or a spirit mage. Ogre warriors and beastmen too. Actually, cyclopes are sometimes much more terrifying.”

“For real? Well, Ira’s magic is pretty incredible.”

I’d only seen Ira in combat a handful of times, but the few glimpses were enough. She’d obliterated whole clusters of gizma and undead with bursts of powerful lightning. Thinking back on it now, the fact that she could cast lightning attacks capable of killing enemies instantly was pretty wild.

“Genius mages are always prepared,” she said coolly. “Any thugs, worthless adventurers, or assassins who come for your life are no more threatening to me than a goblin.”

“Since when are assassins coming to get me…? Wait. Actually, yeah, that could happen.”

I’d been operating out in the open these days, so it was safe to assume the Holy Kingdom already had plenty of intel on me. If they had anyone over there with half a brain, they might well consider trying to kidnap or assassinate me. That said, with a peace treaty in place, I hoped they’d think twice about that.

“How violent,” Ifriita muttered. “You’d better keep your guard up.”

“I could say the same to both of you.”

“I usually never leave the castle,” she replied with a shrug. “And as long as I’m there, Lime and the others keep me safe.”

“Mm. Safe,” Ira agreed with a nod.

“Leave it to uuuus!”

A blob of blue jelly oozed into view, seemingly from out of nowhere, and started bouncing up and down. I guess today Lime was taking the form of a kudzu dumpling, large enough to be carried in your arms.

“Seriously, though,” I said, “Should I be worried? Are there still assassins or spies lurking around?”

“Mm, noooot recently?”

“There were a lot in the first six months,” Poiso said, materializing beside Lime.

“Out from the shadows, then right back into the shadows forever,” Bes added quickly.

I blinked. “Oh man, that’s scary.”

Lime had been joined by Bes and Poiso, who began to reveal the darkness lurking in the shadows of the castle. Apparently, any intruder unlucky enough to slip into the castle was swiftly captured and never seen again. The slime girls didn’t exactly leave survivors.

“I’m honestly impressed that the Holy Kingdom managed to occupy the castle at all, considering the slime girls were protecting it.”

“…There’s nothing impressive about it,” Ifriita said sharply.

“They were cowardly and despicable. That’s all,” Ira added, her voice flat and cold “There’s nothing impressive about any of that.”

“All right, all right, got it. Let’s not talk about this anymore,” I said quickly.

I’d put two and two together; the flash of hatred burning in Ifriita’s eyes and the darkness filling Ira’s said everything. The slime girls had been bound by contract and couldn’t leave the castle. It wasn’t hard to imagine that the Holy Kingdom’s soldiers had committed their worst atrocities outside their reach. I’d even heard rumors that they were using civilians as shields…

“In any event, that’s what’s going on tomorrow,” I said, trying to move on. “I brought back plenty of resources from my trip, so I’ll share those with R&D.”

“Mm. Much appreciated,” Ira said.

“It’s honestly quite the luxury that we have such an abundance of magic metals and gems to do research with,” Ifriita added with a sigh.

“Kooousuke, any souvenirs?” Lime asked, bouncing eagerly.

“Ah, right. Souvenirs. Of course.”

I reached into my inventory and pulled out mithril, raw gems, monster parts, cores, and carcasses, handing them over to Ira and the others.

They all acted calm, but the air around us told a different story. Beneath the surface, that old hatred for the Holy Kingdom still burned strong. They were an irreconcilable enemy, I suppose. Some wounds simply didn’t heal—not in twenty years. Not even in a hundred years in this world, where for plenty of long-lived species, vengeance had a way of lingering.

In that sense, I really was an outsider. I was unable to share in Ira and Ifriita’s fury, even if I understood it—for better and for worse.

“What can I even do…?” I muttered without realizing it.

“Kousuke?”

“Hrm? Ah, sorry. Just talking to myself.”

Ira tilted her head, confused.

But this wasn’t something I could explain to either of them, unfortunately.

I suppose all I can really do is stay by their side.

I didn’t feel like telling them revenge was pointless or anything like that.

But where would this hatred lead them?

Chapter 7: Successive Misfortune

Chapter 7:
Successive Misfortune

THE NEXT DAY.

Ifriita, Ira, and I were on our way to the Merchant Union, riding in one of the kingdom’s luxurious box carriages, the kind I’d started using whenever I needed to travel within the city.

“This brings me back.”

“How so?” I asked, glancing at Ira. “Ah, right. It’s been twenty years since you’ve done this sort of thing.”

“Mm.” Ira nodded slowly, her tone thoughtful. “The carriages we used when we were fighting to reclaim Merinard weren’t this soft.”

“Man, yeah. Those old things really did a number on your butt.”

Back when we were still the Liberation Army, we traveled by carriage pretty often. Unfortunately, the roads were rough, and the suspension on those old wagons was basically non-existent. Every bump on the path rattled your bones. Compared to that, this carriage was a dream. It barely shook, and the seats were nice and soft. Talk about an upgrade.

We chatted idly until our sweet ride arrived at the Merchant Union. Since I’d sent word ahead this time around, we were ushered straight through to the back parlor without issue.

“I apologize for the wait,” came a familiar voice.

Floyd entered not long after we’d sat down and been served tea and snacks. With him stood an employee, a man around my age—or maybe a little older—holding a hefty stack of documents.

“There are new faces on both sides, I see,” I stated. “This is Ira, head mage of the Kingdom of Merinard and also the head of Merinard’s R&D.”

“My, my… We appreciate everything you’ve done for us,” Floyd said with a smile.

“Mm,” Ira replied with a curt nod.

“Oh? You two know each other?” I asked.

“No, this is our first time meeting face-to-face,” Floyd explained. “But R&D has often used the Merchant Union to source resources and materials.”

“Gotcha. That makes sense.”

I might’ve been providing R&D with plenty of materials myself, but they weren’t relying solely on me.

“In that case…”

Floyd turned his gaze to the male employee sitting next to him.

The stranger nodded before speaking.

“I am Wells, a member of the Merchant Union. Floyd has put me in charge of managing the funds provided by Lord Kousuke and strengthening the relationship we have with the Adventurers’ Guild. It is an honor to meet you,” he said before bowing his head.

Wells looked like the kind of man who lived and breathed work. Around my height, but broad shouldered, and clearly fit—he had the kind of sturdy build that came from years of labor, not the soft kind you saw in bureaucrats. If he’d been wearing armor instead of the fancy attire he wore now, he could’ve passed for a soldier or adventurer.

“Wells worked his way up from being a peddler,” Floyd explained. “He has connections all over the kingdom. In his days on the road, he often made requests to the Adventurers’ Guild for protection. He has exceptional field experience, so I decided he was the right man to lead this project.”

“I see. He sounds like a solid choice to me,” Ira said.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I don’t know much about business, so it’s a relief to have a pro handling things. So, how are things actually going?”

“Please allow me to explain. Take a look at these materials,” Wells said, handing me a stack of papers.

Hm, paper, huh? The paper’s quality itself wasn’t the finest quality. It was probably paper made from plants, rather than parchment, but the actual characters looked handwritten, neat and meticulous. I’d only given them notice yesterday, so if he’d prepared all of this overnight, the guy must have worked himself to the bone.

“Your request was to stabilize public order by finding jobs for unemployed demi-humans while simultaneously giving the economy a boost, yes?” Wells said. “However, as an organization, the Merchant Union cannot publicly prioritize demi-humans. Doing so would risk alienating human merchants and damaging our credibility. Therefore, we used the funds you provided to establish a new loan service, one with far more lenient interest rates and qualification requirements than traditional loans.”

“Huh, well, that makes sense. If you openly favored demi-humans, humans would start resenting them. Worst-case, the Merchant Union itself might lose the people’s trust.”

“Precisely.” Wells nodded in agreement. “That is why I designed this new system to support both humans and demi-humans equally. Naturally it still benefits the latter the most in practice, since many of them are eager to start over.”

From there, he launched into an impressively detailed breakdown: the number of active loans, how the merchants who’d received them were using the money, and the expected long-term impact as those funds circulated.

As an outsider, most of what he said went over my head. But even without understanding every detail, I could tell things seemed to be going well. At least in terms of what he was talking about.

“Next I’d like to explain our cooperation with the Adventurers’ Guild,” Wells continued. “Like the loan system, this has seen success. With new businesses popping up thanks to the loans, demand for bodyguards has risen, which has revitalized the Adventurers’ Guild’s activity. Additionally, the equipment loan program you proposed has begun a trial phase, and it appears to be working well.”

“Good to hear. I planned to ask the Adventurers’ Guild about it myself later today, but I’m happy to hear that things are going well from your side too.”

Getting a third-party perspective was important. Still, I figured the Guild might have a few concerns once I checked in with them directly.

“Do you guys need additional funding or anything?” I asked.

“At present, no,” Wells replied. “We have more than enough capital to maintain operations. That said, it is a fact that greater funding would allow us to expand these initiatives more aggressively.”

“All right. Well, I can always supply you with more raw gems or mithril, but I gotta be careful not to flood the market and crash the value.”

“As far as mithril is concerned,” Floyd interjected, “supply hasn’t caught up to demand in the slightest. It will be some time before we have to worry about price drops. The same goes for gems. They may fluctuate slightly, but there’s no risk of collapse. However, if you’d prefer to diversify, perhaps you could supply us with other types of magic metals instead?”

“I can give you guys black steel, magic steel, and magic iron,” I offered.

“Black steel is somewhat unwieldy,” Wells said. “However, there is demand for the other two. Weapons made from them are selling well across the country.”

“Is that so? I’m not really sure if that’s a good thing or not.”

Weapons selling fast wasn’t exactly a comforting sign. It meant people needed protection or at least felt like they did. Either way, high demand for weapons usually meant anxiety was in the air.

“Large amounts of magic steel and iron are strategic resources,” Ira said suddenly. “You shouldn’t flood the market with them without first consulting Her Majesty and the Prime Minister.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” I said. “So before you move ahead with steel and iron, make sure to ask Queen Sylphy and the Lady Melty. For now, I’ll leave a handful of samples so you can check the quality.”

I pulled several ingots of magic steel and iron from my inventory and placed them on the table. Ten of each would suffice, I imagined. With this much, you could forge five to six swords, or twice that many short swords and spears. Nothing that would raise alarms about depleting strategic resources.

Wells froze, breath caught and eyes locked on the ingots I’d just pulled seemingly out of thin air. Floyd, on the other hand, only smiled wryly.

“I get how you feel,” Floyd said with amusement. “Now, then, pardon me…”

He grabbed one of the magic steel ingots and began inspecting it, tapping it gently with a small metal hammer he produced from somewhere and began observing the sounds it made. Was that really how he judged its quality?

“Hmm. Remarkable,” Floyd murmured. “The density is flawless with no inconsistencies. And this sound? You never hear such clarity from metal with impurities.” He examined the rest in turn, nodding deeply as he finished. “There is not a single discrepancy in quality between any of these ingots. I have been a merchant for quite some time, but I have never seen ingots of this purity.”

“Well, crafting is my specialty,” I said with a small grin.

“I can see that,” Floyd replied gravely. “Which is why you must be careful of your surroundings. The Holy Kingdom almost certainly knows about you by now, Lord Kousuke.”

“Appreciate the warning. I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied earnestly.

Truthfully, I wasn’t all that worried. Sylphy and Melty were already doing everything in their power to keep me safe, and with Ira along today, I was doubly covered. I hadn’t checked, but I’d bet there were harpies watching from the skies, and Shemel and the other ogre girls shadowing me nearby. Between all that and my own awareness, I doubted any enemy could slip through and come at me unnoticed.

***

“Be straight with me,” I said, leaning back in the carriage seat. “Do you think there’s actually a chance the Holy Kingdom might go for something as blatant as assassinating me even though we just signed a peace treaty?” I asked Ira and Ifriita while in the carriage on the way to the Adventurers’ Guild.

From my perspective, that kind of move made no sense. I was tied directly to Merinard’s upper government, and we were still in the middle of diplomatic negotiations.

“I think that’s a naive way to look at it,” Ira replied. “It’s not as though the Holy Kingdom is unified under a single will. You should keep your guard up.”

Ifriita nodded in agreement. “Mm. If there are people over there who genuinely desire peace, then there are almost certainly others who oppose it just as strongly, and they’ll push back as hard as they can. To them, you’re an obstacle that needs to be eliminated. In fact, the delegation that came to Merinard even warned us that the old main-sect might try a decapitation strike or terrorism.”

“Wait, what? Nobody told me that part.”

“Because there was no point,” Ira said curtly. “Either way, you’re a high-risk target. Our weakest point.”

“I mean sure, but…”

I wished someone had told me regardless. If I knew I was being targeted, I could at least prepare myself mentally. If I got attacked out of nowhere, I could end up panicking or something.

“You can be pretty careless, you know that?” Ifriita said with a sigh. “It’s like you believe peace is some kind of default state.”

“Can you blame me? Back in my world, assassinations and the like were things you only experienced in games or fiction. The idea of being a target myself feels unreal.”

People who walked around constantly freaking out about assassins were usually treated like conspiracy nuts back home.

As I thought about this, our carriage jolted to a sudden halt, and shouting broke out outside.

“Huh? Don’t tell me…”

“I don’t know yet. Stay put, both of you. I’ll go outside and take a look,” Ira said as she swiftly opened the carriage door and leaped out—only for a fast-moving object to shoot straight at her.

It appeared to pierce her!

“Too obvious,” she muttered.

Clank, clank.

The sharp sound of metal striking the stone road rang out. For a moment, it had looked like the projectile had impaled Ira, but in all reality, she caught it midair with one hand.

“Kousuke, stay inside,” Ira ordered, shutting the carriage door behind her with a firm click.

I glanced down and saw the object on the ground: a small, thick crossbow bolt.

“Dammit!”

“Don’t,” Ifriita said sharply, grabbing me by the collar as I reached for the door with a handgun I’d pulled from one of my shortcuts. “You’ll only slow her down. She’s protecting you,so stay put and let her do her job.”

“But I can’t put Ira in dang—”

Before I could finish protesting, several fierce pops echoed outside. Must have been the sound of Ira’s lightning magic firing off in rapid succession.

“It’s over,” Ira’s voice said calmly a few seconds later, and the carriage door opened again.

Er, wasn’t that a little fast? Like, anticlimactic, even?

“The assassins are down. A few are still breathing, so I’ll leave them to the others outside.”

“The others…?”

I opened the window to take a look and sure enough, Shemel and the other ogre girls were outside, tying up a bunch of scorched figures (probably assassins) still faintly smoking from residual lightning. Harpies circled overhead, and a few members of the royal guard had already arrived to help.

“Those types tend to bite their tongues or take poison,” Ira said briskly. “Gag them immediately. Contact the castle and tell them to be ready to heal and detoxify.”

“U-understood! Right away!”

Flamme—the brown-feathered harpy—received Shemel’s orders and flew up into the sky. Shemel spotted me watching from the window and waved cheerfully, as if to say “See? We had you covered the whole time.”

So they really had been protecting me from the shadows this whole time. Good to know.

“Driver,” Ira said, turning her head slightly, “continue to the guild as planned. There are a lot of demi-humans over there, so humans stand out like a sore thumb. If any other assassins try something, those hot-blooded adventurers will jump in before we need to.”

“R-right away, ma’am!”

The beastman in the coach seat—something between a mouse, squirrel, or hamster—snapped the reins nervously, and the carriage rolled forward again.

“You okay, Ira? Not hurt or anything?”

“I’m fine,” she said simply. “None of their attacks could hit me. I activated our new magic barrier.” She reached beneath her robe and pulled out a crossbow bolt that had been aimed at her, handing it over. “There’s poison on the tip. I’d like you to put this in your inventory as is.”

“Got it.”

I took the bolt, stuffed it into storage, and immediately checked the readout. “Basilisk poison,” I said. “The system tag says, crossbow bolt (coated in basilisk poison).”

“I see. That saves me some time,” she replied, eyes narrowing slightly.

Ifriita frowned. “A crossbow…? I didn’t expect the Holy Kingdom’s assassins to start using those.”

“Mm, it’s not that surprising,” I said. “Some adventurers have been using them too.”

Crossbows were part of the Merinard army’s official loadout, so a few were bound to leak into civilian hands.

We’d been sending squads of soldiers with crossbows out across the country to take down monsters, so normal folks had plenty of opportunities to see the crossbows in person. It wasn’t a stretch that some merchants—or spies—had managed to get their hands on them.

“I suppose that’s true,” Ifriita said.

“They didn’t feel as powerful as the ones our soldiers have,” Ira added, examining the bolt’s shaft. “I don’t think they’re the same kind we have. Some local craftsman probably tried to copy the army’s design.”

“Gotcha. I’d love to take a closer look later,” I said, leaning back with a sigh. “Still can’t believe it. I really got attacked by assassins, huh?”

“It’s stranger that it hadn’t happened sooner,” Ira replied matter-of-factly. “You’re far too important. And far too visible. We need to be more careful going forward.”

“Agreed. And you need to remember your life isn’t just your own.”

“I’ll take that to heart. Was anyone else hurt? Besides the assassins?”

“The assassins toppled some wood and cargo to force our carriage to stop. A number of people got caught up in it and were injured, but the royal guards tended to their wounds right away and Shemel called for medical assistance, so they’ll be okay. There were no casualties outside of the assassins.”

“Thank goodness…”

It was a relief nobody else had died, but we still had to provide maximum aid to those who’d been caught up in all of this. Once we got back to the castle, I planned to file requests and make sure they got everything they needed.

“At this point, I should probably avoid going out in the city too often, huh?” I said.

“You’ll never be able to do anything if you get into that mindset.”

“Mm. You’re worrying too much.”

Both Ifriita and Ira objected. Locking myself in the castle out of fear would feel like I was letting the assassins win. That thought irritated me almost as much as the idea of innocent folks getting hurt because of me.

Then an idea hit me.

“If getting targeted by assassins is gonna be a problem, what if I build a route they can’t use?”

“Wha?” Ifriita blinked in confusion.

“Ah! I get it.”

Ifriita was puzzled, but Ira nodded in understanding. This was the difference between someone who had just started hanging out with me and someone who’d been there since the proverbial start.

“How do you plan on traveling, on foot?” she asked.

“No. I can lay down rails and build my own personal vehicle that runs on them. Power it with a golem.”

“What kind of magic energy source?”

“You know, one of those,” I gestured toward some gleaming magic jewels.

“Too dangerous. Stop while you’re ahead. As the head mage, I can’t allow you to use something so dangerous underneath the city.”

I could’ve used ordinary magic crystals, but I also had gleaming magic jewels that could produce magic energy almost indefinitely. Still, Ira was right. Using something that powerful beneath Merinesburg was a disaster waiting to happen. A single incident could level the whole city.

Ifriita looked baffled by the conversation. I decided to spend the rest of the ride explaining the plan to her. If it worked, it wouldn’t just change how I moved around the city, it could revolutionize travel here and even expand the slime girls’ range of mobility.

***

“Wait—you want to open a hole in the guild’s first floor and run a path directly to the castle? Please don’t. If you need something from us, we’ll be more than happy to come to the castle.”

“I figured you’d say that.”

Baran, the deputy GM of the Merinesburg Adventurers’ Guild, frowned and shot down the idea. Ifriita’s expression was a perfectly timed “No, duh.”

If travel to the Merchant Union or Adventurers’ Guild was too dangerous, it was obviously safer—and far less work—to summon representatives to the castle than to build an entire network of tunnels. Of course it was.

“There goes that idea…” I muttered.

“How disappointing.”

Ira and I both felt the sting of disappointment; we’d spent the whole carriage ride mapping tunnels and designing a rail vehicle. But I mean, if we thought about this logically, we would’ve come to the same conclusion Baran and Ifriita had.

Still, I made a mental note: Extending the subterranean paths beneath the castle to give the slime girls more reach was worth experimenting with later.

“Your Majesty is as amusing as I’ve heard,” drawled a large older man as he listened in with great fascination.

The man seated next to Baran was Cresta, the GM of the Adventurers’ Guild branch in Merinesburg and Baran’s boss. In other words, this was the head honcho of the Kingdom of Merinard’s Adventurers’ Guild.

His age had done nothing to reduce how imposing an individual he was. Thickset and built like Danan, Cresta wore his years with a white beard and an unruffled authority. Old, yes, but still imposing as all hell.

The reason Baran was the only one to greet us last time was because we’d just missed Cresta—he’d left for the Merchant Union. Since we’d given notice this time, he’d waited for us with Baran.

“How about we get down to business.”

“Ah, er, right. Um, okay. As we said in our message, we’re here to find out how the adventurer support program is going.”

Cresta and Baran nodded, and the Baran began.

“Thanks to your hard work, we were able to acquire funds from not only the Merchant Union, but the Kingdom of Merinard as well. This has allowed us to get our Adventurers’ Guild equipment grant system up and running. We’re also deeply grateful that you’ve been buying so many of the materials we have no use for.”

“You mean the goblin and kobold carcasses, yeah?” I nodded. “My skills let me turn goblin hides and kobold fur into useful materials and I can make the meat edible. It’s nothing fancy, so it’s no big deal.”

Goblin skins and kobold pelts were normally too thin or damaged to be useful for anything. The meat of both creatures smelled and tasted rancid, so barely anybody ate the stuff. But with my abilities, I could make those worthless things suddenly become usable supplies and food. In other words, if I turned them into steaks, they’d taste like beef, and if I made them into burger patties or wieners, they’d taste like delicious ground beef and pork. In the face of such absurdity, it stopped mattering what the meat used to be.

“Thanks to you guys, my food stocks have seen a big boost,” I added. “Now all I need are animal and monster parts. Like tendons and intestines.”

Since we hadn’t developed synthetic fibers or carbon-based substitutes, animal and monster tendons and intestines were still surprisingly vital. I couldn’t reproduce them myself, nor could I make monster hides.

“…I find it hard to believe goblin and kobold meat could ever taste good,” Baran muttered.

“Kousuke can make gizma meat taste like normal meat,” Ifriita said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he could do the same with goblin meat.”

Gizma meat looked like a giant shrimp, but when I cooked it into steak, it came out tasting like beef. Not much I could do about that, sadly.

“I heard you’ve been getting more job requests from the Merchant Union?” I asked.

“Yes. We also have you to thank for that, in a sense,” Baran said. “With new merchants starting up, we’ve seen an increase in bodyguard requests, and because of the equipment-loan program, more adventurers can take those jobs. They’re also accepting monster-subjugation and road security jobs from the farming villages near Merinesburg. Everything is starting to work as designed.”

“It certainly feels like the atmosphere in the guild has improved quite a bit,” I acknowledged.

The last time we visited, everyone looked so dour. There were lots of adventurers just sitting around aimlessly without work. But today, hardly anyone was idle. In fact, there weren’t many people around at all, but that was because most of them were out on jobs, which was exactly what we wanted.

“The food ticket system has begun operating properly as well,” Cresta added. “More eateries and inns are accepting them, and as a result, they’ve been improving each other through friendly competition.”

“Sounds great. I’m glad everything’s running smoothly. Any problems or concerns? Don’t hesitate to tell me. I’d rather deal with small issues before they become big ones.”

“At present, nothing comes to mind,” Baran replied. “Problems may arise down the line, but so far, none have reached my ears.”

“I see… So what do you guys think, as the guild, I mean? Is public safety improving at all?”

Baran and Cresta nodded in unison.

“If nothing else,” said Cresta, “the drifters who were hanging out here now have jobs and can feed themselves. Still a far cry from making a proper living, but compared to how they were doing before you extended your help, their lives have improved dramatically. They won’t need to resort to banditry just to survive, so I’d argue that public safety has definitely improved.”

“I agree with the GM,” Baran added. “As new adventurers gain experience, public safety will continue to improve. Plus, if the adventurers are thriving, the merchants who supply them will also prosper, and that cycle will create even more job opportunities. In time, I think everyone will come to appreciate what you’ve done, Lord Kousuke.”

“That’s what I like to hear. All I can do is provide the funding, but if you ever need support in the future, hit me up. And if you come up with a really great idea or something, send a proposal to me in the castle. You’d be doing me a real favor.”

The two top men of the guild bowed their heads gratefully. I wanted to stabilize the country through small, positive actions like this. Personally, I preferred to stay light on my feet by acting as a financial backer and stepping into areas Sylphy and the others couldn’t easily reach. Rather than sitting idle, I could help more people simply by taking initiative.

That said, it felt a bit strange accepting the credit for this stuff when all I was doing was mostly just funding projects and effectively telling people “Good luck!” Still, it was important for amateurs to know their limits, provide the necessary resources, and let the pros do their jobs. I didn’t think I was wrong about that.

“Then shall we be on our way?” I suggested. “I don’t want to interrupt people while they’re working.”

“Mm. Good idea. I want to see what’s going on with those assassins,” Ira agreed.

The assassins Ira had subdued earlier were taken into custody by Shemel and the harpies. By now, they were probably being interrogated at the castle. Elen was there, and her eyes allowed her to see the truth of things. Plus, Belta was an Adolist inquisitor, and on top of that, we had the slime girls as our trump card. No matter how stubborn the assassins were, they’d eventually spill the beans—and they wouldn’t be able to take their own lives either.

We said our goodbyes to Cresta and Baran, left the guild, and started back toward the castle. I had plenty of work waiting for me, but now that assassins appeared, tensions with the Holy Kingdom were bound to flare up again.

I really wanted to take my time and handle domestic affairs, but fate clearly had other plans.

Jeez.

***

“I heard you were okay, but I’m still relieved to see you in the flesh.”

“Mrgh.”

As soon as I arrived at the castle, Sylphy called me to her office. The moment I stepped in, she wrapped me into her arms tightly. My face was in its happy place, but she was holding me just a wee bit too hard.

Mistress, please.

“I, too, was very worried.”

“Argh?!”

Melty yanked me away next and squeezed me even harder. My face was yet again smothered in pure joy.

Melty, I’m not a stuffed animal, so I’d really appreciate it if you treated me a little more delicately. I’ve got thoughts about how you forcibly ripped me from Sylphy’s arms, and if you don’t lay off my neck a little, this could get very bad.

“Melty, that’s bad manners,” Sylphy scolded.

“Hee hee. I couldn’t hold back,” Melty answered, still grinning.

Okay, ladies? Stop.

If the two of them kept this up, the mountain of paperwork on Sylphy’s desk was gonna fly everywhere and that would only leave the both of them in tears.

“Ow, ow, ow! So, what’s going on with those assassins?” I asked.

“We left everything to Lime and the others,” Sylphy said. “With them on the case, the prisoners won’t be able to take their own lives or stay silent.”

“According to their report, the assassins had fast-acting poison hidden in their molars. Poiso neutralized it right away though,” Melty added.

A chill ran down my spine. “Why am I getting the feeling they did something deeply inhumane to our captives…?”

I didn’t know the full breadth of the slime girls’ powers, but I had the distinct feeling that they could and would do just about anything.

Poiso’s knowledge of poisons and medicines was second to none, so she could probably synthesize a powerful truth serum. Honestly, the slime girl’s capabilities made everything about interrogations disturbingly efficient. They could hurt, heal, or utterly stupefy someone into confession.

“The assassins knew capture meant death,” Sylphy said quietly. “That’s why they had the poison in their molars. I told the slimes not to kill them.”

“S’that so?” Melty murmured.

I wondered briefly if not killing them meant sparing them so they could take to the stands or something.

No… When she told the slimes not to kill them, she was actually saying “Don’t break them.” Sylphy’s kindness toward her inner circle was real, but she could be merciless toward her enemies. Those assassins were in for a harsh reckoning.

“While we wait for the slimes to get intel out of them, tell me how you want to handle the Holy Kingdom.”

“Well, it depends on what we learn,” I said. “They had no IDs, and even if the slimes get them to talk, the Holy Kingdom could just deny everything.”

“If anything, they might claim we made it all up,” Melty said. “But the captives aren’t simple hired assassins. They may give us leads on Holy Kingdom spy cells or assassin bases hidden in Merinard. Then we could get our hands on some physical proof of their involvement.”

“We already have an assault squad on standby,” Sylphy replied. “Don’t leave the castle until we’ve taken out their base of operations.”

“Got it,” I said.

Sylphy and Melty were ready to take action. I didn’t expect either of them to actually be on the front lines, but with those two, you could never say for sure.

“Surely the two of you won’t be going yourselves, right?”

“Of course not. I can’t,” Sylphy clarified. “But I wouldn’t mind cutting loose every once in a while.”

“I’m the only one going,” Melty declared, matter-of-factly.

“You are…? Then at least take some cure poison potions, just in case, okay? The assassins used basilisk poison on their crossbow bolts,” I said, pulling a wooden box from my inventory and setting it on the table.

Inside were two dozen cure poison potions. This would be enough for the whole assault squad.

“Basilisk poison? How dangerous… All right, I’ll gladly take these.”

“You can also use them on the enemy if they try to kill themselves. Kousuke, give her another box,” Sylphy said.

“Coming right up. I’ll throw in some life potions too.”

I pulled out another box of cure poison potions and two boxes of life potions from my inventory. That meant Melty now had two boxes of each, for a total of forty-eight potions.

“This should be enough for the whole squad,” Melty said with a satisfied smile as she looked at the veritable tower of boxes in front of her.

Her smile was adorable, but I knew better. This was a woman who had the power to break through a steel door with her bare hands. She wasn’t fooling me with that face!

Okay, she was incredibly cute, but I digress. That wasn’t the point.

Just then, a blue, jellylike figure oozed out from the corner of the room.

“We fooound their base,” Lime announced.

“All right. Melty?”

“I shall head out now.”

“I’ll heeelp carry your stuff,” Lime replied cheerfully.

Melty and Lime each grabbed two boxes and hurried out of the office.

…Jeez, you guys are fast! Lime, you need to act more like a slime. You’re not supposed to sprint like that unless you’re silver!

“Now, then, I think I’ll help you with your work,” I said, turning back to Sylphy.

“Hmm? I appreciate the offer, but shouldn’t you check in on Elen and Amalie? They were quite worried about you.”

“You’re not wrong, but I’d rather spend time with you right now. I’ve been hanging out with them and the harpies a lot lately.”

“…If you insist, then I appreciate the help. You can fill in for Melty.”

“Hey, now, don’t expect that much from me,” I said with a chuckle as I took a seat beside her.

I wasn’t sure how useful I actually was considering paperwork wasn’t exactly my specialty, but Sylphy’s satisfied smile said it all and I took that as a sign of success.

***

The strike on the Holy Kingdom’s spy base wrapped up before sunset. We got our hands on a number of new prisoners and a pile of evidence. They’d burned a lot of stuff before we raided them, but Melty’s squad still managed to recover very promising evidence.

“Hee hee hee. The investigation’s only just starting, but this is the perfect chance to finally rid ourselves of all the vermin within our borders,” Melty said, grinning like a predator.

Apparently, there was intel regarding bases in other cities, towns, and villages, and this was more than enough to put a wonderful smile on Melty’s face.

She was terrifying.

Merinard was extremely powerful at this sort of operation. We had a country-spanning communications network made of golem communicators linking every city and major town, and for settlements outside that grid, our superfast airboards closed the gap.

Airboards easily outpaced carriages and horses by a wide margin and could sustain speeds a horse couldn’t hold for long. When you found yourself in the kind of situation that called for fast action, our communications network and transportation proved especially useful.

“Let’s contact all the corresponding lords and raid the spy bases as quickly as possible.”

“That’s a good idea.”

And so we fired up our golem communicator and contacted the regional commanders: Sir Leonard for the east of Merinard, Madame Zamil for the west, Danan for the territory south of Arichburg, and Worg for the north after I finished securing that area. Each was ordered to strike the Holy Kingdom’s spy bases in their region.

The plan was simple: crush their secret bases one after another. The eastern side of the nation had the densest concentration of bases because they bordered the Holy Kingdom, and Sir Leonard, who was still bitter about the peace treaty, was more than happy to satisfy his bloodlust.

“And I’m gonna be building villages during all this?”

“We can smash their bases without your help,” Melty said, “but you’re the only one who can get the pioneer villages up and running.”

“I mean, yeah, but…”

And so once again I left Merinesburg to prepare a string of new pioneer villages while the rest of the country carried out coordinated strikes against the Holy Kingdom’s spy network.

***

“Be quick! Throw all of the documents into the flames! You—prepare our things. I shall get our exit route ready.”

“Yes, sir!”

My brothers had failed to take out the target and were captured by those cursed demi-humans. They were devout men and loyal to Lord Adol to their final breath, so they would almost certainly choose death before allowing their minds and bodies to be defiled by the demi-humans. However, there was no telling what vile, disgusting techniques those creatures might use on them. I had to assume the worst now that they’d fallen into enemy hands.

“Brother Powell, must we really flee in such haste? Our faithful brothers would never bend the knee to those filthy demi-humans, no matter the torture,” Brother Alan asked, an uncertain look clouding his face as he gathered our things for a swift escape.

It was only natural for him to question me. We all held unwavering faith in Lord Adol—faith stronger than steel. Each of us would gladly sacrifice ourselves for our Lord.

But that castle was dangerous. Once filled with the light of our Lord, it had become a demon’s nest under the control of the demi-humans. Every brother and sister who entered it vanished without a trace, and soon after, every base they had come from was destroyed in turn.

The only reason our headquarters still stood was because our siblings who entered that demonic castle never learned where it was located. But among the brothers captured today were several who did know, which meant we were in danger. The demi-humans likely possessed some unholy skill that could force information out of our siblings.

“Pious they may be, but it is entirely possible the demi-humans can defile our sibling’s hearts with their dark powers. We must not—”

Before I could finish, a violent crash echoed through the room as something smashed the door. Our unwanted guests had apparently arrived. I met my brothers’ eyes and gave a sharp nod. There was no time to hesitate. We had to flee immediately.

We hadn’t managed to burn all the documents, so we stuffed what we could into bags. Fortunately, we still had plenty of money to get by. We could buy new equipment on the road and regroup at another branch if we managed to escape.

“Let’s go before they get in here!”

“R-right!”

“Oh, Lord…”

This building was strong, with thick wooden doors plated with steel, double-bolted and near impossible for even the strongest demi-human to break down quickly. We needed a little more time to—

SMASH!

The entire building shook with a thunderous crash.

I heard the footsteps of someone entering the building.

“Impossible. They broke through that door in one blow?!”

So this was how it ended?

No. We wouldn’t go down without a fight.

We were going to take out as many of those cursed demi-humans with us as we could.

We each grabbed our mechanical bows called crossbows, the same foul devices the demi-humans themselves had invented, and dipped the bolts in basilisk poison. We aimed them at the entrance of the room. If we were to die, we would at least send them to their graves by their own creations.

“Take this!”

We fired our bolts at the demi-human woman who entered the room.

SHOOF!

The three bolts made satisfying sounds only to be batted aside midair by the bare hands of the horned woman who stood before us.

“You monster…” I whispered, forming a holy seal with my hands and praying for a miracle.

May your light strike down this evil.

“It’s quite rude to call a young woman such as myself a monster,” the woman said with a calm, eerie smile as she stepped forward.

My two brothers lunged at her with daggers drawn, but before they even closed the gap, they were hurled across the room and their bodies smashed against the stone wall, going limp as they fell to the ground.

“Light come forth!”

“Gosh.”

While she was distracted, I unleashed light beam—a holy miracle that took the shape of a radiant lance—and fired it ­toward the woman’s chest.

You’re finished!

“Hyah!”

But again, the woman swatted it aside with her bare hands.

“H-how could this be? You deflected a light beam with your bare hands?!”

“Light beam, huh? Didn’t seem all that impressive to me,” she said, strolling toward me like a cat toying with prey. Now that it has come to this…

“I will not let a disgusting demi-human end me!”

I drew my dagger and aimed for my own heart, but before the blade could pierce flesh, she seized my wrist.

How? She was at least five paces from me only a moment ago!

“Didn’t you know?” Her voice was almost playful. “There’s no running from an Overlord.”

“Graaaah?!”

Her grip on my wrist tightened, and I felt my bones cracking until the dagger slipped from my hand. More of her kind flooded the room. It was over.

“It’d be troublesome if you resisted,” she said, smiling faintly. “So I’ll have to put you to sleep for now.”

I felt an impact, and the world went black.

***

“Wow… What is with that chick? I seriously don’t get it.”

“I don’t either, but apparently that’s how all Overlords are.”

“We didn’t even get to do anything.”

It wasn’t easy for us to enter buildings built for humans, especially when you’re typically one and a half to two times their height. The Holy Kingdom’s spies had been using buildings constructed within the last twenty years, which meant the ceilings were low and the doorways were narrow. We could barely fit inside them, let alone fight properly.

“I mean, it’s not like we could even fit inside ’em, y’know?”

“Still, it’s pretty anticlimactic that we came all this way just to watch.”

Both Shemel and Bela sighed and shrugged, looking thoroughly bored and unimpressed. Honestly, I felt the same way. I had plenty of resentment toward the Holy Kingdom myself, so it would have been nice to get a little violent and blow off some steam. But it couldn’t be helped.

“I apologize for taking the juicy role this time,” said Lady Melty as she approached us over where we had been on standby. Just in case.

“Nah, it is what it is! Not like we could have done much without bringin’ down the whole building, y’know?”

“That might be a little too bombastic.”

“Coming from the person who literally kicked down the door?”

“Now, now. I’m just a normal, weak person.”

“Excuse me? What are you even talkin’ about?”

I was of the same mind as Bela on this one. In what world could a normal person kick down a thick, steel-plated wooden door with one blow? The rumor about her punching Lady Grande into submission in her dragon form was probably true too. Terrifying.

“By the way, what’re you planning to do with the ones we took alive? I doubt they’ll talk easily.”

“I plan to leave them to the slime girls. I’ll be present for the interrogation. Would you like to join me?”

“Can we?”

“But of course. As Kousuke’s bodyguards, you ought to know what’s happening behind the scenes,” Lady Melty said with a pleasant smile.

So why did I have such a bad feeling about this?

“Awesome!” Bela said cheerfully, while Shemel frowned beside her.

Ah… Shemel and I must be on the same page.

***

“The slimes are scary… So, so scary.”

“I never wanna end up like that.”

Bela went white, her usual red drained from her face. I probably looked just as shaken.

The Adolists’ faith didn’t help them once the slimes got to work. At first the captives spat and cursed, insulting all of us, but within half an hour they were sobbing like children and begging for forgiveness.

What the slimes did in that span was brutal. I’d rather not unpack the details; it was the sort of thing you don’t want to imagine. Or experience. Ever.

“We need to go through the documents we recovered and crush the rest of their bases immediately. Things are going to be busy.”

Lady Melty sounded way too calm considering what we’d just seen. There was nothing normal about how unmoved she was after witnessing that tor—interrogation session. Her lack of shock made something click in me: You don’t want to be her enemy.

Chapter 8: Development & Personnel Acquisition

Chapter 8:
Development & Personnel Acquisition

“AND THAT’S what happened.”

“Melty’s crazy scary.”

Bela was piloting the airboard while giving me a rundown on how the raids went after the failed assassination attempt on my life. We were en route to the construction site of the first pioneer village.

“Melty was just being Melty.”

“Ha ha ha… Well, that’s just how she is,” Shemel said with a wry smile.

Well, that was rare for her considering she usually looked so unphased. If she was shaken, then what she’d seen must have been bad. Grande was with us too, though she was sound asleep in the back, buried under a mountain of cushions. Dragons sure loved sleeping.

“You don’t seem all that bothered.”

“I know how terrifying Melty and the slime girls can be, but more than that, I know how loving they are too. If they ever turned that scary side of themselves on me, it’d be because I’d done something wrong. There’d be no point being afraid; I’d just accept my fate.”

“Huh. I feel like you could probably put up a decent fight though.”

“I probably could, but I honestly couldn’t say if I’d even try to resist unless it actually happened.”

I knew what Melty and the slimes were capable of and vice versa. If we ever went head-to-head, it’d probably be a one-sided defeat either way and the collateral damage would be catastrophic. I’d have to avoid them and render them incapable of fighting back.

“Mm, now that’s true love.”

“Is it?” Tozume asked, tilting her head.

This is where you’re supposed to agree, Tozume.

Unless I assassinated Sylphy and the entire royal family, I couldn’t imagine a world where Melty or the slimes would ever be angry enough to come after my life. And that was fine by me because I would never, ever do something like that, so I had no reason to fear any of them.

If it ever came down to a choice between killing Sylphy and the others or dying, I’d fight whatever force made that demand, even if it meant my own death.

Hell, if the world itself was doomed unless I killed Sylphy, I’d choose to destroy the world right beside her. My love was full-on heavyweight championship material.

“We’re almost there!”

“Aye!”

This time, I wasn’t building new pioneer villages near Merinesburg. Instead, the plan was to head out to the regional territories. After all, the main goal of this trip was recruitment. We’d already found most of the talent in the Merinesburg area, so I was using this whole pioneer village project as an excuse to scout people out in the territories.

Now our destinations were the western and northern regions of Merinard. I’d spent last winter and early spring up north, so that area was familiar ground, but I decided to start with the west, a region I hadn’t explored much. Besides, it had been a while since I’d last seen Madame Zamil, and I wanted to check in on her.

“Oooh, now that’s a nice city.”

“Yup. ’Bout as big as Arichburg, I’d say.”

Sprawled in front of us was Museburg, the biggest city in western Merinard, and the heart of trade with the Federation of Small Nations and the Dragonis Mountain Nation.

***

There were a number of tents set up around Museburg’s front gates, all filled with demi-humans. It reminded me of a refugee camp, actually. Fortunately, people weren’t starving or freezing; there were plenty of guards, and the place felt reasonably safe.

“That’s a lot of people,” I said.

“It’ll be tough trying to recruit from this pool,” Ifriita observed.

“Ifriita, we need to greet Viscount Simon Travis, first,” Aqual added softly.

Ifriita, Aqual, and I disembarked the airboard and surveyed the scene while our bodyguards formed a discreet perimeter.

This scouting trip had more muscle than usual. Besides the usual suspects of me, Grande, the ogre girls, and the harpies, we had Ifriita and Aqual along. As an added bonus, twenty royal guards were present—including Riviera and Gerda, who also served as Aqual’s caretakers.

“I mean, I don’t disagree, but how are we supposed to get through that crowd?” I asked, nodding to the long line of carriages ahead of us.

I had no idea whether something was slowing traffic at the gate or if we’d hit the city at the same time as a massive caravan. Either way, the line showed no signs of moving anytime soon.

And it didn’t help that everyone was staring at us. For real.

With Ifriita and Aqual looking every inch like eleven princesses, the bizarre-looking airboard itself, twenty armed royal guards—not dressed like maids this time—and three towering ogre girls, we stood out. If Grande had been awake, we would’ve drawn even more attention. At the moment, she was asleep back on the airboard. She really did like moving at her own pace.

“Wouldn’t it be faster to just drive around to one of the other gates?” I suggested.

“Well, we’re not in a rush,” Ifriita said. “I don’t mind waiting patiently.”

“Then how about checking in on the folks around here while we wait?” I started.

“We’ll be swarmed if you do that. Stay put,” Ifriita answered, sliding an arm around my waist. Aqual mirrored her on the other side. The ogre girls, Riviera, and Gerda all gave me the same “stay put” look. I was trying to make the most of my time, honestly, but that plan was shut down. As I made excuses in my heart of hearts, a group of about ten local guards approached us, spears in hand and swords at their hips. Pretty intimidating…is what someone would normally think.

Our twenty royal guards were armed to the teeth, each one equipped with magic steel armor, swords, and shields. Gerda carried her giant tower shield and long mace, while the ogre girls all had wyvern-hide armor and wielded mithril alloy weapons. Not only did we outnumber the local guards two to one, our equipment was leagues better. If anyone had reason to be scared here, it wasn’t us.

“Ah, um… You appear to be people of status, so may I have your names…?” asked one of the guards, his voice tight with caution.

The poor guy couldn’t hide his confusion and fear. Weird. I was sure we’d already contacted them about our visit.

“Heya, Mr. Guard. I’m Kousuke, and I guess I’m the leader of this little group…yeah?” I explained, glancing at Ifriita and Aqual, who both nodded.

I guess that settled it.

“Sir Kousuke, it is. I am Kirill, third squad captain of the Museburg city guard. It is an honor to meet you.”

“Likewise, Captain Kirill. Officially, I’m the partner of Her Majesty the Queen of Merinard, or in other words, the king consort. I’m here under her orders to establish several pioneer villages in Viscount Travis’s territory. I also have a meeting scheduled with General Zamil. Here is my written appointment from Her Majesty, and this dagger serves as proof of my identity.” From my inventory, I produced a parchment sealed with the royal crest and a dagger bearing the same emblem on its pommel, then handed them both to Captain Kirill.

“H-Her Majesty’s partner?! Th-this is without a doubt the royal crest… So you’re truly…the king consort?!”

“That’s me,” I confirmed. “No need to panic, I’m not some suspicious guy sneaking in, I promise. And by the way, General Zamil is one of my besties.”

“I-I deeply apologize for my rudeness! I shall escort you to her at once! Please wait a moment…! Hey, get word to the gatekeeper immediately!”

“Yes, sir!”

Two guards sprinted toward the gate as soon as the order left Captain Kirill’s lips. Watching them go, I turned to my own crew.

“All right, everyone, get back on the airboard and prep to move out. But what about you two?”

“I’ll ride on your airboard. You don’t mind, right Aqual?”

“It is fine, If.”

“All right. Tozume, keep watch outside. Bela, you’re driving.”

“Aye.”

“Got it.”

The plan was simple: Everyone who needed protection would ride with me on the airboard, while the royal guard airboards formed a convoy around us. The guards who weren’t piloting surrounded our vehicle, strengthening our defenses.

“Things sure escalated quickly, huh?” I muttered.

“Honestly, this isn’t enough protection considering your status,” Ifriita said.

“You are the king consort, after all,” Aqual added. “Normally, a full platoon of royal guards would be the bare minimum.”

“For real?”

I scratched my head. Depending on how you viewed things, and in terms of raw strength, I was the strongest military asset we had. I was practically a one-man army, and that was before you even counted Grande, still snoring in the backseat. Between the two of us, we could handle just about anything. But when it came to formalities, or because of my nobleman status, I guess a few personal bodyguards didn’t cut it. Man, I really wasn’t big on this sort of thing.

“We are ready to proceed, Your Majesty! I shall lead the way!” Captain Kirill announced, snapping to attention.

“Thanks, Captain. Keep up the good work.”

“Yes, Your Majesty! Even if it costs me my life!” he shouted before taking the lead.

With him guiding us, we passed through the front gates and onto Museburg’s main street. We’d left Merinesburg early that morning, and thanks to really putting pedal to the metal along the way, we made it here before noon.

It was just about lunchtime, so the streets of Museburg were busy. Unfortunately, because our convoy was inching along the main street, that busy traffic came to a standstill. We were basically a moving spectacle, like an old daimyo’s procession parading through town. Maybe not even “basically.” We just were.

“Where exactly are we headed?” I asked.

“Most likely to Lord Travis’s manor,” Ifriita said.

“I’d rather meet with Madame Zamil first and ask her about the guy before dealing with him directly.”

“That won’t cut it,” Aqual said, crossing her arms. “It would be tremendously rude to meet General Zamil before meeting with the man in charge of this city.”

“Please use your common sense.”

“Fine, fine,” I replied with a sigh.

While we were talking, Bela, at the helm of the airboard, carefully guided us through the crowd. As we got closer to our destination, Captain Kirill shouted from the outside.

“We will be arriving at Lord Travis’s manor shortly!”

“Got it. Bela, you heard the man. Be careful.”

“Understood, Boss.”

The trickiest part of piloting an airboard was stopping smoothly. The last thing I wanted was for our vehicle to nudge one of the guards or clip a bystander.

“Hee hee. Perfect landing,” Bela said, grinning from ear to ear as she brought us to a flawless stop in front of Viscount Travis’s manor.

Yep. That true-blue, shit-eating grin said it all.

“Yes, yes. Good girl,” I told her, smiling back.

“Grande, we’re here!”

“Hmm…?”

With Bela’s smug smile in the corner of my eye, I dug Grande out from her mountain of cushions and gently squeezed her cheeks to wake her up. She blinked groggily, still half-asleep. Typical dragon. If she wasn’t protecting me, she was either eating or sleeping. Honestly, dragons were hopeless. They were basically only professional at acting like a NEET.

Her tail was a little heavier than it looked, but she wasn’t particularly heavy, so I lifted her into my arms easily and got off the airboard. Grande was used to this treatment, so she just wrapped her arms around my neck, rested her chin on my shoulder, and curled her tail lazily around my body.

The red and blue princesses silently stared at us, their expressions sharp enough to cut glass.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“Not at all,” they replied in perfect unison.

They were definitely lying. Were they jealous or something? Ifriita I could understand, she was straightforward and emotional. But Aqual? I wasn’t sure whether her look was jealousy or just outrage at what she probably saw as bad manners.

Look, Grande’s gonna Grande. Expecting manners from her is a lost cause.

***

“I am Viscount Simon Travis. It is my absolute pleasure to make the king consort’s acquaintance.”

A few minutes later, Ifriita, Aqual, and I were guided to the reception room of the viscount’s manor, and found ourselves face-to-face with the man himself. I’d left Grande guarding the room outside with the royal guards and ogre girls. I couldn’t exactly waltz into a noble’s reception hall with a dragon draped over my shoulders.

“Ah, thanks. I’m Her Majesty’s partner and the king consort, Kousuke,” I said, offering a polite nod. “These are Her Majesty’s elder sisters. They’re here as supervisors for this entire project.”

“Ifriita Danal Merinard.”

“Aqual Danal Merinard.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you both. I am honored,” Viscount Travis said, bowing low to the two princesses before turning back to me.

Given their royal status, his reaction made perfect sense. In terms of influence, the two princesses outranked nearly everyone in Merinard.

“I come from a commoner background myself,” I said. “I won’t tell you how to behave with them, but please be a little more informal with me going forward.”

“If that is your wish, then as your subject, it is my duty to oblige,” he replied, raising his head with a bright smile on his face.

He was an attractive middle-aged man, sporting a neatly trimmed mustache that gave him a dignified air. His posture and fit build suggested a man who was well trained in the combat arts.

Standing behind him was an elderly man who looked like a butler. He was elegantly dressed and quite dandy, in fact.

I found myself thinking how much first impressions mattered in this kind of setting.

And then I wondered how I came across. Probably not great. I didn’t put that much work into my appearance—maybe that was something I needed to work on. It probably was.

“Then let us get straight to business,” Viscount Travis began. “I am sure you’ve seen them already, but I have gathered the demi-humans from the surrounding towns and villages near Museburg. Since we lack sufficient housing to accommodate them all, I’ve established temporary camps with tents outside the city walls.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame you,” I replied with a nod. “From both a public safety and space perspective, it wouldn’t be realistic to bring everyone into the city. I only got a quick look at their living conditions, but no one seemed to be starving or freezing, and your guards were deployed well. You’ve done good work.”

“It is an honor to hear you say so.”

“That said,” I continued, “this must require considerable funding. I plan to give you some financial support for your efforts, though converting this to cash might take a bit of extra work.”

I spread a large piece of cloth over the table and placed a mountain of raw gems on top of it. Then I stacked a bunch of pinky-sized gold grains, and some silver plates beside them.

“Wh-what is all of this…? Where did it come from…?”

Viscount Travis’s eyes went wide and he was visibly shaken at the pile of treasure that had just materialized from seemingly out of nowhere—or at least, from where it looked like I’d simply swiped my hand. Magic and alchemy existed in this world, sure, but they didn’t give you the power to produce something like this out of thin air. And Adolist miracles—the divine magic of the Holy Kingdom—definitely didn’t allow for this kind of thing either. To the average person, stunts like this just looked like true “acts of God.”

“Don’t sweat the details,” I said with a grin. “I’m just a weirdo who can do stuff like this. Anyway, use these to replace the funds you’ve already spent and to cover any upcoming expenses. If you need more, let me know. And just for the record, these aren’t illusions or anything. If you’re concerned about that, have someone with a good eye appraise them.”

“…Y-yes, Your Majesty!”

For a moment, the poor guy could only stare blankly before bowing his head deeply. Okay, I’d definitely short-circuited his brain. No way was he processing any rational thoughts right now.

“Sorry to spring all this on you so quickly,” I said while getting to my feet. “But I want to start building permanent housing for the people out there as soon as possible. Let’s hold off on any welcome parties or formalities until after that. I’d also appreciate it if you could introduce me to someone familiar with the area and can show us around.”

“B-but… Never mind! I shall do so posthaste!”

He immediately glanced toward his butler, despite the hesitation in his voice. Whether it was because my little display left him overwhelmed or just plain terrified, I couldn’t say. But the look on his face clearly meant, “Do whatever he says.”

“Sorry for dropping this on you so suddenly,” I added as we made for the door. “And don’t worry, I’ll be sure to inform Her Majesty about all the great work you’ve done here.”

Viscount Travis once again bowed his head deeply.

***

After leaving Viscount Travis’s manor, we boarded our airboards and headed for the Merinard Western Military Headquarters where Madame Zamil was stationed.

“Long time no see,” I said when we landed. “I’m here to deal with some annoying work.”

“I have heard as much, and it is a pleasure to see you again. I have been waiting for you,” Madame Zamil replied, flashing her trademark sharp-toothed grin.

Yup, her slightly scary smile was the same as ever. That came as a relief.

“It’s been a while, Zamil,” Ifriita said.

“Hi, Zamil. I am glad to see you in good health,” added Aqual.

“Thank you for your kind words! It has indeed been some time. I appreciate you all coming all this way.” Madame Zamil said, greeting them with a deep bow before turning back to me.

Grande was still sound asleep on the airboard, so I let her be.

“So, you’ve already met Viscount Travis, then?” Madame Zamil asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “It was a little crude of me, but I started things off by giving him a pile of gold, silver, and gems. That made him nice and obedient.”

“I see you have not changed,” she said dryly. “If you aren’t careful, Her Majesty and the Lady Prime Minister will get upset, you know?”

“No worries! I didn’t give him that much!”

Madame Zamil narrowed her eyes, clearly unconvinced, then shifted her gaze toward Ifriita and Aqual.

“It sounded like the viscount used a considerable amount of his own money to fund the refugee project, so I think Kousuke probably handled it well,” Ifriita replied with a tilt of her head.

“I am…not very knowledgeable in such matters,” Aqual admitted, shaking her head slightly.

Ifriita had picked up a decent understanding of finance and trade thanks to her past dealings with the Merchant Union, but that kind of thing wasn’t really Aqual’s specialty. On the flip side, Aqual carried herself with the grace and composure of a true noblewoman—something Ifriita struggled with at times.

“In that case, I shall say no more,” Zamil said with a shrug. “Viscount Travis is the sort of man who values stability. As long as his territory and family stand to benefit, he will remain loyal. He is not someone you need to watch too closely.”

“I hope that’s the case. Anything else I should be on the lookout for?”

“Including Viscount Travis, all remaining vassals in this region have pledged obedience to Her Majesty,” she said. “Of course, blind trust is never wise, but you should be fine.”

“Gotcha.”

“However, a number of the Holy Kingdom’s army corps that had been stationed here are still unaccounted for,” she added. “They might still be lurking in the region as bandits. We’re patrolling the area, but we haven’t found them yet.”

“Roger that. I’ll keep an eye out for deserters, then. If I find them, I’ll take them out.”

She called them army corps, but they couldn’t have been any bigger than a few dozen to a hundred people. Trying to maintain a large organization while staying incognito wasn’t easy. If those were the numbers we were dealing with, and our scouts located them ahead of time, they were nothing to fear.

“I just must request that you inform us if you stumble upon them. Please don’t cross such dangerous bridges willingly. Her Majesty will be angry.”

“I’ll try my best.”

It’d be faster for me to handle things myself, but I didn’t want to show Madame Zamil up.

I’ll try my best. That’s all I can offer!

“Will you be heading out to survey the area right after this?” Madame Zamil asked.

“That’s the plan. Viscount Travis should have a guide ready for us, and the pioneers will be gathered near the city gates. Oh, if you need anything at all, make a list for me. I’ll get you what I can.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“Right. Please take care. If Viscount Travis acts suspiciously, I’ll contact you via the usual channels.”

I parted ways with Madame Zamil—and her ever-so-slightly creepy smile—and made my way to the city gates to meet our guide and the first wave of pioneers who’d be relocating to a village.

As we walked back to the airboard, Shemel called out to me from beside it.

“So, what’re you thinking? Gonna be any trouble on this trip?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. After talking to him, the viscount didn’t strike me as someone who was plotting anything. I think we can relax for now.”

“S’that so? Well, I suppose that’s fortunate.”

“It’s better if we have nothing to do.”

“Pretty boring, though.”

“Oh? If you are that bored, I wouldn’t mind a little playing! I haven’t had much chance to exercise lately,” Grande chimed in, slowly sitting up in the back seat.

“Eeek…”

Her terrifying suggestion made Bela go pale, a darker shade on her usually bright red skin that looked downright unhealthy. Still, as long as she didn’t get herself killed, my life potions could fix her right up, so maybe a bit of sparring with Grande wouldn’t be the worst idea.

***

After returning to the city gates with the ogre girls and royal guards in tow, we were greeted by Captain Kirill and a handful of city guards, along with a single cavalryman in light armor standing next to his horse. He was pretty young, too. It was hard to judge ages in this world, but I doubted he was even twenty.

“Hey again, Captain. Is that young warrior our guide?”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Kirill replied.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty,” said the young man, straightening up. “I am Steven, a knight apprentice serving under Lord Travis.”

“I see. Nice to meet you, Steven. I’m Her Majesty Queen Sylphyel’s partner, Kousuke. These are her elder sisters, Princess Ifriita and Princess Aqual.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Good day.”

Steven bowed deeply and then promptly froze, completely captivated by the red and blue princesses. Yeah, couldn’t blame the kid—they were both total beauties.

Still, not the time, lad. Keep it together.

“I don’t see the pioneers we’re supposed to take with us?” I asked, glancing around.

“Huh?! A-ah, um, a number of them were working on the road leading to the new village, so they should already be heading to the village site with the others who left this morning,” Steven answered quickly.

Ah, road work, huh? Good call. Building a pioneer village wouldn’t mean much if you couldn’t transport resources, materials, and crops to and from it. Getting the freed demi-humans to improve those roads was a logical call, and poetic too. Especially since they’d be using those very same roads in the future.

“Makes sense. So we’ll be following after them, then. Hop onto our airboard—er, actually, that won’t really work, huh? You’ll need to return to Museburg to report in afterward, right?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Got it. In that case, let’s make haste. Once we arrive, I’ll get your horse fed and watered, so ride as quickly as you’re comfortable with. Our airboards are faster, anyway.”

“Are these vehicles really that fast…? All right!”

Once everyone was aboard—the royal guards, ogre girls, and all—Steven spurred his horse forward, galloping ahead while we followed behind on the airboard.

“…Hey.”

Silence.

“My bad.”

“Sorry about this. We’re big, y’know?”

“My apologies, Your Majesty.”

I was the one who muttered “my bad,” while Tozume offered a more formal apology. The only one who didn’t seem remotely concerned was Shemel.

As for what situation we were in, well…I was wedged tightly between Ifriita and Aqual. And I do mean tightly. Even without them, the airboard was already cramped with just me, Shemel, and Tozume aboard. Add the two princesses and Grande sleeping in the back, and there was hardly room to breathe.

“Now, now. No need to get all worked up,” Shemel teased with a grin. “This is the perfect chance to get up close and personal with the guy you like!”

“Wha…?! What are you saying…?!” Ifriita replied, her pointy ears bright red.

“…Haaah…”

Aqual, on the other hand, just let out a long sigh. On the plus side, she didn’t deny Shemel’s words. She was even letting herself lean up against me.

Maybe this little “gathering trip” was turning out to be fruitful after all.

***

We drove for about an hour with Steven leading the way.

Eventually, our entire line of airboards came to a halt—we’d arrived at the construction site, where the front-most part of the road was still under construction.

I climbed out of our cramped airboard and made my way to the vehicle at the front of the line, where Steven was talking to some soldiers stationed as security for the area. His horse was drenched in sweat, sides heaving.

“Heya, Steven. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, Your Majesty! This is Lord Kousuke, the king consort. Do everything you can to accommodate him.”

“Yes, sir!”

Steven was doing a solid job managing things, so it didn’t look like we were going to have any issues with the on-site soldiers. That meant I could leave the bare minimum number of harpies and royal guards here while sending the rest to keep tabs on the surrounding areas. I’d focus on getting a clearer read on the current situation.

“Oh, right. I’ll leave water and fodder here for your horse. You should let her rest and calm down, right? When you’re done, just leave the rest here,” I instructed.

“Yes, Your Majesty! Thank you for your kindness! …Huh?”

I pulled a large bucket of water and a fodder block from my inventory and set them down beside him. That was enough to make Steven freeze mid-sentence, mouth hanging open. Yeah, I could already tell it was going to be a pain explaining this every time, so I decided not to say anything.

Sorry, Steven.

I left Steven and his blank stare behind and asked a soldier to show me around the worksite. Soon enough, I spotted the demi-humans hard at work on the road. There were a lot of them, and among them were also adults keeping watch over the children.

There were barely any elderly.

The large number of kids suggested that many families had relocated together or that the demi-humans had taken in orphaned children. The children were largely relatively healthy, but the adults were clearly thin. They weren’t starving, but they definitely weren’t getting enough to eat.

When our group approached, the demi-humans grew visibly tense. Myself aside, between the heavily armed ogre girls, the uniformed soldiers, and the two elven princesses, we must’ve looked like a military inspection squad. No wonder they were on edge after seeing us.

“Heya. My name’s Kousuke, and I’m in charge of building homes and farmland for the pioneer village construction project. Feel free to just call me by my name. The three big ladies behind me are my bodyguards, and the two princesses are here as supervisors for the whole operation. You don’t need to be afraid of us.”

Even after I introduced myself, the demi-humans didn’t ­really react. This was all so sudden that it must’ve left them a bit baffled.

Unlike Sylphy, my name wasn’t widely known among the general populace. At best, folks knew that the king consort had strange powers, or that he’d been recognized as a saint by Adolist clergy and could perform miracles, or that he’d brought the northern war to an end.

“I wanted to get to know everyone before we start work in earnest,” I continued. “Feel free to pack it up for today so we can chat a bit. Despite appearances, I’m actually pretty important and can make things happen. So, who’s in charge of your group?”

The demi-humans exchanged uneasy glances before all turning to look at a single individual.

The person they looked to was extremely small, almost childlike in build, even compared to the other demi-humans. They wore a hood pulled down over their face, hiding their expression.

Something about them felt oddly familiar.

“Are you a cyclops?” I asked gently.

The small hooded figure trembled in fear. They were clearly scared of me.

“Hey, don’t worry,” I said, raising my hands slightly. “I don’t have any issues with cyclopes. She’s not with me right now, but I’m actually super tight with a female cyclops. Looks like everyone here seems to trust you, so would you mind chatting with me?”

The man—or perhaps woman—nodded, their hood low over their head.

Upon getting their response, I pulled a folding table and chairs from my inventory and set them up beside the road. Then I grabbed a provisions box filled with block cookies (from back during the Liberation Army days) and a box of bottled water. I handed them to Shemel and the others to distribute among the demi-humans. It was a good way to get rid of some of my stock.

“Both of you take a seat. You too,” I said, gesturing toward the chairs.

Ifriita and Aqual sat down right away. The hooded cyclops hesitated for a moment, but eventually took a seat as well.

“Is there anyone else I should be speaking to?” I asked.

“In that case… Deneros and Raya.”

At the hooded cyclops’ call, two figures stepped forward. The one named Deneros was a fit minotaur beastman, while Raya was a woman with bunny ears. At first glance she looked human, but the ears gave her away. I assumed she was technically a rabbit beastman? The only rabbit beastman I’d ever met before had looked more like a large rabbit that stood on hind legs, so seeing one this humanoid was a bit of a surprise.

“Yo, we’re here.”

“Heya.”

I pulled a larger chair out of my inventory for Deneros, the same kind I always used for Danan, since they had very similar builds. I guessed that minotaur beastmen in general had larger bodies.

Finding myself in awe of the man, I ended up asking the three of them about their current living conditions and situation: Where they originally came from, what kind of work they’d done before being enslaved, why there were so many children among them and how they were related, and what kind of work they wanted to do once the pioneer village was built.

I was very thorough. Painfully thorough, even.

“I see. Makes sense that you’d be sick and tired of war and being enslaved. Of course you would,” I said quietly.

Twenty years ago, these people had lost everything—families, friends, and homes—when the Holy Kingdom overran the Kingdom of Merinard. And those who survived were forced to suffer on a daily basis with no hope for tomorrow. No matter how much they worked, there was no brighter future waiting for them. All they could do was live in fear going hungry, freezing in the cold, or dying from illness. Anyone would be sick and tired of that.

“All right, I think I’ve got the picture,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “First thing you all need are nice, warm homes. Then food, so you don’t go hungry. And after that, an environment that gives you hope for the future. Fields would make sense.”

“Building homes isn’t as simple as you make it sound,” the hooded cyclops said sharply.

Their single visible eye narrowed at me from beneath their hood. The look was so familiar—it reminded me a lot of Ira.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” I replied. “I can easily whip up some houses and even fortresses, no problem. I’m being completely serious, by the way.”

“Surely you realize how absurd that sounds,” they said dryly.

“Ah ha ha ha, was that supposed to be a joke?”

Deneros folded his massive arms and sighed in exasperation, while Raya wore a wry smile on her face. This whole group reminded me of Ira, Danan, and Melty. It was kind of endearing, actually.

“You can judge whether I’m being absurd or not with your own eyes later,” I said grinning. “For now, we just need to figure out how many homes we’ll need. You can’t build a beautiful and functional village without a plan.”

And so, we started talking logistics, like how many folks were here now, how many homes we’d need going forward, where to place the fields, where we’d build the storehouse for crops, and where I planned to build the village’s water source and farm irrigation system.

“Hold on,” the hooded cyclops interrupted. “What do you mean by ‘build a water source’?”

“There’s a trick to it, so to speak,” I replied with a grin. “Look, all you need to know is that water won’t be a problem. The only thing that we need to think about is where to put the sewer system and the irrigation channels, so they don’t interfere with each other.”

“Er…? If you’re going to use this so-called water source for farming too, you’ll need a lot of water…”

The hooded cyclops made no effort to hide their skepticism, and it was clear from the doubtful look they were giving me.

“I know. I totally get it,” I said. “You’re wondering why you should trust a guy who says he can conjure up an entire water source out of thin air and have it be big enough to supply a whole village and its farms. But the thing is…I can. In any event, I’d appreciate it if we could move forward assuming I can do exactly what I say I can.”

“Seriously…?”

Man, their reactions really brought back memories. It was the same kind of reaction I got back when I started making stuff in the Omitt Badlands. Everyone back in Merinesburg had grown used to my antics, so seeing genuine disbelief again was really nostalgic.

We continued discussing the details, and while I’d felt that way throughout the entire conversation, we eventually ended up with a solid, workable plan.

“I’m still worried about how much of this will actually go according to plan,” the cyclops admitted at last. “But if we can at least get proper housing, I’ll be more than happy. There’s a forest nearby, so we should be able to hunt and gather as well.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t exactly have many folks good at hunting,” Deneros said. “So I’m kinda worried about that!”

He had a point. Anyone with the skills to hunt or fight would be working as an adventurer instead of trying to start over as a pioneer. The folks in this group were mostly those who didn’t fit into the military or the guild. By and large, they were just ordinary folks trying to survive.

“Not to change the subject,” I said, “but is everyone eating properly? Anyone sick or injured? If so, I’d like to take care of those folks today.”

“Everyone has been eating well since arriving in Museburg,” the hooded cyclops replied. “However, there are still a number of people who fall ill easily.”

“I’ll take a look at them, then. I might be able to heal some old injuries that still give them trouble, so can you gather anyone like that for me?”

Deneros exchanged a glance with the cyclops, who gave a silent nod before standing and heading off toward the group of resting refugees, Raya following close behind.

“I appreciate your offer,” the cyclops said, turning back at me, “but we have nothing in return for you.”

“I didn’t expect anything,” I replied. “If you’re grateful, then I want you to pay it forward and help someone else. If we can keep that going, the world will slowly start to get better.”

“That sure is idealistic.”

“Maybe,” I admitted with a shrug. “But if all you ever do is keep your eyes locked on cold, hard, reality, you might fill your belly, sure. But your heart stays empty that way. I think people need to pursue their dreams and ideals too, even if they aren’t always totally realistic.”

The cyclops went quiet. I couldn’t make out their features or expressions all that well, but I could tell their large eye was locked on my face.

“If someone like you is near the top of the country,” they finally said, “maybe things really will get better.”

“I hope so.”

A moment later, Deneros returned with Raya, leading a sizable group of the sickly and hurt demi-humans over to me, forming quite the crowd.

It was time for one last round of work before calling it a day.

***

“You made it sound like healing people was no big deal, but can you actually do it?” Ifriita asked quietly, eyeing the so-called clinic I’d set up. It was so basic that you couldn’t even call it “simple.”

It consisted of exactly two chairs: one for me, and one for my patient.

Aqual stood beside her sister, her brow furrowed. Now that I thought about it, I’d never actually shown either of them my healing skills. At least not as far as I could remember. No wonder they looked so skeptical.

“It’s okay. No problem.”

“I don’t know why, but I don’t feel very reassured,” Aqual replied dryly.

“Aw, c’mon… Just watch me.”

And so, I started healing folks.

I treated people with chronic pain, folks who could still move but suffered from ongoing fevers and coughing fits, children who got sick from the stress of being in a new environment, and so on. Most of them had relatively light ailments that wouldn’t kill them, and there were only a handful who couldn’t walk or move properly.

“It’s good that most of the people here are only suffering from lighter issues, but…” I began.

“That’s because those who couldn’t work due to injuries or illnesses were cast out and left to die.”

“Haaah… And then they have the nerve to preach about God’s love? Please…”

Religious matters were a delicate topic that I didn’t really want to talk about. Even back in my old world, there were faiths that dehumanized nonbelievers while preaching love and compassion in the same breath. The sheer hypocrisy was a sick joke.

“They see their actions as benevolence,” the hooded cyclops said flatly. “You need to remember that they’re perfectly capable of pitying us. It’s just that they use that benevolence of theirs to work us to death. They believe that they’re freeing us from our sins. Dying after enduring such hardship is our salvation so that we can live as proper humans in the next life. The humans make us pitiful demi-humans suffer through these harsh trials, even though it pains their hearts to do so. Their kindness, they say, lets them be welcomed into God’s arms as better people.”

“I think that’s an insane dogma,” I said.

“In practice, few are truly devout believers,” they continued, voice bitter. “What’s important is that God says so. That the clergymen say so. And if they say it’s right, then it must be right. Therefore it’s okay to make the demi-humans suffer. Everyone is doing it, so it’s fine for us to do it too.” The hooded cyclops spoke as if spitting out their words, then went quiet for a time.

Their hatred of Adolism ran deep. Deeper than even I’d expected. But honestly, who could blame them? Sylphy and the others, everyone who’d suffered under the Holy Kingdom’s rule carried the same wounds.

“By the way, um…what are you doing?” the hooded cyclops asked suddenly.

I was kneeling against a middle-aged wolf—or dog—beastman, wrapping his leg with cloth and tightening a brace around his knee.

“I’m bracing his knee and dressing it,” I said.

“…Huh?”

I was doing exactly what it looked like I was doing, so I answered as such, which caused them to stare at me like I was talking nonsense. Yeah, this reaction really brought me back.

“M-my word! The pain in my knee is all gone?!” the beastman exclaimed in disbelief.

Shocked silence fell over the room.

Yep. There it was. The hooded cyclops was giving me the same dumbfounded expression that Ira used to give me a little while back.

“Now that I think about it,” I said, turning to the hooded cyclops, “I don’t believe I ever got your name.”

“…Oh, right. Yeah. My name. People call me Mono.”

“You mean like ‘mono-eye’? Is that your real name?”

“No,” they replied curtly. “But it’s fine.”

The tone told me enough—it wasn’t fine. The man—or were they a woman?—seemed to have some baggage behind their name. Mono had Ira’s curiosity but was quite a bit more reserved than she was. They were also grappling with a darkness that Ira had never known.

“Gotcha,” I said softly. “Well, I think things are starting to look up, so try to take it easy, yeah?”

“Yes, well…I hope so.”

***

After I finished healing everyone, it was finally time to eat the food that had been prepared while I was working.

The guards Viscount Travis had stationed on-site were in charge of meals, and apparently they’d enlisted the help of some of the demi-humans to prepare enough food for us as well. The menu was simple: a generous helping of vegetables, a bit of dried meat, and a lightly salted multigrain porridge. Quite frankly, it wasn’t very good, but there was plenty of it, and it filled the stomach at least.

“I suppose this is the best you can expect when you’re so far from the city,” Ifriita muttered, spoon in hand.

She wasn’t wrong. I believe Steven had mentioned that it was about a full day’s walk from Museburg, roughly thirty kilometers away.

Steven’s horse was quite the athlete considering he’d managed to get here in an hour. Honestly, way faster than the horses back on Earth. Maybe they were strengthened with magic or something.

My mind drifted back to something that had been bugging me for some time.

“Things’ll change big time if canned goods spread more.”

Ifriita nodded. “Our production output’s still pretty limited, though.”

The canned goods and instant noodle project was expanding as planned, but we hadn’t been able to distribute them this far out yet. Without the golem-powered mass-production factories running yet, everything was still being done by hand.

We were stuck between progress and potential. We wanted mechanized mass-production to be a thing, but we still didn’t have large-scale manufacturing systems in place that could mass-produce the metals to make the cans for the food.

We also still needed a large-scale blast furnace to mass-produce iron. Either that or the facilities with equivalent alchemy. In a sense, alchemy in this world was more proficient than Earth’s science with its potential. Instead of making a blast furnace, it could actually be faster to finish the mana traps, solve the problem of magic energy, and then make an alchemic iron furnace.

But an iron furnace wouldn’t be enough on its own. We’d need to get our hands on mass quantities of ore. And that means we’d need to reform how mining worked altogether. Then, in order to move large quantities of ore or refined metal, we needed transportation and proper roads.

Jeez, the road to mass-producing canned goods was a long one.

“There’s so much that needs doing…” I muttered, stirring my porridge.

“I have no clue how you got there from our conversation,” Ifriita smirked faintly.

“Well, the boss is way smarter than us. He sees stuff that we don’t,” Shemel said with a smile.

There was plenty of food to go around, but when I watched the ogre girls eat, it sure didn’t look like it. Meanwhile, the two princesses were really struggling with the stuff.

“I can handle the flavor,” Ifriita said delicately, “but there’s too much of it.”

Aqual didn’t even respond. She just set her spoon down after a couple of mouthfuls, which made all the sense in the world to me. Both of them had grown up eating soft bread and home-cooked meals. This watery porridge, with its faint hint of salt and weak broth, must have tasted like punishment.

“Kousuke,” Ifriita started again, “I require more food. I do not feel as though I have eaten anything.”

“Okay, sure. You good with a cheeseburger? Also, neither of you need to force yourselves to eat that stuff.”

“Mm… You’re right,” Ifriita admitted, before turning to her sister. “Aqual, I suggest you take him up on his offer.”

“…All right.”

“Kousuke, I request pancakes as well,” Ifriita added.

“Fine, fine,” I said with a grin. “What about y’all?”

“I’ll take a hamburger.”

“Me too!”

“I’ll skip the meat, but I would like some pancakes.”

And just like that, I collected the princesses’ porridge bowls, put them aside, and started pulling freshly made hamburgers and pancakes from my inventory. Before long, a crowd of pioneers began gathering around us, drawn by the unfamiliar aroma.

Fortunately, I had plenty of burgers and pancakes to go around, so I was able to feed not only the pioneers, but the guards as well. I didn’t have much whipped cream left, so I served the pancakes with jam instead.

“Delish!”

“What is this? It’s so good!”

The reactions were immediate and loud. The pioneers were perfectly split between burger lovers and pancake fans. Unsurprisingly, the carnivorous beastmen devoured the burgers, while the vegetarian beastmen gravitated toward the pancakes. Obviously, there were exceptions to the rule as well—people weren’t so easily compartmentalized.

And wait a second, didn’t you guys say you were eating all right? Don’t blame me if you get sick from eating too much.

***

“I don’t get it,” Mono whispered, staring up at the row of barracks I’d whipped up in no time at all.

The pioneers and Viscount Travis’s soldiers stood beside them, all craning their necks and gawking in stunned silence.

“This ain’t nothin’ for the boss,” Shemel said, grinning from ear to ear. “If you’re surprised by this, you might just pass out tomorrow.”

“I understand where you’re coming from,” Tozume added, “but I suggest getting used to it.”

“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” Bela boasted proudly.

I’d set up six barracks in total, each one capable of housing twenty people, and a water tower attached to an infinite water source. The location was ideal: roughly a full day’s walk—roughly five to six hours—from Museburg. We were also only about an hour on foot away from the main pioneer village construction site. It was the perfect spot on the outskirts of the village to build some lodgings. It’d be really easy to look after, to boot.

The math worked out neatly: The fifty pioneers would fill three of the buildings, Viscount Travis’s twenty-odd soldiers would occupy one, the twenty royal guards would take another, and the last one would be for me, Grande, the three ogre girls, the three harpies, and the two princesses.

“You do realize both If and I are unmarried female royalty, yes?” Aqual asked pointedly, her tone sharp.

“It’s a little late to pull that card.”

“…Fine,” Aqual said with a sigh in response to Ifriita’s curt comment.

Yeah, I figured she would say something about how it was indecent for an unmarried woman to spend a night with a man. But really, it wasn’t like I could justify building an entire extra barracks just for her. Actually…since she was royalty, maybe that would’ve been the proper call.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re not going to suddenly assault us, right?”

“Of course not.”

“Then it isn’t a big deal,” Ifriita said, brushing it off. “Still, I’d really like to take a bath… I’m a little dusty.”

“Ah, would you like me to build a temporary bath underground?” I offered.

Setting up a full bathhouse here wasn’t realistic without a dedicated fire mage or steady supply of fuel. It came with an infinite water source, but actually boiling the water would be hard work. Still, I could easily make a one-night bath and bury it afterward. No big deal. “I’m not sure how I feel about making you go that far for me…”

“It really won’t be any trouble,” I assured her.

“Hmm… Okay, do you mind then?”

“As you wish, Your Majesty,” I said, then quickly dug out a corner of the floor of the barracks and built a small bath underground. I didn’t put much effort into its design, but it’d be fine for one night of use.

“All done,” I said, wiping my hands. “I’ll go hand out hot water and towels to the other barracks so everyone can wipe down. You two can bathe first.”

“Sorry about all this. I really appreciate it,” Ifriita said softly.

“Yes, thank you very much,” Aqual added with a small nod.

The two princesses offered their words of gratitude, and I left the barracks to start distributing hot water and towels to the others. The royal guards—all women—were especially grateful. They’d been on their feet, watching out for us in full armor all day, after all.

“Would you like me to wipe you down?”

“That would, uh, be kind of problematic.”

I politely turned down Gerda’s offer and hurried out of the royal guards’ barracks. Letting myself get naked in front of twenty strong female guards felt…dangerous. The women of this world tended to be, well, carnivorous, so I could’ve ended up getting devoured.

“…What is it?”

“Oh, nothing at all.”

Someone’s large eye was locked on me. When I went to deliver hot water and towels to the female barracks, I bumped into Mono as she was taking off her hooded robe. As I’d suspected, she was a woman.

“Get refreshed and rest up, okay?”

“…That’s the plan.”

Mono narrowed her eye at me suspiciously, but the rest of the women were thrilled to have fresh water and towels. The men, on the other hand, looked annoyed at having to clean themselves.

“C’mon guys,” I muttered under my breath. “You better wash up.”

When I got back to my own barracks, I found a sheet hanging at the back, sectioning off part of the room as if to hide something or someone.

Ah. So that’s where Ifriita and Aqual were after their bath. They didn’t want me to see them, obviously.

“Welcome back,” Shemel called out “Feel free to hit the bath.”

“Aye, aye. Are the harpies in there right now?”

“I didn’t look so I don’t know. Probably? Feel free to get in with them.”

“Hmm? Okay.”

Something about Shemel’s tone made me pause, but I brushed it off and descended to the basement. I stripped down, listening to the sound of water splashing around—sounded like the harpies were busy bathing. They’d been flying all day, so they must’ve been exhausted. I needed to reward them for their hard work.

But the moment I opened the door to the bath, I was met with Ifriita and Aqual’s elegant figures. Ifriita’s well-proportioned nude body, and Aqual’s beautiful, youthful form. Their wet red and blue hair reflected beautifully off of their flawless white skin.

For a moment, time froze.

Then our eyes met.

“Pardon the intrusion,” I blurted out, immediately spinning on my heel to make my retreat.

But before I could exit, something hard collided against my back and head, launching me out into the changing room.

It hurt. A lot.

I totally understood why they reacted that way, but I really wished they hadn’t thrown a wooden wash tub at me. Anyone else might’ve died from that hit.

At present, Shemel was banned from touching even a drop of alcohol after intentionally setting up that little incident and then laughing her ass off about it.

I’m not letting this go, Shemel.

***

Which brings us to the morning following the tragedy.

I’d managed to get both princesses to forgive me, and just like yesterday, I was sitting at the table with Mono and the others, eating breakfast together.

“For now, I’m going to have you keep working on the roads while I go head out to the village construction site and build it up quickly,” I said.

Mono, Deneros, and Raya exchanged looks.

They’d seen me put up six barracks and a water tower with an infinite water source yesterday, so they probably figured I could handle building a village on my own.

“And I want to bring one of you along as a supervisor.”

“…It’s gotta be Mono.”

“Definitely Mono.”

“Me…? I mean, if you two say so.”

It was unanimous: Mono would come with me. Despite her small stature, Mono had a good head on her shoulders and the people here really relied on her.

“Mono can use magic too. She’s quite skilled.”

“She’d always fight off monsters and bandits like swoosh, kaboom!”

“Hoh… So she’s got all kinds of talents, huh?”

Mono looked uncomfortable under my gaze. Hmm, she had a bit of a difficult personality… Or maybe it was more accurate to say it felt like she had things she was struggling with. I decided not to dig too deep. Everyone had issues they didn’t want others poking and prodding at.

“Okay. I’ll take Mono with me as a supervisor. I’ll also bring the ogre girls and Grande. Ifriita and Aqual, I want you to talk with everyone here and proceed with the plan.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’re on it. You’re fine with that, right?”

“Yes, If.”

By “the plan,” I meant the whole personnel recruitment thing. I wanted them to headhunt people who could read, write, and do arithmetic to be potential civil servants. We’d offer potential candidates positions in Merinesburg. These refugees were a problem Viscount Travis didn’t know how to solve anyway, so he probably wouldn’t object. And if he did, I could just butter him up with some valuables.

***

Establishing a brand-new pioneer village from nothing.

Simple to say, but in practice, there was a lot to think about when it came to actually building it. For example, if the village prospered, how was it going to expand? I’d have to be careful about where to place the buildings and farmland. Normal people couldn’t just move houses once they were built. The same went for fields and waterways.

Of course, in my case, I could absolutely move all of that.

Anyway, farmland could be tricky. Some areas were naturally better-suited for crop cultivation than others, and I had to start by making soil. Normally, this process took years: making the land fertile, improving the drainage and quality of the dirt, stripping away rocks or trees, and painstakingly removing any pebbles that could disturb the ground. Only then would you finally have usable farmland.

In my case, all I had to do was swing my hoe.

“I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

“Take a good, hard look at reality.”

I was currently running around the build-site, developing as I went under Mono’s direction. From atop the observation platform I’d built, she could see the entire site and was making sure I set down buildings exactly according to the plan we drafted yesterday. Naturally, we stayed in touch via golem communicator.

The only ones at the build site were me, Mono, Grande, and a single harpy assigned to watch over me. The rest of the harpies and ogre girls were out surveying the surrounding area for monsters and hazardous terrain. I’d given each a golem communicator so we could stay in sync. The harpies were excellent aerial combatants and scouts, but I hadn’t equipped them with bombs for this trip, so they were strictly reconnaissance this time around.

At the moment, I was leveling out the land to prepare for the main village facilities. Believe it or not, plains like this were rarely ever flat, so site prep was essential.

“Um, what’s the deal with that…shovel thing?”

“It’s a mighty tool with a pure mithril blade and enchantments made from only the best materials, my good lady.”

“How in the world do you end up making something like that out of mithril and enchanting it?”

Mostly as a part of my hobby, honestly. But considering how useful it all turned out to be, all’s well that ends well, no? Being able to dig up land and flatten it in one go was extremely handy.

“Changing the subject, are there, like, cyclopes communities out there?”

“There used to be, but I haven’t heard of any these days. The Holy Kingdom really despised us, so a lot of folks did their best not to stand out. Fortunately, not only are we a long-lived race, but many of us are skilled in magic, pharmaceutics, or alchemy. Many of us offered our knowledge and abilities to other demi-human communities in exchange for protection. I think plenty of cyclopes survived that way.”

“Demi-human communities? I thought they all got suppressed and dissolved?”

“No, not really. Merinard had always been a place where humans and demi-humans could live together in peace, so when the Holy Kingdom took over, it wasn’t like those people suddenly turned on us. There were lots of civilians who pretended to follow Adolism on the surface, only to help demi-humans behind the scenes. And on top of that, many demi-humans are stronger or have more magic energy than humans, so there were quite a few cases of them settling in places inhospitable to humans.”

“Huh… I think Bela actually said something like that about her own village.”

I recalled her mentioning something pretty violent regarding her village. Maybe Bela came from one of those communities. I’d have to ask her for details later.

“Bela’s that red ogre, right? Ogres are usually powerful fighters, so they tend to build communities in harsh environments like the mountains. A lot of them can be kind of violent, so you get some trouble, but in the last twenty years, they’ve taken in lots of demi-humans and protected them.”

“Interesting. I guess a lot of them must be really empathetic, even if they’re a little rough around the edges.”

My ogre girls didn’t strike me as terribly violent, but maybe that was because they’d left home to become adventurers. They might have been the odd ones out.

“That sounds about right. Thanks to the western chunk of Merinard being so close to the Federation of Small Nations and the Dragonis Mountain Nation, the Holy Kingdom’s rule out here was always pretty loose. That said, they ruled the east, central, and northern regions with an iron fist. What else… Anti-Holy Kingdom forces were forming in the south, so over the last five years the Kingdom really focused its attention over there. About three years ago, there was a failed rebellion, and things got pretty bad after that.”

“Ah, I know all about that. The survivors of that rebellion fled to the Black Forest, which brings us to where we are now.”

The demi-humans who lived under horrific conditions in the south were probably the same ones who’d joined the rebellion led by Sir Leonard and the others. No wonder they’d been treated so harshly. Looking back, I got the feeling that a lot of the demi-humans we freed in Arichburg and farther north were treated better than the ones in the south.

And so, I kept preparing the site while Mono told me more about the Holy Kingdom’s rule.

***

Once I wrapped that up, everything else went quickly. I used my blueprint ability to place down homes, water towers, and defensive walls. All that was left was to head over to where I’d be putting the farm and swing my mithril hoe. When I cultivated an area, it didn’t matter what kind of badlands it had been before, it would completely transform into fertile land.

Thinking about it rationally, the ability to disintegrate all rocks, pebbles, weeds, and shrubs to make an area perfect for growing crops was honestly terrifying. What happened to the microbes and nutrients in the soil? Was I actually doing something pretty incredible with my hoe? I mean, it was basically like magic or a divine miracle, so maybe it was pointless trying to think about it scientifically.

“It’s coming together.”

“Coming together? Are you serious? All that’s left is for people to move here…” Mono whispered, exasperated, as she looked over the finished pioneer village.

She wasn’t wrong. The place would become a functioning village the moment the pioneers working on the road moved in.

“It’d probably be a good idea to have everyone rest in the village tonight, then work on the road from here.”

“Good idea. We’ll have to plant the wheat and keep cultivating the farmland too.”

Mono’s large eye wandered toward the empty sky as she planned for the future. I really wanted her back in Merinesburg. She probably wouldn’t be the best fit for R&D, but she’d make a fantastic official. The way she was already planning for long-term future development proved just how sharp she was.

“Hey, Mono. Wanna come work for me?”

“Huh? What’s this all about?”

Mono’s large eye darted around at my sudden proposal. I knew I’d blindsided her, but she was precisely the kind of person Sylphy and Melty were hoping for in Merinesburg. Even if I had to push a little, I needed to convince her to come back with me.

“To be honest, my job’s twofold. I was sent out here to build pioneer villages and recruit promising talent. Right now, we really need people like you. People we can train into civil servants and officials.”

“This really is coming out of nowhere, but, well, I’m not interested in that sort of thing,” she said. “No matter how hard I work, it’ll all just fall out of my hands. And if that’s the case, I’d rather be satisfied with my current lifestyle and take it easy.”

“I get where you’re coming from, but please. I’m begging you. Consider this a huge favor to me.”

I pressed my hands together and implored her. Mono struck me as someone easy to pressure, so if I had to get on my hands and knees to make her agree, so be it.

“Please!”

“Look, hold on a sec. Can you not put your head on the ground like that?”

“I promise I’ll make it worth your while! I swear!”

“Argh… C’mon. This is making me uncomfortable.”

I could sense Mono panicking above my head as I groveled. I just had to push a little more…

“Who knows what’s gonna happen to me if I let someone as talented as you escape? Please! You’d be saving my butt!”

“Ah… Urgh… But I can’t just leave Deneros and Raya behind, you know?”

“I’ll talk to my mistress and have her work something out with Viscount Travis! Hell, I’ll give you my full support! I’ll do anything within my power!” I said, sensing Mono’s aura shift above me.

Ooh? Did I do it?

“You said you’d do anything, yeah?”

I lifted my head and saw Mono crouching beside me, her single eye staring straight into mine.

“Yeah, totally. As long as it’s within my power.”

“Is that so? Then… I’ll go if you promise to always look after me…Kousuke.”

“Always?”

“Yeah. Always. For as long as you’re alive.”

Mono kept her gaze locked on me as she made her extremely heavy request.

“There are already a lot of women I’ve promised to look after for as long as I live, but if you’re fine with that…”

“If you won’t promise to only look after me, then maybe I won’t go back with you…”

“Pretty please?”

“I dunno…”

Mono giggled and rose to her feet. She then extended a hand toward me.

“Well, I suppose it’s a deal. But you’d better be responsible for your words until you finally win me over.”

“But of course.”

I took her hand and stood up. Things had gotten a little weird, sure, but I managed to get her to come back with me, so all’s well that ends well!

With that, Mono and I returned to where Deneros and the others were working on the road.

“And so Kousuke’s taking me for himself.”

The shocked expressions said it all.

Mono uses explosive statement! It’s super effective!

“Seriously…?”

Deneros and the others froze, jaws dropped. Meanwhile, both Ifriita and Aqual were looking at me like I was some disgusting object. Pure chaos.

“Um, Miss Mono? What exactly do you mean by that…?”

“If I give myself to Kousuke, he’ll look after everyone. Myself included,” Mono answered Raya’s question flatly.

The stares stabbing into me from everyone present hurt. A lot. Physically.

“Okay, let’s talk this out. Let’s, uh, clear up this biiiig mis­understanding.”

It took nearly an hour to do just that. I still wasn’t convinced I’d actually cleared my name, but at least people stopped looking at me like some awful man abusing his authority to kidnap a girl.

“This is what you get for saying you’d do anything.”

“You’re lucky this is all you have to deal with.”

“My remorse runs as deep as the ocean.”

We split off from Deneros and the others, and on the way back to Museburg with Mono, both Ifriita and Aqual took turns ripping into me.

As for Mono, she quietly watched it all unfold, a faint smile on her lips.

Chapter 9: Violence Solves Everything

Chapter 9:
Violence Solves Everything

THE REALITY OF THE SITUATION was that Deneros and company’s village was only one of many pioneer villages that I needed to build. After returning to Museburg, we met with Viscount Travis again, borrowed young Steven, and went right back to it—constructing one village after another. Rinse, dry, and repeat.

“You sure are in a hurry, huh?” Mono observed.

“I’ve got pregnant women back home, so I really wanna wrap this up as quickly as I can and head back.”

“I get that you’re worried, but don’t push yourself too hard, okay? If you end up collapsing, that’ll only cause more problems for everyone else,” Ifriita cautioned.

“You’ve got pregnant wives waiting for you back home, and you’re out here ensnaring scrawny girls like me? You’re a bad boy,” Mono teased.

“He’s a bad boy,” Aqual said.

“A really bad boy,” Ifriita added.

“Have mercy.”

Mono slotted into the group effortlessly. And for reasons beyond me, both Ifriita and Aqual grew attached to her. As a member of her race, Mono was small, but she carried herself like someone with a lifetime of experience.

She slept near the princesses, and apparently every night they’d stay up chatting about all kinds of things, melting the ice between them bit by bit.

With Mono now part of our team, we traveled all across Viscount Travis’s territory, building pioneer villages. At each new site, Mono used her skills and charisma to help recruit plenty of promising future civil officials alongside Ifriita and Aqual.

After that, I parted ways with the three of them and their royal guards to keep constructing villages on my own. The reason I moved on without them was simple: We’d recruited far more potential workers in Viscount Travis’s territory than expected. The refugee camps outside of Museburg weren’t exactly ideal. Sure, they had tents, but the people were still exposed to the wind and weather. So I decided to have the girls escort the new recruits back to Merinesburg while I continued building villages.

“What number is this?” Grande asked, wondering just how many villages I’d built.

It was rare for her to actually be awake during work hours.

I counted on my fingers, thinking back over the last few weeks.

“I wanna say this is number seventeen? I’m pretty much all done with the viscount’s territory now.”

In areas where build sites were close to one another, I could finish two villages in a day, but generally, I’d build one, head back to Museburg to check in, then set out again the next day. I was repeating this process, so it wasn’t the fastest system, but it worked. As of today, a month had passed since I’d arrived. I was really starting to want to see Sylphy, the rest of my wives, and my harpy daughters.

Lost in thought, I spaced out until Grande suddenly turned to look ahead of us, a serious expression on her face.

“What’s up?”

“I smell blood. I’m heading out,” she said before opening the roof hatch of the airboard and soaring into the sky.

Almost at the same time, one of the harpies scouting from above contacted me through the golem communicator.

“I have visuals on the meeting spot, but something’s off!”

“You can probably see her, but Grande flew ahead toward the meeting spot. Scout the surrounding area, please.”

“You got it!”

Bela immediately increased our speed as I relayed messages back and forth over the communicator. I really appreciated that she knew exactly what to do without me saying a word.

“The smell of blood, hm? That don’t sound good.”

“What do you think’s going on?”

“Either a monster attack or a bandit raid. But given how we’ve been setting up security at every build site, it’d have to be something or someone pretty strong to wipe them out. ”

“Which means they were attacked by an opponent they couldn’t even fight back against… But this area’s supposed to be pretty far from any monster domains.”

“Then it’s probably bandits, aye?”

When we arrived at the site, the scene before us was truly awful. Like a battlefield, almost. They must’ve been attacked at night. Most of the tents were soaked in blood, torn apart, or burned to ash. Corpses were strewn about everywhere, some of them even ravaged by wild beasts.

“This is terrible,” I said as I surveyed the scene.

“There’s no one alive here. As far as I can tell, humans did this.”

Grande pointed toward several corpses marked with clean, deliberate, blade-inflicted wounds.

One, likely a female beastman, had no weapons or armor, just regular clothes. She must’ve tried to flee; the gash that split her shoulder blade to her spine made that clear. Beast fangs couldn’t do that kind of damage. She had been partially eaten by beasts, but she died from a human’s blade.

“I don’t like this at all,” Grande muttered.

“Indeed.”

I began collecting the corpses, storing them carefully in my inventory. Viscount Travis would have a list of the pioneers stationed here, so I’d be able to cross-check their names and give them proper burials later. Thankfully, my inventory displayed their names even if the bodies were too damaged to identify.

“Looks like whoever did this took the food and valuables. Pretty damn certain this is the work of bandits.”

“Mm… They might’ve kidnapped some folks too. Really looks like this was one-sided.”

“As far as I can tell, the raid went off perfectly. Whoever they are, they’re clearly well trained. And based on the condition of the bodies, I’d say it happened at least two nights ago. Maybe longer.”

The ogre girls moved through the ruins, analyzing the scene of the crime with professional precision. Having three veteran adventurers around for something like this was a real blessing.

“Think you can track them?” I asked.

“Probably. They’d need horses or carriages to carry their loot, so I think we can track them down,” Tozume said, nodding as she looked around.

Shemel was nodding too, so if they were that confident, they could handle it. But what was Bela up to? She was off a little ways away, investigating something and clearly hadn’t heard our exchange.

“Once we clean this up, we’re goin’ bandit-huntin’.”

Hunting these bastards down and killing them wouldn’t bring the people back, but it’d stop them from claiming any more victims. But most importantly, I was furious they’d interrupted our work. And I was angry they’d brutally massacred the people I came to save.

That was reason enough to take out every last one of those bandits.

***

“You’ve got a terrifying look on your face,” Shemel said with a smile from the seat directly in front of me on the airboard Bela was driving.

“I bet I do.”

That was about all I could say in response. I couldn’t keep my cool at all. I’d killed tons of soldiers on the battlefield before. I’d seen all kinds of grisly sights. But what I saw today was entirely different.

There were people cut down from behind while trying to flee.

People who must’ve died trying to protect someone else, arms outstretched, bodies cleaved into from the front.

There was a mother holding her child, both impaled from behind.

I’d killed a lot, but usually it was only in response to those who directed their bloodlust toward me. I fought back at people who came for me, and even then I warned them first, to give them a chance.

But what I saw today was something else entirely. These were innocent, powerless people who were massacred, and I was pissed.

Even if they were raiding the pioneers for supplies, there was no need to kill everyone. If they’d taken out the guards first, the rest should’ve been powerless pioneers. There should have been no reason to massacre them.

But they did anyway. They made sure everyone died.

And that pissed me off.

“You have a difficult expression,” Grande said, looking up at me from where she was resting on my knees.

I’d been complacent.

What I was doing was selfish revenge. It wasn’t as if my own family had been murdered; this was just righteous indignation. I was a selfish man who believed I was on the right side of justice, bringing down my blade of judgment on those I decided were in the wrong.

Maybe those bandits had a justifiable reason for raiding the pioneers.

Maybe they only did what they had to because of what we, what the Liberation Army, the New Kingdom of Merinard had done.

Maybe they’d lost their status, their positions, their friends and family because of us, and this was their revenge.

But in the end, everything we did—everything Sylphy and the others did—was in response to the Holy Kingdom’s invasion twenty years ago. They were getting revenge for what had been done to them. If this incident came from that, then it was just another sick cycle of vengeance.

Was it really right to selfishly seek revenge? The thought crossed my mind, but—

“Revenge sure does feel good,” I said.

“Aye!”

“Feels good bringing down the blade of judgment on bandits when you know you’re in the right,” I continued.

“Aye!”

“Then we’re all good!”

“Seriously…?” Tozume asked, narrowing her gaze at me, but I ignored her.

“Either way, if we leave these guys alone, they could attack another group of pioneers or even a village. Fortunately, we got the strength to stop them, so it’s fine if we step in. No more sweating the details.”

“Agreed. That’s how you gotta be when it comes to dealin’ with bandits. Makes it easier when you think of ’em like monsters with a little bit of intelligence.”

“There’s a great mage who once said that bandits ain’t got no human rights.”

“Talk about a brutal mage… Not that I disagree.”

From what I’d heard, that mage was so brutal they could easily blow away an entire mountain and might’ve even been stronger than Grande. Actually, they definitely were.

Honestly, this world was pretty peaceful just for the fact that they weren’t in it anymore. Though, thinking about it, maybe I was in their place causing all the trouble now.

“Sooo, what’s the plan?”

“First, our harpies are gonna keep an eye on things from the sky, while I use my golem soldiers and Grande to draw them out from the front,” I began. “If they’ve got hostages or prisoners, you girls will slip in from another direction while we distract them, grab the people, and retreat. I’ll equip our harpies with bombing gear, so if the bandits try to chase you, we’ll blow the shit out of them from the air.”

“What if there are too many prisoners to fit on the airboard?”

“Protect them and hold your ground as best you can. Once Grande and the golem soldiers get moving, the bandits won’t be able to split their forces. Judging by what Bela’s scoping, their strike team isn’t huge. It won’t take long to annihilate them.”

After investigating the scene of the crime, Bela concluded that we were dealing with roughly thirty attackers. Even if that was only their strike force and the main force waited elsewhere, we were probably looking at fifty men, maybe a hundred at most. One heavy-armed golem could wipe them out.

“Well, I’d say that’s a plenty good plan for havin’ to come up with it on the spot. We’ve got a route out, and the support to make it happen.”

“I’ll give you guys a large airboard in case there are lots of prisoners.”

I pulled a prototype troop-transport airboard from my inventory. It was called a prototype, but it was fully tested and functional. In other words, it was good to go.

“Master, I’ve located what appears to be a bandit camp.”

After working out the details of the plan with Shemel, one of the harpies scouting ahead called in on the communicator.

“Well done. Get close and keep an eye on them without being seen.”

“Understood.”

All that was left was to get the job done.

***

I saw no point in offering the bandits a chance to surrender, so we decided to attack their camp outright.

“Before we start, one last check,” I declared from a spot out of sight of the bandit camp.

Even a rough plan needs everyone on the same page, especially since we were splitting into two groups.

“Aye.”

According to our harpies overhead, I learned the camp sat on a relatively tall hill near a patch of forest. The forest showed signs of having trees cut down, and the bandits had thrown up a log wall with abatis for extra protection.

“They got gates on the west and east sides.” Egret reported. She was the white-feathered harpy coordinating the rest of the harpies.

I sketched some of the gates on the dirt map with a stick. It was crude but clear enough. They’d built a wall of logs encircling their camp. The west gate opened toward the woods, and it was likely their resource route, used to haul resources they’d gathered from the forest and into the camp. According to Egret, that gate looked seldom used; it was shut tight.

“For transporting resources, then. Think you can break through it?” I asked.

“That would be the easiest and fastest way in.”

“It’s just logs, after all. One swing of my axe and it’s done for!” Bela said, holding up the mithril alloy axe I’d given her.

“I’m fine with breaking down the gate. Our shortest route is definitely through here.”

Egret pointed out a small cabin likely to hold the prisoners. Bandits without armor drifted in and out; it was easy to imagine what was going on inside. Those pieces of shit.

“Me and Tozume will smash the abatis, Bela can break down the wall, and then we’ll go inside to check the cabin, grab the prisoners, and run. Nice and simple,” Shemel said. Her trusty metal club gleamed and Tozume’s mithril hammer was already in hand. The abatis looked built for small monsters like goblins, so one solid blow would destroy it.

“And while you two get the prisoners out, Kousuke and I will crush the enemy head-on,” Grande said. “Quite simple indeed!”

“I’ll cover the retreat!”

I nodded in response to Grande and Egret. It was a laughably straightforward plan, but it fit the situation. We weren’t exactly pros at putting this sort of stuff together, so I felt it was more than adequate.

I’d already fitted the harpies with bombing gear. Once everyone was in position and Egret gave the sign, the mission would begin.

“All right, let’s do this.”

It was time to give these bastards their just deserts for what they’d done.

And even if our actions had set some chain of events in motion, that did not excuse massacring helpless people. We wouldn’t let them walk away.

***

“We’re in position!”

“Roger that. Go big and loud. I dunno if they’ll flee or charge, but get ready to close in.”

“Aye. Don’t get yourself hurt.”

“No worries.”

I was wearing tanned wyvern hide with mithril-plated armor over it. An ordinary iron arrow from your average bow stood no chance of piercing that. Hell, even a steel bolt from a goats-foot crossbow wouldn’t get through. In testing, a single 7.92 mm round from our bolt-action rifles couldn’t even pierce it. Obviously, light machine gun fire would still ruin you, but for this sort of raid, I felt well protected.

“So, how are we doing this?” Grande asked.

“Let’s approach from the front wearing these robes. But you don’t have to put the hood up.”

“Hmm?”

I handed her a basic hooded robe. She shrugged it on but didn’t bother with the hood. Her blonde hair still shone bright; my robe hid the gleam of my mithril.

As we approached, Grande whispered to me, “They’ve spotted us. The lookouts on top of the gate are panicking.”

“Not super surprising considering we’re not exactly hiding.”

“What’s next? Charge in?”

“Act like we’re running away.”

“Really?”

“Just pretend.”

We broke into a run, eyes on the camp. The gate flew open and five cavalrymen rode out. They were lightly equipped, curved blades at the ready and clearly keen on attacking us. We were roughly a hundred meters away from the gate. Yeah, that seemed about right.

“They’re coming at us.”

“Then let’s say hello, shall we?”

I pulled an assault rifle from my inventory and shouldered it. These cavalrymen were racing straight at us, making them perfect targets. A bolt-action rifle might be too slow, but this rifle had thirty rounds and was capable of firing six hundred rounds a minute. So, I set it to semi-auto.

Pow! Pow! Pow!

Every time I pulled the trigger, the assault rifle cracked with a glorious sound and a cavalryman would launch backward off his steed, blood spraying. The horses, scared by the sudden eruption of noise, reared and halted, which let me focus on my next targets.

And just like that, the five cavalrymen were dead.

“That weapon of yours is absurdly strong in areas with good visibility. Do you even need my aid?” Grande asked.

“I dunno.”

After deploying the cavalrymen, the bandits slammed the gate shut again. The lookouts atop it stared like they’d seen a ghost. Of course, I had no intention of taking it easy on them either. I reloaded my assault rifle, then pulled out my bolt action rifle with a four-times zoom scope, especially made for sniping. I dropped to one knee, shouldered it and aimed at a lookout on the gate.

Steady…

Pow!

The sniper’s rifle was louder than the weapon before it, and the lookout’s shoulder gave out causing him to fall atop the gate. I raised the bolt and pulled it back, ejected the shell, then returned it to its initial position before loading the next round and bringing the bolt down.

“One more.”

The second shot rang out, punching through the man’s sternum, just below his neck. He was sent flying back into the camp.

“Well done. What is our next move?”

“This.”

Grande’s expression tightened as she made a small, displeased “Urgh.”

I had produced anti-tank RPG. You know, the weapon from that one movie—the one where the soldier spots the rocket and yells the name of the weapon? Back when I first met Grande, Melty beat her up good and proper, and I aimed this thing at her. I guess that triggered some bad memories for her.

But I didn’t have time to worry about Grande’s feelings. I gripped the front-side handle with the trigger in my right hand, shouldered the RPG, and wrapped my left hand around the back-side grip near the middle. I looked down the ironside and aimed at the wooden front gate.

“I’m going to fire now. Don’t stand right behind me.”

“Mm.”

Once Grande had repositioned herself to my left, I fired.

Kaboom!

The RPG’s solid fuel burned, accelerated to near-subsonic speed, and smashed square into the center of the gate.

The explosion tore a hole clean through the wood. If I’d developed thermobaric rounds that worked with blast pressure, the gate might’ve been vaporized, but I wasn’t quite there yet. Anti-tank RPGs could punch a hole through a wall; they didn’t always level entire structures.

“You opened a hole in it.”

“I’ll keep firing until it’s completely gone.”

I reloaded and fired, reloaded and fired again, round and round chewing at the door until it was gradually reduced to nothing.

“I guess I’ll stop there.”

“Are you sure?”

“I want them to think I’m out of ammo. Or magic. They probably don’t want this place discovered, so I bet they’ll come out here to get rid of us.”

If the camp’s existence became known, Merinard’s royal military—in this case, Madame Zamil’s forces—would sweep in eventually. And if that happened, the bandits would be forced to abandon this place and flee. With only two witnesses here, it made sense to force them into a position where they had to move before things escalated further and to keep our mouths shut.

From their point of view, I must’ve looked like a mage of some kind. If I suddenly stopped attacking, they’d assume I’d run out of magic energy. A seemingly spent mage and a dragon that looked like a small child in a weird outfit? They’d probably think they could crush us with numbers fairly easily.

“See? Here they come.”

“Oooh. They’re pouring out.”

They all had swords, shields, and spears, and, like Grande said, they really were just flooding out of the camp. About thirty in total, I’d say.

“What now?”

“I think it’s time to put one of my golems to work.”

“What about talking, er… What do you call them? Prisoners?”

“Don’t see the point. Death to anyone who lifts a blade against the king consort. Nice and simple.”

“That certainly is easy to understand.”

I watched as Grande nodded like she’d just heard the perfect answer. I set a golem warrior—a hulking construct armed with a golem-sized steel weapon—and set it down.

“Target: the people approaching us. Crush them.”

“Voh,” the golem replied, then began to lumber forward toward the approaching group of bandits. It moved with heavy, deliberate strides. It looked slow, but each step covered more ground than a galloping horse.

“Talk about one-sided. Ah, some of them are avoiding the golem and coming this way,” Shemel observed.

“I figured they would.”

I still had my assault rifle in hand. A couple of cavalrymen tried to charge, and I gunned them down in half a heartbeat. If any crawled away alive after the battle, I suppose I could let them live. I’d probably kill them, though.

“They’re scattering and trying to run away.”

“Handle the guys running to the right. I’ll take the left,” I said, switching to my bolt-action rifle. Shooting men in the back gave me no pause. These were bandits and there was nothing noble about them so there was nothing to be saved. I didn’t care if people called me self-righteous after the fact. If I was going to do this, I was going to get them all.

***

“We’ve mopped up the enemies out front. What’s the situation?”

“Shemel’s squad has already made their escape. No pursuers.”

“Understood. Tell them to wait somewhere safe.”

“Roger that.”

I slipped the golem communicator back into my inventory. Around me lay the scattered remains of what were once humans. The human body was a fragile thing in the face of a golem warrior’s steel club or giant shield. One clean hit from that mass and a human body simply couldn’t maintain its original form. And if someone miraculously kept their shape after a strike, they’d probably die instantly. The internal trauma from a blow like that would completely destroy the internal organs a human required to live. To be honest, those corpses were worse than the ones who were torn apart. They were more grotesque in a quieter, more final way.

“Well done,” I said, because praise felt right even if the golem obviously couldn’t respond.

I stored the golem warrior away in my inventory, and Grande returned, brushing off the last of the fight.

“It’s over. That barely functioned as entertainment.”

“I hear you. Let’s investigate the camp. There might be stragglers, so watch my back.”

“Mm, but of course.”

I tucked a .45mm-caliber submachine gun into my hands and moved into the camp, flanking Grande, who was the vanguard. It must have looked ridiculous at first glance—me hiding behind a little girl—but Grande wasn’t a child. She was a dragon in miniature form, barely dressed, and every inch of her was packed with all the vitality and defensive strength you’d expect from a dragon. And honestly, she was way stronger than she looked. Tough enough to take an attack straight-on from a golem warrior.

Humans stood no chance against my golem warriors, but Grande was even stronger than them.

“Anyone left?”

“Yes, though I cannot blame them for fleeing from me.”

“Focus on groups with more than two people and—”

“This is annoying. Wait here. I’ll handle this!”

Before I could argue, Grande rushed straight into the center of the camp. She destroyed the wall of a log house in one strike and charged inside like something straight out of a horror film. Or a comedy.

Actually, totally horror, when you considered that these people were hiding because they sensed we were bad news, only to have the wall torn down by a blonde-haired little girl (dragon) saying hello before telling them to die.

After listening to the sounds of destruction and death for a few minutes, I used a handkerchief to dab off some of the blood that’d splattered onto Grande’s cheeks, then got to exploring the camp.

“There isn’t much left.”

“No. I didn’t expect there to be. I can’t imagine there would be anything of importance or value in a place like this.”

“Honestly, my head aches more at the thought of what I’m gonna do with the survivors.”

They were either survivors from the pioneer group or people the bandits had kidnapped earlier. All I could see in this group were men, all human. I hadn’t seen the prisoners yet, but I was pretty sure the captives would be women. Those shitheads.

In any event, I needed to see the prisoners before I could think about how to handle them.

“I do not think this is something you need to take responsibility for,” Ifriita said.

“Maybe not,” I answered. “But I can’t just rescue them only to then go, ‘Well, good luck,’ or something.”

If I did that, I shouldn’t have saved them in the first place. I was the queen’s partner and the king consort. What would it say about me if I let bandits have their way with my citizens and then abandoned them in their despair? If I couldn’t save a handful of villagers from bandits and make sure they lived peacefully, how could I expect to look after the whole country?

“Valid point. Do your best, then. Just do not overdo it,” Ifriita warned.

“I won’t.”

If things had gone to plan, the final village in this region would already be built. Plans had a habit of getting wrecked, though. Pretty much all of the prospective pioneers were dead; there’d be no village here. That left the survivors—what to do with them?

“If all else fails, we bring them home. I could have some work at the harpy tower as nursery school teachers.”

“And you shall end up with more wives, I imagine.”

“That is not my intent. At least not at the moment.”

My voice wasn’t entirely convincing; however, I was already struggling with how many lovers I had now. I wasn’t sure my body could handle any more. Plus, the women who’d been held captive had probably gone through hell, so I doubted they’d ever want to do anything along those lines ever again. In fact, approaching them myself might do more harm than good. Unfortunately, that was unavoidable for today at least.

“So, what will you do with this camp?”

“Flatten it,” I said, drawing my mithril logging axe. You could never have too much lumber.

***

I tore down the camp, which was mostly made of wood, and walked away with a heap of usable materials. I also managed to recover most of the stuff the bandits had taken from the pioneers and their equipment as well. The bodies? Grande incinerated them. No point dragging corpses back to Merinesburg; the Holy Kingdom would just shrug and deny any recollection of these people and that’d be it.

“So…this is the first thing you decided to build, huh?”

“I figured they’d want to wash up and get clean before anything else, you know?”

After leveling the camp, I built a raised base on stilts and set it down. The first thing I made after that was a large bath, big enough for around twenty people in it at once. And get this—I even attached a water-heating magicite-powered tool to the large tank on the roof. Endless hot water! Pretty luxurious, right?

“Um… Thank you very much,” said a female beastman standing next to Shemel.

Honestly, it was more like she was hiding behind her.

She bowed her head toward me.

Was she a cat? No, perhaps a dog or wolf beastman? Her hood was pulled low, so I couldn’t tell for sure, but I could see slight bumps where her ears were, signaling to me that she was some sort of animal. She appeared to be the kind of beastman who looked mostly human except for her ears and tail.

“Don’t overthink things,” I told her gently. “Wash up, and relax. Once you’re done bathing, I’ll feed you, so eat as much as you like and rest up. You’re safe here. Shemel, ladies, please look after them.”

“Aye, Boss!”

“You got it.”

“Understood.”

I watched the ogre girls and harpies guide the women toward the baths, then headed back to my private room with Grande padding along behind me.

“Not gonna take a bath with them?” I asked.

“I shall bathe with you later,” she said. “I worked hard today. Surely you will forgive this indulgence?”

“Okay. When everyone else gets out, we’ll enjoy a nice long bath together.”

“Mm.”

Grande nodded, satisfied with my answer, and gave the floor a firm thunk with her heavy tail, still wrapped in its slime cover. Without it, another innocent floorboard would’ve met an untimely end.

Once I was back in my room, I piled up a mountain of cushions for Grande, placed a desktop golem communicator on my table, and got to work. I’d already set up a signal booster and antenna on the base, so I could reach the folks back in Museburg.

“This is Kousuke. Calling the Western Merinard Military Command. Please respond.”

Not long after—

“This is Western Merinard Military Command. I hope you are well, Your Majesty. Commander Zamil is on her way.”

“Cool. Let me know when she arrives. I’ll be waiting.”

Less than a minute later, Madame Zamil buzzed the golem communicator.

“I apologize for the wait, Your Majesty. Has something happened?”

“Yeah. Actually…”

I gave her the full rundown. I explained how the group of pioneers we were scheduled to meet had been slaughtered by bandits, how I pursued the culprits and wiped them out, how we rescued eight women they’d taken prisoner, and how I disposed of the bandits’ remains, dismantled their base, and flattened the area.

“And so we took care of the bandits on our end. If you happen to get any reports about similar incidents in the region, I think it’s safe to say we’ve solved the problem. They had a lot of cavalry, so their range of operations was probably wide.”

Actually…what happened to their horses? We hadn’t killed them, so they had to be okay, but they’d vanished somewhere.

“Understood. I will check later to see if we’ve received any damage reports.”

“Please do. I plan on staying here today and tomorrow to make sure the victims are okay. If possible, I’d like you to get in touch with Viscount Travis.”

“As you wish. I will inform him from my end.”

“Thanks. For now, I’ll take care of the survivors and see what they plan to do next. ”

“Understood. Please contact me if there is anything I can do to assist.”

“Cheers, will do. Over and out.”

After ending the communication, I stretched my back and let out a long sigh.

I was wiped out—mentally more than physically after all the blood spilled today. I really wanted to hear Sylphy’s voice, but I also didn’t want to worry her. I’d probably be home in a few days anyway, so I decided not to call her.

“All done? Then come here and dote upon me.”

“As you wish.”

Grand reached her hand out to me from within the mountain of cushions and invited me over, so I did just that.

I decided to relax with her until the ladies finished bathing.

***

After the bath, Bela came and summoned us while we were lounging about. We’d ended up enjoying a nice, leisurely bath together.

“That was delightful.”

“Sure was.”

After everything that happened today, we didn’t rush. Man, baths sure were great. It felt like all your worries and exhaustion just melted away into the water. Grande always liked long baths, so whenever we soaked together, we always ended up like this.

“It is time to feast! Husband, I require sustenance.”

“So do I.”

My appetite had returned, which probably meant I’d worked through at least a little of my guilt. I hadn’t hesitated when it came to wiping out the bandits, but that didn’t mean that it hadn’t worn me down emotionally. Killing people—even scum like that—was stressful. At least for me, anyway.

That said, there’d never been another option other than killing them. If we’d taken them back with us as prisoners, they would’ve ended up hanging from the city walls anyway. If they were going to die no matter what, it was easier to handle it myself rather than drag them back alive. And of course, after seeing what they’d done, part of me just wanted to kill them. Pretty myopic of me, I’ll admit.

After eating with Grande, I spoke with Shemel and the others and decided to meet with the women we’d rescued. I needed to discuss what would happen next and, if possible, heal any injuries or illnesses they had.

“I’ve called them over.”

“Thanks. Everyone, please. Have a seat.”

The rescued women sat down. They were all of different races. The one who’d spoken to me earlier, who I’d thought was a wolf or dog beastman, turned out to be a fox.

“First, let me introduce myself properly. My name is Kousuke. I know this might be hard to believe, but I’m the partner of Queen Sylphyel of the Kingdom of Merinard. In other words, I’m the king consort.”

The women listened closely before exchanging puzzled glances. Of course they did. They’d just been saved from bandits, and now they were discovering that the one who led the charge was the king consort himself. How did any of that make sense? If I was in their shoes, I’d think I’d have lost it too.

“But that’s not actually important. Who I am, or whether I’m telling the truth, are just minor details. For now, just know that I’m Kousuke, and I’m the boss of all the women here, including Shemel and the others. Outside of you girls, I mean.”

Still hesitant, the fox-eared woman gave a small nod. For now, I considered that a victory!

“I want you all to take today and tomorrow to rest up. You’ve been through hell, and you need to recover enough energy to travel. I also think you deserve at least a day to calm your nerves and settle down mentally and emotionally. That said, I’m sure some of you are anxious about your lives going forward, and won’t be able to relax until you know what’s going on.”

“I bet.”

“Yeah. So first off, I want you to know that I’ll be looking after you for the time being. While you’re with me, you don’t have to worry about food, shelter, or anything else regarding your day-to-day lives. But if any of you have homes to return to and want to go back, I’ll personally see you there as soon as possible. If you don’t, you’ll come back to Merinesburg with us. And if you’d like, I can arrange housing for you there.”

Either way, my work in this region was finished as of today. What I really wanted now was to head home, relax, and check in on Elen, Amalie, and my harpy kids. After that, I’d probably get sent off on another job anyway.

“Um, why are you doing all of this for us?” the fox-eared woman asked nervously.

Why, huh…?

“I don’t have a particular reason,” I said after a pause. “I guess I just can’t bring myself to leave people behind that I can help. That’s all.”

“That’s it…?”

“Yup. That’s it!” Shemel cut in, “That’s why he went outta his way to kill dozens of bandits, save y’all, and then volunteer to take care of you afterward.”

“Hey.”

“Basically,” Bela added, grinning, “this guy is just a big old softy.”

“The kind of genuinely good person you don’t see much of these days,” Tozume chimed in.

“Can you really call me a good person after I just killed dozens of people…?”

“Nah, you totally can,” Shemel said without missing a beat. “You killed bandits. That’s just common sense, Boss.”

“Okay, right.”

Here I was, questioning my morals, and the women in my life just brushed it off. Apparently, the lives of bandits in this world were worth less than trash.

“Anyway, you girls ain’t gotta worry about a thing. Kousuke can easily take care of three hundred, three thousand, even thirty thousand people without breaking a sweat. Eight more ain’t gonna be an issue.”

“I’m not taking care of three hundred people right now, you know?”

Sure, I’d somehow gained more wives than I ever planned to, but I hadn’t hit three hundred. Yet.

“What’re ya talkin’ about? When we first left the Black Forest, we had around three hundred, didn’t we? And even after the Liberation Army’s numbers exploded, you still managed to feed everyone.”

“I guess so…”

Thinking about it, she wasn’t wrong. The main reason that Merinard’s budget was so absurdly inflated was, well, me. I was the one constantly supplying the kingdom with funds in the form of gems, ore, metals, gleaming magic jewels, food, and other things.

“Um, what were we talking about again…? Er, anyway, that’s the deal. I promise I don’t have any ulterior motives. I’m not going to sell you, abuse you, or do anything bad to you at all, so please don’t worry.”

“This guy here’s so rich that he’d never need to do any of that in the first place! He’s probably the richest man in the world.”

“I think you’re exaggerating a little.”

“Boss, all you have to do is swing your pickaxe at some random rocks and out comes gold, silver, and gems.”

“I mean, okay, yeah. But…”

The rescued women watched our back-and-forth with puzzled expressions. Fair enough. None of this side chatter was helping us look less suspicious.

“Anyhow, that’s about it for me. I just want you all to relax and feel safe. Now that things have calmed down, I’d like to heal anyone who’s hurt. I’ll get you good as new.”

Several of the women bore visible signs of having been beaten pretty hard. I was willing to bet they all had wounds, small and large.

I pulled a set of life potions, cure-disease potions, and splints from my inventory and got to work treating the women.

“…I’m about to lose it.”

“Remember, Boss,” Shemel said quietly. “The assholes who did this are already dead.”

In the end, every single woman had a severed Achilles tendon on the left or right. I’d wondered why they were all walking a little funny. Now I knew.

Those sons of…

“Don’t worry. I can fix you all up.”

As long as the tendons hadn’t been removed, I could heal them. I placed the splints up against their feet, and wrapped the bandages tight. Low and behold! The severed tendons stitched themselves back together, good as new. The women flexed their feet, astonished, able to walk normally again.

To be safe, I also had each of them drink a life potion and cure-disease potion, healing any lingering injuries or illnesses. You could never be too careful about diseases.

“What else… Ah, er, the more sensitive female stuff, but uh…”

“Hey, we can handle that, Boss. We’ll chat with them about it,” Shemel said quickly.

“I appreciate that. No matter how things turn out, I’m ready to look after them.”

It was a little late to change how those women had been treated and used up before this, but it was still something I couldn’t ignore. These issues were a bit too sensitive for me to be prying into myself. I was grateful to Shemel for stepping up to talk about it. Apparently, this world didn’t have medicine for that kind of wound.

“All right,” I said. “I’ve healed you all up for now, so get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow, just focus on relaxing. I’ll prepare clothes for everyone.”

From what I could tell, they were all female beastmen with animal ears and tails, though mostly human in appearance. As long as their clothes had openings for their tails, anything would be fine. I decided to spend the night whipping up some comfortable clothes for them. I’d also make a few extras like hair brushes and small necessities too.

“U-um!”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you so much,” the fox-eared woman said, bowing her head toward me.

Her voice trembled slightly, prompting the other women to follow her lead, bowing their heads and voicing their own thanks.

“Hey, it’s no problem. Now rest your hearts and bodies.”

And so I finished healing the women. After that, well, I’d be running around asking for favors to find work for them once we got back to Merinesburg. And if things didn’t look so hot, I could always have them serve as my personal maids in the castle.

Okay, yeah. We’d be fine.

***

“Whew, talk about a struggle. It was tough stopping that one girl from coming to your room with that look on her face. She was all ‘Not only did he save our lives, but he healed wounds that would have only gotten worse…’” Shemel told me the next morning while I was washing my face.

“Nicely done. Good job,” I said.

“Yeah, well, it’d be a problem considering I hadn’t gotten permission for that sort of thing from Her Majesty, the prime minister, or the head court mage.”

“You’d have let her through if you’d had permission?”

“Sure.”

“Seriously…?”

I had no idea which of the eight women had tried to approach me, but I really wanted them to focus on recovering. I didn’t need them to be doing that kind of stuff.

“But y’know, you’re kinda partly at fault, Boss.”

“How so?”

“You do all these good deeds and never ask for anything in return. That’s really compassionate and all, but have you ever thought about how the recipients feel? It’d be one thing if they all shrugged it off, but you gotta remember there are people out there who will feel indebted to you.”

“Yeah, I mean, sure.”

“Exactly. And for people like these women, the only way they have to repay your kindness is with their bodies. And fortunately for them, you’re a man, get me?”

“Urgh…”

I hadn’t considered that.

“But I mean, considering what happened yesterday…what do you think I should do?”

“Well, they’re trying to pay you back, so give them another way to. Ask them to work for you or somethin’.”

“For me, huh?”

It wasn’t that simple. None of the work I’d done so far really required personal staff. The harpies were a unique case.

“Hmm, I get it. Work for me, eh?”

Still, when I thought about it, I had a plethora of reasons to go into the city for matters related to the Merchant Union and the Adventurers’ Guild, but the recent assassination attempt made leaving the castle riskier going forward. Having reliable people I could send into the city as my eyes and ears might be really useful. They’d need to at least be able to read, write, and do simple arithmetic. There might also be social-status complications to consider.

“I don’t think I can conjure a quick fix, but I’ve got a direction to go in.”

“S’that so?” Shemel asked, a smile forming on her lips.

***

“Heya, everyone. Good morning.”

“Good morning!” the women chorused in response.

After getting ready, I gathered everyone for breakfast. I’d told them the night before that I wanted to eat together this morning.

“First up is breakfast. Once you’re done eating, I’d like you to try on the clothes I made for you. I’ve got cloth and sewing tools here, so if you want to make adjustments or even sew something of your own, feel free. And if there’s anything else you need, tell me. Don’t hesitate to ask, I can get most things for you.”

The women exchanged uncertain looks, probably because it didn’t look like I had all that much stuff with me.

“The boss here is the one who built this whole base. He’s like a mage who can make anything out of thin air.”

“Not anything. Only stuff I’ve got the materials for.”

“That’s pretty much anything, Boss!”

The women still looked confused, but I decided to save the explanations for later.

“For now, let’s eat. Thanks for the food.”

And so we began breakfast. Today’s menu was wheat porridge, sausage, and pickled cabbage. If I’d added some steamed potatoes, it might’ve passed for something straight out of Germany. Then again, maybe that was just my bias talking.

“There’s plenty of food to go around, so eat your fill,” I encouraged them once again.

“A-all right…”

The large meat sausages must’ve looked like luxury food to the women; they hesitated to take a bite. But once I served them onto their plates, they finally dug in.

I’ve got plenty. Eat up!

“I’m sorry to spring this on you while you’re eating,” I said after a moment, “but I’d like to talk about what comes next.”

The women froze mid-bite, tension rising in their eyes.

Don’t worry, ladies. There’s no need for concern.

“I mentioned arranging housing for you in Merinesburg, but if you’d prefer, you could also work for me directly. I still need to run this by Her Majesty, but right now, I don’t have any personal staff, you see. I’ve been sent out to build pioneer villages, but once I return to Merinesburg, I’ll have to coordinate a lot with the Merchant Union, the Adventurers’ Guild, and other organizations in the city. The problem is, after the recent assassination attempt, I can’t exactly wander into the city anymore. So I’d love to have people who could go in my stead.”

The women stopped eating, eyes fixed on me in silent attention.

Urgh, having so many eyes on me is making it hard to keep talking…

“If Her Majesty grants me permission, I could hire you all directly and have you serve as my arms and legs. Basically, you’d be my secretaries. More practically speaking, you’d be running errands for me, but if that’s okay with you, I’d like you to consider my offer. Oh, and if I remember correctly, the harpies have been struggling to look after the kids, yeah?” I turned to Egret, looking for her answer.

“That’s correct,” Egret piped up. “Someone always needs to be watching them.”

“Then if working as a secretary ends up being too difficult, I was thinking some of them could help out as nursery school teachers of sorts. What do you think?”

“I think that is a fine idea,” she replied. “Just having someone to look after the kids during the day would be a huge help for us.”

“There you have it. I know I said I’d prepare lives for you all, but not knowing what that actually means can be pretty anxiety-inducing, right? So for now, I wanted you girls to know what I have in mind. Of course, I can also introduce you all to other lines of work if you’d prefer. I am the king consort, after all,” I explained, puffing out my chest.

All hail the king consort! All hail feudalism!

Having authority in this world meant being able to make things happen, even those that sounded impossible. Fortunately, I had authority, money, and material resources, so I could make most things happen.

“That’s all for now. Once you finish eating, it’s time to have fun picking out clothes. I’ve also arranged it so you can take a bath whenever you want, so after you’ve chosen a look you like, it might be nice to relax in the water,” I said before taking a bite of sausage.

Mm. Delish.

***

“Ah…!” The women’s astonished voices raised as one.

“I’d like to say there’s a huge variety, but honestly, there aren’t that many outfits here. Still, grab whatever suits your fancy.”

After we finished eating, we cleared off the large dining table, and I stacked a bunch of outfits, cloth, and even underwear on top of it. One of the reasons I always kept things like this in my inventory was exactly for situations like this, so uh, yeah. I wasn’t some pervert carrying women’s underwear for shits and giggles.

“Generally speaking, these are all for humans, so there aren’t any tiny tail holes. Use the sewing tools I’ve got here to make whatever adjustments you need, okay?”

The tops were fine, but the skirts, pants, and shorts would all need a little work so that beastmen could wear them comfortably. I figured the women would know what to do on that front, so I felt fine leaving it to them.

“All right! Um, thank you very much.”

“It’s no biggie,” I said and waved a hand at the fox-eared woman—her name was Byaku—who’d first spoken to me back when we rescued them.

After breakfast, I had everyone introduce themselves since I hadn’t gotten their names yet.

Let me break it down.

There were eight women in total. All of them were female beastmen with animal ears and tails but otherwise human features. And all of them were young. The bandits had clearly gone out of their way to kidnap younger women. The fact that they all leaned more human-looking probably wasn’t a coincidence either. Ugh.

The first of the group was the fox-eared woman named Byaku. She was a beautiful woman with red-tinged, yellowish-brown hair—just like a fox. Her sharp, straight ears and fluffy tail suited her perfectly.

Among the group were a pair of dog beastman sisters with blackish-brown hair and droopy ears that fell over their hair, hiding them almost completely. If they didn’t have tails, you could mistake them for humans. They shared similar features, and sure enough, when I asked, they told me they were twins. Apparently, it was fairly common among dog and wolf beastmen for children to be born as twins or even triplets. Their names were Luna and Lana. Both were pretty shy and stuck together like glue from the moment we rescued them.

The fourth woman was a mouse beastman named Mito. She was small, with pure white hair and matching ears, and always hid behind someone. She seemed much more timid than the others. Up to now, the only words we’d exchanged were her name, but the way she peeked out at me from behind the others told me she wasn’t actively trying to avoid me. Maybe once she felt safe enough, we’d actually be able to talk.

The fifth woman was a tall horse beastman named Shen, with chestnut hair. I’d been told she resisted her captors fiercely, which led to her being abused more brutally than any of the others. She’d been punched in the face and had both of her Achilles tendons severed. Thankfully, she was all healed up now—her tendons were good as new. When I spoke with her, she seemed peaceful and calm, though I had a feeling there was a stubborn streak hidden underneath.

The sixth woman was a rabbit beastman named Meme, with gray-tinged hair. Her long, pointed rabbit ears definitely stood out. Most rabbit beastmen I’d met were small and slender, but Meme was quite tall and full-figured—though describing a woman like that felt rude. Strong in appearance, apparently she’d carried Shen to the airboard by herself when they escaped, without Shemel’s help. The fact that she’d acted so decisively even after all she’d been through made it clear she was strong-willed.

The seventh woman was Fei, a beastman with small, round, brown ears. Even after checking her tail, I couldn’t quite figure out what kind of animal she was, but according to her, she was a weasel beastman. She and Shen shared the same hometown, and she was deeply grateful that I’d healed Shen’s wounds. Apparently, Shen had been injured so badly because she was protecting Fei, and that guilt had weighed heavily on her ever since. Now she barely left Shen’s side, doting on her constantly.

The final woman was Olivia, a goat beastman with two short, curly horns atop her head. She had both horns now, but before I healed her yesterday, one had been broken clean off. Until I treated her, she’d been completely despondent, but when I used a regenerative medicine made from Grande’s blood to restore her horn, she broke down crying with gratitude. I’d heard that for horned beastmen, losing a horn was considered a profound disgrace, so I was glad that I could help her.

And for the record, of the eight women we saved, Olivia was by far the most grateful. She was the one who’d tried to visit my room last night. I decided to give Shemel a little bonus for handling that situation so gracefully.

“I’ll be making all sorts of things in the room over there, so if you need me, don’t hesitate to come get me. Ladies, if you please?”

“Aye, Boss.”

“Roger that!”

“All right.”

Leaving everything in the ogre girls’ capable hands, I retreated to my room to start crafting some accessories and small items for the women. I absolutely had to head into Museburg tomorrow to speak to Viscount Travis. Madame Zamil should’ve already contacted him, but…how was that going to play out?

Explaining all of this was going to be a real pain.

***

I made combs, brushes, and other accessories for the women so that they could tidy up. I handed out bonuses to the ogre girls, gave some food to the rescued women because they wanted to make lunch for me, and made donuts for Grande when she said she was hungry. Before I knew it, night had fallen.

“So, what do you think?” I asked.

“I may have a good eye, but I can’t see into someone’s heart,” Tozume said from above. “That said, I do think they are well enough to travel.”

“Great, great.”

Tozume and I were having a serious conversation while soaking in the bath. By the way, Tozume’s voice was literally coming from above my head.

I swear, between you, Shemel, and Bela, you all really love holding me whenever we bathe together, huh?

“Well, we had a stroke of bad luck at the end, but we’re done with work for now, right? The saint and Amalie will probably be havin’ their kids soon, so I guess we’ll be on break for a while, huh?” Bela mused.

“I’m not so sure about that,” I replied. “First we have to keep an eye on the villages I built, then adjust our plan depending on any issues that pop up. If that happens, yeah, maybe you’ll get some free time.”

“You work way too hard, Boss. I think it’d be A-OK if you lived a more chill life.” Shemel grinned.

“It certainly feels like you’re living fast and recklessly. You’ve got a lot of wives, so why not spend the time until winter pumping out babies?” Bela added.

“We’re down for it!” they chorused.

All three ogre girls were grinning like maniacs.

“Don’t even start. I’d die,” I said. “But, well, I do have a lot to do in Merinesburg.”

“Didn’t we just tell you to relax? Now you’re already talkin’ about work?”

“We’ll have to ask Her Majesty to force you to take a break.”

“What if we just made sure he couldn’t stand up every day?” Tozume suggested, half joking.